Caring… Record of Settlement 4 Jun 20113 Jun 2011 Icelander Baldur Hedinsson can trace his lineage to 1075; that's how complete the Icelandic records are. It's a culture based on reading through the dark winters and they wrote, too. (Oh,…
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…
Baby Boomers… Have you seen this woman? 26 Apr 201126 Apr 2011 Photographer Bruce Davidson took this photo of a teenaged girl holding a kitten 50 years ago. Now as he receives the Outstanding Contribution to Photography award, he would like to…
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.…
Change the World… Tell Your Story, Inspire World Peace 12 Mar 201112 Mar 2011 "Peace comes about when one party recognizes the narrative of an antagonistic party and sees its point. Peace presumes the capacity of one party to enter in some way into…
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…
Brain… Writing into the Darkness 22 Feb 201125 Feb 2011 Author and herb farmer Tom DeBaggio died yesterday. He put us on notice over a decade ago, describing his early onset Alzheimer's as "the closest thing to being eaten alive." …
Blogging… Letting Your Goal Carry You 14 Feb 201113 Feb 2011 There is such joy in keeping a personal commitment. I keep blogging, logging in these little laps around the language. I keep breathing. At the end of our 21 Day…
Blogging… Why Post Daily? 24 Jan 201121 Jan 2011 If you journal only sporadically, or monthly, or weekly, you're tempted to be significant or profound--or silent. I'd been at that for years when I heard a Sunday School teacher…
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…
Academic Writing… “I Have a Dream” for Writers 17 Jan 20119 Feb 2011 Today you'll probably hear the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And it will probably begin, "I have a dream!" I recently shared his entire speech from the March…
Change the World… Paradoxes of Writing 15 Jan 201115 Jan 2011 Novelist Jennifer Hubbard says, "Sometimes the writing desk is a solace, an escape from tedium or pain in daily life. "Sometimes writing is a celebration. Sometimes it's a way to…
