The Brilliant Touch

Writer's Block Announcement

2012-02-07T21:20:00.000-05:00

Writer's Block "daily quotes" will be cut back to once a week. Please stay tuned for other new and exciting post that you are sure to enjoy! If you have any suggestions, or questions, please email: thebrillianttouch@gmail.com

Writer's Block

2012-02-06T22:02:00.001-05:00

I am being frank about myself in this book. I tell of my first mistake on page 850. -Henry Kissinger (born May 23, 1923)

Writer's Block

2012-02-04T20:17:00.001-05:00

The writer must write what he has to say, not speak it.
-Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)

Writer's Block

2012-02-03T19:04:00.002-05:00

No man understands a deep book until he has seen and lived at least part of its contents. -Ezra Pound (1885-1972)

Writer's Block

2012-02-02T22:07:00.000-05:00

Style is a hallmark of a temperament stamped upon the material at hand. -Andre Maurois (1885-1967)

Writer's Block

2012-02-01T19:23:00.001-05:00

Hold fast to your dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly. -Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

Black History Salute- Langston Hughes

2012-02-01T19:23:00.000-05:00

Born in Joplin, Missouri, James Langston Hughes was the great-great grandson of Charles Henry Langston (brother of John Mercer Langston, the first Black American to be elected to public office). He attended Central High School in Cleveland, Ohio, where he began writing poetry in the eighth grade. His father would discourage him from pursuing writing as a career, in favour of something ‘more practical’. Langston’s tuition fees to Columbia University were paid on the grounds that he study engineering.

After a while, he dropped out of the degree course, but continued to write poetry. His first published poem, The Negro Speaks of rivers, was also one of his most famous, appearing in Brownie’s Book. Later, his poems, short plays, essays and short stories would appear in the NAACP publication, Crisis Magazine, in Opportunity Magazine, and others.

Langston Hughes received a scholarship to Lincoln University, in Pennsylvania, where he received his B.A. degree in 1929. In 1943, he was awarded an honorary Literature Degree by his alma mater; a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1935 and a Rosenwald Fellowship in 1940. Based on a conversation with a man he knew in a Harlem bar, he created a character known as My Simple Minded Friend in a series of essays in the form of dialogue. In 1950, he named this lovable character Jess B. Simple, and authored a series of books on him.

Langston Hughes was a prolific writer. In forty-odd years between his first book in 1926 and his death in 1967, he devoted his life to writing and lecturing. He wrote sixteen books of poems, two novels, three collections of short stories, four volumes of “editorial” and “documentary” fiction,

Twenty plays, children’s poetry, musicals and operas, three autobiographies, a dozen radio and television scripts and dozens of magazine articles. In addition, he edited seven anthologies. The long and distinguished list of Hughes’ works includes: Not Without Laughter (1930); The Big Sea (1940); I Wonder As I Wander (1956), his autobiographies. His collections of poetry include: The Weary Blues (1926); The Negro Mother and other Dramatic Recitations (1931); The Dream Keeper (1932); Shakespeare in Harlem (1942); Fields of Wonder (1947); One Way Ticket (1947); The First Book of Jazz (1955); Tambourines To Glory (1958); and Selected Poems (1959); The Best of Simple (1961). He edited several anthologies in an attempt to popularize black authors and their works. Some of these are: An African Treasury (1960); Poems from Black Africa (1963); New Negro Poets: USA (1964) and The Best Short Stories by Negro Writers (1967).

Published posthumously were: Five Plays by Langston Hughes (1968); The Panther and The Lash: Poems of Our Times (1969) and Good Morning Revolution: Uncollected Writings of Social Protest (1973); The Sweet Flypaper of Life with Roy DeCarava (1984).

Langston Hughes died of cancer on May 22, 1967. His residence at 20 East 127^th Street in Harlem, New York has been given landmark status by the New York City Preservation Commission. His block of East 127^th Street was renamed “Langston Hughes Place”.

How do you believe society has evolved in the 20^th century in relation to the subject matter read in many of Langston Hughes creative works? Do you think society has shifted far enough away from these ideas that his writing style would be considered outdated?

Please click on the link below to read the complete biography (this portion of his biography was excerpted from the website below) of Langston Hughes and to enjoy a sample of his creative works.

Writer's Block

2012-01-31T18:06:00.000-05:00

The best part of every author is in general to be found in his book, I assure you. -Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Black History Salute

2012-01-31T17:38:00.000-05:00

In honor of Black History Month, I will be featuring a total of four, one every week, of Black American's who have contributed to the creative arts community. Stay Tuned!

Writer's Block

2012-01-30T19:15:00.000-05:00

I think with my right hand. -Edmund Wilson (1895-1972)

Writer's Block

2012-01-29T22:45:00.000-05:00

The writer is committed when he plunges to the very depths of himself with the intent to disclose, not his individuality, but his person in the complex society that conditions and supports him.
-Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

Writer's Block

2012-01-28T21:26:00.001-05:00

There is one last thing to remember: writers are always selling somebody out. -Joan Didion (born December 5, 1934)

Writer's Block

2012-01-27T18:46:00.000-05:00

I keep six honest serving men. (They taught me all I know); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.
-Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Personal Branding

2012-01-26T16:25:00.000-05:00

I was sitting in a workshop several weeks ago and the facilitator brought up the topic of “Your Personal Brand”. She talked about the subject from the perspective of branding yourself to be more marketable to employers. However, I processed and adapted the information to strategize a plan to build my personal brand in relation to my passion and other areas of expertise.

In doing this, I thought about the ideas and goals in relation to fueling my brand as both a Writer and Entrepreneur and focused the direction of that brand toward creativity and words…my strengths! Now that you have insight into the building of my brand, please feel free to use the following equation I developed to help in building your own personal brand and strategy:

You+Your Passion+Your Skills=Your Brand

It takes you to build your brand.

It takes passion to build your brand. What do you love to do? It is often tied to your natural ability (in my case writing). There are no stupid or small passions!

It takes recognition of your passion coupled with your skills (the thing we learn to do well) to market you and take your brand to another level. Based upon my passion of writing, the following skills (associated with creativity and writing) would help to fuel my brand:

Free use of my imagination
Restructuring of goals to create new ones
Combine ideas and information in innovative ways
Seek out new information and people with expertise

I hope this has been informative and given you a little insight into branding.

With that said, what do you feel is your personal brand and how can you adapt your passion to fuel that brand?

Other Related Links:

Oakland County Michigan Works! Centers

http://www.oakgov.com/workforcedev/info_pub/mi_works_centers.html

Brand-Yourself: Become Remarkable

http://blog.brandyourself.com/

Writer's Block

2012-01-26T15:49:00.000-05:00

Writing is turning one's worst moments into money.
-Georges Simenon (1903-1989)

The Freedom Writers

2012-01-26T15:44:00.001-05:00

I was channel surfing recently and came across the movie The Freedom Writers. For those that do not know, the movie is based upon the real life story of Erin Gruwell who is played by Hillary Swank. Gruwell goes to teach in an inner-city school and encounters at-risk students who are limited by their social economic status and divided by race while struggling to survive. In her quest to understand her students and their unique individual stories, she develops an unorthodox teaching method that involved the use of writing as an outlet to produce change in themselves and their environment.

I remember sitting in class and a professor that I adored because of his passion for teaching and him working hard to instill that same passion in us, informed the class that we would be watching a documentary based upon the true-life story of Erin Gruwell and The Freedom Writers. At that time, the movie had not been released, however had been gaining a lot of momentum and publicity in anticipation of its upcoming release.

The documentary went more in depth into the lives of The Freedom Writers and Erin Gruwell, the teacher that inspired them to write. I remember sitting in class and not being able to contain my emotion. To be honest, there was no dry eye in the room. You may ask, why was I weeping? Well, it was because I love to write and understand how powerful writing can be for the writer. In addition, I had never been through what those teens endured, but I could still identify and feel their desperation, pain, passion and perseverance to survive…bleeding through! It was a while later after watching the documentary before The Freedom Writers came out in theaters, but I still remember being moved to tears in the same way. This is a must see for those who love writing and words as much as I do and are additionally looking for a movie to inspire themselves and/or their students.

The writing that came from these students produced a publication called The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens used writing to change themselves and the World Around Them (1999). The proceeds of the book go to The Freedom Writers Foundation that seeks to change the educational system one classroom at a time by providing educators with transformative tools to engage, enlighten and empower at-risk students to their full potential (http://www.freedomwritersfoundation.org). What a powerful mission!

I do not want to give all the details because I want each of you to read, see and hear for yourself. I have included clips in the “Speak Your Piece” (in the upward right corner) section highlighting The Freedom Writers movie and other related clips. Please click on the link above for additional information in relation to the Freedom Writers Foundation and leave your comments below. Enjoy!

Writer's Block

2012-01-25T21:42:00.000-05:00

Writer's aren't exactly people, they're a whole lot of people trying to be one person. -F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)

Writer's Block

2012-01-24T20:10:00.000-05:00

Journalism allows it's readers to witness history. Fiction gives its readers an opportunity to read it. -John Hersey (1914-1993)

Writer's Block

2012-01-23T19:46:00.000-05:00

The pen is mightier than the sword.

-Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873)

Scrapped...SOPA and PIPA!

2012-01-22T19:26:00.000-05:00

White House will not support SOPA, PIPA

See attached link for details:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/14/white-house-sopa-pipa_n_1206347.html

Writer's Block

2012-01-22T18:51:00.000-05:00

No tears and the writer, no tears and the reader.
-Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Your Stance: SOPA and PIPA

2012-01-22T18:43:00.000-05:00

I believe the question on most people’s mind is, what is SOPA and PIPA and what does it mean to the public? Especially for those who have adapted the usage of the World Wide Web into their daily life and/or business affairs?

First, I would like to start with the meaning of the acronyms SOPA and PIPA. SOPA: The Stop Online Piracy Act and its senate companion PIPA: Protect IP Act. There has been major buzz associated with SOPA and PIPA that have created pandemonium within the social media networks and formed dividing lines in regards its support. In Jared Newman’s article featured in PC World, he states, “Enter SOPA, in the U.S. House of Representative, and PIPA, in the U.S. Senate. Both bills are aimed at the foreign website (click link to see specific sites) that infringe copyrighted material. The bills are commonly associated with media piracy, but may also apply to counterfeit consumer goods and medication.

(http://www.pcworld.com/article/248298/sopa_and_pipa_just_the_facts.html)

You probably do not have to think too hard to identify someone (outside of foreign site offenders) that is or has been in violation of copyright infringement known as piracy. So, if you are thinking, not me! Unfortunately, you too made the mistake when you burned a copy of your favorite compact disc to play in your car. I know that sounds extreme, but it is true. When pondering the consequences associated with pirating, it actually seems like an insignificant punishment in comparison. SOPA and PIPA provide two methods in which they seek to enforce legislation against violators that in my opinion seems rather extreme.

I have listed below both methods these bills seek to use in fighting copyright infringement on foreign websites pulled from the article “SOPA and PIPA: Just the Facts” (Newman, PC World):

1: The U.S. Department of Justice could seek court orders requiring internet service providers to block the domain names of the infringing sites

· For example, Comcast would prevent its customers from accessing

sites in violation, although the underlying IP address would still be re

reachable.

2: It would allow rights holders to seek court orders requiring payment providers, advertisers, and search engines to stop doing business with an infringing site.

· In other words, rights holders would be able to request that funding be cut off from an infringing site and that search links to that site be removed

The methods of policing and upholding the legislation involved with both bills would in my opinion limit the freedom that World Wide Web users have and put the power of censorship into the hands of the government and your internet service provider... at the subscribers expense!

So my next question is, who is in support? Well according to Bill Chappell’s article titled “Q&A: Congress, SOPA And A Fight Over The Web”, he states, “Essentially large media groups support the proposed bills— corporations such as Time Warner and News Corp., and industry groups that include the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America, and the U.S. Chamber of Congress. They say they’re losing billions of dollars each year to counterfeiting and file-sharing enterprises based overseas. (http://www.npr.org/2012/01/18/145423947/q-a-sopa-congress-and-a-fight-over-the-web)

That means popular sites such as Face book, Google, YouTube, Craigslist and Wikipedia just to name a few; who are non-supporters of these bills (see links below for additional non-supporters), risk changes if passed…or becoming non-existent! How can you police millions of users on various sites like Face book, when their business is based upon file sharing via sources from all around the world? I believe it would be a monster to try to do and spoil the fun involved in using sites such as Face book. The fall-out from this could prove to be devastating to both supporters and non-supporters alike.

Bottom line…in my opinion, its about money and greed! Let’s not forget, with the disguise of protecting intellectual property and creative license.

Based upon what you have read, do you think that SOPA, PIPA, and the methods involved with enforcement are taking it too far? In addition, do you feel you would support both bills if you were one of the corporate giants losing money, or right holders being violated? Lastly, would you continue to use Face book and other popular sites like it, if changes were made that limited and/or prohibited file sharing of post?

Other Related Links:

Sopa, Pipa: What you need to know

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57360665-503544/sopa-pipa-what-you-need-to-know/

The White House Blog

Obama Administration Responds to we the people Petitions on SOPA and Online Piracy

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/01/14/obama-administration-responds-we-people-petitions-sopa-and-online-piracy

Writer's Block

2012-01-21T19:23:00.001-05:00

The most original thing a writer can do is write like himself. It is also his most difficult task. -Robertson Davies (1913-1995)

Writer's Block

2012-01-20T20:51:00.000-05:00

Writing is one of the easiest things: erasing is one of the hardest.
-Rabbi Israel Salanter (1810-1883)

"Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell Book Review

2012-01-20T20:47:00.000-05:00

I first heard about the book titled “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell while in service this past summer. My pastor made mention of the book and stated it was a good read for the next generation. I intended to read the book then; but forgot, until recently remembering while at the community library. It is no secret that the community library is one of my favorite places to spend time. I find that the quiet environment and vast amount of information available at my fingertips creates a very creative and productive working environment. Anyway, back to my point! To my surprise, only one of the many copies the library owned was still on the shelf. I quickly grabbed the book and went home to read. I blew through the first three chapters and was not able to put the book down. There are many interesting points that the author discusses within the book that outline factors that distinguish those who dominate in their area of expertise from those that do not. I wanted to take the time to share a few key points that I thought were interesting and encourage you to read the book.

First, let us start with the definition of an outlier (p.3):

1: something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body

2: a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the others of the sample

It does not take rocket science to indentify people the book classed as an outlier. Just in case, you were wondering, people such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and the Beatles are among that group. However, with a little common sense, you can identify many who were not mentioned such as Oprah that fit the criteria associated with being an outlier. I do not want to give away the entire book because there are other underlying factors that show commonality in the lives of outliers.

For example, in chapter two, titled “The 10,000- Hour Rule”. According to Gladwell and researchers (2008), “the magic number for true expertise: 10,000 hours” (p. 40). One can draw many conclusions as to the validity of this hypothesis, but I believe the chapter and book as a whole offers clear-cut facts to support this idea. In fact, “the emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert— in anything” (Neurologist Daniel Levitin, 2008, p. 40).

This was such an interesting idea that I took it upon myself to read several short autobiographies of those who I considered true experts in their field to test the theory. I have to admit that, I too found that the majority of those who are known as experts in anything, worked to achieve success at a level that many are not willing to do. Gladwell states according to Neurologist Daniel Levitin (2008) that, “In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianist, chess players, master criminals, and what have you, this number comes up again and again…but no one had yet found a case in which true world class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery” (p. 40).

In my opinion, that is what separates outliers from average people. The story of (your) success or achieving greatness at whatever you feel you are called to do is not achieved over night…as media and reality television likes to paint otherwise! That means there are no shortcuts to lasting success and mastery in your field. If you read the stories of these individuals and many like them, you will conclude that it takes hard work, sleepless nights, dedication, favor, being at the right place at the right time and the attitude that of I will keep pushing no matter what obstacle I face. In that case, I had better get busy if I want to be classified among the great!

I hope I sparked your interest in reading this book…very good read! Please click on the link (http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/index.html). The author answers questions and explains in more detail what “Outliers” is about. The site also includes excerpts from the book (including the 10,000 Hour Rule) and details about other books from the Gladwell Collection. Lastly, please see the “Speak Your Piece” section displaying video clips (located in the upper right corner) from the author. Enjoy!

I appreciate your comments.