Sam Barry's Blog
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Apr.08.2013
In this day of shortened attention spans I consider it an accomplishment when I read more than 500 words without getting distracted by Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, ESPN, or a bowl of ice cream. Sometimes I am distracted by all of these simultaneously.
This is where the toilet comes in. Years...
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Mar.04.2013
For some time now I have been observing the importance of the harmonica on the world stage. I think this small instrument may, in fact, hold the key (no pun intended) to human survival on earth.
But more on...
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Jan.13.2013
One of life’s great joys is a good groove. Just after 2013 began I spent a week on the Delbert McClinton & Friends Sandy Beaches Cruise, listening to and jamming with some of America’s finest musicians. We sailed out of South Florida on the Holland America MS Eurodam, with stops at Grand Turk...
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Nov.22.2012
There is a saying—“That which does not kill us makes us stronger”—which is neither true nor helpful.
In the last few years I was diagnosed with colon cancer, which, thankfully, was caught in time. After treatment, I recovered and went back to work, and on I went.
Then my wife Kathi was diagnosed...
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Nov.12.2012
Up, or down?
Americans are more divided than ever. Congress is deadlocked. The Euro is collapsing. The markets are jittery. The Supreme Court is set to make a decision soon. Justice Clarence Thomas looks like he really needs to go.
It seems that as long as there have been toilet seats, men...
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Oct.25.2012
The moment I saw San Francisco I was in love for life.
San Francisco is not the biggest or most important city, or even the most beautiful. But there is an alchemy here that washes away cynicism and weariness and reminds me that life is a gift.
October 22, 2012 was magical. My sweetheart Megan and...
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Sep.05.2012
I am spending a week at Rancho La Puerta, a lovely health resort with a spiritual bent that meant a lot to my late wife Kathi Kamen Goldmark. Once a year we came here to teach classes on writing and...
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Jul.16.2012
I’ve never been to Turkey before, and I really must go back and see it someday. Recently I was in Izmir to witness and celebrate the wedding of my son Daniel and his lovely Turkish bride, Dilek Uygül. I have a blurred impression of a stunning land, a complex culture, fascinating history,...
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Jun.13.2012
The sun rises over San Francisco. The fog rolls in. Night comes. Another day slips by.
I’m not sick, but I feel like I am. There was an explosion and I lost half my brain. I can’t focus. My appetite is gone and bright lights hurt my eyes. I am paralyzed by sadness, pain, and fear.
I’ve...
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Apr.16.2012
Due to a serious health battle, Kathi takes medicine to get her rest. Kathi is an extremely capable, talented, and aware person, but sometimes, as she is falling asleep, the medicine makes her say odd things. Or maybe Kathi has always said odd things, and I’m just catching on.
One night a few...
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Apr.16.2012
Due to a serious health battle, Kathi takes medicine to get her rest. Some of this medicine makes her say odd things. Or maybe Kathi has always said odd things, and I’m just catching on.
One night a few months ago, lying in bed, I asked Kathi if she preferred to read or watch television. She said...
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Apr.16.2012
Due to a serious health battle, Kathi takes medicine to get her rest. Some of this medicine makes her say odd things. Or maybe Kathi has always said odd things, and I’m just catching on.
One night a few months ago, lying in bed, I asked Kathi if she preferred to read or watch television. She said...
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Mar.21.2012
Currently I am Misool Eco-Resort on an island in far Eastern Indonesia, one of the most beautiful places in the world. I don’t say this to brag. I say it because Misool Eco-Resort represents the best of humankind striving to find the proper balance between the natural world and—
Oh, who am I...
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Mar.01.2012
I am looking for a job. I’ve also been thinking about what it means to be a good person and live a good life.
Many job descriptions seem divorced from reality. They seek an employee who is both a great leader and a great follower. They want someone who is detail oriented and sees the big picture...
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Feb.03.2012
I’m not that old, even if my nineteen-year-old daughter Laura thinks I am. I say this because whenever I start talking about the time before Laura was born (1993), she rolls her eyes and make jokes about me walking five miles to school in bare feet through snowstorms, which, for the record, I...
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About Sam
Sam Barry is the author of How to Play the Harmonica: and Other Life Lessons and coauthored Write That Book Already! The Tough Love You Need to Get Published Now with his late wife, the author and founder of the Rock Bottom Remainders, Kathi Kamen Goldmark....
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