I’m embarrassed to admit, up until I was 19 or 20 years old, the only Jeff Beck song I knew was “Freeway Jam“, a great instrumental to listen to when cruising on the highway. However, I was lucky enough to stumble upon his solo album, Blow by Blow, in a used record shop one day….
Category: Personal
Know Your True Worth
There’s nothing wrong with sharing motivation, not only to try and get yourself on the right track, but it feels good when you’re able to motivate others. January 1st is the time when many of us set goals for the year. Maybe we want to lose weight, get in shape, learn a new language, finish…
Best Book Lists [Books]
Yes, it’s that time of year. Everyone is publishing lists of the best books of 2022. The lists include the top ten (or more), the best in various genres, best books for women, best for men, best for children, and even celebrity favorites. To me, lists like these are subjective. Everyone has different tastes. To…
Choosing a Book to Read [Books]
What are your criteria for choosing the next book to read? The question occurred to me the other day when I discovered a guide to navigating National Public Radio’s (NPR) Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books. It’s an interesting way to find something that appeals to my tastes. However, keep in mind the chart…
Back from Hiatus
So, I took a few months off from blogging and social media to take time to recharge and refocus. I felt that I was burning out, both personally and creatively. I put myself into self-imposed social media exile – no Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram – and I stepped away from most of my creative activities….
Appreciating Silence [Creativity]
I sometimes forget how nice silence can be. Like most people, I live my life surrounded by noise. Streaming music (or radio, if you’re old school), television, traffic, airplanes overhead, the hum of electronics, people talking, dogs barking, phones pinging and beeping…it’s constant and never ending. There are times when I need a break from…
Embracing Change [Mental Health]
“The only constant in life is change.” – Heraclitus Change happens around us all the time, but it’s either so subtle we don’t notice it or so frequent that we stop noticing it. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not, but in both cases, we usually have no control over it. All we can do is…
We Are What We Read [Books]
We’re all familiar with the adage that we are what we eat. Especially with children, the food we intake makes us who we are, builds us, helps us grow up to be adults. I believe the same applies to what we read. The words we intake help to build us, as well. New ideas, new…
Finding Serenity in Chaos [Mental Health]
Without a doubt, the world is a crazy place. Even taking politics and social unrest out of the equation, our lives can sometimes feel like they’re out of control and we’re simply hanging on by our fingertips. We’ve all felt like we’re being tossed about in a turbulent sea, but there are also times when…
Bidding Farewell to 2021
Wow, two weird years in a row. It feels like 2020 and 2021 sort of blended together, one being the continuation of the other. At least this year we had a vaccine to help differentiate it from its predecessor. Personally, it was a year of big change. There were some deaths in the family, new…