Posts Tagged ‘writing’
The Thing About Clichés
As writers, we’re regularly exhorted to avoid clichés as overused, hackneyed, and too predictable. I take that advice seriously, and I consciously look for fresher images in my work. The thing is, though, in our daily lives, the reason clichés are so overused is that they resonate with us by capturing some fundamental experience. Take…
Read MoreThere’s Always More… And That’s What Keeps Things Interesting
Years ago during my dance days, I auditioned for a company in another state. In the post-audition interview, the artistic director said nice things about my dancing and concluded by telling me: “You’re such a finished dancer.” I thanked her for her kind words, but I knew this last statement was dead wrong. There is…
Read MoreWriting Out of Our Comfort Zone
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.” -Henry Ford My late writer friend Thelma Wyland used to tell me, “I was born without the poetry gene.” Of course, I knew that wasn’t really true. Despite her preference for short story writing, she created such evocative Haiku that musician and composer…
Read MoreOne Month Later
It was a little over a month ago that our younger son Joel married Priscilla Hernandez, the love of his life, at Cliffview, a rustic retreat near Red River Gorge. It took him a mere fourteen years to convince his bride to marry him, and I’ve never seen anyone more thrilled than our son! We…
Read MoreMy Post-Colonoscopy Glow
Woody Allen once said: “It’s not the idea of death that bothers me. It’s the hours.” I feel that way about colonoscopies.
Read MoreThe Comparison Trap
My husband and I love working on our own original songs (He plays guitar and composes the music, and I sing and write the lyrics). Now that he’s retired, he’s become
Read MoreConfessions of a Workaholic
Last weekend, I spent all day Saturday reviewing and commenting on my students’ first drafts of their memoirs, as well as working on Sunday’s comprehensive sexuality education
Read MoreAbout Those New Year’s Resolutions
New Year’s resolutions have always struck me as psychic downers-in-the-making. Sure, I’d love to lose ten pounds.
Read MoreAnother Writer’s Lament
When the artistic director of the company I danced with for several seasons was displeased with how we were performing her choreography, she would scream at us across the studio,
Read MoreDo We Send Students to College too Soon? [Lessons from Vets on Campus]
The local university where I teach part-time has made a special and quite successful effort to welcome veterans on campus. My veteran students are a bit older than my “just out of high school” first year students.
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