Many writers cite Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson as the mother and father of contemporary poetry – or perhaps more accurately, as its queer, brilliant aunt and uncle. The two writers may at first seem to have little in common—Whitman is as expansive as Dickinson is compressed, as wild as she is precise. But they [...]
"Off Hours" Archive
Life beyond the keyboard.
Four Simple New Year’s Resolutions for Marcommers
Blech. It’s already late-mid-January and you still haven’t made a New Year’s resolution. I think I know why: if you’re older than, say, 25, it’s probably impossible to think of a single personal flaw you haven’t already overcome by way of a previous New Year’s resolution. But if you work in marcomm, you can always [...]
Gifts for an English Buff
English buffs are a breed apart from just plain readers. True lovers of language relish wordplay. They’ve alienated all but the most accomplished Scrabble players from their circle of friends. Finding a typo in a bestseller (misspelled words in newspapers constitute child’s play for these grammar goons) leaves them feeling both superior and a little [...]
Five Ways to Triple Holiday Stress
Ah, the holidays. Family. Friends. High spirits. Wassailing. I could spend hours waxing nostalgic about snowy driveways and the clip-clop of hooves, but then I’d only be ignoring the jittery, strung-out elephant in the room: stress. Hard as it may be to believe, some folks actually find the holidays stressful. Now, it would be all [...]
My Mother the Pop Icon
My Mom is hanging in the Museum of Modern Art: the Monica Lane story from publicity glossies to Pop Art.
Writing Inspired by Greed and Lust
In the Writing We Love section of our blog, we usually devote our posts to the writing we love that is, you know, other people’s writing. So it’s a little embarrassing to admit that the writing I love right now is my very own writing—on my very own Amazon Wish List. I adore this new [...]
Giving Thanks for New Traditions
Thanksgiving is a time for traditions, including new ones.
Spammers Don’t Even Try – So Why Should Marcomm Pros?
If you’re reading this blog, you probably work in marketing communications. Have you ever stopped and wondered what separates you from the spammers? When I say “spammers,” I’m not talking about well-meaning folks who may have once violated some technicality in the CAN-SPAM Act, purely by accident. I’m talking about the shady, deceptive, get-something-for-nothing crowd. [...]
Spider Season
Seasonality is a big deal in Northern California. We greedily anticipate the first Gravenstein apples, the olive crush, the almond blossoms, the salmon runs, the chanterelles under the oaks. Perhaps because there’s not all that much of a change of seasons around the San Francisco Bay, we fetishize the farmer’s market as our connection to [...]
