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FEARLESS LIVING, AND OTHER MYTHS

December 1, 2022 by

The key to Fearless Living? Don’t live past a certain age. But what’s that age? The most fearless person I know is two years old, but they don’t know how fearless they are. Who among is living fearlessly past two? Who is not?

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ALONE AGAIN, NATURALLY OR UNNATURALLY

November 26, 2022 by

If you find yourself alone again, don’t despair. The young people will find others and wistfully remember their alone days. The elderly treasure their memories of an active, busy, life. At least that’s how it’s supposed to work. What gets in the way? Social media?

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RECOMMENDED READING: T.C. BOYLE’S ‘GOING DOWN’

October 29, 2022 by

Recommended reading for writers? Common advice is to read everything, whatever that means. Do I read everything? Everything in a bookstore, or library? No, I read for inspiration, I read for cause, and my cause is writing.

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PUBLIC LITERACY: THE TALK ABOUT READING

August 8, 2022 by

Public literacy is nothing to ignore, but it happens all the time. Poor reading skills aren’t something to brag about. If you’re over fifty and read a third grade level, what do you do? Hide that fact from ever getting into the light. Or . . . ?

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BOOK HOARDING ADVICE FOR BEGINNERS

July 12, 2022 by

Book hoarding is not a disease. If that makes you feel better, you might be a librarian. Not a librarian, but still have loads of books? Still not a disease, and here’s why:

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WRITING HISTORY FOR FUTURE READERS

February 4, 2022 by

Writing history, engaging history, helps readers. What doesn’t help readers is writing bad history. But bad history has an appeal, a great appeal. Bad history writing plays to the audience who need their feelings and actions validated in a way they understand. What do they need to understand?

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READING HISTORY BOOKS YIELDS MORE THAN BARGAINED FOR

February 3, 2022 by

Reading history books is about more than validating the opinion you already have. George Washington, first president and father of our country, chopped a cherry tree down and confessed because he would never lie? Honest Abe Lincoln never told a lie? No one questioned their honesty? Reading history books could answer those sort of questions, […]

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LEARNING CURVE? FIND TREASURES AND READ

June 12, 2021 by

A learning curve is not an excuse. I’ll repeat it, a learning curve doesn’t mean you’re stupid. There’s room in class for another learner. If it’s something new, you may feel a little stupid working it out, but that’s just navigating the curve. Give it a few minutes and you’ll be an expert. How? Read […]

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DORK LIFE? GO AHEAD AND LIVE IT UP

May 14, 2021 by

I met my eventual mother in law before I was in the ‘potential partner’ picture. Her daughter was on my radar, just not the other way around. It was familiar territory. Since I had time to play the long game of love, I kept the heat turned down. To an objective outsider I was just […]

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HISTORICAL ADVICE: THIS IS WORTH SOMETHING, ISN’T IT

March 3, 2021 by

Historical advice usually comes from a book, or a class where some gray bearded funky old man in a musty suit jacket rambles on and on in a cloud of dandruff. Doing history is different than studying history. History museums Do History for everyone else. Museum visitors walk from exhibit to exhibit, floor to floor, […]

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