A parable of physics teaching assistants: elegance, battlefields, and intimacy
Fencing with an unfamiliar foe. Source: “Fencing Match between St.-Georges and ‘La chevalière D’Eon’” on April 9, 1787, by Abbé Alexandre-Auguste Robineau (1747–1828) – www.royalcollection.org.uk, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11260912 Invitation or Attack? As an undergraduate, I took physics because I wanted to go to medical school. Physics promptly took over the structure of my week. Three […]
Why people can’t hear you OR how to write wicked dialogue
1. Fancy words hide your message Marie Forleo’s video, 5 Reasons People Don’t Take You Seriously, shows how we get in the way of our message, and what to do about it. My writer-mind couldn’t help thinking how to use these tips in reverse. Inside a novel, conflict built on miscommunication is quite fun. Here […]
Spring is coming. Let’s not give up on hospitality yet.
Forest road in spring green with a blue sky above. Kottenforst, Germany. © Laurel Decher, 2016. Is Migration Our Lot? Lately, I’ve been wondering if migration is our natural lot and living peacefully in one place all our lives a rarity. Cranes are migrating and their calls remind me of spring. The current news shows […]
What Do You Do for Fifteen Minutes a Day?
A few moments of light change the whole forest. Germany. © Laurel Decher. How Often Do You Think “It’s All or Nothing?” When we’re overcome by life and can’t get to the things and the people that matter to us, we get frustrated. Do you ever think. . . . . .If we don’t have […]
Hope for February: ESPERANZA RISING and Esperanza Spalding
Hopeful signs: Tiny snowdrops dusting the ground under giant trees bare of leaves under a gray sky. Kriegshoven, Germany. © Laurel Decher, 2016. Hope keeps cropping up . . . Hope keeps cropping up. In February things can look dark in the Northern Hemisphere, but the light always comes. I want to share some hope […]
Noblesse oblige, libraries, trees, and cyberbullying prevention
What can you do with your heritage? Noblesse oblige for the modern age. If you inherited a castle, what would you do with it? In a nearby village, the lovely Burg Satzvey was built in the early 1300’s and hosts jousting and other medieval-themed shows for the entertainment of the populace. Half-timbered houses cluster around […]
Skin-colored Felt: Doing Other People’s Cultures Wrong
Skin-colored felt is not easy to find, even if you know what color you’re looking for. My youngest and I are sewing figures for a Christmas nativity scene. So far, we’ve made the palm tree (brown corduroy). Glue overdose means the only original figures are the baby Jesus and the Rastafarian Joseph, named for his […]
What must be said: hardware, broccoli, and love
Last night I learned a dear friend died. She and her husband helped us when our first child was born and were both friends and second parents to us. That’s when she inscribed a copy of THE ENCHANTED BROCCOLI FOREST cookbook: “In our hearts, you’ll always be our neighbors.” The news reminded me about grief, […]
The Power of the Silver Pen: Journals, Photos, and Collections Help Order Our Lives
Marie Kondo’s THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP explores the benefits of de-cluttering at a level I can’t attain but it reminds me that things help us find out who we are. The things I like and don’t like, need and don’t need, are like mirrors that reflect information back to me and help me […]
What’s it like to visit historical sites for a story world you’ve only imagined?
The Middle Ages come to life in Arezzo, Italy. ©Jan Decher, 2002 The itinerary included the most important and accessible places in the story: Bologna (nearest airport and unexpectedly beautiful) Casa Cares near Tuscany (a family visit to this retreat center brought me to Arezzo and the story) Camaldolì monastery (an 11th century monastery and […]
Collateral damage: What if there’s no one to vouch for you?
Collateral damage: Ruins of the Castle of Are (Ahr) built by Theodorich of Are around 1100 A.D. What would you do if you lost your identity? Or had no way to prove you were one of the “good guys”? A reputation is a thing you don’t think about until it’s lost. There are so many […]
Impossible things to try before breakfast: Bicycle Gymnasts and JINX’S MAGIC
Things you never knew were possible on a bike. @Jan Decher, 2015. What makes us decide to try impossible things? A thing can call to us, but we still don’t try it. Some of it must be inborn and some must be the recognition that a thing is possible. In Crossing Unmarked Snow, William Stafford […]