Before things get rolling, I’m going to spend next week as a volunteer youth leader and take a trip to “Never the Same Camp“. Early mornings, late nights, a lot of running in-between lots of prayers. Not sure how that will be different than the past few weeks.

Anyway, I’ll be off the grid. Be good.

I woke up earlier than anyone else, because our dog, Clue, came by to remind me that he needs to get to his morning pee and breakfast. The dog doesn’t know that this is my “special day.”

I saw a brown paper bag sitting at my place at the family table, with a handwritten note from my son. “Sorry about the wrap job. The women weren’t available.” Obviously put there last night after I went to bed.

I’ll wait for the rest of the family to wake up before opening it. Then off to church, where I’m scheduled to deliver the children’s message at both services.

Father’s Day to me means time with my kids and my wife, with whom I started the Keefe family nearly two decades ago.

Nice wrap job, Kevin

Thank you Freedom of Information Act and WGN-Ch. 9!

According to Yahoo!:

Bloggers are included in the list of journalists being celebrated on the Yahoo! site, including:

• Wael Abbas - Egypt–Blogger and human rights activist who blogs at Misr Digital
• Amira Al Hussaini - Bahrain–Journalist, editor, and blogger
• Yoani Sánchez - Cuba–Philologist and blogger known for her critical portrayal of life under the Cuban government

I thought it was interesting and slightly amusing that Wael Abbas was the first journalist listed by Yahoo! under the heading, “Celebrating Journalists.” Yahoo! had shut down two of his Yahoo! email accounts, calling him a “spammer.”

To all of my friends in journalism, today is your day. Write on!

…and get a “not available” message:

Has anyone else had this experience? Is the video source pulling the videos because of a surge in traffic, is this a conspiracy to make Yahoo! look bad, or something else?

“This is too nice of a day. Everyone, go home and enjoy!”

“Yes!” I’d think to myself, “Freedom!” It wouldn’t take long to power down the IBM PS/2 (just had to be sure not to leave the 1.44 MB, 3.5-inch floppy in the disk drive). A few quick good-byes, and then an afternoon of fun in the sun.

Haven’t had a boss like that since. Of course, none of my other bosses got fired, either.

Today, I settled for a walk during lunch, and an immediate getaway at 5 p.m.–after logging off of the Dell Optiplex 755.

According to the Colon Cancer Alliance, Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in both men and women in the U.S. The American Cancer Society estimates that nearly 50,000 people died of colorectal cancer last year, representing about one-third of the new cases of that cancer that were diagnosed.

The sad fact is that 80% of all cases of colorectal cancer can be prevented with recommended screening–which too many people avoid. Colorectal cancer is one of the most detectable and, if found early enough, most treatable forms of cancer. Over 90% of those diagnosed when the cancer is found at a local stage (confined to colon or rectum) survive more than five years.

I’ve never had colon cancer, but people I know and love have, including my mom and one one my best friends, Don. My mom had a cancerous polyp removed, and with minimal follow-up treatment, has remained cancer-free for several years. Unfortunately, my friend Don wasn’t so lucky. Years ago, he had a section of his bowel removed to try to stop the spread of a cancerous polyp. We thought that the cancer was caught early enough, but Don died in 2005 after battling cancer that spread throughout his abdomen.

No one likes the screening tests that detect potential precancerous growths early, but they are a walk in the park compared to dying of cancer. I’ve seen it more than once, so believe me.

I have no clue as to what a Grand Pizzle does, but surely Burley is suffering the loss this week.

While attempting to uncover the duties of a Grand Pizzle, the closest I came to an answer actually extended the mystery. I discovered that someone has created a LinkedIn profile for a “Lord Pizzle,” Grand Poopah at Prestige Worldwide, in the Toronto area. Perhaps a distant cousin?

I may have to investigate the Toronto lead in-person this summer, when I attend the IABC World Conference in Toronto.

In the meantime, any suggestions from you as to the value of a Grand Pizzle in society?

It saddens me to see how many of these communication professionals unknowlingly sabotage their effort to market themselves and/or their company. How?

They opt for flair over readibility, by choosing a typeface and/or font size that are hard to read.

A recent example: Last week, I met a very nice photographer at an IABC/Chicago networking event. We exchanged cards, and I sent her a follow-up email the next day. One day later, I received an automated notice from my mail server, stating that my email didn’t go through.

I looked at her card again. Her photography business was named after her, with a middle initial that looked like a lowercase letter “L.” Her email address was in 9-point type, with part of it appearing (to my aging eyes) to be “@klh…” I then realized that the letter I took for an “l” actually was an “i”–the difference was very hard to detect.

It is difficult to generate leads, and it is unwise to put up barriers that discourage potential customers or colleagues from reaching you.

But I didn’t have a sense of national loss that I might have if the winning team had been from a Nordic country. As the teams lined up for their medals, and their names were announced, it was clearly a celebration of athletes who competed for their nation of origin, but who were making a living elsewhere. In several cases, players from the Canadian team were shipped in from a U.S.-based professional hockey team, and some of the U.S. team were cheered in Vancouver because they played professional hockey in Canada.

Does that make a difference? If you’re asking whether it was “wrong,” clearly not. If you’re asking whether it changed my attitude, I’d say that it did. I was cheering for the U.S. team to pull the upset, but when the medals were being handed out, I was proud of both teams.

It didn’t feel like “Canada versus America (U.S.).” It felt more like “Canerica” showing the world how we can compete with each other, but maintain our honor and dignity, even when we don’t “win.”

That happens in sports, and doesn’t happen often in politics or business.

I was reminded of that tonight, and I remembered why the Olympics remains important. I’m sorry that another Games has ended, and with it, the taste of what might be, in that mystical land of Canerica.