Matthew Arnold Stern's Blog, page 38
November 16, 2017
Appreciating the gray
For Thanksgiving this year, I decided to appreciate something that has bothered me for a long time — getting older. My fifties haven’t been an easy decade for me. I’ve had to deal with a number of crises and unpleasant medical procedures. I’ve struggled with doubt. I questioned whether the beliefs and self-image I formed …
November 11, 2017
Commerce or art?
As I prepare Amiga to publish independently, I’ve been watching videos and reading articles to learn the best way to make a book marketable. At the same time, I’m crafting Amiga into a work I can be proud of. It’s my expression of the history of the computer industry and how I see the world today. …
November 7, 2017
Spare us your “thoughts and prayers”
The phrase “thoughts and prayers” should be permanently struck from our vocabulary. Any sincere sympathy it once had has been soiled by cynical politicians and others who have no intention to help. “Thoughts and prayers” is less than the least thing anyone can do. A thought? What kind of thought? “Thank God it wasn’t me!” …
November 3, 2017
Wisecracks that played Carnegie Hall
My granddaughter found this old book of epigrams that I bought in junior high school. I got it at a time when I started seeing myself as smart. Being able to pull quotes from smart people made me feel smarter. I loved epigrams because they are, as Oscar Levant put it, wisecracks that played at …
October 28, 2017
Taking no for an answer
It was a special day for my son. After over a year of hard work and saving, he bought his own car. It was the model he wanted with the features he needed at a reasonable price that he could afford. But one thing marred the day and could have caused the deal to fall …
October 26, 2017
Some good news
Would you like some good news? Here are a few announcements. First, I will be speaking at Muzeo in Anaheim, California on Thursday, May 24, 2018. I will be speaking about Mastering Table Topics as part of their free Open Book Author series. I will show you how to organize your thoughts quickly and come up with …
October 22, 2017
Beware of foreign influences?
I found the following cartoon on Twitter. It took me a few minutes on Google Translate (most of which was spent navigating the Russian keyboard) to get the translation. It loosely translates to “Don’t feel bad we don’t celebrate Halloween in Russia!” (Then how do you know when to release horror movies? Or give out …
October 21, 2017
Writing a better world
These days, we have no shortage of terrible things to write about and ways things can get worse. From threats by North Korea, political turmoil in Europe, a continuing humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico, and raging bedlam in Washington, DC, we appear to be careening towards catastrophe. At these moments, we as writers need to …
October 15, 2017
Winning through character
We love winning. I’m happy the Dodgers are in the hunt for the World Series. I’m glad the Rams are contenders. And I’m especially proud of my alma mater Reseda High School as its Regents football team is having another great season. As much as we love winning, it’s more important to win through character. …
October 11, 2017
More writing tips
Our friends at Instructional Solutions offer these 19 writing tips in the following infographic. You’ll find more tips on different types of writing at their site.
