Courage… Scheduling Improv 21 Jun 2011 Listening to Krista Tippetts' interview with musician Bobby McFerrin, it first surprised me that he ever considered joining a monastic order, and that the main attraction was the silence! He…
Baby Boomers… Beginning Again? 18 Jun 201118 Jun 2011 Does it feel as though you're always starting over? I'm beginning new projects, new rounds of old projects, new teaching quarter. Therefore, clients and students are doing the same; some…
Advertising… Your Brain on Ads 14 Jun 201114 Jun 2011 Take a therapist who trained her daughter to watch media, including ads, with critical attention. Now imagine this daughter, Maya Cueva--already a journalist while still a teenager--not only applying that…
Business… Summer Survival 11 Jun 20119 Jun 2011 Is summer over yet? Oh, yeah, I don't have a break. And my children do! So here's what I want--or rather don't want--for me (and everyone around me) to be…
Collaboration… Friday Flick: Drew in Concert 10 Jun 20113 Jun 2011 Full disclosure: I raised this amazing composer. And I would still love his music even if I hadn't. Drew Nichols is a "third stream" composer, combining classical and jazz, so…
Caring… Dead Grandmothers 9 Jun 20119 Jun 2011 We've been known to joke about it in faculty meetings: how many grandparents some students can lose in a single year. (And yes, we do name names.) Here's one professor's concerns…
Change the World… Friday Flick: Virtual Choir 3 Jun 2011 We're so glad Eric Whitacre did not make it as a pop star. Here's a TED talk on his composing and creating influences: Mozart and a fan on YouTube. It's…
Books… Rhyme Time 2 Jun 20112 Jun 2011 Children's book editors conventionally whine about rhyme. It's so hard to write tight in rhythm and rhyme, they'd rather not brave it. Then they have children of their own, and…
College… College Endeavor 1 Jun 20111 Jun 2011 With the final landing of Endeavor, this shuttle chapter of space exploration will be closing soon. At the moment, I'm closing a college quarter and identifying with NASA. I have…
Academic Writing… My Favorite Kind of Payday 31 May 2011 In my introductory college skills class this quarter, a student told me about repeatedly sabotaging his final Naval promotion because at that level, he'd be required to write reports galore. Writing…
Caring… My Secret Recipe 19 Apr 201122 Apr 2011 Yesterday, I was spinning with so many demands, I had to remind myself to stop and write my Morning Pages. (Thank you, Julia Cameron.) I've learned to think on paper…
Change the World… In Case of Rejection 13 Apr 2011 As poet Wesley McNair braved rejections, his mentor Donald Hall comforted him with these observations: "These feelings simply do not end! Believe me I am sympathetic with your feelings, but…
