running and writing: hills

Photo shows Cat Hill. A portion of the park (Central Park) that slopes up hill nastily and half way up there is this glorious cat sculpture looking down at you, ready to pounce on you like you're a mouse. Unfortunately I only ever see this cat when I'm sweating, gasping for air and feel like I might die. (Actually, exactly how a mouse must feel.) They (The Running Experts) say, "Hills are speed work in disguise." And, fortunately—or unfortunately—depending on how you look at it, Central park is full of them (hills, that is—although definitely Running Experts, as well. I often see Bob Glover running in the park). So Cat Hill is speed work—even though you're going the slowest pace ever and it feels like the exact opposite—despite all appearances, you are in fact training to go faster. To run more efficiently. To be a better runner. You're sprinting. You just don't see it. Sometimes you're writing and it is all up hill. But lately I've been thinking. Maybe that's just part of your training regimen, how you're becoming a stronger writer. The hard days are training to go longer, further, faster. The challenges, the uphill days are not obstacles. They are spring boards. They are speed work in disguise. Because the thing that slows you down may just be what makes you faster.

at home with their books

The New York Times has an interesting article today: "Famous Writers and Their Work Spaces Come Together in a Mural." You get to see where famous writers wrote.

Edith Wharton wrote on her bed.

Elena Climent has painted a large trompe-l’oeil mural in New York University’s Languages and Literature building that depicts works and workplaces of six writers, using authentic details. This one's Edith's. (Apparently she threw her papers all over the floor. Love that.)

love also that you get to see their books and their imagined worlds floating up there. Check out Washington Irving's, too.

Very cool.

Now I better go. I have some important papers to throw on the carpet.

a slipper

it's black and bounces and was on my friend Laura's foot the other day. quite horrible. also it's furry. I've called it The Queen's Slipper (since that's her name By Reason of Bossyness). she didn't think you could publish a slipper. but i just have.

quote yourself

“I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation.”
--George Bernard Shaw

grandpa kisses

A grandpa and a grandchild of my acquaintance somewhere in a remote testing facility in deepest New England... one cold march morning sitting by the fire...







Things might have gone a lot more smoothly if ONLY little Annabel had read the instruction manual: The Ultimate Guide to Grandmas and Grandpas ...

where it clearly states that the MOST important thing of all when you have a grandpa or a grandma is that you must always, ALWAYS, give them kisses.

too many emails

This post is small, silly and superficial. But I thought you might like it anyway. Also in the interests of less time on email. Want to see what happens if you do too many emails? Click here.

(there's nothing silly about this photo, of course. It is serious and dull - to help balance out this post - but it is one of the earliest computers with some of its programmers standing by. although, I don't know, they don't look much like programmers, to me. they look more like dinner ladies.

101 uses for a car

It's the Model Ts 100th birthday on 27 Sept and the New York Times did a cool article about the ways people adapted theirs. Best of all there's a slide show where you can see some of the ingenious ways... like this one where it's turned into a combine-harvester.

My favorite? The guy who built a church on his--complete with an organ and a steeple that folds so you can put it in the garage.

Was this kind of like the iphone of their day? Makes you wonder--in another 100 years will people be watching slide shows and laughing fondly at us and the funny ways people once used phones?

which wolf?

(here's a scary wolf sound to set the mood.)


There's a story out there (you may have heard it), about a grandfather and a grandson walking in the woods. At one point they spot a wolf in the distance.

Sharing native wisdom with his grandson, the old Cherokee tells his grandson, “A fight is going on inside you and me… it is a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf is evil, and shows himself in hatred, anger, fear, lies and pride. The other one is good and shows himself through love, joy, hope, truth and humility.”

“Which wolf wins?” the boy asks.

The grandfather thought for a moment. "The one you feed."