Here we are with half of the year behind us. First of all, how the heck did that happen? Time flies faster than Kacey the Siberian scarfs down her food, and she’s an epic eater!

Are you a person who sets goals with timelines attached to them, and if so, are you working on a goal right now? Goal-set...

Saturday was the first day of summer in the northern hemisphere and the first day of winter in the southern. That makes this a good time to think about change.

I’ve been thinking about change a lot lately, as I’ve been house-hunting and packing things in my current home. As the child of a career mi...

Have you ever watched dogs playing together? It’s so entertaining to watch them play – right up until it’s not. Maybe you’ve seen this – two dogs playing together and suddenly they’re squared up and threatening to fight. It’s tough to see what changed the dynamic unless you’re a dog body language ex...

Hi {{ first_name }},

Have you ever lost a pet? Can you remember the physicalness of the pain – the pain in your chest, the hollowness of your being, the emptiness in your home? What is that? Why is that?  

There’s a reason the phrase “suffer a loss” is used. It’s because it’s accurate. Research on...

What do service clubs, civic clubs, and dog clubs have in common? Two major things, it turns out.

Are you in a club, or maybe more than one? It could be Rotary, Toastmaster, PTA, or your local kennel club – do you belong? If so, maybe you’ve noticed a couple of things – the club is smaller than it ...

This week’s newsletter might make you smile. This week’s newsletter might make you angry. This week's newsletter might do both and it also might just surprise you with information you didn’t know.

Today is National Rescue Dog Day. It’s a day that highlights the many dogs in animal shelters, awaitin...

I love writing this newsletter – it’s an excuse to learn things for me and a way to spread good and potentially useful information to you.

I learned today about an observance I’ve never heard of, and maybe you haven’t, either. Tomorrow is Donate a Day’s Wages to Charity Day. It’s been around since ...

Once upon a time, in living rooms, backyards, and sunlit windowsills, a team of tiny, furry (and sometimes feathered or finny) guardians set out on a mission: to keep their humans healthy and happy.

They came in every shape and size: bold dogs with wagging tails, cool kitties with slow blinks, hams...

If you knew it could be granted, what would you wish for? Would your wish change if you knew you were approaching the end of your life here on Earth?

The most common wishes are for health, happiness, love, and success. That’s what most adults would wish for. How about children facing a life-threate...

The earth is getting colder and it’s a dire emergency. Wait – maybe the earth is getting warmer and it’s a dire emergency. In the past 50 years, climate change has been front and center, with strident voices trumpeting many different points of view. How can we know what’s right or what changes truly...

Do you work in an office? Is it a ghost town today? Welcome to IRS Appreciation Day.

OK, so I made that holiday up. We might as well appreciate them – we’ve been stuck with them for our entire lives and probably will be for the rest of our lives.

Maybe the holiday should be National Procrastinator...

When was the last time you were in your local library? That lovely sanctuary filled with silence, books, knowledgeable people, and the educational resources of the world at your fingertips remains one of the best-kept secrets paid for by tax dollars. 

Since you’re paying for it anyway, why not chec...

A million years ago, I read a book. It changed the way I thought about making money. It changed the way I thought about a lot of things. 

The book is “Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow” by Marsha Sinetar. It was reasonably revolutionary in 1989, when it came out. Two generations who had be...

A million years ago, I read a book. It changed the way I thought about making money. It changed the way I thought about a lot of things. 

The book is “Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow” by Marsha Sinetar. It was reasonably revolutionary in 1989, when it came out. Two generations who had be...

Today let’s play with imagination. Pretend you’re five years old, have unlimited resources, and no one to tell you that you can’t do whatever it is you’re thinking of doing.

Power, right? Fun, right? What will you create?

If that question stumped you, you’re not alone. Many people freeze when aske...

Quick – what did you have for breakfast? What will you have for lunch or dinner? Snacks? When you think about your pantry, do you have some food in there? How about your refrigerator and freezer – food of any kind, even if it’s just a slightly moldy lemon, some ketchup, and a half-full quart of ice ...

As I sit here eating yet another Samoa, I remember my single-digit days when I’d don my green uniform, carefully arrange my badge-encrusted sash, and head out to knock on neighbors’ doors, Girl Scout cookie order sheet in hand. There was an iceberg in my stomach and my knees knocked as I pressed the...

Have you ever thought about harnessing up 16 sled dogs, putting them in front of a sled loaded with dog food, survival gear, and a few protein bars for you, and heading out for a week or two into arctic weather, 1128 miles of rugged trail conditions, and wildlife that might want to hurt you?

Yeah, ...

Do you remember a decade ago when ice bucket challenge videos were all the rage? Lost in the “I wanna do that too” frenzy of Insta-copy cats was a very poignant story: the story of a man with ALS, his dear friend Yvette, and their desire to live as happily as possible for as long as possible by foll...

There are people celebrating across America and around the world today. It’s both Global and National Drink Wine Day, and it’s a great reason to look at whatever it is you love from a different vantage point.

We’ll start with wine: people who love wine so much that they’ve made a hobby or a busines...

Have you ever trained a puppy? You got this squirmy, silly, sweet ball of fluff and suddenly you either had to teach the puppy rules and manners, or else you had to live with the random chewing and smelly little mistakes that happen without training.

For most of the last century, dog training was b...

Today I’m putting on my dog show judge hat while we talk about perfectionism. Unexpected, I know – this weekend, accomplished dog sports enthusiasts are converging on Madison Square Garden and the Jacob K. Javitz Center in New York City for the Westminster Kennel Club dog show. The best of the best ...

Have you ever heard the phrase “delicious anticipation?” This is one of those times when two words make magic when they get together, because they so perfectly describe something wonderful.

Delicious anticipation – what is it, why do you want it, and how do you get it?

Delicious anticipation was t...

Today, let’s talk about hugs. Are you a hugger? I am. Whenever I feel a connection to someone my default is to want to hug them. Not everyone’s a hugger, though, so occasionally the hug impulse has to be squelched.

Why do humans hug? Have you ever wondered about that? Turns out, hugging is addictiv...

‘Tis the season that those of us in the northern hemisphere bundle up. And those of us with dogs, especially the small and relatively hairless ones, bundle their dogs up, too. If that’s you today, you have unwittingly celebrated today’s fun holiday – it’s Dress Up Your Pet Day.

I’m not ashamed to a...

Last week a dear friend asked me a question, and I’m going to ask you the same one: do you make New Year’s resolutions?

My answer is no. I’ve been on this planet long enough to have experienced my pattern of good intentions and so-so results when trying to make life changes in the middle of winter,...

Oh, we human beings cherish endings and beginnings. From baby showers to funerals, housewarmings to homecomings, and of course to the hoopla around the changing of the year, the celebrations for the milestones in our lives show us just how important these events are.

But why?

Many of the tradition...

Oh, the lovely traditions of the holidays. For some, this time of year is all about festive traditions, and for some, it’s more about their religious affiliation. No matter what or why you celebrate, not every aspect of your holidays is made of wildflowers and unicorns. For a lot of people, there ar...

Think back to your childhood, and what you remember from Decembers past. Chances are, at least a few of your memories include sweets. Maybe your mom was like mine, and she made holiday cookies, candies, and pies. What did she make, and what was your favorite? Do you make it now, and if so, how do yo...

If there’s a high-water mark for brains, Alfred Nobel probably etched it. In his last will, signed in Paris on November 27^th, 1895, he left the bulk of his fortune to a special prize fund. He passed away just over a year later, and his legacy lives on today with the awarding of this year’s Nobel Pri...

Are you stuffed full of holidays like I am? In the span of six days, we’ve celebrated Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and now Giving Tuesday. It’s been an expensive, exhausting six days for a lot of people!

As the calendar rolls around to the end of another year, this time between Thanksgi...

Day after tomorrow is Thanksgiving, traditionally the eating-est holiday in America. Attendance at family gatherings is expected, and woe be unto the newly married couple with parents, step-parents, grandparents and step-grandparents who all expect them to show up hungry to multiple, separate, famil...

Maybe the Grinch had something to do with it. Or maybe it was the late Joan Rivers, a comedienne famous for her “Can we talk” question as she launched into pointed, comical griping about someone who was annoying her.

November 19^th – today – is Have a Bad Day Day. And the Voice of Wagaliciousness, t...

Are you a veteran? Thank you! Are you the parent or sibling or child or spouse/partner of a veteran? Thank you! And yes, Veterans Day was yesterday – there are not enough ways to thank those who choose to serve in ways that most of us wouldn’t. Veterans are vital to the survival of our country – tha...

(disclaimer – this post is about process, not any party or political candidate)

It’s OK if you feel proud today. It’s OK if you feel disgusted today. It’s OK if you feel anxious today. It’s Election Day in the United States, and we’re anything but united.

I worked in radio for nearly 4 decades. I ...

What are you passionate about? What do you do to share your passion? When you’re sharing your passion, do you feel like you’re in your sphere of genius? 

Today I’m at the Saint Bernard Club of America’s National Specialty, a huge annual show held this year in Loveland CO. Do I have a Saint Bernard?...

Do you have a friend who’s persnickety about the “ethnic correctness” of food? One of mine refuses to go to a very popular Italian restaurant owned by a Middle Eastern man, not because of the man’s ethnicity but because his dishes are fragranced with more than just garlic and basil. She believes tha...

Six seasons. One hundred eighty episodes. Syndicated in dozens of languages in countries worldwide. Almost 75 years since it debuted, the I Love Lucy show still attracts over 40,000,000 viewers each year.

How’s that for a silly half-hour sitcom?

Turns out, the sitcom created as a showcase for Luci...

When you were 7 or 8, what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a nurse. Nurses were glamorous – they wore white uniforms with matching white shoes and hats, and I was convinced that’s what I’d be. It wasn’t long before I was on to the next thing I wanted to be – a veterinarian, then ...

Do you have a dog? Maybe more than “a” dog? No judgement – my life has been dog-filled for as long as I can remember. The family dog was a mixed breed cutie, my dream dog was a Siberian Husky, and I got my first one when I was 20. I haven’t been without a Siberian since, and most of the time I’ve ha...

It’s the end of September. The END of September – how did that happen? If it’s true that time flies when we’re having fun, we must be having a LOT of fun, right?

The Presidential election is in six weeks. Thanksgiving is in two months. The first night of Hanukkah and Christmas Day are the same date...

Two hundred thirty seven years ago, in a document with forty-five hundred words, thirty-nine men took their lives in their hands, put quill pen to parchment paper, and defined a new way to look at governance. Today is Constitution Day, a celebration of the definition of the United States. For eleven...

Hi {{ first_name }},

I don’t want to overwhelm you with this, but do you feel overwhelmed a lot? If I gave you an exhaustive list of what creates feelings of overwhelm in people, just reading the list could overwhelm you!

So…let’s not do that, shall we?

Feeling overwhelmed is very common. Each da...

Responsibility. That word can cause feelings of dread, perseverance, or pride. It can make your heart sing or sink. It can make you feel very grown-up or like you want to ditch adulting forever. How can so many emotions be wrapped in one simple word?

The answer – because it’s not simple.

Responsib...

Do you love dogs? Yeah, me, too. We’re in good company – a third of the world’s households have at least one dog, and most people consider their dog (or dogs) to be part of the family.

That describes my family – we had a dog as soon as Mom thought my youngest brother was old enough to understand th...

Have you ever listened to the radio?

Since it’s 2024, I need to tighten up that question a bit: have you ever listened to terrestrial radio on a device that was picking up the signal out of thin air? Today is National Radio Day, and today, terrestrial radio is getting kind of quaint as people choos...

How far left are you?

Wait…I’m not asking about your politics, I’m asking about your handedness. Today is all about being a leftie (not leftist) and what that means to you. If you’re right-handed, like 87% of Earth’s human residents, this newsletter is for you, too, because you’re farther left than...

There’s a 40^th anniversary today that you might not know about. Have you ever been part of one of the “first Tuesday in August” neighborhood festivals? Maybe your neighborhood or town had a cookout, or a little parade? Chances are, police officers were everywhere at the festival.

Not only were they...

Do you have friends? Then today is your day! Today is the International Day of Friendship and this issue of the weekly newsletter explores the mysteries of our friendships.

There are two sides to friendship – the positives and the not-so-positives. Because every single person is human, we bring bot...

Every four years, we Americans forget who we are. We forget that we have power. We forget how to use that power. We forget to be civil as we use our voices and our fingertips, and sadly, sometimes fists and other weapons, in our attempts to move hearts and minds to our way of thinking.

You can make...