New Thing 360, New Thing Every Day: Complete One Year of "New Thing Every Day"

Can you believe I have been doing this for an entire year? It really has been an amazing experience that I believe has made me a better, more creative person. It is over now, though, and I am taking a break from this kind of thing. A few years ago I did "Idea Every Day", and now I have made it through "New Thing Every Day", and I have several other similar projects that I will consider for the future, but I am absolutely taking a break for 2018. It is bittersweet and I will miss it -- and the value I think I get from it -- but it is also a relief to not have to think about it every single day.

Here are a variety of facts about the experience.

Random thoughts, lessons, and information:

• I completed 360 of 365 New Things, missing five days for a combination of being sick, travel, and life overwhelm. I am okay with 98.6% success.
• Several life events made it much easier to come up with New Things, especially travel, switching jobs, going on an intense diet for my MS, and working on my MBA.
• As you might guess, my actual number of New Things, far exceeded 365 -- especially when travel was involved -- but I kept it to reporting on just one, and did not give myself any credit to be used on other days.
• Most of the time, this was a very fun project; sometimes it was definitely a labor of love, coming up with something new every, single day -- especially at the end of a long day when I had forgotten to do something appropriate. Thank goodness for the Internet.
• No, the person I sent an anonymous e-mail never figured out it was me.

My favorite/most personally impactful New Things:

• New Thing 299, New Thing Every Day: Reach the Best Physical Condition of My Entire Life (612, 10/29)
• New Thing 62, New Thing Every Day: Rush to Indiana After My Stepfather's Stroke (543 views, 3/4) 
• New Thing 168, New Thing Every Day: Be Awarded Chamber Ambassador of the Year (523 views, 6/20)
• New Thing 105, New Thing Every Day: Win or Settle a Law Suit (471 views, 4/17)
• New Thing 81, New Thing Every Day: Do a TEDx Talk (354 views, 3/24)
• Day 1, New Thing Every Day: List Five of the Top People Who Have Influenced Me and Write Them Letters (282 views, 1/1)
• New Thing 345, New Thing Every Day: Help Organize a Gun Exchange Event, Collect 41 Guns (223 views, 12/16)
• New Thing 333, New Thing Every Day: Finish My First Day as General Manager of KOPN Community Radio (194 views, 12/4)
• New Thing 5, New Thing Every Day: Fast for One Day (176 views, 1/6)
• New Thing 165, New Thing Every Day: Create a Pop-up Restaurant (167 views, 6/17) 
• New Thing 358, New Thing Every Day: Finally Think of a National Podcast I Want To Launch (156 views, 12/29)
• New Thing 68, New Thing Every Day: Go One Full Week Without Using Profanity (150 views, 3/9)
• New Thing 296, New Thing Every Day: Officially Propose the Creation of a National Veterans Entrepreneurship Center (129 views, 10/26) 
• New Thing 339, New Thing Every Day: Finish Reading My First Happiness Book (119 views, 12/10)
• New Thing 269, New Thing Every Day: Host the Inaugural HerTomorrow Event (116, 10/1) 
• New Thing 347, New Thing Every Day: Lose 50 Pounds in One Year (114 views. 12/18)
• New Thing 210, New Thing Every Day: Register for an MBA Program (94 views, 8/1)
• New Thing 154, New Thing Every Day: Start Following The Wahls Protocol, for MS (84 views, 6/15)
• New Thing 74, New Thing Every Day: Survive Ticketing for a Major Rap Concert (83 views, 3/15)
• New Thing 235, New Thing Every Day: Co-Organize "Breaking Chains, Making Ways" (45 views, 8/27)

Most read blog posts (400+ views):

• New Thing 322, New Thing Every Day: Eat Thanksgiving Dinner Following The Wahls Protocol Diet (1124 views, 11/23)
• New Thing 334, New Thing Every Day: Get a Marinara Bowl from Nourish (796 views, 12/5)
• New Thing 299, New Thing Every Day: Reach the Best Physical Condition of My Entire Life (612 views, 10/29)
• New Thing 66, New Thing Every Day: Visit the Giant Fiberglass Paul Bunyan in Mortons Gap, KY (579 views, 3/7)
• New Thing 327, New Thing Every Day: Accept a Job as General Manager of KOPN (545 views, 11/28) 
• New Thing 62, New Thing Every Day: Rush to Indiana After My Stepfather's Stroke (543 views, 3/4)
• New Thing 168, New Thing Every Day: Be Awarded Chamber Ambassador of the Year (523 views, 6/20) 
• Tomorrow It Begins: New Thing Every Day (472 views, 12/31/17) 
• New Thing 105, New Thing Every Day: Win or Settle a Law Suit (471 views, 4/17)
• New Thing 322, New Thing Every Day: Eat Thanksgiving Dinner Following The Wahls Protocol Diet (463 views, 11/11)
• New Thing 150, New Thing Every Day: Eat My Last Pizza for the Foreseeable Future, Maybe Forever (433 views, 6/1)

Least read blog posts (<30 views):

• New Thing 160, New Thing Every Day: Visit http://www.oddee.com/ (4 views, 6/12)
• New Thing 136, New Thing Every Day: Check Out http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ (6 views, 5/18)
• New Thing 97, New Thing Every Day -- Post My Digital Photo Tour of Columbia on Facebook (6 views, 4/9)
• New Thing 13, New Thing Every Day: Visit www.zergnet.com (9 views, 1/13)
• New Thing 97, New Thing Every Day -- Post My Digital Photo Tour of Columbia on Facebook (9 views, 12/11)

New Thing 359, New Thing Every Day: Become a Fitbit Person

Seeing as it only took me 14 years from my MS diagnosis to start paying attention to fitness and nutrition (losing 50+ this year), it might be a little shocking that it has taken me just a few years to become a Fitbit person. Today, I bought a Fitbit Charge HR, with the hope that it will help me measure both steps and wheelchair pushes, nutrition, heart rate, calories, and a few other things. I absolutely love numbers and data and keeping track, so I am thinking this will be a cool way for me to take my fitness and health to the next level.

New Thing 358, New Thing Every Day: Finally Think of a National Podcast I Want To Launch

For maybe five years, I have been trying to think of a podcast I could launch -- and do myself -- that might have real potential to attract a national audience. Well, as of maybe a half hour ago, I think I have it. A good friend of mine could be the perfect co-host, and I have texted him the basic idea, and I bet he is going to want to give it a try. If he goes for it, we will launch in January and see where it goes. Stay tuned!

New Thing 357, New Thing Every Day: Help Launch a New KOPN Program as General Manager

[Did it yesterday; posted today.]

One of the things I think I will enjoy most about being general manager at KOPN community radio is the creativity it allows me. My interpretation of our mission is to use radio to bring our community and world together, and make it a better place. Leveraging our role as a community media outlet -- with the radio waves, social media, a large and growing membership, and an incredible base of volunteers and professional staff -- provides a wide array of tools and outlets for creativity and opportunities to do new things.

My sense is that there will be several new programs, large and small, launched in the coming years. For the first one, we took an idea I developed with my friend Jack Peterson. The idea is to use profits generated fro sales -- in this case, from KOPN's online store -- and make loans to developing world entrepreneurs through online service Kiva.org. To explain the idea, I have attached the press release below.

****

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2017

CONTACT: SEAN SPENCE

sean@kopn.org; 573-823-1308

 

KOPN WILL LOAN STORE PROFITS TO DEVELOPING WORLD ENTREPRENEURS

Local radio station will use the Kiva.org online platform to make loans around the world

(Columbia, MO) KOPN – Columbia, Missouri’s community radio station – announced today that it will use profits from its online store to make loans to developing world entrepreneurs, using technology and loan processing systems provided by online lender Kiva.org. 

This change is effective immediately and will apply to all merchandise sales from the site (www.kopn.org/store/).

“We launched the store a few months ago and have been thinking about innovative ways to both support our non-profit efforts and benefit others throughout the world,” KOPN board president Dan Hemmelgarn said. “Kiva.org makes it very easy to leverage the relatively small amounts of money we make from the store to significantly impact the lives of those who really need our help. Thanks to Kiva.org, we can make the loans, and get most or all of the money back to put into our operations and expansion.”

KOPN provided this explanation of the Kiva.org service, from the Kiva.org website.

Kiva is an international nonprofit, founded in 2005 and based in San Francisco, with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. We celebrate and support people looking to create a better future for themselves, their families and their communities. By lending as little as $25 on Kiva, anyone can help a borrower start or grow a business, go to school, access clean energy or realize their potential. For some, it’s a matter of survival, for others it’s the fuel for a life-long ambition. 100% of every dollar you lend on Kiva goes to funding loans. Kiva covers costs primarily through optional donations, as well as through support from grants and sponsors.

“KOPN’s mission is to make our community and our world a better place,” KOPN general manager Sean Spence said. “Using our store in this way allows us to work with our members and others to make a difference for people who really need it, while supporting KOPN at the same time.”

In the coming weeks and months, KOPN plans to dramatically increase the variety of KOPN-branded merchandise available through its store in an effort to grow the program.

On the air since 1973, KOPN is Columbia’s community radio station, offering in-depth news, diverse talk, and music of the world. As a community radio station, KOPN is a hub of community activity and discussion, constantly seeking new ways to bring the community together and make it better. KOPN is available throughout Mid-Missouri on the radio at 89.5, and throughout the world via online streaming at www.kopn.org.

####

New Thing 356, New Thing Every Day: Buy Dick Dalton's Book, I Am Not My Thoughts

[Did it yesterday; posted today.]

Dick Dalton has a radio show on KOPN (89.5 in Columbia, MO), Glocal News in Social Artistry, and he asked me to join him as the new general manager of the station. Over the course of the show, Dick mentioned the book he wrote and published in 2016, "I Am Not My Thoughts". As you might guess, the title appealed to me, with my goal of reading lots of books that will help me understand the scientific and theoretical foundations of happiness (Dick has a PhD in health education and was considered one of the best instructors at Lincoln University until his retirement in 2015).

The fascinating thing to me was hearing the title, I Am Not My Thoughts, which is a bit of a revolutionary idea to me, related to my #HappierByChoice efforts. It particularly appealed to me because the first time I had ever heard of that idea was literally the day before, reading my current happiness book (Solve for Happy, Mo Gawdat). Cool, huh? At the end of the show, Dick sold me a copy of his book for $10.00 and I can hardly wait to start reading it.

New Thing 355, New Thing Every Day: Visit Baidu.com

Of the ten most visited websites in the world, the only one I had not been to was Baidu.com (basically, the Chinese version of Google). It is a little different from Google, but not a lot.

New Thing 354, New Thing Every Day: Visit the Commemorative Confederacy Statue in My Home Town

Apparently this statue has been prominently displayed in my hometown for a very long time and I just never realized it. Somehow I saw on the Internet that it was here, so I decided it was time to check it out. Leigh, Clark and I went; it is directly in front of the main entry to our small town courthouse. We read the plaque to see who it is and it was of a specific person, of course, but it was dedicated in the name of all fallen Confederate soldiers.

Personally, I find this sort of thing offensive, but I am conflicted about the removal of statues and other artifacts like this. On one hand, I don't think we should sweep our history under the carpet; on the other, I do not want to honor that which I find despicable. One more complicated issue with which to wrestle.

New Thing 353, New Thing Every Day: Register for Ancestry Genetic Testing

[Did it yesterday; posted today.]

Most of us probably started seeing ads about easy ancestry testing a year or two ago. I did not think much about it for quite a while, but it has really hit my radar over the last month or two, and now I have finally pulled the trigger. The company 23andMe seems to be the leading, simplest way to do this, so I have registered to get a kit.

Apparently, what will happen now is that I will get a container in the mail, I will spit in it and return it, and a week or so later I will get a report that explains my ancestry. It will be a little surprising if I am surprised by what I find, but that would be cool. Today, I think I am one of the whitest people on the planet, with the vast majority of my heritage coming from western Europe, mostly England and Ireland. But who knows? Soon, we will, and I will share what I learn.

New Thing 352, New Thing Every Day: Go to Columbia Book Store

Did you even know that Columbia Book Store exists? It is off of Old Highway 63, near the business loop, and it is a great used book store, mostly hard cover. They even have a room full of first editions. Very cool. Leigh picked up a couple of books for Clark and I bought one of business writer Malcolm Gladwell's best sellers. I highly recommend you check it out and support a local bookseller.

New Thing 351, New Thing Every Day: Listen to a Brass Band Play Christmas Music Outside My Window

[Happened yesterday; posted today.]

Really, can you imagine a nicer thing to have happen in the final hour before leaving work for the Christmas holiday? Kent's Floral, directly below my window at KOPN, hired a brass band to play Christmas standards. It really put me in the right mood to head into the weekend. Thanks, Kent's Floral!

New Thing 350, New Thing Every Day: Have Someone Close to Me Go to Jail for Being in the Wrong Place

[Happened Thursday; posted today.]

I really can't go into any details at all about this, and it is still ongoing, but it is an important learning situation for me. Most people who go to jail probably deserve it, but not all people.

New Thing 349, New Thing Every Day: Go Through Radio Production Training

[Did it Wednesday; posted today.]

One of the particularly fun things about being the new GM at KOPN is everything I am learning about the radio business. M first training took me through all of the technology in a few different rooms (and there is a lot!). Soon, I am going to start subbing for radio hosts who do not make it in for a shift, and I am totally looking forward to that.

New Thing 348, New Thing Every Day: Attend My First KOPN Board Meeting

[Completed Tuesday; posted today.]

Barely two weeks on the job, I had my first KOPN board meeting Tuesday. They are my bosses, but I love working with boards, so I was not concerned about it. I had not met several members, and it was a good opportunity to remedy that. Before the meeting, I said I would have dinner at Formosa -- across the hall from the KOPN offices -- and invited any of the board members who had time to join me. Five ended up being able to make it and we had a great time; very little was discussed about KOPN and it was just a nice opportunity to start getting to know each other.

The meeting itself went pretty long, almost two and a half hours, but productive and good. Things are going well for KOPN, so there were no real crises to address -- a few potential rough spots, but nothing that will not be resolved in the coming weeks. I think great things are on the horizon.

New Thing 347, New Thing Every Day: Lose 50 Pounds in One Year

My focus really is on overall health, but probably the most measurable outcome is weight loss so that is what I think about the most. By March/April, I should reach my life goal weight, and I have not yet decided what metrics I will use from that point, forward. For now, I am pretty excited about where I am, and the fact that there seems to be a clear path for moving forward.

Here is what I posted to Facebook:
The good news...

Reached my 2017 weight loss goal of 50 pounds.

Lost 3.6 lbs this week; total loss of 50.4 lbs; weight of 188.6 lbs.

Today, setting aside the MS, I continue to be in the best shape of my life -- related to weight (a little more than I weighed in 2001), fitness, and nutrition. My plan is to lose another 21.6 lbs over the next several months and get to what I weighed at some point in high school

This week got a big loss bump because I mostly (kind of accidentally) fasted on Saturday. That's okay, I'll take the weight loss.

At this point, while I certainly feel better and see health improvements, there has not really been any impact on my MS. I have always assumed that actual MS improvement is a long shot, and that I would still be happy with overall improvement, which I am seeing. We will see how it goes over the next year. Wish me luck!

New Thing 346, New Thing Every Day: Try a Beyond Meat Product

Beyond Meat is a Columbia, MO originated company seeking to create a new kind of meat product from plant materials. It is actually an incredibly high tech company, founded on the idea that all meat actually comes from plants (ex. chickens eat grain becomes meat), and that we can use technology to reproduce that process. There several companies who seem to be creating some pretty incredible products, and Beyond Meat is an industry leader (based on technology from MU research).

Beyond Meat has several products. I wanted to start with their chicken strips, but they are based soy and I don't rat that. Fortunately, Target has their crumbled beef, which is, bizarrely, made from peas. So I got that.

To prepare the Beyond Meat beef crumbles, I sauteed them in butter with garlic salt and pepper, a pretty standard preparation. I ate a small serving andit definitely was not meat, but it was really pretty close and I enjoyed it. I made the whole package, and now my plan is to try it with red sauce; I bet it will be pretty delicious and might even taste like real meat sauce.

New Thing 345, New Thing Every Day: Help Organize a Gun Exchange Event, Collect 41 Guns

Today was totally nuts, and an incredibly fascinating experience that the vast majority will never experience. Whether you think the event was a worthwhile event or not, I think you would agree that it was an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime day.

Here are 10+ thoughts from today.

1. A misnomer about a gun exchange event is that the primary goal of organizers is for  criminals to turn over their guns. There was probably a little of that today, but the primary purpose is to get unwanted guns away from where they are unsafe (in drawers, closets, etc.). There was an awful lot of that today; it was a huge success.
2. A few of my friends have said, "This kind of event has never gotten a single gun off the streets." They should reconsider that opinion, which is just factually incorrect.
3. To whatever extent you think this might be a complicated event with lots of obstacles, multiply that by maybe 100. 
4. Nobody would sell us event insurance, which kept us from using the Armory downtown for gun collection, as we had planned (and announced). That is one of several reasons it switched from a gun drop-off event to a gun pick-up. Yes, the change led to some hassles, but it worked out really well.
5. Another complication was that many people were incredibly paranoid about going to a central location to turn in a gun. Turning it into a pick-up mostly solved that problem.
6. We were going to be happy -- no, ecstatic -- if we recovered 25 unwanted guns. Recovering 41 was kind of freaky, and we are feeling pretty good about it.
7. Things moved very quickly and a few mistakes were made. Don't judge unless you were actually there.
8. Mistake #1 might be that we accepted two homemade guns. They worked, though, and could have been used to kill someone, so maybe it was not a mistake.
9. We did turn away two homemade guns that were turned in when we had more time to pay attention to exactly what was happening (and, honestly, I just did not know how I should handle it). Now I think we probably should not have turned the guy away. Those guns were absolutely lethal and that guy was a total nutcase.
10. You might end up seeing the total nutcase on TV. He hung around for hours, talking to people, and worked very hard to get an interview. He may have succeeded.
11. This may turn out to be the only time I will ever spend most of the day with a personal, armed security guard in the car with me. Thank you, James Shelby of Shelby's Watch.
12. There was no food for most of us in the car until we were done. Yes, I am often not as smart as I think I am (I did lose a little extra weight, though!).
13. One of the pick-ups I was happiest about was the guy with a shotgun that had been standing up in his closet for years, with little kids running around the house.
14. Mariah Proctor also spent the day with me, and she was super helpful.
15. Cory Crosby was a great partner in making this happen. This was really his deal, and I was glad I could assist him.
16. We can't forget Judge Bob Aulgur and Bill Davis. They played huge roles in making the day work and they are good friends.
17. Turning in the guns to the police department felt bizarre, but they were totally cool, and super happy to get unwanted guns off the streets.

New Thing 344, New Thing Every Day: Attend a Christmas Party and Have Nothing But Carrots and Water

Yes, this New Thing is totally sick and wrong. I really do not know what to say, but when you do not consume dairy, sweetener of any kind, any grain, wine, beer, soda and a host of other things, this is what you have at a Christmas party.

New Thing 343, New Thing Every Day: Become an Adult Backpack Wearer

For years, I have been carrying a briefcase with all kinds of stuff in it, including my laptop. For close to 10 years, Leigh has been suggesting that I need to figure out how to lighten my load, especially because of my MS (which mostly affects my mobility). After years of talking about it, we finally broke down and made a change, and we decided that the change would be a backpack. Leigh, of course, did the research and picked out a pretty cool black one, with special pockets for my specific laptop, cell phone, and a few other things.

Today I used it  and I think this may be the solution. Thanks, Leigh!

New Thing 342, New Thing Every Day: Attend KOPN Engineering/IT Meeting

[Did it yesterday; posting today.]

As general manager at KOPN, I am an ex-officio member of all committees and working groups, and will be attending a lot of different meetings. The engineering/IT meeting is one I will definitely try to never miss because it is just so essential to the day-to-day running of the station.

Thankfully, we have some incredibly smart, generous guys volunteering to keep the station running and continue improving the technology (on a pretty thin budget!). It was very interesting to just sit there and listen -- there is a whole new list of words I am learning and concepts I need to understand. There are also some things I feel like I can add, especially as relates to organizing and helping to prioritize what needs to be done. I have managed an awful lot of tech projects, and I am looking forward to really diving into this one over the coming weeks, months, and years.

New Thing 341, New Thing Every Day: Make a Deal with a Small Publisher to Put My Event Book Out

[Did it yesterday; posted it today.]

My friend John Dupuy has his own startup book publishing company and yesterday we decided that he will publish Eventology, the book I wrote five or so years ago about creating events. We are going to do an eBook and probably a printed one and I am pretty excited about it. I'll let you know when it is ready to hit the WiFi nearest you!

New Thing 340, New Thing Every Day: Elf Myself

Sorry, you'll have to go to Facebook to see this.

New Thing 339, New Thing Every Day: Finish Reading My First Happiness Book

Isn't it funny? As much as I write and talk about getting happier, I have never read a book about happiness. Now, though, I am determined to to start building an academic foundation for my thought on happiness, and I got my first book several weeks ago -- Before Happiness, by Shawn Achor. It has been especially interesting because Achor is a Harvard grad and pretty heavy duty academic researcher into the subject. In particular, he writes and talks about happiness as it relates business success.

Now that I have read this one, my plan is to read lots and lots of research-based books on the subject. It is going to make a big difference in my own thinking, and in my ability to help others.

New Thing 338, New Thing Every Day: Go Somewhere I Have Never Been to Buy Something I Have Never Bought

You really should not ask questions about things like this so close to Christmas.

New Thing 337, New Thing Every Day: Launch a National Facebook Group for Community Radio Leaders

Those who know me know that one of my biggest characteristics is the incessant need to build relationships with people in whatever world in which I am living/working. With my new job, I looked to see if there was a Facebook group like created for folks like me -- one for community radio general managers/station managers and board members -- and there wasn't, so I decided to launch one. Of course, the biggest problem with doing this is that I know absolutely nobody in this world, outside of Columbia. Now, though, I can use the group as an excuse to reach out to people. Once I get 100 people or so to join the group, I think it will be self-perpetuating and will develop into something of real value for all participants.

New Thing 336, New Thing Every Day: Get My Full Name in a Newspaper Headlline

Over the years, I have been in the media a good bit (because of jobs I have had and projects I have done), but I have never had my full name in a newspaper headline, until this morning. The headline in the Columbia Missourian was "Sean Spence named KOPN general manager". Here is the article -- https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/local/sean-spence-named-kopn-general-manager/article_49556122-dace-11e7-8f6f-178186f72b53.html

New Thing 335, New Thing Every Day: Do an Uber

[Did it yesterday; posted today.]

Yesterday morning, I was leaving the house for a meeting and my beautiful new car that I love -- used, but with less than 30,000 miles -- would not start. It is one of those fancy push-button starters and it just wouldn't work. That was a problem, of course, but the bigger problem was that I needed to get to an important meeting. Fortunately, I tend to arrive early for things, so I had just a little time to play with, and I had that Uber app on my phone.

My wheelchair is an issue for transportation, but Uber offers an option to get an XL car -- which seems to mean a larger SUV -- so I ordered my first ride through the service.

I have to tell you that I love the whole process. A car arrived at my house in ten minutes and I made my meeting, just barely in time. The driver was polite and everything went perfectly. Over the course of the day, dealing with my car, I had to use the app twice more, and those experiences were just as good as the first.

As for cost, it is definitely too expensive for me to take several rides a day, every day; but if I need to get somewhere and my car is not available for whatever reason, I am now an Uber guy.

New Thing 334, New Thing Every Day: Get a Marinara Bowl from Nourish

I do not usually go to Nourish, on Broadway, but my friend Susan Hart and I had lunch today and it is one of her favorite places, so to Nourish we went.

I ordered the Marinara Bowl and it was just so freaking delicious (it is vegan, so who would have thought it would taste so good?).

Here are the ingredients -- zucchini noodle and spaghetti squash blend, sautéed spinach and mushrooms, house made marinara, topped with cashew ricotta.

Oh my goodness. it kind of blew my mind.

New Thing 333, New Thing Every Day: Finish My First Day as General Manager of KOPN Community Radio

It really was such a great day. I have started keeping a blog to share my adventures there. Here is the link to "10 Things I Liked About My First Day as KOPN Community Radio General Manager".

New Thing 332: New Thing Every Day: See Leslie Odom, Jr. in Concert

[Did it yesterday; posted today.]

Leigh is possibly the biggest Hamilton fan on the planet, and an extension of that is her love of Leslie Odom, Jr. As soon as she learned he would be in St. Louis, we had tickets and a plan to go. We made a day of it that included a few New Things -- including my first hot octopus entree, which was totally delicious -- and it really was a great way to spend our Sunday. Leslie Odom, Jr. was pretty incredible, and we also really enjoyed seeing his wife, who is a singer and did a duet with him.

New Thing 331: New Thing Every Day: Try an App that Puts My Face on Someone Elses's Body

Face Swap. I really don't think I need to say anything about this...

New Thing 330, New Thing Every Day: Buy and Try a Fancy Tea Drink

I do not like tea and have never liked tea. At this stage of my life, though, there are fewer and fewer things I drink -- no dairy, no sweetener, no anything, really. Anymore, I pretty much drink still or sparkling water (and I will add back wine in January). Then today I had a meeting at Uprise, and needed to purchase something so I would not sit there and be a freeloader. Literally, the only thing cold they had to buy to drink was tea. So I bought one. It was new. And it was yucky. No more tea.

New Thing 329, New Thing Every Day: Hold the first HerTomorrow Silver Event

I think we are changing the name, but HerTomorrow Silver is the HerTomorrow event that focuses on the lives of women over 50. Anyone can attend, but the speakers fit that demographic and, of course, they speak from that perspective. Unlike our big events, this one was a mini-event, lasting 90 minutes instead of four hours.

It really was a great event, hosted by Americare's Mill Creek Village (a senior living facility). We had three speakers -- Carolyn Paris, Muriel Battle Browder, and Ann Merrifield. All three were so great, carrying on the tradition that HerTomorrow is building.

I am not 100% sure what we will call it, but we will absolutely continue having HerTomorrow Silver events.

New Thing 328, New Thing Every Day: Attend a 90+ Birthday

I am honestly a little embarrassed that today was my first time for this New Thing because one of my grandmothers lived to 99, but somehow it just never happened. Today, I was invited to celebrate the life of the incomparable Dorothy Sullivan, mom of my friend Carolyn Sullivan. I had to get to class, so I did not get to stay long, but I was able to see Dorothy blow out the candles (a nine candle and a two candle) and then I hit the road.

Happy birthday Dorothy Sullivan!

New Thing 327, New Thing Every Day: Accept a Job as General Manager of KOPN

Yep. I did it, and I am pretty excited about it.

Since my background is not running radio stations, some may wonder why this makes sense for me. If you think about it, though, the move makes perfect sense and is totally in line with my skills, experience, mission, and values. I am a builder of new programs, businesses, and organizations; I am a community volunteer; and I like to think of myself as someone who brings people together. These are the things I think KOPN needs right now.

KOPN is a wonderful example of community radio, and it is so much more than the actual station. There is a school of thought that community radio is about building a community organization that impacts and benefits the community in a wide range of ways. The station is the foundation, it is the heart, and it is just the beginning. There is much work to be done -- the best part, if you ask me -- and KOPN can play a central role in helping Columbia be what we all know it can be. KOPN can bring us together; it can expose us to new ideas, cultures, and ways of life; and it can channel our collective energies in ways that will benefit those who most need their community to come through for them..

Today is the first day in a new and incredible journey for me, for KOPN, and I hope for our entire community.

Please join us.

New Thing 326, New Thing Every Day: Turn 47-Years-Old

There is probably not a whole lot to say about today's New Thing Every Day. This has been an incredible year and I am nearing the end of my best decade, yet. Also, I am so excited about the coming year, and pretty soon to getting to my fifties, which I believe are going to be fantastic.

I hope your day and year are even better than mine, and that all of your dreams come true.

New Thing 325, New Thing Every Day: Finish Posting a Full Year of #HappierByChoice Thoughts

Exactly one year ago, I started posting an original #HappierByChoice thought every day (maybe a few have been posted late, but maybe not). Mostly, I think the reason I started doing it is part of my incessant need to share what is on my mind pretty much every second of every day; hopefully, part of it was also because I thought someone else might find it helpful. That is definitely why I keep doing it. Selfishly, spending time thinking of happy thoughts to share absolutely helps to positively shape the way I view the world; maybe it is also helping someone else.

Occasionally, someone asks me where I get my "quotes", but I am not a big sharer of what famous/historical people say, so my rule is that I try to be as original as I possibly can. Of course, any number of the thoughts can probably be found somewhere else, but I do my best. In the early days, I just kept track of thoughts as I had them. Then, a few months ago I realized I had a pretty good stockpile and that I might actually be able to continue the project for a few years or more. So I started spending time every weekend, adding at least 14 new posts, so that every week I would have a 100% or more net gain over the number I had posted that week, constantly growing the list.

Today, I have a few over 15 months worth of posts ready to go. Working on them a little every day is making a big difference in my attitude and in my level of happiness. Really, the activity is shaping the way I think and view the world, just a little bit, and is maybe even helping me be a better person. Hopefully it is playing the tiniest role in doing the same for others.

New Thing 324, New Thing Every Day: Get the Waze App on My Phone

I have been hearing about Waze for several years and have finally put it on my phone. In case you are not familiar with Waze, it is an app that helps plan a travel route. The difference is that it collects information from users so you can know about things such as traffic, road construction, and speed traps. I poked around a bit and look forward to using it, and I should have a good opportunity in the next few months, when I should be taking a trip or two.

New Thing 323 New Thing Every Day: Lose Weight the Day After Thanksgiving

I feel pretty confident in saying that -- in 46 years --  had never lost weight the day after Thanksgiving, until today. We had a delicious meal of turkey, cauliflower puree, sweet potato casserole, and roasted vegetables -- and I lost 0.4 pounds between yesterday and this morning. Yes, I desperately missed both stuffing and dessert, but it was a great meal and I am feeling pretty good on all levels.

Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

New Thing 322, New Thing Every Day: Eat Thanksgiving Dinner Following The Wahls Protocol Diet

As you may know, I follow The Wahls Protocol, an extremely strict diet related to my MS (not for weight loss, although that is a nice side effect). There's other stuff, but key aspects include no gluten, dairy, grain, or sweetener of any kind (like, not even fruit). So you miught guess that this led to a very different meal than what I have had every year for the last 46 years or so.

We gave it a lot of thought, and here is what we had (there were a few things not on this list, but I did not have them).

• roasted turkey
• sweet potato casserole
• roasted vegetables
• cauliflower puree
• sparkling water

Normally, I would have had some sort of green salad, but that just did not happen.

Really, it was a delicious meal and I did not feel deprived. Yes, I would have loved to have had oyster stuffing, rolls, and two or three desserts, but that just is not my life anymore

New Thing 321, New Thing Every Day: Eat Pureed Beets

Leigh and I had to run to Chesterfield and back today, so on the return we grabbed dinners at a European restaurant named Ya Ya's Euro Bistro. The food was tasty and one my main course (seared Ahi tuna) was garnished with beet puree. It was really good -- if you like beets -- and went well with the tuna. I wish there had been more of it.

New Thing 320, New Thing Every Day: Visit Somebody in Jail

As you may remember, I tried to visit two weeks ago, but my friend already had visitors. On my friend Marie Hunter's suggestion, I wrote him a letter, and then got one back from him today. Among other things, he asked me to try to visit again, and today is his one day, so I went over the Boone County Jail at 7:30, giving it a shot.

It worked out this time and we visited for the one-hour limit. Out of respect, I am not going to go into detail, but it was interesting and emotional and a very unique experience for me. Moving forward, I am going to try to write to him every week or so, and visit at least once or twice more. I hope someone would do the same thing for me.

New Thing 319, New Thing Every Day: Do 50 Push-Ups

Actually, I did 51 (because, you know, 50 is SO overdone).  : )

This is the last of my exercise firsts for the year (having reached my limit in wheelchair laps at the park and 100 crunches). I am hoping that I hit a weight-loss of 50 pounds for the year, but I am just doing what I already do to get there, and not exercising more or eating less or anything like that.

So, I am feeling good about my plan to get in shape. I really am in the best shape of my life, at this point, and am hoping to do a lot better. I want to get exactly where I want to be by the end of the first or second quarter of next year, and then I am mostly going to try to maintain for the rest of my life (of course, even as I write this, I am reminded that very little stays the same -- things mostly either get better or get worse). We'll see how it goes.

New Thing 318, New Thing Every Day: Read Pat Conroy's "The Great Santini"

This is totally weird because Pat Conroy is one of my two favorite authors (along with John Steinbeck). In fact, for years I have been telling people I had read it and even believed that I had. But it turns out I had just seen the movie and somehow had never read the book. Fortunately, my friend Ellis Benus bought me a copy -- a first edition -- and one day I decided it was time to read it "again".

So, now I have read it, and loved it. If you haven't, you should go read it yourself.

Thanks, Ellis!

New Thing 317, New Thing Every Day: Get WhatsApp on My Phone

From Wikipedia -- WhatsApp Messenger is a freeware and cross-platform instant messaging and Voice over IP service. The application allows the sending of text messages and voice calls, as well as video calls, images and other media, documents, and user location.

Whatsapp is a big deal. with millions of users. so I finally decided to try it. Maybe I am wasting my tim4?

New Thing 316, New Thing Every Day: Have My Last Day at BBB

[Did it yesterday; posted today.]

For the last two years, I have been regional director for BBB and have absolutely loved it. Really, it has been a great job that really made sense for me. Just as important, I am a true believer in the BBB mission -- building trust in the business community -- and it has been an honor to be the voice of BBB in Mid-Missouri.

It was time to go, though, and I am very excited about other work. Right now, I am focused on a few different projects -- national expansion of HerTomorrow, launching a veterans entrepreneurship center, and a few other things -- and looking at job-jobs. There are some incredibly exciting things on the horizon and I feel pretty sure that 2018 is going to be my best year yet, in every way.

New Thing 315, New Thing Every Day: Get a Car Detailed

With tomorrow being my last day at BBB, I have to get the BBBmobile ready to give back to them (oh, how I have loved that little car!). Leigh said the only place I should go is Gaines Detailing, so I called. They had me drop off the car this morning, then gave me a ride back to my house. When it was ready at the end of the day, they actually drove it back to me.

Now, the car is beautiful and I absolutely recommend Gaines.

New Thing 314, New Thing Every Day: E-mail Top Angel Investor Jason Calacanis an Idea I Have

Something I learned years ago is that it really is surprising, the number of super high-profile people who will respond to an e-mail or letter. Over the years, I have received substantive responses -- and even one major business deal -- from various pretty famous people. It has been a great reminder that there is no harm in asking, and asking can often lead to getting.

Here is the message I sent (subject line: "your next billion-dollar syndicate"):
Jason,

I have been thinking through an idea for a new syndicate that would give you access to maybe a billion or more dollars and hundreds of new deals that many of your angel competitors will never see.

Want to chat about it?

Give me three minutes on the phone (so I know it is really you) and I will share the idea. I hope you will want me to help you do it, but that will be up to you.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

- sean

I'll let you know if it goes anywhere.

New Thing 313, New Thing Every Day: Take Don Laird to Lunch

[Did it yesterday; posted today.]

Don Laird is a great guy whom I have known for a long time, but we have never just sat down for lunch and hung out. Don was president of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce for many years; he is also a veteran and I learned a bunch of interesting things about that. I do not often include lunch with someone new as my New Thing, but this one definitely makes the cut.