Category Archives: Uncategorized

It is getting to be that time of year again, the running of the Smelt. The breaking temperatures of late winter means the smelt will be heading upstream to party like it is 2022. Their annual river bacchanal is needed to create the next generation of bait fish for the big fish in Gitche Gumee. While the Smelt get their freak on, humans get to enjoy of the joyful side benefit of the annual Smelt Run; the annual Smelt Fry.

A Smelt Fry is a welcome distraction from the run of the mill Lenten fish fry your local Lions or Kiwanis or Volunteer Firemen or etc… are throwing to raise funds. A traditional fish fry means all-you-can-eat deep fried cod (if you are lucky) or pollock (maybe) along with all the fixins’. The problem with the traditional fish fry is the fried fish. As I’ve alluded to; once that fillet is battered and deep fried, you could be eating carp for all you know. Fried fish is only as good as the word of the person frying it. But a Smelt Fry is another thing entirely, because smelt are small enough to clean with a scissors and are fried bones and all, you know you eating smelt. The satisfying crunch of the little bones (and sometimes the look on the little smelts’ face) is an unmistakable pleasure.

And you still get all you can eat fixins’.

You can put your money on groundhogs or robins or whatever else you look to as a sign of spring. As far as I know, when I’m crunching the smelt, I know spring is just around the corner.

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I .. I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” – Robert Frost

Popular culture and conventional wisdom are safe roads. For someone looking to live an existence safe from controversy and conflict – looking to fit in and not subject oneself to ridicule – going down the well trod path is the best way to go. When you stay on the interstate highway, you will never get lost. If you are a safe road driver, a go-with-the-flow kind of person, you need to read no further, have a good day!

The rougher road is not easy. Traveling down a different path from the crowd can be frightening and lonely.  If one chooses to deviate from conventional wisdom, one is opened up to criticism, ridicule or being called weird or a deviant. Even though the journey on the less traveled road provides more challenge it also makes one stronger. Off the beaten path, one can find richer, more vibrant scenery; one can get closer to the fauna and look the wildlife directly in the eye.

Living your life on the road less traveled may mean you miss this week’s episode of Dancing with the Stars or The Bachelor or whatever other mass culture crap they are selling this week, but it ultimately will mean you are much more of your own person. It is never too late to take a turn down the road less traveled by and to start living a life of your own making. But since you read this far, you already know that, don’t you?

Al Franken today is a US Senator. Recent events have shown him to also be a venal, obnoxious and profane pig. For those who have been paying attention for the past 40 years, we’ve known he has always has been a venal, obnoxious and profane pig.

If one watched the trash he spread on Saturday Night Live masquerading as comedy or read any of the obscene character assassination books he wrote, one would have known he only saw other people as objects for his self-promotion. Is it any wonder then that he also saw women only as objects for abuse and ridicule sexually? Now that he has been exposed, will he suffer consequence for his attitudes and actions?

Having no observable conscience or character, he has refused to step down from his seat of power; this is not a surprise. Why would we expect any different from such a man? No, he will hang on in the Senate, hoping something else come along to take the spotlight off of his misdeeds. He knows that the attention spans of today’s internet addicted news consumers are less than 24 hours in most cases – a week at most. He also knows that by the time he stands for election again in 2020, this will all be a distant memory in the minds of Minnesota voters. Those same voters who vaulted a venal, obnoxious pig into the US Senate in the first place.

Way to go Minnesota. I hope Al Franken is making you proud.

I’ve experienced a personal tragedy. My Amazon Prime membership ended today. I’ll get over it of course, but according to Amazon, I have become an apostate. I’ve opted out of the matrix, I’ve refused to be assumed into the BORG. I’ve made my first moves towards disengaging from the Brave New World into which Amazon, Google, Facebook and all the other on-line entities are attempting to move me.

I no longer wish to enrich Jeff Bezos and support his campaign to control every aspect of my life. I no longer wish to enable Amazon. I’ve decided to resist.

The big question is no longer: “Should I be on Facebook, or My Space, or Linked In? (or one of the many other social networking sites “out there”)  That question has been answered in the affirmative – for anyone who wishes to remain relevant in the “New Economy” of the early 21st Century. Most “experts” suggest that one should chose 3 of these sites and concentrate your efforts on those three.

The new big question is: “What the heck should I do when I get there?”

I have been asked this question a number of times in the past 6 months. The best answer I have to date is: spend time and learn your way around.

Each of these sites has its own culture, applications and “niche” for your marketing plan. However, there is no “one size fits all” strategy for using these sites in your marketing. The only way to know how to use Linked In for your business is to play with it. Facebook has been used successfully by many to help grow their business, but it took them hours and hours to find what worked for them. These sites can be a great way to connect and get your message out to others; but you gotta “tweet” if you are going to Twitter.

Consider the time spent to be an investment in your education. At least you can attend class at your desk.