Quote for the Week
British novelist Evelyn Waugh once said, "One forgets words as one forgets names. One's vocabulary needs constant fertilization or it will die."
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Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Courageous In Other Words
Words for the Week
au·da·cious
adjective
Definition:
daring: bold, daring, or fearless, especially in challenging assumptions or conventions
[Mid-16th century. < Latin audac-, stem of audax "bold" < audere "to dare" < avidus
bold
adjective (comparative bold·er, superlative bold·est)
Definition:
1. fearless and adventurous: willing and eager to face danger or adventure with a sense of confidence and fearlessness
2. requiring or showing daring: requiring or showing fearlessness, daring, and often originality
3. impudent or presumptuous: lacking in modesty or impolitely assertive
4. clear and conspicuous: standing out and therefore easily noticedbold colors
5. steep: rising abruptly and steeply from the surroundingsa bold cliff
vi·sion·ar·y
adjective
Definition:
1. full of foresight: characterized by unusually acute foresight and imagination
2. imaginary: produced by, resulting from, or originating in the imagination
3. incapable of being realized: so idealistic or unrealistic as to be unrealizable in practice
4. given to dreaminess: tending by nature to be dreamy or to have impractical schemes and ideas
5. relating to mystical visions: relating to or seen in a mystical vision
6. parapsychology having visions: given to seeing mystical visions
noun (plural vi·sion·ar·ies)
Definition:
1. somebody with much foresight: somebody of unusually acute foresight and imagination
2. parapsychology somebody who has visions: somebody who has mystical visions
3. dreamer: somebody who daydreams or indulges in impractical schemes and ideas
au·da·cious
adjective
Definition:
daring: bold, daring, or fearless, especially in challenging assumptions or conventions
[Mid-16th century. < Latin audac-, stem of audax "bold" < audere "to dare" < avidus
bold
adjective (comparative bold·er, superlative bold·est)
Definition:
1. fearless and adventurous: willing and eager to face danger or adventure with a sense of confidence and fearlessness
2. requiring or showing daring: requiring or showing fearlessness, daring, and often originality
3. impudent or presumptuous: lacking in modesty or impolitely assertive
4. clear and conspicuous: standing out and therefore easily noticedbold colors
5. steep: rising abruptly and steeply from the surroundingsa bold cliff
vi·sion·ar·y
adjective
Definition:
1. full of foresight: characterized by unusually acute foresight and imagination
2. imaginary: produced by, resulting from, or originating in the imagination
3. incapable of being realized: so idealistic or unrealistic as to be unrealizable in practice
4. given to dreaminess: tending by nature to be dreamy or to have impractical schemes and ideas
5. relating to mystical visions: relating to or seen in a mystical vision
6. parapsychology having visions: given to seeing mystical visions
noun (plural vi·sion·ar·ies)
Definition:
1. somebody with much foresight: somebody of unusually acute foresight and imagination
2. parapsychology somebody who has visions: somebody who has mystical visions
3. dreamer: somebody who daydreams or indulges in impractical schemes and ideas
Sunday, October 29, 2006
On Becoming Fearless: Arianna Huffington Tells Women How to Become Their Best Advocate
Book Review
On Becoming Fearless; In Love, Work and Life
Arianna Huffington
Little, Brown & Company
Hardcover, 240 pp
We've all seen the photographs of ourselves or someone else as a small child reaching for the flaming candles of a first birthday cake. The young one's eyes are focused intently on the dancing flame, the desire to capture it in a chubby fist plainly visible in the forward energy of their stance and their reaching hand. They want to experience the flame directly, to have it dance upon their palm, because they don't know that fire burns.
Inevitably, there's an adult standing guard--ready to pull the child's fingers away before harm is done--before the harsh lesson that beauty can mask danger is learned. Later, they may show the child another heat source, bringing their hands just close enough to feel the heat--without the price of the burn.
In the introduction of her largely biographical book, On Becoming Fearless, Arianna Huffington discusses how life experiences and social expectations, small failures which loom large in the mind, being bombarded with unrealistic images of feminine beauty, the expectation that women will be largely seen and not heard--even in this comparatively progressive era, the desire to have a family and a career pitted against one another rather than supported, etc. often leave scars that batter and bruise the fragile self-esteem and confidence of young people, especially young women. Huffington discusses watching the transformation of her daughters from confident adventurers in the world to more hesitant and doubtful versions of themselves and notes that this phenomenon appears to affect many if not most girls as they enter adolescence. She proposes that this erosion must be prevented and repaired if women are to live fulfilling and successful lives. Huffington also explains that she penned this book in order to tend the spirits of the girls, young women and older women in search of that ever ephemeral state, success.
Huffington's book is special, because rather than offer self-help advice as a soloist, she does so as part of a chorus of fearless sisters. She punctuates her personal notes with the anecdotal experiences of others. Each chapter is segmented into topics, work, love, beauty, etc. which Huffington discusses in terms of examples from her life and the lives of other women, as well as great leaders both male and female. She allows the book's contributors to illustrate in their own voices how they surmounted or channeled their fears to obtain their goals; each section is followed by brief personal essays or meditations on the topic by other women. Among the featured contributors, are actress Diane Keaton, author Agapi Stassinopoulos and documentary producer Kathy Eldon.
The quotes, studies and slice of life stories Huffington uses to support her case, every woman can live their dream and every person possesses the capacity to help make the world a better place, provide supporting evidence as well as inspiration. This book should not be read in one sitting. It should be sampled and savored--it's lessons and wisdom slowly absorbed.
On Becoming Fearless; In Love, Work and Life
Arianna Huffington
Little, Brown & Company
Hardcover, 240 pp
We've all seen the photographs of ourselves or someone else as a small child reaching for the flaming candles of a first birthday cake. The young one's eyes are focused intently on the dancing flame, the desire to capture it in a chubby fist plainly visible in the forward energy of their stance and their reaching hand. They want to experience the flame directly, to have it dance upon their palm, because they don't know that fire burns.
Inevitably, there's an adult standing guard--ready to pull the child's fingers away before harm is done--before the harsh lesson that beauty can mask danger is learned. Later, they may show the child another heat source, bringing their hands just close enough to feel the heat--without the price of the burn.
In the introduction of her largely biographical book, On Becoming Fearless, Arianna Huffington discusses how life experiences and social expectations, small failures which loom large in the mind, being bombarded with unrealistic images of feminine beauty, the expectation that women will be largely seen and not heard--even in this comparatively progressive era, the desire to have a family and a career pitted against one another rather than supported, etc. often leave scars that batter and bruise the fragile self-esteem and confidence of young people, especially young women. Huffington discusses watching the transformation of her daughters from confident adventurers in the world to more hesitant and doubtful versions of themselves and notes that this phenomenon appears to affect many if not most girls as they enter adolescence. She proposes that this erosion must be prevented and repaired if women are to live fulfilling and successful lives. Huffington also explains that she penned this book in order to tend the spirits of the girls, young women and older women in search of that ever ephemeral state, success.
Huffington's book is special, because rather than offer self-help advice as a soloist, she does so as part of a chorus of fearless sisters. She punctuates her personal notes with the anecdotal experiences of others. Each chapter is segmented into topics, work, love, beauty, etc. which Huffington discusses in terms of examples from her life and the lives of other women, as well as great leaders both male and female. She allows the book's contributors to illustrate in their own voices how they surmounted or channeled their fears to obtain their goals; each section is followed by brief personal essays or meditations on the topic by other women. Among the featured contributors, are actress Diane Keaton, author Agapi Stassinopoulos and documentary producer Kathy Eldon.
The quotes, studies and slice of life stories Huffington uses to support her case, every woman can live their dream and every person possesses the capacity to help make the world a better place, provide supporting evidence as well as inspiration. This book should not be read in one sitting. It should be sampled and savored--it's lessons and wisdom slowly absorbed.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Oh The Places You Will Go.....
Writing Prompt
I love films almost as much as I love books. As with books, the most crucial portion of the work is the opening sequence. It must capture viewer's attention and imagination just like the first passage of a great novel or the first line of a memorable poem. The opening sequence of Forrest Gump is one of my favorites. It creates a beautiful foreshadowing of the story which follows. A white feather drifts in what appears to be a haphazard fashion from a clear blue sky to land neatly at Forrest's feet.
I'd like you to imagine that you're something like that feather, an inanimate eyewitness and harbinger of events. Would you be a grain of sand, a raindrop, a dust bunny, etc. ? Where would you go? How would you get there?
D.M.H.
I love films almost as much as I love books. As with books, the most crucial portion of the work is the opening sequence. It must capture viewer's attention and imagination just like the first passage of a great novel or the first line of a memorable poem. The opening sequence of Forrest Gump is one of my favorites. It creates a beautiful foreshadowing of the story which follows. A white feather drifts in what appears to be a haphazard fashion from a clear blue sky to land neatly at Forrest's feet.
I'd like you to imagine that you're something like that feather, an inanimate eyewitness and harbinger of events. Would you be a grain of sand, a raindrop, a dust bunny, etc. ? Where would you go? How would you get there?
D.M.H.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Walter Mosley's Civil Proposition: What does it take to feed the starving soul of our nation?
In this article, Walter Mosley proposes that what truly ails the United States is a rampant, gnawing hunger in the spirits of its citizens. It is the first of a series. Articles in upcoming issues of The Nation will explore the questions he presents here.
D.M.H.
Cultural Famine: A Cycle
by WALTER MOSLEY
[from the October 23, 2006 issue]
...and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!" --Book of Revelation, Chapter 6, Verse 6
A while ago I was thinking about the phenomenon of famine; about how blight, disease, war, human nature and the earth itself sometimes conspire to deprive us of what we need to survive. At times starvation is used as a political tool by those in power to insure their control; other times it's just the season..........
This article can be found on the web at http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061023/mosley
D.M.H.
Cultural Famine: A Cycle
by WALTER MOSLEY
[from the October 23, 2006 issue]
...and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!" --Book of Revelation, Chapter 6, Verse 6
A while ago I was thinking about the phenomenon of famine; about how blight, disease, war, human nature and the earth itself sometimes conspire to deprive us of what we need to survive. At times starvation is used as a political tool by those in power to insure their control; other times it's just the season..........
This article can be found on the web at http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061023/mosley
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
We Live In a Democratic Republic Not A Democracy
Words For the Week
de·moc·ra·cy
(plural de·moc·ra·cies)
noun
Definition:
1. free and equal representation of people: the free and equal right of every person to participate in a system of government, often practiced by electing representatives of the people by the majority of the people
2. democratic nation: a country with a government that has been elected freely and equally by all its citizens
3. democratic system of government: a system of government based on the principle of majority decision-making
4. control of organization by members: the control of an organization by its members, who have a free and equal right to participate in decision-making processes
[Late 16th century. Directly or via French < medieval Latin democratia < Greek dēmokratia "rule of the people" < dēmos "people" + kratos "rule"]
re·pub·lic
(plural re·pub·lics)
noun
Definition:
1. political system with elected representatives: a political system or form of government in which people elect representatives to exercise power for them
2. state with elected representatives: a country or other political unit whose government or political system is that of a republic
3. unit within larger country: a constituent political and territorial unit of a national federation or union
4. group with collective interests: a group of people who are considered to be equals and who have a collective interest, objective, or vocation ( formal ) the republic of letters
[Late 16th century. Via French république < Latin res publica "public matter"]
de·moc·ra·cy
(plural de·moc·ra·cies)
noun
Definition:
1. free and equal representation of people: the free and equal right of every person to participate in a system of government, often practiced by electing representatives of the people by the majority of the people
2. democratic nation: a country with a government that has been elected freely and equally by all its citizens
3. democratic system of government: a system of government based on the principle of majority decision-making
4. control of organization by members: the control of an organization by its members, who have a free and equal right to participate in decision-making processes
[Late 16th century. Directly or via French < medieval Latin democratia < Greek dēmokratia "rule of the people" < dēmos "people" + kratos "rule"]
re·pub·lic
(plural re·pub·lics)
noun
Definition:
1. political system with elected representatives: a political system or form of government in which people elect representatives to exercise power for them
2. state with elected representatives: a country or other political unit whose government or political system is that of a republic
3. unit within larger country: a constituent political and territorial unit of a national federation or union
4. group with collective interests: a group of people who are considered to be equals and who have a collective interest, objective, or vocation ( formal ) the republic of letters
[Late 16th century. Via French république < Latin res publica "public matter"]
Friday, October 20, 2006
Why do you write?
Writing Prompt
I always tell people that I became a writer not because I went to school but because my mother took me to the library. I wanted to become a writer so I could see my name in the card catalog. Author: Sandra Cisneros
I always tell people that I became a writer not because I went to school but because my mother took me to the library. I wanted to become a writer so I could see my name in the card catalog. Author: Sandra Cisneros
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Check Out Google Directory for More Writing Resources
Tips and Take Aways
I googled writers markets today and turned up some familiar sites and a few new ones. If you're looking for new markets or reviewing old ones for opportunities, it might not hurt to hit a few search engines today. Click on this post's title to follow the link to a Google listing of Writers Resources.
D.M.H.
I googled writers markets today and turned up some familiar sites and a few new ones. If you're looking for new markets or reviewing old ones for opportunities, it might not hurt to hit a few search engines today. Click on this post's title to follow the link to a Google listing of Writers Resources.
D.M.H.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Taking on Challenges with Grace
Quotes for the Week
I Ching (B.C.1150?)
It is an inexorable Law of Nature that bad must follow good, that decline must follow a rise. To feel that we can rest on our achievements is a dangerous fallacy. Inner strength can overcome anything that occurs outside.
Patanjali (c. 1st to 3rd century BC)
When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds; your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.
Anon
The bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you refuse to take the turn.
Doc Childre and Bruce Cryer, From Chaos to Coherence
As any jazz musician knows, it takes flexibility and adaptability for improvisation to create beauty.
I Ching (B.C.1150?)
It is an inexorable Law of Nature that bad must follow good, that decline must follow a rise. To feel that we can rest on our achievements is a dangerous fallacy. Inner strength can overcome anything that occurs outside.
Patanjali (c. 1st to 3rd century BC)
When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds; your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.
Anon
The bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you refuse to take the turn.
Doc Childre and Bruce Cryer, From Chaos to Coherence
As any jazz musician knows, it takes flexibility and adaptability for improvisation to create beauty.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Quill Award Winners Honored Last Night
October 11, 2006
By Kimberly Maul
The winners of the Quill Awards were announced last night at a ceremony in New York and the winners, who were decided by a popular vote, range from Lemony Snicket to a televangelist. The awards, which are sponsored by Reed Business Information and NBC, will be broadcast on at least 100 NBC stations on Oct. 28, the Associated Press reported.
Heaven, Parrots and Palm Trees or Lots of Chocolate: What makes paradise for you?
Word for the Week
par·a·dise
noun
Definition:
1. place or state of perfect happiness: a place, situation, or condition in which somebody finds perfect happiness
2. heaven: in some religions such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, the place where good people are believed to go after death, or the state they are believed to attain after death
3. Garden of Eden: in the Bible, the perfect garden where Adam and Eve were placed at the Creation
4. place ideally suited to somebody: a place where there is everything that a particular person needs for his or her interest ( informal ) a surfer's paradise
[12th century. Via French and late Latin <>paradeisos "enclosed place, park" <>pairidaeza "form around" < diz "to form"]
par·a·dise
noun
Definition:
1. place or state of perfect happiness: a place, situation, or condition in which somebody finds perfect happiness
2. heaven: in some religions such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, the place where good people are believed to go after death, or the state they are believed to attain after death
3. Garden of Eden: in the Bible, the perfect garden where Adam and Eve were placed at the Creation
4. place ideally suited to somebody: a place where there is everything that a particular person needs for his or her interest ( informal ) a surfer's paradise
[12th century. Via French and late Latin <>paradeisos "enclosed place, park" <>pairidaeza "form around" < diz "to form"]
Friday, October 13, 2006
Changing Your Perspective
Writing Prompt
Make a list of things that you absolutely do not like or hate to do. Keep it to five if you find that you have an especially long list. Next to each item write a few adjectives to describe why you dislike that activity. Then on a separate sheet of paper write the same list. This time write adjectives next to each item which would describe why that activity might be enjoyable--to another person of course. Use your list and adjectives to write a few character sketches.
D.M.H.
Make a list of things that you absolutely do not like or hate to do. Keep it to five if you find that you have an especially long list. Next to each item write a few adjectives to describe why you dislike that activity. Then on a separate sheet of paper write the same list. This time write adjectives next to each item which would describe why that activity might be enjoyable--to another person of course. Use your list and adjectives to write a few character sketches.
D.M.H.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Daniel Pearl Bio-pic: Blackface or Non-traditional Casting
I believe that non-traditional casting has its place. I also believe that biographical and historical casting should be informed by the racial, ethnic, national and social backgrounds of the subjects of the film--just as it informed their life. Painting someone to look like "the other" is always a dicey proposition. Especially, when as K. Emily Bond points out, there are viable options which don't require adding insult to injury--ignoring race/ethnicity in the casting but acknowledging that it matters by coloring the performer to match the subject.
D.M.H.
K. Emily Bond Bio 10.11.2006
Jolie, Even in Blackface? (20 comments)
Pearl is of Afro-Cuban, Dutch and Chinese descent -- and she looks it. Angelina Jolie, even in blackface, does not.
Upon hearing that the white actress was cast as Pearl in an adaptation of her memoir, my own heart did a mighty cautionary flutter. My assumption was that Hollywood wimped out on the interracial element of Danny and Mariane's love story, thinking it easier to convey the drama to a color-conscious mainstream audience by keeping both characters white, much as James Baldwin did in his international, gay intrigue mini-tome Giovanni's Room. To Baldwin in 1956, what could have been the story of a black bisexual ex-pat involved with an Italian man in Paris was better told as a whitewashed tale of two white guys in love. A forgivable disappointment, given that it was fiction. And the 50's.
D.M.H.
K. Emily Bond Bio 10.11.2006
Jolie, Even in Blackface? (20 comments)
Pearl is of Afro-Cuban, Dutch and Chinese descent -- and she looks it. Angelina Jolie, even in blackface, does not.
Upon hearing that the white actress was cast as Pearl in an adaptation of her memoir, my own heart did a mighty cautionary flutter. My assumption was that Hollywood wimped out on the interracial element of Danny and Mariane's love story, thinking it easier to convey the drama to a color-conscious mainstream audience by keeping both characters white, much as James Baldwin did in his international, gay intrigue mini-tome Giovanni's Room. To Baldwin in 1956, what could have been the story of a black bisexual ex-pat involved with an Italian man in Paris was better told as a whitewashed tale of two white guys in love. A forgivable disappointment, given that it was fiction. And the 50's.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Slate Article: The Novel, 2.0
book blitz
The Novel, 2.0
Will the Internet change fiction as we know it?
By Walter Kirn and Gary Shteyngart
Updated Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2006, at 6:58 PM ET
From: Walter Kirn
To: Gary Shteyngart
Subject: The Odyssey in 2006
Posted Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2006, at 6:57 PM ET
For this year's Fall Fiction Week, Slate has invited novelists Walter Kirn and Gary Shteyngart to discuss a question that's been on our minds: What is the role of fiction in the age of the Internet? By "Internet" we mean not just the web itself but also the notion of constant connectivity. Today, in this age of the virtual network, the concept of being "out of reach" has begun to seem quaint, and our experience of the world has become more fluid—with, perhaps, less room for solitude and concentration. So, we've asked our critics to address the following questions: Does the new age of connectivity have any ramifications for the novel? Has human experience been altered? Have the conventions of storytelling begun to change—and if not, should they?
Walter Kirn is the author, most recently, of The Unbinding, a serial novel published online in Slate that tried to make use of the inherent properties of the medium. Gary Shteyngart is the author, most recently, of Absurdistan, a comically surreal journey through a post-national world of fluid identities and disorienting cultural collisions. He is currently at work on a novel set in a future where language ceases to matter, except to an elite group of people.
Walter Kirn's most recent novels are The Unbinding, Mission to America and Up in the Air. He lives in Montana and can be reached at walternkirn@gmail.com.Gary Shteyngart is the author of the novels Absurdistan and The Russian Debutante's Handbook. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Travel & Leisure, Granta, and many other publications.
Read the full text by clicking on this link.
Article URL: http://www.slate.com/id/2151004/
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Writing, War and Conscience
Quotes for the Week
"A memorandum is written not to inform the reader but to protect the writer."
Dean Gooderham Acheson
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern.
Every class is unfit to govern."
Lord John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton
Propaganda and marketing have been a part of human history since the times of Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. Their writing is literally on the walls of the ruined remainders of their empires. Our ancestors understood the power of words and imagery, so much so that the harshest vengenance they could implement was the erasure--the striking of their enemies' names from record, thus removing them from human memory and stealing their immortality.
Check out the news stories listed below. It's articles like these which remind us that ideas, information, words--media matter, and that we share a responsibility in their application.
D.M.H.
Moscow burial for slain journalist
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/10/10/russia.journalist.ap/index.html
FBI to interview former page about Foley e-mails
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/10/congress.pages.ap/index.html
Google boosts stocks
Major gauges edge higher in early trade as investors cheer $1.65-billion Google deal.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/10/markets/markets_0930/index.htm?cnn=yes
Bolton dismisses North Korean nuclear missile threat as 'intimidation'
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/10/10/tuesday/index.html
"A memorandum is written not to inform the reader but to protect the writer."
Dean Gooderham Acheson
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern.
Every class is unfit to govern."
Lord John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton
Propaganda and marketing have been a part of human history since the times of Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. Their writing is literally on the walls of the ruined remainders of their empires. Our ancestors understood the power of words and imagery, so much so that the harshest vengenance they could implement was the erasure--the striking of their enemies' names from record, thus removing them from human memory and stealing their immortality.
Check out the news stories listed below. It's articles like these which remind us that ideas, information, words--media matter, and that we share a responsibility in their application.
D.M.H.
Moscow burial for slain journalist
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/10/10/russia.journalist.ap/index.html
FBI to interview former page about Foley e-mails
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/10/congress.pages.ap/index.html
Google boosts stocks
Major gauges edge higher in early trade as investors cheer $1.65-billion Google deal.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/10/markets/markets_0930/index.htm?cnn=yes
Bolton dismisses North Korean nuclear missile threat as 'intimidation'
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/10/10/tuesday/index.html
Monday, October 09, 2006
Life is a series of balancing acts
Word for the Week
e·qui·lib·ri·um
(plural e·qui·lib·ri·ums or e·qui·lib·ri·a) noun
Definition:
1. bodily balance: a physical state or sense of being able to maintain bodily balance
2. emotional stability: a mental state of calmness and composure
3. situation of balance: a state or situation in which opposing forces or factors balance each other out and stability is attained
4. physics balance between forces: a static or dynamic state in which all forces or processes are in balance and there is no resultant change
5. chemistry state of balance in chemical reaction: the state in a reversible chemical reaction in which the reaction and its reverse reaction proceed at the same rate and balance each other so there is no further change
[Early 17th century. < size="1">Source: http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/equilibrium.html
Friday, October 06, 2006
Use what you learn from this writing prompt to make your writing time more productive.
Writing Prompt
There's something immediate and satisfying about putting pen or pencil to paper or watching that metal letter hit the paper on the cylinder when using an old IBM or Brother typewriter. The zen like flow that comes with a computer keyboard has its appeal as well. The way we write helps us enter the state which allows us to be the most productive. It also points to ways in which we may sabotage our productivity and undermine creative opportunities.
Write about how you like to write. Do you have a favorite pen or notebook? Do you prefer to use daylight, candlelight or the humming light of your computer monitor? Do you test three pens and go through 20 CDs before beginning?
D.M.H.
There's something immediate and satisfying about putting pen or pencil to paper or watching that metal letter hit the paper on the cylinder when using an old IBM or Brother typewriter. The zen like flow that comes with a computer keyboard has its appeal as well. The way we write helps us enter the state which allows us to be the most productive. It also points to ways in which we may sabotage our productivity and undermine creative opportunities.
Write about how you like to write. Do you have a favorite pen or notebook? Do you prefer to use daylight, candlelight or the humming light of your computer monitor? Do you test three pens and go through 20 CDs before beginning?
D.M.H.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Are you looking for free magazine subscriptions?
Tips and Take Aways
If you're a freelancer looking for new markets, this listing of free subscription offers at7500 Books could be a great resource.
D.M.H.
If you're a freelancer looking for new markets, this listing of free subscription offers at7500 Books could be a great resource.
D.M.H.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
News Bits for Writers
Tips and Take-aways
Newspaper survival guide: Be tech savvy and ethically sound
Newspapers can survive the Internet age through creativity and integrity.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1004/p09s01-cojh.html
Oh, dear God — it's him again
Atheist Sam Harris pens a "Letter" to the faithful.
http://www.calendarlive.com/books/cl-et-harrisoct02,0,456230.story?coll=cl-books
Booked-Up Publishers Could Be in a Bind
Dozens of titles from big-name authors will all be on shelves soon. Marketers are trying new approaches to stand out from the crowd.
http://www.calendarlive.com/books/cl-et-bigbooks1oct01,0,1899278.story?coll=cl-books
Newspaper survival guide: Be tech savvy and ethically sound
Newspapers can survive the Internet age through creativity and integrity.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1004/p09s01-cojh.html
Oh, dear God — it's him again
Atheist Sam Harris pens a "Letter" to the faithful.
http://www.calendarlive.com/books/cl-et-harrisoct02,0,456230.story?coll=cl-books
Booked-Up Publishers Could Be in a Bind
Dozens of titles from big-name authors will all be on shelves soon. Marketers are trying new approaches to stand out from the crowd.
http://www.calendarlive.com/books/cl-et-bigbooks1oct01,0,1899278.story?coll=cl-books
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Perspective: Telescope~Kaleidescope
The life you live is informed and shaped by your perspective. What's yours?
D.M.H.
Quotes for the Week
"The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life."
(Mohammad Ali)
"I hope that I may always desire more than I can accomplish."
(Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1475-1564)
"If you haven't turned rebel by twenty you've got no heart; if you haven't turned establishment by thirty you've got no brains!" (Kevin Spacey)
"It's a scary time ... this is how the Roman Empire fell. We're dancing as Rome burns."
(Julianne Moore, on our society's obsession with celebrity)
D.M.H.
Quotes for the Week
"The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life."
(Mohammad Ali)
"I hope that I may always desire more than I can accomplish."
(Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1475-1564)
"If you haven't turned rebel by twenty you've got no heart; if you haven't turned establishment by thirty you've got no brains!" (Kevin Spacey)
"It's a scary time ... this is how the Roman Empire fell. We're dancing as Rome burns."
(Julianne Moore, on our society's obsession with celebrity)
Monday, October 02, 2006
Is definitiveness a tenuous concept in our age of continual updates?
Word for the Week
de‧fin‧i‧tive
–adjective
1.most reliable or complete, as of a text, author, criticism, study, or the like: the definitive biography of Andrew Jackson.
2.serving to define, fix, or specify definitely: to clarify with a definitive statement.
3.having its fixed and final form; providing a solution or final answer; satisfying all criteria: the definitive treatment for an infection; a definitive answer to a dilemma.
4.Biology. fully developed or formed; complete. –noun
5.a defining or limiting word, as an article, a demonstrative, or the like.
6.Philately. a stamp that is a regular issue and is usually on sale for an extended period of time. Compare commemorative (def. 2).
Source: Dictionary.com
de‧fin‧i‧tive
–adjective
1.most reliable or complete, as of a text, author, criticism, study, or the like: the definitive biography of Andrew Jackson.
2.serving to define, fix, or specify definitely: to clarify with a definitive statement.
3.having its fixed and final form; providing a solution or final answer; satisfying all criteria: the definitive treatment for an infection; a definitive answer to a dilemma.
4.Biology. fully developed or formed; complete. –noun
5.a defining or limiting word, as an article, a demonstrative, or the like.
6.Philately. a stamp that is a regular issue and is usually on sale for an extended period of time. Compare commemorative (def. 2).
Source: Dictionary.com
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