Berkeley Breathed, Berke to his friends and fans, authored the Pulitzer Prize winning Bloom County comic strip until he chose to move on to other projects (he writes children’s books, designed greeting cards and has a new movie coming out). For those who miss it or were too young to have enjoyed his biting satire in Bloom County you can buy the complete collection in book form.

The amazing thing about Breathed is that no matter what he was always funny and, therefore, unforgettable, “Negative humor is forgotten immediately. It’s the stuff that makes us feel better about our lives that lives long. Much more satisfying. Enter children’s books.”

He voiced something that I constantly wonder about, “I will go to my grave in a state of abject endless fascination that we all have the capacity to become emotionally involved with a personality that doesn’t exist.” This is as true of “intellectuals” as it is of those who swim in the deep end of popular culture; it’s just not as obvious.

He said, “I could draw Bloom County with my nose and pay my cleaning lady to write it, and I’d bet I wouldn’t lose 10% of my papers over the next twenty years. Such is the nature of comic-strips. Once established, their half-life is usually more than nuclear waste.” So true; some comics are now drawn by the children of the originator.

Comics aside, breathed offers up some useful life wisdom.

In a world of warring ideologies that offer no room for comprise I hope these words will resonate and stick with you, “Despite what they tell you, there are simply no moral absolutes in a complex world.”

And finally, the most important thought of all, “It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.”

Something to think about, especially at this time of year.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/silwenae/4543865563/

Typically, my comments about gifts range from irreverent to downright sarcastic, but this year I actually have some pretty cool gift ideas for you.

First, however, let’s take a look at the cost of the traditional 364 gifts as described in the 12 Days of Christmas—the cost is up10.8% this year for a grand total of $96,824.

Or for a look at 50 years of extreme gifts, and I do mean extreme, for him and her check out the Neiman Marcus Gift Book.

For the geek you love who loves pictures or for those whose daily lives are so memorable they need recording consider a wearable camera—a gift they’ll never forget.

And for the not-so-geeky with faulty memories, like me, who still depend on their computer but forget to back up, there is Carbonite, not only a fabulous product, but from a company named as one of Boston’s 2010 Best Places to Work.

Two unusual books make my list.

The first of what will be three volumes is the “Autobiography of Mark Twain,” a $35, four-pound, 500,000-word doorstopper of a memoir” that Twain forbid his descendents to publish until 100 years after his death. Needless to say, his thoughts are exceedingly blunt.

The second is from a retired Wall Street banker who is dying of a brain tumor and offers “a remarkable story of an almost willful ignorance of the futility of active money management…” It’s good information for those on your list interested in having their money work smarter for them.

The last two are gifts that serve dual purposes.

The first is a $20 gadget called HydroRight that anyone can install without tools. (If the john still has a ball cock it needs an additional part and may run a bit more.) HydroRight turns your normal toilet into a two-level flush toilet that saves around 15,000 gallons of water a year. That saving is good for the planet and great for lowering monthly water bills. Best of all, it really works.

Finally, did you know that shoes prevent many diseases in poor children, so give shoes to your loved ones—specifically Toms Shoes. Besides being inexpensive and comfortable, the company gives away a pair of shoes for every pair purchased to poor children across the planet. They’re cool, Cameron Diaz and Demi Moore like them, comfortable, available for men, women and children and Toms just gave away the millionth pair.

I hope this list inspires you to look a bit further than the standard mall gift. There are some pretty amazing possibilities out there that won’t put you in hock.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedroelcarvalho/2812091311/

This is a Friday story if I ever heard one; Friday because it will take you until Monday to quit laughing.

People often call me, my number is prominently displayed in the right-hand column, I’m usually available and I really enjoy listening to the stories and answering questions.

The manager who called today had the most bizarre tale I’ve heard since the one about parents intervening at work.

“Craig” is a regular reader and he said that he thought I would find the stated objective in a resume he received amusing.

The job objective stated that the candidate was seeking “a leadership position in which to use his recent Masters in Leadership that would afford the opportunities required to rise in the organization to more senior leadership positions.”

I didn’t find that amusing, I found it hilarious.

I asked Craig what other background the candidate had and he said a total of seven years of work, four years with a credit card company, two of them as a team leader, three years in a bank, starting as a management trainee and a BA in business.

This wasn’t a naïve kid; this was someone in his thirties who had spent time in the real world.

I Googled “masters in leadership” and got 140,000 hits, some were major universities, but many seemed to be online or in the “for profit” category.

I grant that I am pretty cynical regarding the whole idea of individual leadership, believing instead that companies are better served by developing a culture of leadership that permeates all parts and draws a variety of people into leadership roles based on timing and context.

I know that leadership is big business, but hearing stories like this I have to wonder exactly what is being sold to those who believe they can get an edge through an advanced leadership degree.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinbarland/4568777543/

“Life is not what it’s supposed to be. It’s what it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.”
–Virginia Satir

Smart lady, Virginia.

That thought, or any variation thereof, is probably the single most important concept people need to wrap their heads around.

Neither vehement denial nor passionate pleas will change what is; what matters is what you choose to do.

Positional leaders and those who claim the leadership label are often more into pleas and denial than they are into coping.

Understandable, since it’s much easier to rail or whine than to get off the proverbial ass and do something.

But that is exactly what leading requires and leading yourself is the most important leadership job you will ever have, because if you can’t lead yourself you will never have the opportunity to lead others.

Coping isn’t about playing ostrich or ignoring something and hoping it will go away.

Coping doesn’t involve ideology and rhetoric.

Coping doesn’t always mean solving the problem or overcoming the challenge.

Coping isn’t about being a hero or going it alone.

Coping rarely yields a perfect or even a complete fix.

Coping means facing whatever it is head on, recognizing it in its entirety, figuring out how best to deal with it, and then doing what needs to be done—all while accepting the reality and limitations of what is possible.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cobrasick/4597169938/

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulobrandao/2788050844/