In a rough draft, I was told, anything goes. Write quickly, ignore mistakes, plow on despite grammar errors, keep the awkward wording. I was told that this kind of writing releases bursts of wild creative energy and honesty, that it is a way to evade the “internal censor” – the nagging inner critic in every […]
Reclaiming the Freedom of the Rough Draft Read More »
As a child I was always the one who stayed. I stayed as all around me, others went. Kids I played with moved away and left behind lonely empty houses. My parents, unlike theirs, were content where they were, and not the sort to leave. The problem was, I was always getting attached to people
The Sort Who Stays Read More »
“Screw you guys! We goings to Amsterdam!” This was an email I got on my phone recently from my husband Donnie. Understanding why requires knowing the context. After a December layoff and a dismal job search, Donnie had an interview in St. Petersburg, Florida last week that went exceedingly well. Getting hired would mean high
Moving to Amsterdam in My Head Read More »
I especially loved the way the show began, with footsteps and a shadowy face visible through the milky glass window of an office door. The face came into full view once the door was opened, and it was Ray Bradbury who walked inside. His office resembled a toy store rather than a workplace. “People ask,
Ray Bradbury: A Writer Who Saw Happiness as Possible Read More »
Part I When I was in elementary school, none of my teachers were perceptive enough to realize that I could not see. They thought I was just inattentive. It was true that I often enclosed myself in the bubble of my own dreams, but being nearsighted made the bubble physical. The close things inside it
How I Fought Myself For Clarity in a Math Class Read More »
January 17, 2013 Things fall apart. That is a line of a poem by Yeats that keeps going through my head. Yeats was describing the social unrest in postwar Europe during the early twentieth century. In the poem he compares the widespread insanity to impending Biblical Apocalypse. So why is this poem going through my
The Chaos Cabinet (Journal Entry) Read More »
Since early childhood, I wanted to be a writer. I wrote exuberant stories about vampires, hidden treasure, and animals. Over the years, teachers, friends, and relatives read my stories, smiled, and encouraged me. They told me I wrote well, and so I should write more. By adolescence, writing was not just something I wanted to
How I Lost My Guilt and Became Addicted to Writing Read More »
Note: I am going to start adding informal journal entries like this one, but I will continue to write articles too. This will give me a way to talk to you rather than at you, and it will give me greater flexibility. January 1, 2013 2012 has just slipped away into the slagheap of history,
Last Year Was Not What I Expected. What Next? Read More »
Note: My humorous pieces usually begin with me being angry. This one, which won a contest, was a reaction to certain people pressuring me to do things I didn\’t want to do. Friends who do things to annoy me get essays hurled at them. This rant was one of my missiles. “Carpe diem” has been
Carpe Diem Isn’t Sacrosanct Read More »
Sometimes, if I am having a bad day, I remember the comic The Oatmeal and within minutes of reaching the website, I have forgotten why I was unhappy. Many comics can entertain me. But the artist and writer, Matthew Inman, is one of only a few humorists who can make me
On The Oatmeal: Why I Want the Last Panel Back Read More »
