Did you dig the third grade? We did. Tetherball. Multiplication tables. Salsberry steak for lunch every Wednesday. Heads of 7-Up. You should’ve seen our science project – blue g-d ribbon. Those were the terrific times. And, we all should commemorate them. Remember that world map hanging from the front of your classroom? We’ve got one adorning our living room wall. We stole it. Well, not quite, we bought one. Admittedly, our purchase was not inspired by elementary school. We bought the wall map because it’s awesome. We continue to exhibit it because it’s the greatest conversation starter—ever. It entrances visitors. They spend hours sharing where they’ve been and where they want to go. They converse about geopolitics, the Louisiana Purchase, and the best route from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon. Like your old classroom map, it flips. People flip from...

An oil painting hung above the fireplace says sophistication. But, a gentleman must exercise prudence when selecting his artwork. It will serve as the room’s focal point and speak volumes about its exhibitor.  It should be a portrait.  Frankly, the mantle is no place for a painting of a wheat field or a unicorn (unless mounted by a king/prince/general in full military regalia). The portrait should convey power and confidence while embracing its own whimsy.  You want visitors to grasp instantly that you are a formidable man endowed with great intellect, humor and humility. Some gentlemen will opt for a self-portrait.  Done well, this can triumph superbly, but executed poorly, you may broadcast a message of ego and arrogance.  Remember, no one likes someone who takes himself too seriously.  Those opting for self-portraits should go for quirky or screwball.  Consider,...

A British inventor created the light switch in 1884. Since then, technological innovation has exploded (sometimes literally). Mankind invented the television, the airplane, the laser and the computer. We went to the moon and cured polio. Yet, the light switch remains virtually the same. If you live in North America, up is on, down is off, and that’s just how things have always been. Some people may question the need for change. Why meddle with a good thing? Well, as Sam Seaborn on West Wing preached, “'Cause it's next. 'Cause we came out of the cave, and we looked over the hill and we saw fire; and we crossed the ocean and we pioneered the west, and we took to the sky. The history of man is hung on a timeline of exploration and this is what's next.” So what...