“Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.” — Albert Einstein From his $5,000 suit to his subtle swagger and Mona Lisa smile, Harvey Specter is the epitome of success. The male protagonist of Amazon Prime’s movie, ‘Suits’, embodies achievement in the most commonly accepted meaning of the word.… Continue Reading
“Experience of life (not of books) is the only capital usable in such a book as you have attempted …” —Mark Twain Inward is not forward; it’s not backward, either. In fact, turning inward is going nowhere. Yet we’re so often told that’s what people do, quite naturally, as they age. Translate ‘naturally’ to mean,… Continue Reading
“The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.”― Émile Zola How frustrating it is to have a question answered with another question. But often the most provocative, insightful, and thoroughly engaging explorations come after just that kind of beginning. This one, what is talent, came from a young composer during… Continue Reading
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” ― Winston S. Churchill How artists motivate themselves has become a favorite topic of mine. I’ve started writing about some of the people who’ve stirred my past, present, and future creativity with a post called Motivation Monday, where I choose one of the writers, artists,… Continue Reading
I now see historical fiction as a far cry from guilty pleasure. It seems to me it’s an imperative for exposing the truth. Sarah Blake, author of one of my favorite reads The Guest Book, put it particularly well in a presentation for PBS Newshour, June 19th- ‘In my humble opinion’. She said: “But what if, this time, we look at the truth in the mirror, and break now from then, making a truer now, one that doesn’t forget the past, but confronts, acknowledges, reconstructs and so, we can hope, repairs?” Continue Reading
Can you remember the last book you read cover to cover? Of course I can! What a ridiculous question. Except In our hectic lives, a lot of us lack the time or patience to finish a book. Well whose fault is that? Why not make the time and work on the patience? And after a long day at work we end up spending [wasting] time on less attention-intensive entertainment [substitute mind candy here], like binge-watching Netflix shows. True, but no one can control that addiction but the person whose appetite is out-of-control. Continue Reading