Yesterday I bought a spare phone charger. At the register, I held out my debit card uncertainly at the card-swiping gizmo. The man behind the register saw my confusion and said, “Strip down. Facing me.”

I paused, then repeated his words back to him. The woman at the next register burst out laughing.

I mean, if I were entering the Army, okay. But to purchase a phone charger? That seemed austere. Strip down, facing me.

Words. Honestly, they’re pretty malleable.

I have a friend who grew up hearing “Silent Night” and thinking that “Round John Virgin” was a character in the story.

When I was little, I had a friend who used to wet her bed every night. My mom told me she had “a bladder problem.” I had no idea what a “bladder” was. I thought she said my friend had “a splatter problem.” And that made perfect sense to me.

When my son Nick was little, he had a problem pronouncing the words “airplane” and “airport.” He said, “ahhplane” and “ahhport.” This went on for a few years.

Then one day, we drove to the Charlottesville Ahhport to pick up my dad, who was coming for a visit. We collected the maestro, and as we began driving home, Nick said something about how exciting it was to “come get Grandpa at the ahhport.” Then he turned to my dad and explained in perfect English, “I can’t say airport.”

“No?” said my dad. “What do you say?”

“I say, ahhport,” Nick replied.

Last month, when I saw the Japanese edition of The Go-Giver, I didn’t see how anyone else could possibly equal that amazing production, let alone top it.

Then, a few days ago, the Korean edition arrived.

Oh, my.

Since nobody in our house reads Korean, I can’t tell what’s actually being said in the ten (!) full pages of text that come between the title page and the table of contents, but they include the phrases “sustainable competitive advantage” and “My joy in giving is greater than your joy in receiving.”

Can anyone read Korean? If you can, I’ll loan you my copy in exchange for elucidation!

The illustrations are beyond great: they’re completely adorable. Here is the cover, featuring Pindar, Joe and Claire:

(Click to enlarge image)

and a picture of Joe, Pindar, Ernesto and Nicole:

and one of Joe — you guessed it — serving coffee. (Notice Gus, Meerschaum in hand.)

They’ve made the key a critical element in the book: I suspect each Law is now called a “key” — but again, until I find someone who reads Korean, I’m in the dark.

With my way lit by some wonderfully illuminating drawings.

Today the September/October issue of Networking Times hits the stands, and with it a piece I wrote in which I talk about the value of not talking so much.

“I remember my eighteenth birthday. I was young and in love, and the road ahead was positively shimmering with possibilities. I was unstoppable, and nothing was impossible.

“Then post-eighteen life began unfolding. Strivings, successes, failures, catastrophes. Fortunes rose and fell, marriages and friendships blossomed and crumbled. Some public triumphs, some personal tragedies, more roadblocks and dead ends and cul-de-sacs than I’d ever dream the universe could supply.

“This summer, I turned fifty-four. (That’s three times eighteen.) I am young and in love; the road ahead positively shimmers with possibilities, and nothing seems impossible. It’s good to be back…”

Click here to read the entire editorial (and find out how the heck I segue from “turning fifty-four” to the “secret of empty spaces”…)

Okay: a writer’s blog is generall meant to contain literary and writerly things. Pithy observations of life, profound commentary and insights. That kind of thing. Not your usual “Dear Diary” stuff. Still . . .

In response to requests for more pictures, I herewith post a pictologue, honeymentary, itinerfolio. Wedding photos are still some time in the future (we have to go meet with our intrepid photoman John Fitzpatrick in the Berkshires and go through the rolls) — but here are some quick photos of the various forms of wildlife encountered during our recent honeymoon.

(Click on any photo for enlarged view of actual, in-the-wild encounter!)

Baby in Surf

Dog in Surf

Bird in Surf

Fisherman in Surf

Wife in Surf

And finally, after we returned, we were joyously reunited with Ana’s faithful Secret Service agent and protector Ben
. . . and after much rejoicing and merriment, they both passed out.

Last week on the Go-Giver blog, I posted a note we got from Adrienne Schultz, our editor at Portfolio, publishers of The Go-Giver:

“So on my way to work today, I’m walking through the Times Square subway station—a busy spot, as you can imagine. There’s a man walking against traffic, nearly bumping into everyone as he passes by. I’m a bit annoyed, until I realize why he is so distracted: He is reading—is engrossed in—The Go-Giver! That just made my morning.

I wrote that post during our honeymoon, on a day that rained and rained, keeping us off the beach for the day. (I know, I said I didn’t write at all on my honeymoon. And I didn’t, honest—except for one little teeny weeny blog post.)

Later that day we hopped in our rental car and sought out a nearby Barnes & Noble to find some good beach reading.

I went to the “Inspiration and Motivation” shelf where The Go-Giver is displayed; there were four copies. A few minutes later, the clerk asked me to sign the copies there, so I went back to the shelf — and the four copies were now reduced to two. One evidently had been bought, and a man was standing there with the other in hand, leafing through it.

He told me he owned a company, and was thinking of buying this copy for his regional manager — whose name is Joe.

Synchronicity: a wink and a nod from the Absolute.

Back from a glorious honeymoon and a week of much-needed rest. (Wedding pictures coming soon!)

We spent the week on the roiling, surfy South Carolina coast, now under gentle rainfall, now through dramatic lightningstorms, and most often under sunny Hilton Head skies. As we gazed out our balcony one afternoon, freshly married, the ocean sky seemed to send us an editorial benediction with a wedding ring of its own:

Click on picture to get a full sense of the scene!

To fast my brain, I wrote absolutely nothing all week, and to nourish it, fed it four books:

• Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, Death of a Salesman (I can’t believe I never got around to reading this before!—what a magnificent piece of writing);
• Og Mandino’s classic, The Greatest Salesman in the World (Mandino and Miller make one intriguing set of bookends to the American Sales Experience; and yes, it’s true, I’ve never actually gotten around to reading most of the famous business parables, and decided it’s something I really ought to do);
• John Updike’s wildly and woolily satirical A Month of Sundays (Updike is not a flavor everyone enjoys; you have to be patient enough to traipse through sentences roughly the length of the Appalachian trail);
• and Dean Koontz’s recent addition to the magnificent Odd Thomas series, the graphic novel In Odd We Trust (I am a sucker for Odd Thomas).

It’s good to be back. So many gorgeous summer-and-fall days to drink in, so many books to write!

“August,” I wrote in this month’s eLetter. “Somnolent summer afternoons, the sour-sweet smell of fresh cut grass, backyard barbecues … and this year, a wedding. By the time you read my September eLetter, I’ll be a married Mann — and will be grateful to the month of August for the rest of my days.”

Yes, nuptial preparations have got us hopping here. And we are not alone. Someone else is hopping. Right outside my study window, in fact, in that sour-sweet fresh-cut grass.

I wonder if they are getting ready for a wedding too?

Last month, it so happened that I was scheduled for an interview on The Go-Giver on June 10, which happens to be my birthday.

It was a great birthday treat: the interviewer was Tom Heck, inspirational founder of the TeachMeTeamwork newsletter, which now reaches some 36,000 readers in more than 100 countries. Tom is a terrific guy, and his newsletter’s well worth following.

Tom has now posted the 44-minute interview here in his July issue.

Meanwhile, I just read another one of those reviews that makes me want to say, “Um, thank you?” But then, compliments of the left-handed variety are my favorite kind: when they come with this much sting, it’s hard to doubt their sincerity! This one hails from the keyboard of Bob Corrigan on the ack/nak blog.

“This slim little book is chock full of hackneyed dialog, stock characters straight out of central casting, and features an ending that will remind you of a Disney movie. But I loved it for the simplicity of its message—the key to success (sorry, “stratospheric” success) is . . . I won’t spoil it for you, but you can probably already figure it out from the title. I carry this book around with me and dip into it on a frequent basis. No kidding. It’s 144 pages of goodness.”

(Scroll down; you’ll find it below the piece on The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.)

This week an amazing treat landed in my mail box: the hot-off-the-press Japanese hardcover edition of The Go-Giver. (I wrote about this over on the Go-Giver blog, but figured perhaps I should post it here too.)

The people at Bungei Shunju Ltd. did a phenomenal job: gorgeous production values. Even though I can’t read a lick of Japanese, leafing through this book is an experience.

For one thing, it’s illustrated—and in the most hilarious, creative, practically hallucinogenic Japanese fashion. Sort of Saul Steinberg meets Manga.

(“Joe” in the Japanese edition of The Go-Giver—click on image for full effect.)

And this is no casual production: whoever did these illustrations took incredible care, and has an uncannily intimate knowledge of the text. And a helluva sense of humor.

For example:

• In Chapter 2, when Pindar says, “Have you ever heard people say, You can’t always get what you want?” and Joe grins and says, “You mean, the Rolling Stones?” — in the Japanese edition, so help me, there is a full-page drawing of Mick Jagger on stage belting out The Song.
• Accompanying the description of Rachel’s history in Chapter 7, “Rachel,” is a drawing of Rachel serving coffee. Behind her is a Mellita the size of a well-fed black Labrador Retriever, and a vivid rainbow arcs out of the cup in her hand. (The artist, I think, has seen the film “Yellow Submarine” more than once.)
• How would you illustrate the story’s dramatic conclusion, at the end of chapter 13, “Full Circle”? The artist devotes the facing page to a single image, tucked into the lower-left corner: a simple black and white drawing of a cup of coffee. What a brilliant touch.
• Finally: bonus points for the first reader who can write in and tell me what book is sitting on Gus’s table when we first meet him in Chapter 1. I’ll give you a hint: it’s by Stephen King, and it’s one of my favorite books. (How did the artist know that?!)

I can’t wait to find someone who can read Japanese to walk me through parts of the book. For example, the chapter titles. They all look about the same length as the English ones, except for Chapter 7. In English, it’s “Rachel.” In Japanese, it’s, like, a whole sentence, with a dramatic dash in the middle. I wonder what the heck it says?

I know, I know: no posts for weeks, and then two in one day. But there’s a reason I have to post this one today, and that in this case, tomorrow will not do.

Our amazing publicist, Kathryn Hall, who has helped put The Go-Giver on the map, is also an amazing gardener. For the past four days, Kathryn’s blog, Plant Whatever Brings You Joy, has placed #1 on Blotanical.com, out of over 800 other gardening blogs around the world! Here

Kathryn’s web site itself is amazing: stay in touch, and you’ll see everything from this:

to this:

All of which brings me to my favorite gardener in the world: my sweetheart, fiancée and best friend.

As I type this, I am at my desk, perhaps 25 feet from Ana’s garden, which is currently being busily criss-crossed by yellow finches, red-tail thises and thats, and a lot of other birds whose names I don’t know but whose songs I love. And some persistent rabbits. Leaving my desk, I step outside and take a walk into the thick of it:

… and step onto the path …

… and take a closer look …

… and I can see that this is the perfect day for this Eden [NOTE: click on the photos above to get the full sense of it!] to be in such glorious full bloom: it is the gardener’s birthday.

Happy birthday, Sweetheart!