Category: Special Features
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Some Additional Thoughts on Keeping a Diary
After posting my “tips” on keeping a diary about a month ago, I had some additional thoughts on that topic. At the core of these additional thoughts are two basic facts. First, your purpose in keeping a diary will determine in large part what you include and exclude in your entries. Second, unless you plan…
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A Visit to Bookingham Forest
Note: I was in Long Island for much of the weekend and didn’t have time to put together a fresh posting for this blog. So here is a story I wrote several years ago about taking my grandchildren to Worthington Library’s “Bookingham Forest.” Going to Bookingham Forest is an adventure that begins even before we…
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Tips on Keeping a Diary or Journal
Many years ago, I had the opportunity to read through a diary kept by my grandmother’s aunt (my great grand aunt, I suppose). The diary covered a period of about five years from 1915 to 1920. I relished the chance to review it, believing it would provide this woman’s thoughts and feelings about World War…
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The Joy of Poetry — Part II
My last post focused on my dismay over the tendency of modern poets to deal with depressing topics. For me, poetry has always been something much more positive. That attitude may have been shaped in my childhood by gentle nursery rhymes or thought-provoking nonsense poems by Dr. Seuss. Once, as a gift for either my…
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The Joy of Poetry – Part I
A few years ago, I attended a poetry reading at a bar in downtown Columbus. The featured poet was a young man who had struggled with an opioid addiction for a number of years. He seemed to be on the road to recovery, but his poems didn’t focus on his emerging triumph over his addiction.…
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Words as Problem-Solvers: Part II
There are many songs about well-known cities in America. There’s “New York, New York,” “Cleveland Rocks,” “K.C. Blues,” “I’ll Get by in Pittsburgh,” and “Freedom of ’76” (Philadelphia) to name a few. Some cities even have an official song, designated by their city council or by popular vote. You might think such a designation would…
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Words as Problem-Solvers: Part I
“Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” In my childhood days, kids often chanted that little verse to counter the nasty words other kids threw at them. In the adult world, of course, words can and do cause hurt. They can lead to every kind of harm imaginable from…
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Let’s Get Together and Write: Do’s, Don’ts, and Maybes of Forming a Writing Group
I recently scanned through http://www.meetup.com and came away amazed at the variety of groups featured there. Interested in something outdoors like hiking, running, or birdwatching? There are meetup groups you can join. Prefer something indoors like knitting, card-playing, or watching movies? There are groups for you, too. An especially large number of groups focus on…
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Cole’s Favorite Books
My one-and-a-half-year-old grandson Cole has not had an easy life. Born without bile ducts, he underwent emergency surgery in February 2021 during which doctors created bile ducts out of his intestinal lining. This year, in early June, he went into the hospital again and ultimately had to have a liver transplant. He’s now home and…