Columns

Sometimes, nothing can make you appreciate the trees more than when you leave the forest.

I spent last week in Colorado Springs helping out my sister. She’s halfway through the worst part of her chemotherapy treatment and ended up in the hospital with a fever, prompting my impromptu trip.

Colorado Springs is a pretty good size town, with a population around half a million people. With a population that size, the Springs obviously leans closer to the proximity of a big city than a small town.

Jia Jiang is an Austin, Texas, entrepreneur who had tasted failure one too many times.

He finally snapped after losing a major investment deal in early November. In order to help overcome his growing fear of rejection, Jiang embarked on an odd do-it-yourself-psychotherapy treatment: for 100 consecutive days, he would make an outrageous request of someone with the hopes of being rejected.

This week we’ll discuss launching heavy objects, along with my personal quest to have anvil firing sanctioned as an Olympic event.  

Nearly ten years ago, this column included a reprint of a news item that appeared at the close of WWI. Wild celebrations were held in towns throughout our county. Crowds of cheering people jammed the streets, bands played, speeches were made, flags flew, anvils were fired.

Apathy and treason.

This most recent presidential election has somehow spawned both reactions, seemingly polar opposites.

On one hand, an estimated six million fewer voters participated in this election compared to 2008. That’s a lot of people, especially considering the seemingly increased animosity in this political climate.

Ironically though, some political analysts believe intense political divisiveness that plagues this country is what caused some voters to throw up their hands in disgust and collectively say “enough.”