C O L U M N S  &  E S S A Y S

BY Michael Finley

SELECT BY TOPIC: THE FUTURE | CYBERCULTURE | BESTIARY | LEADERSHIP | MANAGEMENT | BUSINESS BOOKS | CELEBRITIES | POETRY | HIPPIES |  HUMOR | TUMORS | FATHERHOOD |  BASEBALL | DOGS | HOLIDAYS AND OCCASIONS | POLITICS | 2000 COLUMNS | 1999 COLUMNS | 1998 COLUMNS | 1997 COLUMNS and EARLIER COLUMNS | HOME

"I LIKE your work. There's a tone - or something - that is very subtle. Like you see the edges of both the object (or the subject you're writing about) and its shadow. Or else your view is just slightly off-register from what most people are so obviously seeing. I don't know. They're just - different."

 - Jan Burke

   mfinley.com   

This column appears only here on my website. mfinley.com is my personal, philosophical notebook -- things I'm thinking about, or have observed. It's my most popular list. These pieces are available for immediate reprint -- just drop me an e-mail.  - Mike

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My Breakfast with Eugene (August 1, 2001) 

The Lightning That Doesn't Stop... (July 17, 2001) 

Upon This Rock ... (July 11, 2001) 

The Big Bonito (July 11, 2001) 

Thompson's Chicken Ranch (June 30, 2001) 

Charles Manson and the Sons of Troy (July 11, 2001) 

Camping on the Faultline (July 11, 2001) 

Mail Order Ministry (June 30, 2001) 

Hippie Days (June 27, 2001) 

Bing Cherries (June 17, 2001) 

A Tale of Two Hilltops (June 13, 2001) 

The Busy, Busy Day (June 3, 2001) 

Like a Rolling Stone (Memorial Day 2001) 

A Ghostwriter's Tale (May 24, 2001) 

7th Grade (May 14, 2001) 

Serpent (May 6, 2001) 

The Showboat (April 29, 2001) 

A Stab at the Truth (April 25, 2001) Plus: FEEDBACK

Squandered Resistance (April 17, 2001)

The Shoe at the Top of the Stairs (April 17, 2001)

River Rise (April 10, 2001)

Poodle Update (April 1, 2001)

Mr. Finley Goes to Washington (April 1, 2001)

The Unnatural (March 22, 2001)

Forget It, Jake (March 14, 2001)

The Greatest Party Ever Held (March 18, 2001) 

Down with Freedom (March 11, 2001) 

Connie Gremore (March 7, 2001)  

Bully Pulpit (March 9, 2001) 

A Day in the Life (February 5, 2001)

The Coach's Daughter (February 18, 2001)

Get Away! (January 17, 2001)

Don't Bother me (December 8, 2000)

Republicans and Democrats (December 15, 2000)

Pass the Test (December 13, 2001)

The Blue Bicycle (December 25, 2001)

 

 

If you want to contribute to this site, buy your next books, music CDs, or videos after following this link to Amazon.com. Thanks - Mike)

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EDITORS: If the particulars of an article or essay seem stale, but you like the general idea, ask for a rewrite. I'm easy that way.

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"Lots of us find it a very helpful, human, sometimes humorous, always interesting, often surprising column that has no peer on the freelance market, And, yes, you can use that as a testimonial if it helps."

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   Future Shoes   

"Future Shoes" appeared on a weekly basis on the Computer User Online website. It was great fun, but the magazine was recently forced to cut back and Future Shoes was marked for death. I don't know what will become of it. If there's a magazine out there that wants to carry it, let me know, and perhaps we can revive it for you. 

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One Big Happy (August 19, 2001)

O Canada (July 29, 2001)

Go Fourth (July 4, 2001)

The Ghost of Future Shoes (June 29, 2001)

80s Nostalgia (June 29, 2001)

Teams and Politics (June 22, 2001)

The Man from IBM  (June 15, 2001)

New Medical Conditions (June 4, 2001)

Dark Thoughts (June 11, 2001)

Red Wheelbarrow (May 18, 2001)

What Can I Do About Porn Spam? (May 5, 2001)

The Next Big Bastard (April 20, 2001)

My Little Town (April 13, 2001)

The Moment of Truth (April 6, 2001)

Panhandlers (March 30, 2001)

The Kournikova Virus

A Pirate's Life for Me  

Revolutionary Blood (February 2, 2001)

Twenty Four Seven (February 1, 2001)

Professor Pervo's Credenza (February 23, 2001) 

Future Shoes Walking (February 2001)

Death to the Team (February 9, 2001)

David & Goliath (January 26, 2001)

Up Burning (January 12, 2001)

The Other Side of the Tracks (January 2001)

Moron Awards 2001 (December 31, 2000)

The Trouble with Time (December 8, 2001)

The Boat Is Full (December 2, 2001)

 

Did you tip your writer?

I enjoy serving these essays up for you. I do it for free, and I enjoy it. If you'd like to contribute to this site, however, to keep it up and humming, consider dropping a $1 tip in the "Amazon Honor Box." Think of it as a voluntary subscription. Just click the CLICK TO PAY image here. Thanks! - Mike
 

2000 Stories | 1999 Stories | 1998 Stories  |1997 Stories ... and Before That

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"No one talks about the ups and downs of technology like Michael Finley. See his columns online at www.mfinley.com. 

-- James S. Derk, Evansville (IN) Courier

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"I have subscribed to your mailing list for quite a long time. It is always one of my great enjoyments to read your essays."

Hilda Leung,
Hong Kong

      Diversions     

Diversions, which I write monthly for print editions of Computer User, may also be on the chopping block. If it goes, it is also available for resuscitation. 

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When Worlds Collide (September 2001)

I'm from Missouri (Now) (August 2001)

The United States of Microsoft (July 2001)

Secure Premises (April 2001)

Twenty Four Seven (February 1, 2001)

Lost in Space (March 2001)

A View from the Bluff (January 2001)

The Other Side of the Tracks (January 2001)

The Trouble with Time (December 8, 2001)

The Other Side of the Tracks (December 1, 2000)

The Worst Technologies of the Last 1,000 Years (December 2000)

Cellar, Beware (December 2000)

Get your signed copy of
The NEW Why Teams Don't Work

by Mike & Harvey Robbins
from Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Just click on the book cover!
A fully revised second edition of this award-winning classic
by Harvey Robbins and Michael Finley
Paperback

Winner, Financial Times/Booz Allen & Hamilton Global Business Book Award, Best Management Book - The Americas, 1995

Table of contents and sample chapters of this book...