I’ve been loving the rowing machine I bought last fall, but I’ve been waiting to use it six months before posting about it to make sure its value endured a reasonable time. I’m going to write about my experience with it, but if anyone has other experiences, please let me know because I’m still new to it and would love to learn more. This is the one I bought (used,[…] Keep reading →

Do you remember the last time you felt like this musician? You are in an ecstatic state to such a point that you feel as if you almost don’t exist. I have experienced this time and again. My hand seems devoid of myself, and I have nothing to do with what is happening. I just sit there watching it in a state of awe and wonderment. And [the music] just[…] Keep reading →

My friend Zan posted: “Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur. (Translation: Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound)” I responded: “ateverwhay isway aidsay inway igpay atinlay oundssay etardedray.”

Alex Kudera’s first novel won an Independent Publishers Book Awards award — the IPPY Gold Medal for Best Fiction. I wrote about him and his book, Fight For Your Long Day, a couple months ago. He’s planning to give a reading in New York this summer. Who knows how fast his star will rise? Congratulations Alex!

Saturday was such a beautiful day I couldn’t resist walking in the park across the street from my building, making me late to meet my sister and nephew in Queens. The park is tiny but beautifully maintained by neighbors. It has a small walking path around it. The pictures in the slide show below follow my view walking around the path, sometimes looking forward, sometimes backward, sometimes toward the middle.[…] Keep reading →

Two thoughts to follow up my post from two days ago: Where you get energy. First, after mentioning I was mystified by people who used the same excuses not to dance that I used to dance, I should mention that before my dancing friends got me to go dancing the first time, I would have used any excuse to avoid dancing too. I didn’t know how to dance and was[…] Keep reading →

“I love to do X, but I’m not good at it” or “I think I’d love X, but I can’t do it.” Such common excuses not to do something. People just stop thinking or motivating themselves after saying that. Result? Even as they watch others have the times of their lives, they don’t sing, they don’t go to the gym, they don’t dance, they don’t get on stage, they don’t[…] Keep reading →

Want to have more energy to do things? I’ll demonstrate how how much energy you have to do something rarely has to do with how much energy you have. When I used to go dancing every Friday night I would look forward to the excitement of seeing friends, listening to great music, dressing up, etc. The friends I went out with looked forward to it too. I was mystified by[…] Keep reading →

The summer after high school, my friend Tuan and I rode our bikes from Philadelphia to Bar Harbor, Maine and back, about 1,500 miles. We were both sixteen at the time. The trip was amazing — not that I remember many details anymore… quite an independent experience for kids that age. Everything went great. An amazing growth experience. We mostly found random places to camp, but also stayed in back[…] Keep reading →