Stories from

 


(Nantucket Sound Sunrise)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Thinking about good and bad news.
CALLIOPE: How so?
JOE: Yesterday I dropped off some clothes at the Francis Center in Rochester, a shelter for the homeless in great need of winter coats among other things.
CALLIOPE: Somehow I feel there is more to the story.
JOE: I thought on the way home about all the people who give their lives helping those less fortunate than themselves and seldom receiving any recognition.
CALLIOPE: And?
JOE: When I got home news stations pored over every related and unrelated detail of the Fort Hood shootings.
CALLIOPE: How did the two events relate.
JOE: I thought of Shakespeare's Mark Antony, "The evil men do lives after them while the good is oft interred with their bones."
CALLIOPE: Well put.
JOE: Thank Shakespeare, not me. I just wish there was more balance in what we attend to. It seems to me that more focus on evil just foments more evil.
CALLIOPE: And you think rejoicing in good example might encourage more good deeds?
JOE: I do. Talk with you tomorrow.

 


(Beefeater- Tower of London)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. What's on your mind today?
JOE: I was just thinking of something I observed yesterday.
CALLIOPE: Tell me.
JOE: It's a short story with a simple moral.
CALLIOPE: Okay.
JOE: I was walking down Clay Street in LeRoy yesterday to deliver some muffins Carol made for her brother when I came across an empty parked mail truck.
CALLIOPE: Is that it?
JOE: Hardly. I saw the mailman leaving one house and entering the neighboring yard. An unchained collie waited for him at the edge of its property.
CALLIOPE: Collies can be very gentle but also fiercely protective.
JOE: My thoughts precisely.
CALLIOPE: And then?
JOE: The collie met the mailman, fell in alongside him and walked with him as if the two were fast friends. The mailman deposited the mail and left several bits of kibble on the porch step. The collie ate the kibble and the mailman proceeded on his way.
CALLIOPE: And the moral.
JOE: When you have messages to deliver, make sure you have something the gatekeepers want if you wish to be well received. Talk with you tomorrow.

(Abbey of the Genesee)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How did your column on Michael Jackson turn out?
JOE: Quite well thank you. You will see it in its Sliding Otter News form this weekend.
CALLIOPE: What are you on to now?
JOE: Back to work on my CD.
CALLIOPE: How's it coming?
JOE: Good. I identified quite a few selections related to my idea of spiritual wisdom. I have started recording them and hope to have the CD done by the end of the month.
CALLIOPE: Doesn't sound like much time.
JOE: It isn't but it's going well. I have the production process ready. Hopefully it will work quickly as well.
CALLIOPE: Do you expect a good response?
JOE: It's hard to tell. I talked with a couple gift store owners who tell me there is a good market for CD's, m0ore so than books lately.
CALLIOPE: That's encouraging.
JOE: It is especially since there are more outlets for CD's in my rural community than there are for books.
CALLIOPE: Best of luck with your project.
JOE: Thanks. I'll just need to stay focused. Talk with you tomorrow.

 


(Pushing the Limits)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Any further thoughts on Michael Jackson?
JOE: My newsletter topic this week centers on trying to make sense of his life.
CALLIOPE: How did you do that?
JOE: I didn't exactly. Making sense of something is an intellectual task which his life defied.
CALLIOPE: Tell me more.
JOE: Thoughts of his creativity, childishness, and adolescent mentality swirled in my head and finally came together along with a couple quotes from his songs.
CALLIOPE: Such as?
JOE: "We are the world, we are the children. We are the ones who make a brighter day." from his song, We're the Children.
CALLIOPE: It sounds like you see a parallel between creativity and adolescence.
JOE: I do. Adolescence and creativity are both experiences in testing and expanding limits, ignoring boundaries and rules and venturing into new domains.
CALLIOPE: Interesting parallel. What about the rest of his life?
JOE: Creativity inclines its owner toward experimenting with personal life sometimes with0uut considering consequences.
CALLIOPE: Not entirely a rational pursuit.
JOE: That's the nature of creativity. Talk with you tomorrow.

 
(Triboro Bridge)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good m0rning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Fine. I was contemplating Saturday's experience.
CALLIOPE: Tell me more.
JOE: Carol invited me to see "This Is It", the Michael Jackson movie.
CALLIOPE: Please share the results of your contemplation.
JOE: I had a vague interest in the movie while Carol was quite anxious to see it.
CALLIOPE: And?
JOE: We were equally enthralled.
CALLIOPE: What captivated you?
JOE: The degree of his creative energy, much beyond what I had imagined.
CALLIOPE: Compared with whose?
JOE: Anyone else on the popular music or entertaining circuit.
CALLIOPE: What stood out the most?
JOE: Watching him craft and fine tune each detail and seeing them performed.
CALLIOPE: Sounds a bit mystical.
JOE: It was. I was trying to see how his mind worked, but it remained a mystery. Talk with you tomorrow.

 


(Fishing Nets)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Happy Saturday. How are you doing today?
JOE: Pretty well. I finished editing selections for my CD yesterday.
CALLIOPE: What CD?
JOE: I decided to record an audio CD of some of my writing selections.
CALLIOPE: What's the theme?
JOE: My articles on topics related to Spiritual Wisdom.
CALLIOPE: Sounds like an interesting area. Do you have a title for the CD yet?
JOE: I might just call it Spiritual Wisdom but I'm not sure yet.
CALLIOPE: How will you choose a title?
JOE: I'm doing a little keyword research on related phrases. Perhaps one will emerge from the process.
CALLIOPE: Any other avenues?
JOE: I have mentioned the project to a few people. Perhaps one of them will have a good suggestion.
CALLIOPE: You never know.
JOE: I have been fortunate to have good suggestions for my work in the past. Talk with you on Monday.

 


(Pumpkin Bottom)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Good but a little weary.
CALLIOPE: From what?
JOE: Watching the world series two night in a row rather than getting to be early. I was still up at the crack of dawn or before.
CALLIOPE: I didn't know you were a baseball fanatic.
JOE: I'm not. I don't usually get interested until sometime during the world series.
CALLIOPE: Anything especially fascinating to you?
JOE: Yes. Commentaries discussed hitting and pitching streaks and slumps. I saw a parallel with writing.
CALLIOPE: How so?
JOE: I wanted to write over the past week but just couldn't seem to immerse myself in it.
CALLIOPE: You have been writing.
JOE: Yes but not with much enthusiasm as much as I tried to generate some. Suddenly my boiler fired up and I'm back at it with full energy.
CALLIOPE: Another of life's mysteries?
JOE: I suppose so. I'm just glad my writing energy is back. Talk with you tomorrow.

 


(Wedding Conversation)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Thinking.
CALLIOPE: About what?
JOE: Yesterday I worked on search engine optimization (SEO), what it is all about and how to do it.
CALLIOPE: And?
JOE: As I was considering what to write this morning, the term "brain optimization" popped into my mind.
CALLIOPE: What do you mean by it?
JOE: How should I know. I've never heard these two words together before.
CALLIOPE: Then speculate?
JOE: Fair enough. I found a definition of SEO yesterday, "altering and improving the natural search listings that will be returned for various keywords and phrases."
CALLIOPE: Sounds rather stodgy to me. How could it apply to brains?
JOE: We could arrange our brains to respond to others by giving something important to them.
CALLIOPE: Interesting.
JOE: I think we often tell people what's important to us and forget about their needs. Something to work on. Talk with you tomorrow.

 


(Storm Clouds)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Wondering about suicide bombers.
CALLIOPE: What brings them to mind?
JOE: A program I happened on this morning on TV about the psychology of suicide bombers.
CALLIOPE: What was the jist?
JOE: Sometimes cells of people with similar thinking form bonds not necessarily at the behest of al Qaeda or other influence.
CALLIOPE: How do they get to suicide bombing?
JOE: They seem to form tight bonds beyond consideration of family or even strangers and depersonalize others. The group bond becomes the only thing in their life.
CALLIOPE: How does the suicide part fit it?
JOE: If they explained that, I missed it. The program stressed the importance of the group bond but did not address other motivation.
CALLIOPE: Does it make sense to you?
JOE: No. But then I'm not a suicide bomber. It's hard for me to even imagine.
CALLIOPE: Perhaps it is too complex to understand. Once people explode themselves it's too late to explore their motivation.
JOE: I agree. Another of life's mysteries at least for now. Talk with you tomorrow.

 


(Belly Flop Contest)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: I went to bed last night mad at myself for not accomplishing much.
CALLIOPE: How did that come about.
JOE: First I woke up tired after going to bed late Sunday night. My store of energy was nowhere to be found.
CALLIOPE: How did you spend the day?
JOE: Watching television in the morning and doing yard work in the afternoon.
CALLIOPE: Was it a total loss?
JOE: I realized this morning that it wasn't. The exercise of course was good for me. On TV I watched classic movies and studied their approach and technique. I also looked at the many commercials from a marketing point of view.
CALLIOPE: So you did accomplish something.
JOE: I didn't produce anything but did recharge my creative batteries much as a field is rejuvenated by being allowed to lie fallow for a time.
CALLIOPE: Is your field still fallow?
JOE: Not this morning. I plan to get back to work exploring several projects on the coals.
CALLIOPE: That's the spirit.
JOE: Talk with you tomorrow.

 


(Columbus Circle Statues)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Ready for another week?
JOE: I am.
CALLIOPE: What have you been up to over the weekend?
JOE: I started reading Oliver Sacks' book Musicolophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain.
CALLIOPE: What did you discover?
JOE: A provocative line toward the beginning raising a question about what use music is and why does it exist and enchant us. Then I spent Saturday evening enchanted by the Dady Brothers, Roxanne Ziegler and Irish Dancers.
CALLIOPE: To what end?
JOE: I reached the conclusion that sometimes words fail us and we must think and communicate in other ways.
CALLIOPE: As a champion of epic poetry, I must remind you that the arts were originally ways of relating our heritage, ideas and culture.
JOE: No doubt. But there is something else too. Even writing does not just convey information. It touches our souls and hearts and brings us together.
CALLIOPE: So you see the arts, including literature as a way for our minds and souls to communicate?
JOE: I do. I'm not sure I can explain it any further. Maybe it is something to contemplate without words.
CALLIOPE: Perhaps so. Let's both meditate on it.
JOE: Agreed. Talk with you tomorrow.

(Columbus Circle Sculpture)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Quite good.
CALLIOPE: What have you been up to?
JOE: My major accomplishment yesterday was completing a critique of a friend's new book. I also posted my Sliding Otter News newsletter to my mailing list although I still need to post it to my website.
CALLIOPE: Sounds like you have been busy.
JOE: I have. I also found some good information in Internet marketing and development of keywords. Steve Weber also sent me a very useful link for small business resources at http://www.monstersmallbusiness.com.
CALLIOPE: So you social networking is paying off.
JOE: It is. Also Writers Digest recently opened a site for writers at http://writersdigest.ning.com. It is already quite active and appears to be a very promising on-line community. I'm excited about it.
CALLIOPE: It's about time you got excited.
JOE: I agree. Sometimes I seem to just plod along. It's nice to have some enthusiasm.
CALLIOPE: Use it to good advantage.
JOE: I will. Talk with you on Monday.

 


(Astoria Station)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Fine. Everything seems in order and I have no distractions facing me today.
CALLIOPE: Glad to hear it. What do you have planned?
JOE: Getting back to work.
CALLIOPE: Specifics please.
JOE: I have been gathering materials about search engine optimization and plan to start using them to my advantage.
CALLIOPE: Anything that still puzzles you?
JOE: I received a post from E-zine which listed search terms which their visitors used to find my articles.
CALLIOPE: Interesting.
JOE: I thought so. If I could find such a listing for terms visitors to my web site use, I would be quite grateful.
CALLIOPE: Where could you find such a list?
JOE: I'm not sure I could. So far I don't know how to look other than using a trial and error keyword program through Google keywords.
CALLIOPE: Something to explore.
JOE: There's always something. Talk with you tomorrow.

 


(Seaside Setting)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. What are you thinking about today?
JOE: Distractions. I have been reading what Julia Cameron has to say about necessary surroundings for writing.
CALLIOPE: What does she have to say?
JOE: Among other things that there is no ideal writing environment. Even if there were, it would not guarantee that our writing would be any better than in the midst of distractions.
CALLIOPE: What do you think?
JOE: I think she's right. I sometimes dream of an ideal writing environment. Before you ask, it would be a seaside villa in the Caribbean with a breeze strong enough to rustle but not rumple the pages I am working on.
CALLIOPE: Have you ever had that experience?
JOE: I've been in such an environment, but found it too peaceful to bother writing. There's something about the bustle of everyday life which stirs me to action.
CALLIOPE: How so?
JOE: Everyday events give me topics for my columns and also a context for other writing.
CALLIOPE: Don't they distract you as well?
JOE: They do but the also keep me from getting bored with long hours of writing.
CALLIOPE: I guess there is no ideal context for writing.
JOE: Not that I know of, but I keep plugging along. Talk with you tomorrow.

 


(Cognac Still)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. What's on your mind today?
JOE: Suffering?
CALLIOPE: Please elaborate.
JOE: I'd be glad to. As I attended Laney's wake and funeral, I kept thinking of all the suffering he endured over the last few months in particular.
CALLIOPE: Did you have any particular questions?
JOE: I wondered about the point of all his suffering. Was it for any particular purpose?
CALLIOPE: You're not the first person who has puzzled about this issue?
JOE: I know. I have heard quite a bit about it over the years but nothing which adequately explains it.
CALLIOPE: You know that pain signals that something is wrong and needs corrective action.
JOE: I do. Where I get stuck is if nothing can be done.
CALLIOPE: Maybe the answers are just not evident yet and pain is an invitation to the medical community to keep searching.
JOE: That makes some sense. But it doesn't seem to be much benefit to the person suffering.
CALLIOPE: I can't argue there. Somethings are beyond our understanding.
JOE: I realize that. I guess it's just one of life's mysteries at least for now. Talk with you tomorrow.

 


(Crawford Creek)

JOE: Good afternoon Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good afternoon Joe. I wondered where you where.
JOE: I was attending the aforementioned funeral.
CALLIOPE: How did it go?
JOE: As well as can be expected for a funeral. Nothing I didn't expect.
CALLIOPE: Did you finish your article about weddings and funerals?
JOE: I finished it this morning. I wasn't quite sure what I would say but woke up this morning and found the title as well as the gist of it on the tips of my fingers. All I had to do was type it.
CALLIOPE: Strange how that just happens sometimes.
JOE: Don't be coy. I know about you muses and your ways.
CALLIOPE: Glad you appreciate us.
JOE: I do. I try to keep paying attention but sometimes my mind wanders.
CALLIOPE: Keep doing your best.
JOE: Another interesting thought. Sometimes I wonder how good I am but then I recall what Julia Cameron said about doing your best regardless of what you think about yourself.
CALLIOPE: Authenticity usually comes through somehow.
JOE: So I have come to understand. Talk with you tomorrow.

 
JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. That seems like an odd title for you entry.
JOE: I suppose it is But those are the two events which kept me busy this weekend.
CALLIOPE: Tell me more.
JOE: Families get together quite often for marriages and funerals. Sometimes they are the only places I have seen some of the people I know.
CALLIOPE: What else do they have in common.
JOE: I was just thinking about that for my Saturday column.
CALLIOPE: What did you come up with?
JOE: Both are significant way stations in life. Birth is the other major one but I didn't have one to celebrate this weekend.
CALLIOPE: Anything else.
JOE: The ideas is still percolating. Let me think a moment.
CALLIOPE: Not too long. You have work to do.
JOE: Right. Marriage is an occasion for a couple to join their lives and for their community of friends to join in support of their union.
CALLIOPE: And death.
JOE: Death and funerals provide families with a chance to remember the life of their loved one, say goodbye and comfort each other. I guess that's my theme. Talk with you tomorrow.

 


(Fall Foliage)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. I hope you are doing better than you were yesterday.
JOE: I must admit I was discouraged and frustrated with my technology but I got it figured out.
CALLIOPE: How?
JOE: Strange you should ask. In trying to use various FTP programs, I kept seeing a troubleshooting question asking whether my web hosting had expired. I thought that was ridiculous.
CALLIOPE: But?
JOE: Well, I called my Internet service provider who checked and discovered that my web hosting had expired since I had not paid my bill.
CALLIOPE: On purpose?
JOE: Of course not. I just forgot it and like everything else, the service stopped when I stopped paying for it.
CALLIOPE: How was it resolved?
JOE: I paid it and had my services turned back on. I was then able to update my websites and was back in business.
CALLIOPE: You have to be more careful.
JOE: It would save me some trouble. But I tend to be more the artistic than business type.
CALLIOPE: At least you realize it.
JOE: I do. Talk with you on Monday.

 


(Water Over the Dam)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How's your organizational plan going?
JOE: I got through one day and started yesterday on some changes to my website.
CALLIOPE: And?
JOE: Technology tripped me up again. My FTP program updated and then I was unable to log into my server.
CALLIOPE: Did you get it fixed?
JOE: No. I'm still stuck and will ask for some help from my Internet service provider.
CALLIOPE: Sounds frustrating.
JOE: It is. I worked on that and a problem with one of my e-mail accounts. Neither problem is resolved yet.
CALLIOPE: I take it that means you didn't get to work on your writing yesterday.
JOE: You take it correctly. So much for that plan.
CALLIOPE: You sound frustrated.
JOE: I am. Just when I start taking technology for granted it rears its ugly head and reminds me who's in charge.
CALLIOPE: I hope you get some answers and get back to work today.
JOE: I hope so too. Talk with you tomorrow.

 

(Organizing Pigs)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How's the writing coming?
JOE: I'm working on getting organized.
CALLIOPE: How are you going about it?
JOE: I am trying to keep up with marketing and writing and find myself flopping around like a fish on the shore.
CALLIOPE: How will you unflop.
JOE: Organization. I decided to split my day. In the morning I will work on correspondence and marketing as well as related activities.
CALLIOPE: And the afternoon?
JOE: I will devote it to working on my writing and reading.
CALLIOPE: Have you started yet?
JOE: I tried it yesterday and it worked fairly well. But I think it will take practice to get in the habit.
CALLIOPE: Everything does.
JOE: I can't argue with you there. Today I will work on plans for revising my websites in the morning. This afternoon I will continue working on my audio recordings and later read to restore my spirit.
CALLIOPE: Best of luck with your plan.
JOE: Thanks. I'll report back tomorrow.