Walk Into the Future

Category: America

  • 26.2 is life!

    “The starting line is never the hardest part.”

    (Unknown)

    The Walk into the Future blog is designed to highlight my thoughts and adventures.  There are days when I have more to say than others but I’m always searching for new content to keep me engaged with this writing process.

    My friend Lauren and I discussed creating a blog post to highlight how running is a metaphor for life. 26.2 is life—catchy, huh? 😊 Well, here’s my run at comparing running to Walking into the Future (living life).

    Marathon training is a detailed and long process.  I normally put myself through an 18-week training program, so the marathon is the last step in this process.  I must mentally and physically prepare myself for the grind and I’ve found that I enjoy the training.  The grind is real: 4:30 am alarms, 8:30 pm bedtimes, short runs, long runs and physical therapy.  I’m always searching for small wins during the training cycle and celebrating them as much as possible. 

    You don’t have to be an avid runner like me or Lauren to understand marathon training.  We all run some type of marathon daily, but you may call it by another name: Life.  Marathon training is a perfect metaphor for life as the lessons overlap and there’s growth throughout the process. Let’s explore!

    Most folks think of the starting line when discussing a marathon.  The starting line is never the hardest part, it’s getting there.  I find the starting line to be the most enjoyable part of the marathon.  The work put in just to make it to the starting line is something that most runners are proud of.  The excitement for the event is high, and you’re surrounded by fresh possibilities for the race outcome.  Daily life works in a similar way.  New jobs, new goals, and new relationships always feel motivating at first.  The ultimate tests come later when the excitement fades, and the work starts to become routine.  This is when you must dig deep to ensure you are moving forward with daily activities.  Discipline is extremely important in marathon training and life. Discipline carries you further than motivation will.

    Marathon training plans come in many different formats.  I picked the 18-week version because it provides enough flexibility to fit into my schedule.  There are weeks when I feel strong and unstoppable and then there are weeks when my legs are concrete.  This is a normal part of the ebb and flow of marathon training.  Daily life can resemble this same cycle.  We all have good and bad weeks, but progress is never measured in a straight line.  You just need to keep showing up daily to make the most out of life.

    Dr. Henry Cloud’s book 9 Things You Simply Must Do to Succeed in Love and Life has a chapter titled Work Like an Ant.  This chapter highlights how small things can lead to large things.  The ants move one grain of sand at a time to build their home.  Marathon runners find race day success because of consistent choices throughout the training cycle.  Drinking water, getting consistent sleep, easy runs, tempo runs, long runs and recovery are all things needed for running success.  Mile after mile is leveraged to build an effective base that leads to marathon success.  Daily life can resemble this process.  Small things lead to big things—planning, managing your time and setting goals can help you win in life.

    I make it a point to never compare my training program to others.  My goal is to run my own race, so I never get caught up in how other runners prepare.  I toe the marathon starting line looking to run my best race and not trying to beat someone else’s time.  This helps me enjoy the training and marathon process.  Life can mirror this process.  Comparing yourself to others is a fast way to lose joy in things.  Everyone has something they are trying to overcome so don’t get caught up in worrying about others—we all have a race (life) to run.

    The marathon is a test of will, mental toughness and physical ability.  Each component is critical to preparing and completing a marathon.  Mile 23 is always the toughest for me as I battle mentally to keep pressing forward.  Training for a marathon is one thing but the work during a marathon makes you question life choices. 😊  This is where I need to dig deep and keep putting one foot in front of the other.  There are Mile 23 moments in life too.  We all face challenges that stretch us and force us to choose what we want to get out of life.  These moments help us grow, teach resilience and prove what we are truly capable of. 

    I don’t remember every mile in my training program, but I can tell you how I felt each time I crossed a marathon finish line.  This moment of accomplishment stays with me forever and I love telling people that I am a marathoner.  Finishing a difficult chapter in life, overcoming a challenge or reaching a long-term goal can bring the same level of accomplishment.  The finish line is something to celebrate not because of the big victory but because the journey was hard.

    Regardless of whether you run or not, we all have days filled with obstacles, discipline, growth opportunities and grit.  We tackle these challenges, fight through mental and physical fatigues, celebrate small wins and continue to move forward through hard times.  That’s the same energy that gets me through the marathon.  Call it marathon energy!  Keep moving forward and training for the life you want to live.  We’re all stronger than we think and can-do hard things.  Marathon or life—they both require you to put in the work to be successful.

    Who’s ready!

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “Running is the greatest metaphor for life because you get out of it what you put into it.”

    (Oprah Winfrey)

  • Book Club 2025

    “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.  The man that never reads lives only one.”

    (George R. R. Martin)

    My Walk into the Future in 2025 is defined by a new level of intensity in multiple phases of the walk.

    I have chronicled my race calendar and the desire to challenge myself more in that area.  My desire is to test myself and see how much improvement I can make with my running program.  I almost called it a hobby, but running is a legitimate part of my life, and I don’t know what the world would look like without my 5 am runs.  I guess I would know how to sleep in like normal people if I wasn’t a runner. 😊

    My writing has remained consistent and I’m always looking for new content to add to the blog.  I’ve tried writing prompts and suggestions from my tree branches but 99% of my content comes from just living life. There are weeks when I found unlimited inspiration to write and others where I don’t write at all.  This used to bother me, but I find it’s easier not to force content and let it come to me when it’s time.  I must remember to keep my eyes, ears and thoughts open to receive inspiration and be ready to lay down the tracks that will become a new blog post.

    My friend John Crowe and I have formed a two-person book club that focuses on leadership topics.  John lives in Oklahoma City, and we share new books via text message.  We normally critique each book via text or a Teams call.  John has a curious mind about leadership, and he keeps me inspired to find new ways to enhance my leadership program.  Authentic Leadership is my foundational leadership style, but a true leader never stops learning so my book club work helps me grow and expand my knowledge base. 

    I view 2026 as a big year for my leadership consulting work and the exploration we are doing now will enhance how I work and partner with clients in 2026.

    Here are some of the titles we have explored in book club so far:

    • Team of Teams / General Stanley McChrystal
    • It Worked for Me, In Life and Leadership / General Colin Powell
    • Conquering Crisis, Ten Lessons to Learn Before You Need Them / Admiral William H. McRaven
    • The Positive Dog / Jon Gordon
    • The Power of Positive Leadership / Jon Gordon
    • Leaders Eat Last / Simon Sinek
    • Be The Unicorn / William Vanderbloemen
    • The 5 AM Club, Own Your Morning.  Elevate Your Life / Robin Sharma
    • The Light House Effect / Steve Pemberton
    • Proverbs (daily)

    I am still looking for new books to add to the list to finish the year out strong.  Send me a book suggestion and I will explore for book club. 😊

    What book are you reading right now?

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “A book is a gift you can open again and again.”

    (Garrison Keillor)

  • Fargo in pictures

    My Walk into the Future allowed me to venture to Fargo, North Dakota to tackle another half marathon and live that running tourism life.

    Here are a few shots from my trip:

    Fargo Dome

    Downtown Fargo

    More of downtown Fargo

    Fargo alley art and a meal at the Jasper Hotel (I’m from Jasper, Florida) 🙂

    (Meal at the Pizza Ranch)

    (Pre-race views)

    (Victory!) 🙂

    Running season is here!

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

  • Make Every Second Count (Repost)

    (Photo by Jordan Benton)

    “You may delay, but time will not”.

    (Benjamin Franklin)

    The Walk into the Future blog continues to look for new topics to develop.  Most of the content comes directly from my travels, life adventures and items of interest.  I have reached out to tree branches for thoughts on new blog content and then try to develop their concepts into something I can share with my readers. 

    I had an outstanding conversation with Melissa Forges on my drive over for the 2025 Town of Celebration Half Marathon.  We got a chance to catch up on life and have a few laughs in the process.  Melissa shared three topics of interest and gifted them to me to see if I could develop them into a blog article. Well, here’s my run at her first topic: Make Every Second Count.

    We all understand the concept of time and how our days on earth are numbered.  There’s a finite amount of time we get to live this life, and this is our way to inspire YOU to live more.

    I decided to do a little research to put time in perspective.  What does time look like?

    • 12 months in a year
    • 365 days in that same year
    • 7 days a week
    • 1,440 minutes in a day
    • 86,400 seconds in a day

    The first three time markers are the most common and talked about in our daily interactions.  Days turn into weeks, months and then years at a faster pace as we get older.  This may be a perception thing, but it feels real to me.  I left home to join the Air Force in 1986 and just celebrated 39 years on this life journey post Jasper, Florida.  We hear time flies, and it seems to become a reality as I get older in this life.

    Let’s dive into the minutes and seconds we each have in a day.  How many of the 1,440 minutes in a day are you doing something to make the world a better place?  What about the 86,400 seconds in a day? 

    I take my role as a tree (mentor) seriously and look to enhance my interactions with my tree branches daily.  I’m not sure I maximize every second of every day, but I put a sincere effort into this process daily.  It’s easy to say I will get something done tomorrow but I don’t want to waste time or effort and ignore today.  Yes, it’s easy for me to write this from the comfort of my keyboard but I will begin to leverage the time concept into my writing as well.  I have new responsibilities at work and there are days when I don’t sit down to work on my writing craft.  I assume I have time to develop topics into blog articles but need to leverage every second available to ensure I have a large library of blog articles to select from.  I normally have seven to eight articles drafted before I publish weekly.  Maximizing every minute and second in the day will get me back to a place where I have a large library to select from again. 

    Making every second count can be leveraged in all aspects of life.  I plan to use this mindset when I start my full marathon training program in June.  The 2025 Atlantic City Marathon is scheduled for October of this year, but I must use my training time smartly. 

    How can blog readers who are parents maximize your time with your kids?  Yes, they have busy lives but are you making every second count with them? 

    Have you booked the vacation you have been talking about for the past few years?  Again, time stops for no one—are you making every second count?

    I can add more scenarios but believe you get my point on time. 😊

    One final point.  My grandmother passed away in 2012 and the pastor that delivered her eulogy used the concept of time to inspire the family to live life.  He gave us the 1,440 minutes and 86,400 seconds per day to highlight how my grandmother lived life to the fullest.  His exact words were: She Lived!  He challenged the family to follow in her footsteps and live life.

    I’m still a work in progress but I maximize my time daily.

    So, I challenge my Walk into the Future blog readers to make every second count!

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “Time moves slowly but passes quickly”.

    (Alice Walker)

  • 2025 Fargo Half Marathon

    I’m always open to new running tourism opportunities.

    I added the Rhode Island Half Marathon to my running schedule in 2024.  It was a new state for a half marathon and allowed me to experience new adventures to include walking the grounds at Harvard.

    I decided 2025 would be a year to explore new states and leverage races as the main reason to visit.  I’m closing in on visiting all 50 states but still have work to do to hit that milestone.

    The Fargo Marathon race weekend came through on my Instagram feed and it looked promising.  It was described as flat and fast with a party atmosphere.  I love all those variables, so I decided to sign up.  I’ve never been to North Dakota, so this was my opportunity to run in a new location and cross off two more states.

    I flew out of Orlando on a connecting flight in Chicago.  There are no direct flights from Orlando, Florida to Fargo, North Dakota.  I landed at the Hector International airport in Fargo and was surprised how small the airport was.  There was no fanfare, just 4 gates, a gift store and one bar in the terminal.  I made my way to the Enterprise rental counter to pick up my car and the adventures started.

    I didn’t have a lot of preconceived ideas about Fargo, but it was larger than I expected.  The airport is across the street from North Dakota State University (NDSU) and the famed Fargo Dome.  I’ve watched multiple NDSU Bison football playoff games on TV and wanted to get a picture of the venue.

    My first stop was the Buffalo Wild Wings that was close to the campus.  I needed to continue my carb loading process and Bdubs was my spot.  I got some chicken wings, potato wedges and beer for lunch.  Headed across the street to see if I could walk into the Fargo Dome but the doors were locked.  I decided to get a quick shot outside to highlight I was there.

    My next stop was the EXPO which was held on the Concordia College campus in Moorehead, Minnesota. This was only 4 miles away so don’t think I had an extensive drive to get there—Fargo and Moorehead are sister cities. 😊  The EXPO was not huge and the check-in process was smooth.  I got my race bib, swag and pictures completed in record time.  I also picked up three new head bands to add to my collection.

    Headed to my hotel after the EXPO to check-in and strategize my plans for the trip.  I wanted to ensure I got in some sightseeing before race day.  I found a nail salon close by and got my mani/pedi before starting the adventure.  This was a nice way to treat myself and ensure my legs felt good before the race.

    I left the nail salon and headed to downtown Fargo to check out the downtown scene.  Several friends asked me before the trip if I ever saw the movie Fargo.  I heard about the movie and TV series but never saw either one.  I may have to go back and see them to get context.  Either way, downtown Fargo had a cool little vibe.  There are tons of restaurants, bars and shops there.  The people were super friendly, and it was a pleasant environment.

    I started my second day in Fargo with a quick workout in the fitness room.  I wanted to stretch my legs on the exercise bike and the treadmill.  I limited myself to 10 minutes on each and then got in some floor stretches.  Got coffee and headed up to my room to plan the day.

    My carb loading process led me across the street to the Pizza Ranch.  It’s a local spot with a pizza buffet and a game room for kids.  It had great online reviews, so I gave it a run.  I highly recommend this spot if you are in Fargo.  The pizza was fresh with great flavor and crust. I added pasta with marinara sauce to my plate to maximize my carb intake.  Great little spot with outstanding food.

    My next big adventure was to make my way to South Dakota so I could check it off my list.  Plugged South Dakota into my GPS and headed south.  This was a 70-mile trip to New Effington. Google it! 😊 I was hoping it was going to be a bigger town, but the city limits sign identified population 250.  I rode around a bit and saw the highlights of the main street.  I spent about 10 minutes there before heading north on I29 back to Fargo.

    I went downtown again and sat in a little park to soak in the atmosphere.  It was warmer than normal but with no humidity, so it was a pleasant day to watch people.  I made my way back to the hotel so I could get in another stretching session and get my race outfit ready.  I picked out one of my new head bands to add more color to my race day ensemble.  I went to bed early to ensure I had a good night’s sleep before race day.

    I got out of bed at 4:44 am to stretch and mentally prepare for race day. I’m used to being up early, so this felt like a normal day for me.  Packed my bagels, Gatorade, water and gels and the race adventure was on.

    The hotel was only 7 miles from the race sight, but GPS took me in a new direction to avoid the closed streets due to race day.  I parked in the Fargo Dome parking lot and made my way towards the start line.  I arrived in plenty of time to stretch again and get in some light jogging to prepare for the 13.1 mile journey.

    The Fargo race weekend includes a marathon, half marathon, 10k and 5k.  The marathon, half marathon and 10k were all being run on the same day.  The marathon began at 7 am with the half and 10k starting 15 minutes later.  This was not a huge deal, but it gave me a few extra minutes to mentally prepare for the race.  There was not a corral system for this race, so runners just lined up regardless of how fast they were going to run.  I’m always careful with this setup since there would be walkers at the beginning of the race and I didn’t want to crash into anyone trying to find a safe place to run.

    The Fargo races were advertised as flat and fast.  The course lived up to this marketing and I was happy with the flow of athletes through Fargo.

    My goal is always to improve my half marathon time, but I didn’t want to go out too fast.  I decided to go out at a controlled pace and adjust when needed on the course.  There were multiple locations where crowds of spectators could cheer for the runners, and these are the spots where my speed picked up because I didn’t want to disappoint a kid who was cheering for me. 

    I found myself with a smile on my face for most of the race.  The course was flat, and the people were out cheering for us, and it was a nice day—why not smile? 😊

    My first mile was completed at 9:48.  I stayed consistently in the 9s for the first part of the race with my fastest mile split being 9:38 for mile 4.  My pace didn’t slow until mile 9 when I clocked a 10:01.  I’m happy my slowest mile didn’t happen until mile 12 at 10:19. I crossed the finish line at 2:11, which is my fastest half marathon in 2025.  I’m proud of my efforts to get ready for this race and the execution of the race plan. This race serves as a blueprint for the rest of my training program as I get ready for the 2025 Atlantic City marathon in October.  My 16-week training program started on 6/15/2025 and I’m excited to put in another solid training program.

    I left the Fargo Dome parking lot and headed back to Buffalo Wild Wings to get my free beer and food.  There were a lot of runners at Bdubs, but it was not crowded.  I enjoyed my food and beer and made my way back to the hotel to shower, unwind and get in a nap—mission accomplished.

    I’m not sure if I will run in Fargo again but this was nice adventure, and I got to see two new states.

    I’ve got Wisconsin and New Hampshire on the race calendar coming soon.  More running tourist adventures are coming your way. 😊

    Where are you traveling this year?

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

  • Seaway Drive Bridge

    My Walk into the Future allows for numerous adventures I can share with my readers.

    Most of these adventures have something to do with travel for races and simply enjoying life.

    One of my newer adventures is leveraging the Seaway Drive Bridge as part of my race preparation.  I’ve written about this bridge briefly in a few blog articles.  There were days when I dreaded seeing or crossing the bridge in my training program.  My mindset saw this part of my training as a chore.  I decided to flip my mindset in 2025 and embrace the bridge as part of my regular training program.  I stopped dreading the bridge and started finding new ways to incorporate it into my race preparation.

    Most training plans call for runners to complete hill repeats to prepare for races.  There are no hills in Fort Pierce but there are several bridges. I began leveraging the Seaway Drive Bridge to complete my hill repeats last year.  The simple view is I would run from the west side of the bridge to the east side.  I take a short rest on the east side and then head back west.  Up and over, then back again—simple concept.  My goal most days is to repeat this process 10 times before I’m done.  One time over the bridge is approximately .75 miles.  I’m never concerned about time but need to get over and back to complete this workout.  I leverage the hill repeats on Sundays because Saturdays are for my long runs.

    I also incorporate the Seaway Drive Bridge as part of normal runs between 4 to 6 miles.  This is a good way to test my endurance as I start and finish these sessions with bridge incline work.  Some of my best run view photos have been taken at the top of this bridge.

    The results have been positive.  I completed the Nashville Half Marathon this year with minimal leg soreness.  I have also been faster with my race times this year.  I attribute both outcomes to added hill repeats to my training program.  No more days of avoiding the bridge—I’m excited to get my bridge repeats in now and will add more for future training sessions.

    What have you been avoiding that may help you move forward?  Time to get your hill repeats in!

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

  • Make Every Second Count

    (Photo by Jordan Benton)

    “You may delay, but time will not”.

    (Benjamin Franklin)

    The Walk into the Future blog continues to look for new topics to develop.  Most of the content comes directly from my travels, life adventures and items of interest.  I have reached out to tree branches for thoughts on new blog content and then try to develop their concepts into something I can share with my readers. 

    I had an outstanding conversation with Melissa Forges on my drive over for the 2025 Town of Celebration Half Marathon.  We got a chance to catch up on life and have a few laughs in the process.  Melissa shared three topics of interest and gifted them to me to see if I could develop them into a blog article. Well, here’s my run at her first topic: Make Every Second Count.

    We all understand the concept of time and how our days on earth are numbered.  There’s a finite amount of time we get to live this life, and this is our way to inspire YOU to live more.

    I decided to do a little research to put your time in perspective.  What does time look like?

    • 12 months in a year
    • 365 days in that same year
    • 7 days a week
    • 1,440 minutes in a day
    • 86,400 seconds in a day

    The first three time markers are the most common and talked about in our daily interactions.  Days turn into weeks, months and then years at a faster pace as we get older.  This may be a perception thing, but it feels real to me.  I left home to join the Air Force in 1986 and just celebrated 39 years on this life journey post Jasper, Florida.  We hear time flies, and it seems to become a reality as I get older in this life.

    Let’s dive into the minutes and seconds we each have in a day.  How many of the 1,440 minutes in a day are you doing something to make the world a better place?  What about the 86,400 seconds in a day? 

    I take my role as a tree (mentor) seriously and look to enhance my interactions with my tree branches daily.  I’m not sure I maximize every second of every day, but I put a sincere effort into this process daily.  It’s easy to say I will get something done tomorrow but I don’t want to waste time or effort and ignore today.  Yes, it’s easy for me to write this from the comfort of my keyboard but I will begin to leverage the time concept into my writing as well.  I have new responsibilities at work and there are days when I don’t sit down to work on my writing craft.  I assume I have time to develop topics into blog articles but need to leverage every second available to ensure I have a large library of blog articles to select from.  I normally have seven to eight articles drafted before I publish weekly.  Maximizing every minute and second in the day will get me back to a place where I have a large library to select from again. 

    Making every second count can be leveraged in all aspects of life.  I plan to use this mindset when I start my full marathon training program in June.  The 2025 Atlantic City Marathon is scheduled for October of this year, but I must use my training time smartly.  Lauren, how will you make every second count before we toe the line in Atlantic City? 😊

    How can blog readers who are parents maximize your time with your kids?  Yes, they have busy lives but are you making every second count with them?  Just a question Melissa but remember, this was your topic! LOL

    Have you booked the vacation you have been talking about for the past few years?  Again, time stops for no one—are you making every second count?

    I can add more scenarios but believe you get my point on time. 😊

    One final point.  My grandmother passed away in 2012 and the pastor that delivered her eulogy used the concept of time to inspire the family to live life.  He gave us the 1,440 minutes and 86,400 seconds per day to highlight how my grandmother lived life to the fullest.  His exact words were: She Lived!  He challenged the family to follow in her footsteps and live life.

    I’m still a work in progress but I maximize my time daily.

    So, I challenge my Walk into the Future blog readers to make every second count!

    Melissa, how did I do on your first topic? 😊

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “Time moves slowly but passes quickly”.

    (Alice Walker)

  • 2025 Town of Celebration Half Marathon

    “When your legs get tired, run with your heart”.

    (Unknown)

    The Walk into the Future blog made a return trip to Celebration, Florida to give the 2025 Town of Celebration Half Marathon a run.  This race has become one of my favorite races on my calendar.  I love the town of Celebration, and the people there put on a great race and after party.  Yes, I call it an after party because the entire town comes out to celebrate (pun intended) with race participants. 😊

    I doubled up on my races in January with the Vero Beach half marathon on the weekend prior to the Town of Celebration race.  The weather is milder in January, and I don’t have to worry about heat and humidity early in the race year. The Vero Beach half marathon has two bridge crossings within the first 5 miles of the race, and this can hamper runners for the rest of the race.  This will be my last year running the Vero race.  I want to explore additional race options in January and may give the 2026 Houston Marathon a run next year instead of the local race.

    The Town of Celebration racecourse is completely flat, and I love this aspect. This is a great component of the race regardless of the temperature.  We had cool weather this year and I had to decide if I was running with layers on or go with my traditional running tank top.  It was 47 degrees at the start of the race, so I decided to dress warmly with multiple layers.  This was a great choice since the temperatures never got much higher than 51 degrees.  Great for running but not for standing around waiting to start the race.

    I lined up at the start line with the intent to leverage the cool weather and improve my time from last year.  My goal was to hit the 2:08 mark for the half marathon with the cool weather and wanted to see how fast I could go.  My fastest time for this race was 2:09:16 back in 2023 and I wanted to see if I could go this fast again.  Well, the short answer for this year is no. I ran 2:14:27 which was a full four minutes faster than my 2024 time.  I’m always happy to go faster in a race than the previous time out and I will take the results from this year.  I struggled a bit in the middle of the race with my legs and had to stretch them out around the 8-mile marker.  This helped me continue to push forward and I got a bit faster in the final 3 miles of the race.  I’m happy with my final kick and completed mile 13 at 10:08 and a huge smile on my face.  The crowd at the finish line was very inspiring and helped me enjoy the final stages of the race.  I grabbed my race medal and took a few finish line photos to document my time in Celebration, Florida.

    The after party was relocated closer to the finish line this year and I headed over to take my eating and drinking tour of the town.  The race participants receive a food card that highlights each of the restaurants present for the event.  You take your food card to each vendor, and they provide a food sample from their restaurant and mark your food card to signify you have been served.  My first stop was at the Michelob Ultra table to get my two beers to get things started.  I ventured to the Mimosa table next to get a sample before hitting the food tables.  Fast forward and I made my way to every table available this year.  The samples were a bit smaller than last year, but the food was delicious, and the atmosphere was outstanding.  I hung around the after party a bit longer this year to soak up the atmosphere and chat with Orlando runners.  I’m thinking I will spend an additional night in Celebration next year so I can just chill after the race and socialize a bit longer.

    My next big race is the 2025 Nashville Half Marathon in April.  I am looking forward to getting back to Nashville and enjoying great live music.  Who’s going to join me in Nash Vegas?

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “The person who starts the race is not the same person who finishes the race”.

    (Spectator sign)

  • Five Minute Thursday: Favorite Comedian

    “You know you must be doing something right if old people like you”.

    (Dave Chappelle)

    Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to give the Five-Minute Thursday writing prompt another run! 😊

    I created this topic with designs to write about Ali Siddiq who is an amazing storyteller and keeps audiences engaged.  This prompt came to me because I drove up to Daytona Beach last weekend to see Ali at The Peabody for his new tour, In the Shadows.  I started writing this article with the intention of telling my readers how great Ali Siddiq is but decided to take a slight detour to truly highlight the GOAT (Greatest of All Time).

    This Five-Minute Thursday prompt is: My Favorite Comedian.

    Surprise, it’s not Ali Siddiq but Dave Chappelle.  I have been a fan of Dave’s comedy for a while now with my full introduction to his work via The Chappelle Show.  This show only ran for two seasons but the amount of work he put into this show makes every episode a classic.  The level of comedic timing and clever skits made him a household name.  The show was must see TV and never disappointed the viewers. 

    There were a few skits that you really had to pay attention to keep up.  One of these skits was:  The Blind Black White Supremist.  Yes, the skit was just as ridiculous as the title, but he made a point and kept the audience laughing.  Check it out when you get a chance. 😊

    Dave ventures into True Hollywood Stories featuring Charlie Murphy to tell stories about legends, Prince and Rick James.  These are identified as completely true stories as told by Charlie Murphy.  I still watch these clips on YouTube when I want to laugh out loud.

    Dave Chappelle is a true stand-up legend.  His Netflix comedy specials are some of the most watched.  I believe I have seen them all and continue to watch clips on YouTube—his work never gets old to me.  I jump on YouTube when I need a laugh before going to bed and I always search for something from the Chappelle archives.  He just completed his fourth hosting stint on Saturday Night Live.  I’ve watched them multiple times and he continues to bring the funny.

    I highly recommend you jump on YouTube and check out some of his work.  You pick what looks good to you, but The Blind Black White Supremist is worth a shot if you want to laugh at a concept this silly.  The Prince skit is hilarious too. 😊  Challenge him!

    Check out Ali Siddiq while you are browsing.  He is a funny dude too!

    Who is your favorite comedian?

    Calvin Williams

    “I love my jokes”.

    (Dave Chappelle)

  • Five Minute Thursday: Favorite teacher

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    “My teacher gave me the best gift of all…believing in me”.

    (Unknown)

    The Five-Minute Thursday writing prompt has been a fun detour with my blog writing. Never thought I would enjoy a scripted prompt this much, but it has become a staple writing exercise for me.

    So, let’s give the Five-Minute Thursday writing prompt another run.  Not sure if I shared this in an earlier post but I am a proficient typist.  I signed up for 10th grade Typing 1 class with designs to meet girls in high school.  Turns out the skills I learned in this class as a 15-year-old have propelled my professional life and opened numerous doors for me.  I would not be able to crank out weekly blog posts without the ability to type and put my thoughts down. I type as fast as I think so getting a lot of content completed is an easy task for me.  Never imagined my attempt to meet girls in high school would provide me with a skill that helped me separate from my peers.

    My fifth prompt for Five Minute Thursday is:  My Favorite teacher—Mattie Fouraker.

    I officially met Mrs. Fouraker in the 10th grade, and she was my typing teacher.  She took a special interest in me and decided that I would learn how to type well in the year we had together.  She also decided that I was not in her class to meet young ladies and put me on the far end of her class so my interactions would be limited.  She made a point to get onto anyone who distracted me while I was in her class.  This set-up created a typing incubator that allowed me to thrive in her class and taught me a valuable skill that I leverage daily.  I was recognized as the best typist in class with a 65 words per minute with 99% accuracy rating—not bad for someone in class just to meet girls. 😊  Our football coach always made a point to identify I had the best hands on the football team—not bad for a wide receiver.

    Mrs. Fouraker made a point to keep taps on me throughout the rest of my time in high school.  She always made me feel special and provided life advice on the best way forward.  I never took another class with her, but she continued to mentor me daily.  I progressed to Typing 2 the following year but did not enjoy the class as much because I was just another student to the teacher in that class.  My typing skill level remained sharp based on the tools Mrs. Fouraker helped me develop in my time with her.

    Our relationship continued during my time in the Air Force.  We shared cards and letters over the years that helped us stay connected over the decades.  She remains one of my biggest advocates and follows the Walk into the Future blog weekly.  I will visit her when time permits when I return home to Jasper, Florida.  Mrs. Fouraker lives one town over in White Springs, Florida and it puts a smile on my face when I stop by.

    Amazing what a teacher that believes in you can do to propel your life forward!

    Thanks, Mrs. Fouraker for guiding me over the years! 😊

    Who is your favorite teacher?  Do they know that?

    Irie!

    “The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery”.

    (Mark Van Doren)