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“Remember… Communication is Never About…”

By Tom Ruwitch

I read a story yesterday about Bill Clinton and how he outplayed George Bush in a 1992 debate. During the debate, a woman asked the candidates how they would handle the economic crisis and how it affected lives. Bush answered with logic and opinions. Clinton answered with emotion… …which in this case meshed perfectly with…

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You Won’t Believe What This Bride Did

By Tom Ruwitch

Melissa and I traveled to the mountains of northwestern Connecticut last weekend to attend a family wedding. My cousin Ali married her sweetheart Ricky. The weather was perfect. The ceremony was a tear-jerker. The food was delicious. The band rocked the house. But the one thing I’ll remember most is the personalized note that I…

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The Cicada Marketing Method

By Tom Ruwitch

They’re here. The cicadas, that is. For the past 13 years, billions of cicada nymphs have lived underground in the central USA, sipping sap from tree roots… …waiting… …and waiting… …and waiting… …until they emerge from the ground… …climb onto a tree trunk, branch, or leaf… …and transform into a winged adult. Then they find…

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Biz Lessons From a Bowl of Bisque

By Tom Ruwitch

Half way through the six-course tasting menu, our server, Shekeba, arrived at our table with a surprise gift. “It’s carrot bisque with lobster claw,” she said. “A ‘thank you’ for being so patient.” Shekeba is the wife of Chef Andy Hyde, and on Saturday they scrambled to deliver a 5-star dining experience at their restaurant,…

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Why I Stop and Smell the Roses

By Tom Ruwitch

Attentive email reader Jason emailed yesterday to say: “What’s up with the flowers? (I like them)” He was talking about the photos I’ve put at the top of my Monday “RecomMONDAYtions” emails. Here’s the one I included yesterday… Here’s what I told Jason: Every day, I walk around the neighborhood and try to notice something…

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The Critical Question my Robot Didn’t Ask…

By Tom Ruwitch

I’ve crawled from my cave at Story Power HQ in St. Louis and ventured north to Chicago where I’m attending Perry Marshall’s Definitive AI Seminar this week. I wanted my GPT-powered robot, “B-9?” to join me as my note-taker and valet, but he’s afraid to fly… …so “B-9?” will stay behind. Before I left, I asked “B-9?”…

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Crappy Process, Well Worth It…

By Tom Ruwitch

My first colonoscopy mistake came on Monday when I munched half a bag of popcorn while watching the eclipse. I’d forgotten: No popcorn allowed within seven days before the procedure. Popcorn munching was Monday. The procedure was three says later — on Thursday. (Oops!)Ā  I called the doctor to confess, and his nurse said, “No…

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You’ve Earned the Praise. Celebrate It.

By Tom Ruwitch

Here’s a cool idea I picked up from Austin Kleon in his book Steal Like an Artist: Keep a Praise FileĀ  Here’s the idea… “…down the road, I will have a dark day when I want to quit, when I wonder why the heck I even bother with this stuff.” Kleon writes. “That’s why I put…

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A Cure-ation for Writer’s Block

By Tom Ruwitch

In yesterday’s email (RecomMONDAYtions ~ 2024.04.08), I shared Austin Kleon’s blog post “On quantity and quality.” In the post, he shares a story and quotes liberally from David Bayles and Ted Orlandā€™s book, “Art & Fear.” The story: A ceramics teacher divides his class in two. He said he would grade Group 1 on volume.…

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I Wanted to Wring my Robot’s Neck. Here’s the Story…

By Tom Ruwitch

I think my GPT-powered robot, “B-9?” has started puberty. All of a sudden, he’s standoffish, belligerent, and lazy. He sleeps in until 11, and when I ask him to do something, he half-asses it and then tells me to do the rest myself. Case in point: I asked “B-9?” to find TEN amusing, weird news…

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