Last night was my parents’ 60th Wedding Anniversary!

Not yet a full 28 years into the journey our married life, my wife and I certainly can recognize this as an incredible accomplishment. We are in current season of spousal disillusionment. So much so that we are contemplating dissolution.

One of the reasons why this is the case is because people are different. We all have different ideas, values and beliefs, actions, which ultimately generate different results.

Originally, it all seemed so clear. The traditional approach was a distinct separation of duties. The man was the provider; the hunter of the most important substantive game – money.

The female? Well, unlike our original ancestors who spent time as a group taking care of the hearth and the kids in safe numbers, females increasingly spent time at home alone.

My father grew up the last of 11 on a dairy farm in northern Minnesota to depression era parents. His childhood imprint was that of seeing his stern father do all of the work outside in the field and his loving mother do all the cooking, cleaning, and raising of the kids inside. Their bathroom was a “two-seater” outhouse stocked with a Sears Roebuck catalog for toilet paper.

My mother’s experience was quite different. Her father had originally been in the FBI and after “leaving the farm” became vice president of a now closed, Minneapolis based department store – Powers. My grandmother had the overflowing closets and clothes room filled with many clothing items (several of which were never worn) with labeled boxes demonstrating where he worked.

Last night, my father provided the story of how they met. It was my father’s last year of dental school and he and a few of his dental fraternity mates decided to put aside their studies and go to the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house where my mother was serving as one of the hostesses.

The following week his fraternity was going to be hosting a Hawaiian luau so he decided to ask for her to phone number and to join him. He then went on to relate more about the particulars of how he arranged to pick her up as a double date because he didn’t have a car (the details of which I fail to recollect). Apparently, when they went to pick up my Mom his friend and driver laid on the horn by way of summons.

Essentially, he was willing to tolerate some tardiness, and she was willing to look past the loud blast. The Hawaiian luau apparently was “fire.” Quite literally, they had a firepit out on the fraternity’s front lawn where they roasted a full pig.

How does this all relate to my folk’s relationship and furthermore to the one that I have with my spouse?

Respectfully, that’s nobody’s business but theirs and ours respectively!

As Bill Maher oft says: “New Rule!”

Unless both spouses invite you into the intimacies of their relationship, keep your nose out of it.

Notably, I suspect Bill Maher’s prose may be a bit more emphatic!

More ironic yet, if my spouse reads the below, she may summarily determine that I have broken said “new rule.”

Tomorrow, I ride out on the Seattle to Portland bike race. It is also my son’s 21st Birthday!

Like Mom, I have an adventurous spirit. I have lived in China on two occasions. My initial time was before marriage when I was studying, lightly working, and met my wife. The second time was after both of our kids were born and I took a role as International Manager & Corporate Counsel at a Real Estate Development Company in Hangzhou.

When that role “wound down,” I still wanted to make life in China work and was living out of a suitcase in Shanghai in an attempt to make it happen while my more practical Chinese bride recognizing that education in the United States was much more suitable for the kids, determined that we had to matriculate our daughter in kindergarten back in my stateside home since college – Seattle.

Both reason and emotion got the better of me and I returned to the states for good shortly before Christmas 2007. The memory of my daughter and then son and finally my wife all happily running to greet me at SeaTac’s international baggage claims is one of my top 5 memories.

A lot has changed in the past 17 years. Like my father, I chose to self-employ.

It is my understanding that dentistry is a profession that has one of the highest rates of suicide. I am certain that thoughts of suicide never once entered into his mind.

See, another story which my father related was that of taking a vocational research class seriously when he was in 9th grade. He knew farming was too much work for too little money. He also wanted a job for which he would never be replaced which led him to consider the professions.

His choices? Medicine, Mortuary Sciences, or Dentistry. Medicine was going to take him too long to study. Mortuary Science was out for unstated reasons. He settled on Dentistry and made it his life’s work.

Me?

Well, I doubt that there are statistics on the rate of suicide amongst the subset of lawyers that practice neighbor law. However, I do know that “but for” my committed decision not to mar my children’s life with the suicide of their father, I would not yet be above ground.

Having cultivated the superpower in bringing people to peace by whatever means it takes – which generally meant my own self-sacrifice – I finally got wise to the fact that there was simply not enough value in fighting over “5 Blades of Grass” especially when there are legal tools to resolve all conflicts when both parties are willing to be reasonable. It is a completely nihilistic endeavor!

See this is how it really is situate …

Boundary disputes are an external manifestation of an internal problem!

Now though, I am taking that idea beyond that of neighbors fighting over something insignificant and instead look at the state of our nation!

Though most are unwilling to recognize it – regardless of their political bent – we at the level of the individual and that too of either political party need to be willing to recognize the humanity in “the other.”

These are the marriages which really need work!

But, if everyone is tuned to WIIFM – i.e. “What’s In It For Me” and unwilling to take even a moment to listen to the other’s station … more akin to what Bill Maher would say – “We’re Fucked!”

What’s the solution?

I don’t know. I’m winging it here.

But I am riding out early tomorrow in the Seattle to Portland Bike Race on a borrowed Renovo Bike.

Though not at all trained up for it and coming off a broken left wrist which happened on Tax Day – perhaps symbolically because Ceasar is wanting more of a cut of me now too …

This ride is “proof of concept” that I can go great distances. And if there had been sufficient time I would have done so … Flying the Flag – “Just Friends.”

There just wasn’t enough time!

And there isn’t enough time to celebrate my son’s 21st birthday to accomplish my aim.

One’s 21st Birthday doesn’t come along but once. It’s a significant milestone. It is the legal division between childhood and adulthood … but it is still arbitrary.

Real adulthood commences when we take responsibility for our own well-being and increasingly for that of others.

I believe I have done this by sacrificing my own well-being for others. Like my Mom, I grounded myself for the betterment of my children.

Unfortunately, my time horizon is much further than theirs and so the results are not nearly as comprehensible as that of their incredible mother who is The True Enjolie Woman!

That’s all bullshit they may say. Well, it’s my bullshit I guess and if figuring out a way to work toward peace while having masochistic fun is irresponsible, call me an irresponsible father.

I will be thinking about you all day tomorrow, Ethan, Abby, and Jenny Lee.

I’ll be thinking about all the things I wish I could have done better, but now can’t.

I’ll also be thinking about all the things that I can do better, and now will.

Have a happy 21st birthday without me. I hope one day you will allow me the privilege of working together with you and perhaps my grandchild to build a Renovo Bike.

Hopefully by then I will have figured out how to fly a flag behind it.

I certainly won’t require that you fly mine. As an adult you can fly your own!

Cheers! BZ/JUSTICE SMILES, pllc

Artist and friend Charles Sherman created this truly amazing image!

“Just Friends” is its apt name.

While channeling his “Creatix Artist, Kreatia Kali”, Charles originally produced this piece Acrylic on Canvas 36″ x 48″ in Q4 of 2024. But now …

LET US BE UNITED in considering it a new United States flag!

This Fourth of July weekend, please take a moment to suspend disbelief and imagine the leaders of America’s two parties deciding to stop “buggering” each other and to instead decide to recognize that there is value in the other worthy of respect.

Respect is a great starting point. Could a modicum of mutual respect then serve the purpose of starting the extension of mercy, dignity, and kindness which might lead in turn lead to grace, and perhaps ultimately even love?

I know, I know that seems impossible. But perhaps we should take a bit more of a moment to examine why.

Pointedly, we might want to individually reflect on whether it is because these individuals are hellbent on destroying the other, or is it because “we” are the “split collective” which they serve?

In other words, to draw from the parlance of Abraham Lincoln, are we the “house divided?”

Is it not each of us who project all the evils onto “the other” leading and those lead by the opposing party while simultaneously retaining virtue to ourselves and our own party.

As a recovering neighbors’ real property, boundary dispute attorney, I can say without equivocation that nobody holds a monopoly on the truth.

Instead, through a glass darkly, I believe Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn author of The Gulag Archipeligo said it most correctly as …

If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?

Indeed! As a nation wouldn’t we be doing so much better if we refrained from ad hominem attacks, each of us individually and then in aggregate numbers from our respective political parties, and instead as “Just Friends” attacked domestic and international policy to determine the best course of action?

This is exactly the why, how, and what which originally drove the “American Experiment” … right?

It was not, is not, and never will be a clean process.

But, the Federalist Papers; the Declaration of Independence; the Constitution; were “litigated” on their merits as ideas, not on the basis of “Quota or Cult.”

These documents are our attempt to figure out how to live with each other by not merely surviving but by actually thriving.

Somewhere along the line, this understanding became lost; the current state of our political parties are merely the roll-up of our multitudinous expressions of value distilled into two aggregate forms seemingly diametrically opposed.

And that is actually a good thing!

See, where there is one … there is one other – the hermetic “Law of Polarity.”

Specifically, for there to be an “up”; there must be a “down”. For there to be an “in”; there must be an “out”. For there to be a “rich”; there must be a “poor”. For there to be a “black”; there must be a “white”.

Ohh Boy! That’s starting to get a bit sensitive. Yes, True That!

Regardless as to his policies, objectively one must be willing to give credit where credit is due to our 44th President. Barak Obama not only broke through to become the first Black President of the United States … he was able to become re-elected. That’s an amazing set of feats!

Regardless too as to his policies, again one must be willing to give credit where credit is due to our 45th President, who instead of being exiled and die at his version of St. Helena after a defeat along the lines of Napoleon’s Waterloo, Donald Trump regained the Presidency as our 47th. This too is an amazing set of feats!

Really concentrate on that though. Both leaders ran incredible gauntlets to become president … repeatedly.

These feats are are absolutely miraculous!

There is no other country in the world which is designed to produce these types of miracles.

We live in an absolutely miraculous county – Go USA!

So, this Fourth of July, regardless of which side of the political line you stand, try to cut away your animosity for those on the other side.

Yes, it kind of hurts. But, if you do it right you will find something even more valuable.

You will find that those on the other side of the line are also worthy of respect, mercy, dignity, kindness, grace, and perhaps even love.

And the craziest thing is … as you extend this to others, you will find that you are able to extend a bit more respect, mercy, dignity, kindness, grace, and perhaps even love … to yourself.

If you are willing to do that for others as well as yourself, “Fly the Flag!”

Happy Fourth of July! BZ/JUSTICE SMILES, pllc.

Last Sunday – 03/03, after having attended the conclusion of Seattle First Free Methodist Church, which is my parents and brother’s church home, I was so impressed with Pastor Craig’s step-by-step, liturgical meaning of the charge given immediately prior to the sacrament of Holy Communion that I decided to follow these members of my family of origin to their Samaritans meeting. Wow! I am glad I did.

Now, first I should scope back to indicate that in my work as a boundary dispute litigant and the attendant frustrations that attend to assisting people in their fight with neighbors, I have found my own church homes.

The first, the Magnolia Lutheran Church with its incredible woodwork which most impressively includes what I have come to call the “Resurrection Jesus” – a cross carving of Jesus which appears to be that of Jesus coming up victorious from the depths of hell with cup in hand to give a blessing as if he were some sort of svelte Buddha.

The 8:15 service at Magnolia Lutheran is very intimate and without the music which is included at their 10:00 service.

If I want music, on any particular Sunday, I then am (again) off to Magnolia Presbyterian for their 10:30 service.

Just as with the Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church has good sermons, but as I just intimated, what really takes it next level is the music. Pianist Robert Jones is a master throughout the sermons and he also provides phenomenal postludes after the Benediction – i.e. final words to ‘go out and serve with God’s Grace.”

Well as happenstance would have it, last Sunday the Lutheran Church’s main pastor was back in Chicago and his back-up had some sort of car issue to serve as a hang-up.

Notably, we did our best to work through the program and I even did my best to offer some comments about the three readings as a means of some sort of sermon. Bottom line though, our church experience concluded fairly promptly.

Would I redirect to the Presbyterian church alone? Well, no. They had a service “field-trip” of sorts lined up with Magnolia’s United Church of Christ to feed the homeless and admittedly I wasn’t sufficiently moved by the Holy Spirit to plan my participation the previous week, nor did in the moment feel sufficiently compelled to find out where this service event was going to take place either.

So, I opted for getting a bit of a snack from Magnolia’s Petit Pierre Bakery. Smartly, at least so I believe, I generated one box of “sumptions” – i.e. “sumptuous & scrumptious, portions of food – for my parents and brother who lives with them – who I knew were readying for church and another for my wife – who unaffiliated with any faith tradition – was digging into our taxes – a task nobody finds at at all sweet nor savory!

At any rate, after having our breakfast snack, I accented to their invitation to got to their Church and am glad that I did.

Ok, now returning to the story of Deana Porterfield.

SPU’s new president gave us a three-part presentation which she deftly mapped out broadly at the beginning of her comments. These were specifically: (a) her history – a curriculum vitae of sorts; (b) her call to serve as President of SPU; and (c) her leadership vision for SPU.

A. DEANA PORTERFIELD’S C.V.

First, in that she was introduced as a triathlete, the Samaritan’s speaker last Sunday took a moment to discount her accomplishment by mentioning that it was merely a sprint triathlon a number of years back in Santa Barbara, California.

She went on to mention that along with her husband Doug – who had been sitting next to her until she took the microphone from the podium to give her remarks – she had 2 grown children and 5 grandchildren all under the age of 8. Good start … Family First!

She then went back to relate that she had been adopted into a home of evangelicals who while she was in middle school divorced. At that time, each of their religious participation waned, but they insisted that she yet be involved.

By God’s Grace during this period of chaos in her life, she was approached to sight learn and play music – at least the chord progressions – at her Church. This did two things … it gave her something to do and served to spark her interest in music.

In turn, this interest in music lead her to an opportunity which was never a part of her contemplation – higher education. Her hometown was Watsonville, CA – the same hometown of Martinelli’s Cider – and she wasn’t originally destined to go much further.

See, young Deana’s father had not graduated from Highschool and her mother was a beautician. Upshot, she originally believed that graduating from Highschool was perhaps going to be a stretch. To consider going to college was – at least among her family – pure ‘crazy talk.’

But, that all changed when she was joined a field trip sponsored by her music department to Texas Tech during homecoming. WOW … Epiphany! “If this is what college is about … I’M ALL IN!!!”

She related that she did get into Texas Tech, but ultimately went to pursue music further at Azusa Pacific University (“APU”), which as an aside is this year celebrating its 125th Anniversary. See [HERE].

At this point in the President Porterfield made mention about her connection with Doug, but the author is unclear if she knew him while yet in Highschool or if they met on campus at APU. Regardless, it was clear that Doug was in higher classes than Deana while they both were attending APU. Doug’s musical ability surpassed hers.

Deana quickly related in accord with her Seattle Pacific University bio her ascension through the ranks to become the second highest administrator at APU as well as the fact that she ultimately secured her Masters in Organizational Management from APU before going on to The University of La Verne [See [HERE]] to secure her Ph.D. in that same discipline. In 2014, she was called to Rochester, NY to preside over Roberts Wesleyan and Northeastern Seminary. See [HERE].

B. PRESIDENT PORTERFIELD’S CALL TO SERVICE

President Porterfield in moving into the second part of her comments prefaced the same by indicating that each year she seeks to identify a verse from the Bible to serve as the theme. This year that verse is …

I am doing a new thing!

15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
    Israel’s Creator, your King.”

16 This is what the Lord says—
    he who made a way through the sea,
    a path through the mighty waters,
17 who drew out the chariots and horses,
    the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
    extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
18 “Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland. (Emphasis Added.)

Isaiah 43:15-19 – New International Version

Dr. Porterfield indicated that when a new opportunity to lead a Christian school quickly goes out to the presidents of all the other Christian schools throughout the nation. So, naturally she was in the know about the opportunity to lead SPU.

Her immediate thought was: “Man! Whoever goes to SPU … really needs to be called!”

[Unknown to the author at the time of her comments who wondered if this had anything to do with the SPU campus shooting in 2014 [See [HERE]], has through research come to recognize that this must be more systemically related to the school’s 38% drop in enrollment over the past decade generally attributed to SPU’s hiring prohibition of members of same-sex marriages and the pandemic.]

Nevertheless, in line with the bible theme she had chosen, she started to reflect on distinctions. This got her asking herself to examine the difference between the questions: “Do you not see it?” and “Do you not perceive it?

Continuing, she remarked, it’s easy to see ‘a big check coming in from a donor to the school.’

But what isn’t as easy to see, yet must be instead be perceived are intangibles like: ‘The great people who come on board the her mission as hires’ and ‘the pulse of the student body.’

Well, ultimately Dr. Porterfield was called to SPU and regarding the last comment she said what is so wonderful is that students on campus here are actually approaching her to solicit the prayers for and with her in her leadership role.

C. SPIRITUAL WARRIER PORTERFIELD’S FUTURE VISION

OK, I know … this “Spiritual Warrior” language may a bit over the top.

Nevertheless, this author believes that there is something to it which warrants its use, albeit certainly not self-assigned, by President Porterfield.

Lord don’t leave us. Don’t let our pilot light go out. Let it grow from 1 to 2 to multitudes.

Seattle is one of the most unchurched places in the nations. And SPU has not always received best light from the press. But, soon after she came, our new SPU President was approached for a story by the Seattle Times … oh boy! But, it worked out just fine. See [HERE].

After some further brief expressions of her view that we are involved in Spiritual Warfare which President Porterfield acknowledged her desire to develop more fully through future authorship on her own blog platform, she concluded with some comments about her inauguration itself.

This was a moving event for which she gave some personal insights also best left for her to share more publicly as she deems appropriate save for perhaps one observation.

As someone who started her faith journey many years ago as a troubled soul in a divorcing family through music, she provided the music director a song that she wanted performed – “He Will Hold Me Fast.” See [HERE].

And she concluded her remarks by saying that with the a slight pronoun turn … “If you had checked in on Friday [03/01’s Inauguration], you would have thought SPU was the most vibrant campus in America.”

What was that turn of pronouns?

On the last refrain of “He Will Hold Me Fast” everyone sang out “He Will Hold … US … Fast!”

Now, the author readily admits that he wasn’t at the inauguration, but here’s what came up on his feed as he closed out his comments. Listen & See [HERE].

God was at the President Deana Porterfield’s Friday, 2024.02.23 Inauguration … listening too!

—

Photo Credit: The Falcon. See [HERE].

Yesterday, the resumption of the regular calendar immediately after Leap Day, was to be anything but normal.

  • 8:30 – Coffee in Mukilteo with attorney mentor, colleague, & friend – Dubs Herschlip. See [HERE].
  • 10:30 – Land Surveyors’ Association of Washington (“LSAW”) Conference at the Tulalip Casino & Resort. See [HERE].
  • 11:00 – Service Call with Legal Match. See [HERE].
  • 4:00 – Dental appointment back in Seattle at Crown Hill. See [HERE].

Though not quite the excitement of Ray Liotta’s portrayal of Henry Hill in the helicopter scene in “Goodfellas,” this was going to be a big day. See [HERE].

Soon though, the need for decisive action would be much more compressed than even that high-flying portrayal.

About 6:50, I was just starting to take of my gym clothes readying for a shower before dashing off and I noticed a man was/had fallen behind me. He had passed with nothing more than a towel covering his waist and did the color of his face did not look good. Go time!

I called out for my locker-room mates to call 911. Three dashed over from the next bank of lockers and started to attend to him. Not worrying that I had no top on, I dashed to the front desk, and asked them to call 911 … they confirmed that they already had.

Returning to the locker room, I first called out: ‘Hey guys, help’s on its way. Let’s move this bench so there is plenty of room for the stretcher.’ Bench immediately gone.

Then, I remembered that I had seen Phil – a doctor that I had shared a return flight from Atlanta last Fall – swimming. So, while the others were attending to this fallen gentleman, I went straight to the pool.

Dr. Phil was almost just about to complete his lap and I was able to catch his attention before his turn. To my query: “Could you come to the locker room, there is a man there who has had a heart attack or seizure.” … Dr. Phil’s answer was simple: “Sure.”

He then got out of the pool and calmly came with me. By this time another gym member and doctor – Andy – was attending.

Together, they took over. Towels needed?! Towels appeared.

Dr. Phil took vitals inventory and started CPR compressions and mouth to mouth resuscitation while Dr. Andy raised their emergency patient’s legs.

Starting to get tired, trainer Alberto jumped in to relieve Phil of compression duties and my offer to keep this unfortunate man’s legs in the air was accepted.

Dr. Andy started to rifle through the locker of the downed man, stuffing his clothes into the man’s gym bag and soon found his main aim of securing the man’s wallet and phone.

Now, we had the man’s name: “Matt …”. These personal effects were passed out to a good Samaritan whose name I later discovered was Tim.

Tim called the last person with whom Matt had spoken. This gal, presumably from his work, knew Matt’s wife and got the message across of the situation and was advised to start making her way from their Mount Vernon home.

“Do you guy’s have a defibrillator?” Dr. Phil asked somewhere in all the commotion.

Someone said: “No.” And now, Dr. Andy was on top giving compressions.

Soon though, Alberto showed up with one and Dr. Phil was back at work.

Now it came down to the medics, would they make it on time?

Yet topless, I went back up to the front desk and asked what was going on. They said they were 4 blocks away. OK!

I’m going to take the elevator down and be waiting for them. Down to floor 2 which is the entrance most vehicles come in on. More importantly though from floor 2, we can also see out to the streetside at floor 1.

Approached by a couple of folks wanting to ride the elevator to the gym instead of taking the stairs, I told them we have a medical emergency. No fuss, both started their workouts 20 seconds earlier … they took the stairs.

Ambulance arrives at streetside floor 1. Down I go.

Four big guys in blue step step on and up we go.

“Ok, as you go out take a right and take another right past the front desk and the men’s locker room is again to the right.” The elevator opens at 4 and off they go.

“Ok, I’m going to go down again for the stretcher,” I said to the kid at the front desk.

“The stretcher is already here.”

“Really?!” Thinking to myself, how the hell would a stretcher have made it up there when I hadn’t been away from the only elevator. ‘Whatever.’

I went back to the locker room and had my answer. A plastic, yellow, handheld gurney was now in the locker room too.

Blue now attending. I counted 10 total. Though I didn’t have a sight line I believe they opened up Matt’s trachea to ease breathing, got him on an EKG, and also gave some sort of shot – epinephrine? But, even if I did have the sightline … I don’t know!

Dr. Andy gave his contact info to the paramedic with the computer. I asked him if he wanted Dr. Phil’s contact info too.

“Yes, could you ask him to come give it to me.”

So, back to the pool and Dr. Phil was just finishing his interrupted swim. So, that worked out.

Ultimately, the paramedics got Matt under a heavy clear plastic tarp and raised him to the real stretcher which had ultimately arrived. Strapped down, off they went.

Did Matt live or die? I think he was lucky, but I don’t know.

Whether he had or not. The picture above is the same either way!

Last task by blue, clear away the sharps … and make sure to watch the blood too.

Back to me. Shower, dress, call to Dubs, and the realization that I and another 20 – 30 people had spent 30 minutes of our lives for that of another – a good trade!

I arrived in Mukilteo right at 9:00. Though admittedly I wasn’t as calm as Dr. Phil.

“Form is Content.” Notice how Orca’s whale tale is an echo of the roof, or is it the other way around? At any rate the micro and macro imitate one another.

This house was an absolute wreck several years and two construction companies had false starts before they built this one less than 5 years ago. For proof, see [HERE].[1]

My immediate thought was why the heck would you ever do an inverted roof in that portion of the PNW where we have a lot of drizzling rain – Seattle.

Well, here we are with the roofing answer – Orca!

Again, Orca roofing’s whale tale is an echo of the roof itself, or is it the other way around?

One should hope that Orca is able to provide an adequate solution.

But, if the original design is faulty, well then how much can Orca really do?

It would seem that builders that place inverted roofs in the rainy northwest certainly assist roofers to stay in business.

Point here is to take care of the small details because they represent over time in a big way.

Again, the micro and macro meet!

Cheers! BZ/JUSTICE SMILES, pllc

[1] Amazingly, this post of the old house is 2 days off of being 5 years to the day!

Below is my note recently sent to the Seattle Men’s Book Club advocating to review this book this April 2024.

I had volunteered to host the club’s January meeting next Monday, but have bowed out because I decided to take a woodworking class which conflicts. Enjoy!

Gentleman –

I have received the Draft 2024 Selections list and wanting to (a) express my contrition for pulling out on hosting this month’s meeting; (b) soon reschedule in lieu; and (c) host the month that we will be reviewing my favorite book – The Ox-Bow Incident …

I would like to propose hosting review of Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s “The Ox-Bow Incident” on Monday, April 15.

April’s draft book selection is The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman (320 pages).

That’s a compelling choice because big changes happen in the Spring … and it would be able to think ahead about the future implications of AI.

Yet, I would argue that Tilburg’s classic (288 pages) is an even better choice for April this year.

The book explores “mob justice” and I have come to understand it as the crucifix story provided in the form of a western.

Notably, “The Ox-Bow Incident” was published in 1940 and demonstrated the need for people not to get caught up taking on the passions of the crowd … as was the case in Germany.

I believe that the timeless message of stopping to think as to what is the truth, instead of just allowing the crowd to passionately sway opinions, would be a great idea to discuss well ahead of the election season.

As a final not incidental aside, our discussion date would fall in between Easter (March 31) and Passover (April 22), so though I am a gentile … I would like to attempt to make our meal something on the order of a seder – and in doing so remember that the Last Super was the Passover Seder.

Regarding dinner preparations, I would be willing to take advice. If my enthusiasm is misguided, please advise … we may in addition/in lieu consider how to make the meal suitable for review of a Western novel.

Perhaps you all could discuss this on Monday when you meet and advise if my offer is acceptable.

Sincerely, BZ/JUSTICE SMILES, pllc

Long before Simon Sinek beseeched us to “start with why”, Napoleon Hill declared identifying one’s “Major Definite Purpose” as paramount in the development of sustained desire and all the benefits that flow therefrom.

According to Hill and his myriad immediate and derivative follower’s, success is largely defined by the clarity of one’s vision and faithful and persistent action to achieve the same. Yes, it is true that organized planning is important. However, between it and the clarity of one’s purpose, vision, and goal(s), the set of the later are far more important. Why?

Because a clear, meaningful vision is what gets people to come together to do the hard, dirty, and sometimes damnable work required to get a job done.

The question then becomes, who is the one to do this job of creating the vision? Answer: EVERYONE! True, it is the leader’s overarching master vision which must be clearly communicated. But, then each contributor – from the “bottle washer” straight to the “head chef” – must also have a vision of that which they want to accomplish … and how it serves as an integral part of the whole.

My personal and professional experience includes work as the only non-Chinese member of a real estate development firm. That was an incredible experience in which I learned about group dynamics. Believe me its business expression is not a panacea.

The problem encountered is that all decisions appeared to be made at or very close to the top. And so, while the team was willing to work much closer together than a Western team, any benefits which may have been gleaned from that advantage were more than dissipated by the perceived need to micro-manage.

What a clear master vision and integrated individual professional visions does then is to ALLOW the company to progress as quickly as possible. But, is this where it stops?

Not, if the start-up wants to not only get off the launch pad, but also out of orbit and fully on mission. See, it is the identification of roles and future goals which allows this along with attendant procedural documentation.

And this often for the true start-up entrepreneur can often be not only the most difficult and painful part. Start-ups by their very nature are flexible. They seek to provide maximal value in new product and service arenas. But, building and certainly scaling will not come without clearly cutting out that which is not most viable.

It’s not easy. But, perhaps the best analogy that I know to illustrate how to successfully navigate the process comes from Jim Collins. He suggests that businesses should start by firing BBs until the target is fully defined and recognized as profitable. Then, start shooting cannon balls.

And here’s the point. Cannon balls can only be produced in mass with procedure.

So, recapping. Identify, the purpose and vision, dial in on the goal, clarify the roles and goals, and then … FIRE AWAY!  

I just got back from my Woodworking class! I had a blast and at this point love every bit about it. As I indicated in a previous post, I suddenly fell in love with wood bicycles and realized that I need to bring this into my life.

Now, this may seem crazy or at least done on a whim. Though, I don’t thinks so. See, I have had it my goal to identify my goal for the last several months of active pursuit and for years prior to that as well.

So, when I found my goal … I decided to quickly swing into action. And one of those actions was to sign up for Wood Working II.

Wait, what? Why didn’t you sign up for Wood Working I. Oh, that’s easy … the class was full.

And when you are on fire, you just will not take “No” for an answer. So, I looked at the next level of class offered and noticed that it seeks people who took wood working I … or have equivalent experience.

Well heck! I built a beautiful canoe paddle back in 7th or 8th grade shop. In fact, you will see it in that picture above.

Not so much of a canoe paddle now though right. You are correct!

Around a month in to my start in personal development back in 2019 with Bob Proctor, there was the first of what would be a series of 3 snow storms that hit Seattle.

Now at the time, I was following a headstrong protocol of running down, up, down, and finally back up Seattle’s Magnolia Neighborhood’s Big Hill – Dravus!

And being the headstrong guy that I am … I went out in the snow, fell down and seriously sprained and possibly broke my left ankle.

Response? I brought it on and did a full 8 circuits of that hill!

That’s right! I don’t allow myself to suffer much pain … but, I seem to be damn good at suffering fools … or at least the fool of me.

Continuing, I ultimately was on my way up to the February consultants training with Bob Proctor and needed a cane … what to do.

Now, spend regular money for something like that … not on your life, that’s “very expensive” … and I certainly didn’t feel that I was worth the expense.

Then it dawn on me that I could use a paddle to make a cane.

Now, as a not incidental aside. My father took over and completed a cedar strip canoe that one of his family members had given up as too difficult.

In fact, I still have that canoe hanging out in our garage.

And with it are several different canoe paddles … all of which are generic.

But, I knew that molesting his property would never do. Solution, I decided to molest my own!

Kind of funny in that I justified it as creating a cane which I could give to my father and a breadboard to my wife as gifts.

Oh, and here I should not fail to mention that this was right about the time that the hammering commenced as to the stupidity of me being ‘hornswoggled’ by the resident Proctologist himself.

I was extremely frustrated that my family was not only not keen with the study that I was doing to be able to improve myself – but actually through several obstacles in my way and gave me hell … until they finally realized that they were not going to break my spirit … the only person who gets to break my spirit is me!

What happened? Well, I felt broken and they felt compelled to pound on my aims.

I liken this to them being the hammer, but I continued as the anvil!

Would I like to have that paddle back in it original form?

No. Symbolically, I decided to break the paddle … instead of allowing my family to break me.

At this point, these items are indications of relational frustrations. But, I now have the strength to not really allow it to bug me anymore.

It took years, but I am finally liberated.

Ok, it’s time for me to liberate myself from this computer and to get up to bed.

I have the Pacific Coast 5:30 AM Self-Confidence and Self-Discipline Boot Camp.

Join us! Our environment will be just what the doctor of the heart would always prescribe …

Love your neighbor as yourself. And be good to one another.

I think the first quote is attributed to Jesus; the second one … I don’t know – Was it Bill or was it Ted?

At any rate, I’m up way past my bedtime. So … Night-night.

Cheers! BZ/JUSTICE SMILES, pllc

No doubt, you have heard from someone on life’s journey say that the key to living a good life is to always ask: “What would Jesus do?”

For Christians, of which I am somewhere in the rank and file, I think this is a worthwhile question …. to ask oneself. But, that’s about as far as it goes.

Why? Because I believe matters of faith are to be self-directed and not proclamation as a means of seeking to declare one’s superiority over another.

So, basically the self-directed question (for a Christian – or perhaps one of another faith who is able to swing wide as to breadth and depth of their understanding of differing faiths) is perfectly fine.

To seek to ask that question as a means of forcing someone else’s faith … ‘not so much.’

That ecumenical clarity now aside, why the heck would I swap the name “Goggins” in for “Jesus”?

Oh, I’m glad you asked.

The reason for this is because on an early Saturday morning, this is the question that I am using to break the litigation that is going on in my mind?

The question is a very easy one and one that is immortalized by a song of The Clash on their “Combat Rock” Album (no less): “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” LISTEN [HERE].

Yes, that’s right. I was asking myself that very question!

See, last night (as I was finishing off the last of several new habits I am seeking to install all at once in the last few minutes of the 5th day of this new year) I noticed a FaceBook feed indicating that The Green Lake Running Group was having its 17th Anniversary and all runners – present and past – were invited.

Now, I am definitely a past runner; and a quick one at that … at least as a “flash in the pan.” To wit, I was a part of this group for about a couple of years before running the Seattle Marathon in 2019 … and then petered out quite a bit until Covid happened and well, that served as the excuse to let my “running career” go.

Now, I’m not only back to the weight that I was prior to the start of that journey to marathon … and then some, and of course no less than 5 years older.

An “old fart” of my age should take advice like Jack Nicholson’s character – Jake Giddis and …”Just Forget it Jake! [It’s China Town].” SEE my fairly recent blog post on the ‘other channel’ – [HERE].

But no, prior to going to bed a mere 4.5 hours ago, I signaled my intent to go to founder of this running group 17 years ago – Loka Murphy – that I would attend.

I wake up this morning though … because I am habituated to the Pacific Coast Boot Camp’s time and it’s raining outside and my mind of course tries to think of all the plausible excuses to keep me off purpose.

And then the perfect question to break the log jam comes to me …

What would Goggins do?

Now for those of you who aren’t familiar with David Goggins, just know that he’s the guy that went from being a lowly bug exterminator to arguably the word’s “baddest ass!”

David Goggins is a graduating member of (a) the United States Air Force Tactical Control Party; (b) the Navy Seal BUD/S training class 235; and (c) as an Army Ranger where he received a peerless, peer review and was awarded the “Enlisted Honor Man” award. Notably, he is the 36th African-American Navy Seal in US Navy Seal history!

So, by asking myself the question … “What would Goggins Do?” … I immediately have the answer.

Get off your candy-ass, get up, get ready, and … JUST DO IT!

And you know what’s so cool is that I still had enough time to take a pic of myself and bang out this blog post beforehand too!

Ok, I’m off to the Green Lake Runner’s Group Meetup just down the hill at Chinooks. Hell, maybe I should just run down there … that’s what Goggins would do!

Well, maybe I’m not ready to go FULL Goggins quite yet! 🙂

Cheers! BZ/JUSTICE SMILES, pllc

That’s right! Don’t Listen to the Naysaying Nellies!

When Master Mentor Gary Glass shared that with us this morning at the Pacific Coast Boot Camp, it really jumped out at me.

Gary then followed up by saying that you should make sure that you don’t share your dreams to anyone but a select few, because most people will scoff at you.

This has definitely been my experience! And unfortunately it has been my experience recently. Did I give in? Hell, no it just means that it’s time to add gas.

Now, of course the scaredy cats that I shared my big idea with attempted an intervention to prevent me from moving forward. As far as they are concerned, any extra effort in the direction of my aim would amount to “Putting out the Fire with Gasoline” … a David Bowie lick used in the erotic fantasy – “Cat People.” LISTEN [HERE].

And to that, I say Hell Yea! I just became further resolved to fire forward along my aim!

And that’s kid of the point now! Their discouragement has actually so engulfed me with a burning white heat of desire that my goal is a fait accompli!

See, all I have to do now is persist!

Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.

Napoleon Hill

Well, the world is my oyster … and it can be yours too! There’s plenty of it to share!

We are still not even a whole work week into the Napoleon Hill Institute’s Pacific Coast 5:30 AM Self-Confidence and Self-Discipline Boot Camp. If you want to glean some incredible information from Gary too, just shoot me an email to bob@justicesmiles.com.