{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1", "title": "rivercrestrider.blog", "description": "", "home_page_url": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog", "feed_url": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/feed.json", "user_comment": "", "icon": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/media/website/logo-rivercrest-rider.png", "author": { "name": "Todd D Brandt" }, "items": [ { "id": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/want-to-be-a-writer.html", "url": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/want-to-be-a-writer.html", "title": "Want to be a writer...", "summary": "...but you don't know how or when? Find a quiet place. Grab a humble pen. -Paul Simon", "content_html": "

...but you don't know how or when?

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Find a quiet place.

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Grab a humble pen.

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-Paul Simon

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", "author": { "name": "Todd D Brandt" }, "tags": [ ], "date_published": "2026-08-22T04:19:08-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-08-23T04:45:43-05:00" }, { "id": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/traction.html", "url": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/traction.html", "title": "Traction…", "summary": "I was struck listening to James Clear in a podcast recently talking about an idea I believe he called “traction.” The idea was simple, is simple. For James Clear, a writer, he talked about his blog posts creating small but sticky content. The steady but…", "content_html": "
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I was struck listening to James Clear in a podcast recently talking about an idea I believe he called “traction.” The idea was simple, is simple. For James Clear, a writer, he talked about his blog posts creating small but sticky content. The steady but small steps forward gave him traction, a firmer footing for the next step.

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“Every action you take is a vote for the person you want to become,” wrote James Clear. Even the smallest actions propel us forward.

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\n\n\n", "author": { "name": "Todd Brandt" }, "tags": [ ], "date_published": "2026-04-12T12:10:31-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-08-22T05:42:08-05:00" }, { "id": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/use-normal-medical-words-and-explain-them.html", "url": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/use-normal-medical-words-and-explain-them.html", "title": "Use normal medical words and explain them...", "summary": "This comes from a podcast, listening to “how I write”with Atul Gawande. He reports that he tries to use normal language used by physicians within his writing and then explains them. Using euphemisms or near-miss words does not help the reader. Using normal medical terms…", "content_html": "
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This comes from a podcast, listening to “how I write”with Atul Gawande. He reports that he tries to use normal language used by physicians within his writing and then explains them. Using euphemisms or near-miss words does not help the reader. Using normal medical terms in introduces patients to an expanded understanding of their condition.

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\n\n\n", "author": { "name": "Todd Brandt" }, "tags": [ ], "date_published": "2025-11-24T11:11:46-06:00", "date_modified": "2026-08-22T05:42:08-05:00" }, { "id": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/website-essentials.html", "url": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/website-essentials.html", "title": "Website Essentials", "summary": "When making a website ask three important questions: What do you want people to do (or be able to do) on your site? What do you want people to know after they have visited your site? How do you want people to feel about you/your…", "content_html": "
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When making a website ask three important questions:

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  1. \n

    What do you want people to do (or be able to do) on your site?

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    2. \n
  2. \n

    What do you want people to know after they have visited your site?

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    3. \n
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    How do you want people to feel about you/your “brand” after visiting the site?

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    4. \n
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This comes fro the first chapter of Dan Roam’s book, The Back of the Napkin, in his introduction.

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\n\n\n", "author": { "name": "Todd Brandt" }, "tags": [ ], "date_published": "2025-09-27T11:45:14-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-08-22T05:42:08-05:00" }, { "id": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/get-good-at-powerpoint.html", "url": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/get-good-at-powerpoint.html", "title": "Get good at PowerPoint…", "summary": "I was thinking this the other day as I listened to a medical presentation where the presenter had to rush through his last 5-10 slides talking at breakneck speed as he realized he was running out of time. PowerPoint. Such an important, underutilized skill to…", "content_html": "
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I was thinking this the other day as I listened to a medical presentation where the presenter had to rush through his last 5-10 slides talking at breakneck speed as he realized he was running out of time.

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PowerPoint. Such an important, underutilized skill to learn. Get really good at it. Get really, really good at PowerPoint and presenting information.

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Medical talks are probably the most boring powerpoint presentations. Long sentences, small font, intricate and undecipherable diagrams and pictures.

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In most presentations we are given a time limit. And then we try to pack in way more information into that time than we should.

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A presentation should be given time to breathe. Leave time for questions. Provide a handout.

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\n\n\n", "author": { "name": "Todd Brandt" }, "tags": [ ], "date_published": "2025-09-07T15:07:42-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-08-22T05:42:08-05:00" }, { "id": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/love-the-work.html", "url": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/love-the-work.html", "title": "Love the work…", "summary": "Here is a poem that I recently learned that has affected me deeply. Love the work. Love to do the work. Love is for the ones who love the work.", "content_html": "
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Here is a poem that I recently learned that has affected me deeply.

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Love the work. Love to do the work. Love is for the ones who love the work.

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\n\n\n", "author": { "name": "Todd Brandt" }, "tags": [ ], "date_published": "2025-09-07T15:04:55-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-08-22T05:42:08-05:00" }, { "id": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/vibrate-at-a-different-frequency.html", "url": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/vibrate-at-a-different-frequency.html", "title": "Vibrate at a different frequency…", "summary": "Another thought from a podcast. Successful people vibrate at a different frequency than others. They move faster. They have urgency. They finish. There’s is an energy not found in other people. If you want to get more done and better, change the frequency of your…", "content_html": "
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Another thought from a podcast. Successful people vibrate at a different frequency than others. They move faster. They have urgency. They finish. There’s is an energy not found in other people.

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If you want to get more done and better, change the frequency of your vibration.

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\n\n\n", "author": { "name": "Todd Brandt" }, "tags": [ ], "date_published": "2025-09-07T15:00:28-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-08-22T05:42:08-05:00" }, { "id": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/they-expect-to-be-cold.html", "url": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/they-expect-to-be-cold.html", "title": "They expect to be cold…", "summary": "I heard a story recently that I thought I would share. The moral of the story is that we can be happy in almost any circumstance when we adjust our expectations accordingly. This is a story told to me recently that, apparently, I had told…", "content_html": "
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I heard a story recently that I thought I would share. The moral of the story is that we can be happy in almost any circumstance when we adjust our expectations accordingly.

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This is a story told to me recently that, apparently, I had told many years before, possibly a story I heard during my days in medical school.

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A large industrial company was doing construction in Alaska during the cold winter months. They had employees brought from the continental United States as well as native Americans from tribes original to Alaska.

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The cold was unbearable, at least to the men who did not have native Alaskan heritage. The men without Alaskan blood could only stand a couple of hours, maybe even minutes, in the cold weather before needing a break in a warming area to reestablish feeling in their fingers, noses, and toes. The men from Alaska could work for hours and hours in the unrelenting cold.

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Testing was done to see what the difference was in the two classes of men. After many tests, no difference was found in body or fat composition, cardiovascular status, or internal body temperature.

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What was found was a difference in expectation. The men from Alaska expected to be cold, and worked on regardless of their frozen fingers and cold toes.

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\n\n\n", "author": { "name": "Todd Brandt" }, "tags": [ ], "date_published": "2025-08-31T10:45:22-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-08-22T05:42:08-05:00" }, { "id": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/stems-and-pieces-parts.html", "url": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/stems-and-pieces-parts.html", "title": "Stems and Pieces-Parts", "summary": "A song is built with an idea, a melody. But the space between the notes is filled with the flourishes of harmony, of ideas, riffs, stems, and accompaniment built out of flashes of insight maybe over a long period of time. Keep your leftovers. Flesh…", "content_html": "
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A song is built with an idea, a melody. But the space between the notes is filled with the flourishes of harmony, of ideas, riffs, stems, and accompaniment built out of flashes of insight maybe over a long period of time. Keep your leftovers. Flesh them out.

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\n\n\n", "author": { "name": "Todd Brandt" }, "tags": [ ], "date_published": "2025-06-24T14:50:58-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-08-22T05:42:08-05:00" }, { "id": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/audacity.html", "url": "https://www.rivercrestrider.blog/audacity.html", "title": "Audacity", "summary": "What is Audacity? What is audacious abandon? Ken Richardson tells a story in his famous TED talk. A litte girl is drawing a picture in art class. The teacher approaches the girl. Teacher: What are you drawing? Girl: God. Teacher: But nobody knows what God…", "content_html": "
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What is Audacity? What is audacious abandon?

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Ken Richardson tells a story in his famous TED talk.

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A litte girl is drawing a picture in art class. The teacher approaches the girl.

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Teacher: What are you drawing?

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Girl: God.

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Teacher: But nobody knows what God looks like.

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Girl: They will in a minute.

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That, my friends, is audacity.

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\n\n\n", "author": { "name": "Todd Brandt" }, "tags": [ ], "date_published": "2025-06-24T14:46:14-05:00", "date_modified": "2026-08-22T05:42:08-05:00" } ] }