Mike Barzacchini
Bio
Writing my third act.
Stories (16/0)
Sideswiped by Extinction
AI is changing industries and creating new jobs while ending old ones. We’re learning and adapting, and this will continue. It’s a tectonic change, like the creation of fire, the printing press, and the internet. Yet, even while new opportunities are created, some companies will refuse to adapt, risking extinction for the sake of short-term comfort. It reminds me of that time a few decades ago when I lost a job powered by new technology to an industry trying desperately to cling to the status quo.
By Mike Barzacchini4 months ago in Confessions
For Phyllis
I shared an earlier version of this letter with my sister Phyllis weeks before she died in October 2014. Phyllis gave me the gift of music. I’m forever grateful and I could not have created the following playlist without her. This is part of my ongoing pratice and project to write “not left unsaid” letters to people who have had an impact on my life. Don’t wait to tell the people you love and care for what they mean to you. Reach out, even if it’s with just a short note, a card, a text, or a voice mail. Leave nothing unsaid when it comes to your appreciation for those who matter most in your life.
By Mike Barzacchini11 months ago in Beat
First Oyster
Do you remember the first taste of something so powerful, it engaged all of your senses? You could feel that taste, hear that taste, see that taste, and smell that taste. And the taste itself - wow! You’ll never forget it. That’s what I experienced the first time I ate a raw oyster. And that memory comes back to me every time I’ve tried one since. Here’s “First Oyster.”
By Mike Barzacchini11 months ago in Poets
Double-Dog-Dare
We went into quarantine with two dogs and came out with four. Actually, there's more to the story than that. In December 2019, just before the pandemic, my wife Susan and I began rescuing and fostering dogs. We had two of our own, both rescues, Dino, our standard poodle mix, and Daisy, our beloved Bichon Frise whose health was in decline.
By Mike Barzacchini2 years ago in Petlife
Bullfishing
I had one more full day in Texas. And all I wanted to do was to catch a fish, preferably a largemouth bass. Ideally, one that was six pounds or larger. This was my second and last opportunity to catch a Texas bass. Tomorrow, I’d be flying home to the cold late-winter weather of Minneapolis.
By Mike Barzacchini3 years ago in Fiction
Guardian of Basketball Barn
We’d meet at the barn to play basketball any evening we could get out of chores or homework. The weather didn’t matter. In fact, once we played during a blizzard when the winds howled so hard the double doors on the loft blew off and shattered across the snow-covered cornfield. We made it home that night just before drifting snow closed the two-lane country roads.
By Mike Barzacchini3 years ago in Fiction
Lessons in Life from My Boss Mom
Mildred Evans Barzacchini, my mom, is a Boss Mom. Mom died in November 2019 after living 101 rich, full years. But I still think and speak of her in the present tense. That’s the thing about Boss Moms, they will always be with us. And Millie is no exception.
By Mike Barzacchini3 years ago in Families
When Duke's Rocked My BBQ World
I brake for BBQ. I travel for BBQ. I’ve been known to plan vacation days around the search for BBQ. I’ve eaten BBQ from the Carolinas and Tennessee to St. Louis and throughout Texas. You get the idea. Yet, never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d find some of the best BBQ I’ve ever eaten just a 10-minute walk from my front door.
By Mike Barzacchini3 years ago in Feast