In 2006, I ‘ll be entering the fifth year of this blog. It’s my habit to spend some time each New Year scanning the previous years entries to see what the hell has been on my mind. I tackled a lot of different topics last year and that’s a great idea for another article. As… More
Writing
Rands on Joel
The writing career to date. I’ve got 30 journals dating back to the early 80s where I believe, at one time, I lied IN MY PERSONAL JOURNAL that I’d figured out the Rubix cube. The high school years were productive. There were girls about and, for some reason, I thought a semi-fictional story was a… More
Chaos Complete
The new design is officially live and in the wild. Whew. Briefly, I had four design goals going into this redesign. First, I wanted to remove the sense of linear time from the site. While this is certainly a weblog, I want to give visitors every chance to find entries/essays which were published awhile ago,… More
Use Your Misery
When you’re suddenly inspired, there’s a sound. Pop. If I’m sitting next you when this happens, I won’t hear anything, but I’m going to see it in your face. Pop. What was… is now more. It’s the “a-ha” moment. It’s the clouds parting. It’s insight. It’s the spark. There are endless ways to describe it,… More
Weblog Writing
I’m not a huge fan of defining process for writing because I believe that once you start defining a writing process, you create unnecessary barriers for your writing. For example, I’m certain that I am incapable of writing well when I’m drunk. Why is this? Well, back in college, I got hammered on a case… More
Why You Should Weblog
I used the word “bitsifter” in a recent article. It’s a term the Dad coined in the middle of the 90’s to describe the process by which we were handling the flood of bits that were increasingly heading in our direction. I liked the name so much that I registered the domain name back in… More
Readers Block
I am in a total readers funk. Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been rereading old favorites and I’m beginning to find the “been here, done that” experience to be dull. So, I’m looking for suggestions for some holy shit-like reads. I’ve been on an American history kick for a year or so, but… More
OneWord
For writing types, this exercise is a great simple reminder that writers write… always. OneWord
Conversational Characters
I’ve attempted to read the Lord of the Rings on three different occasions and on all three occasions I have not made it through. The reason why dawned on me during a recent night on the town when Gretchen asked, “What keeps you engaged in a book?” The answer was immediate and definitive: “a conversation… More
Asking Great Questions
Why Ask Questions