Random Connect Points:
Reba's Stories

When I first started “Only Wanna Be With You,” I anticipated a bit of a tell-all rag. The author is Tim Sommer, a music journalist and record executive who was part of the Hootie and the Blowfish inner circle for many years. And isn’t it the job description of a former insider to write a book that airs all the dirty laundry?  However, with much of the story told through long-form direct quotes from the band members and others, I gradually came to trust the author was genuinely telling a story that sometimes seemed almost too good to be true. Four USC students form a band. They find fame, get rich, make good business decisions (for the most part), experience some fortunate convergences of circumstances, move on for various reasons (but insist they aren’t breaking up), reunite for a blockbuster tour and new album, and remain friends for 25 years. The story of the band members’ friendship, electric musical connection, and complete focus on the band’s - not their individual - success wa

I must admit I never had FOMO about Hootie and the Blowfish back in the day. I had missed their rise as a popular band on the college bar and frat circuit by about four years. By the time they were selling millions of records and playing sold-out arenas, I was in my country music/NPR phase. At that point, I was living in DC and oblivious to the meteoric rise of this local music phenomenon. Over the years, "cracked rear view" (title intentionally in lower case from the album cover:) and "Fairweather Johnson" somehow ended up in my iTunes – likely the result of trading around CDs among friends. That’s about the only reason I knew any of their songs. My epiphany about Hootie and the Blowfish came a generation after their chart-topping fame. A year or so before their 2019 reunion tour, my friend, singer-songwriter Danielle Howle, was performing a house concert in my living room. She asked if I was OK with her bringing a friend to play in with her. I told her it was

It's summer and isn’t everyone looking for a good book to read? As much as I used to love snuggling in for a Sunday afternoon with the Washington Post Book Review, today I’m more interested in a quick blink of a review to grab the basics of whether the book will interest me. I was at the beach over the holiday weekend with friends who have a summer reading challenge for their family. While I didn’t dare get tangled up in their debate over whether an audio book gets the same credit as a hard copy book, I was inspired to read more this summer. I have fond memories of the library summer reading club when I was a kid, so I’m offering up my own version this summer – a quick series of what I’m calling “blink book reviews.” As anyone who writes for a living knows, writing short is much harder than writing long. So I’m challenging myself to write 300-ish words about these books. Stay tuned this summer and get a blink of (what I hope will be) a dozen or so books.  Join our &q

Every year on May 23, I take a few minutes to reflect on my “work-iversary,” the anniversary of the first day of my first real-life job after graduating from USC. I walked into my Capitol Hill office wearing a thickly shoulder-padded linen suit and a blouse with a floppy bow. I was so excited to start using the skills I’d learned from the USC Journalism school, my campus leadership roles and work experience during college. J School graduation day That newly minted young professional had no idea what was in store for the next 30+ years of a crooked, yet in retrospect, perfectly aligned career path. I also had no idea of the lessons I’d learn along the way. A number of years ago, I started a list of those professional life lessons to use in a presentation to a group of college seniors. Since then, I like to revisit this list on my work-iversary as a way to reflect on the past year. This year, I found myself taking some of my own advice as I launch into a new professional

  Waxing nostalgic today over a post I wrote two years ago. The date April 8 always stands out in my mind as the anniversary of my family moving into our home on Roslyn Drive. It’s a bit more bittersweet this year after my dad’s death in October. I recently found the deed and the contract he signed to buy the land for the house from his old friend, Jay McKay . This post I wrote two years ago on the 50th anniversary includes so many happy memories and a few cringe-worthy photos that I'm sure many of my childhood friends will remember. After I originally posted this two years ago, I received several photos from the young family now living in the house - with their daughter posing in the same place in the living room in front of a similarly situated blue chair.    

In anticipating seeing Clint Black in concert in Charleston this week, I tripped down memory lane remembering the first time I saw - and met - him. You can read that story here. Thirty-something years ago, I had the cool experience of visiting the White House with an up-and-coming young country singer named Clint Black and his band. My friend, Rhonda Keenum, had already finagled the tickets qnd backstage passes for us because of her unique position as assistant to, and gatekeeper for, the late Lee Atwater. People called him all the time for favors. She was the one who made them happen most of the time. In this case, Clint Black's "people" had called to see if Lee Atwater could arrange a White House tour prior to the DC-area concert. Rhonda told the "people" she felt sure it could be arranged - if she and her friend (me) could come along. On a warm September Saturday morning, we met Clint's bus out front of the White House - this was before all the crazy secu

Today is National Word Nerd Day. I see it as a chance to  make good grammar relevant again.  Not sure who should be in charge of this movement, so I’m stepping up to lead the parade. For some people, writing is just a way to communicate. For me, it's more of a passion for how words fit together. I see writing as an intersection of creativity, experience, knowledge and connection. It's an art and a science where clarity and crisp communication converge with inspiration and flow. For me, writing, editing and proofing are a fun puzzle, not a dreaded chore. I love reading anything connected to words and language. The day the new @APStylebook comes out is always reason for celebration. And doesn't everyone still have their high school grammar book? Like any good word nerd, I have several grammar rules that are not negotiable (which translate into my pet peeve editing issues). 1  –  “She is going with Mary and I” will never be correct. Ever. For any reason.  2 – Dangling part