Why do I like to read? It’s so important and so obvious that I’m afraid to answer, or attempt to. It’s like asking if or why I love my wife, or kids, or parents. The answer is an exuberant and resounding “yes and let me count the ways” and yet I hesitate to explain. I’m […]

I feel like quitting. School is cranky. I’m tired. I’m halfway through writing a book that I have somewhat committed to finishing by the end of the month, but doubt everything about it. My feelings don’t align with reality. I can’t see the forest for the trees. I dread going to school right now, turning […]

Sometimes it’s Jack London’s “You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.” And sometimes it’s the voice of God, or what feels like it. This morning I’m looking around for a big stick.

I love the first moments of inspiration, the moments when you have to write it down, […]

Poetry is embarrassing and makes many people feel uncomfortable. It’s the most important thing in the world, and the least at the same time. When people start talking about poems, or slip them into books, there is a habit to apologize. If somebody asks you to read a poem of theirs, it’s often interpreted as […]

The week after I finished reading Moby Dick, the year after I finished college, I had a job interview where the interviewer asked me what the last book I read was. I told her and I could tell that she didn’t believe me, and things felt cold and awkward after that. I don’t know that […]

I was thinking about the book The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert.  I love the first paragraph, and the rest is pretty good too. You can read the first chapter on the NY Times website. I recommend it. Over the years I have assigned students to read and imitate the first paragraph. It has great […]

I spend more time praising questions than answers. It might be reactionary. No, the Bible isn’t the answer book. It’s the question book. Everything great begins with a question. Blah. Blah. Answers are nice too. If they exist, if they are correct, if they are honest, than answers are real nice. These are my favorite […]

I love questions. I love examples that help explain or show why or otherwise illuminate. These are three of my favorite stores or illustrations about questions:

1. When you ask a question, you are making a place in your brain for the answer to fit.

(I first ran across this idea here: What are questions?) To […]

Starbucks VIA coffee was introduced when I lived on the island of Saipan. It’s fun to have in my desk at school, then and now. Whenever I stir it into hot water, I remember talking to Stuart about the Constitution or Oregon or being pale on a tropical island during our prep period at the […]

For me, on deck circles is another way of saying lists, of saying things to do or write about later. If you have these lists, you’re never completely stuck, and you never have to start from scratch. I plan to write about these things soon:

Jimmy Carter, E.B. White, William Stafford, Yogi Berra, educated decisions, singing, […]