Good. Better. Done. A blog about doing great work... and my mother.

“This can be anything you want.” —Louis C.K.   It’s been more than 11 years since Disney announced that they were going to do something unusual: Turn a theme park ride into a movie. The movie was called “Pirates of the Carribean.” And early on, critics thought it was a terrible idea. Here’s what one (…)

There is a John Prine song I absolutely love, called “Angel From Montgomery.” And the last verse includes these two lines: How the hell can a person go to work in the morning And come home in the evening and have nothing to say? So this is the John Prine test: Come home every day (…)

Last Saturday, 35,000 shareholders gathered in Omaha to hear Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger speak. The two men lead Berkshire Hathaway, which is now the fifth-most valuable company in the world, valued at over $264 billion. I was there, too — as the guest of a family friend, Steve, who’s a shareholder. I didn’t want (…)

On Tuesday, I saw the Gregory Brothers — a band that has made some amazing viral videos — perform a mini rock opera about Jeff Goldblum. It was… well, borderline insane. I have no idea how they came up with the idea for it. But it was amazing. And so the very brief point here: (…)

“Shut up and make something.” — Danielle Morrill   I went to the Apollo Theater last night for Amateur Night. I went to watch, not perform. That’s probably for the best. I have personally stood on some amazing stages, but I’ll never be on anything like the Apollo. For performers there, it’s just you, and (…)

“If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?” — John Wooden   So that photo at top is of me. That’s me from, I believe, my sophomore year at the University of Missouri. Yes, that is my yellow pinstriped jacket. (Also, yes, that is very (…)

“There is no great genius without some touch of madness.” — Seneca   So this is the part of the year where I lose touch with reality and start watching about 12 hours of college basketball a day. It has always been like this. I love college basketball. I cannot really explain why I love (…)

Every month, I put together a list of 10 things to inspire you to do more awesome work. (Work results may vary.) Let’s get into it: 1. That Awesome Photo (at top) DC in the morning after a full moon. Amazing shot. 2. This Awesome Letter This is the letter Tim Burton sent to Disney (…)

Every month — except last month, when I forgot (sorry) — I put together a list of 10 things to inspire you to do more awesome work. (Results may vary.) Inside this month’s Awesome File: Jerry Seinfeld appears on a rap album! Parody songs about sex with ducks! Strategies for getting on “The Price is (…)

“Whatever you believe / You might be wrong.” — Paul Thorn   When I was in college, I was part of a small group of journalism students who took classes that were basically about the Internet. This was 2005 or so. Journalism on the Internet wasn’t new, but it was for journalism schools. Anyway, we (…)