This past week I’ve been thinking about what it means to be “a writer” and the notion that there are “real” writers as opposed to . . . ? Many…
Sunday Scribblings #54: In the NewsAn ironic prompt, considering that I was mentioned in the news this week because of my devotion to The Sopranos! Here are the articles:PROPER FOCUS:Show’s…
This Week’s Theme: Clean This is a photo of Sanford Levine, MBD* of the Carnegie Deli, situated at 854 Seventh Ave. (at 55th Street), New York City, telling a guest…
Appetizer When you travel, which mode of transportation do you prefer? Totally depends on where I am going. For instance, I spent last week in New York, so it was…
1. The Empire State Building seen from the Top of the Rock (70th Floor Observation Deck at Rockefeller Center) 2. The skyline looking back from Fort Clinton 3. Lady Liberty…
This Week’s Theme: Water This past Monday, March 26, 2007, I snapped this photo from the boat on the way out to Ellis Island. Thanks for reading “Colloquium”!
This week’s theme: Empty Yes, music lovers, that is an empty suitcase. And my mission this evening is to fill it with all the things I need to take to…
Appetizer Who is your favorite news anchor/reporter? Why? It would be easier to list the ones I can’t stand! I do like most of the local anchors on the NBC…
S.J. band headed to Carnegie HallIan HillRecord Staff WriterSTOCKTON – A local concert band featuring 110 teen and adult musicians is preparing to play New York City’s Carnegie Hall. The…
Whitney Ramirez/News-Sentinel) Lodi Community Band prepped for N.Y. gig at renowned Carnegie Hall By Lauren Nelson News-Sentinel Staff Writer Wednesday, March 21, 2007 Members of the Lodi Community Band will…
Thirteen Things I Absolutely, Positively Cannot Go to New York City Without I’m leaving for New York City this Sunday morning to perform with The Delta Winds at Carnegie Hall…
Sunday Scribblings Prompt: Inspiration First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a communist; Then they came for the socialists, and…
This Week’s Theme: Drink My parents, Kenny & Ethel, enjoyed a champagne toast at their 50th Wedding Anniversary party on March 17, 1991.They were married on March 18, 1941 at…
Appetizer Name two things that made you smile this week. I don’t weigh because I believe that it is counterproductive — numbers are judgments and not helpful. I just gauge…
Thirteen of My All-Time Favorite Books Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Sparks I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb The Road…
The Cost of the Call (Part 4b):Why Did I Say “Yes”? This Week’s Sunday Scribbling’s Prompt: Puzzled Let’s talk about a past love. Tell us about your first love. What…
I stumbled upon an extremely well-written and informative article this week: 10 Tips on Writing the Living Web, by Mark Bernstein, which I encourage you to read in its entirety. Continuing to think about the topic I have focused upon the past couple of weeks, why so many folks are blogging these days, I was fascinated by his very first suggestion: “Write for a Reason.” He admonishes us to write not just about the mundane details of our lives and life experiences, but about why those details matter. Perhaps most importantly, he reminds us to write honestly and “for yourself; you are, in the end, your most important reader.”
Another recommendation that resonated with me is “[r]ead widely and well, on the web and off, and in your web writing take special care to acknowledge the good work and good ideas of other writers.” When I signed on this evening to write this post, I perused the past week’s entries from my colleagues here at Write Stuff, as is my custom. I was intrigued to find that, once again, my teammates and I seem to be “in synch.” d.challener wrote in his March 6, 2007, post, “The Need to Read,” that he has been, of late, in the “longest creative reading droughts of my adult life. It’s not that I haven’t wanted to read. It just seems that over the last several months my traditional reading times have dried up.”
This Week’s Theme: Architecture Do you see me waving to you from the large living room window? That’s where I’m writing this from! This photo was taken in 1963. Note…
Appetizer What is your usual bedtime? Do you like that, or would you rather it be different? Every night I swear I’m going to turn in before midnight, but I…
Thirteen Totally Rockin’ Feel-Good Songs (Part One) Boogie Down (Al Jarreau) Heard it Through the Grapevine (Michael McDonald) Part of the Plan (Dan Fogelberg) Something to Talk About (Bonnie Raitt)…
I concur with Karen’s enthusiastic endorsement of Writer’s Digest. The insightful articles they publish always cause me to think in a new way about why I enjoy writing so much and how I might improve my written products.
Currently, in a feature entitled “Becoming Intimate with Your Own Creative Impulses,” author Julia Cameron is interviewed. After publishing my post last Sunday about why so many of us are spending significant amounts of time and effort blogging, I was particularly intrigued by her explanation of why she writes:
For me, writing is a way to metabolize life. It’s a way to make life more understandable, it’s a way to make life more comfortable, it’s a way to make life more interesting. It’s a way to make life more passionate. When I picture the writing life, what I’m talking about is a life where writing is your dominant response. People can learn to do that. They can learn when they have their feelings hurt to get on the page instead of on the telephone. They can learn to keep a notebook next to them and write when they’re in gridlock traffic.
When I traveled to New York City to play Carnegie Hall with the Delta Winds, a group of musicians comprised of members of both the Lodi Community Band and Stockton Concert Band for the first time, I was accompanied by a very dear friend, my college roommate and sons’ godmother. We celebrated the thirtieth anniversary
Sunday Scribblings #49 — Superstition I am not a superstitious person. Friday the 13th is just another day, I don’t throw salt over my shoulder, I step on cracks, and…
Appetizer What does the color pink make you think of? The first thing that comes to my mind is Easter eggs. I used to love to leave the eggs in…