history inspiration music

Returning to Find a Leopard

Can a song be perfect? If not, I think I have found one that is as close to perfect as it can be. I need to thank YouTube’s mysterious algorithms for this song. I had been listening to songs from Duran Duran’s new album “Future Past” before purchasing the album and an old song of theirs was suggested. It was not one I was familiar with. It’s called “The Man Who Stole a Leopard.” One…

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reading

Saddest Book Ever

One of the used books I bought at the Twin Cities Book Festival was Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea.” It is a 1952 softcover copy that has a slight whiff of incense to it. I have not read a lot of Hemingway during my lifetime, maybe one other book in college. I’ve never been drawn to his books, though I couldn’t say why. Until I read this. Seriously, this is the saddest…

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ideas process writing

Improving Your Writing

There are loads of books, blog posts, and web articles about ways to improve your writing. Google just returned 152 million results to the search query “how to improve your writing.” 743,927** of these online articles are listicles: 5 Simple Ways to Improve Your Writing – http://www.forbes.com/sites/dailymuse/2012/05/22/5-simple-ways-to-improve-your-writing/ 10 Quick Tips to Improve Your Writing – http://grammar.about.com/od/developingessays/a/quicktips.htm 21 Ways to Improve Your Writing – http://www.writingforward.com/better-writing/improve-your-writing 8 Simple Scientifically Proven Ways to Improve Your Writing – http://www.fastcompany.com/3023616/work-smart/8-simple-scientifically-proven-ways-to-improve-your-writing…

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