Last week, my 11-year-old niece challenged me to a one-on-one basketball game. Although I anticipated an easy victory, she dodged, scrambled and whirled circles around me on her way to a convincing win. Humiliated, I dropped to sit and gasped for breath. She smirked and challenged me to another game. I waved her off, mumbling [...]
I recently lost one of the great storytellers of my life. My Dad’s mom passed away after what I think most people would consider a good run. For 104 years the world threw at her a kitchen sink full of good, bad, strange and funny shots that she took with strength and without scramble. It [...]
Staples Center, here in my home town, is a lot like Twitter. You’re curious about how it works and once you’re in, you become addicted. Your own network of friends in the social network multiplies. And as you spend more time there, you’re constantly amazed how closely connected we all are. You see a celebrity [...]
There was one exclusive group that I’d always longed to join: the Aunt Club. Having worshipped my own globe-trotting, sports-car-driving uncle, I couldn’t wait to sit on the other side of the fence. My Uncle believed that we should always see the world with wonder. We summered at his house often and I grew up [...]
This past summer was a hot one; I was in constant need of hydration. Chugging glass after glass of plain water quickly became boring, and soda is gross to me (and I live in a small home with little storage). I needed a different option if I was to survive the season with a proper [...]
I feel the pain of reality show contestants everywhere, when I go online. But in the long history of humiliation as entertainment, my experience on the Internet barely registers on the torture meter. Our ancestors were a bunch of twisted, sadistic sociopaths. Google the history of the term “Roman Holiday,” or when you’re worried about [...]
What do you think of when you think of breakthrough innovation? Is it the sort of thing that creates a fundamental shift in the business, opens up a new sector in the marketplace, or changes the way people view a category? Often the answer is based on a new technology, seemingly moreso today than ever [...]
What do you think of when you think of breakthrough innovation? Is it the sort of thing that creates a fundamental shift in the business, opens up a new sector in the marketplace, or changes the way people view a category? Often the answer is based on a new technology, seemingly moreso today than ever [...]
The truth is that pretty much every marketing tactic ever devised started out as breakthrough. It’s just that after decades—and in some cases centuries—of repeated deployment, we take them for granted. Things as mundane as space ads, electric billboards, direct marketing, giveaways, sports endorsements, jingles—all of these were considered innovations when they first came to [...]
In books, films and life I’ve always had a soft spot for the antihero—the complex personality who adds dimension to an otherwise straightforward story. After all, I love Los Angeles, which is a town built on the contrary. That preference for contradiction has made me fond of some people who were as bad and morally [...]