Weekly Review - 2020-10-26 - Overnight Sensation

Here are some things from the past week I’ve come across and felt were worth sharing. As always, feel free to leave a comment on the blog or on social media if you’d like to add to the discussion. And if you like what’s in here, please use one or more of those buttons at the bottom of the post to share with friends.

What I’ve learned:

I’ve been re-reading “Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty,” by Harvey Mackay. He’s my favorite business author – I started reading his books nearly 30 years ago. This book is all about networking and has a lot of expert advice. One thing in the first part of the book he shares is a list of essential people to have in your network. The book also includes networking stories from legends like Lou Holtz and Muhammed Ali. Harvey’s books are always good reads – he divides them into small chapters and packs a lot of info into each one.
I’ve caved in and started using an electric toothbrush per my dentist’s recommendation. I had avoided trying it for years as they used to be pricey. I finally broke down and got one – I grabbed the Sonicare 5100. It works well – my teeth feel like they’ve been cleaned at the dentist every day. If you’ve debated trying one of these toothbrushes (and there are other good brands out there – just search the web), then give it a try. I opted for one with a gum massager and whitening mode, but you may not need this.

What I’ve written:

I’ve written two quick articles this week. The first one, “Blaming others never helps you,” discusses how we need to accept responsibility for our actions and not look for others to blame. This is a huge pet peeve of mine as I feel people are missing the point when they blame their boss, their spouse, or even elected officials for their lack of success.
“How to crush your comfort zone,” shares some ideas for helping you step outside your comfort zone.
I shared an article on my main site about how much a website should cost. I’ve done web consulting since 1998 and have worked with a number of clients that were getting ripped off. One tip: if you’re paying someone a monthly fee, be sure to understand what it includes. If your site gets fewer than 25,000 page views per month, you shouldn’t be paying more than $20 per month for hosting. You can read more tips in the article, but feel free to reach out to me with any questions.
I’m excited about publishing the paperback edition of my novel last month. I’ve learned so much going through this process and have multiple “lessons learned” that I’ll be applying to my sequel. So keep an eye on my writer’s blog if you’re an aspiring writer.

Cool / Interesting / Retro Stuff:

Netflix has a series called “The Toys That Made Us,” which is pretty interesting. I watched the episodes on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Transformers and found both to be fascinating. The TMNT one was especially cool as they showed all the reboots and the story about the friendship of the co-creators that eventually went sour. It’s definitely worth a watch.
Speaking of TMNT, I remember not only watching the TV show but also the first two films as a kid. Judith Hoag plays April O’Neil, the TV reporter that many of us had crushes on in the 80’s, in the first film. She’s also in the Halloweentown series that you can watch on Disney+. Yeah, it’s got all the cheese of a typical Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM), but it’s a cute film that you can enjoy with the family – especially around this time of year. I’ve watched all four films in the series – I’m a kid at heart – and found the first and third to be the two best ones.
The Great Pumpkin is a Halloween classic, but here are some other fun films to watch around this time of year to get into the spirit:
- Garfield’s Halloween – this has one of the spookiest scenes out of all the Halloween specials.
- Meet me in St. Louis – if you’ve never seen Judy Garland in a film outside of the Wizard of Oz, then you should check out this classic. The Halloween scene shows how differently kids celebrated the holiday after the turn of the 20th century – burning furniture in the streets and throwing flour at people. But it’s all in good fun and a nice family movie.
- Hubie’s Halloween is Adam Sandler’s latest film. Unfortunately, a local news anchor here in Boston was fired for her cameo in the film.
- Also on Netflix is “A Babysitters Guide to Monster Hunting,” which I enjoyed. Tom Felton from the Harry Potter series plays the villain in this one. It might frighten small children, but your teens and tweens might enjoy it.

Quote(s) of the week:

“Do what is easy and your life will be hard. Do what is hard and your life will become easy.” – Les Brown

Joke of the week:

My wife beamed at me with pride and said, “Wow! I never thought our son would go that far!“

I said, “This catapult is amazing! Go get our daughter.”

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