Category Archives: Writing and the Arts

New Poem: “Baptism”

New poem posted on the Poems page: “Baptism” — short poem of imagery about Jesus’s baptism.

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Writing As Calling, Writing As Drug

Thinking this morning about writing, and why I write.

One of the truths you have to face as you move into emotional health is your own neediness. If you are feeling needy, admitting it just makes the neediness worse, so it’s a tough task; but, like many things in emotional health, just naming it can take power away from it and make it manageable.

What does this have to do with writing? Two things. Continue reading

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Keeping Up

If you ask most aspiring writers why they want to be a full-time writer, they will tell you “the freedom.” I suspect that many of them have an image of Hemingway in Havana, hanging out in a smoke-filled bar, drinking … Continue reading

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Happy New Year!

It’s the first day back at work, and the first day back at writing. A few days ago, my friend Conway Stone asked on Facebook that we list three goals for 2012. Here’s what I put: 1. Add 20 poems … Continue reading

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Discovered: the Problem With the Louisville Orchestra

I have found the root cause of the demise of our Louisville Orchestra. It is in the first two sentences of the recent letter from the LO board to the Courier-Journal. Do you see it?

As the board of directors of the Louisville Orchestra, we are the fiscal stewards of the organization. We are the designated trustees of the money that our many donors generously provide …

In case you didn’t immediately see the problem, let me spell it out for you and for the board:

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Interesting moment in Sunday worship

So there I was, singing away on some hymn like I usually do, glad that it had four verses ’cause that meant that I could try to sing all four parts (not at once, although some claim I try that too), when a thought crossed my mind:
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I’m Back to Writing

Work and life has been kicking my butt for about two months now, but I’ve decided to overcome and get back to writing. Sorry to post so erratically; working 60-80 hour weeks can do that to you. Now that Fancy … Continue reading

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New Poem on the Site

Wrote it for the first “Open Mic Night” at Highland Baptist — check it out here.

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A Book for Artists and Humans of All Kinds

Just finished The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. It’s a book about the struggle to create art, to live to our higher calling, and to be and become what we are intended to be. And it has entered a very select category for me: Books That Changed My Life.

If you think that’s hyperbole, think again. Pressfield nails three concepts that any artist — indeed, any human — struggles with daily:

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In Remembrance: Molly Ivins

(If you do not subscribe to the Writer’s Almanac, you should. It comes each day and includes a poem for the day and various biographical tidbits about writers. Today’s Writer’s Almanac brings this entry for August 30:)
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