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6.27.2013

There's More to Gaining Trust than There Are Bricks in the Berlin Wall

This morning, as I read Eric Idle’s latest blog entry, I realized that I began feeling very relaxed. It wasn’t the topic that allowed me to kick back mentally and take my time, it was that I trusted him. He began with a tale that was related to his adventures while trying to get to the Berlin Wall, not the trip itself, but I didn’t care. I instinctively knew he would bring me back around to it. And at the end he left a little cliffhanger. Not to worry, he’ll tell that tale one day when he feels like it...

6.24.2013

New Work Ethics Really Work

I worked in the world of corporate high finance nearly my entire adult life, and I loved it. I loved it so much, in fact, I stayed at my favorite job at a music company for 15 years. Although I wasn't in love with spending my 40-50 hour work week in an office cubicle (until I was promoted to the corner one with the huge window), I woke up on Monday looking forward to my job...

6.22.2013

Tips From Kerouac

Jack Kerouac never listened to “them”, the writers, the wannabe and would-be writers who dictated to others how and how they should not write. Jack listened to his own voice, emulating no one. Other writers were always asking him how he did what he did, so he listed 30 “rules” in a piece he called Belief and Technique for Modern Prose. This is a lesson we all could benefit from...

6.19.2013

How Much Fun is Shoveling Sludge?

I began writing my first book when I was 15 or 16. It was never published, but then, it was never meant to be. My best friend and I used to amuse ourselves at sleepovers by taking turns writing chapters for this book, which was really no more than writing the fantasies of two teenaged girls set to three-ring binder paper...

6.17.2013

Totally Bucked Up

I vowed I would never become one of those people. I reasoned that my ADD prevents me from writing at Starbucks, Aspen Coffeehouse, or Hastings' Hard Back Cafe. After eight months of not getting much writing done because of Nigel's incessant whining, barking, chasing the cat, invading the trash, and of having my leg relentlessly poked by his farting pig, however, I may have to leave home to get anything, even the smallest amount of writing, done...

6.12.2013

My Long-Time Secret Love Affair with Patti Smith

One of the things that few people know about me is that I have, since about 1979, been a huge fan of poet Patti Smith. When I discovered her, I had no idea who she was, or what she was about. I had just moved back to the US from a three-month musical stint in England and my attention was on getting a record deal in the ever-shrinking world of what was then called, more than a little deprecatingly, MOR, or Middle Of the Road. Although I’d been introduced to Punk in England, I wasn’t at all fond of it and, when I came home, I was met with the less confrontational, more palatable New Wave. Apart from Bob Dylan, Bette Midler, and Billy Joel, I knew nothing about what was going on musically in New York. Because my then managers were steering me into what they considered to be more financially lucrative waters, Smith as a singer-songwriter flew totally beneath my musical radar...

6.04.2013

Radio Gals!

For the past month Lynette has been running herself ragged between work, voice pupils, and rehearsals for 'Radio Gals', a musical comedy in which she will be appearing this month. Our local newspaper has published a nice, long article with photos here. I've heard some of the musical numbers from the show, and it promises to be hilarious! I'm going on opening night, Wednesday, as well as Friday night. If you live within a hundred miles, you should go, too!

6.03.2013

Making Time, and Room, for Me

It has been a hard seven months. Living with Nigel has definitely been a challenge, but things are working out. He's 9 months old and is growing up to be the sweetest dog I've ever known. He's learned a lot about what we expect of him and I've learned a lot about how to ensure he does, or does not do, what makes life happy for all of us.

He has learned to speak with his "inside voice" when he sees someone walk, bicycle, or skateboard by the house and I have learned that a soft, loving voice and a treat in hand will entice him to obey more than a scolding, demanding voice, spray bottle, or an angry face...