Renaissance of Reading

Best Summer Reads

2025-08-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

The Legend of Jesse Smoke

2017-01-14T18:01:00.001-08:00

When Skip Granger, the assistant coach for the Washington Redskins, first sees Jesse Smoke, she is on the beach in Belize. And she has just thrown a regulation football a mile.

Granger knows that Smoke's talent is unprecedented for a woman, and nearly unparalleled among men. As Granger observes her throughout a season as quarterback for the Washington Divas of the Independent Women's Football League, he decides to sign her to the Redskins, even as he faces losing his job and credibility. As the first woman on a major NFL team, Jesse Smoke's astounding success places her in the tradition of athletes like Jackie Robinson and Joe Louis. Yet Smoke is quickly faced with her own battles, including the clamors of the press, the violence of her teammates, and the institutional resistance that seeks to keep football in the hands of men.

While a female quarterback in the NFL is a fantasy at the moment, Robert Bausch's genius as a writer makes it a highly engaging reality on the page. Fans of football--and readers who were just waiting for a player worth getting excited about--will relish Jesse Smoke's journey to the big leagues.--from the book jacket.

About The Legend of Jesse Smoke:

"Sheds light on some of football’s prickliest issues: gender inequality and the culture of violence. Robert Bausch's energetic new fantasy novel imagines an expanded NFL in the not-so-distant future, a time when Super Bowls are no longer numbered and fan engagement is stronger than ever. . . an elegant, sometimes brilliant, case that football is a 'beautiful game' that 'allows us to act like heroes, even when what we are engaged in isn’t really heroic.'" -The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

"Riveting . . . an entertaining sports narrative bolstered by weightier issues for readers to contemplate." - Publishers Weekly.

Author's Note

Many years ago, when I first started teaching, I would give my students the following riddle:

A father and his son are in a car accident. The father dies instantly, and the son is taken to the nearest hospital. The doctor comes in takes one look at the patient and exclaims “I can’t operate on this boy.”

“Why not?” the nurse asks.

“Because he’s my son,” the doctor responds.

Please explain how this is possible?

Students would discuss all the possibilities, including that the man in the car who was killed was the adoptive father, or the Doctor was the real father and the adoptive father did not know about him and neither did the boy; or that the doctor was the boy’s real father and the man killed in the car had kidnapped him as an infant. They went around and around. Of course it’s an old riddle now, but even now it can still work magic in some populations. I tried it this past spring in an American Literature class and it took them forty-five minutes of discussion before they got it. Years ago, my students never got it. I had to tell them.

Of course the answer to the riddle is simple: the surgeon is the boy’s mother. Easy enough, but it takes so long to get it, even these days. Why? There is something in the human brain that will not see outside the box of certain pre-conceived notions; certain patterns of thought. It is not ignorance; not really related to intelligence either. It’s just that like a sleeper under a blanket, who thinks it’s dark because there is no light, the brain can only see what we have conditioned it to see. The conditioning is a kind of blanket.

Having always been interested in this “condition,” I have often thought I should write a book about some of the great women we have never been taught to know — women who truly changed the world. Clara Shortridge Folz, for instance. No one seems to know that it was her idea to give those people who couldn’t afford it the right to legal counsel. The whole idea of a public defender originated with her. Many know of the case that made it constitutional law — Gideon v Wainright. But that case was a culmination of work begun many years before by Clara Foltz — a single mother with five children who had to take on the entire California legal profession, and persue her own case to the California Supreme Court no less than three times to attend law school, to take the bar exam, and to have the right to practice law in California.

Clara Shortridge Foltz, see, was as important to American Jurisprudence as Clarence Darrow. There is precisely one book about her (A very good book called Woman Lawyer, by Barbara Babcock, Stanford University Press, 2012), and she is included in a few others. Most of us, though, have never heard of her. Women have been making inroads into the professions for a long time. Most of my adult life. And the blanket is starting to be withdrawn. Just this morning I read an article in the Washington Post that claimed “an historic move, two female players signed by minor league baseball team.”

Historic, sure, but it should not be too much of a surprise. Women have been catching up to the men atheletically and then some. In the 1964 Olympics, I read somewhere, women were supposedly “30 years or more behind men” in what they could do atheletically. I presume that meant records they were setting or breaking in the various events. In the last Olympics they were thought to be only about five years behind. I don’t know how accurate these statistics are, but I do know from my own observation that women are becoming far better atheletes than ever before. In Golf, Tennis, Basketball. In Fast pitch softball there are women who I believe could strike out Bryce Harper. This phenomenon has always interested and enthralled me.

All of my life I have been lucky to know really great women. So I wanted to write about one. I thought about starting my book about great women we should all know about, but before I got going on that, I realized I’d rather address the issue in a novel. In fiction. “The truth is better offered in disguise,” as George Garrett once said. So that is how The Legend of Jesse Smoke came into being. I wanted to create a woman who is good enough and strong enough to challenge the very pinnacle of male dominance and strength: Professional football.

What would happen, I wondered, if a woman demonstrated the kind of talent Joe Montana, or Peyton Manning had? what would happen if a woman could throw a football 70 yards in the air, and do it accurately? What if she had a quick release, and could move on her feet in the pocket better than any male ever did? What if she was smart and knew not only how to read a playbook, but how to memorize it? And what if she had the kind of heart most women have — the heart of a champion. How would it play out if a woman like this, a great athlete came upon the scene? I named her Jesse Smoke.

I started looking into the rules and discovered that no rule specifically says a woman cannot play professional football. In fact, the Minnesota Vikings signed a female kicker during training camp one year and brought her in for a try-out. So I know it’s possible.

Then it really got going in my mind. Not just the reactions on the team, or in the league, but this culture. How would a woman who plays in the NFL be received by the national media, by the general public?

Think of it. What would the conservative pundits say about this challenge to a male dominated and aggressive sport such as football? How long would it take for the on-line and social media rumors and lies to arise that would challenge everything reported by the media about this Jesse Smoke? How long would it take for doubt about her authenticity; for attacks on her feminity and her masculinity to dominate the airwaves and social media? What would our reaction to this kind of phenomenon reveal about that blanket I spoke of earlier?

I played a lot of football when I was a young man — mostly sandlot. What I came to see was the “maleness” of the action came in two forms. The first has to do with a kind of artful use of space and time. I played quarterback, and I was slightly built. I could throw accurately, sometimes astonishingly accurate, but not very far — maybe 40 yards. So the game, for me, was about finesse; about balance and grace. It’s the same for many of the so called “skill” players in the game: balance and grace. That kind of game is still integral to football, and beautiful to watch. But the other form is of course brute strength and total physical agression. The “war-like” nature of male dominance: you “beat” an opponent; drive him into the ground with all your might; push him out of the way, enforce your physical will on him. That too, is very much alive in the game. And, in truth, you need both to fully participate in the sport.

It is that second form, however, that “male” strength and dominance that most people see and remember about football. I wanted to create a female character who is artful and has balance and grace, but also one who challenges the traditional attributes of the game, who can stand up in the face of the brute force and aggression.

The one thing I wanted to keep in my mind throughout the writing of this novel was that blanket I mentioned earlier. What would happen if we could lift the thing, let in the light and stop seeing the differences between men and women as embedded in our biology? What if much of what we determine about ourselves is just habit? How much of our interior bias can be removed? What happens to feminity if it is to compete with masculinity? And what do those terms mean anymore?

My novel may not be the answer to those questions, but it was sure a hell of a lot of fun to ask them.

Haiku: White Blossoms

2016-04-09T16:27:00.001-07:00

white blossoms

Spiritual Spring

effervescent pale florets

bountiful hope blooms

by Jennifer Richardson

The Sound of Gravel (Ruth Wariner)

2016-02-14T12:16:00.001-08:00

THE SOUND OF GRAVEL tells the story of my childhood and the dramatic situations and conditions that my siblings and I endured growing up in the polygamous community of Colonia LeBaron. My mother had married my father at the age seventeen. He was forty-two and already had four wives. He was the self-proclaimed prophet of the church I grew up in, The Church of the Firstborn.

My father's brother Ervil LeBaron, the infamous Mormon Manson, had him assassinated in an attempt to gain control of the church when I was just three months old. Three years after he died, my mom remarried another polygamist who eventually had four wives. She had six more children with him. We were raised mostly in rural Mexico, and as the eldest non-handicapped daughter, I was my mom's right-hand. The only thing women were expected to do in LeBaron was bear and raise children.

It wasn't an easy childhood by any stretch of the imagination, but there were many happy moments between my mom, and my siblings, many of whom I'm still very close with today.

For more information on The Sound of Gravel: http://www.ruthwariner.com/

Ten Questions: Colleen Saidman Yee

2016-01-28T20:37:00.000-08:00

Colleen Saidman Yee is the founder of Yoga Shanti in Sag Harbor, New York and New York City. She is also a featured instructor of Gaiam Yoga Online. Mrs. Saidman Yee is internationally renowned for her yoga instruction and a postitive voice in the yoga community. She is the author of the bestseller, Yoga for Life, and a dedicated wife and mother.
Website: http://colleensaidmanyee.com/

Ten Questions:

How would you define the practice of yoga?

The practice of yoga is not really something that you can define. It is different for everyone that steps on the mat, or sits on a cushion. There is a stereotype that yoga means asana. It is much more than just taking shapes with the body. It is using the body as a means to train the mind. Mr. Iyengar says that the way to find the spark of divinity is through the body. There is an intimacy and an understanding of one’s self and one’s actions that leads to greater understanding, connection, and kindness.

What has inspired you to make yoga a central focus of your life?

Yoga is a central focus of my life because it is. I fell in love. I touched, saw, smelled, tasted, and even heard the internal shift that a consistent practice of asana, pranayama, meditation, and study provides. It is a dear friend that I can’t live without.

How can practicing yoga be an antidote to our frenetic, technology driven society?

When you get on the mat. It is you and yourself. Not you and your phone or you and all the other distractions. The noise is a way of avoiding getting to know the true you. Silence can be uneasy in such a frenetic world. We can be addicted to stimulation and drama. Hitting the pause button is like plugging your phone in when the batteries are low. Instead of tuning out with chaos, tune in with love.

Your spouse, Rodney Yee, is also a prominent yogi. How does the practice enhance your relationship?

Rodney and I speak the same language. Yoga is like a child that we both share a love for. We hold mirrors up for each other on a daily basis. It is not always easy, but we hold each other accountable. We help each other keep it real. The yoga practice that we share cuts through the bullshit.

Do you feel that yoga should be taught in schools?

Absolutely, yoga should be taught in schools. It is a tool that should be in every kid’s toolbox. Bullying comes from low self-esteem, and fear. Yoga can help get to know yourself and befriend a body that is changing, and instill confidence.

What are your favorite poses and why?

My favorite poses are plow and seated forward bends. I like to go quiet. These two poses create relaxation and turning inwards. Just like most of us, I am exhausted a lot of the time. Forward bends are a great antidote for stress.

What would you say to someone who says that they are too busy or too old to try yoga?

Are you too busy to feel good? Really? You don’t have 20 minutes a day to spend with yourself. If you aren’t willing to do it for yourself, do it for your loved ones. They will benefit. Anyone can practice yoga. It doesn’t matter how old or even how healthy you are. There are entire practices that can be done in bed.

What would you consider an exceptional day?

A perfect day is not setting an alarm. Waking up, sitting on a blanket facing Rodney for a 20 minute pranayama practice. Then going to the kitchen and drinking tea (coffee for Rodney) for an hour or more while staring out at our beautiful backyard. Sometimes, we are quiet and sometimes we are jabbering. But, it is such precious time. After that, roll out a couple of mats and with no agenda just start rolling around and digging into our bodies and see what kind of practice evolves. Breakfast, long walk, a little shopping, a movie, peanut butter, country or blues music, cuddling, giggling, and sleeping.

Can you share some information on your studios and what a yoga session looks like?

Yoga Shanti is an experience that starts from the moment you walk in the door. You are met with beauty and serenity. Smell is such an important sense, and you are met with a delicious aroma that immediately makes you breathe. You take off your shoes and take in the beauty of the beautiful colors, textures, and light. You are welcomed as if family. The teachers are all absolutely amazing and not is a cookie cutter way. You will feel safe and will leave feeling alert and relaxed. What’s not to love?

Website: http://yogashanti.com/

What are your future projects and dreams for the next year?

This year will consist of showing up and teaching the best damn yoga that I can. I will continue to promote my book, Yoga for Life. I believe that this will be a big year for Urban Zen Integrative Therapists. We are making great headway and a lot of doors are starting to open. The work is so effective and helping so many people. This will take a big chunk of time. We are always filming more content for Gaiam, Gaia, and Oneoeight. I am super excited that Yoga Journal is going to be filming and distributing the practices in the 14 chapters of my book. Yoga. Yoga and more yoga.

Kiss and Tell - Luke Murphy

2015-07-18T16:41:00.000-07:00

My “Baby”

This novel took me 15 years to write. Well, not exactly, but...

Even though Dead Man’s Hand was my first published novel, it’s not the first book I wrote. Kiss & Tell is my “baby.” It’s the first book I ever even attempted to write. I started writing the novel in the winter of 2000, while playing hockey down in Oklahoma.

A lot of circumstances surround this novel, and it’s the reason I started writing in the first place. This novel, and all of my writing, happened by “chance.” I was playing professional hockey in Oklahoma, and was struck in the eye with a stick in a preseason game. That injury ended my season before it began.

My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, was attending a French college in Montreal, and her English professor assigned the class the task of writing a short story.

My girlfriend knew that I was an avid reader, so she asked me if I would help her develop the story, which I did. I had so much fun with the project, that when we had finished, I took one of the characters we had created and started writing my own story.

I wrote Kiss & Tell in six months, but it was nowhere even close to being publishable. Actually, it stunk. It was a practice story for me, so I left it sitting in my computer, and started writing a second book.

After I published Dead Man’s Hand in 2012, I decided to reopen Kiss & Tell and take another look. My first reaction…it was bad, written by a first-time, newbie, amateur author. But I loved the plot, cast of characters, and the potential. I didn’t want to give up on this story.

So I took everything I’d learned about the craft of writing and the industry and put it into editing Kiss & Tell. The revisions completely changed the entire book.

After I’d completed it in 2001, Kiss & Tell was written from the point of view of Jessica Philips, the primary murder suspect in the Ken Anderson investigation, and the story was told from Jessica’s first person POV.

The Kiss & Tell that came out in 2015 is told from Detective Charlene Taylor’s point of view, written in third person. Although the plot never changed, some of the characters and scenes did.

A major scene/twist change that occurred?

In the original Kiss & Tell, the identity of the Celebrity Slayer was never revealed. I was planning on turning this CS plot into a series, extending the investigation through a number of books. But, taking into consideration a suggestion from one of my editors, I decided to change that. However, don’t think I don’t have more plans for the Celebrity Slayer, in upcoming Charlene Taylor books.

But that’s for another time, and another place.

Buy the book here: http://myBook.to/Kiss

Luke’s Bio

Luke Murphy is the International bestselling author of Dead Man’s Hand (Imajin Books, 2012).

Murphy played six years of professional hockey before retiring in 2006. His sports column, “Overtime” (Pontiac Equity), was nominated for the 2007 Best Sports Page in Quebec, and won the award in 2009. He has also worked as a radio journalist (CHIPFM 101.7).

Murphy lives in Shawville, QC with his wife, three daughters and pug. He is a teacher who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing, and a Bachelor of Education (Magna Cum Laude).

Kiss & Tell is Murphy’s second novel. He is represented by The Jennifer Lyons Literary Agency.

For more information on Luke’s books, visit: www.authorlukemurphy.com, ‘like’ his Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/AuthorLukeMurphy and follow on Twitter www.twitter.com/AuthorLMurphy

Dan Llywelyn Hall: Beyond the Red Carpet

2015-04-19T14:13:00.001-07:00

Amongst the throng of cameras and jostling reporters will be a SIGHT SELDOM SEEN in the 68 years of the Cannes Film Festival: an artist working with a pencil, sketchbook, possibly some watercolours and definitely no camera.

A visual artist will be 'Artiste en Residence' for the duration of the festival from 13 - 24th May 2015, with accreditation for the Palais des Festivals.

The painter is 34 year old Dan Llywelyn Hall, who’s based in London. Dan will draw and paint the 'sights and curiosities' in and around the Palais and the town of Cannes. He will be attempting to catch the spirit and character of the most glamorous festival on earth which attracts upwards of a quarter million visitors each year.

The project entitled 'Beyond the Red Carpet' will be updated daily to thewww.dancannes.com website and will be used by magazines and newsagencies to provide a different take on the spectacle of the red carpet and beyond. The collection will then form an exhibition to tour London and Paris this time next year.

Introductory interview with artist

For advance interview requests and proposals for publishing the images during the festival please contact info@danllywelynhall.co.uk

Boyhood (film)

2015-01-16T19:35:00.000-08:00

Time and the ambiguities of life can be exemplary subjects in modern film. In the fictional movie, Boyhood, director Richard Linklater (Before Sunset) has filmed his actors over a twelve year period beginning in 2002. Boyhood follows the life of a young boy, Mason, beautifully portrayed by Ellar Coltrane from six years old to college age. There is an almost documentary feel to the film and audiences may note the simple realism of other notable works (About Schmidt, Election, Garden State). Mason endures changes in the home life of his single mother, Patricia Arquette, as she strives to achieve an education and maintain various love interests. Ethan Hawke vividly portrays his father who also grows monumentally throughout the movie. There is a huge sense of authenticity to the narrative which helps Linklater connect to his audience. The movie is getting exceptional accolades from critics and the Hollywood awards system and I hope everyone will watch this important piece of work. As a mother of a teenage son, the subject matter regarding a boy’s coming of age and the overall changes in life made for an exceptional viewing. In essence, we are all on a beautiful and sometimes messy journey called life.

On another note, the final song in the film, “Hero,” by the Los Angeles band, Family of the Year is one of the most eloquent and lyrical songs that I have heard in years. The guitar themes in Boyhood and this beautifully lyrical song have inspired me to pick up my rusty guitar. Enjoy both of these gifts in an age of international strife and reality television.

Far as the Eye Can See: Robert Bausch

2014-10-30T18:00:00.002-07:00

Esteemed author Robert Bausch has published his eighth novel and it can be ordered via Amazon.com. I am honored to work with this exceptionally talented writer and gifted professor at Northern Virginia Community College in Woodbridge, Virginia.

Author Summary:

Bobby Hale is a Union veteran several times over. After the war, he sets his sights on California, but only makes it to Montana. As he stumbles around the West, from the Wyoming Territory to the Black Hills of the Dakotas, he finds meaning in the people he meets-settlers and native people-and the violent history he both participates in and witnesses. Far as the Eye Can See is the story of life in a place where every minute is an engagement in a kind of war of survival, and how two people-a white man and a mixed-race woman-in the midst of such majesty and violence can manage to find a pathway to their own humanity.

Since 1975, Robert Bausch has been a college professor, teaching creative writing, American literature, world literature, humanities, philosophy, and expository writing. He has taught at the University of Virginia, American University, George Mason University, and Johns Hopkins University. For the balance of his career he has been teaching at Northern Virginia Community College. He has also been a director on the board of the Pen-Faulkner Foundation. In 2009 he was awarded the John Dos Passos Prize in Literature. ( James Gilford)

Works:

On the Way Home, 1982

The Lives of Riley Chance, 1984

Almighty Me!, 1991

The White Rooster and other stories, Gibbs Smith Publisher, 1995

A Hole in the Earth, 2000

The Gypsy Man, 2002, Harcourt,

Out of Season, 2005, In the Fall They Come Back, 2011

The Legend of Jesse Smoke, 2012

Far As the Eye Can See, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2014

Author Website: http://www.robertbausch.org/

Usha Shukla Art

2014-09-07T12:20:00.001-07:00

Title: Preternatural

Medium: Oil on canvas

Size: 11x14

My name is Usha Shukla. I am an artist and live in the San Francisco Bay area with my husband and two boys. Originally born and brought up in the Northern part of India, I moved to the United States 18 years ago. My early education included a graduate degree in Literature and a Diploma in Fashion design. Though always inspired by art from my early childhood, my formal art education started a few years ago at Las Positas College in Livermore, CA where I started taking art classes. Currently, I am enrolled at The Academy of Art University In San Francisco pursuing my Master’s degree in Fine Art with a concentration on painting.

I primarily work in oils but also like to experiment with non-conventional mediums and techniques. My abstract paintings are analogous to my nature hikes and are full of colors and textures found in nature. I always start with a goal in my mind but the best part is that I never know what I will find on the way. I may stumble upon a pleasant surprise of a beautiful bloom or be frustrated by an unpleasant cloud burst or bad weather. I keep working at it and at the end, the emotional roller coaster and the turmoil is all worth it when I see the final painting.

Caroline Leavitt - Is This Tomorrow

2014-08-26T15:38:00.002-07:00

Is This Tomorrow is a New York Times bestselling novel about being different, being an outsider, being an outcast. Set in the Cold-War 1950s, it follows the mysterious vanishing of a young boy in a closed neighborhood, and the fate of the Jewish divorced mother who's somehow suspect.

1. You have successfully written your tenth novel, what keeps your writing fruitful?

I wish I knew the answer to that. I think it is that I'm an obsessive personality. I'm always haunted by one thing or another and I worry about it, and can't let it go unless I somehow figure it out by writing about it. I always think that I am writing about something that has nothing to do with me whatsoever, and then, around the 9th rewrite, I realize it's an issue that has been totally haunting me. Is This Tomorrow was a lot about how I felt growing up as an outcast in a working class town. The book I'm just finishing up now is about a girl I knew casually in high school who was murdered by her older boyfriend.

2. In Is This Tomorrow, why did you choose 1950's Boston as a setting?

I grew up in Waltham, which is right outside of Boston, and like Ava Lark and her son Lewis, my family was the only Jewish family in a working class Christian block. (It was the 60s, not the 50s, but I set it back a decade because the whole Cold War "us against them" mentality was so much more pervasive.) I learned early on that kids were not allowed to play with me because "I killed Christ." In grade school, I was given a test where the questions were things like, "What did Jesus say to Mary at the well? I had no idea, so I wrote, "Do you want a glass of water?" The teacher failed me! But I remember out much I yearned to be a part of something, and how painful that time was for me. I was mocked, ignored, and threatened to be beaten up in high school all the time!

I thought I could make so much more of this by setting Is This Tomorrow in the 50s, because there was such paranoia around anyone who might be different. If you read too much? You were a Communist. Did you use multi-syllabic words? Communist! The suburbs in the 50s were supposed to be safe, so why better place to have a child suddenly vanish?

3. Ava and her son are powerful characters, how much of you is evident in their personalities?

I love Ava. LOVE Ava. I wish she was my neighbor--but the only thing we share is that we both wanted to belong and were both shut out. I am more like Lewis in that I worry about everything; I make lists of things to worry about (really! Isn't that pathetic?) and in school, like Lewis, my teacher yelled at my mother for teaching me to read before everyone else knew how to read. Unlike Lewis, I was not directionless. I knew early on that I was going to fight my way out of that neighborhood and be a writer, no matter what anyone said.

4. Why is it important that Ava is Jewish?

I wanted Ava to be a triple threat. Not only is she divorced at a time when no one got divorced, not even celebrities, but she works. No woman worked unless she was looking for a husband at a job, and to actually like your job or want to try to be something more was suspect. Being Jewish in a Christian neighborhood was even worse. I used a lot of my own upbringing for that!

5. Was the plot inspired by real events?

Only as far as how I felt like an outsider growing up. The rest I totally made up!

6. How did you conduct your research and how long did you do it?

Research was the most fun. I hired two high school research assistants and I had a wonderful librarian I hired, but some of the most interesting things I found were when I just went on FB and asked, "Are there any male nurses from the 1950s? Any cops? Any pie bakers?" I got a huge response and I got to talk on the phone with these fascinating people. The cop was brilliant--he told me that in the 1950s, kids didn't vanish. They ran around to abandoned buildings and into the woods and no one worried. No one locked their doors. When a kid didn't come home, the cops treated it the way they would an adult vanishing--you wait. But with a kid, that's too late! I talked to a male nurse who was fascinating. He told me that not only did doctors smoke in the 50s while they were examining patients, but they also encouraged their patients to smoke, because it would relax them!

I found vintage pamphlets about Communism (How you can tell if your neighbor is a Commie! Does he laugh at jokes you don't quite get? That's because it's in code! He's a Communist!) and about how to survive the nuclear war that they knew was coming. (Wipe your feet before you go inside the house to get off the pesky radiation!)

I also found fabulous vintage cookbooks. In the 50s, you were supposed to boil vegetables for about 45 minutes! And the most popular dish was a meat loaf train! You shaped the meatloaf to look like a train and made windows out of celery and passengers out of peas!

7. Why did you choose this voice to tell your story?

When I write, I like to get inside everyone's head, everyone's point of view. I just want the experience to be raw, intimate and real.

8. What is your writing protocol and process?

I try to write every day, usually about 4-5 hours and then I'm exhausted. Plus I have a son and a husband, and I also teach writing online at Stanford, UCLA, the University of Toronto, and I have private clients (CarolineLeavittConsults.com). And I review for People and the San Francisco Chronicle. I am a big believer in structure, so I always map out my novels before I start to write, which takes me about six months, and then I have a 30 page synopsis, which I continually rewrite and throw out right up to the 9th revision. (And yes, there are always 9 to 20 revisions!)

9. Explain this quote by unknown: "Everyone has a story; telling it well is the key."

I think part of telling a story well has to do with making it alive and intimate, and making the reader feel as if he or she is living that particular story. To do that well, I think you need to know where to start, how to build tension, how to up the stakes, and how to end with what I call the never-ending story--which means that you don't want to tie things up neatly at the end. You want the reader to close the book and still be wondering about the lives of your characters!

10. What are you future projects and current muses?

My new novel, Cruel Beautiful World is due to Algonquin this March, so I am really working to finish. I don't believe in the muse. But I do believe in inspiration and craft. I always mention John Irving because he writes what I consider moral fiction--he isn't just telling a wonderful story about wonderful characters, he's making points about how to live better or differently in the world, or simply, how to deal with a crazy world.

Next up, I'm starting a new novel. It's too new to say anything about it without it sounding silly and ridiculous. I have to clasp it to my heart and hope for the best!

Caroline Leavitt is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Is This Tomorrow, plus ten other novels. Pictures of You was on the Best of 2011 Lists from the San Francisco Chronicle, the Providence Journal, Bookmarks Magazine and was one of the Top Five Books on the Family and Love from Kirkus Reviews. She is a book critic for People Magazine and the Boston Globe. She teaches novel writing at UCLA Writer's Program online and mentors writers privately. She lives with her husband, the writer Jeff Tamarkin, and their son Max, in Hoboken, NJ. She can be reached at www.carolineleavitt.com.

Art & Poetry

2014-08-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

Image: "The Ghosts of Under Milk Wood"

Dan Llywelyn Hall, Artist

Dancing With Sylvia

Your words sink to the asphalt,

evaporate.

And would they ever,

the things you say,

Harden and congeal?

In promises?

In secret pacts?

Surely, such abstract signs and sounds

Leave your tongue bereft of meaning

puddled lamplit

hush of your intention—shadows, shadows.

I could tell you,

Their flesh bears no substance.

Dark curves of letter, the lengthening vowel

haunting constant,

dark shadow on canvas.

The stars

Have such a gap to fill.

Such emptiness, blackness.

Would that your meanings erupt

Wet and molten

dorsal bone

Jutting, broken

Breaking through the scaly skin of language—

Fire-crested.

Woe to me,

who am instead

witness to

These dead, these sacrificed

Rising up like bile, like black tidewater.

Elizabeth Johnston

About the Poet:

Elizabeth Johnston teaches writing, literature, and gender studies at Monroe Community College in Rochester, NY. Her scholarly work centers on representations of female sexuality in literature, television, and film and has been published in a number of academic journals and edited collections, most recently in Disjointed Perspectives on Motherhood (Lexington Books, 2013). Slated for publication are three additional essays in Mythology and Modern Women Poets: Analysis, Reflection & Teaching (MacFarland, 2014), The Eternal Internal Gender Wars of Our Sisters (KH Publishing, 2014), and SLI: Studies in the Literary Imagination 47.2 (Spring 2015). Likewise, her fascination with representations of gender infuses her creative work; since 2011, her poetry has appeared in a variety of print and online journals and edited collections, most recently New Verse News (April 2014) and Mom Egg Review (April 2014). New poems written by Elizabeth will be featured in forthcoming issues of NonBinary Review, The Luminary, and Rose Red Review, and in the print anthology, Veils, Halos, and Shackles: An Anthology of International Poetry (Eds. Charles Fishman and Smita Sahay). She is a founding member of the Rochester-based writer’s group, Straw Mat and facilitates writing workshops at the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester. She lives in North Chili, on the west side of Rochester, with her partner, Brian, two daughters, Ava and Christina, and a menagerie of animals.

Website: http://strawmatwriters.weebly.com/elizabeth-johnston.html

About the Artist:

'Deaths and Entrances' An exhibition of paintings and prints by Dan Llywelyn Hall

6th - 13th September 2014
Coningsby Gallery
30 Tottenham Street
London, W1T 4RJ
Open 9am - 6.00pm daily
Free entry
The Dylan Thomas centenary exhibition of paintings and prints inspired by the writer's poetry and short stories.

Website: http://deathandentrances.com/shop.htm

Confessions of an Anti-Helicopter Parent

2014-06-03T06:27:00.001-07:00

It's an honor this week to introduce a guest post by my old friend, Carol Ciliberti. This wise lady shares her Carol ideology on her own amazing blog: http://maximusred.wordpress.com/ Thank you, Carol, for offering your perspectives on parenting to the blog.

Confessions of an Anti-Helicopter Parent

As you can guess by the title, I am not a helicopter parent. I do not hover. Even though society says I should.

I was born into a large Irish-Italian family, the 5^th of 6 kids. My parents were born at the tail end of the Greatest Generation, during the Depression and instilled a strong work ethic. It was not an easy life. My siblings span through the Baby Boom into Generation X (I’m an X-er). The socio-cultural impact of when each of us were born, combined with the influence of our own parent’s authoritarian style of childrearing heavily influenced how each of us parent today.

According to today’s social standards, I’m expected to be authoritative in the way I parent my 11 year old son. I’m supposed to run my house as a democracy since the research tells me this is the best way to protect my son from the pitfalls of life; drug and alcohol abuse, depression, anxiety, as well as low self-esteem. My son should feel special because he is Max. He should avoid being held responsible for his own actions because, let’s face it, the world is a scary place. I should shield him from disappointment and heartache. I should agree with him when he tells me that his teacher is mean, his friends are bullies and that life is unfair. I should edit his homework, have a home cooked meal on the table every night and insert myself into all aspects of his life. And I should feel guilty when I fail to do these things. Because, if I fail to follow the rules, I could ruin him for the rest of his life. (I’m here to tell you, that outside of the fact that my son is special because he is Max, I pretty much fail at all of these things).

I am a 43 year old single mother who struggles with this guilt every day. A few weeks ago, early one morning, while sitting alone, a thought popped in my head. “You are a terrible mother”, it screamed at me. It was such a profound moment because it came out of nowhere. Nothing had happened. My ever smiling, ever laughing, straight A, introspective, thoughtful, happy go lucky son was the same child he had always been. And yet, in that moment, I was a failure.

Because I am trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, I quickly went into damage control mode and made a mental list as to why I am not a terrible mother.

Max is one of the happiest people I have ever met.
Max is one of the most sensitive, introspective, thoughtful people I know.
Max is one of the most well adjusted kids I have ever met despite his father and I splitting up 6 years ago, and enduring having to watch me lose both my brother and mother in a 1 ½ year span. Not to mention, he experienced those losses also.
Max excels both socially and academically. His teachers love him and his friends want to be around him.
Max confides in me. He still believes I’m the safe place to fall.
Max puts up with my shit.

So, why given all of this evidence to the contrary, did a voice deep inside of me tell me I am a terrible mother? Outside of the internal psychological processes that go on individually inside all of us, we cannot deny we live in a world that judges every little thing we do when it comes to our children. And that world didn’t exist when we were being raised. The general social attitude towards parenting prior to 1980 was one that placed a certain level of responsibility on the children themselves to make good decisions, be independent, learn that life isn’t fair and that if you want to succeed, you will need to work hard for everything you get. Your parents didn’t show up unannounced at the school to demand to talk to the teacher if you got a bad grade. They asked you what you did to deserve that grade. They didn’t get mad at the coach when you didn’t make the team. They told you there were better kids that tried out. And they loved you anyway. They didn’t call your friend’s parents when you had a fight. They told you to go back out there and work it out. Someone, anyone, tell me…..what is wrong with that?

It’s hard not to be a helicopter parent in a world that tells you that you are failing to protect your child. I see it as quite the opposite. I have learned that the only way to get what you want is through hard work and perseverance. Of course, I have looked to others for support, but at the end of the day, every decision was my own. It was a hard lesson. It still is a hard lesson. But I believe that my anti-hovering position will create a more self-reliant, appreciative human being. It already has. And for that I am thankful.

Guest Post: Fourth Grade

2014-05-21T18:16:00.003-07:00

I am thrilled to introduce a guest post by Britt Lee. An brilliant woman who shares her unique perspectives on life with her blog: http://eastmeetsbreast.wordpress.com/

I was lucky to meet her about 28 years ago at a little spot called Unionville High School.

Fourth Grade

by Britt Lee

It’s possible my kid doesn’t entirely loathe school. It’s the wondering that’s nibbling at my peace and hollowing an area for dread and doubt in my belly. I distract myself with all of reasons he should love school—why isn’t he skipping to the bus stop with his backpack full of right answers? Doesn’t he know that with only a dozen days remaining, he can relax into the final moments of a grade he won’t remember in 30 years time? Is he truly excited about summer fun and different friends, or just anxious to put these last, tortured school days in the rearview? Is it really that bad?

Search me. He can’t seem to put it into words… only teary shoulder shrugs… the kind that let you feel the full weight of your parental shortcomings.

Fourth grade was a bit miserable for me, too. My teacher was weirdly formal and strict and everyone hated him. I was the new kid in school, and because I was very shy and way ahead of the class in writing and math, I was his fast favorite. The New Kid/Teacher’s Pet combo wasn’t ideal for making friends. This was also the year that a handful of girls decided boys weren’t gross and those odd, approximated couplings with them were in fashion. Yuck! Boys were loud and naughty and mean. Boys aimed for your face during dodge ball and called you names they learned from older siblings and threw worms at you. The only boy I was interested in was Ryan, because maybe he’d teach me how to do those cool three-dimensional drawings. But even he was, you know… gross.

I wanted to cry many days in fourth grade. I wasn’t bullied or harmed. I didn’t feel unsafe or unloved. I was just… unhappy. Was it really that bad? Well, if I remember it this clearly 30 years later, maybe so.

I’ve done my parental due diligence, making certain my little guy isn’t being bullied or harmed, and that he feels safe and loved. But even so, sometimes school—like a job or a relationship or the course Life is taking-- is just shitty. It’s difficult enough for grown folk in therapy to construct a thesis about Why Things Suck, and nearly impossible when you’re 10 years old. But how can I convince my child that salad days are ahead?

Search me. Instead I shared my own tales of Fourth Grade Nothingness--that I had the wrong jeans and few friends, how I made that weird teacher start hating me to right my reputation with the class mob, and why dodge ball is evil. I didn’t promise inevitable salad days for my gorgeous, smart little guy. In the moment, I don’t think that helps. For him, fifth grade is one million years away and he’s stuck in a purgatory between bells. I told him that it’s normal for school to be occasionally weird and awful and upsetting and boring because, for me, that’s how it was.

“So it’s… OK? I’m right to not like it?”

“You betcha, kiddo. Totally OK. Some people are jerks, some days just suck, and lacrosse is a huge pain the ass… but don’t use those words, or tell anyone I did.”

And then… the only utterance that could lift the weight of parental shortcomings: a giggle.

Today, my little guy dismounted the bus without any signs of dismay. There’s a new Avengers comic book waiting for him, there’s very little homework, and the only bad news to report was a forgotten jacket. The smell of lilacs is in the air, an always cozy home awaits, and a solemn promise has been issued: fourth grade will end. Maybe in 30 years time he won’t remember fourth grade, but I hope he remembers our shared complaints about it, showing him an alternate approach to the endurance of un-pleasantries that won’t shame him into false enjoyment or gloomy forbearance. No one can stop the clock! And with great luck, there will always be a kindred spirit who wants to commiserate… with a bit of humor and a few whispered, naughty words.

Abstracted Flower by Colleen Gianatiempo

2014-05-16T07:58:00.001-07:00

Abstracted Flower 30"x 30" Colleen Gianatiempo
For Sale

Glitter and Glue: Kelly Corrigan

2014-01-21T19:35:00.001-08:00

In the new memoir, Glitter and Glue, Kelly Corrigan uses her famous wit and candor to explore her relationship with her mother against the backdrop of a stint as a nanny to a motherless family in Australia. Kelly is becoming the resonant voice of Generation X women who grew up in the 1980’s. Her 2009 book, The Middle Place, was a New York Times bestseller and her realistic and authentic first person voice detailed an experience with breast cancer as well as the amazing relationship she shares with her exceptional father, Greenie Corrigan. In Glitter and Glue, she explores a sometimes intense life with her mother, and comes to understand their complicated love as she cares for the Tanner family, who has lost a mother to cancer. After college, Kelly is on a youthful mission to explore the world and create her own insights on life, much to her practical mother’s chagrin. As a caretaker to young Martin and Amelia Tanner and companion to their older half-brother, Evan, Kelly gains some introspection regarding her mother who is the “glue” to Greenie’s glitter. In the vein of Michael Lewis, Corrigan is able to create her own narrative beside another tale of her travels in Australia. The style is conversational, sometimes sarcastic, and beautifully permeated by metaphor that feels authentic to the reader. In difficulties with the willful and grieving young daughter Amelia Tanner, Kelly recalls,“The Guess Jeans Fight of 1984,” which will leave readers who grew up in the 1980’s chuckling. (Excerpt: https://medium.com/thoughts-for-thinking-women/e68bcbef1fc1). There is a rhythm and poignancy to her words and the book is one that will most likely be read in one sitting as it was for me.

Author Ernest Gaines once said that he started writing of his childhood in rural Louisiana because he wished for books about his people. I feel as if Kelly is writing for my people because like me, she was raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia, summered in Avalon (a lovely part of the Jersey shore), and moved 3,000 miles away to the San Francisco Bay area where she became a mother. Not since I was a youngster reading the books of Judy Blume has a writer captured my feelings and thoughts on so many levels. I was so sad to put down this book that I reread The Middle Place which was even better the second time around. As a reviewer, I see a long writing career for Kelly Corrigan and hope her books will be adapted to film. Glitter and Glue is a special book on parenthood, coming of age, love, and loss which is written in a rich and realistic tone. Thank you Kelly for another jewel of a book and I hope you will keep them coming.

Author website: http://www.kellycorrigan.com/

Songwriters on Songwriting: Paul Zollo

2014-01-16T18:10:00.001-08:00

What were some early influences in your life that led you to pursue a career in music?

A great love of music from as early as I can recall. I remember well that there was nothing that moved me and sent me more than music. I had a little record player with a big cylinder in the center that played only singles – 45s. Which sufficed at first? My sister Peggy had a regular little stereo that could play LPs – and I remember lusting after it; the thought of being able to listen to a record anytime at all seemed like heaven to me.

My dad had great folk records I loved, like Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie & The Weavers. And I loved AM radio and my 45s. I remember distinctly the first time The Beatles were on radio, and how different – and amazing – it sounded. It was the sound of their voices in harmony – the quality of those voices – and chromatic chord changes with minor chords like in “I Want To Hold Your Hand”- didn’t know technically at the time what that was, but I knew it was new. Different. And so powerful. The Beatles were a jolt of electricity to my soul.

Nothing meant more to me than music. Early on it was bands like the Stones, Monkees, The Association. I loved Peter, Paul & Mary. And Donovan! First record I ever bought myself was Donovan. And the first big concert I ever saw. My parents took my brother and me – the Auditorium Theater in Chicago. We had to wear jackets and ties! My brother, who is older, was so embarrassed. But I didn’t mind. I got to see Donovan! He was like a god. A young beautiful god.

And Simon & Garfunkel were everything to me. I started playing guitar at 11 and writing songs right away, and very much in the sway of Simon and the Beatles. My first songs were imitations of their songs. Mostly in terms of the music and phrasing – and they were poetic, my songs, but really made little sense. Which is okay. I learned how to rhyme – how to phrase – how to construct a song. Clarity of content came later.

Then the Chicago folk music scene inspired me – which was amazing then in the early 70s. Steve Goodman, John Prine, Bob Gibson, Corky Siegel, Claudia Schmidt. I loved them all and would ask them – backstage, after shows - to listen to my songs. Bob Gibson liked one enough to ask for a tape of it, which thrilled me. And Goodman – he wrote “City of New Orleans” - gave me my first songwriting lesson. He let me play him a song on his big black acoustic. I played a very surreal, abstract song I wrote called “Troubled Winter.” He said it was good, but that he “coulda written that whole song in one line.” Which was brutal but true, and from that day on I started writing good songs. Songs that made sense. Thanks Stevey for that. I have been on that path ever since.

How did you originally come to the vision that became your most celebrated work, Songwriters on Songwriting?

As I kid and after I was always frustrated by interviews with great songwriters – such as Dylan or Simon or McCartney – that asked very few questions about songwriting itself. And very little about music. Most journalists are not musicians, so they cannot speak about the music itself to any extent. But this is the subject about which songwriters know most.

So I came to Hollywood and formed a band called The Ghosters to do my own songs. And started hanging out at the National Academy of Songwriters. In 1987 they made me editor of SongTalk – which was their journal – I took the job with the aim of inviting the world’s great songwriters to talk in depth about the art and craft of songwriting, with keen focus on their body of work. To ask all the questions I always wanted to ask! The people there gave me a great honor, this job, and though they weren’t sure what I would or could do, they let me do it.

I made a big list of people I hoped to get interviews with. From the start, my vision was the one which is constant in the book – that all songwriters are to be included, that all “songwriters are links in a chain,” as Pete Seeger put it – and not to be segregated into genres or generations – although that is how the industry markets music.

So my very first issue of SongTalk reflects my aim – it had an interview with Frank Zappa! And also one with Livingston & Evans, songwriters of “Silver Bells,” “Que Sera” and other standards. That extreme – from “Silver Bells” to “Black Napkins” – that encompasses the whole aim.

Over successive years I was able to land many of the main interviews I had hoped for, and with so many of my personal heroes, including both Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Leonard Cohen, Laura Nyro and Randy Newman. From the start I always envisioned a book of these interviews – and I did the first one with Writer’s Digest books. That one was much smaller – then Da Capo Press in NY agreed to do a revised version – and they have published three beautiful editions of it. I am very grateful to Da Capo, because unlike most other book publishers, they keep a book alive over many years. Because of them, I am presently at work on Volume II, which will be complete in 2014.

Many of the artists that you interviewed in the book are notoriously press shy. How were you able to interview them?

Through many years of persistence – of what I call ‘polite pestering.’ One interview often led to the next. The great Van Dyke Parks, happy with the interview we did, asked if I wanted to talk to his pal Harry. He meant Harry Nilsson! I did. And many noticed previous interviews. My talk with Randy Newman got a lot of attention – as I love Randy dearly and really know his stuff – and he is very brilliant and also hilarious. It took years, but eventually Paul Simon said yes – and we did two long and in-depth interviews. Dylan noticed that one and said yes. He said, “You and Paul Simon talked a lot.” Tom Petty and many others saw my Dylan interview – the only one he ever gave on the art of songwriting – and such an amazing talk we had – he is Bob Dylan after all! – that led to many.

But mostly it took years of persistence – of pleading with their gate-keepers. It’s not easy to get directly to these people – you have to go through their people – and that is an art in itself. It is still my life. I am still trying to get certain interviews, as I compile Vol. II of Songwriters On Songwriting.

Among the many interviews, were there any highlights or surprises for you as a writer?

Of course! Being with Dylan, for me, was like being with Shakespeare. Just so monumental. Dylan saying to me, “The world doesn’t need any new songs.” Pete Seeger singing and playing banjo for me. Laura Nyro sharing SO much love and wisdom after years of resisting doing an interview. Harry Nilsson driving around the Hollywood Hills with me playing tapes of him and Lennon working on songs, and tearing up. Randy Newman making jokes just for me – and great jokes! And Randy playing new songs for me – like “Four Eyes” when it was new – thundering on his grand piano. Madonna, in answer to my question about why people don’t know she is a songwriter, saying, “Because they think I am a slut?” Alice Cooper being one of the sweetest and warmest guys I have ever met, and telling me his favorite songwriter was Laura Nyro! Then we both swooned over Laura for awhile. Willie Dixon showing me his BMI print-out of thousands of songs, as thick as a phone book. Frank Zappa inviting me to his home and playing me works in progress on the Synclavier. Sammy Cahn making up rhymes about me (“There’s Paul with his beard, he looks a little weird…”).Paul Simon kindly allowing me to play him some of my songs – and giving me a critique of each. Paul letting me watch his recording session during Rhythm of the Saints with Roy Halee engineering. Drinking coffee out of a glass with Bob Dylan cause Dylan said it’s better out of a glass. Dylan singing part of the song “People,” which Barbra Streisand sang. Watching a Cindy Crawford bikini photo shoot at a hotel pool from a hotel window with all 4 members of R.E.M. Sitting with Leonard Cohen in his home, paging through his notebooks of lyrics. Talking to Pete Seeger about Woody Guthrie, and delighting in this closeness to history. Meeting the mysterious and amazing P.F. Sloan, who had been missing in action for decades. Planting a tree on Vine Street in Hollywood, 1984 with the great Mose Allison (a tree that’s still there!). Talking to Brian Wilson as he lay on the couch like I was his analyst. Playing chess with Gerry Goffin and getting quickly beat! Eating tuna sandwiches and corn chowder with David Byrne at Ben Frank’s diner in Hollywood. Sitting with Leiber & Stoller in their office as they talked about the guy they called “Presley,” and his recording of songs they wrote, like “Hound Dog.”

And so many more.

What were the details regarding your collaboration with Art Garfunkel?

I had the great privilege and joy of interviewing him a few times, and he appreciated my “earnestness,” as he put it, and my deep knowledge of his work, and his contribution. I’ve always considered him one of the greatest harmony singers of our time, up there with McCartney and David Crosby. So I interviewed him first on the phone and the second time in Manhattan. We went out for breakfast, and he invited me to his apartment – back when his son as just a tot. He’s a very sweet guy, Artie, and a poet. And very smart. So I loved talking to him. When I was working on my first solo album, Orange Avenue, I wrote a song based on John Fante’s books called “Being In This World.” It’s very folky, and it was my dream to sing it with Artie. Well, that has been a lifelong dream of mine – to have that voice in harmony with mine on one of my own songs. So I invited him to do it, and he kindly agreed. He was coming out to L.A., so during that trip he came to the studio where we were working, Boulevard Sound, on Hollywood Boulevard, and he sang his parts.

And he was so great. He could have just done a part on the chorus, and that would have been wonderful. But instead he spent several hours learning my phrasing exactly by singing in unison with me, and then composed harmony parts for every verse and chorus. And we doubled each part – and on the bridge I asked him to sing an extra harmony part against just his voice, without mine – which he did – and the effect is so beautiful. It’s a dream come true for me, that song, to hear my voice with Art Garfunkel. I still haven’t gotten over it! I grew up dreaming every day of being in that world – the world behind the microphone! In the mysterious and great recording studio! In the world where Simon and Garfunkel made their magic. So to go there – and to exit that dream with a record of Zollo and Garfunkel together – well, to me, there is nothing more magical.

How do you find inspiration for your music, songwriting, and photography? What keeps your work fresh?

There’s nothing more fun to me that creating some kind of art. Songs are the best of course – but I am seriously enthralled with photography – and taking and making great photographs to me is almost as fulfilling and fun as writing a song. And they feed on each other – taking photos and thinking in terms of visuals – of telling stories with pictures – is a great exercise for a songwriter, as the best songs use imagery and symbology to tell stories. So I am forever taking photos – and working on those photos – which inspires and triggers work on songs. And I also love recording – I do a lot of home recording as well as in the studio, and am finishing up my second solo album now – and that is as creative as writing the songs – in some ways more challenging and even more fulfilling. And I write about music – and work on book projects – and all of it is part of the same hunger to create something new.

But nothing to me is more fun – or more rewarding – than writing songs. Because songs have a special kind of magic. They get inside of people. You can carry them around. And when you work on them, you go into the song – you follow it where it wants to go. You might lead it down certain paths, but it makes the choices. And that process - when it is going well – is enthralling. There’s nothing better.

But it takes a whole lot of focus and energy. So you do need to stop. To take a break. But to keep the motor going, to keep the engine plugged in and charging.

Who are some of your favorite musicians, visual artists, and writers? Past and Present.

Writers: Scott Fitzgerald, John Fante, Jack Kerouac, Dickens, Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Twain, Dylan Thomas. Artists: Jackson Pollack, Robert Frank, Joseph Cornell, Diane Arbus, Edward Hopper, Rauschenberg. Musicians: Coltrane, Gershwin, Van Dyke Parks, Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg, Dylan, Elvis, Laura Nyro, Simon, Beatles, Pete Seeger, The Clash, Stevie Wonder, Mary Lambert, Beatles, Peter, Paul & Mary, The Pretenders.

What advice do you have for people who struggle with songwriting and guitar playing?

Stop struggling. There is much in life with which to struggle. But music – and songwriting – is joyful. If you have a gift to write songs, recognize it is a gift and not a burden. If you subscribe to the myth that life must be in turmoil for you to write songs, get beyond that and learn to write when you are happy. It is a gift and if you can play music you are privileged. Recognize that the writing of a song – regardless if anyone ever hears it even – is a triumph of the human spirit, as Van Dyke Parks said. You are successful if you have written a song already – you don’t need the world to tell you so. When you understand that, you begin to understand that songwriting is not a struggle, it is a privilege. Which is not to say it always is a smooth ride. It isn’t. Like any creative endeavor, sometimes you try and try and get nowhere. But the only person in your way is you. If you want to make art – if you want to write songs – the only way to do it is by doing it.

Even among some fine songwriters I know, I see they do not honor the songwriter in them. They do not allow it to flourish. But that is necessary. You have to recognize that writing songs matters, and then structure your life in a way that enables you to write songs. This means making time. You have to give yourself real time – every day or almost every day – to do is seriously. If you consider it just a lark, something you do once in a rare while, you can remain a hobbyist. But if you want to be a serious songwriter, treat it seriously: allow yourself ample time to do it, and to refine. You need to give yourself challenges sometimes – or assignments if you will – and then carry those out. Decide to write a song about a certain topic – or a certain kind of musical feel – and then go for it. And finish the song. And it is paramount you finish, so that you establish with your own psyche that you are someone who finishes songs! If you keep starting and never finish anything, you have your own pattern in your way. So create a positive pattern. Finish the songs.

I asked Dylan if he finishes songs he doesn’t think will be keepers. He said absolutely. That maybe it’s a song for someone else, if not for you. In fact, it’s usually his simpler songs that have been covered a lot. So that makes sense.

But also it’s important not to really even start thinking if it’s a keeper or not. You need to keep that judgmental voice out of play. As Randy Newman said, “Don’t let the critic become bigger than the creator.” Do not start judging it while you are in the midst of creating it, or you will destroy it. You have to remain open to the joy of the music, of the words, of the play between them. By which I mean have fun! I think songwriting should be fun. It sure is for me.

What is your message for people of all ages to cultivate artistic creativity and imagination in their own lives?

To realize creativity takes all forms – and all humans are creative. Whether it’s painting a picture, or writing a book – or making a garden, or a story for your kids. A whole lot of people acquire stuff every day to make themselves feel better – but you don’t need to go to the mall. You can create something new in your own life. As kids, we’re all creative naturally – but a lot of adults relegate creative play to childhood – the whole realm of imagination – and feel that dwelling in this shared reality is what matters most. But it is healthy and right to play in the imagination. It’s often considered wrong to want to escape reality in any way – but it’s not, God designed us this way with many exit signs! – and our minds are set up that way, to exist on many planes at once – we are in the present, in memory, in ideas, in fantasy, in humor – and we zip through these levels instantly and naturally. As a songwriter, I consciously delve into the unconscious to work on songs. Which I used to think an odd thing to do – to consciously try to reach beyond your own conscious ideas. Yet I realized we do it all the time – we daydream while people are talking to us! That is a natural aspect of being human. And a nourishing one. Much more so than constant and endless passive reception of input – whether it’s TV or some other medium. Which of course, I love and do every day of my life. But it’s a whole other dimension there for us, this endless river of creativity – and available to all humans all the time. Kids know this, but adults forget.

Please tell us about some of your current projects and the organic nature of your best known work: Songwriters on Songwriting?

I have been writing many new songs, both for myself and with my pal and frequent co-writer Darryl Purpose. We have three co-writes on his current album, and are aiming to write all the songs for his new one- and of course I do a lot of these songs myself. We have written quite a range of stuff already – including my first ever Buddhist song – a song about non-violence built around a beautiful Buddha story- it’s called “When Buddha Smiled at the Elephant [With His Heart].”

And I am excited that my first solo album on Trough Records, on which I’ve been working for several years, will be released in early 2014. It’s called Universal Cure – 13 songs I wrote and/or co-wrote – and with a bounty of amazing artists and musicians. The great Terre Roche – of the Roches – honored me greatly by singing on the song “Maggie.” Tomas Ulrich, one of this planet’s most gifted cellists, plays on that song. And I’ve got the Zollo Band throughout – featuring the amazing artistry of my dear friends Earl Grey – who both plays and sings a lot of harmonies on this – Aaron Wolfson, whos electric guitar leads astound me every time I hear them – several legendary drummers including John Molo and Mike Baird. My old pal Bobby Malone – who plays now in John Fogerty’s band – on keys. And much more.

I will do several concert and club tours in 2014 – including playing my hometown of Chicago in March with Darryl – and elsewhere.

I am also working on several book projects. Most prominently is Volume 2 of Songwriters On Songwriting. To answer your organic question. This book has organically expanded many times. Volume 1 was expanded several times, so we are now doing a whole new edition – with about 60 new interviews – including ones with Leiber & Stoller, James Taylor, John Prine, Chrissie Hynde, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Don McLean, Loretta Lynn, Paul McCartney, David Bowie and more. Well, I hope more! I do not like to linger on the names of those great songwriters I have yet to interview, as it is maddening. But there are many. And my life and work will always seem incomplete to me until I do those. Yet I realized – after a few years – its best not to focus on that in public, as it’s negative – and better for people to see what is there than what isn’t. And what is there is substantial! I know that’s obvious, but anyone who does this work gets obsessed with the elusive ones – the missing links in the songwriter’s chain – so easy to go there. But better to celebrate what is there, and the work that is done. Martha Graham spoke about the “divine dissatisfaction” inherent in the soul of all artists. And that I share – and it is helpful and not to rest one one’s laurels (or Hardys, as Tom Waits would say).

But at some point all artists do need to stop, and reflect. And if possible – and it isn’t always easy – to revel in all that is done, and feel a measure of completeness and satisfaction. If only for a moment! Before we get back to work.

I am hoping to finish Angeleno, which is my photo collection of portraits. Plus I am doing a book with Randy Newman, to be called Conversations with Randy Newman. I am thrilled about this; I have tried for years to get Randy to agree to do a book, and he has at last. I have interviewed him many times over the last 25 years, so the book will be rich with his thoughts as they have expanded and evolved. The man is not only a genius – he’s also hilarious, the funniest of any of the famous songwriters I’ve come to know.

Also doing a book with another amazing artist – Dave Stewart – or Captain Dave, as Bob Dylan calls him. He is a creative phenomenon, Dave is – making art in all directions – and totally fearless, as Dylan also noted. We are doing a book called The Ringmaster – which focuses on his songwriting – but branches out to the multitude of art he makes – and more. The man is even starting a bank, the First Artist’s Bank. He has written songs with so many greats – including Dylan and also Mick Jagger, Bono, Sinead, Orianthi, Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty and so many others. He’s one of the most inspirational people I’ve ever met. So I am excited about that as well.

Paul Zollo and Art Garfunkel collaboration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R9la0i7GEk

Ten Questions: Dianna Cohen, Artist

2014-01-05T09:36:00.001-08:00

As an artist what inspired you to use plastics as a medium for your work?

The plastic bag has one of the shortest intended life spans.
And yet, lasts forever.

Having worked with the plastic bag as my primary material for the past twenty years, all of the obvious references to recycling, first-world culture, class, high and low art give way to an almost formal process which reflects the unique flexibility of the medium.

Cut like paper, sewn like fabric, these constructions have been presented as flat art (framed or mounted) with crumpled and shiny surfaces that are dulled by dirt and time: un-useful pieces of their former selves. The work is becoming more sculptural; literally folding off of the wall, hinged by discombobulated handles, the real potential of the medium presents itself to me.

The material’s relationship to marketing and advertisement culture is ever present, unavoidable and inherent in my work. The graphic text on the bags often influences the theme of a piece, but just as often disappears into the background of color, almost becoming subliminal in the work.

The somewhat dirty, hands-on approach involved in working with what has already become trash and the labor involved in the sewing process directly belie the promise and mythology of convenience that the plastic bag represents. In this juxtaposition lives the alchemy of my work, like the alchemy of plastic itself.

How did the Plastic Pollution Coalition come into fruition and what is the mission of the organization?

Plastic Pollution Coalition is a global alliance of individuals, organizations and businesses working together to stop plastic pollution and its toxic impacts on humans, animals and the environment. PPC was founded in 2009.

What is the Pacific Garbage Patch/gyre?

The North Pacific Gyre, the most heavily researched for plastic pollution, spans an area roughly twice the size of the United States (approximately 2000 square miles) – though it is a fluid system, shifting seasonally in size and shape. Designed to last, plastic trash in the gyre will remain for decades or longer, being pushed gently in a slow, clockwise spiral towards the center. Most of the research on plastic trash circulating in oceanic gyres has focused on the North Pacific, but there are 5 major oceanic gyres of the 11 gyres worldwide, which include several smaller gyres in Alaska and Antarctica. Marine researchers don’t yet know the extent to which plastic pollution exists in the world’s oceans.

Source: http://5gyres.org/what_is_the_issue/the_problem/
5gyres.org

From your perspective, will this problem extend to other oceans over time?

Designed to last, plastic trash in the gyre will remain for decades, centuries or longer, being pushed gently in a slow, clockwise spiral towards the center. Yes, this extends to all oceans, and the ocean of the planet in it’s entirety. Plastic particles are being found in the majority of ocean samples.

Another great source of info on the Pacific Garbage patch is:

the movie, Plastic Paradise : http://plasticparadisemovie.com/

and out TEDxGreat Pacific garbage Patch videos:

http://plasticpollutioncoalition.org/learn/tedx-talks-videos/

If a typical family of four consumes cases of plastic water bottles weekly, what are the ramifications on a global scale?

Maybe we think bottled water is cleaner and somehow better, but that's not true. The federal standards for tap water are higher than those for bottled water.

The Environmental Law Foundation has sued eight bottlers for using words such as "pure" to market water that contains bacteria, arsenic and chlorine.

Bottled water costs 240 to 10,000 times more than tap water. For the price of one bottle of Evian, a San Franciscan can receive 1,000 gallons of tap water. Forty percent of bottled water should be labeled bottled tap water because that is exactly what it is.

Simply deciding not to use plastic water bottles in favor of green water bottles can save you thousands of dollars a year.

On a global scale, the ramifications are first and foremost that each family buying plastic bottled water is potentially being dosed with Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDCs) which leach from those bottles into the liquid contained inside. These chemicals have been linked to a wide array of human illnesses including:

Cancer: Breast, Ovarian, Prostate, and Others Reproductive Disorders

Reduced Fertility, Low Sperm Counts, Early Puberty, Menstrual Disorders, Early Menopause

Metabolic Disorders

Diabetes, Obesity

Immune Disorders

Increases in Immune and Autoimmune Diseases

Cardiovascular Disease

Learning Disabilities

The majority of BPA-free water and baby bottles leached estrogenic compounds, raising concerns about BPA-free Plastics*

*Yang CZ, Yaniger SI, Jordan C, Klein DJ, Bittner GD (2011). Most plastic products release estrogenic chemicals: A potential health problem that can be solved. Environmental Health Perspectives. 119(7):989-96

“From the beginning stages of making a plastic bottle, it's costing you money in more ways than one. The process sends pollution to our air and water. While the Earth is made up of about 75% water, it doesn't help us if it's all polluted. The cost to cleanse the water to make it safe to drink is costly, and it can raise your water bills drastically. Once the plastic bottles are made, filled with liquid, and packaged to sell, the damage is done. One small throw-away plastic bottle can take 1000 years to disintegrate. In the meantime they are filling our landfills faster than they decompose. Continued use of plastic water bottles could very well mean a landfill may be in your backyard in the near future. Using green water bottles helps to solve these problems.

Making the change to safe water bottles alone can save you a lot of money. Think about how many times during your workday you go to the vending machine and get a drink. If you consume your beverages out of three plastic bottles per day you are spending $139.50 each month. That's $1674 per year that you could be saving! That's enough money to pay for your next vacation! Consider how many plastic bottles your family goes through each day, and then think about how many families are in this world. That's a lot of plastic and the majority of people don't even recycle.” -http://greenbottleonline.com/articles/green_bottles_save_planet.html

Sources:

http://jeffberndt.hubpages.com/hub/The-True-Cost-of-Bottled-Water

http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/chap2.asp

http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/bwinx.asp

http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/nbw.asp

In your research, is there a direct correlation between plastic use and the increasing prevalence of cancer?

The plasticizers used to make plastics transparent, supple, and malleable are known to be Endocrine disruptors., which have been linked to Alzheimer’s, Autism, Obesity and Diabetes, Lower sexual function, Sterility, Infertility, Breast cancer, Brain cancer, and Prostate cancer. Exposure to these chemicals to babies in utero has been linked to lower IQ, shortened ano-genital distance, feminization of boys, and early menses in girls. (See list above)

What are some ways in which harmful plastic chemicals pass into our bodies and cause illness?

These chemicals leach from plastic packaging and the plastic which we store our food & beverages in, and release harmful chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system.

In your TED talk, you mentioned that “7% of the plastic in America actually gets recycled.” Can you explain this statement?

In the United States, less than seven percent of our plastics are recycled. And if you really look into it, particularly when it comes to plastic bottles, most of it is only down-cycled, or incinerated, or shipped to China. It is down-cycled and turned into lesser things, while a glass bottle can be a glass bottle again or can be used again -- a plastic bottle can never be a plastic bottle again.

Source: http://www.kab.org/site/PageServer?pagename=recycling_facts_and_stats

TED Talks Links
Dianna Cohen: http://www.ted.com/talks/dianna_cohen_tough_truths_about_plastic_pollution.html

Chris Jordan:
http://www.ted.com/talks/chris_jordan_pictures_some_shocking_stats.html

            Charles Moore:
            http://www.ted.com/talks/capt_charles_moore_on_the_seas_of_plastic.html

             Van Jones:
             http://www.ted.com/talks/van_jones_the_economic_injustice_of_plastic.html

If we continue to consume plastic material, what ramifications can be expected for our planet and future generations?

If we continue to consume plastic materials & the toxins which leach from them into our food, bodies and the bodies of fish and animals that we depend upon for protein, the ramifications for our planet and future generations include a diseased, limited, toxic and life-shortening future.

How can we become involved in your project and can you share some important links for educational purposes?

Single-use disposable plastics are the greatest source of plastic pollution on the planet. Resolve to Refuse in 2014.

Disposable plastic items are so common that it’s easy to not notice them, but they’re everywhere– from ubiquitous plastic bottles to plastic straws, lids, bags, cups, utensils, plates and packaging – it surrounds us. See it for what it is—plastic pollution— and just say NO.

Join Plastic Pollution Coalition and resolve to follow the “4 Rs” of sustainable living: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle.

Link to Join: http://plasticpollutioncoalition.org/support/

Link to sign the Refuse pledge: http://plasticpollutioncoalition.org/support/pledge/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/PlasticPollution

Twitter: @plasticpollutes

Join Plastic Free Campuses and reduce the plastic footprint at your school:

http://plasticpollutioncoalition.org/projects/plastic-free-campuses/

Also, what can individuals do to avoid plastic?

Disposable plastic items are so common that it’s easy not to notice them. But disposable plastic is everywhere — the ubiquitous plastic bottles of water or soft drinks; the plastic straws delivered in our drinks; the plastic bags offered to us at stores; the plastic cups, bottles and utensils at nearly every social event; the plastic packaging of nearly everything in the supermarket. Once you see it for what it is — plastic pollution — it’s simple to just REFUSE. Here are some tips on how to reduce your own plastic footprint.

1. Water

Bring a stainless steel water bottle rather than drinking water out of disposable plastic bottles. Purchase a cool water bottle at our online store here or grab one at just about any store. Just make sure it is not aluminum. Don’t have your stainless steel bottle with you? Buy a glass-bottled drink. When you finish that beverage, reuse the bottle.

2. Bring Your Own Bag

Always bring your own bags whenever you shop, not just for the supermarket. By bringing your own bag, you alone can save between 400 and 600 plastic bags per year. There are lots of cool tote bag companies out there. Just a few of the bags we like:

Chico bags – wonderful, small and easy to carry around in lots of colors
Project GreenBag – organic cotton bags, made in San Francisco
Citizenlove - designs by our co-founder Dianna Cohen
Envirosax – very popular in Europe
Mothering Mother – great produce bags

3. Straws

Consider some easy alternatives to the ubiquitous plastic straws that come in nearly every restaurant glass:

“No straw for me, please.” Do you really need one?
Carry your own stainless steel straw! You can purchase these from our online store here.
Use an elegant glass straw in many sizes and designs. We also love glass straws from Simply Straws or Glass Dharma.
Straws made from paper are more and more common. Bring your own or find restaurants that offer them.

4. To Go Cups

Bring your own stainless steel or ceramic mug. Carry one in your car. Some coffee shops will even reward your thoughtfulness with a small discount on coffee or tea. Hot drinks always taste better in durable ceramic, anyway! Like milk cartons, those cardboard cups often have a plastic lining, so in effect they are plastic. All to-go cups have that plastic lid, a major contributor to plastic pollution.

5. To Go Food Containers

Whether you prepare school lunch, order takeout, or go out to eat, take along your own reusable containers for sandwiches, snacks, and leftovers. Some of the sites where you can purchase one:

Lunchbots – purchase from our online store here.
PlanetBox
Life Without Plastic

6. To Go Utensils

Bring along your own lightweight bamboo utensil set! They’re much sturdier, cleaner, and better for you than plastic knives and forks! Add a stainless steel straw, and you’re all set! This handy carrying case can travel with you in the car, on the airplane, or wherever you go. You can purchase beautiful sets at our online store here.

7. Lighters

Rather than buy plastic disposable lighters, consider investing in a refillable multi-use lighter. The oceans of the world will thank you, as will all those birds and marine life who mistake their bright colors for food. Disposable plastic lighters are one of the most common items found in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch trash analyses.

8. Milk or Juice

Where possible, buy your milk or juice in a glass returnable/reusable bottle. It may seem old fashioned, but it tastes great, and it’s better for you. You may have to look for it, but many local shops and even some larger ones carry glass-bottled milk and juice. Those oh-so-common cartons may look like cardboard, but they have a layered plastic lining which is a problem not only for disposal and recycling, but also for your health!

9. Choose Paper to Wrap

Wax paper is an excellent substitute to the ubiquitous stretch plastic wrap we have been told is essential for cooking and preserving foods. Choose wax paper to wrap sandwiches, place on top of foods warmed up in the microwave, or when storing food in the fridge. Yes, it doesn’t stick to foods like the plastic wrap does – but that’s exactly what’s good about it!

10. Ready to do more?

Download a more complete list of plastic objects and alternatives here.

Visit our Plastic Free Times and learn more.

The Story of Broccoli Brian

2013-12-14T09:07:00.000-08:00

http://www.lulu.com/us/en/shop/jenny-richardson-and-joey-richardson/broccoli-brian/paperback/product-5568873.html

Once upon a time there lived the most amazing dog who we remember in the positive children’s book Broccoli Brian. Here is the background story of how the book came to be written.

Many years ago, my husband and I got a sweet dog that had been abandoned as a puppy in a field near Atlanta, Georgia. A family had found him and one of the children gave him the name, Brian, after a school friend. Brian was a lovable dog and also happened to be a huge fan of broccoli. I was a first grade teacher at the time and we thought this would be a fun way to get children to eat broccoli. In the story, Brian and his best friend, Milo (our second dog) are consumed with the daily chase of Fraidy cat (my parents’ persnickety pet). The story follows the dogs’ constant pursuit of Fraidy and Milo becoming trapped in a mud-filled pig pen. Brian comes to the rescue with his handy pouch of broccoli which gives him amazing strength. We sketched the pictures and an artist created the colorful images. All those years ago, we envisioned a series in which Milo lands in difficult situations and is always rescued by Broccoli Brian. Last year, Brian passed away after sixteen wonderful years with us and Milo also recently died. We planted a tree in our front yard with Brian’s ashes. The book is a testament to our devoted family pets and our love of books.

The message is one that promotes healthy eating in youngsters and the inspiration for the story is very dear to our family.

Nature: My Muse

2013-11-22T19:38:00.001-08:00

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.
― Henry David Thoreau – Walden

I don’t usually use this blog for personal musings but this night, I felt compelled to share one of my favorite places and my affinity with nature. As a college English instructor, I was honored to accept a substitute position this fall teaching at a campus at which I normally don’t work. Other than the great challenge of teaching an 8:00 am class to college students and ferrying my children out the door at an early hour, it has been a blessing. I adore my students and feel that we have really made some excellent academic strides.

This post refers to the perk of my new post. Friday runs at my special place at sacred battlefield in Northern Virginia. I have spent hours and trekked many miles at this special place of battle. My convergence with nature in all seasons of the year has brought me immeasurable joy. I have had some wonderful experiences and runs along these natural trails. In each season, there are new images of life and nature that are forever imprinted in my heart. The travels are also imprinted with the lovely souls that run with me and share their communion. I would never trade these times for a tennis bracelet or a trip to the mall. When I inhabit this space, I truly feel at home. I think Mr. Thoreau was a cutting edge thinker. In nature, we are in the zone and truly present in the moment. In this month of thankfulness, I am grateful for my special space in Virginia. I honestly feel that I am blooming where I am planted.

Fossil Collective - 'Let It Go' Official Video (HD)

2013-10-23T20:35:00.001-07:00

http://www.fossilcollective.com/

The Wild Feathers: "The Ceiling" (Official Video)

2013-10-21T18:10:00.001-07:00

A rare band: supreme musicality and supreme guitarists!

http://thewildfeathers.warnerreprise.com/

Wailin' Jennys - Arlington

2013-10-19T16:33:00.001-07:00

A dear friend recommended this amazing band - I am passing her gift to you!
Check them out and follow them.

http://www.thewailinjennys.com/

The Last Resort - Dan Llywelyn Hall - Art

2013-10-08T16:51:00.002-07:00

Dan Llywelyn Hall

Recent Work - The Last Resort
Saturday 23rd November 2013 @Chase House, Richmond, London

A solo exhibition of recent paintings. Inspired from trips to Crete, France and the Canaries, the exhibition will explore ideas concerned with travel. Please register your email above if you would like to be sent an invitation to this exhibition.
Click here to view selection of work on show

The Wild Feathers - Ramblin' Man (Truckstop Covers Series - Part 1)

2013-10-08T15:04:00.001-07:00