Stuff I Learned Yesterday
About Stuff I Learned Yesterday
Stuff I Learned Yesterday is a podcast that aims to encourage, inspire, challenge, motivate, and improve the lives of those who listen to it. Stuff I Learned Yesterday is released each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each episode ranges from 5-15 minutes long and contain short stories based on real events and lessons learned by the hosts. Friday episodes are called the Friday Forum and are filled with inspirational and motivational thoughts submitted by Stuff I Learned Yesterday listeners. Submit your story for a Friday Forum episode by calling 304-837-2278, visiting our feedback page, or click on the Send a Voice Message button on the left hand side of this page.
46- Dinner With That Guy From Charles in Charge
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Some of you that are in your 40’s or older may remember a show named 8 is Enough and a character named Tommy Bradford. If you’re a bit younger than that then you may remember a show called Charles in Charge and a character named Buddy Lembeck, the goofy best friend of Scott Baio’s character, Charles. Both of these characters were played by a guy named Willie Aames.
I never really watched 8 is Enough. I saw a few reruns when I was a kid, but it never really interested me that much. However, I did watch Charles in Charge. That was a funny show to me. When I started working at the bookstore in the mid 90’s, we started carrying a new video series named Bibleman. Imagine my surprise when I learned that Bibleman was portrayed by none other than Buddy Lembeck himself, Willie Aames. Go ahead and think about that for a minute.
Okay, now I don’t know if you’ve ever seen an episode of Bibleman or what you just imagined in your mind, but it wasn’t as bad as you may think. It was a live action super hero style show where Bibleman would try to help kids learn how to handle various life issues and solve character defining moments by looking to see what the Bible taught.
The early episodes were pretty cheesy, but as Bibleman grew in popularity and they got a bigger budget, the show got much better. The costumes were better, the special effects were better, the lighting was better, and the whole production was pretty decent. It was still a cheesy kids show, but it wasn’t any worse than anything else you’d see on PBS.
By the time I was living in Lubbock and training to be a store manager, Bibleman was at the peak of its popularity. Church kids were crazy about him. Read More…
45- Friday Forum
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Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode I share a very special story of adoption from John McGrail. You can participate in a future Friday Forum episode by calling and leaving a message at 304-837-2278, emailing an audio file to feedback@goldenspiralmedia.com, or clicking on the Send Voicemail tab on my website, GoldenSpiralMedia.com. Read More…
44- The Best Thing To Ever Come Out of Texas
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15 years. It really doesn’t seem like it’s been 15 years since I married Kari Maechelle Brunson, but today is our 15 year anniversary. We met while working at a bookstore. I was the assistant manager. She and her family had just moved to Oklahoma City from Texas and she was hired to work in the teacher supplies department and work customer service.
It was not love at first sight. I was coming off of a break up with a girl that I was pretty serious with, so I wasn’t really looking to date anyone at that point. Kari had a funny Texas accent and I would make fun of the way she said certain words, but that was about the extent of our relationship.
One day one of our regular customers named Cindy told me that she thought Kari and would be good together and she encouraged me to ask her out. I still wasn’t really looking to date anyone, but it was a comment that stuck with me. I began to notice Kari more after that day. Often times after work, a group of us would go get coffee or grab some food a together. When we did this, I’d often find myself sitting near Kari and we’d talk. Then we started hanging out in the parking lot after work, just sitting on the tailgate of my truck and talking.
Soon after that we started going on dates with just the two of us. I was really trying to be cautious and not get carried away. After a couple of months of dating, I realized that I there was something really cool going on between us and I didn’t want to see anyone else but her. I was pretty sure she felt the same way, but I wanted to make it clear that I was ready to take our relationship more seriously. I began planning the best date ever. Read More…
43- The Beautiful Act of Giving and Receiving
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We all know that college students are usually broke. I certainly was when I was in college. I had a couple of small scholarships that covered most of the expense of books, but nothing more. All of my tuition was paid for by saving money earned from my part time job.
After my freshman year, my roommate and I got a small apartment just off of campus. It was the cheapest one we could find. It wasn’t fancy at all, but it was more than enough for us. It was a one bedroom apartment and we worked it out that he got the bedroom and I got the couch. I really didn’t mind. For 4 years I slept on the couch every night.
When we first moved in, there was no couch, or bed for that matter. We had a computer desk and my drafting table. The previous tenant left a chest of drawers with a mirror and the landlord said we could use it and just leave it for the next tenant. I bought a used futon from another friend, and my roommate got a bed from his parents. I also bought a dinette set from a co-worker. We were living the dream.
At some point we scored an extra long couch from another friend of ours and a lady that my roommate went to church gave us a coffee table and entertainment center. We soon had a fully furnished apartment and we’d only had to buy the dinette set.
We ate a lot of ramen noodles and spent a good amount of time at the CiCi’s pizza all you can eat buffet. My roommate and I got along great. We split all the bills 50/50, and we both valued the importance of paying all of our bills on time. We always paid our bills first, and then used the rest to buy food or other needs. Read More…
42- Michael Jackson, a Cappella, and Daft Punk
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I think most people dream about being a singer at some point as a child. For me the first memory I have of dreaming what it would be like to be a rock star was when I was first introduced to Michael Jackson’s Thriller album. I was 6 years old.
I don’t think I ever really thought I’d make it as a big time singer and never really pursued it. In fact, I never even sang in front of anyone except for the occasion when my brother would catch me singing along to the radio. That all changed on a random day after I graduated high school.
We had a new youth pastor, named Tim, at the church I was attending and since I we were pretty close in age. I thought it would be cool to get to know him a bit so I asked him if he’d like to hang out sometime. He invited me to go to the city with him one day when he was meeting up with some of his other friends and I agreed to tag along.
I had just discovered this really cool a cappella group and was really amazed by how much music they could make with only their voices and I brought their cassette tape with me. At some point I popped it into the cassette player of Tim’s car and he liked it too. I sat in the back seat looking out the window and singing softly to myself as we drove around Oklahoma City picking up Tim’s friends.
I had no idea at the time, but Tim was in a vocal quartet and the friends we were picking up were the other members of his group. I was also unaware that I was singing loud enough for Tim to hear me. I became suddenly aware when, at the end of one song, Tim hit the rewind on the tape player and told me that he was going to play it again and he wanted me to sing again, but louder. I was reluctant to do so, but he coaxed me into it. After the song was over he announced that the group had just found their new lead singer. Read More…
41- Acknowledging Unmet Expectations
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Like many of you, I had a pretty busy weekend. My Saturday started with my son and I attending men’s Bible study at church, and then I had to set up the drum kit for Sunday’s church service. While we were doing those things, my wife and daughter did a bit of shopping. We all met back at our house shortly before lunch and then headed out together to deliver some flowers to my grandma for Mother’s Day.
Once we finished our visit to my grandma we had time to grab a quick lunch before heading off to my high school reunion. Addison had really enjoyed her one-on-one time with Kari earlier that day, and wanted to have a lunch with just the two of them. Colby liked the idea of just having a lunch with me, so we agreed to split back up for lunch.
While Colby and I were alone in my car he said, “Dad, I thought that when you quit your job you were going to get to spend more time with us.” It was a beautiful sunny day so I had the sunroof open and the windows down. While having the windows down and the sunroof open make a great way to get some sun while I’m in my car, the amount of wind noise that is brought into the car make it difficult to have a real conversation. I closed the sunroof, rolled up the windows, turned the A/C on, and turned the radio off.
To me, when Colby said this to me, he was basically telling me that he’s disappointed in the the amount of time and attention that I’m spending with him. Now, as I mentioned in episode 36, I’m very aware that I have not been spending as much time with my family as I had hoped I would be when I started working from home. But now that my son is calling me out on it, I needed to let him know that I was aware of it and I was making steps to get better. Read More…
40- Stuff I Learned Yesterday Friday Forum Mother’s Day Edition
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Today is the Friday Forum!! Friday Forum is your opportunity to Share what YOU’VE learned, so that other listeners and I can learn from YOU. It can be a message as short as 30 seconds or several minutes long. It really doesn’t matter just as long as it’s something that will benefit others. You can participate in Friday Forum by calling and leaving a message at 304-837-2278, emailing an audio file to feedback@goldenspiralmedia.com, or clicking on the Send Voicemail tab on my website, GoldenSpiralMedia.com.
In today’s Friday Forum we hear Mother’s Day contributions from Celina, Bonita, and Mark. Read More…
39- Recognizing the Beauty in Flaws
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When I started this podcast nearly 2 months ago I never would have dreamed that I’d be doing any episodes about plants or gardening, but here I am doing my THIRD episode about that very topic. That does not mean that I now enjoy gardening or yard work. That has not changed and I do not see it changing anytime soon. However, I am committed to making sure my flower beds thrive this season and I’m learning stuff through that process. Brace yourself. I see many more garden related episodes in your future!
For today’s episode, I want to take you back to that Friday about 3 weeks ago when my wife and I purchased the plants at our local garden center. My wife had been out running errands earlier that morning so we decided to meet at the store. I arrived a few minutes before she did so I took that time to look around and see if anything caught my eye.
Since we had cleaned out nearly everything from the beds, we were looking for some good perennials, that is, plants that come back every year, to establish the foundation of our beds. Then, around those perennials we would put some annuals that were bright and colorful, understanding that we’d have to replace those plants next year. We were also considering getting a small evergreen or two to fill in some space.
I perused the perennials and found a few that I liked, and then made my way to the area of the evergreens. As I approached the evergreens I noticed a few carts full of various plants that looked pretty bad. As I got closer I noticed that the plants were labeled as clearance and each plant was on sale for $3. Read More…
38- Lessons Learned From An MVP
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I love Kevin Durant. Outside of choosing to go to college at the University of Texas, the guy is everything you’d like a guy to be. He’s funny, caring, athletic, good looking, humble, and has a great attitude. In case you don’t follow sports, Kevin Durant is a small forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder and he’s one of the best basketball players on the planet. This year he won his 4th scoring title, and yesterday he won the MVP of the NBA.
For those of us who live in OKC and get to watch Kevin interact with the community and play every night, we know just how amazing of a person he is. He is selfless, deflects praise to those around him, acknowledges his shortcomings, and is ALWAYS giving of what he has to make the lives of those around him better. He may have been acknowledged by the NBA as the MVP yesterday, but he’s been the MVP of OKC since he first stepped foot here in 2008.
Yesterday afternoon about 3:30 I was starting to panic because I still had no idea what today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday would be about. I was walking through the living room of our house on my way to the studio just at Kevin Durant’s MVP press conference started. I decided to sit down and watch it and almost instantly knew that I’d just found my inspiration in the words of the 6’ 9” man from Maryland.
After a great introduction from Brian Davis, the play by play voice of the Thunder, a few words from Kevin’s coach, the team general manager, and a representative from Kia, Kevin took the stage. Read More…
37- Five Iron Frustration
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I’m a terrible golfer. On a regulation course, I’ve only broken 100 one time. I don’t go very often, maybe once or twice a year, so it’s no surprise that I’m not very good. Some people are naturally gifted at it and able to at least play near par without too much practice, but I am not one of those people. In fact, if it is any kind of sport or athletic contest, I can assure you that the words naturally gifted would be the last thing anyone would say about me.
But that does not mean that I do not enjoy playing golf. I really do enjoy it. I enjoy being outside and enjoying the scenery. I enjoy the time I get to spend with those I golf with. I enjoy trying to analyze what I’m doing wrong and trying to improve on my next effort. I look at it like a puzzle…a very bad golfing puzzle.
When I lived in Texas, I didn’t really have anyone to golf with, and I wanted to try out one of the local municipal courses. My wife is not at all interested in golfing, but she thought it would be fun to get some sun. She decided she would come along and read a book in the golf cart while I played a round of golf.
Unfortunately, when I showed up at the course, they would not let me play alone. It was Saturday, their busiest day, and they were only allowing groups of two or more to play. My only option was to come back during the week (my only day off was every other Saturday), or play with a pair of strangers. Read More…