SIDE NOTES
Side Notes has been a great way for me to continue to tell stories, just in a different medium now.
I have been working on what will be my first book, Unfinished Business: The Art of Reinvention. A collection of humorous essays on life, lessons from twenty years in business, and what reinvention in my forties has actually looked like in real time.
In these reads you will find moments of humor, nostalgia, and relatability.
Thank you for taking the time to read and follow along on this new adventure.
“JOHNSONVILLE BRATS, JOHNSONVILLE BRATS!”
I recently found myself standing over a bubbling tray of Cheddar-wurst Johnsonville brats, cheddar oozing out like molten lava, edges crisped just shy of burnt, and I couldn’t help but time travel straight back to the old-school Johnsonville commercial from the '80s.
You know it. Charlie Murphy, manning his grill by the lake. Probably just trying to enjoy his one peaceful afternoon off from analyzing taxes at his crummy 9 to 5. He’s got the brats going, they’re sizzling, life is good.
But because Uncle Charlie clearly didn’t want to share his stash with his bratty niece and was trying to save them for his friends, she outed him. Loudly. To the entire neighborhood.
She belts it across the lake:
“Charlie Murphy’s cooking Johnsonville Brats… Johnsonville Brats!”