Wanting What You’ve Got
I heard a great story the other day. Listening to NPR, I heard this bit from Daniel Klein as he talked about his book, Travels with Epicurus. In that book he recounts his return to the Greek villages of his youth, and the bits of wisdom that he heard as he traveled throughout the island....
Light at the End of the Tunnel
There are moments in life that require thought, and there are moments that require swift and decisive action. I have muddled through life- both writing and personally- deep in thought. There have been moments of action, yes, like the sporadic activity surrounding the writing of a story, but for every story written I have ten...
A Sense of Space
Driving south on the New York State Thruway this week, I passed by the small village of Ravena, which the highway bisects on its inevitable journey south to New York City. This is significant to me always because Ravena is my hometown,and every time I pass by it on the Thruway I’m reminded of where...
The Weekend Warrior Debuts
I’ve expanded! Moving outside of fiction was always something I thought might do, but wasn’t really sure when or where. I flirted with the idea of writing for a few political papers and magazines, but those haven’t really panned out. Last year I was made aware of a local golf website and its proprietor, Frank Ciarlo....
A Boat in Harbor Contemplates the Sea
This following poem is from Edgar Lee Masters: I HAVE STUDIED many times The marble which was chiseled for me— A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor. In truth it pictures not my destination But my life. For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment; Sorrow knocked at...
Vanilla Twilight
Just when you think it’s safe to listen to the radio, a sappy love song hits you right in the nose. I present Owl City, “Vanilla Twilight,” for your consideration and listening pleasure. The song is just openly romantic. It makes me pause, a bit, and reflect on the power of well chosen words. Yeah,...
Post Holiday Thoughts, or the End of the World As We Know It
The Mayans were wrong. We’re still here. Well, the misreadings of a few archaeologists who looked at the end of a Mayan cycle as the end of the world were actually wrong. Go figure. So the world is still here, Christmas has come and gone, and life as we know it trudges forward. And snow...
The Future is Between Your Ears
It’s December. The holidays are upon us…again. It would be disingenuous if I tried to say that I didn’t absolutely love this time of year, but I suppose that there are things that get in the way of truly enjoying the season. For me, well, if you’ve been reading along with me then you know...
The Principled Life
In the grand scheme of things, what is it really all about? Is it our accomplishments? The achievements we so proudly sought out, sometimes sacrificing all for, will they really be the things we hang our hats on at the end of the day? Writers long for publication- God knows I’m no different- but really,...
What is Happiness?
This, again, from Paulo Coelho. Here he discusses the nature of true happiness, and I think that there are a few people I know who should read this. Come o think of it, we all should read it. As a side note, I’ve mentioned how much I love Paolo Coelho’s work before, so I won’t...
The Truth About Rejection
This post is deliberately two sided. Both sides have to do with rejection. There are similarities between the two, no doubt, and in the similarities hopefully some inspiration can be gleaned. The first example comes from an email I received last week. It was a rejection from Willow Springs magazine, and it went succinctly...
Workaholics and the Subjectivity of it All
A former student posted the following bit of wisdom on his blog, and I wanted to share it and give him a shout out. Here is the post from Vincent Barr’s blog, entitled On “Workaholics,” Work Ethic, and Motivation.” I’m a believer in ROWE (results oriented work environment). Performance should be measured in terms of...
