Tag Archives: writer

May23

change of heart.

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A 9-year-old girl’s plea to save a sidewalk slab with a heart-shaped cavity has tugged at the heartstrings of Ann Arbor officials, who have agreed to let it stay. The inspector also spray-painted an X over the R that previously marked the slab for replacement, while writing “Save!” and giving the heart a fresh touch of color.
Where Dahlia left a note along the sidewalk last week making the case for keeping the slab, the city’s inspector on Monday left a response letter complete with the city seal on it. “Thank you for your wonderful letter, and for bringing this to our attention!” it reads. “Your note is very well written, and after further considerations, we feel this sidewalk slab can be saved. We’re so glad you let us know, and that we can save your ‘heart.’”
Seventh Street heart sidewalk

“Thank you for being so passionate and proactive about your community!” the response letter states. “When you’re old enough, you should consider working for the city to continue making it a great place to live. Sincerely, City Sidewalk Repair Program.”

Dahlia, the daughter of Kelly and Matt,  said in her note to the ‘Sidewalk People” last week that she was devastated when she saw the slab was marked for replacement.

“You see, the heart is not just a heart,” she wrote. “Ever since I was little, I said hi to the heart. Don’t you see how much it means to me? Every time I pass the heart, I say hi and it brings me joy.”

Anyone else who wants to say hi to the heart now can find it along the east side of Seventh Street across from Waterworks Park between Murray Court and Washington Street.

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“kind words do not cost much, yet they accomplish much.”

-blaise pascal

 

 

 

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source credit: ryan stanton, mlive, ann arbor news

Jan10

“even if not one person read my blog, i’d still write it every day.” -seth godin

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(a happy note from WP yesterday)

Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!

You registered on WordPress.com 11 years ago.

Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.

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 thanks to all who have taken this flight with me

11 years in the blink of an eye

faster than the speed of write. 

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“even at eleven, he had observed that things turned out right a ridiculous amount of time.”

-stephen king

 

 

Feb15

breathings.

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the long letter

written on the outside of my valentine

was even more important

than the card inside

 the kinder who worked very hard to write it all down

read it out loud to me

confident, proud, with voice inflections, hands moving

and so much to say.

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“fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”

-william wordsworth

Oct23

we write.

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“directly, or indirectly, everything we write is for someone.”

-author unknown

 

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Yesterday October 20 was the National Day on Writing.

The National Council of Teachers of English established the National Day on Writing

“to draw attention to the remarkable variety of writing Americans

engage in and to help make writers from all walks of life aware of their craft.” 

Mar30

gift.

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 Harper Lee — the famously private author, might never have written the classic “To Kill A Mockingbird” if it hadn’t been for a 1950s Christmas gift. 

Back in 1956, Lee was a ticket agent for British Overseas Airways Corporation. Like most struggling writers, she was having trouble balancing her job and finding time to write. She told this to her New York City friends, Michael and Joy Brown (who were also friends of Truman Capote).

Michael was a successful “industrial musical writer” whom American corporations hired to create performances to inspire their workers. His clients ranged from DuPont to JC Penney, and he was raking in the money for songs like “The Wonderful World of Chemistry.”

So in 1956, the Browns’ gave Lee the best Christmas present of all: An entire year’s salary so she could take time to write whatever she wanted. “There was an envelope on the tree, addressed to me. I opened it and read: ‘You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas,'” she wrote in McCall’s Magazine in 1961. “ They assured me that it was not some sort of joke. They’d had a good year, they said. They’d saved some money and thought it was high time they did something about me.”

Lee took that time to write “To Kill A Mockingbird,” which sold over 40 million copies worldwide, has been translated into over 40 languages,  served as the basis for a hugely popular film, and for which she won a Pulitzer Prize.

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“when life gives you a gift, receive it with all your heart.”

-enid ivanov

 

 

 

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credits: Megan Willett-Wei, Insider

Jan25

writing desk.

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what you might imagine it to be vs. what it might quite possibly be.

 

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i recently listened to this book written and read by stephen king, and loved every minute of it-

a mix of his personal story and very straight shooting practical advice.

“It starts with this: put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write,

remind yourself why it isn’t in the middle of the room.

Life isn’t a support system for art. It’s the other way around.”

― Stephen King

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Amazon book review summary: Short and snappy as it is, Stephen King’s On Writing really contains two books: a fondly sardonic autobiography and a tough-love lesson for aspiring novelists.

 

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image credits: tom gauld, simon and schuster

Dec14

can you write?

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  “what difference does it make if you live in a picturesque little outhouse

surrounded by 300 feeble minded goats and your faithful dog?

the question is: can you write?”

– Ernest Hemingway

 

 

 

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early winter hiking in MacCready Nature Reserve, Irish Hills, MI, USA 2020