Creativity is Child’s Play

by | Dec 14, 2021 | Deep Thoughts, Music, Writing | 0 comments

The Broken Record podcast is a treasure trove for music geeks like me. But even if you’re not music-obsessed, you’ll probably enjoy it. The most recent episode features Amanda Shires, talking about her new Christmas album.

Something Amanda said about the writing process really rang true for me – check out this 45-second clip:

Write a little bit every day.

Read good books and poems to inspire you.

Be open to the muse.

Look for the magic in the mundane.

Stay your spontaneous “silly self.”

Our ability to write, to paint, to sculpt, to act, to dance, to create in all its forms, has been with us since we were kids. As we grow up, most of us bury it, or ignore it, or let it die of neglect. Because we’re scared of what others might think of it… of being judged.

But deep down, you know — and I know — that your “silly self” doesn’t give a damn about what others think. It’s just having fun.

Now get out there and rock on!

The Long and Short of Giving Thanks

by | Nov 25, 2021 | Writing | 0 comments

Good friends and bad (dad) jokes.

Happy times and sad songs.

Real science and science fiction.

Tall tales and short stories.

Cool bands and hot concerts.

Important work and trivial pursuits.

Light beer and… heavy beer.

Other blog writers and my blog readers.

Writing about walking

by | Oct 20, 2021 | Cincinnati, Writing | 0 comments

Geez, it’s mid-October already? I can’t believe more than a month has passed and I’ve yet to encourage you to feast your eyeballs upon the glorious wonderment of my stellar writing in the September issue of Cincinnati Magazine. (Ouch! I just broke my arm trying to pat myself on the back.)

OK, I know I need to pump the brakes on the “glorious” and the “stellar” and any other sort of superlatives. But as a wannabe writer, it’s pretty darn cool to get a byline.

“This is the kind of spontaneous publicity — your name in print — that makes people.”

The assignment (courtesy of my old friend John Fox, the editor of Cincinnati Magazine) was a fun one: walk a new hike/bike path and share some observations and pointers.

My piece was part of their September issue cover package on “Walking” (a timely topic during yet another pandemic wave).

The full article is online here. If you like it, let me know. If you don’t like it… take a hike!

Just another day at the non-office

by | Oct 5, 2021 | Deep Thoughts, Writing | 1 comment

I’ve been working from home (mostly) for the past 18 months. When we first were sent packing by the pandemic, back in March of 2020, I couldn’t wait to get back to the normalcy of an office, and the collegiality of a shared space.

Now I’m a bit more ambivalent. It’s kinda nice to be able to walk 10 steps and take 30 seconds to start another load of laundry. It’s great to be able to start dinner a bit sooner, instead of feeling like I’m participating in a “Chopped” TV show “quick fire” challenge. The hour-plus I used to spend on the bus is an hour I can spend in the comfort of my own home. And now I can listen to music all day without having to wear headphones.

Yes, I miss my work pals. And Zoom is a poor substitute for face-to-face. But the work-from-home genie is out of the bottle, and companies need to realize that, instead of clinging to the old ways.

All their stories are songs… or vice versa

by | Aug 31, 2021 | Music, Writing | 0 comments

My “listening room” is the Little Miami River. I paddle downstream and listen to some new tunes on a $20 waterproof speaker that attaches to my kayak via a suction cup — with a carabiner clip as a backup.

The river is peaceful, and it’s a great place to really focus on the lyrics. This past weekend, I put my ears on a couple of albums that hit the high water mark (see what we did there?) for eloquence and poignance.

James McMurtry’s new release The Horses and the Hounds is brilliant from start to finish. James is the son of novelist Larry McMurtry, and clearly the apple didn’t fall too far from the storytelling tree. Check out “Canola Fields” or “Operation Never Mind” or “Ft. Walton Wake-Up Call” for fine examples of a good yarn.

Next up on my not-so-rockin’ river excursion was Home Video, the third album from 26-year-old singer/songwriter Lucy Dacus. She really knows how to capture a sense of time and place with her attention to detail and her emotionally moving lyrics. Listen to “VBS” or “Thumbs” or “Brando” and try not to get goose bumps.

Yes, sometimes I don’t play any music and enjoy the natural symphony. But when I want to spend some quality time with an album, the river is my favorite spot for streaming (see what we did there?).

Not my river!

Keep reaching for the stars

by | Aug 20, 2021 | Cincinnati, Deep Thoughts, Writing | 2 comments

I grew up in the Space Race era, when going to the moon was cool.

I also grew up listening to American Top 40 every weekend, and Casey Kasem always told me to keep reaching for the stars.

At the risk of turning into “Old Man Yells at Cloud” I’ll say that kids these days don’t seem to have the same fascination with outer space.

Perhaps that’s because the Space Race has turned into a Billionaires Ego Trip.

But the Cincinnati Public Library is trying to get kids’ heads in the clouds again. Check out this excerpt from an article by Emily DeLetter in the Cincinnati Enquirer:

The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County have partnered with Dean Regas, an astronomer with the Cincinnati Observatory, to offer telescopes for free to library patrons. 

The library has five Orion StarBlast 4.5-inch astronomical telescopes available for checkout at branches around the city. Each telescope can be reserved for 21 days, and comes with two eye pieces, an Orion EZ Finder II Reflex Sight, a star chart and two of  Regas’ books—”100 Things to See in the Night Sky” and “Facts from Space!”— to guide viewers through their star-viewing experience.

I think it’s really cool that the library is doing this. Most kids — and adults — spend way too much time with their heads down, staring at their phones. Looking up can reveal whole new worlds – literally and figuratively.

Speaking of telescopes, one plays a prominent role in an excellent short story by John Young, who lives in Cincinnati.

From John Young’s “A Membrook Man”

The story appears in his book Fire in the Field and Other Stories, which is a collection of 16 of his short stories, all of which are thoroughly engaging. Highly recommended – check it out… and maybe check out a telescope while you’re at it.