I was having lunch with Chris Nordyke last Thursday when I asked a question I often ask people to whom I could listen for hours: "When is your book coming out?" He wondered out loud what the next steps would be, so I rattled some off as if I had written a thousand books. 

That afternoon, I called my friend Chris McLaran. I had been thinking a lot about Chris for the whole month of March. The first anniversary of Mike McLaran's passing would soon be here. I needed a healthy distraction, and I wondered if Chris did too. Friday morning, Chris and I hatched an idea that I had been sitting on all month, too afraid to say it aloud. 

Today, I celebrate the longest run of my life.

It was almost exactly a year ago when I emailed my mentor and former boss yet another thank you note after completing a huge project for my first Canadian client. His response: "always pay it forward." Today, I found myself teaching others what he taught me... Paying it forward.

I wish he was here with me to see what he's done. He started something and he should be here to see it, not to accept our applause, but to silence it and push me -- all of us -- to do more. Not more in quantity but more in listening, more in art, more in humility, more in encouragement and more in service to others.

With all the chatter following any Super Bowl, it's easy to lose sight of your own favorites in all the noise. The noise today is about Coca-Cola, Budweiser and Chrysler.

Coca-Cola released an ad with America The Beautiful  sung in languages from around the world, symbolizing that America is beautiful in any language or culture. The backlash from many folks was related to the patriotic nature of that song. Reactions may be tied to efforts over the last century to give America the Beautiful legal status either as a national hymn, or as a national anthem equal to or in place of The Star-Spangled Banner.