2012

• 2012-11-22

  What has never happened to you?

  Here are some ideas that have been bouncing around in my mind for months. I’ve tried to write them down a few times now, but I keep being held back because the ideas are not fully formed. However, today I correct myself on that point: such thoughts are against my rule on this blog. The… Read more

• 2012-10-29

  Do that to me one more time (more on the reading experience)

  This is going to be one of those rambling blog posts where I start by describing an experience I’ve had which nobody but me could possibly care about, and end by making statements about life, the universe, and everything that … nobody but me could possibly care about. So if you came here while hopping… Read more

• 2012-10-10

  Blog reading made easy and fun

  So we just got back from a family car trip. At a rest stop on the way, I picked up a cute little brochure called “Born To Be Wild: The Guide to Getting Kids Outdoors.” I like to see what people are saying about nature, so I picked one up. The brochure is formatted like… Read more

• 2012-10-01

  What goes around

  Here is a little pestering idea you might want to be pestered by. I started this blog to pass on pestering ideas, so there you go, little idea, move along. When Google first got exciting, it was because it was more accurate than anything else out there. It was more accurate because it relied on… Read more

• 2012-10-01

  Changes passing by

  Here are a few curious things I have been playing with, things you might also find interesting. They are all in the category of change. A change in working and being worked for Seen at our local historical museum: an old-time ribbed-metal and wood washboard with an instruction that reads: Don’t rub too hard! Let… Read more

• 2012-09-01

  Catalysis

  People: I am writing this post wearing my Firefly t-shirt. Meaning: it is a Day of Great and Courageous Challenge. (Yes I am that much of a nerd.) Today, after many months of toil, I finally released a more-complete-yet-still-incomplete version of my monster of a book, Working with Stories. The two catalysis chapters (basic and… Read more

• 2012-07-23

  What makes a good story listener?

  This blog post has been moved to (and revised for) The Working with Stories Miscellany. You can find it as the section called “Finding good story listeners” in Chapter 2, “More on Story Collection.” Read more

• 2012-06-20

  shhhhhh

  Hm. It has been so long since I posted on this blog that Blogger changed the editing screen on me. Tells you something, doesn’t it? I just wanted to update anybody who might be wondering what I’ve been up to. I finished the catalysis chapter! I was all ready to post it about two weeks… Read more

• 2012-04-13

  Lonely for …

  So yesterday I get in the mail the New Yorker and the Atlantic Monthly, and it’s a double dose of loneliness in one day. The Atlantic has an article called “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” while in the New Yorker it’s “The Disconnect.” I read these with interest, partly because I’ve been writing similar things… Read more

• 2012-04-06

  How wisdom happens

  Lately my thoughts keep returning to the topic of wisdom. Why? Because it’s my own particular friend, in a way I will now explain. One spring day when I was about ten years old, my Aunt Honey came to visit. She came into the kitchen carrying a woody shrub covered with tiny yellow flowers and… Read more

• 2012-02-22

  Too hard

  This blog post has been moved to (and revised for) The Working with Stories Miscellany. You can find it in Chapter 13, “Why PNI Is Hard.” Read more

• 2012-01-16

  There goes the hand

  It’s morning, a few months ago, and I’m making coffee. First I set up the coffee mug with its ancient thing-that-holds-the-coffee on top, ready to receive the boiling water. Then I grab the empty electric tea kettle and swing it across the counter to the water faucet to fill it. In the midst of the… Read more

• 2012-01-12

  You stand now at the bottom of this blog.

  As I woke up this morning I realized two things: (a) if I do not feed the blog something soon it will wither away into nothingness, and (b) I have nothing at all to say. This is a desperate situation that calls for desperate measures. Therefore you are about to see me stoop to something… Read more