Hear Jim’s 3-minute true and actual podcast https://youtu.be/avQ9TbgWZS4

or read his story below…

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Life, actually…

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HOW MANY WORDS CAN ONE BRAIN CONTAIN?

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BUT WAIT…THERE ARE THOUGHTY THOUGHTS BELOW. Proceed with caution and a ready wit…

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My latest book-in-progress is brimful of random thoughts and ramblings out of nowhere. Here is a sampling from the manuscript. It is called ONE MORE WORD OUT OF ME.

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It saddened him to learn that his crest had fallen.

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Beware of village elders dispensing wisdom. They could be right.

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Eating leaves a taste in my mouth.

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I prefer narrow daylight to broad daylight.

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The bright light made my bald head glow. I realized that I was just reflecting.

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I learn more when I’m trying not to seem smarter than everybody else.

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TAKE TWICE DAILY BY MOUTH. If I had read the instructions first I wouldn’t be trying to pull this pill out of my ear.

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Survival of the fittest isn’t quite the entire story. Survival is actually whoever remains standing, fit or not.

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The title of her book, How to Write Abathesis, puzzled me until it came to me that she meant How to Write a B.A. Thesis.

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I haven’t had such a good time since the last time I had such a good time.

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Does pure luck arrive pasteurized?

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Her participle is dangling.

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Turning over a new leaf reveals just another view of the same leaf.

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Great name for a super villain: Sputum McGoogle

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I glimpsed her beauty as she really was, at a time between ego surges.

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© 2026 A.D. by Jim Reed

Hear Jim Reed’s Red Clay Diary podcast: https://youtu.be/8Ae3T2L3Tpk

or read his words below…

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Life, actually…

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RELATIVE RELATIVITY

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 DEAR RED CLAY DIARY:

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Einstein was right. Everything is relative.

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What Einstein failed to go on to say is: Relativity is everything. In fact, relativity is everybody.

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We are all related in some manner, a fact at once beguiling and frustrating, at times horrifying to think (Did I really come from the same evolutionary roots as that third-world dictator and that European princess?), and at times provocative (I may share wellsprings with Einstein himself or Nelson Mandela, or even Charlie Chaplin).

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If we are all kin, most of us don’t like to admit it except when it’s convenient.

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Sometimes, the same folks who go on and on about how they’ve traced their roots all the way back to King Henry or the Vikings, are the same folks who don’t like to talk about the fact that if they go far enough back before that, they are also kin to Kunta Kinte, Adolf Hitler, Moses, Rube Goldberg, Henny Youngman and Eleanor Roosevelt.

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Within the bowels, we share common ancestry–and you have to believe that, whether you’re an evolutionist or a religionist.

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So, if we’re all in the same family, why do we treat cousins and sisters and offspring different from neighbors, foreigners and aliens? Why is our own blood so much more palatable than a stranger’s? Why are my lawn weeds nicer than your lawn weeds?

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It’s not only a small world, it’s a world interwoven with genes and bloodlines and ancestries. Unfortunately, it’s also a world of many fences and few gates, a world of barely-suppressed hostility that can become offensive at any given moment, a world of more should-have’s than can-do’s, a world where the meek, though blessed, are often oppressed simply because they do not place aggression at the top of their priority lists.

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Where is the good in the world, then, you ask?

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Well, it’s like everything else in the universe–the good is there, you simply have to fade the bad stuff out for a while so you can notice it.

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An audience laughing at the same humor is sharing a commonality that transcends the petty differences of the moment.

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An old man stooping to pat a small child on the head is making a quantum leap in time and without knowing it, is by the same act, massaging the cosmos with a bit of kindness.

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A firefighter who suddenly and without thinking risks life and limb to save the life of someone who in normal situations wouldn’t seem worth the extension of a cordial greeting…that firefighter is unconsciously affirming the fragile but extensive thread of hope that cobwebs the world and makes itself available at the strangest times.

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It’s out there. You have to either take time to notice it, or act quickly when the kindness urge strikes, so that you won’t have time to figure out why you should not be doing something so wimpy as generating an unconditional act of sweetness

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 © 2026 A.D. by Jim Reed

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                       (adapted from the book Dad’s Tweed Coat, Small Wisdoms Hidden Comforts Unexpected Joys by Jim Reed)

Hear Jim Reed’s Red Clay Diary podcast at: https://youtu.be/gDs1gwarsx8

or read today’s true story below…

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Life, actually…

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HOW COME THIS AND THAT?

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Just when I once again thought that I had learned everything worth knowing, the clock ticks forward to remind me, “That ain’t true.”

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Not only is there more to learn each day…there’s more to learn than I’ll ever have time to learn in one lifetime.

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It’s mostly tiny things that impose themselves…but these bits and pieces of reality tend to cluster eventually. Soon, they gang up and force me to listen up.

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Let’s start small. There’s this word that I’ve only recently noticed. The word is OUTDENT.

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Yep, outdent is my new word today. It’s fascinating because it is perfectly logical and quite obvious. Which may explain why I never noticed it before.

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You and I know what INDENT means. It has been a part of my life since grammar school. I to this day still INDENT my paragraphs. Don’t you?

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Outdent is the opposite. Maybe invented by a contrarian who wanted to shake the reader’s attention span.

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Maybe not.

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Sigh.

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I have decided not to follow that endless tunnel, the labyrinth that explains everything so thoroughly (from every possible angle) that it becomes excruciatingly boring and meaningless.

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So, instead of messing with your brain and mine, I have decided to accept OUTDENT as part of my life. I have also decided not to use this word at all…until exactly the right moment. A moment that may never come.

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Let’s take a break now. Let us accept all words both meaningless and meaningful. Then, let us decide to use these words judiciously. Each time we hear a carelessly tossed unexamined word, each time we hear a hackneyed usage so poorly thought out that it has become laughable…let’s pause and come up with a simpler, more precisely communicative word that will snap crackle and pop its way into philosophical usefulness.

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There, I’ve done it. I’ve managed to use too many words to explain the importance of using fewer words.

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Writing thoughts down is wickedly funny sometimes

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© Jim Reed 2026 A.D.

Hear Jim’s Red Clay diary: https://youtu.be/tL9EHBPrAbo

or read his story below…

Life, actually…

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BIG GRIN MORNING, BIG GRIN EVENING

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My fast-food drive-through order completed via raspy speaker and dancing screen, I proceed (in an orderly manner) to wend my way via automobile to the “pay” window.

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Directing customers one by one is an elderly man sitting outside in the cold rain, plastic clothing barely protecting him from the damp chill.

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He has a big smile on his face.

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Nothing to do while I’m awaiting my turn, but to engage him.

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I roll down the window and say something like, “This is the perfect day for not coming to work.”

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His smile gets bigger and he shouts out in a husky voice, “No, man, this is great. I like working outdoors. This is a good job!”

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He means it, I can tell. And his demeanor and comment make me grin all over. The rest of the morning isn’t so bad.

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Then, last night, Liz and I are leaving the house to dine with friends. Across the street, a middle-aged pizza delivery man is pulling to the curb and gathering his goodies to bring to a neighbor’s house.

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Since I’m home from work for the evening, I wonder how he feels about this repetitive job.

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I sing out, “I guess it feels like a long time till midnight right now.” He immediately gets my meaning and breaks out in a full-face smile. “Oh, this is no problem at all. I really like this work…you know I’ve been doing it for fourteen years!”

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I reflect back his smile and congratulate him. He pauses a moment to engage.

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“I think maybe you’ve delivered to my house before,” I say.

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He says, “You mean that one?” pointing to our yellow 1906 home with white picket fence.

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“Yep, that’s us,” I reply.

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“Oh, yeah, I’ve delivered to y’all plenty of times,” he boasts proudly.

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Now I recognize him and realize he’s right.

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“Well, we really appreciate you…and we’ll see you at our house next time!”

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He waves a pleasant wave and proceeds with his mission.

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And I decide to reduce my bickering about what a hard day I’ve had, next time I arrive home.

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Hey, look, it’s really raining outside today—did you notice?

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And do you notice how beautiful it is?

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This will be a good day to come alive

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© Jim Reed 2026 A.D.