- January 7, 2026
How about this contradiction? 1. Writing is a selfish act: Who am I to say that you should stop what you're doing and listen to me? 2. Writing is a generous act: I have learned something, and it is my obligation to share it — especially if I'm a writer.
Inspired by a Dec. 15, 2025, Calvin Tomkins essay in The New Yorker, I decided to make writing part of my 2026 goals. What follows is my attempt to write 100 words or so every day or so. If you'd be willing to share with me — and the Observer audience — something you learned or observed recently, in 100 words or less, email me at [email protected].
Here are some things I've learned or observed about family, community, fun, faith, work, and/or publishing.
Pace Center: 'I've changed a lot'
Jan. 6, 2026
Accountability and hope are partners. Pace Center for Girls, serving 46 girls from Volusia and Flagler counties, provides both.
Shinece Carr, development director for Pace, spoke to the Rotary Club of Flagler County on Jan. 6, and shared a video interview of several girls who transferred to Pace after struggling at their zoned public schools due to fighting, skipping class, lying or other struggles.
Teachers at Pace are involved and aware of struggles at home, often asking, “How was your night?” before asking “Where is your homework?” Staff also escorts students to bathroom breaks so that no one can cut class.
The students interviewed in the video Carr shared expressed gratitude for Pace and its financial supporters. Thanks to Pace, one girl said, she focuses on her strengths instead of her weaknesses. Another said that during her years at Pace, “I’ve changed a lot.”
As Carr said afterward about the students, “They all hate it the first three months, but the stories they share — it’s just priceless.”
That he may become strong also
Jan. 5, 2026
Last night, my 7-year-old son, Luke, completed 100% of his four daily goals for the week. The finishing touch was a checkmark for reading another page in "The Way Things Work," by David McCauley. He was beaming, proud, feeling a sense of accomplishment. I was happy to have played a role in helping him plan out his goals.
It made me think that this passage, which members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consider to be scripture, applies especially to parenting: "And if any man among you be strong in the Spirit, let him take with him him that is weak, that he may be edified in all meekness, that he may become strong also."
Making memories is hard work
Jan. 3, 2026
Today, my wife and three youngest children helped the Rotary Club of Flagler County take down Fantasy Lights. Wow. That is a project! Hundreds of 6- or 10-foot poles, dozens of light display parts, and Bill Butler and Trevor Tucker doing some heavy lifting in the trailer. As my wife, Hailey, said afterward, all the effort makes you appreciate the event that much more.
A highlight for me was putting our minivan to use. We put the seats down and drove piles of poles across Central Park so that they could be loaded into trailers and stored till next year — saving a lot of time and energy. My kids sat on the back of the van, laughing, their legs dangling over the grass, as I drove.
Something I learned: It's easy to sit around and waste a Saturday on electronic devices. Making memories takes planning and work.
Young boys suffering
Jan. 2, 2026
A week ago, I saw a boy get hit in the head by a softball, on a long throw from left field, as he was standing on third base. The crack was so loud it reminded me of the sound of a pitched ball being struck by a wooden bat. Immediately, the boy dropped to the ground and yelled in agony, twisting in the dirt.
He was helped up and encouraged to get back into the game and be tough. He seemed to be fine a few minutes later. But that image remains in my mind — and those sounds.
I thought about that poignant moment again last night, when I watched "Billy Elliot," a poetic and sad and funny movie directed by Stephen Daldry, in 2000, about a boy who takes up ballet as he navigates a difficult adolescence.
I am reminded that young boys, as they grow up and try to be men, often suffer and need our loving attention.
A real live paperboy!
Jan. 1, 2026
Every week in my driveway, I receive a bundle of 40 copies of the Palm Coast Observer. Or, rather, my daughter Ellie receives a bundle, and she delivers it to her school, Matanzas High, each week. Since school is out for winter break, she wasn't able to make the Matanzas delivery, so I hired my two youngest children, Kennedy and Luke, to bag and deliver individual newspapers to all the driveways around our neighborhood. It was a fun way to spend an hour on New Year's Day: I pulled our wagon, and Kennedy and Luke walked alongside, tossing the papers. A few times, the homeowner was in the driveway, and Luke hand-delivered the paper. The homeowner was delighted: A real live paperboy!
I wonder if more kids in the community would be interested in getting a bundle delivered to their driveway, so they could dish them out to their neighbors?
Goals, with numbers
Dec. 31, 2025
For Christmas this year, my wife and I bought for my 7-year-old son, Luke, an arcade-style basketball that tracks how many points the shooter can score in one minute. Of course, the game was partly for me.
It's been a highlight of the holidays to see Luke and his 11-year-old sister, Kennedy, take turns shooting and chasing each other's high scores. Every so often, Luke will run and slide on his socks into the dining room with a simple announcement, like, "71!"
What I observed is that it's comparatively boring to shoot baskets without tracking the score. The same is true of all goals in life: if we put a number on them, we work harder for them and feel a sense of accomplishment when we can say, "I did it!"
A.I., for better or worse
Dec. 30, 2025
Is artificial intelligence to be embraced or feared? Today I was a guest on Jay Scherr’s acclaimed podcast and Flagler Radio show, “Business Minds Coffee Chat,” with guests Kirk Keller, of Flagler Radio, and Kim Fitzgerald, owner of Curley Tail Design.
The attitudes about A.I., which I sometimes like to call “Al” since it looks short for “Albert” in san serif fonts, were strikingly contradictory. On one hand, we all seem to agree that we should embrace A.I. as a productivity and brainstorming tool; on the other hand, it could threaten our livelihoods if others embrace A.I. too much.
My older children are skeptical of A.I. because of the power and water resources it consumes. Other signs of the difficulty of figuring out A.I.: Today, a Wall Street Journal podcast has this headline: “Is the AI Revolution Slowing Down?” And a New Yorker headline: “Why A.I. Didn’t Transform Our Lives in 2025.”
I guess I’m becoming something of a skeptic about how important it will be for my personal gain, but I do worry that A.I. will continue to steal attention from news websites even as it depends on those very websites — including observerlocalnews.com — to be worth anything.
Check out the show in podcast form here.
