Fourth Drafts

Whenever I sit down to write a first draft or begin any creative project for that matter, my first effort is usually a childish mess that only a mother could love. Out of that mess comes something that might be good enough for a high school assignment, maybe even a...

Whining

This past weekend, I logged into one of my email accounts, in order to send a message to my mother, and received this error statement: The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request. Please contact the server...

Transitions

Over the weekend, my friend Sarah Myers posted The Noontimes blog about re-visitation, transitional times of change in our lives when we reinvestigate our identities and actions. In my youth, I thought that a traditional life script was a three-act play (childhood and...

Commencement Part II

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, economist Charles Wheelan wrote about the things that he wished his commencement speaker had told him. Number 7 on the list of 10: “Your parents don’t want what is best for you.” Huh? You mean that after doing my best to...

Commencement Part I

Springtime marks the season of Commencement and graduation speeches often laced with pithy witticisms and inspirational wisdom. I don’t remember much humor from the speakers during my college graduation, Wheaton 1973. Back in those days, Wheaton College in Norton,...