I saw the article about the authorities not carrying the overdose counter active. Ignorance is apparently blissful for some and an ego feeder for others. The top cop in that article seems to think he knows everything about addiction because his officers see it on a daily basis….from a police/authority standpoint. Maybe he should access local professionals or scholars educated and experienced in the issue so he can best serve the public. Or maybe I should mind my own business considering it’s (their state/local political/addiction issue) not in my immediate environment. =^)

Thanks for the DVD (I almost typed video!)

David J

I spend a majority of my communicating with clients via email. I do my best to be as clear & gentle as possible when requesting information. It amazes me how some folks just write quickly with what they need, not understanding how clipped & sometimes rude the request can appear to the recipient. I think it’s vital to understand that it’s not only important to be gentle with your written words when communicating, but also understand the recipient will react differently based on what is going on in their world at the moment they read it. I think email is a good tool for work, but only in addition to meeting the clients in person & speaking with them on the phone. If they have an in-person sense of who they are working with, it does much to soften the image & message sent via email. The social media aspect is just an extension of this thought, in my opinion. I am much more appreciative of the poster that takes the reader into consideration.

Just my opinion.

You’re right of course. Letter writing whether business or personal also has never had an affect included. So in the course of doing your work I can easily see how you would approach it that way. Good point.

Test

My mom has the same finger issue (as do I). She recently had surgery and now her finger is straighter and bendable still. If you have a hand guy telling you it may be a lost cause, might want to get a second opinion. Just FYI.
David J

TLDR is used to summarize something too long for people to read. For example, the the TLDR for Trump’s NYT interview is : “Holy Shit. he really has no idea about anything .” People often append TLDR to a thing they post on Facebook. Or someone could say, “Can I get a TLDR?” to ask you to tell them the salient points of a long article or email or whatever.

I love you. And I love how you live. Can’t wait to see you in a couple weeks!

(I love you, too! I can’t imagine what you mean when you say emotional energy.)

Storycorps sounds a bit like the BBC’s Listening Project http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01cqx3b

…but the listening project isn’t necessarily emotional- maybe check it out. They have it in podcast form, too.

Reading a book in a public place has sparked more conversations with folks than most other activities. What a great way to interact with people. And I tend to like people that like to read.

Cindy, It was excellent to sit and chat with you yesterday at the reunion! I enjoyed it and enjoyed hearing about your public reading adventures! Love from Uncle Steve

Don’t be so hard on yourself. Fix it & move on. Life’s too short! Damn I hate when it happens, tho…Your choir is lucky to have you!

I periodically listen to that Knausgaard, too. It’s soothing. Something about the way he reads it reminds me of hypnotherapy. I tried one of his books in audio form but found it way too serious.

I love you! X x x

I love to see all of those amazing smiles. Smiles that reach the eyes are my absolute favorite type of smiles. I’m thrilled y’all had a nice visit with family & friends.

Which Tree ID app? I’d like one. We live in the woods, and being in Cincinnati, we tend to have a handful of trees not frequently seen in Michigan.

$2000 to get rid of bats?!?! Holy smokes.

the last picture on this blog is super cool. Can you send me a link for where you found it?
I’m very torn about Sunday afternoon – Greg Crowell and the cello teacher at GVSU are playing baroque sonatas for Free at Three, and you’re doing your improv recital at the same time! Ack – such a hard decision!!

Also, I may have talked Isaac into interest in some “lessons” with you on improvising (really, he just wants to mess around, which I told him you could do…), like you and I did, before I got distracted. I’d like him to have a little experience playing piano, of whatever sort, really.
Would you be willing? I’d be happy to pay for them, or trade for whatever of my skills you’d like to borrow! Answer me on email, where I should have written this, because I always have to remember to look back for your replies, and I don’t always…
R

I’m so technically inept… I figured out how to find the picture, so never mind about that!

I’m glad you figured out how to find that picture. I think it is very cool as well. I will think about the Issac thing. We can chat sometime about it.

When I was teaching at Wayne State, one semester the Hillberry was performing the Merchant of Venice so I assigned it to my classes to attend. I was appalled by the antisemitism of the work and went to Marty Herman to ask how he taught about it. Marty suggested that, if he were staging it today, he would go full on and have Shylock played with all the stereotypes – hook nose, flaming red hair, etc. He also said that, given that the Jews were expelled from England in 1290 and not allowed to resettle there until after Shakespeare’s time (1655), he doubted that Shakespeare had ever seen a Jew let alone known one.

Harold Bloom does a good job of discussing all this in his Shakespeare: the Invention of the Human a book that I know you have read but might go back to to refresh yourself on his take of it. Or not as you see fit.

I just finished Hillary Clinton’s new book and am about to start on Ta-Nehesi’s new book (published today): “We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy.” I suspect that Coates will have better insights into What Happened (the title of Hillary’s book) than she.

I’m reading the Clinton book as well. I turn to it treadmilling after finishing the days news. I expect Coates to be more about the Obama administration than the election from the title. Clinton’s book hasn’t grabbed me yet but I persist. I will have to pull out Bloom again. Good suggestion.