Collaboration… Composing Language 11 Apr 20119 Apr 2011 Every time I see my composer son, he raves about and demonstrates some new tool in his repertoire: something about counterpoint, some chord he picked up from another composer, some…
Brain… Well Manicured Writing 5 Apr 2011 What is it about a torn fingernail that demands to be torn, bitten, or sanded smooth? Why can't a loose tooth or burned palate be ignored? We seem…
Courage… Friday Flick: “If I Should Have a Daughter” 25 Mar 201125 Mar 2011 Between sharing two of her own polished pieces, poet Sarah Kay shares her own creative emergence and that of her students. She suggests listing ten things you know to be true.…
Animation… Modern Magic 5 Mar 20119 Mar 2011 “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” ~Arthur C. Clarke This weekend, I watched ITT Tech Tempe's graduating design students present capstone projects of architectural plans, or animation, or…
Change the World… You Can’t Want It More than They Do 2 Mar 2011 A dear friend often reminds me: "You can't want it more than they do!" How often have I campaigned for someone's results so relentlessly, I've forgotten whose fight it was.…
Change the World… Not Without Encouragement 24 Feb 201125 Feb 2011 An Egyptian explained why he was helping donate food and medical supplies to protesting Libyans: because people can live without food, without medicine, but not without encouragement.1 Survivors fresh from…
Change the World… Glow in the Dark 21 Feb 201125 Feb 2011 After spending our holiday immersed in a science center, absorbing sights and sounds, marveling at the microscopic and the telescopic, I'm not ready to write. Images and ideas are swirling,…
Emergence… Gratitude List for Hard Times 16 Feb 201117 Feb 2011 The usual, taken-for-granted, like breath, life, food, roof, clothes People whose ordeals seem considerably worse Problems you used to have, which have mercifully passed away Loved ones People you enjoy…
Baby Boomers… How to Stop Time 9 Feb 20119 Feb 2011 A student who's juggling unemployment stress and family crises (while still getting his schoolwork done) asked, "Can you just tell me how to stop time?" The same day, my son…
Advertising… Friday Flick: A Darth Vader Short 4 Feb 20114 Feb 2011 Here's to the power of story! A company couldn't pay me for space on my blog, yet I'll spread this ad for nothing more than the smile it gave me,…
Blogging… Pause at the Threshold to Breathe 25 Jan 2011 You already know that my resolution for 2011 (besides this blogging challenge) is to BREATHE. To welcome support with that, I subscribed to the Chopra Center's 21-day Meditation Challenge. Today…
Change the World… “Divers Patter, Dabblers Explode” 22 Jan 201125 Jan 2011 I love this sign at a preserve: "Divers Patter, Dabblers Explode." These are ducks. The sign explains that Dabblers, such as wigeons, teals, pintails, shovelers, and mallards, have large wings…