How Dazzling!

    Pile on the praze for Zebras! Not the wild ones eluding hunters in Africa, but the      enterprising business startups that gathered this week in Portland, Oregon. It seems that the magically successful tech companies like Facebook and Uber are known in the business world as Unicorns. All the venture capitalists want to invest in the next Unicorn.  But the more realistic, fixer companies are known as Zebras and they are having a little more trouble attracting investors. Since a gathering of Zebras is called a Dazzle, these enterprising businesses held a Dazzlecon this week  to look for ways to make these community minded companies, often founded by women and minorities, more Dazzling to magic-minded investors. Now that's a story of a different stripe!

Success? You want fries with that?

I  find inspiring stories in the strangest places. Today I was inspired by the smiling face of Carl Wiseman looking up at me from my tray at McDonald's. Carl, whose company Wiseman LLC/Management owns seven McDonald's in West Michigan, is being featured in the company's Best First Job campaign. He started out working a shift  in Muskegon and worked his way up to management and then ownership. It's an American Dream story that seems impossible these days. I never thought of McDonald's as a career opportunity, but Carl showed me I was wrong. Praze to Carl for his hard work and Praze to all those young kids hoping their first job will open doors.

Songs of the Centuries

     
Psalms is the heart of the bible. Not only is it smack dab in the center of the book but the 150 psalms or songs express all the emotions: praise, faith, fear, gratitude, lamentations.This month all 150 psalms are being presented in a dozen one-hour concerts at the Lincoln Center in New York. The Psalm Experience, which began Nov. 2 and continues through Nov. 11,  includes the work of 150 composers. What a great idea! Praze to everyone who helped make this happen!

Welcome water

          Praze to Patrick Kilonzo Mwalua who has become known as the Water Man in Kenya where he delivers tankers of water to dried up watering holes for thirsty wildlife. I discovered great pics of Patrick on my Facebook this morning. But fearing the story sounded almost too good to be true, I poked around on the Internet and discovered it goes back to a story posted last February on Dodo, an animal lover website. That story filled in some blanks, such as where the money comes from.  Additional Praze for three American women and their Go Fund Me campaign.

Classroom hero

Have you read about Lt. Col. Bryan Forney, a new teacher this year at Innovation Central High School in Grand Rapids? Forney was severely injured in a helicopter crash four years ago. After retiring from the marines last summer he signed on to teach math and science. Praze for a man who keeps on going despite injuries, and shares lessons that only life can give. And extra praze to Tom Rademacher and Dianne Carroll Burdick for capturing his story so well for the School News Network. 

Always a mum

Some days it is hard to find praiseworthy stories to think about. When that happens I consult a good news website like Sunny Skyze. Today it featured a darling story about Ada Keating,  a 98-year-old mother who moved into the assisted living facility where her 80-year-old son Tom has lived since 2016. She tucks him in at night, greets him in the morning.
"You never stop being a Mum," she says. 

Window on the future

Imagine every window in every skyscraper was collecting solar energy. Imagine how quickly that would change the viability of solar power. Well that day may not be far away. Michigan State University has announced highly transparent solar cells that could replace window glass, cell phone screens, headlights.  The product isn't on the market yet -- efficiency needs to be improved -- but it is only a few years away. Go Green!