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So I've decided this is for me, and anyone who is interested is welcome to take a look in. But I've been told that no one is interested in how often I [fill in your expression of useless information], so I'm letting people stumble upon this as they will.

I was thrown this morning by that conversation actually. You see it came on the heels of someone asking me what's up with me. I told him “I've been sharing that. Have you looked?” And in my most recent mail, I said I was considering writing a book as a lead magnet on my relationship work, and I was told “Don't tell me what you plan. Tell me what you did.” So I don't know what the F++ I'm supposed to say.

I wanted to give a sense of the flavor of our lives. I get that I might have given too fine a grain.

I also wanted to answer the complaint of someone else who seems to take offense that Sharleen does not reach out as much as she “should.” E-mail is not her thing. And I like to write more than she does. So I thought I'd take it on. But apparently my reporting on our lives is not acceptable in that quarter either.

So I'm left talking to myself, which I suppose has always been my best audience.

So I made burgers and eggs for Manu and went off to synagogue. He arrived for the Rabbi's lesson as we were wrapping up. The Rabbi has taken it upon himself to teach the kids after every morning Minyan.

And in answer to my exhortation that he spend less time on the computer, Manu spent the next two hours reading. He got into a comic book called Fables, and just didn't notice the time pass. In the meantime, I read and wrote a few Quora comments and played Piano.

The boys have taken to chess recently, and Manu and I had a game. What I love about him is he takes the coaching. After the game, we chose to see if it's possible to check mate a person with two horses only. So far we haven't been able to, and now that I've thought about it again, I think we could probably prove to ourselves that it isn't.

And I spoke to my best friend and coach Sharleen, and hadn't given up the upset, and we were reminded of Tony's exhortation not to give up your happiness so cheaply. So I'm reminding myself “what I've done.” We have raised four amazing children. I've answered a thousand questions about relationships for people this year (21 today, enough to assemble a book from anyway). I've made thousands of people's lives better. I've spent hours and hours on the phone with people I love. I make people smile. I've gotten out of my own head and invented possibilities instead. And those are each and every one a big deal.

So I was a big F++ You about this to certain people, but as I told a kid a few hours ago, the only person whose respect you need is your own, and that's a big enough ask. And I suppose I can find enough reason to respect myself. So instead I say “Thank you for sharing, but I don't really care any more. I really do wish you a wonderful life.”

And I came to the office and chose to be in the beautiful space again. I met M's wife M, another one of my lawyer neighbors, and A, my tech transfer guy. I called my friend Ron, and actually let him in.

I arranged another mock Tuesday, coming ahead of assisting agreements. And two amazing people out of my recent past, Guy and Ori, just stepped up for me. Thank you also to Netta and Carmit and Doron for giving me this opportunity. I am really touched.

And then I realized I hadn't spoken to the Andersen people and it was after 5:00, but Karni was still there, and she is great, and we arranged for another item for our Tuesday, already jam packed.

KA calls to Ken and Jim and Jon, and now it's pretty much time to go.

Yesterday, I got up early, and as I couldn't play the piano, pulled out the guitar. It's been a while; it felt good.

I made it to synagogue and back before the children were up; so Sharleen and I had some time together alone. Then I made us breakfast, and we ended up going separate ways. I went to the office and later Landmark as Sharleen headed into Tiberias with the boys. Yakov went to get his Social Security file squared away (everything is a process here), and Sharleen took Uri and Manu to Aqua Fun, a water based activity park along the Sea of Galilee.

I arrived home about 10:30. Ilan had a friend over who seems to be as much of a night owl as he. I think it was the first time I felt our house is small. I just wanted them to get to bed to get out from under foot. I guess it didn't help that one of our showers is out again; so we were stuck with everyone showering on our side.

The architect's computer has been down, but should be back on line by now. She's one who needs a bit of a nudge to keep moving. We're going back and forth about the roof with her, and the windows with the window guy.

I listened to the Tony Robbin's piece I suggested a few days ago in the car again, and a few others, and I'll listen to it one more time at least in the next few days. He has this great distinction about life; you are either in a beautiful state or a suffering state, there is nothing else. So anything that isn't a beautiful state is a form of suffering. It parallels a Landmark conversation about possibility and breakdowns.

So I'm getting better at noticing the beauty. Inside that, I got how special it is that Sharleen and I still get up to make breakfast for each other, and be there to see each other off in the morning. And I noticed it's something that's grown. I don't remember us being this great with each other back at the beginning, and it's nice to see how we seem every day more comfortable with who we are and who we are for each other, and how we're still looking to up our game and the difference we make in the world.

Sharleen was in Kfar Bloom this morning, and I made it to the office, and met with Keren, a businesswoman and lecturer who shares space here, and we talked about marketing and set a time to talk more once the kids are in school.

And I have a new neighbor, SNE Israel National ITC. I had no idea what they do, so I've reached out to them to say hello.

I mapped out the flow of my sitesthatwin.com website, then spent a bunch of time reacquainting myself with bootstrap, the framework on which it's built, and a bit in the back office of my blogs, built on a different framework, trying to figure out how to get the stylings to match better.

Sharleen's leading in Nahariya tonight. Back to you when there's more to share.

So we've had a good day.

Sharleen started a bit later and on a good night's sleep. She wasn't excited about working and fasting, but felt she'd missed too many Sundays recently to skip another.

I received a promising response from someone I'd reached out to yesterday, and we began a conversation about his website's development. Along the way, I visited a number of other websites in his space, consulting, and listened to an amazing Tim Ferris interview of Tony Robbins. I got into Tony recently as his book on Money came out. It is sitting in the states awaiting my visit. I found the best part of this interview his take on suffering. Very much worth the listen, it's one of the best podcasts I've ever heard, and I expect to listen to it a few more times now and then it will get a spot in the regular rotation. It's an hour and 37 minutes, so make sure you give yourself the time when you go to listen.

I also received a call from one of my Open Valley neighbors to help him in framing a pitch his company is making.

The younger boys were spending too much time in front of a screen; so I gave them an assignment to do a report on what they were watching. The report was never written, but we had a wonderful conversation about plot, genre, backstory, and spent some time comparing the instant superhero, The Flash, to others: Batman, Superman, Maxwell Smart. We took some time along the way to ponder the background against which our superheroes were formed and the message to the guy watching: “Is it in every one to be a superhero, or do we create superheroes in the face of our perceived inability to right the wrongs of our world?”

The idea of course is to bring an intentionality to the things we do in the world, and I love that my boys are game to do that.

Sharleen came home feeling fine, though a bit thirsty. She spent some time on Tisha b'Av learning with the boys, brought a greater order to our bedroom, watched a few episodes of Bones with the boys, while I reached back out to a few more people, another one of whom I'll be talking to this week (a patent attorney looking to up her on-line game.)

Dahlia called from Norway, where she appears to be having a capital time. She also regaled us with a bit of Yakov and her adventures. Apparently, Yakov has been reported to be a Satanist. For the full story, you'll have to call.

A few fail videos and we got to eat. Then Sharleen and I got out to walk and came back to review a study guide in preparation for a lead she has in Nahariya later this week, and create some new possibilities.

Yakov and I got the dishes done as Sharleen went to bed.

And now that all are asleep, I've sent an e-mail over to the Marvin window guy, I'm upgrading my blog software, and getting an update out to you all, that is, once we get the software loaded up again.

Have a Great Week!