Binderama60for60
A Life So Far
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Get ready for some glorious over-sharing, from childhood adventures to career triumphs and tribulations, life’s hard knocks and the wisdom gained, awesome people and tales of joy. I invite you to join me as I turn a big fat calendar page on life.
March 13, 2025 – March 12, 2026
Category: PLACES
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…sponsored by BMW! Bowl season continues! Grab yourself a super-size sack of Ruffles Queso and strap in for some big-time football! When you’re craving Ruffles AND Cheetohs at the same time, it’s Queso Time. Welcome to the 2026 Ruffles Queso Binder Bowl sponsored by BMW! This looks to be a spectacular match-up, just an incredible…
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I spent four years as an active brother in the Kappa Sigma Fraternity, Lambda Sigma Chapter at James Madison University. I made bonds that will last a lifetime, some on the deepest of levels. It’s proven to be one of the most consequential decisions of my life. It was everything the 80s were: loud, confusing,…
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This post will be better viewed in a browser: www.binderama60for60.com There was a time when people exchanged holiday cards. Every year, it’s what you did. The cards were mostly store-bought and hand-written with the freshest family news. My Mom spent hours writing personal notes to dozens of people on her list. If she didn’t receive…
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I had nailed life. At 12, I was BMOC at Louise Archer Elementary in Vienna, Virginia. Good grades (on the gifted track no less!), all my teachers adored me, most all the kids liked me, including some girls and even some of the kids who beat me up. I was in student government, on the…
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I’ve known Matt Palmer for 40 years. He hates when I share the story of how we met. I respect that. And since we’re such good friends, I will save that story for the third or fourth paragraph of this post. This ongoing 60|60 project features 60 essays about things that are relevant to me,…
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It wasn’t always this way. I didn’t start out being thankful. As a kid, and a fortunate one at that, I took a lot for granted: This is just the way life is. It took me decades to appreciate how much I’ve had to be thankful for, and too often it’s been in hindsight. Now,…
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Note to subscribers: Posts are often better viewed in a browser. Click here. So much goodness and the longest of the series! Today is Mickey Mouse’s 97th Birthday. To many of you, that’s trivia. To others, like me, it’s a big thing. Back in 1928, the cartoon short “Steamboat Willie” premiered in movie theaters. I honestly…
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We just finished a seven-day roadtrip from our Lake house in Michigan to our other home here in Scottsdale. It was a utilitarian trip, facilitating the need to get from one place to another efficiently and with a dog. This time though, we spent a little more time smelling the roses along the way. Spoiler:…
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Posts are sometimes better viewed in a browser: https://binderama60for60.com/ I could write more than 60 blog posts about just one topic: Walt Disney. And just as many about Walt Disney World. As I am planning out this post just now (in July), I am feeling JAZZED! The memories overwhelm. Originally I intended to do this as…
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One morning in June, the legendary performer Dickie Smothers sneered at me, “shame on you.” I was late to pick him and his brother up at National Airport because I’d overslept after my buddy Chris Castle and I had roadtripped to Virginia Beach and back in the previous 20 hours, as one does at that…
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My whole life I’ve hated death. I hated it because I didn’t understand it. I hated it because it scared me. I accepted that it was inevitable, but it was all the stuff that comes along with it that I couldn’t comprehend, I couldn’t cope with: the sadness and totality of the loss, the disposition…
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I woke up this morning to wind and rain pounding on the windows. The gray skies hovered low over the big waves roaring from the north. It’s cold. None of this was expected. Every morning at the Lake is a blessing and a revelation. Each sunrise reveals a new landscape, a new world. The horizon…
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I don’t spend much time looking in the mirror these days. No hair to comb, no tie to straighten, no flexing after a session at the gym. But that wasn’t always the case. Mirrors have played a big role in my life, and likely yours too. A little history: Mirrors (and vanity) date back to…
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I know how blessed I am to have been born here and to live here. All my life, my family and communities have nurtured my love for this country. My travels and experiences seasoned it. On its surface, America is beautiful. I can’t say that any better or more concisely than Katharine Lee Bates did…
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This post might be better enjoyed on the wordpress site. I’ve been a bit of a wanderer. I’ve lived in a number of places around the country, usually for just a few years in each. Rarely was there a reason for moving away, other than feeling restless and bored. Plus, I liked the challenge and…
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There was a period back in the early 80s when Michael Jackson was the most recognizable person on the planet. Maybe in history. Whatever album he had just released was backed by an overwhelming media blitz, a series of videos and a single-gloved taste-making revolution. It was a white-hot mystique like I’ve never seen before…
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This is my impression alone; hundreds of others who were there that day have their own stories to tell. Please do! 9:10 AM. Just as Steven Spielberg prepped the clown-sized scissors to cut the ribbon and officially open Universal Studios Florida, my radio squawked: I was needed somewhere else in the park to talk with…
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Happy Mothers Day! Today’s post is all about Mom. Mom, Maw, Moomaw, Mauzy Broadway. You’ll read plenty about Margery, Marge and Margie elsewhere in 60|60. Today: Maw. I’ll dispatch with the basics: Maw was loving, she cared for me when I was sick, stayed up with me when I was scared, comforted me always. Every…
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We loaded the U-Haul in late August to hit the road, each of us going our separate ways: back home, back to school or no where in particular. Wait, does this sound like the beginning of every coming-of-age story you’ve ever seen? Cool. It was hot and muggy in the parking lot surrounded by lots…
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I used to joke with friends that whatever we were doing at the time would make it impossible to become a Senator or confirmed to the Supreme Court. These days, we would likely sail to confirmation, though we might be considered too squeaky clean. These are the kind of moments I will work into a…
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The story of a life can be told in linear fashion, a sort of timeline. That’s boring. Such a tale would miss all the best stuff, the diversions and tangents, the screw-ups and resets, and most importantly, the people that shuffle through our lives. For this post, I’m going to imagine life as a line…
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Until I was 20, I never ate a piece of fish or a Brussels sprout, without a heavy dose of parental coercion. I once stayed at the kitchen table past Dad’s bedtime because I refused to eat something on my plate, maybe a tomato. As mad as he was, I think he admired my genetically-enriched…
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My teenage years were pure John Hughes. Or at least that’s how I’ve come to recall them. The Summer of 1981 had almost every ingredient of an ’80s teen classic, beginning with an outcast with a heart of gold, his new drivers license, and a summer fast approaching. A little backstory: I was a dweeb…
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Doug Binder. Creative Executive. Decent Human. Objective: I’m looking to use my depth of experience and breadth of skills to land a cush gig with much power and little responsibility, plus extra-competitive salary, frequent 5-star international travel (+1), generous pension, health plan that includes in-home surgical theater, and invitations to exciting parties with open bars,…
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