Matthew Arnold Stern's Blog, page 61
January 13, 2014
Fun a Day Reseda – Day 14: The Challenge of the Empty Storefront
Apparently, the Mysterious Heart Maker of Reseda took my advice. This showed up on a vacant storefront on Reseda Boulevard: And no, I didn’t call the number and make an offer. I have a family, home, and a great career where I am. But I was glad I could offer the idea. That’s where all …
January 12, 2014
Fun a Day Reseda – Day 13: Luck
If you’re a triskaidekaphobe, this article is for you. It’s all about luck. (Unless you’re Andrew Luck, who didn’t have much luck against the Patriots in the playoffs.) Is there really such a thing as luck? Ralph Waldo Emerson didn’t think so, “Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” Nor …
January 11, 2014
Fun a Day Reseda – Day 12: Reseda Needs Bookstores!
I mentioned on day 2 that “there doesn’t seem to be many bookstores left in the San Fernando Valley.” It took a phone call with a bookseller in Minneapolis to show me how serious the Valley’s bookstore problem is. I had a wonderful conversation with Gary Mazzone of Magers & Quinn Booksellers, the largest independent …
January 10, 2014
Fun a Day Reseda – Day 11: “Enlightening”
On Facebook, someone asked us to describe our current writing project in one word. Some choose “frustrating” or “stuck.” I chose “enlightening.” As I dig deeper into my story, I’m discovering new things about it. Not just characters or plot, but about the experiences and insights that are the basis of the story. That’s what …
January 9, 2014
Fun a Day Reseda – Day 10: Happy Birthday, Mom
January 10 would have been my mom’s 85th birthday. She would have loved Fun a Day Reseda. She enjoyed needlepoint, sewing, and other crafts. She was also proud of Reseda and contributed by being active in the community. I’d like to share some posts about my mom: Happy birthday, Mom: A post from five years …
January 8, 2014
Fun a Day Reseda – Day 9: #TBT
According to the Internet, today is Throwback Thursday. Since this is also Fun a Day Reseda, I’m sharing a poem I wrote when I was a student at Reseda High School. It’s a typical cringe-worthy teenage poetry, but its subject is appropriate for a month dedicated to art. It’s called “Formal Application,” and it was …
Fun a Day Reseda – Day 8: Looking at the Beast
There are aspects of my Fun a Day Reseda project that are not fun. As I work on my revisions for The Ghosts of Reseda High, I’m rereading the accounts of Mary Ann Henderson’s murder. I won’t include the specifics in the book (and I’m taking out what references to it that are there), and …
January 6, 2014
Fun a Day Reseda – Day 7: A CES Anniversary
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is under way in Las Vegas, but it was the CES I went to 30 years ago that cemented my decision to start my career in the computer industry. I had just started at EnTech, a Commodore 64 software company in Sun Valley, but I was still going to Cal …
Fun a Day Reseda – Day 6: Pick the Low-Hanging Fruit
My posts will get shorter because I’m in the thick of making edits to The Ghosts of Reseda High. I can still give you brief creative tips like this one: Pick the low-hanging fruit. That means that when you have a big or complicated project to do, start with the easiest tasks. That will give …
January 5, 2014
Fun a Day Reseda – Day 5: Create Your Own Measure of Success
“What if I’m not good at being an artist?” This question has plagued many artists and caused a number of promising ones to give up. That’s because it’s not so much a question, but an accusation. It’s a question not about your work or even your ability, but whether or not you’re worthy of being …
