Brad Rourke’s Blog
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Jerry Brown Came To My Apartment
The year: 1989. The place: dilapidated beachfront apartment on Venice beach. I was awakened one groggy morning by a knock on the front door. It was Jerry brown, who came into my apartment and said something quite memorable. Watch the video of me telling the story: (Yes, I told this story as a podcast some…
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Thoughts For When Things Are Tough
Like anyone, I’ve had my share of ups and downs. The downs always seem especially dire. When you’re in the weeds, it can seem like there’s no way out. Like you’re stuck there for good. Here are two things I have learned to do during those times. I do not always practice this very well,…
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Hopping John Recipe
It is a family tradition in our house to eat black eyed peas. On New Year’s Day. It is said to bring luck. As someone who says “rabbit rabbit” religiously every first-of-the-month, who am I to resist? In the past, I have included black eyed peas in soup for New Year’s Day. But lately, I…
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My 2011 Focus Areas For A Balanced Life
I believe in New Year’s resolutions, if only to focus my mind on the kind of person I want to aspire to be. (My friend Caryn has written a great article in praise of resolutions.) Typically, I focus on my shortcomings — things I want to improve. This year, I thought I would try for…
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I Had A Good Year. Thank You, and You, and You, and YOU.
It’s the last day of the year. Like many others, I am thinking back on how it went. Like Seth Godin, I am focusing on what I accomplished. While my sensations and experiences as I went through 2010 were mixed (there were times when it felt very hard), when I look objectively at all that…
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Wow Them With Some Tasty Chicken Enchiladas
When we have a few people coming over, and something casual on the agenda, I often get a request from the family for me to make a batch of enchiladas. They feed a lot, are tasty, and look like they are harder to make than they are. Here’s my recipe. What you need: Chicken (boneless…
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You Are Looking At The Problem
A long time ago, a friend of mine told me the story of how she was staying over on another friend’s boat down in Florida. She had been having a lot of problems, bumping up against the world so to speak. Things weren’t going her way at the time, and the harder she tried the…
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We Belong To Each Other
My cousin Jessica recently shared this quote from Mother Teresa: If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. It got me to thinking about the webs we create between one another — whether we mean to, or whether we recognize them, or not. Think about all…
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Working Ahead
Today I spent much of the day working ahead. A least it felt that way . . . I do have a deadline looming, but I am on track to get my work done with plenty of time for revisions before I submit. This is how it goes when I am feeling on my game.…
Brad Rourke 