CJ Woods III’s Story Archive

Fake News

March 16, 2017 | by CJ Woods III

In 1997, the artist Bob Cassilly, along with his wife Gail, opened a museum near downtown St. Louis, MO. I could see the building that housed the museum, or more specifically, the hippopotamus perched on the top floor of it, when I walked out of the front door of my … Read More

Public Speaking

March 9, 2017 | by CJ Woods III

The University of Washington offers “Introduction to Public Speaking” as the first in a four-part course in “Dynamic Public Speaking Specialization.” I found this offering online as I was browsing for information about public speaking. No one who has known me for more than twelve minutes would think that I … Read More

The Skinny on Swimming

March 2, 2017 | by CJ Woods III

On June 17th, 1994, television viewers in this country were glued to their sets, watching a slow-motion drama: In Los Angeles, California, OJ Simpson, in the back seat of his friend’s white Bronco, was slow-rolling his way into history. On that same night, in a bar in the South Beach … Read More

The Beautiful Music of the Other

February 23, 2017 | by CJ Woods III

In the Cathedral of Learning on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh, a young boy skulks among the closed stacks of the library. The boy’s mother works for a woman who has some influence at the university, and that woman has seen to it that the young boy was … Read More

Linda

February 16, 2017 | by CJ Woods III

A bank commercial shows a young couple growing up together, going from grade school to college and into the bank for financial advice. I often have emotional responses to the feel-good stories of advertisers, and in the commercial, a young girl comes down the steps of her home to a … Read More