When J.D. Salinger, the reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye, died recently, he left a huge void for many people who were ardent followers of his writing and his myth.
Who Was Your First Valentine?
I love you. I wonder, how many of us say that every day? It’s such a short sentence. Then again, it is perhaps the longest sentence ever written. It’s so easy to say those three words but it is another thing entirely to demonstrate it every day of our lives. I wonder who can? When […]
Arachnids and Winter Phenomena
It’s Spider vs. Human in this epic battle to see who will rule the bedroom. But what is that shiny orb hovering in the sky? And whose side is it on?
Steven Erikson’s Notes on a Crisis Part II: A Stake Driven Deep
In Part II of his Notes on a Crisis, Steven Erikson, best-selling author of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, continues his Mongolian adventure. Nothing like being sicker than a dog miles from anywhere.
Elizabeth Gilbert on Nurturing Creativity: Eat, Pray, Love Author Talks to TED
Believe it or not, Elizabeth Gilbert was a name surprisingly unfamiliar to me. Prior to having seen her inspiring video on creative genius last year, I had only ever heard about this author’s “freakishly” successful non-fiction book Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia. The book was a prominent […]
Limiting Beliefs: A Tale of Mistaken Identity
For most of my life I had been consumed by negative thinking. This was part of who I was … or rather, who I believed myself to be.
The ContainerArt Project: ‘In the Box’ Means ‘Out of the Box’
When we put out the call to action to local artists, we also told them they could leave no visible mark after their installation was removed. No holes, or glue or painting could be done on the actual container. So the whole thing was themed on “No Visible Mark.”
Why I Wear Black: A Love Affair with Dark Fashion
Johnny Cash once sang, “I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down, / Livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town…” I love Johnny Cash, but that’s not why I wear black. I don’t wear black because I’m depressed either. Or to look thin. Or to look mysterious.
Ol’ Blue Eyes: Music of Broken Dreams
I woke up the other day to Frank Sinatra singing “Learning The Blues” on my iPod alarm. In the wrinkle between sleep and waking I remembered the day he died. I got up and wrote it down.
Inspiration Comes from the Darkest Places
It wasn’t all fairytales and magic and happy endings. Here were real people, grownups, using their imaginations to come up with some really horrible stuff. And this was okay. Their books were getting published. I had to try it.