I haven’t posted on gu.e since early December. Though I don’t feel the need to defend myself, I would like to inform my faithful readers—all three of you—that I haven’t forgotten about the blog or stopped writing. About a week before Christmas I crunched some numbers and discovered that to meet my goal for the […]
My friend Gregg let me borrow the Bloomgberg Businessweek edition celebrating the life of Steve Jobs. One Jobs quote from a 1996 Wired magazine interview struck me with its simplicity: “Creativity is just connecting things.†I think we often associate creativity with trying to dream up a new idea or piece together a solution to […]
Going back over my most recent posts this morning, I discovered a major oversight. I never blogged about the creative writing workshop that I am co-teaching this Thursday night, August 4, from 7-9pm, at Cherokee Mills in Knoxville. Those of you who have read Melting Chocolate Kettles know the basic premise: if you start finishing […]
The other day, I was waiting in line at Regions. The North Broadway branch in Knoxville always provides a fascinating slice of Knoxville citizenry. To my right, a substantial young woman was standing at a teller window with her toothless grandmother. The grandmother had a handkerchief on her head and stooped over her cane with […]
Early this afternoon, I saw something that made me happy. Obviously, someone at Delta read my diatribe, “Why men should carry purses,†recognized the good sense of what I was saying, and changed the verbiage on all the corporate signage. At one of the Delta gate kiosks in the Knoxville airport, I read a signed […]
Sometimes gu.ebers come in pairs. This month, I’d like to showcase the genius of Allison Sprouse and Rachel Wood Turner. On June 1, they released the premiere issue of modern ink, the prettiest new online magazine at school, and quite frankly, they knocked my socks off. Everything about the magazine looks as though the duo […]
The other day my wife Megan asked me about guilty pleasures. Though I count each joie de vivre as a precious child and readily own them, several that made me pause, if only for a second: · Vanilla lattes from Starbucks, especially in airports. Please don’t judge me. · Young adult fantasy fiction without vampires. […]
Have you ever heard the term “born salesmanâ€? For example, “Todd is doing really well slinging phones at Verizon. He’s a born salesman.†Calling someone a salesman can sound like an insult. We’ve got too many negative connotations to associate with salesmen: the used car salesman with a big smile, greasy comb-over, and clip-on tie […]
