It was a little after 2pm in the high-ceilinged cafe. A man walked in, black jeans, black work boots, too many top layers for the unseasonably warm day. He favored his right leg, not quite a limp. His Jacket was that neon yellow-green with wide, silvery reflective stripes, the kind you see worn on airport…
THE MESSY SPACE BETWEEN
I’m starting this post far too late in the morning for it to be done (well) by the time I have to go to work. I’m trying to be a bit more zen about this and be self-forgiving for waking up later than I had wanted. My plan was to get up, exercise, have breakfast,…
THE REMINISCENCE BUMP
If we want life to slow down, to make moments memorable and our lives unforgettable, we may want to remember to harness the power of firsts. In our daily routines, it’s also an idea to consider how we can turn the ordinary into something more extraordinary in order to stretch the river of time. It…
WRITING, THINKING, DETAIL
Just as I’m finishing lunch and getting ready to head to the coffee shop with my pen and the little notebook I picked up somewhere in North Carolina (Winston-Salem, I think), a notebook which gets far less use than my laptop… I came across this small gem on Brain Pickings. It’s an short examination of…
HOW TO LIKE IT
It’s been a few days since I’ve written. Travel makes a whole bunch of things inconvenient, breaks routine, introduces new ideas, new scenery, new people. I spent the last few days at the NAMM show out in L.A. It was interesting to be around so many music industry people. There were long lines to meet…
NOT DANCING
He was shmoo-shaped and probably in his late sixties. Round and doughy in the middle. His hair was whitish grey and his not so bushy beard masked a soft but protruding jawline. He had one small hoop earring and wore an olive green tee tucked in to black slacks. His sneakers were heather grey with…
FOR THE SAKE OF HABIT
Rough and tumble storms have been rolling through Memphis this morning. It’s in the mid-sixties, there’s a lot of thunder and lightening. Seems a bit crazy for January. Yesterday I read that an organization in Australia made dire predictions for climate change – basically saying that by 2050, civilization will collapse in to chaos because…
PRACTICE AND THE EVOLUTION OF ART
As part of my “be the person you want to find” self-improvement campaign, I’ve been focusing on my artistic side (mostly writing). I know I’m drawn to artistic types, writers, visual artists, actresses. One woman I’ve been talking to has shared some of her abstract paintings – I like them. Even if it doesn’t go…
GRIEF AND A CELEBRITY SIGHTING (SORTA)
This morning, after my run (yay to me for finding time), I settled in to an article I had set aside to read: The Strangeness of Grief by V. S. Naipaul. I am, at times, obsessed with the subject. It’s not something I’ve ever really experienced, at least not on the level of what I’ve…
A NEW YEAR, A BEGINNER’S SONG
Is it cliche to write exactly what’s expected from a New Year’s post? A reflection on the last year’s good and bad blended with cautious optimism for the year ahead? A list of things I’d like to do better? Lists of things I’d like to stop or start doing? I kinda hate these types of…
CALIFORNIA
Our minds do very strange things to us. Today I was researching a business based in Torrence, CA. I’m the type of guy who also has to pull a place up on a map. I love to understand a bit of geography. I wanted to know where Torrence was. As I zoomed out a bit…
I DON’T NEED ALONE TIME. IS THAT A BAD THING?
Today I’m thinking about a few competing / complimentary ideas. I’m thinking about love as a creative act. I’m thinking about my writing habits and some of the interests I haven’t pursued. I’m thinking about my next relationship. I’m thinking about my social side. The common thread seems to be defining who I am as…