Editor’s Note: B.B. King died in May just short of his 90th birthday. I had the great pleasure of seeing him live when he was young, when I was a sophomore in college playing in Columbus. Since that night, I always felt a connection. The son of sharecroppers, Riley B. King grew up in the gospel choirs his grandmother attached him to. The pastor taught him his first three chords on a guitar his cousins bought him. He pioneered electric blues guitar playing with his unique sound and is recognized as one of the best ever. Rather than choosing his more famous “Thrill is Gone” or “Downhearted,” two songs I enjoy covering, I chose his tribute as “Everybody’s Had the Blues” because it’s so true and in this version he rocks out with another legendary electric blues guitarist, Joe Louis Walker (JLW).

Mansfield Frazier has a passion for helping his neighbors in Hough, including the developmentally disabled, homeless, and formerly incarcerated, to overcome their barriers to employment by putting them to work in his urban vineyard growing the grapes that will eventually be made into his award-winning wine (The Great Geauga County Fair, 2014).

Editor's Note: I think of David Brooks as a poor man's St. Augustine and I think of myself as a poor man's David Brooks. I find him insightful, delightful and motivating to read and I do so as often as possible. Here Mr. Brooks follows one of my favorite themes, the constant struggle between our mercenary and our better self. Enjoy. Please also note this essay is derived from my choice for book of the month, his newest, "Road to Character."

Editor's Note: Brooks earlier book, The Social Animal, was featured here some time ago. This guy has a unique talent for de-mystifying the deeply philosophical and complex issues surrounding life’s meaning. Another rare trait is self-awareness and a willingness to admit that neither he nor the people whose lives he features in this book have or had the "answers." Very compelling stuff to add to my journey of self-discovery and adding meaning to my life, perhaps it will serve the same purpose for you.

The problem I have with solving problems is I often forget to first ask:

Editor’s Note: This came on my iPhone while I was running yesterday and I was reminded how funny I think it is. If you don’t like girl bands, don’t listen but if you are open to a little light humor, enjoy.  

Editor’s Note: Thanks to Bob Miller for sending this to me, a deep and somewhat troubling article. We all knew that our own upbringing in relatively reasonable financial circumstance gave us advantages such as education, example and stability. But it had never really occurred to me such things as diet, neighbors and urgent problems caused by living in scarcity would make “even you and me” dumber. The article’s conclusions are not as certain to me as the findings of the research which intuitively make sense. Being stupid doesn’t necessarily make one poor but poverty may make one less aware and capable of rational decisions.

Editor’s Note: Reading this book requires great patience, both in reading (it’s deep) and in seeing mistakes in my thinking that I’d rather deny. Nobel prize- winning psychologist and author Daniel Kahneman drags us into our own decision-making process by using lots of examples with his points. The “summary of the summary” is that we each operate from two behaviors called here System 1 and System 2. System 1 is our intuitive (fast) brain which responds quickly and often involuntarily. System 2 is our deliberative (slow) brain which requires deeper thought. Both are needed: System 1 to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting a child vs. thinking about slamming on the brakes; System 2 when shopping vs. making a list at home before going shopping. Kahneman’s overall thesis is that just by understanding more about how we make decisions, we might dramatically reduce the chronic errors we all make.

Note from Tim: Our Foundation’s Managing Director, Bill Leamon, wrote an update for our board recently about a young man he is mentoring named Chris, and I asked him to share his story for our June update. Peace. 

Editor's Note: It’s always refreshing to not only see a celebrity share his or her mental anguish with others, but do so on their own terms. Counting Crows’ front man Adam Duritz wrote Colorblind, a song about his grappling with a dissociative disorder, a complete disconnect with reality to the point of losing time, and in some cases, place.