Speaker. Storyteller. Coach.
A current freshman at my alma mater, Vanderbilt University, recently attended a campus talk by Billy Joel. Turns out, the freshman, Michael Pollack, like his idol Billy Joel, is also a pianist from Long Island. During the Q&A, the freshman asked Joel if he could accompany him in his favorite Billy Joel song, “A New York State of Mind.” Billy Joel said okay. The rest is magical.
“Life is short, art long, opportunity fleeting, experience treacherous, judgement difficult.” — Hippocrates
Thanks to a dear friend’s generosity, I attended last night’s Broadway opening of “Ann,” the play about Ann Richards, the former Texas governor. Actress Holland Taylor is both the playwright and star of this one-woman show, and since I share those roles in “How to Draw a Nekkid Man” (formerly “I Will Be Good”), I was very eager to see her performance.
“There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you.” – Maya Angelou.
I find that when I am working on a long, involved project, e.g., this memoir, I must surround myself by people or things that will keep me motivated when the work gets hard, as it inevitably will. If not, I will be eating copious amounts of Nutella, cleaning grout, or napping — anything but writing. [Read more…] about Bird by Bird, Scene by Scene