Stuff I Learned Yesterday

We all know that college students are usually broke.  I certainly was when I was in college.  I had a couple of small scholarships that covered most of the expense of books, but nothing more.  All of my tuition was paid for by saving money earned from my part time job.   After my freshman year, my roommate and I got a small apartment just off of campus.  It was the cheapest one we could find.  It wasn’t fancy at all, but it was more than enough for us.  It was a one bedroom apartment and we worked it out that he got the bedroom and I got the couch.  I really didn’t mind.  For 4 years I slept on the couch every night.   When we first moved in, there was no couch, or bed for that matter.  We had a computer desk and my drafting table.  The previous tenant left a chest of drawers with a mirror and the landlord said we could use it and just leave it for the next tenant.  I bought a used futon from another friend, and my roommate got a bed from his parents.  I also bought a dinette set from a co-worker.  We were living the dream. At some point we scored an extra long couch from another friend of ours and a lady that my roommate went to church gave us a coffee table and entertainment center.  We soon had a fully furnished apartment and we’d only had to buy the dinette set.   We ate a lot of ramen noodles and spent a good amount of time at the CiCi’s pizza all you can eat buffet.  My roommate and I got along great.  We split all the bills 50/50, and we both valued the importance of paying all of our bills on time.  We always paid our bills first, and then used the rest to buy food or other needs. Read More...

I think most people dream about being a singer at some point as a child. For me the first memory I have of dreaming what it would be like to be a rock star was when I was first introduced to Michael Jackson’s Thriller album. I was 6 years old. I don’t think I ever really thought I’d make it as a big time singer and never really pursued it. In fact, I never even sang in front of anyone except for the occasion when my brother would catch me singing along to the radio. That all changed on a random day after I graduated high school. We had a new youth pastor, named Tim, at the church I was attending and since I we were pretty close in age. I thought it would be cool to get to know him a bit so I asked him if he’d like to hang out sometime. He invited me to go to the city with him one day when he was meeting up with some of his other friends and I agreed to tag along. I had just discovered this really cool a cappella group and was really amazed by how much music they could make with only their voices and I brought their cassette tape with me. At some point I popped it into the cassette player of Tim’s car and he liked it too. I sat in the back seat looking out the window and singing softly to myself as we drove around Oklahoma City picking up Tim’s friends. I had no idea at the time, but Tim was in a vocal quartet and the friends we were picking up were the other members of his group. I was also unaware that I was singing loud enough for Tim to hear me. I became suddenly aware when, at the end of one song, Tim hit the rewind on the tape player and told me that he was going to play it again and he wanted me to sing again, but louder. I was reluctant to do so, but he coaxed me into it. After the song was over he announced that the group had just found their new lead singer. Read More...

Like many of you, I had a pretty busy weekend.  My Saturday started with my son and I attending men’s Bible study at church, and then I had to set up the drum kit for Sunday’s church service.  While we were doing those things, my wife and daughter did a bit of shopping.  We all met back at our house shortly before lunch and then headed out together to deliver some flowers to my grandma for Mother’s Day. Once we finished our visit to my grandma we had time to grab a quick lunch before heading off to my high school reunion.  Addison had really enjoyed her one-on-one time with Kari earlier that day, and wanted to have a lunch with just the two of them.  Colby liked the idea of just having a lunch with me, so we agreed to split back up for lunch. While Colby and I were alone in my car he said, “Dad, I thought that when you quit your job you were going to get to spend more time with us.”  It was a beautiful sunny day so I had the sunroof open and the windows down.  While having the windows down and the sunroof open make a great way to get some sun while I’m in my car, the amount of wind noise that is brought into the car make it difficult to have a real conversation.  I closed the sunroof, rolled up the windows, turned the A/C on, and turned the radio off. To me, when Colby said this to me, he was basically telling me that he’s disappointed in the the amount of time and attention that I’m spending with him.  Now, as I mentioned in episode 36, I’m very aware that I have not been spending as much time with my family as I had hoped I would be when I started working from home.  But now that my son is calling me out on it, I needed to let him know that I was aware of it and I was making steps to get better. Read More...

Today is the Friday Forum!! Friday Forum is your opportunity to Share what YOU’VE learned, so that other listeners and I can learn from YOU.  It can be a message as short as 30 seconds or several minutes long.  It really doesn’t matter just as long as it’s something that will benefit others.  You can participate in Friday Forum by calling and leaving a message at 304-837-2278, emailing an audio file to feedback@goldenspiralmedia.com, or clicking on the Send Voicemail tab on my website, GoldenSpiralMedia.com. In today's Friday Forum we hear Mother's Day contributions from Celina, Bonita, and Mark. Read More...

When I started this podcast nearly 2 months ago I never would have dreamed that I’d be doing any episodes about plants or gardening, but here I am doing my THIRD episode about that very topic. That does not mean that I now enjoy gardening or yard work. That has not changed and I do not see it changing anytime soon. However, I am committed to making sure my flower beds thrive this season and I’m learning stuff through that process. Brace yourself. I see many more garden related episodes in your future! For today’s episode, I want to take you back to that Friday about 3 weeks ago when my wife and I purchased the plants at our local garden center. My wife had been out running errands earlier that morning so we decided to meet at the store. I arrived a few minutes before she did so I took that time to look around and see if anything caught my eye. Since we had cleaned out nearly everything from the beds, we were looking for some good perennials, that is, plants that come back every year, to establish the foundation of our beds. Then, around those perennials we would put some annuals that were bright and colorful, understanding that we’d have to replace those plants next year. We were also considering getting a small evergreen or two to fill in some space. I perused the perennials and found a few that I liked, and then made my way to the area of the evergreens. As I approached the evergreens I noticed a few carts full of various plants that looked pretty bad. As I got closer I noticed that the plants were labeled as clearance and each plant was on sale for $3. Read More...

I love Kevin Durant.  Outside of choosing to go to college at the University of Texas, the guy is everything you’d like a guy to be.  He’s funny, caring, athletic, good looking, humble, and has a great attitude.  In case you don’t follow sports, Kevin Durant is a small forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder and he’s one of the best basketball players on the planet.  This year he won his 4th scoring title, and yesterday he won the MVP of the NBA.   For those of us who live in OKC and get to watch Kevin interact with the community and play every night, we know just how amazing of a person he is.  He is selfless, deflects praise to those around him, acknowledges his shortcomings, and is ALWAYS giving of what he has to make the lives of those around him better.  He may have been acknowledged by the NBA as the MVP yesterday, but he’s been the MVP of OKC since he first stepped foot here in 2008. Yesterday afternoon about 3:30 I was starting to panic because I still had no idea what today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday would be about.  I was walking through the living room of our house on my way to the studio just at Kevin Durant’s MVP press conference started.  I decided to sit down and watch it and almost instantly knew that I’d just found my inspiration in the words of the 6’ 9” man from Maryland. After a great introduction from Brian Davis, the play by play voice of the Thunder, a few words from Kevin’s coach, the team general manager, and a representative from Kia, Kevin took the stage. Read More...

I’m a terrible golfer.  On a regulation course, I’ve only broken 100 one time.  I don’t go very often, maybe once or twice a year, so it’s no surprise that I’m not very good.  Some people are naturally gifted at it and able to at least play near par without too much practice, but I am not one of those people.  In fact, if it is any kind of sport or athletic contest, I can assure you that the words naturally gifted would be the last thing anyone would say about me. But that does not mean that I do not enjoy playing golf.  I really do enjoy it.  I enjoy being outside and enjoying the scenery.  I enjoy the time I get to spend with those I golf with.  I enjoy trying to analyze what I’m doing wrong and trying to improve on my next effort.  I look at it like a puzzle...a very bad golfing puzzle. When I lived in Texas, I didn’t really have anyone to golf with, and I wanted to try out one of the local municipal courses.  My wife is not at all interested in golfing, but she thought it would be fun to get some sun.  She decided she would come along and read a book in the golf cart while I played a round of golf. Unfortunately, when I showed up at the course, they would not let me play alone.  It was Saturday, their busiest day, and they were only allowing groups of two or more to play.  My only option was to come back during the week (my only day off was every other Saturday), or play with a pair of strangers. Read More...

When my neighbors, Allen and Mandy moved in a few years ago, their lawn was kind of lackluster.  It was a brand new house with new sod.  Most of the sod had taken root and was filling in pretty nicely, but it was just an average lawn.  There was one spot in particular that the sod was not growing.  Since it was a new home with new sod, the home builder came back out and laid down some fresh sod in that area. Allen and Mandy watered it, fertilized it, and did all they could to get it to take root, but it died again.  The grass in the rest of their yard was now looking really good.  It was green, thick, and healthy looking...with a very noticeable dead spot right in the middle of the yard out near the curb.  I didn’t really pay too much attention to how it happened or how long it took, but eventually, they managed to get the grass to grow.   My lawn is very average, and I think that is being generous.  It has weeds, there are a few thin spots in the grass, and it’s not very inviting.  When you walk on Allen and Mandy’s grass it feels soft and your feet sink down into it.  It’s like a carpet.  If I were to walk with my eyes closed from their yard toward my yard, I would be able to instantly tell when I crossed the property line.  My yard is hard like concrete.  Feet do not sink into my grass. One day last summer Allen and I were out in his yard and I commented on how good it looked.  We talked about how bad it looked when he first moved in and how that one spot refused to grow any grass for a long time.  He said that they finally hired a professional to come out and maintain their yard.  They spray it several times throughout the year with weed control and fertilizer, as well as aerate it, and water it regularly. Read More...

Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday.  My name is Darrell Darnell, I got paddled at school every single year except Kindergarten, 4th grade, 9th grade, and 12th grade, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living.  In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I’m happy to share another installment of the Friday Forum, dedicated to stuff learned from teachers. Read More...

Really?  An internet video?  Yesterday’s episode tackled big topics like racism, homosexuality, religion, and politics, and today I’m offering wisdom from a YouTube video?  Yep.  That’s how I roll. I have come to the conclusion that I am a sucker for those inspiration audition videos from The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and the like.  I don’t watch those shows.  I don’t really care for reality TV.  You may not watch them either, but you probably know the videos I’m talking about.  I’m talking about the video of Susan Boyle, who walked out on the stage of Britain's Got Talent a disheveled mess and walked off an internationally recognized name.   I see these videos show up in my Facebook timeline from time to time with a comment from one of my friends that says something to the effect of, “Wow, this blew me away!”  I usually scoff and tell myself that I don’t have time to watch a silly audition video from a reality show...and then I click on it.  By the time the video is over my mouth is open in shock and eyes are welled up because of the moving story, dramatic music, and amazing performance.  Yep, I’m a sucker. A few days ago another one of these videos showed up in my Facebook feed and I clicked on it.  The video was an audition of Alice Fredenham from Britain's Got Talent in 2013.  She walked on stage and approached the mic.  As she walked, she kept her arms close to her body with one arm clutching the rubbing the other.  It’s the type of thing we do when we’re scared or uncomfortable.  She approached the mic and you could hear the quiver in her voice.  The judges asked her how she was doing and she said she was scared.  Clearly she was. Read More...

Today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday is one that I’ve had in mind to do since the beginning, but I’ve been putting it off.  I wanted to make sure that when I did it, I had time to really think it out and choose my words carefully.  The things I’m talking about in today’s episode are the types of things that seem to easily get people get upset.  I don’t know if I’ve chosen the best words.  I don’t know if it’s even possible to choose the best words, but I think it’s time to go for it. The thing that pushed me over the edge to go ahead and do this episode is the recent controversy surrounding Los Angeles Clippers owner, Donald Sterling.  He’s an educated man, successful in business, and well traveled around the world.  A phone conversation was taped that he had with an associate of his, some say girlfriend, other say she’s an aide.  That’s not important really.  What’s important is that she posted a photo of herself with Magic Johnson to her Instagram page and this deeply bothered Mr. Sterling.  He was troubled that she would publicly post pictures of herself associating with black people.  Keep in mind that the woman he’s speaking to is half black and half hispanic. I listened to the entire 9 minute clip that has been made public and it’s, well, it’s many things.  It’s infuriating, confusing, sad, disturbing.  He’s also upset that people are calling him about the the picture.  Who cares?  Who is calling him to express concern that this woman posted a picture with Magic Johnson?  What business is it of theirs?  If Magic Johnson was some sort of street thug or criminal or a figure of controversy, then I could see someone having an issue, regardless of the color of his skin.  But Magic Johnson is an NBA legend and hall of famer.  He’s a respected businessman and social activist.  There’s no shame in posting a picture with him. Read More...

I won something yesterday!  It’s pretty cool, really.  It’s a high quality microphone attachment for Apple devices like the iPad, iPad mini, and iPhone.  It’s called the Zoom iQ5. If it sounds like something that you might find useful, you can check it out at www.goldenspiralmedia.com/iq5.  That’s a link that will take you to B & H Photo and Video.   Would you like to know how I managed to win this really cool microphone?  Here’s my secret.  I entered the sweepstakes.  That’s it.  Now, you may not think I’m being serious but I am.  The reality is that if I would not have entered the sweepstakes, I would not have won the mic. And so it is with our goals.  What is your goal?  Lose weight, publish a book, start a podcast, develop a tutorial, learn how to crochet, build a birdhouse, restore that old car in your garage?  None of those things will ever be done if you never take the first step, and all of them can be accomplished if you do. Now, of course, there is a big difference in taking the first step in winning something, and taking the first step to giving up an addiction. I recognize that.  However, I think the main difference is the way we look at it while we’re standing in that starting spot. Let’s think of these things, and the journey we’ll go on, like we would a Monopoly board.  We all start out on the space marked GO.  What else is on that square?  An arrow that is pointing us in the right direction.  The very next space after GO is Mediterranean Avenue.  It only takes one step to reach that space and the cost is only $60.  The last property on the end of the first side is 9 times farther away and will cost twice as much.  If you desire to reach the end of the next side of the board you’ll have to travel 19 times farther and pay over 3 times the amount as Mediterranean Avenue.  The end of the third side is 29 times farther at over 4 times the cost, and the final space, Boardwalk, is a distance 39 times farther and will cost nearly 7 times more than Mediterranean Avenue. Read More...

You know what I enjoy?  Well, lots of things, really, but to be more specific, I enjoy sitting at a computer and producing podcasts or building websites.  I can easily spend over 12 hours a day doing that stuff and not feel tired.  You know what I don’t enjoy?  Working out in my yard. As you probably know by now, it was right at a year ago when I left the company I had worked for for 19 years so that I could follow my dream of producing podcasts and building websites full time.  Last year I was focused totally on my business and saw my yard as even more of a nuisance than I normally do.  I kept up with mowing it, but that was all.  Since my wife doesn’t like yardwork either, this meant that our flower beds were totally ignored all year. We hated not giving them any attention and were really embarrassed by how terrible they looked.  We have two flower beds in our front yard.  One of them contained a big bushy plant that must be the most resilient plant on the earth, and the dead stems of a plant that didn’t have near the staying power of his bedded brethren.  In the other bed was a fire bush that we like because it too won’t die and it turns a really beautiful red hue in the fall.  It was joined by two other bushes that were scrappy, but not really attractive.  They looked malnourished and half dead.  Probably because they were malnourished and half dead. Both of the neighbors that flank our house have beautiful yards.  One of those neighbors, Allen and Mandy, look like they are going for the yard of the month award...except our neighborhood doesn’t have one of those.  They are incredibly nice people, and besides being pretty similar in age to us, they also happen to like Fringe and some of the other TV shows that we enjoy. Read More...

Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday.  My name is Darrell Darnell, when I was 9 I sat on the front row of the movie The Return of the Living Dead just to prove to my brothers that I was brave, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living.  In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I’m happy to share another installment of the Friday Forum. Read More...

Time sure flies, doesn’t it?  It’s hard for me to believe that 20 years have gone by since I graduated high school.  I’ve mentioned before that I graduated from the thriving metropolis (if you use the word metropolis in the loosest way possible) of Wellston, OK in 1994.  I moved to Wellston before I went into the fourth grade. It was an odd adjustment for me.  I had previously gone to school in a much larger school district and the class structure was quite a bit different.  Of course, like any new kid at a school, I knew no one and had no friends.  I don’t know what it was that brought us together, but I soon became friends with a kid named James, and we were pretty much best buds from then on out. We were a small class.  I can’t find my senior yearbook at the moment, but I think my graduating class was around 36 kids.  My wife finds it hard to imagine what my high school experience was like.  She graduated with a group of over 450.  The thought of a school with that many people freaks me out a bit.  Since we were such a small class, and a small school, everyone knew everyone else.  Just about everyone got along with each other, even if we did really hang out.  I pretty much always struggled with trying to fit in or dealing with the fact that I felt like I didn’t fit in.  I never really felt like I wasn’t liked, just that I was an odd ball. I wasn’t athletic at all.  Hanging out around the jocks was really not fun for me.  If I was going to get picked on by a group, it was them.  The band geeks were nice, but I wasn’t in the high school band, so I didn’t really hang out with them much either.  I don’t really know why, but I was never interested in the party scene.  In a small town, that’s pretty much all there is to do on a Friday or Saturday night.  So, as I said, I just felt out of place.  I was a geek, but that was before geeks were cool.  Geeks are cool now, right? Read More...