A van under the stars
In recent weeks, Squish has taken a strong interest in astronomy. It's a big part of her school curriculum, but not until the second half of the year. We've encouraged her not to restrict her learning to whatever's on the docket, but to chase down anything she's interested in. As
Quote wall: Vivian Gornick
On the bulletin board above my desk, I keep a handful of quotes that have taught me something, or that I hope to learn from. Here's one: Most writers of books have only one story to tell; it is the one wrapped around a piece of emotional wisdom the author
The math of morning routines
Mornings are my favorite part of any day. When a morning goes well—by which I mean, when all of the pieces of my routine click into place—I tend to have a pretty good day. If I miss a step or two, though, it can throw everything off. I
Neither here nor there
To my amazement, waking early, then doing a medium amount of work on Project A, then a small amount of work on Project B, seems to be working. (On weekends I do a large amount of Project A, and stick with small amounts on Project B.) Sea of Tranquility is
Squish at the (home) movies
Recently, for family movie night, the fam selected Dune. None of us had seen it. I did some quick research: Appropriate for a ten-year-old? I mean, she's seen Lord of the Rings, and Jaws, and other such things. I learned that there was one brutal-ish death in the movie, and
Leaving a little want-to
I've just spent the weekend putting miles on my keyboard. My hands don't hurt, but they've gotten clumsy. More and more words came out with transposed letters. My word count plummeted. I developed a headache from all of the screen-staring. There haven't been many happy writing stretches in the last
Quote wall: Natalia Ginzburg
On the bulletin board above my desk, I keep a handful of quotes that have taught me something, or that I hope to learn from. Here's one: When I write something I usually think it is very important and that I am a very fine writer. I think this happens
Got myself a new brain
Every week I write a newsletter. What I write about is usually informed by notes I've kept for myself: Things I've read that interest me, often about artists and process and such. The problem isn't what to write about; it's how to make sense of my notes. I take lots
Quote wall: Austin Kleon
On the bulletin board above my desk, I keep a handful of quotes that have taught me something, or that I hope to learn from. Here's one: What did you really want to say? —Austin KleonI never, never, never have an answer to this when writing a first draft. Somewhere
Quote wall: Colum McCann
On the bulletin board above my desk, I keep a handful of quotes that have taught me something, or that I hope to learn from. Here's one: Open elegantly. Open fiercely. Open delicately. Open with surprise. Open with everything at stake. This, of course, is a bit like being told