Resolution Tango
When I was younger, I would annually trot out the usual suspects when it came time to make my new year's resolutions. You know the ones: lose weight; quit smoking; …
Ring a Bell
At the end of September, I took my vacation in Batesville. Unbeknownst to many--including the majority of Mississippians, I imagine--Batesville is the home to the Magnolia Grove Buddhist Monastery and …
Home at Last?
When I was small, my parents seemed to think that moving to a new city to give my dad better job opportunities was a pretty cool thing to do.
Finding What's Right
It's easy to criticize. I know this intimately. In fact, I'm considering hiring a private detective to search for that half-full glass.
[Mott] I Surrender
My sister Inga was a Diet Coke junkie. She kept spare quart bottles of the stuff in reserve so she wouldn't run out. If you saw her out and about, …
Odyssey of Discovery
Back in July 2006, I found myself on the edge of a new life. Four months earlier, I'd been laid off from a job after nine years. I was at …
[Mott] Shine On
In his classic work on creativity, "The Gift," Lewis Hyde likens artistic output to the gift giving of indigenous people. Creativity is a sacred thing to be shared and passed …
Truth to Power
I spent last weekend in New Orleans at the Association of Alternative Newsmedia convention. It was held in the posh Ritz Carlton in the heart of the city's business district, …
Reverence and the River
I love thunderstorms. From the safety of a covered porch, a nighttime thunderstorm can be a truly awe-inspiring natural light-and-sound show on par with the best July 4 fireworks. Just …
Thanks for Brooklyn
It seemed everyone knew one another, and always, always someone was looking out and watching over the kids.
Come Together
I once had a client who considered himself completely uncreative. An entrepreneur with a thriving small business, Mr. Jones (not his real name) had a peculiar stance about artists: He …
