A place for those who find and create meaning through words
The crumpled aluminum fuselage of a WWII era submarine bomber impaled the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts' courtyard. The fifteen-story red brick school, a block from the gothic spires of City Hall, looked down upon the staged tragedy, but not with the horror one would assume. A scattering of students ate breakfasts, drank coffee, and... Continue Reading →
There are times when deadlines, the uncertainty of change, an onslaught of communications, and stress converge, descend upon us suddenly making our lives seem chaotic. Sitting in Rehoboth’s Coffee Mill, I wrapped up an email to a young teacher feeling excited yet overwhelmed by the demands of preparing for a new school year. She felt... Continue Reading →
Author Stephen King believes a good book should engage its reader on different levels, so much so the reader will read the book twice. I found a particularly engaging YouTube video of King addressing a Master's Class at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell in 2012. During part of his presentation, he spoke about how the... Continue Reading →
This is the transcript of the audio narration for the previous video. My father, a member of the .918 Printing Club, demonstrated graciously how a platten press from the Industrial Revolution was used to create a page of text. ________________________ We’ve all wanted to take hammers to our desktop printers from time-to-time, smash them to... Continue Reading →
My student’s hand shot into the air before I could finish my sentence, and I called upon the jersey-clad, lacrosse-obsessed eighth-grader knowing exactly what his question would be, the same one bouncing within most of my students’ heads, “Do we have to draw, or can we use the internet?” “I want you to draw.” Cue... Continue Reading →
I arrived at the 2015 Philadelphia Writers' Conference having brought pants. Preparation is very important. My wife and I had traveled to Mexico for our 10th anniversary in 2011. A sign posted in front of one of our resort's restaurants stated "Business Casual Attire." Having only packed shorts, I asked the host if dress-shorts would be adequate. He... Continue Reading →
Creativity inspires creativity, and Alexandria, Virginia’s Torpedo Factory churns out inspiration as much as it does creative expressions of the human spirit. This artists’ cooperative-- three floors of studios, galleries, and installations housed in a repurposed torpedo production facility-- inspires unique ideas, new perspectives, and encourages artists of all mediums who pass through its doors. ... Continue Reading →
Memory cards and stacks of scribbles from our trip to Niagra Falls continue to remind me collecting raw material is only the beginning of a time-intensive process. This is not, necessarily, a bad thing. Travel's initial thrills always inspire and increase my productivity, yet time's passage tempers the eye and helps me disregard cliched thoughts recorded feverishly through star-struck eyes.... Continue Reading →
Nineteen, a freshman in a sophomore-level education class, my first week of college, and my prof assigned an article summary on an education-based topic of our choosing-- one line of directions in a syllabus and a point value. Being nineteen and a freshman loving to write, I read this as an invitation to compose an... Continue Reading →
Dissecting a piece of microfiction during a short story session of the Philadelphia Writers’ Conference provided a revealing blueprint for tight, character-driven stories. Our facilitator, Carla Spataro, used author Bob Thurber’s writing exercise “Anatomy of a MicroFiction” to illustrate how focused character development and deliberate action can evoke emotional reactions. Spataro prompted us to use... Continue Reading →
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