Tonight

We heard bang bang bang bang (pause) bang bang bang bang (equal spaces in between). We looked at each other and said, "that sounded like gunfire." The police showed up then fire dept + ambulance. Then the yellow crime scene tape blocked off the street.

Be Real

“A moment of truth is very powerful. Instead of smiling to be polite, just frown. Instead of laughing when you are nervous or uncomfortable, just speak your truth. Instead of acting like everything is all right, proclaim it isn't alright, and talk about your feelings! Honor your truth. Honor yourself. Be real.”
― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

Before

“Who were you before the world told you what you were not?”
― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

Within

“Within you, you will find everything you need to be complete.”
― Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason

The Worst Bullies

“The worst bullies you will ever encounter in your life are your own thoughts.”
― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

Calm Mind

“Your calm mind is the ultimate weapon against your challenges. So relax.”
― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life.

Collect Hope

“Your past is like a bag of bricks; set it down and walk away. Quit collecting every painful word, memory and mistake. Collect hope.”
― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

Consumers

“We believe we are the consumers, but we are the consumed.”
― Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason

The Storm

“The storm is out there and every one of us must eventually face the storm. When the storm comes, pray that it will shake you to your roots and break you wide-open. Being broken open by the storm is your only hope. When you are broken open you get to discover for the first time what is inside you. Some people never get to see what is inside them; what beauty, what strength, what truth and love. They were never broken open by the storm. So, don't run from your pain — run into your pain. Let life's storm shatter you.”
― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

Hurt, Pain, + Suffering

“We are all damaged. We have all been hurt. We have all had to learn painful lessons. We are all recovering from some mistake, loss, betrayal, abuse, injustice or misfortune. All of life is a process of recovery that never ends. We each must find ways to accept and move through the pain and to pick ourselves back up. For each pang of grief, depression, doubt or despair there is an inverse toward renewal coming to you in time. Each tragedy is an announcement that some good will indeed come in time. Be patient with yourself.”
― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

“Your suffering needs to be respected. Don't try to ignore the hurt, because it is real. Just let the hurt soften you instead of hardening you. Let the hurt open you instead of closing you. Let the hurt send you looking for those who will accept you instead of hiding from those who reject you.”
― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

“If you can sit with your pain, listen to your pain and respect your pain — in time you will move through your pain.”
― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

Freedom

“There is something beautiful in you seeking freedom.”
― Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason

The Roots

“If you do not like a certain behavior in others, look within yourself to find the roots of what discomforts you.”
― Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason

Listening

“One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.”
― Bryant McGill

“There is no greater intelligence than kindness and empathy.”
― Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason

Bryant McGill Quotes

“No one is more insufferable than he who lacks basic courtesy.”
― Bryant McGill

“Good manners are appreciated as much as bad manners are abhorred.”
― Bryant McGill

“Stop holding-on to the wrong people. Let them go on their own way; if not for you, then for them.”
― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

“Toxic relationships are dangerous to your health; they will literally kill you. Stress shortens your lifespan. Even a broken heart can kill you. There is an undeniable mind-body connection. Your arguments and hateful talk can land you in the emergency room or in the morgue. You were not meant to live in a fever of anxiety; screaming yourself hoarse in a frenzy of dreadful, panicked fight-or-flight that leaves you exhausted and numb with grief. You were not meant to live like animals tearing one another to shreds. Don't turn your hair gray. Don't carve a roadmap of pain into the sweet wrinkles on your face. Don't lay in the quiet with your heart pounding like a trapped, frightened creature. For your own precious and beautiful life, and for those around you — seek help or get out before it is too late. This is your wake-up call!”
― Bryant McGill

Katie Manning

8yo: When I'm eating, I like to think about how the food isn't food any more when it's in my body. It is me.

5yo: I want to be a taco that nobody eats.

Katie Manning
@iamkatmann

Neighbor's Squeaking Roof Vent

The sound is so loud I am tempted to hire a hit man for the roof vent. I went to twitter and punched in "squeaky roof vent." There are people all over the world having the same problem.

"My neighbor had a squeaky spinning vent on his roof. One night I shot it off from my window." @TrueTorontoGirl

John Thorne

Traditionally, Matt and I get Chinese takeout for Thanksgiving, a holiday I actively dislike. Despite its name, Thanksgiving is really the Family Holiday. Even Christmas pales beside it: that day's focus is on giving and receiving even more than togetherness. Strangely though, being alone on Christmas is to be almost hauntingly empty; you feel like a ghost. But being alone on Thanksgiving is rather wonderful, like not attending a party that you didn't want to go to and where no one will realize you're not there. At Thanksgiving, you gather with your family and stuff yourself with food as if it were love—or the next best thing —then stagger back to your regular life, oversatiated and wrung out. Christmas, however, creates expectations that are never met, so you leave hungry and depressed, with an armload of things you didn't want and can't imagine why anyone would think you did.
-John Thorne

Picking Up Trash

Today I fished garbage out of the shrubs using the grabber--it was like urban Yoga! Then I went swimming and it was fabulous!

Kitchen Prep

I just baked a bunch of mini sourdough (+yeast) semolina oat rye corn wheat loaves and painted them with olive oil for color. They are beautiful. The smoke alarm only went off twice. While the bread was baking I chopped up broccoli and carrots to go with the big batch of hummus I made yesterday. I was a prep chef for many years. The way for me to not have performance anxiety is to prepare foods in advance. I get panicky anyway but feels better to be ahead of the curve.

Zen Proverb

“You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day – unless you're too busy; then you should sit for an hour.”
– Zen Proverb

This Morning...

I'm simmering chick peas, baking granola, incubating sourdough, and washing hand towels.

Motive

The most important motive for work in school and in life is pleasure in work, pleasure in its result, and the knowledge of the value of the result to the community.
Albert Einstein

Lone Traveler

"My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities. I am truly a 'lone traveler' and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties, I have never lost a sense of distance and a need for solitude."
Albert Einstein

["The World As I See It," 1930]

Albert Einstein

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.
We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
-Albert Einstein

Against Winter - Poem by Charles Simic

The truth is dark under your eyelids.
What are you going to do about it?
The birds are silent; there's no one to ask.
All day long you'll squint at the gray sky.
When the wind blows you'll shiver like straw.

A meek little lamb you grew your wool
Till they came after you with huge shears.
Flies hovered over open mouth,
Then they, too, flew off like the leaves,
The bare branches reached after them in vain.

Winter coming. Like the last heroic soldier
Of a defeated army, you'll stay at your post,
Head bared to the first snow flake.
Till a neighbor comes to yell at you,
You're crazier than the weather, Charlie.

-Charles Simic

Grass-Roots Alliance

Activists Build a Grass-Roots Alliance Against Amazon
As groups join a coalition against the internet giant, a new report underlines its troubling impact in warehouse towns.
By David Streitfeld Nov. 26, 2019, 12:00 a.m. ET

Our Shoes

“Our shoes pin us to the world, like Peter Pan to his shadow. More than simply facilitating our movement out-of-doors, they mediate between the wearer and the ground. Perhaps it is less the world they pin us to, but our place in it; that shadow of society that follows wherever we go.”
― Summer Brennan, High Heel

“A pair of worn shoes is a portrait of its wearer. Not just the scuffed toes and heels ground down by months or years of pavement, or the narratives told by damage and repair, but the form and function of them, their type. They are a part of our costume in both the quotidian and theatrical sense. And because the stories that shoes tell are invariably about public life, they must also be about status, and power, or the lack of it.”
― Summer Brennan, High Heel

Planetarium Show

“To escape the throngs, we decided to see the new Neil Degrasse Tyson planetarium show, Dark Universe. It costs more than two movie tickets and is less than thirty minutes long, but still I want to go back and see it again, preferably as soon as possible. It was more visually stunning than any Hollywood special effect I’d ever seen, making our smallness as individuals both staggering and - strangely - rather comforting. Only five percent of the universe consists of ordinary matter, Neil tells us. That includes all matter - you, and me, and the body of Michael Brown, and Mork’s rainbow suspenders, and the letters I wrote all summer, and the air conditioner I put out on the curb on Christmas Day because I was tired of looking at it and being reminded of the person who had installed it, and my sad dying computer that sounds like a swarm of bees when it gets too hot, and the fields of Point Reyes, and this year’s blossoms which are dust now, and the drafts of my book, and Israeli tanks, and the untaxed cigarettes that Eric Garner sold, and my father’s ill-fitting leg brace that did not accomplish what he’d hoped for in terms of restoring mobility, and the Denver airport, and haunting sperm whales that sleep vertically, and the water they sleep in, and Mars and Jupiter and all of the stars we see and all of the ones we don’t. That’s all regular matter, just five percent. A quarter is “dark matter,” which is invisible and detectable only by gravitational pull, and a whopping 70 percent of the universe is made up of “dark energy,” described as a cosmic antigravity, as yet totally unknowable. It’s basically all mystery out there - all of it, with just this one sliver of knowable, livable, finite light and life. And did I mention the effects were really cool? After seeing something like that it’s hard to stay mad at anyone, even yourself.”
― Summer Brennan

Summer Brennan

“But I find that perhaps the greatest gift of reading is how it can transport us not to the future or to the past, but to the present. How it helps us be right here; to return to ourselves. It gives us different lenses to try viewing the world through, to see if any of them can help the universe make more sense. We may write to shout into the abyss of history, but we read to hear the voices of our fellows calling back to us through the dark.”
― Summer Brennan

Anthony Russo Art

https://www.russoillustration.com/red-crayon

https://www.russoillustration.com/paintings

Nick Cave

If there is sadness in Ghosteen, perhaps it is the recognition that we are often blind to the splendour of the world and indifferent to its attendant wonder. Perhaps the sadness is the recognition that the world is indeed beautiful, that it spins within the palm of our own hands and its beauty is available to all, if only we had eyes to see.
-Nick Cave, The Red Hand Files
ISSUE #73 / NOVEMBER 2019

Anger

“A little too much anger, too often or at the wrong time, can destroy more than you would ever imagine.”
― Marilynne Robinson, Gilead

To the Wilderness

“Any father…must finally give his child up to the wilderness and trust to the providence of God. It seems almost a cruelty for one generation to beget another when parents can secure so little for their children, so little safety, even in the best circumstances. Great faith is required to give the child up, trusting God to honor the parents’ love for him by assuring that there will indeed be angels in that wilderness.”
― Marilynne Robinson

Families

“Families will not be broken. Curse and expel them, send their children wandering, drown them in floods and fires, and old women will make songs of all these sorrows and sit on the porch and sing them on mild evenings.”
― Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping

Human Face

“Any human face is a claim on you, because you can't help but understand the singularity of it, the courage and loneliness of it. But this is truest of the face of an infant. I consider that to be one kind of vision, as mystical as any.”
― Marilynne Robinson, Gilead

Rejoice

“Rejoice with those who rejoice." I have found that difficult too often. I was much better at weeping with those who weep.”
― Marilynne Robinson, Gilead

Struggling

“And often enough, when we think we are protecting ourselves, we are struggling against our rescuer.”
― Marilynne Robinson, Gilead

Marilynne Robinson

“In every important way we are such secrets from one another, and I do believe that there is a separate language in each of us, also a separate aesthetics and a separate jurisprudence. Every single one of us is a little civilization built on the ruins of any number of preceding civilizations, but with our own variant notions of what is beautiful and what is acceptable - which, I hasten to add, we generally do not satisfy and by which we struggle to live. We take fortuitous resemblances among us to be actual likeness, because those around us have also fallen heir to the same customs, trade in the same coin, acknowledge, more or less, the same notions of decency and sanity. But all that really just allows us to coexist with the inviolable, intraversable, and utterly vast spaces between us.”
― Marilynne Robinson, Gilead

Estranged

Definition of estranged
: having lost former closeness and affection : in a state of alienation from a previous close or familial relationship

Dream

I dreamed I passed a family on my walk. The children were riding gray Great Danes like horses. I was about to try riding one myself. With the guidance of a tutor I suspended myself in mid air on my back and was told to sit up. I woke up.

Walter Mosley

The most important thing I've found about writing is that it is primarily an unconscious activity. What do I mean by this? I mean that a novel is larger than your head (or conscious mind). The connections, moods, metaphors, and experiences that you call up while writing will come from a place deep inside you. Sometimes you will wonder who wrote those words. Sometimes you will be swept up by a fevered passion relating a convoluted journey through your protagonist's ragged heart. These moments are when you have connected to some deep place within you, a place that harbors the zeal that made you want to write to begin with. The way you get to this unconscious place is by writing every day. Or not even writing. Some days you may be rewriting, rereading, or just sitting there scrolling back and forth through the text. This is enough to bring you back into the dream of your story.
-Walter Mosley

Homeless Children in School

Number of Homeless Children/Youth Enrolled in Public School by Year
National Center for Homeless Education

Martin Luther

“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.”
― Martin Luther

“You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.”
― Martin Luther

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”
― Martin Luther

“We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.”
― Martin Luther

“Whenever the devil harasses you, seek the company of men or drink more, or joke and talk nonsense, or do some other merry thing. Sometimes we must drink more, sport, recreate ourselves, and even sin a little to spite the devil, so that we leave him no place for troubling our consciences with trifles. We are conquered if we try too conscientiously not to sin at all. So when the devil says to you: do not drink, answer him: I will drink, and right freely, just because you tell me not to.”
― Martin Luther

“The dog is the most faithful of animals and would be much esteemed were it not so common. Our Lord God has made His greatest gifts the commonest.”
― Martin Luther

“Everything that is done in this world is done by hope.”
― Martin Luther

“You have as much laughter as you have faith.”
― Martin Luther

“My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.”
― Martin Luther

“I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”
― Martin Luther

Celebrate us in Summer

December Birthdays
Article

William James

"The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook,"

wrote the father of American depth psychology, William James.

read

Calcium Rich Foods

Calcium rich foods that we never think of as having calcium.

Sunflower Seeds
Sweet Potatoes
Carrots
While figs
Green Beans
Broccoli
Oranges
Almonds
Clams
Butternut Squash
Sesame Seeds
Edamame
Broccoli Rabe
Amaranth
Navy Beans
Kelp
Chia Seeds
Kale and Collard greens
Sardines
Tofu

The Helpers

"Always look for the helpers because then you know there's hope."

Article by Martha Manning

Thich Nhat Hanh

The ocean of suffering is immense,
but if you turn around, you can see the land.
- Thich Nhat Hanh

Raul Salinas

I don't know what poetry should do, but I know what it can do. It makes people feel better and it's liberating. Poetry has been used as an empowering tool because of its healing agencies. It liberated me mentally and physically from jail, and it made me feel good about myself. So, that's how I put it out there. I don't know if that's my theory or my prescription, but that’s what I have found.
- Raul Salinas

Dream

Mom, what are you doing? Jen asked.
I'm making a mini pizza to go in a mini pizza box.
Why?
Ella suggested I make smaller meals.
For a mouse?
For me to share with a mouse.

Dream

I dreamed that I told the house painters that I dreamed they painted the trees the same blue as the house and sky. It was a dream within a dream. The painters had set up a party tent in my yard. Can I come? I asked. Sure, they said. I would never have a party normally because I'm an introvert, I said. During the party I hung out with the lady who manages the house painters. She showed me her system for organizing the jobs using a series of small clip boards and index cards. This way we can keep track and stay on top of it, she said.

Roll a Cold Apple

Rolling a large cold Baldwin apple over my forehead to alleviate my sinus pain.
Headaches

Alexia Casale

Be honest with yourself about what you want to achieve, why you want to achieve it and how much it matters to you. Then put in the work necessary to achieve what you really care about achieving.
-Alexia Casale
Interview

JC and Manny: Butcher Brothers

Article

Mr President...

The worse a person is the less he feels it.
Seneca the Younger

Wise Words

If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable.
Seneca the Younger

Generation

The man who thinks only of his own generation is born for few.
Seneca the Younger

Learn

We learn not in the school, but in life.
Seneca the Younger

Be Wary

Be wary of the man who urges an action in which he himself incurs no risk.
Seneca the Younger

Slow, Fast

The path of increase is slow, but the road to ruin is rapid.
Seneca the Younger

Religion

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.
Seneca the Younger

Sturdy

No tree becomes rooted and sturdy unless many a wind assails it. For by its very tossing it tightens its grip and plants its roots more securely; the fragile trees are those that have grown in a sunny valley.
Seneca the Younger

God

God is near you, is with you, is inside you.
Seneca the Younger

People Learn as they Teach

Retire into yourself as much as possible. Associate with people who are likely to improve you. Welcome those whom you are capable of improving. The process is a mutual one. People learn as they teach.
Seneca the Younger

The Present

True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.
Seneca the Younger

Many things...

Many things have fallen only to rise higher.
Seneca the Younger

Time

We all sorely complain of the shortness of time, and yet have much more than we know what to do with. Our lives are either spent in doing nothing at all, or in doing nothing to the purpose, or in doing nothing that we ought to do. We are always complaining that our days are few, and acting as though there would be no end of them.
Seneca the Younger

Dare

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.
Seneca the Younger

Strength

The important thing about a problem is not its solution, but the strength we gain in finding the solution.
Seneca the Younger

Imagination

We suffer more in imagination than in reality.
Seneca the Younger

Behind You

Don't stumble over something behind you.
Seneca the Younger

Seneca

Cling tooth and nail to the following rule: Not to give in to adversity, never to trust prosperity, and always to take full note of fortune's habit of behaving just as she pleases, treating her as if she were actually going to do everything it is in her power to do. Whatever you have been expecting for some time comes as less of a shock.
Seneca the Younger

Beans and Greens Soup

After swimming I walked over to my local butcher shop and bought a smoked ham hock. He cut it into quarters. I am pressure cooking it with a pound of kidney beans, onions, lots of fresh garlic, red wine, Cholula hot sauce, frozen corn, spinach, oregano, bay leaf, Adobo. I took pointers from this recipe but mine is much more of a soup at this point.
Update: Today I bought three bunches of collard greens and chopped them steamed them in the pressure cooker and added them into the soup with more water and chianti Adobo and salt. It was fantastic!

Helen Mirren

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Mirren

Sorcha Cusack

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorcha_Cusack

Judi Dench

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judi_Dench

Intention

“Knowing your intention is key in all things.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into the Office: A Guide to Livelihood for a New Generation

With Care and Consideration

“With care and consideration of your partner, falling in love does not have to be such a roller coaster; we just have to learn to handle our expectations.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into a Bar...: A Guide to Life for a New Generation

A Ball of Yarn

“One way to think of this dignity is to equate when you are on the path with unraveling a ball of yarn. You have wound your sense of self so tightly that it's hard to be anything other than you, a big ball of yarn. That's just who you are, not string, or threads, but a ball of yarn.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into a Bar...: A Guide to Life for a New Generation

Accepting

“I can’t overestimate the importance of accepting ourselves exactly as we are right now, not as we wish we were or think we ought to be.”
― Lodro Rinzler, Walk Like a Buddha: Even if Your Boss Sucks, Your Ex Is Torturing You, and You're Hungover Again

Ever-Changing

“Here’s the messed up thing: most of us take our ever-changing self and partner it to another ever-changing being, entering into an ever-changing romantic relationship, and think that all three of those things are supposed to come together in a way that is permanent and stable. It’s like multiplying impermanence times three and thinking we’re going to find everlasting happiness. In some sense, it’s foolish of us to think that we will go out and meet “the one” and will live happily ever after, based on how much everything morphs over time.”
― Lodro Rinzler, Love Hurts: Buddhist Advice for the Heartbroken

Obstacles

“People deal with all sorts of obstacles at work. There is the fear of failure, plus confrontations with mindless bureaucracy, with other people’s egos, with your own ego, with unethical practices, with incompetence, and a wide variety of issues related to race, gender, and sexual orientation.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into the Office: A Guide to Livelihood for a New Generation

Story Lines

“Many internal story lines are not rooted in our basic sanity or wisdom, but rather in our confusion.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into a Bar . . .: A Guide to Life for a New Generation

Basic Goodness

“The view of basic goodness is that we are already perfect. We are already amazing, just as we are.”
― Lodro Rinzler, Walk Like a Buddha: Even if Your Boss Sucks, Your Ex Is Torturing You, and You're Hungover Again

Hooked by Strong Emotions

“Thus far we have been talking about not getting hooked by strong emotions. The garuda goes beyond that practice, and does not even get hooked by set notions, which in some sense are the wellspring for strong emotions themselves. By training in not solidifying the way you think things ought to be, you are cutting through years of habitual response mechanisms, and beginning to see your discomfort in a more lucid manner.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into a Bar...: A Guide to Life for a New Generation

A Tool

“Meditation is practiced by traditions all over the world. It is not a Buddhist practice per se, or even a religious practice, and has existed for centuries. The only reason you and I ought to practice meditation is because our friend Sid used it as a tool to discover his innate wisdom, and lived happily ever after as a result. We too can touch the wisdom behind our confusion. We too can look at the display on our movie screen, and see it as illusory. ”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into a Bar . . .: A Guide to Life for a New Generation

Loosening up your Expectations

“At the point where you find yourself closing down from communicating openly in a relationship, you have a choice about how you would like to proceed. One way forward is to lay fresh layers of protection around your vulnerable heart. You are dampening the other person’s ability to hurt you, but you are also less able to communicate your own love genuinely. You are essentially preparing yourself for an inevitable breakup.

The alternative is loosening up your expectations and reconnecting with that curiosity you were able to offer at the beginning of the relationship. You commit to exploring where you are stuck, where you have put up that protective shielding, and how you can open yourself more to your partner. This is a way to deepen a relationship, by recommitting to applying gentle curiosity toward learning about your lover.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into a Bar...: A Guide to Life for a New Generation

Present and Aware

“That is the purpose of meditation practice: to become more present and aware of every aspect of our life.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into the Office: A Guide to Livelihood for a New Generation

“The Tibetan word for meditation is gom, which can be more literally translated as “become familiar with.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into the Office: A Guide to Livelihood for a New Generation

Take Care

“There is a fine line between being selfish—when your motivation is to do anything possible to make sure you come out on top—and taking care of yourself so you can be of assistance to others. You have to take care of yourself, or you can’t continue to be helpful to others.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into the Office: A Guide to Livelihood for a New Generation

If You Are...

“If you are constantly solidifying strong opinions and expectations, it is just as if you are sticking an arrow in your eye.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into a Bar . . .: A Guide to Life for a New Generation

The Point of Patience

“Dudjom Rinpoche has said, “The point of patience is to train so that our altruistic attitude is immovable and irrepressible in the face of those who hurt us with their ingratitude and so forth.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into the Office: A Guide to Livelihood for a New Generation

Smile

“If you can smile in the face of uncertainty, you are well trained.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into the Office: A Guide to Livelihood for a New Generation

Being True

“When you devote yourself to being true, you are connecting with the most intimate part of who you are and putting it on display. You are making your basic goodness available to those you work with, and they will likely be inspired to see that. As you exhibit the steadfast presence, the stable power, and the genuine warmth of being true, people will grow to trust and respect you. You will be able to lead with skill, supported by your coworkers and colleagues.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into the Office: A Guide to Livelihood for a New Generation

Open Your Heart

“You may not have spent years meditating or received instruction from all the best teachers in all the various philosophical schools. That does not mean you can’t open your heart to the world and make a difference. You don’t have to wait until you’re enlightened. You don’t have to ask anyone’s permission. You just have to offer yourself, as you are, and allow your vulnerable heart to transform the world.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into a Bar . . .: A Guide to Life for a New Generation

Discipline and Gentleness

“One of the beautiful things about Buddhism is that it does not worship Buddha as a god or deity, but instead celebrates the Buddha as an example of a normal person like you and me who applied a good deal of discipline and gentleness to his meditation practice, and ended up opening his mind and heart in a very big way.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into a Bar . . .: A Guide to Life for a New Generation

Lodro Rinzler

“So much of our pain comes from looking at our life in a “me” versus “the world” mentality.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into a Bar . . .: A Guide to Life for a New Generation

Passion and Commitment

“You let your motivation shine, and other people are attracted to your passion and commitment.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into a Bar . . .: A Guide to Life for a New Generation

Just be There

“Patience from a Buddhist perspective is not a "wait and see" attitude, but rather one of "just be there"... Patience can also be based on not expecting anything.Think of patience as an act of being open to whatever comes your way. When you begin to solidify expectations, you get frustrated because they are not met in the way you had hoped... With no set idea of how something is supposed to be, it is hard to get stuck on things not happening in the time frame you desired. Instead, you are just being there, open to the possibilities of your life.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into a Bar...: A Guide to Life for a New Generation

Possibility

“Very few of them had it all figured out, which is a scary state, yet full of possibility.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into the Office: A Guide to Livelihood for a New Generation

In Common

“The interesting thing all of these people had in common is that they didn’t let their job define who they are. The idea they had stumbled onto is that in searching for happiness, it was not so much a question of what they did as why they did it.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into the Office: A Guide to Livelihood for a New Generation

Book Excerpt

Book Excerpt: THE BUDDHA WALKS INTO THE OFFICE
Lodro Rinzler

Practice Benevolence

“When you feel you want to lean into aggression, I recommend you practice benevolence through being just as kind as you would want to be irate.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into the Office: A Guide to Livelihood for a New Generation

If You Want World Peace

“But if you want world peace, you need to overcome your internal warfare before looking to love yourself and others.”
― Lodro Rinzler, Walk Like a Buddha: Even if Your Boss Sucks, Your Ex Is Torturing You, and You're Hungover Again

The Six Ways of Ruling

“The Six Ways of Ruling are about being benevolent, true, genuine, fearless, artful, and rejoicing.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into the Office: A Guide to Livelihood for a New Generation

Genuine

“When you are genuine, you make things easier for others.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into the Office: A Guide to Livelihood for a New Generation

Celebrate

“While it sounds simple enough, many of us don’t take the time to celebrate our lives as fully as we should.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into the Office: A Guide to Livelihood for a New Generation

Simplify

“PREVENTING TOO MANY ACTIVITIES The third quality of being a dharmic person is very interesting: it’s the idea that we don’t need to churn up a lot of things for us to do. We can simplify our lives through our body, speech, and mind.”
― Lodro Rinzler, Sit Like a Buddha: A Pocket Guide to Meditation

Intention

“Knowing your intention is key in all things. If you want to meditate, it’s important to know why you want to meditate.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into the Office: A Guide to Livelihood for a New Generation

Buddhist Tradition

“I have found that this is pretty radical notion for anyone who was raised with a strong Christian background. Within that religious tradition there is an emphasis on original sin, which dictates that we area basically not good at all but must work for our salvation. Within the Buddhist tradition we are saying the opposite: actually you are basically good. You are basically wise. You are basically kind. You just need to discover that truth and develop confidence in it.”
― Lodro Rinzler, Walk Like a Buddha: Even if Your Boss Sucks, Your Ex Is Torturing You, and You're Hungover Again

Trying to Bargain

“The Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche once pointed out, “If you put one hundred percent of your heart into facing yourself, then you connect with this unconditional goodness. Whereas, if you only put fifty percent into the situation, you are trying to bargain with the situation, and nothing very much will happen.”
― Lodro Rinzler, Walk Like a Buddha: Even if Your Boss Sucks, Your Ex Is Torturing You, and You're Hungover Again

Vulnerable Heart

“You may not have spent years meditating or received instruction from all the best teachers in all the various philosophical schools. That does not mean you can’t open your heart to the world and make a difference. You don’t have to wait until you’re enlightened. You don’t have to ask anyone’s permission. You just have to offer yourself, as you are, and allow your vulnerable heart to transform the world.”
― Lodro Rinzler, The Buddha Walks into a Bar . . .: A Guide to Life for a New Generation

The Buddha Walks into the Office

by Lodro Rinzler
Article
5 Buddhist Slogans for the Office

by Lodro Rinzler| June 22, 2018

By practicing the famous mind training slogans, you can bring profound Buddhist wisdom into your day-to-day life. Lodro Rinzler highlights five slogans that are especially helpful at work.

The Buddhist master Atisha (982–1054) is credited with popularizing and systematizing the lojong, or mind training, teachings of Buddhism. Prior to Atisha, these teachings were held closely by the monastic tradition, but he saw how relevant they are to lay practitioners and made them broadly available.

The lojong teachings are part of the Mahayana Buddhist path, one aspect of which is taking others’ success and happiness as a basis for our own joy. There are fifty-nine mind training slogans and I find that five of these are particularly relevant to bringing mindfulness off the meditation cushion and into our place of work.

of the two witnesses hold the principle one
This slogan highlights the notion that at the core of who we are, we are worthy. We are capable. As a result of developing confidence in our own basic goodness, we have deep trust in ourselves. When tricky situations arise (and in my experience, they often do), there can be multiple points of view as to what has happened or what should happen.

This is what Atisha means when he points out that there are two witnesses—there is other people’s view of you and your actions and your own view of yourself. Of those two points of view, the principal one is your own insight.

Meditation practice is a practice in getting to know yourself very well. No one has spent more time with you than you. You are your own best adviser. Because you know yourself well, you ought to respect your own insight and listen to it. Trust your intuition, and lead from that perspective.

Don't ponder others
When we obsess over other people’s actions or affairs, we are not bettering anyone. The late Traleg Rinpoche commented on this slogan in his book The Practice of Lojong, saying, “When we think about others, we usually concentrate on their problems and defects.” That is clearly a waste of time, and any satisfaction we may gain from dwelling on other people’s faults is temporary and can leave a sour taste in our mouth.

This means that you should not take delight in other people’s misfortunes or waste your time fantasizing about what may or may not be happening with them. Obsessing over other people’s business perpetuates inner gossip, ruining your mindfulness. From the perspective of mindful speech, one could argue that the moment you begin pondering things about others out loud to coworkers, you are beginning to gossip about them. There is being inquisitive, asking why someone did a certain thing or how they are attempting to tackle a project, and then there is pondering their faults aloud.

As always, the difference comes down to what view you hold as you approach the other person. If you can keep a fresh state of mind, then you may be open to what they have to say. If you are coming at this individual with the idea that they are likely in the wrong, then you may already be pondering their affairs in a negative way.

Traleg Rinpoche goes on to say, “Wasting time speculating about other people’s affairs can be toxic and self-destructive.” It does not do you any good to ponder others; it can only create harm for yourself.

Don't bring things to a painful point
This slogan is one of my favorites. How often have you wanted to get in the last word or tried to alleviate your discomfort by forcing an issue beyond what another person felt able to discuss? When we engage in simple acts like this in an attempt to bring ourselves comfort, we are actually doing the opposite: we are bringing things to a painful point.

Another way we bring things to a painful point is by running away from topics that scare us. It could be your finances, the death of a loved one, or just your own insecurity in not knowing what you ought to be doing with your life. When you feel the tug of discomfort, you may want to shut down and not deal with these issues. You might lock yourself up in your room and watch multiple seasons of Game of Thrones, or go out drinking excessively, or spend hours obsessively checking out your favorite websites.

Unfortunately, when we hide from our problems, they tend to get bigger. When you come out of your room or that bar or that discount clothing site, the same issues you may have thought would have gone away are only more in your face. As a result, this avoidance tactic—or any disingenuous effort to shy away from discomfort—is likely to only cause more pain.

Instead of avoiding discomfort, you can lean into your life and tackle difficult topics straightforwardly and mindfully. This is not to say that you should never give space to difficult topics. Sometimes the most skillful thing to do is give a tricky situation a lot of space and let it resolve itself. However, if you find that you are avoiding something, you ought to practice meditation, bring yourself fully into the present, become familiar with your own sense of spaciousness, and act from that point of view. Doing so allows you to avoid bringing things to a painful point.

Don't be swayed by external circumstances
As someone who is trying to bridge the seemingly large gap between the spiritual life and work life, you should practice mindfulness whenever and wherever possible, not just when it feels good. Traleg Rinpoche made the point that if you train to be present and spacious only when things are good, you will feel that way only when things are good. When things are difficult, you will not be able to experience the qualities you are trying to cultivate.

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche has also commented on this slogan, saying, “Although your external circumstances may vary, your practice should not be dependent on that.” So please do not think of your meditation practice as something that happens for a few minutes here and there throughout your day, but as something that you can continuously engage in, especially when times get tough.

Don't expect applause
The reason we try to bring our meditation practice and our livelihood together is not to attain great fame but because it is a way to live our life with meaning. If you go about your work— or your meditation—hoping that someone will say how accomplished you are, you will end up disappointed.

Instead, relax your expectations. If you can do that, then when someone does praise you for your good work, you will likely feel delighted. Pema Chödrön has commented on this slogan, saying, “We can thank others, but we should give up all hope of getting thanked back. Simply keep the door open without expectations.” In other words, just because we shouldn’t expect applause does not mean we should not applaud others. Taking delight in others’ good work is a gift to ourselves, as well as an act of kindness to the object of our admiration.

Similarly, if you engage in your work or your practice with enthusiasm, mindfulness, and spaciousness, not only will you become more efficient, but you will enjoy it much more. That is its own reward.
The path of exploring the dharma is a lifelong one. The idea of determining who you want to be when you grow up is a constantly changing process, as I doubt any of us truly ever feels we have, officially, “grown up.”

We are forever growing, and, as a result, we must continuously return to these fundamental teachings on discovering our evolving intention, deepening trust in our basic goodness, becoming inquisitive about our life and livelihood, and engaging our speech and activity in a spacious and mindful manner. If we train in these basic tasks, we will see success in our work and live a life that is meaningful and in line with who we want to be.

From The Buddha Walks into the Office, by Lodro Rinzler, © 2014 by Lodro Rinzler. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications.

Sleep Wake Mood Cycle

I woke at 3AM told myself 'no way are you getting up, go back to sleep.' It worked! Slept until 7.

Yesterday I climbed into bed at 4-5PM to try to rest in the dark with Romeo pup at my side just to SLOW DOWN MY BRAIN while waiting for Bill to arrive home from school. I'm still running at a higher speed from the big worry. It was good to signal "slow down."

Every day this week felt like a FRIDAY exhaustion-wise. I got some new insights into my mood brain. My joke was next time I am in a deep low like I usually am in November, Bill should pretend he has a back spasm and maybe I would snap out of it like I did. Bad joke but interesting strategy.

Beth Brownsberger Mader

When Routine Goes To The Dogs

One Day...

“One day or day one. You decide.”
-Unknown

Hemingway

You must be prepared to work always without applause.
ERNEST HEMINGWAY

Tobias Wolff

A true piece of #writing is a dangerous thing. It can change your life.
TOBIAS WOLFF

Lorrie Moore

I don’t think of work as evolving. I think of writers as sitting down and starting from scratch every time—at least that is how it is for me.
LORRIE MOORE

John Updike

I try to write in the morning and then into the afternoon.
I’m a later riser … I rush into the office around 9:30 and try to put the creative project first. I have a late lunch, and then the rest of the day somehow gets squandered. There is a great deal of busywork to a writer’s life, as to a professor’s life, a great deal of work that matters only in that, if you don’t do it, your desk becomes very full of papers. So, there is a lot of letter answering and a certain amount of speaking, though I try to keep that at a minimum. But I’ve never been a night writer, unlike some of my colleagues, and I’ve never believed that one should wait until one is inspired because I think that the pleasures of not writing are so great that if you ever start indulging them you will never write again. So, I try to be a regular sort of fellow – much like a dentist drilling his teeth every morning – except Sunday, I don’t work on Sunday, and of course some holidays I take. A solid routine saves you from giving up.
John Updike
source

Yellow Glow Vests

I'd like to see all of our seniors in motorized wheelchairs have highway department glow vests for safety on the road. We've had too many traffic deaths!

City Animal Laws

Here

Back

My husband threw his back out on Saturday morning. After several agonizing spasms and a gentle slow lift to get him off the floor we called our doctor for an emergency visit. We quickly realized this would be impossible since couldn't get him into the car. When we called the doctor back she said "call 911." We were both hesitant to take that approach; firemen, ambulance, stretcher, hospital, oh my. "What about Urgent Care," I suggested. "They are only 4 blocks away." We phoned and they explained that they take Blue Cross and the office was not busy at the moment. Since walking slowly was doable we walked over. The NP saw us right away. She was fantastic and bubbly and after a consultation she sent us home with detailed written instructions. Minutes after we arrived home the CVS robot phoned to say everything was ready. I picked up ibuprophen 800's the muscle relaxer and a box of 4% lidocaine patches. We attached an ice pack on his hip using a woven belt (for 20 minute sessions). Then I went to Stop and Shop using Bill's car for the first time ever and bought the fattest chicken they had 8.7 pounds and I began roasting it. I roasted another pan of onions carrots and potatoes in olive oil at the same time.
Since the chicken would bake for about 3 hours I figured I'd start vacuuming the bedroom and living room and cellar. I needed to use my panic manic energy. The house smelled great.

"I have a problem," my husband said. "I have to poop. I can't sit so I can go from a height and make a splashy mess or I can stand in the shower." We opted for the shower. I laughed uncontrollably and said "It's just like a bear shit in the woods! I clean up the cat box and scoop up after our dog every day. We can do this." I grabbed rags and a plastic bag and blocked my nose. Done!

After an 18 hour day of Bill being unable to sit we slowly and carefully got him lowered into bed and he slept well. The roast chicken scent was so powerful, I kept rolling over thinking, "we're sleeping inside the chicken."
The next day Bill was 50% percent better and with help getting out of bed he was able to sit for the first time in 24 hours. We sat together at the table and ate scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast.

The baked chicken had cooled overnight in the fridge. After we had two sandwiches for lunch I skinned de-boned and chopped all of the meat. I made a chicken salad dressing from mayo, buttermilk, mustard, red-wine vinegar, Adobo, kosher salt, fresh black pepper, 3 white onions minced, 7 ribs of celery chopped. We filled the biggest bowl in the house. It came out great. Buttermilk is a great addition, it adds creaminess and marinates the mixture. We even added Cholula hot sauce on top. It was delicious with home made whole wheat bread toasted and thinly-sliced pickles.

The following day was even more improvement for Bill's back but he was still too fragile to drive to work. "You are as fragile as a case of champagne glasses, not your usual mason jar self," I reminded him.

Every muscle in my body was sore. So I went swimming. I was very chatty at the pool. I was hypomanic from the ordeal. The lifeguard knows me and anyway he used to work on a psych ward at the hospital, he understood and was sympathetic. The water helped center me and it stopped my muscle pain.

We enjoyed chicken salad again for dinner. I fell asleep at 7:30PM.

The next day back to work. Back to center. Back. AMEN.

Kenji C Liu

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever heard?
What I actually think of is a writing prompt I received from the poet Suheir Hammad many years ago. She asked us to write about a traumatic experience, and also to find something in the environment of the memory that was beautiful. For me, I think this has translated into ongoing writing advice—to look for beauty and grace even in the challenging material, whenever possible.

source

Why Sleep is Important

Without sleep, life is tough. Concentration is poor, attention is compromised, and our ability for logical judgment is off. While we are asleep, our body restores depleted energy. Similarly, our brain rejuvenates. Glycogen, a complex sugar and energy reserve, is built up. Our overall metabolism is reduced, allowing for the removal of metabolic by-products from cells. Certain hormones are preferentially released during sleep, especially those that promote growth, repair, and replacement of cellular elements. Growth hormone is released. A healthy immune system appears to be dependent, at least in part, on sleep.

There is incredible science around sleep: its phases, timing, and quality. It is universally accepted that poor sleep is not good—at every level of both physical and mental health.

The first order of business is routine, routine, routine. It is very difficult to sustain a healthy sleep pattern in chaos. Set a schedule and stick to it.
Keep a sleep diary: Every morning, record the approximate number of hours you slept.

Article

John Kaag

Write every day. But you already know that. I guess the one piece of advice that some might miss out on is what I fondly call “creative procrastination.” When you get stuck in one piece, or arrive at a transition that you are having trouble with, find another (perhaps more bite-size) piece of writing that can give you a break from your creative problem-child. Come back to the problem after you have done something productive and let the momentum from the small project carry through the larger one. Just make sure that you come back to the larger one.

John Kaag
Interview

Ta-Nehisi Coates

I always consider the entire process about failure, and I think that's the reason why more people don't write.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Shrinking Hippocampus

An in-depth study about what alcoholism does to the brain found some unarguable proof. Drinking causes people to act differently sometimes. Many people will become more excited and happy. When someone drinks too often, their brain changes and they can exhibit poor judgment and risky behavior as part of signs of alcoholism. This becomes a constant problem in their daily life because the brain has been affected.

Cognitive test scores, and MRI scans within the study revealed that the hippocampus area of the brain shrinks. This is the part of the brain responsible for reasoning and memory.

source

My Tongue

I woke up and decided I wanted black coffee. Last week I wanted was coffee that was 75 percent milk and the week prior I wanted cocoa mocha with whipped cream. My tongue is a mood ring.

The tongue is a muscular organ in the mouth of most vertebrates that manipulates food for mastication, and is used in the act of swallowing. It has importance in the digestive system and is the primary organ of taste in the gustatory system.
Tongue - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Tongue

John von Sothen

Four years ago, Gad Elmaleh, France’s biggest comedian, arrived on US shores with the dream of becoming a stand-up comic in English. The funny part? He actually did it.
In Gad We Trust
Vanity Fair - November 2018

Stories

“I believe that we don't choose our stories," she began, leaning forward. "Our stories choose us." She paused and took a sip of water. Her hand, I noticed was steady.. "And if we don't tell them, then we are somehow diminished.”
― Dani Shapiro, Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life

Dani Shapiro

“Rather than feeling vindicated, I felt guilty. It seemed cruel, and all my fault, somehow. My relationship with my mother had always brought into question any sense I had of myself as a good and decent person. [p. 128]”
― Dani Shapiro, Devotion: A Memoir

Nadine Gordimer

“Nothing factual that I write or say will be as truthful as my fiction.”
― Nadine Gordimer

Towards

“Everyone ends up moving alone towards the self.”
― Nadine Gordimer

The Solitude

“The solitude of writing is also quite frightening. It's quite close to madness, one just disappears for a day and loses touch.”
― Nadine Gordimer, Conversations With Nadine Gordimer

Recognize

“My answer is: Recognize yourself in others”
― Nadine Gordimer

Making Sense

“Writing is making sense of life. You work your whole life and perhaps you've made sense of one small area.”
― Nadine Gordimer

The Facts

“The facts are always less than what really happened.”
― Nadine Gordimer

Currents

“I'm a candle flame that sways in currents of air you can't see. You need to be the one who steadies me to burn.”
― Nadine Gordimer, The House Gun

The Truth

“The truth isn't always beauty, but the hunger for it is.”
― Nadine Gordimer

Nadine Gordimer

“What is the purpose of writing? For me personally, it is really to explain the mystery of life, and the mystery of life includes, of course, the personal, the political, the forces that make us what we are while there's another force from inside battling to make us something else.”
― Nadine Gordimer

Attempt to Grasp

“Your whole life you are really writing one book, which is an attempt to grasp the consciousness of your time and place– a single book written from different stages of your ability.”
― Nadine Gordimer

Responsibility

“Responsibility is what awaits outside the Eden of Creativity”
― Nadine Gordimer

Simon Garfield

In Miniature: How Small Things Illuminate The World

Keep on at it. Really, that’s the best advice: if you want to write, write. Don’t talk about writing, just write it. And then rewrite it.
Simon Garfield
Interview
www.simongarfield.com.

Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O'Keeffe

“I know that western sky. Sometimes when I'm alone painting, a blind lifts and I let my mind drift back. I remember walking out into the red sun in Canyon until the night fell. I'd lie down on the scorched hardness of the desert floor, looking up at the stars raining down like small silver bullets into me.

It was all I wanted then – to feel that roar of the infinite that exists within our finite selves. At times it seemed unbearable – that hunger I felt once – like the edges of my skin could not contain it.

I miss that.”
― Dawn Tripp, Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O'Keeffe

“A life is built of lies and magic, illusions bedded down with dreams. And in the end what haunts us most is the recollection of what we failed to see.”
― Dawn Tripp, Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O'Keeffe

“I dip the very tip of my brush into the blue. I want to taste it. I want the thrill of color moving inside me again. The brush floats near the canvas. Where to start? Where to start? A stroke there, but the moment I’ve made it, it’s wrong.”
― Dawn Tripp, Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O'Keeffe

“I BOUGHT THIS house for the door. The house itself was a ruin, but I had to have that door. Over the years, I’ve painted it many times, all different ways: abstract, representational, blue, black, brown. I’ve painted it in the hot green of summer, in the dead of winter, clouds rushing past it, a lone yellow leaf drifting down. I painted the door open only once. Just before he died. In every picture after, it was closed.”
― Dawn Tripp, Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O'Keeffe

“She was seeing something, though. You can see that in her eyes. They are not empty, not flat at all, but filled.”
― Dawn Tripp, Game of Secrets

“It was all I wanted then—to feel that roar of the infinite that exists within our finite selves.”
― Dawn Tripp, Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O'Keeffe

“art is exactly this: making what’s unseen but all around us, visible. Having that sort of faith.”
― Dawn Tripp, Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O'Keeffe

“He did not give me greatness, but his faith in my early work gave me the space to achieve it.”
― Dawn Tripp, Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O'Keeffe

“You have not been overtaught, and most of what you’ve been taught, you’ve rejected, and so the essence of what you are and how you feel comes through in your best work.”
― Dawn Tripp, Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O'Keeffe

“from that moment on art would become this for me—singular, indissoluble—the one thing that could rein in the chaos and fear to transmute an untenable world to some form of beauty even as that world fell away.”
― Dawn Tripp, Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O'Keeffe

Dawn Tripp

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

Only when I am not writing what I need to write. If I am experiencing writer’s block, it’s because there is something I need to write out of my system – it could be personal or it could relate to a dynamic in the story I’m working on – but whenever I am at odds with the page, there’s a good reason for that, and I need to sit with it and write into it, until my mind clarifies.

What’s your advice to new writers?

Write the thing you have to write, the story you are on fire for, the one that breaks your heart that only you can tell. No matter how many books you've written – each time, the key is to get back to that singular place where it is just you - you, the heartbreak, and the fire - alone in the room.

Dawn Tripp
Interview

Nyla Matuk

What’s your advice to new writers?

I think for poets, it would be to read as much as possible. It sounds very mundane, but one needs to understand, through reading, what is possible, inspirational, or aesthetically pleasing. It’s a great help. And the other piece of advice is to learn not to expect responses or reactions (good or bad) to one’s work. I simply expect indifference as a default. While writing might be about gaining a readership or an audience, on another level it has to be entirely not about those things. My sense is that not many writers cultivate this attitude at first.

Nyla Matuk
Interview

When we Create...

“creativity keeps the world alive, yet, everyday we are asked to be ashamed of honoring it, wanting to live our lives as artists. i’ve carried the shame of being a ‘creative’ since i came to the planet; have been asked to be something different, more, less my whole life. thank spirit, my wisdom is deeper than my shame, and i listened to who i was. i want to say to all the creatives who have been taught to believe who you are is not enough for this world, taught that a life of art will amount to nothing, know that who we are, and what we do is life. when we create, we are creating the world. remember this, and commit.”
― Nayyirah Waheed

What Does Love Look Like?

“she asked ‘you are in love, what does love look like’ to which i replied ‘like everything i’ve ever lost come back to me.”
― Nayyirah Waheed

Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers

Article

Marielle

Tom Hanks Didn’t Want to Be Mr. Rogers. Then He Met Marielle
Article

Nayyirah Waheed Poems

“you
not wanting me
was
the beginning of me
wanting myself
thank you”
― Nayyirah Waheed

“expect sadness
like
you expect rain.
both,
cleanse you.”
― Nayyirah Waheed

“if
the ocean
can calm itself,
so can you.
we
are both
salt water
mixed with
air.”
― Nayyirah Waheed

“i don't pay attention to the
world ending.
it has ended for me
many times
and began again in the morning.”
― Nayyirah Waheed, Salt

“Someone can be madly in love with you and still not be ready. They can love you in a way you have never been loved and still not join you on the bridge. And whatever their reasons you must leave. Because you never ever have to inspire anyone to meet you on the bridge. You never ever have to convince someone to do the work to be ready. There is more extraordinary love, more love that you have never seen, out here in this wide and wild universe. And there is the love that will be ready.”
― Nayyirah Waheed

“remember,
you were a writer
before
you ever
put
pen to paper.
just because you were not writing
externally.
does not mean you were not writing
internally.”
― Nayyirah Waheed

“i love myself.'

the
quietest.
simplest.
most
powerful.
revolution.
ever.”
― Nayyirah Waheed

“i am mine.
before i am ever anyone else's.”
― Nayyirah Waheed, Nejma

“Just because someone desires you, it does not mean that they value you.


Read it over.

Again.

Let those words resonate in your mind.”
― Nayyirah Waheed

“when you meet that person. a person. one of your soulmates. let the connection. relationship. be what it is. it may be five mins. five hours. five days. five months. five years. a lifetime. five lifetimes. let it manifest itself the way it is meant to. it has an organic destiny. this way if it stays or if it leaves, you will be softer. from having been loved this authentically. souls come into. return. open. and sweep through your life for a myriad of reasons. let them be who. and what they are meant.”
― Nayyirah Waheed

“i loved you
because
it was easier
than
loving myself.”
― Nayyirah Waheed

Expressive Writing

Expressive writing for boosting mental health.
Article

Lara Herscovitch

I hope you are doing well and remembering to take good care of yourself. It's not easy out there right now. Know that you are loved and our beloved community needs you. Thank you for the things you do to make our world healthier.
Lara Herscovitch

Nayyirah Waheed

the poem.
the one that is running through your life.
pay attention.
to that poem.
-Nayyirah Waheed

Dani Shapiro

It’s all about courage — which involves feeling the fear and doing it anyway.

What’s your advice to new writers?

Read. Walk. Don’t succumb to impatience. Play the long game.


— Dani Shapiro


interview

Use the Words

“Use the words that live inside your head. And if the words that live inside your head are those of a sentimental Victorian troubadour, then please close your head in a door jamb until you kill all that overwrought prose in an act of brain damage.”
― Chuck Wendig, 250 Things You Should Know About Writing

Stories are Like Wine

“Stories are like wine; they need time. So take the time. This isn’t a hot dog eating contest. You’re not being judged on how much you write but rather, how well you do it. Sure, there’s a balance — you have to be generative, have to be swimming forward lest you sink like a stone and find remora fish mating inside your rectum. But generation and creativity should not come at the cost of quality. Give your stories and your career the time and patience it needs.”
― Chuck Wendig

Head Like a Wrecking Ball

“Gotta have a head like a wrecking ball, a spirit like one of them punching clown dummies that always weeble-wobbles back up to standing. This takes time. Stories need to find the right home, the right audience. Stick with it. Quitting is for sad pandas.”
― Chuck Wendig, 250 Things You Should Know About Writing

Forged

“Writers are made--forged, really, in a kiln of their own madness and insecurities--over the course of many, many moons. The writer you are when you begin is not the same as the writer you become.”
― Chuck Wendig, 250 Things You Should Know About Writing

“If you want to find the way forward, then stop looking for maps and start walking.”
― Chuck Wendig

Chuck Wendig

Don't bludgeon us over the head with description. A line or three about the character is good enough—and it doesn't need to be purely about their physical looks. It can be about movement and body language. It can be about what people think, about what goes on in her head. But throw out a couple-few lines and get out. Dialogue is where a character is revealed. And action. What a character says and does is the sum of her being. It doesn't need to be more than that: a character says shit, then does shit, then says shit about the shit she just did. In there lurks infinite possibilities—a confluence of atoms that reveals who she is.

CHUCK WENDIG

Doris Lessing

The brain works for you even when you are at rest. I find dreams particularly useful. I myself think a great deal before I go to sleep and the details sometimes unfold in the dream.
DORIS LESSING

Jaws of Steel

Romeo got his mouth on something orange and it looked like a lobster tail. He found it in the gutter when we were crossing the street downtown. I was wearing work gloves so I went full tilt and tried to wrestle it out of his jaws. At one point he was sitting and I was holding his head up with this tug of war. I tried four times making quite a scene on the sidewalk wearing my dress and tugging at the 1/2 inch bit sticking out from his front teeth. People were watching. I finally gave up.

Top Ten Stress-Relieving Tips

Improve your quality of life and stress less with these effective ideas.

It's a fact of life: Everyone experiences stress. But when it goes unmanaged, daily stress can harm your health and reduce your quality of life. Fortunately, stress doesn't have to overcome or overwhelm you. Gain control and live better with these stress-reducing suggestions.

Make a list. Write a to-do list, breaking down tasks into smaller steps. Prioritize the items and tackle them one at a time.
Take care of yourself. Get enough sleep and eat a healthy diet. Avoid — or limit — alcohol and caffeine.

Set realistic goals. Don't expect perfection from projects or people — including yourself.
Mind your schedule. Don't take on too many responsibilities or agree to attend too many social events. If you're overwhelmed, eliminate some obligations or share the work.
Talk it out. Call on the support and guidance of good friends and family.
Exercise regularly. Thirty minutes of physical activity a day can help fight stress.
Set aside time every day for stress management. Meditation, deep-breathing exercises, yoga and guided imagery are all good techniques to try.
Have fun. Spend time each day doing a hobby or other activity that you enjoy.
Resolve conflicts. Work toward repairing — or coming to terms with — any broken or difficult relationships.
Visualize success. Imagine how difficult situations might be resolved in a less stressful way.

By managing — and reducing — the stress in your life, you can make better, healthier decisions and improve your overall wellness.
source

Zadie Smith

I love portraits. My house is decorated with lots of faces, all kinds of people. I love people’s faces. Thinking about them. I can get started quite quickly if I have a good face in front of me.
ZADIE SMITH

Imbolo Mbue

When and where do you write?

I write sitting at the dining table in my living room, usually early in the morning or late at night.

Imbolo Mbue

Larry Brown

There's no such thing as a born #writer. It's a skill you've got to learn, just like learning how to be a bricklayer or a carpenter.
LARRY BROWN

Isak Dinesen

All sorrows can be borne, if you put them into a story.
ISAK DINESEN (Karen Blixen)

Mary Karr

Doubt runs through me every day I work, like the subway’s third rail.
MARY KARR

Alice Mattison

Being stuck is good—it means that what needs to be written is intense, maybe painful. Or it’s complicated and requires careful consecutive thought. It’s often possible to get unstuck by asking oneself simple, sensible questions (like, “What do I already know about this story?” or “about the next scene?”). But maybe I’d write better books if I let myself remain stuck longer.

What is your advice to new writers?

KITE is all advice, so it’s hard to choose. Also, not everybody needs the same advice. My guess is that the five things I say to students most frequently are: 1. Never mind whether it’s good. Write it whether it’s good or not. 2. Protect your writing time. 3. Plot is whatever provides forward momentum, and, yes, you can make up a plot. 4. If you say what’s happening, the reader will know how it feels, so you don’t have to say. 5. Write when you’re sleepy and stupid, so your strongest feelings get into the work.

Alice Mattison’s new book is THE KITE AND THE STRING: HOW TO WRITE WITH SPONTANEITY AND CONTROL—AND LIVE TO TELL THE TALE. She is also the author of six novels, four collections of stories, and a book of poems. She teaches fiction in the low-residency MFA program at Bennington College.

Interview here.

Gornick

“You have to learn to write from the very center, and to have the courage to look at that center.”
Vivian Gornick

“If you don't leave home you suffocate, if you go too far you lose oxygen.”
― Vivian Gornick, The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative

“What happened to the writer is not what matters; what matters is the large sense that the writer is able to make of what happened.”
― Vivian Gornick, The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative

“I began to realize what everyone in the world knows and routinely forgets: that to be loved sexually is to be loved not for one's actual self but for one's ability to arouse desire in the other...Only the thoughts in one's mind or intuitions of the spirit can attract permanently...”
― Vivian Gornick, The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir

Vivian Gornick

“There are two categories of friendship: those in which people enliven one another and those in which people must be enlivened to be with one another. In the first category one clears the decks to be together; in the second one looks for an empty space in the schedule.”
― Vivian Gornick, The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir

The GP made me cry with his kindness

In a period of revelation and enlightenment, I joined the gym and upped the aerobic exercise. Over the next few weeks the flushes stopped, my mood lifted, I dropped a couple of pounds and the ‘old me’ gradually came back. Rachel, 59, Kent
Article

Behind the Mask

Those undisclosed selves: They really do long to be seen and heard.

Article

Caffeine and Cortisol

So the best times to drink coffee — or caffeine in general — is between 10 a.m. and noon, and between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Article

Raymond Carver

There are significant moments in everyone's day that can make literature. That's what you ought to write about.
RAYMOND CARVER

Bacon Grease

The lady ran out of the third floor balcony and tossed hot bacon grease out of her cast iron frying pan. A gust of wind came from the west slapping the fat against the house. The stain will be there for a while, possibly years. This is just one of the interesting things the landlord misses because he's never here. Last year a tenant abandoned her children in the 2nd floor apartment. The kids were only 11, 6, and 2. The mother went away and lived with her boyfriend for 12 months. You can imagine how badly this went for the kids left behind unable to speak English. They didn't go to school, or eat nutritious food or know how to bathe or clean or cook. When the oldest tried to make a pot of rice she forgot and it burned. Smoke detectors went off and neighbors rattled the doorknob shouting "are you okay?" They were told never to answer the door. The garbage piled up to the ceiling. Flies, maggots, and no relief from the summer heat; the children never saw the light of day for a year. It's tragic and criminal but I blame the absentee landlord. How can he sleep at night? For him it's only about money and never about people.

Judith Orloff

“Look at your life as your main career and your divine classroom.”
― Judith Orloff

Details

I hear the sounds of the carpenters taking off the Victorian details from the porch across the street. "The happy house is getting wrapped in gray vinyl," I told my husband when he walked in last night. "It's sad and I can't obsess, I must try to remember it the original way."

Mary Gaitskill

“Writing is.... being able to take something whole and fiercely alive that exists inside you in some unknowable combination of thought, feeling, physicality, and spirit, and to then store it like a genie in tense, tiny black symbols on a calm white page. If the wrong reader comes across the words, they will remain just words. But for the right readers, your vision blooms off the page and is absorbed into their minds like smoke, where it will re-form, whole and alive, fully adapted to its new environment.”
― Mary Gaitskill

Dalai Lama

When individuals are too self-centred, they tend to be prone to fear, suspicion, anxiety and anger. Compassion and restraining from harming others, act as an antidote to this. Scientists say that it is basic human nature to be compassionate, because we are social animals.

Joy and happiness are mental events and, according to our day to day experience, mental satisfaction is superior to physical pleasure. We need material development, but it’s a mistake to depend on material things alone to find happiness. We also need to be warm-hearted.

Anger, suspicion and jealousy disturb our minds. The antidote to these emotions is to cultivate patience and tolerance. Who provides us the opportunity to develop it? The one we call our enemy. Therefore, we can see him or her as a teacher.

Tackling destructive emotions and practicing loving-kindness is how we should live in the here and now. I am convinced we can become happier individuals, happier communities and a happier humanity by cultivating a warm heart, allowing our better selves to prevail.

Our modern education systems don't reveal much understanding of how to transform our emotions. To do so, we have to use our intelligence. We need to conduct ourselves with non-violence and on the basis of compassion, cultivate respect for others.

For me the best introduction is the human face. When I see two eyes, one mouth, one nose, I know I’m dealing with another human being like me. I’m like those young children who don’t care about their companions’ background so long as they smile and are willing to play.

Optimism does not mean being blind to the actual reality of a situation. It means maintaining a positive spirit to continue to seek a solution to any given problem. And it means recognizing that any given situation has many different aspects—positive as well as problematic.

In today’s world, despite ample material development, too many lack inner peace. One way to counter anger, jealousy and competitiveness is to cultivate non-violence and compassion towards others.

A fundamentally positive approach is to take account of the oneness of humanity. Dividing the world into 'us' and 'them' might have worked in the past, but it doesn't any more. We have to talk through our problems with our opponents, thinking of them as our fellow human beings.

Every morning when I wake up, I dedicate myself to helping others to find peace of mind. Then, when I meet people, I think of them as long term friends; I don't regard others as strangers.

As human beings we are all the same. We have this marvellous intelligence, which sometimes creates problems for us, but when influenced by warm-heartedness it can be really creative and helpful. This is the context in which having moral principles is of such great value.

-Dalai Lama

Do What you Love

Depression is a thief of joy. It robs us of the activities we love. It tells us that what once gave us pleasure is now pointless. But depression is a liar, too. Article by Julie Fast

Mose Allison

Your Mind is on Vacation

Love of Lentils

Last night I had no plans on what to make for supper but then I remembered that I had lentils. I rinsed them and put them in the crock pot with water and two chicken bullion cubes and started adding things; garlic, onion, celery, carrots, potatoes crushed tomatoes, wine, salt, ginger. In 45 minutes it was a delicious soup and it's even better today.

Bachelors

“I often think about bachelors, a life of pure decision, of thoughtful calculations, of every inclination honored. They go about on their own, nicely accompanied in their singularity by the companion of possibility. For cannot any man, young or old, rich or poor, turn a few corners and bump into marriage?”
― Elizabeth Hardwick

Soothing

It was soothing to nurse a cold with hot tea and a good book of John Cheever short stories from my local library. I've decided that receive-mode at its best is about reading.

Counting the Cats

“One day I was counting the cats and I absent-mindedly counted myself.”
― Bobbie Ann Mason, Shiloh and Other Stories

One Reason

“One reason to fashion a story is to lift a grudge.”
― Bobbie Ann Mason, Clear Springs: A Family Story

Bobbie Ann Mason

I’ve always found it difficult to start with a definite idea, but if I start with a pond that’s being drained because of a diesel fuel leak and a cow named Hortense and some blackbirds flying over and a woman in the distance waving, then I might get somewhere.
BOBBIE ANN MASON

Brautigan

Reduce intellectual and emotional noise until you arrive at the silence of yourself and listen to it.
RICHARD BRAUTIGAN

Elizabeth Hardwick

The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.
ELIZABETH HARDWICK

Julie Fast

You know what it’s like to get out when you feel so down. It’s like walking in mud. I hate it. But, to get better, we must leave our beds and we must leave our rooms. Then we must leave our house and see the WORLD. I don’t care what you do, but if you’re reading this and you have been isolating, it’s time to get out of the mud. Do one thing to remind yourself that being alive is what matters. Get out and look at a tree. Look at a dog or a cat. Find a car you like and touch it. Use the camera on your phone and take pictures to stimulate your creative mind. You, the essence that makes you unique is still in there. Depression is only a mask. It is not who we really are. I am depressed as I write this, but I’m out in public at a book store coffee shop. I looked at books. On my drive here, I saw orange roses next to purple lavender. I forced myself to look up and look out. It is the only way to train my brain when I am this depressed. I promise you one thing, you will NEVER feel worse for getting out in the world. You will feel worse if you stay inside and isolate. That is what depression wants us to do. Don’t listen to depression. It’s a liar.
-Julie Fast article

Rhinorrhea

Your nose is running faster than a waterfall. But what is a runny nose exactly? A runny nose is a nasal discharge of mucus. Your doctor might use the term “rhinorrhea” to diagnose your runny nose. “Rhino” is a Greek prefix meaning, “nose,” and “rrhea” means “flow” or “discharge.” A runny nose is the result of excess nasal mucus production, leading to watery nasal secretions that discharge from the nostrils or drip down into the throat. While a cold or the flu is often the culprit, a runny nose can also be the result of allergies. There are simple steps you can take to feel better fast. Here are some smart ways to stop a runny nose:
Article

Brain Maggots

October November and December are the haunted months but it happens to me in April May and June as well. I call it receive-mode. The internal chatter is so annoying. It's my very own harassment factory. Today I'm calling it brain maggots. The best cure is to use it for what it's good for. Read books, write in notebook, drink hot tea, take long walks and keep swimming. We can't get rid of it we can only find balance... on that seesaw in hell.

A Passion

“I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldn't be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage.”
― Roald Dahl

“The books transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives. She went on olden-day sailing ships with Joseph Conrad. She went to Africa with Ernest Hemingway and to India with Rudyard Kipling. She travelled all over the world while sitting in her little room in an English village.”
― Roald Dahl, Matilda

If a Person...

“If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until you can hardly bear to look at it.

A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts it will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”
― Roald Dahl, The Twits

Watch

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”
― Roald Dahl

Dahl

“A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it”
― Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl

One of the vital things for a writer who’s writing a book, which is a lengthy project and is going to take about a year, is how to keep the momentum going. It is the same with a young person writing an essay. They have got to write four or five or six pages. But when you are writing it for a year, you go away and you have to come back. I never come back to a blank page; I always finish about halfway through. To be confronted with a blank page is not very nice. But Hemingway, a great American writer, taught me the finest trick when you are doing a long book, which is, he simply said in his own words, “When you are going good, stop writing.” And that means that if everything’s going well and you know exactly where the end of the chapter’s going to go and you know just what the people are going to do, you don’t go on writing and writing until you come to the end of it, because when you do, then you say, well, where am I going to go next? And you get up and you walk away and you don’t want to come back because you don’t know where you want to go. But if you stop when you are going good, as Hemingway said…then you know what you are going to say next. You make yourself stop, put your pencil down and everything, and you walk away. And you can’t wait to get back because you know what you want to say next and that’s lovely and you have to try and do that. Every time, every day all the way through the year. If you stop when you are stuck, then you are in trouble!

ROALD DAHL

Voice

Trying to find a voice is, for me, the first step—a little challenge to work at until the story kicks in.
GEORGE SAUNDERS

George Saunders

“Don't be afraid to be confused. Try to remain permanently confused. Anything is possible. Stay open, forever, so open it hurts, and then open up some more, until the day you die, world without end, amen.”
― George Saunders, The Braindead Megaphone

“Do those things that incline you toward the big questions, and avoid the things that would reduce you and make you trivial.”
― George Saunders

“That luminous part of you that exists beyond personality–your soul, if you will–is as bright and shining as any that has ever been....Clear away everything that keeps you separate from this secret luminous place. Believe it exists, come to know it better, nurture it, share its fruits tirelessly.”
― George Saunders

“Fiction is a kind of compassion-generating machine that saves us from sloth. Is life kind or cruel? Yes, Literature answers. Are people good or bad? You bet, says Literature. But unlike other systems of knowing, Literature declines to eradicate one truth in favor of another; rather, it teaches us to abide with the fact that, in their own way, all things are true, and helps us, in the face of this terrifying knowledge, continually push ourselves in the direction of Open the Hell Up.”
― George Saunders

Enid Bagnold

“Who wants to become a writer? And why? ... It's the streaming reason for living. To note, to pin down, to build up, to create, to be astonished at nothing, to cherish the oddities, to let nothing go down the drain, to make something, to make a great flower of life, even if it's a cactus.”
― Enid Bagnold

Fenceness

We joke about fenceness; those bits of fence put up in the corner of a yard to connote a fence. Today we saw a building that had wrought iron balconies, two of them, human-sized, attached to the side of a brick building way up high where you'd expect a window and a door along with them. "They don't even have a floor just the railings making U shapes protruding out from a brick wall. Balconyness!" my husband said and I cried laughing.

Meaty Reading

“Don't be amazed if you see my eyes always wandering. In fact, this is my way of reading, and it is only in this way that reading proves fruitful to me. If a book truly interests me, I cannot follow it for more than a few lines before my mind, having seized on a thought that the text suggests to it, or a feeling, or a question, or an image, goes off on a tangent and springs from thought to thought, from image to image, in an itinerary of reasonings and fantasies that I feel the need to pursue to the end, moving away from the book until I have lost sight of it. The stimulus of reading is indispensable to me, and of meaty reading, even if, of every book, I manage to read no more than a few pages. But those few pages already enclose for me whole universes, which I can never exhaust.”
― Italo Calvino, If on a Winter's Night a Traveler

Cities + Dreams

“Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else.”
― Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities

Clarity

The world is so complicated, tangled, and overloaded that to see into it with any clarity you must prune and prune.
ITALO CALVINO

Richard Rhodes

If you want to write, you can. Fear stops most people from writing, not lack of talent, whatever that is. Who am I? What right have I to speak? Who will listen to me if I do? You’re a human being, with a unique story to tell, and you have every right. If you speak with passion, many of us will listen. We need stories to live, all of us. We live by story. Yours enlarges the circle.

RICHARD RHODES

Ghetto Spaghetti

When I peeked my head out I saw an oily stain on the siding of the house next door. It ran from the neighbor's third floor porch all the way down to their backyard. Perhaps someone was boiling spaghetti on the stove and the sink was loaded with dirty dishes so they ran out to the porch and chucked it over. The wind was blowing and the oily water splattered against the house.

Cold Picnic

On my walk to the pond today I passed a family having a backyard party in the 50 degree weather. They had a table with bowl of potato chips and soda bottles and a cake set up against the shady north side of the yard. There were two dogs and half a dozen adults and a grand-child who was turning five. Blue helium balloons were floating up from the table.

First Energy

I give it the first energy of the day. When I get up, I go to my office and start writing. I'm still in my pajamas. I haven't even brushed my teeth. I just go straight to it. I feel that there's a little package of creative energy that's somehow been nourished by sleep and I don't want to waste that. I'll work for an hour or two until I feel like I've got something going. Then I can get washed and dressed.

SALMAN RUSHDIE

Photographer Philip Perkis

Fifteen Questions for Philip Perkis
philipperkis@earthlink.net

Slovenian Stew

I was cooking black beans and decided to add garlic and olive oil and chicken bullion. I tossed in some frozen corn for color, then I spotted my stash of frozen pork and added the whole thing, and 3 cans of sauerkraut (they needed to be used up). Then I looked online to see if this has been done before and this is what I found.

With confidence I added tomato paste and an onion and a jar of my local lifeguard's homemade mead. I transferred the contents from my crock pot to my big blue iron enamel pot and now I am slow baking it covered at 250 F. I've tasted it several times and it is delicious. I might serve it on rice.

Slovenian Bean and Sauerkraut Hotpot (Jota)

Dream

I was hiking in the woods on a trail and I got lost. A maroon mountain lion appeared. He was solid color right up to the whites of his eyes. I put out my hand and he bit my pinky. While my finger was in his mouth I pet him on the head and thought, I won't look him in the eye, I'll just be kind, and he released my hand.