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February 14, 2025
I woke up this morning thinking about this lesson again and I thought it was worth sharing, again. It’s from my book, Lessons from My Father Available on Amazon and wherever you buy books these days. #4 We are all…
September 5, 2024
and other dark and true thoughts, and what to do next.. At first glance, we want to argue with this thought, struggle against it. We feel bad, then we feel terrible, then we have regrets about even thinking these things.…
July 3, 2024
I just want to take this moment to say one thing — thank you, Americans. Let me tell you why. I am a first generation American. My parents families were oppressed, lost their property, their liberty. My grandfather was taken…
June 20, 2024
If you are like me, it’s time for the next chapter in my story. What is behind me is over, and what lies ahead is what is now most important. I can’t leave everything behind. I have memories, I have…
February 15, 2024
Is there a gap between what you want, what you expect, and what you have? How things “should’ be? Maybe it’s something you’d like? Maybe something doesn’t feel quite right? Maybe you can’t put your finger on it, but there…
November 20, 2023
This is the last lesson in my series Lessons from My Father and the timing of this lesson could not be more appropriate. The end of the year is approaching and the holiday season is kicking off, this is Thanksgiving…
November 2, 2023
I’m continuing my series on Lessons from my father. They seem to be getting harder, and more profound. My dad was brilliant in many ways, but he was horrible at taking his own advice, or at least it seemed that…
October 16, 2023
This is not a blog post about morality. This is a post about understanding that there are people who do harm, either intentionally, or unintentionally. The harm itself, is real, and has consequences.
September 21, 2023
I am at a point in my life where I feel that I am doing exactly what I am supposed to do, and I have never been happier or more fulfilled. Here’s the short version of how I got here.…
September 7, 2023
My dad didn’t start out a Jazz fan at all. He found it confusing. He was not a musician, and he didn’t think of himself as having musical talent. Growing up, I rarely heard him sing, I sometimes heard him…
August 31, 2023
Lesson #8- It’s okay to change your opinions, don’t be too proud of them. Change them all the time – from Lessons from My Father. I have learned that I do often need to examine my opinions, and be willing…
August 24, 2023
If you don’t know where to start, start by listening to them. – from Lessons from My Father ”It’s not about you.” I don’t know who said that first, but it’s a pretty common saying. I find myself repeating it…
August 17, 2023
This month I have been consuming two books, one on audio and the other on my Kindle. I have admittedly shared before on my blog that I am a worrier, and for me it is dibilitating at times. I am…
July 11, 2023
I’m learning to celebrate what I don’t do; the TV I don’t watch, the debts I don’t take on, the expenses I don’t have, the desert I don’t eat, the drink I don’t have, the time I don’t spend on…
June 22, 2023
This morning I am again reflecting on lessons I learned from my father. This one usually comes easy for me. I like to listen to people. I like to hear them tell stories, share experiences.
April 17, 2023
“Why did you start a jazz festival? In North Bend Washington, of all places?” Ha. The better question is probably, why do I still run a jazz festival in North Bend? For those of you that don’t know, I started…
February 27, 2023
It is far easier to judge and condemn others than it is to seek to understand their point of view. It’s far easier to not care about what they think. It’s also popular, everyone is doing it. It’s all over…
January 31, 2023
How are you doing? Me? Tough to say sometimes. I think I am doing well. I am not a “happy-go-lucky” type of person. Actually, if I was going to give a color to my disposition, it would be a dark…
December 18, 2022
Wondering how I am doing in comparison with others has never helped me. It’s only led me to discouragement and despair. I don’t know if I will ever match my hero’s abilities, and there always seems to be someone better…
December 14, 2022
It’s not how much you have around you, it’s how thankful you feel inside. To be thankful, is to be wealthy, to have regret, is to be poor, and you get to choose.
October 17, 2022
In the end, our time is so short. Don’t waste your time judging others. It’s not worth wasting your wit on anger. Just focus on what you can do, yourself. – Lessons from My Father I used to take pride…
October 14, 2022
What are we without our memories? What is our worth? How are we different than any other living organism? How important are the thoughts we have, and the memories we have, to the value we have? I must admit that…
September 27, 2022
Busy is easy. Less is hard. Will I ever have enough time? Probably not. Time seems to be the thing that I lack the most. Time with friends, with family. Time to exercise, to read, to think, to reflect, to…
September 22, 2022
September 19, 2022
Lesson #1 – Be thankful for everything you have been given, and say thank you all the time. – Lessons from My Father It’s easy to notice. It’s easy to compare what you have or don’t have with others. Afterall,…
September 18, 2022
“It doesn’t matter how much money you make, how high you rise in rank in the world. You do what you love, and do it for the sake of loving someone else. There is nothing more beautiful, nothing more precious.…
September 16, 2022
“Thinking makes it so.” ~ Hamlet via Shakespeare Thinking makes it so. I can’t agree more. Whether it be positive or negative in its impact, what you think about, and how you think about it will have an effect on…
March 27, 2016
Walter Blanding and I spent a week together on tour visiting 100’s of students across the Pacific Northwest. I managed to grab this gem of a talk answering the question, “why is it important to play music?” Click here to…
March 13, 2015
Happy Birthday today to my hero! My dad! Daniel Arthur Kolke, Sr. is 85 years young today. I took this first picture of my parents in Krakow Poland on a family trip to trace our roots. My dad was born…
March 12, 2015
Some people just don’t get why it’s a big deal… On the eve of the fourth annual Jazz Walk I am reflecting on two conversations that I just had with two patrons of Boxleys while at Pioneer Coffee – the…
July 2, 2009
Just think that 233 years ago; the continental congress was in the final hours of deliberating what to do. They decided to risk everything so we could have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They stood…
June 19, 2009
What makes someone great? What creates greatness? Do leaders ask to be great? Do they desire to be great? Or do they come from ordinary stalk and somehow they make the decision that something has to be done. Do they…
June 12, 2009
Leadership is difficult. The burden of doing what is right with what is trusted to you is heavy. And it’s certain you will stumble and you will fall. You will make mistakes and you will make missteps. The longer you…
May 5, 2009
I’m watching the sun chase the clouds away. It’s as if the weather doesn’t remember how cruel it was a few hours ago. The camera on my smartphone really doesn’t do my picture justice – I’m amazed at how beautiful…
April 30, 2009
Whether you believe in God as I do, or you believe that a series of random unplanned sequence of events (probably trillions of them) in which you have somehow survived and which has lead to your very existence – either…
April 26, 2009
Let’s call it what it is, “stupid”. Mass adoption of a stupid idea does not in anyway alter the intellectual value of that idea. It’s still stupid. For me when confronted by a populist idea – I remember an anonymous…
April 21, 2009
Accepting the thoughts of others without validation is foolishness. The more thoughts that you accept, the more momentum you create in those thoughts and the more vulnerable you become to the influence of others. Surrendering your thoughts without conscientious…