Improve writing immediately. "In the classic stand on the elements of style, writing is neither a way of thinking something out nor an art that exists for its own sake..." Learn about classic prose from authors Thomas and Turner with passages from award winning poet and writer Ocean Vuong. Why classic prose resembles cooking with its preparation in the kitchen and consumption in the dining room. Two Book recommendations.
We live in biblical times. Fires and floods. Plagues. Or, pandemics. Learn about flash flooding in the Hudson Valley and the First Noble Truth.
What does July 4th mean to a fledgling nation and what kinds of people made such a nation possible? Learn about Mark Manson's book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, and how his superhero the Disappointment Panda helps us see ourselves against a stark backdrop, the life of the soldier as she finishes Air Assault training.
Learn about the 'toughest man on the planet' and improve writing with examples of the four types of paragraphs. Also check out the two strand or A/B structure. To see the four paragraphs and learn more, visit my website at TreeHouseLetter.com.
Some seem to know what they were meant to do. This is about finding purpose and meaning in your work. Learn about the origin of the parable of the brick layers made popular by Angela Duckworth, two book recommendations, and insight on the 10,000 hour rule.
Thought exercise for the day. How many friends between you and anyone on the planet? Topics: Social connection on Earth in 2023, Network theory, Math geek special, logarithm In popular culture this number is often referred to as Six Degrees of Separation, that all people on the planet are at the maximum six or fewer social connections away from each other. The idea likely originated in a 1929 short story and became notable in 1990 in John Guare’s play of the same name, Six Degrees of Separation....
A great speech is one you remember. This time of year you hear a lot of speeches and may have to give one of your own. So, give a speech worth remembering. I dissected a great speech to understand what makes it so and reflected on lessons I’ve learned as a speaker.
A soldier's own obituary, John "Alex" Hottell, III -- published in the NY Times 3 March 1971. A Memorial Day remembrance.
Thoughts from a British headmistress, marine veteran, and college graduate. Two book recs, one podcast rec.
What are they and why should we avoid them? Improve writing immediately. Bonus: two book recommendations on usage, grammar, and style
Four friends died recently and three were my age. Learn what makes the eulogy powerful and lasting from a personal vignette and from Vivian Gornick. An elegy on What is Dying? from Margaret Drabble to share with the bereaved. May they rest in peace.
My road trip last weekend had a detour to Assateague Island. Learn about wild horses on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, a wild herd in Patagonia, and the chlidren's classic, inspired by the true story of Chincoteague Ponies.
Baking Sally's shortbread cookies with my nephew and a German proverb. Miles Davis's advice to a young jazz guitarist. How these ideas provide insight on creating, baking, performing.
On dreams and patterns, a "Digit Dork" special with insight into Fibonacci and the Golden Ratio
On a lonesome stretch of road north of Nashville..... Learn about the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), the Soldier and the Citizen, on the Ides of March
True Tale from Toxin Tails and the Pet Poison Hotline about Red, the retriever St. Bernard mix.
Poetry for Emergencies and the Leonard Cohen translation of Roshi's Poem. A footnote depicts the lesser-known, closed to the public "Poe Arch" or Edgar Allan Poe Memorial at the archives at West Point
It's a powerful thing, belief. If a person believes in you, you can move mountains. Music as a gift, and a passage from Maya Angelou from her essay collection, Letter to My Daughter.
Poetry for Emergencies. A discussion of Melody Moezzi's memoir, The Rumi Prescription, and how the mystic poet helps her deal with modern life challenges.
This winter I received five books I own, four as gifts. What do you do when you receive a book you already own? One was Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. I pulled my copy off the shelf to read my notes, the marginalia, the pages underlined, tabbed, highlighted. What is Love? What are the two things? #blackhistorymonth
Happy Lunar New Year! The Vietnamese celebrate the Cat versus the Rabbit. Learn about the difference and pick up a writing tip from the songwriter and musician Al Stewart from his hit song, The Year of the Cat.
Writing the obituary is a sobering task. The structure and getting it right. WHO was the person and HOW did she live? Writing as a gift.
Many authors publish one or two novels; few write full-time. Fewer write for a life-time. Excerpts and ideas from Haruki Murakami's memoir and essay collection, Novelist as a Vocation. On creativity, originality, and his writing process.
A reader loves the TreeHouseLetter because it is "pithy and practical." The pithy in this letter is about the winter solstice and Christmas; the practical is about perceptions of time. How do we manage the human construct of time, as a child and as an adult and in writing? Learn about the divided self in memoir, how time creates meaning and tension. Understanding the character of "I" and the narrator of "I" helps writers and readers understand time in their own lives. Happy and Healthy 2023! Ple...
Gratitude is vogue, hip, lit . It's handy and eternal, an ever-ready virtue . . . but it's the sense of duty and expectation that gives it a gloss and cheek that's a bit off-putting. In walks a fresh voice on basketball coaches and how to make the best ever soft-in-the-center, crispy-at-the-edges chocoloate chip cookie.
What I learn from my mother on a Tuesday morning about love and longing. How Susan Cain's new book, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Makes us Whole, helps me understand her.
Mid-life has its miseries. And, mid-life for me has fitness challenges. It was most noticeably on display in the Army’s ten-miler around Washington, D.C. this October. Here’s a story of inspiration for the mid-packers and the mid-lifers.
True story from the SMA--Sergeant Major of the Army Michael A. Grinston--who spoke at the Army Ten-Miler. A man with 35 years of service in the Army and a half dozen deployments shares his wisdom on service with grit and grace.
In her new book, Write For Your Life , Anna Quindlen argues for the importance of the diarist, such as the secret yet eternal life of Anne Frank. She ruminates on the doctor, the student, the gangster, the child, the parent. Love letters. Queen Elizabeth “spoke through her handwriting.” Writing is a human endeavor, for all of us, from criminal to royal. Learn why writing is one of the most precious and uncommon gifts we can give.
Just like song, for writing to work it must have rhythm. This has taken me a long time to learn . I came across the idea in Haruki Murakami’s memoir, Absolutely on Music. This book is about a series of conversations with the former conductor of the Boston Symphony, Seiji Ozawa. The novelist meets the maestro. They talk. Learn what the novelist has to say about writing and rhythm and decide if prose rhythm matters with less than average examples. Hear the music in the prose of Beryl Markham and D...
