Purpose I play music on stage, and that usually means using amplification (PA) systems. The bands I play with (Frost and Fire, The Turning Stile+, and others) typically have a bunch of musicians playing a host of instruments, each with their own microphones. Consequently, we need a lot of mic mute switches. The enemy of sound ...

How to test thermostat and thermal fuse units on kitchen appliances (espresso machine, coffee maker, rice cooker, pressure cooker) with a multimeter.

Delicious crispy caramelized zucchini with garlic, basil, mint, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. Easily scales up to use all the zucchini in the house, and it’s quick! Googootz!

Jennifer Battle asked the National Association of Crisis Organization Directors’ mailing list for some uplifting hotline memes to use in training, since there didn’t seem to be that many available. Here are my first responses. (please feel free to use these if you like)  

During a visit to my then-girlfriend Kyla’s parents just outside Boston in 2000, I was served the most delicious mustard I’d ever had. It was sharp, fragrant, spicy, filled with whole seeds like the maille à l’ancienne I’d loved in France, redolent with garlic, and absolutely impossible to stop eating. Never before (or since) had I seen ...

Proposed experiment to make the amounts of money we pay dance callers/musicians visible to see how that affects what dancers are willing to pay at the door.

It suffices, perhaps, to say that this has been a dark time. A time of hope transmuted into fear, a time of disbelief, a time of anger, a time of labor, a time of love, a time of mute horror limned by swastikas and flaming crosses in the night.

A memorial for my grandmother, Ruth Whitney: “Fermata” and “Rokeby House”, both by Hollis Easter. Sound recording and musings.

When a problem comes along, four fundamental questions travel with it: why it happened, how we can fix it, how we can prevent it, and who’s to blame for it.

How well do you think? I’m not talking about your intelligence—I’m asking about how you use it. Are you getting the most out of it? How can you tell?

A few words for my grandma, Ruth.

Most of what you read on the internet was written by someone who wasn’t paid to write it. Is that how it should be?

We need to honor darkness and sit with grief before the night fires of our winter traditions can warm us.

A dialogue about whether privilege exists, and why it’s often invisible. What faith provides the evidence of things not seen?

Not a fun read, but important. Bullet points about the Senate’s report on CIA torture, detention, and enhanced interrogation. We did bad things.

I wear armor that Eric Garner never had. I’m protected by the color of my skin.

Assisted suicide kills many fewer people than suicide overall each year, but there’s much more public effort to prevent it. Why?

The elections gave us the worst possible result… and the best.

Here’s what happens when you call a suicide hotline. It’s not what you might think.

When classes aren’t going well, there’s often an imbalance between understanding and practice.

A peaceful waltz to honor and remember those who died and were hurt in the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15, 2013.

Sometimes all we can do with pain is to witness it, to honor the struggle and stay present. This applies to callers—and to us.

The word “just” is perilous for good communication because it’s so often a stalking horse for disrespecting and minimizing others’ experiences.

How to participate in social media for the 2014 NASCOD/CUSA crisis hotline directors’ conference. Official schedule, hashtags, guidelines.

How is instructional design different from teaching and subject matter expertise? It’s our job to focus relentlessly on learners, not content.

Why do we expect people to know why they’re feeling depressed?

Quick-start guide for understanding Twitter, using it for work, and participating in professional networking chats in real time.

Quick-start guide for setting up Twitter for professional networking and edchats.

Listening is more than just leaving space for the other person to talk.

Five simple questions you should answer before trying to help others.

Frustrated with Common Core? Want to help your kids survive the transition to CCSS? Parents have a critical role to play.

Frustrated with Common Core? Want to help your kids survive the transition to CCSS? Parents have a critical role to play. (this is the condensed version)

I use thumbs-up, thumbs-down, and thumb-sideways signals when checking in with students. It gives me fast, confidential, no-tech formative assessment.

“We’re sorry if we offended you”? No you aren’t. Taking responsibility is important, and it starts with ditching the “if”. Apologies work better without if.

Some people debate like the Black Knight: there’s no way to convince them your rebuttal wasn’t just a flesh wound. We should stop arguing and move on.

Adjusting bike brakes can be easy and fast, and they often work much better afterwards. Here’s how I do it. It’s a great free upgrade!

Did corporations plow mountains of money into the development and adoption of the Common Core State Standards? If they did, does it matter?

Practice more often, instead of worrying about practicing longer. These guidelines will help you make the most of your minutes and practice effectively.

Will you join me in talking about the climate today? We need action, we need it here, and we need it now. And, if you can, go to the March in NYC!

Ever wondered how people get hospitalized for suicidal or homicidal thoughts in NY? Give me ten minutes and I’ll explain it to you. (video + infographic)

Listening is about taking in, about receiving another person’s story. Advising is about putting forth, about dispensing your own thoughts.

Doublethink involves holding two opposing views and believing both are true. I think Obama’s ISIS declaration asks us to believe doublethink. Do you?

Here’s how to slow tunes down for ear training and learning using free software. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’ll open new musical doors for you! Has video.

I’m tired of voting for “electable” candidates who don’t share my values and systematically damage things I care about. Time for change, one vote at a time.

Jay O’Hara and Ken Ward won a huge victory for the climate activism world today when their #ClimateTrial/#LobsterBoatBlockade case was, essentially, dropped. Onward!

I’ve spent the last 10 years working in suicide prevention. Here are my thoughts on what we’re doing well, and what we should spend the next 10 years doing.

Spirit Airlines used Jennifer Lawrence’s leaked-photo debacle to cash in on publicity for itself. And they refuse to apologize.

How do you place a comma, period, or parenthesis when dealing with quotation marks? I think we should make it simpler: use nested punctuation.

You’ve still got plenty of time to make yourself some dandelion tincture before the snows fly. Here’s how to make sure you pick the right plants.

Spirit Airlines thinks it’s a good idea to use the Jennifer Lawrence stolen-photos fiasco to sell more airfares. I don’t.

People with lived experience need to be respected and heard. Here’s a framework for how to listen respectfully and learn from their lived experience.

Her body isn’t there for us to consume. Let’s talk about how she’s the victim of a targeted crime, not about how “naughty” we think her stolen photos are.

Suicide prevention rests on a foundation of community support. Let’s make sure we don’t accidentally alienate our allies in talking about Robin Williams.

Find ways to optimize small things in your life, especially if you do them frequently or they annoy you. It pays. Here’s how to start the optimization.

Aliaa Elmahdy’s anti-ISIS image is powerful, shocking, and honest. If we care about freedom, why are we changing it into something different?

Testing my Naiant mandolin mic to see how it handles RF interference from being placed next to a cell phone that’s transmitting data.

Mandolin mic setup with the Naiant X-R hypercardioid capsule. Pictures, sound files, and discussion.

Sharing videos and images of suicide is dangerous. Let’s talk about why, and talk about what we can do instead to prevent harm and promote healing.

A meditation on how and why we change, what holds us back, and what we can do about it.

How to ask friends and family about suicide and feel more comfortable starting the conversation. You can do this.

It’s not useful to say “suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem”. Here’s why, and here’s what to say instead.

Brief guide to talking about suicide and Robin Williams so we prevent harm to other vulnerable people.

Work is love made visible. Or is that backwards?

How different do mandolin picks sound? Listen to 28 different picks tested by the same player on the same instrument and see what you think!

Answer key for the Mandolin Pick Comparison article.

Many traditions talk about approaching your work with focus and care. Here’s why preparing is important and how to do it well for any kind of work.

George Will writes that liberals, the Obama administration, and college campuses around the country are now making “victimhood a coveted status that confers privileges”. Really? What are these privileges? The privilege of having your body violated by another person?

This is a glossary and usage guide for talking about suicide. We use a lot of specialized terms in the suicide prevention field, and I want to make sure you know what we’re talking about.

Thank you so much! Your support means a lot, and it helps me keep this site running. I’m really looking forward to getting rid of the ads, and your donation helps!   Thanks again, Hollis  

Why do so many “solutions” to climate change address the scarcity of fossil fuels without dealing with the overabundance of carbon in the atmosphere?

Homemade mandolin bridges yield significant changes in tone, volume, and responsiveness compared to standard bridges. Includes photos and sound samples.

The top 15 most-read posts on holliseaster.com for 2013, with discussion.

Monthly roundup of what Hollis wrote in December 2013! Links and quick summaries of all posts, organized by topic.

I Kill Your Cows is a fun (free) game of observation, estimation, and strategy for long car rides. This post provides rules and instructions.

Quick guidelines for how to get through an ice storm safely.

Atomic actions are tools for preventing distraction and focusing your attention fully during times when it’s critically important.

The problem, stated succinctly. This is why things don’t change.

I’ve been told all kinds of truths, half-truths, and outright lies about the Common Core State Standards. Let’s look at some data and bust some myths!

Holiday sale on handmade reclaimed hardwood jewelry by Hollis Easter. Ready to ship immediately.

Monthly roundup of what Hollis wrote in November 2013! Links and quick summaries of all posts, organized by topic.

Nobody told me that Lyme disease comes with constant fear attached. Antibiotics help with the physical symptoms; here’s how I’m working on the mental ones.

An arithmetic solution to the Sheriff’s Star problem. Suitable for math students of any age (homeschoolers, public school kids, whatever!).

How can you make a regular 7-pointed badge for the Sheriff of El Dorado County without a protractor? Does it work with any number of points? We’re playing math!

Somebody must have seen it coming… (comics)

Hipsters are so ironic that their ironic irony has now become ironically iconic. Ironic, no? (comic)

Listen to music by Hollis Easter from the 2013 Pipers’ Gathering Instructors Concert in Burlington VT. Five videos on this page with liner notes. Bagpipes!

Want to leverage your skills to maximally impact the people you’re talking to? Click this slightly snarky post about levers and leverage to learn more!

Early results from the total overhaul of Reachout’s training program in 2013. Check out how things look!

What can we learn about crisis work from the Little Prince and a retired counselor from Mississippi? We can learn how compassion and love connect in crisis.

Dr. Frankenstein cooks up a new musical instrument in his lab, combining the beauty of a violin with the speed of a typewriter.

This post follows up on some things people have raised in the lively discussion about my earlier post, How Much Does Grad School Cost? Please start with that post if you’re just joining the discussion now. Thanks!

Straining and bottling a homemade dandelion tincture (whole herb), with lots of photos. Part two of a series.

Grad school is expensive in lots of ways, but people often forget opportunity cost. In this post, we look at how much more money you have to make after graduate school to make up for the lost earnings and growth you missed during school, and we reach some conclusions about how much you need to ...

(Humor, partially) Scores of performers have improved their work with this 1 weird old trick, and you can too! It’s easy, free, and available anywhere. Click for more!

Here’s the quick monthly roundup for what I’ve written over the last few months, organized by subject. I’ve provided links to make it easier to read the articles. General You’re So Talented! Let’s stop telling people they’re talented and start acknowledging the work they’re putting in. Start With The Feelings: A Guide for Customer Service and Support. Guidelines ...

Triangles and Pyramids Playing math! I like playing with math. These days, I don’t need that much math for my daily life–enough to calculate whether I’ve got enough gas to get from A to B, to balance my checkbook, to budget for the training class I’m starting, to figure out expenses on Frost and Fire‘s new album… ...

This… is the honey badger (diet)! You may be surprised to learn that honey badgers do care about some things. They’re actually very sensitive to the size bias and body loathing that are rampant among Mellivora capensis. Honey badgers receive a lot of negative messaging encouraging them to hate their bodies and feel stupid about their eating ...

Man, we loves us some transformations. Makeovers, interventions, whatever you want to call ’em. We love the idea of saviors, too: people who come in and do the transforming/making over/intervening. This is enshrined on a pretty deep level of our culture, from religious transformers to Home Makeover shows to boot camps to alcoholism interventions to Teach ...

Updated 2013-11-19 Privacy policy I will not knowingly collect information about you except as follows: If you write comments, the site will keep them and may track your username somehow based on how you logged in. This is standard, if it happens. If you sign up for email delivery of posts, the site will (obviously) hang onto your email ...

Survey conducted using Standard Empathy Instrument (Quantitative) version 2.5, n = 577. In light of the perhaps-surprising results of the initial survey, we attempted to repeat the survey to investigate whether the initial results were anomalous. Regrettably, nearly all the honey badgers had engaged themselves in other activities (seeking honey and larvae, hunting and eating cobras, ...

Pathologizing Language Most of you have seen the video about the Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger, with narration by Randall, somewhere in your travels around the internet. I delight in using the honey badgers to teach about crisis hotlines; we’re using the honey badger in our initial training to talk about inappropriate sexual callers, frequent callers, the ...

Of Mice and Mindsets Before you read the rest of this, watch this video of a Russian mouse with a great attitude: That mouse would be a failure in most schools. Unless they’re using something like standards-based grading (SBG) that allows students to reassess skills that they didn’t ace the first time, most schools and universities ...

People use savings accounts for the wrong thing. Savings accounts aren’t for making your money grow; they’re more like insurance policies. Here’s why.

Fears in a Hat: A Facilitator’s Guide by Hollis Easter, (c) October 2013 Fears In A Hat is a good introductory team-building and group process exercise that gets people focused on good listening, encourages them to share vulnerability and build trust, promotes empathy for callers, and starts the process of forming groups and high-performing teams. It takes ...

What if the woods were filled with digital natives? Millennial maples? Tweeting tupelos? Mobile mahogany? Do the digital birds Hangout in the cloud(s)? If a #tree falls in the digital forest, does it show up in anyone’s feed?

Why are tweets missing? Twitter hides some tweets with @usernames at the beginning of the line. This is confusing and unfriendly; here’s how to fix it.

Good customer service involves helping people to talk about feelings, not just facts, before solving problems. Here’s how and why to do it.

Curated reading list of resources for people who direct crisis hotlines, call centers, and crisis programs.

Getting Their Best Performance improvement at crisis centers Workshop by Hollis Easter National Association of Crisis Center Directors annual conference Rochester NY, 2013 October 19 PowerPoint slides PDF of PowerPoint slides: NASCOD2013-GettingTheirBest Links Finding the perfect balance: how much multimedia is best? https://www.holliseaster.com/talks/2010/MMBalance/ Involuntary hospitalization: www.reachouthotline.org/assets/invol/ Strength in numbers: https://www.holliseaster.com/talks/2010/AIRS/ Workshop objectives Participants will learn: How to look at performance problems, assess gaps, find causes, and ...

(I’m in Rochester, NY for the annual conference of the National Association of Crisis Center Directors and Contact USA, and I often draw or make lists during workshops, which often helps me dispense with the distraction of whatever thought has arisen, letting me get back to the workshop’s content.) This thought came to me today: What’s ...

When people postpone grief, it’s like shoving all the pain into a Grief Closet and pledging to deal with it later. Postpone it too long and trouble starts.

Complimenting people’s talent or intelligence or strength or beauty often backfires because it ignores effort. Here’s how to honor their work instead.

(The recording is at the bottom of the page) Last night, I wrote a tune while practicing mandolin. The first bones of it just arrived in my head and the rest came quickly as I played. I rewrote a few bits this morning to tighten it up, and this tune is the result. I pulled out ...

Everyone knows you’re supposed to buy a metronome if you’re going to be a musician. It’s one of those pieces of wisdom that passed into our culture as an article of faith. Music teachers will all tell you to get one, but we rarely offer much help in terms of how to use them effectively. I’d ...

I’ve seen conflicting advice on different herbal recipes when it comes to adding vodka to alcohol tinctures. Some say to add vodka to cover the herbs; some say to add vodka to cover with an inch or so of clear alcohol atop the herbs. Further complicating the issue is the fact that some recipes mandate ...

How to make homemade dandelion tinctures for health and good digestion. Tinctures are easy and fun to make at home!

The Pillar Metaphor is a lens for seeing resilience and strain in crisis work. In the crisis hotline world, we often see people struggling but don’t understand why, and we often forget the ways that chronic conditions and life events sap a person’s strength to the point where even small problems can knock them down. ...