"A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination." ~Nelson Mandela

First post on the blog!

Why this blog??  Well,.....usually my content and subject matter have a specific direction, a purpose, parameters, ...restrictions.  This, my friend, this is freedom!  As a writer, this should be easy. Then again, anyone who's ever picked up a pen in an attempt to write something meaningful knows that daunting and cold return stare of a blank sheet of paper or blank screen. 

So I got to thinking....again...and I started reading through copious amounts of past writings.  I read through everything I could get my hands on: past emails, past journals, past love stories, past drama.  I laughed, I gasped, I cringed, and most importantly,

I made a promise to myself to stop saying I'm going to call people and meet up for lunch "sometime" and just DO IT.  Hey, beloved friends from high school and college and work and life: I MISS YOU.  Facebook is nice but face time is much better.  I vow to bridge the gaps.

THE notebook from Honor's English.

But the most interesting thing I found was a notebook from high school.  Not just any notebook, but THE notebook from my Honor's English class with Starr Whitney.

 Oh, Mrs. Whitney....  Mrs. Whitney taught me how to write.  Write.  WRITE.  Not just write, but dare I say, THINK.  Writing has come so naturally to me and I've loved it for so long that it's truly difficult for me to remember learning how.

The way I felt when I found this silly book, with ridiculous doodles all throughout the margins (see below, oh dear...) and the cover handwritten in "teenage fancy" silver metallic ink,...I can only imagine it's how King Arthur would feel if he found an old photo of the sword still in the stone.  Dramatic?  An exaggeration?  Pretentious? ... I mean, I just compared myself to King Arthur, didn't I?  In my defense, being a king and feeling like a king are two different things.

Yes, I know this little rediscovery means absolutely nothing to you right now, but it will, oh, it will. My next post will be a detailed and foolproof lesson on HOW TO WRITE.  And you, too, could be forever changed.

XOXO

Writing is happy stuff, oh yes it is.

Give me a break about the grade.  Didn't Einstein fail Math?

This deadpan face must be a reaction to the 'D'.  Or more likely, a reaction to my parents' reaction to the 'D'.

An A-, see?

Broken heart with a bandaid?  Clearly during the artist's dark period.

 

Really??  'Jerk' in the box?  Oh brother.

Even my bullet points got in on the fun. (I also took French, in case you were wondering what's up with the beret and mustachio.)

What can I say?  I'm happy and I know it. (Clap, clap)

"...to win the respect of intelligent people...to learn the appreciation of honest critics... This is to have succeeded"(Bessie Stanley, 1905).   I agree, Bessie.  I agree.