It wasn’t quite prayer but the more I recited its words the more incantatory power they assumed. “What can I say to you, dar-ling,” I repeated to myself, “When you ask me for help?” It was early on an otherwise ordinary weekend morning twelve or fifteen years ago. The Long Island Rail Road car speeding me out east, not fast enough, grooved a quiet rumble into the d…
Trying to recover here, for recognition, the germ of my idea, I see that it must have consisted not at all in any conceit of a "plot", nefarious name, in any flash, upon the fancy, of a set of relations, or in any one of those situations that, by a logic of their own, immediately fall, for the fabulist, into movement into a march or a rush, a patter of quick steps; but altogether in the sense o…
Soon the cameras were rolling in front of the living room fireplace, with Koppel in his crisp blue suit and Morrie in his shaggy gray sweater. He had refused fancy clothes or makeup for this interview. His philosophy was that death should not be embarrassing; he was not about to powder its nose. Because Morrie sat in the wheelchair, the camera never caught his withered legs. And because he was …
Brainstorming is a way of gathering ideas about a topic. Think of a storm; thousands of drops of rain, all coming down together. Now, imagine thousands of ideas raining down onto your paper. When you brainstorm, write down every idea that comes to you. Don't worry now about whether the ideas are good or silly, useful or not. You can decide that later. Right now, you are gathering as many ideas …
As we gradually saw, there is more to the dialogue form of our expositions than we initially realized – something new, perhaps, in poetry criticism; we could call it dialogical poetics. We are accustomed to seeing all extended commentary on poetry as the vision of some individual consciousness – the more individual and “original,” the better. There is almost always a significant degree …
Nurturing our mental health and well-being is more important than ever. United Nations personnel are committed to endlessly making a positive impact in our world. While this can be rewarding, it can take a toll on our mental health and well-being. As the Chair of the UN System Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being Strategy Implementation Board, I am proud of the work undertaken across the UN S…
London, 1889. Veronica Speedwell and her natural historian beau Stoker are summoned by Sir Hugo Montgomerie, head of Special Branch. He has a personal request on behalf of his goddaughter, Euphemia Hathaway. After years of traveling the world, her eldest brother, Jonathan, heir to Hathaway Hall, was believed to have been killed in the catastrophic eruption of Krakatoa a few years before. But…
Sally Milz is a sketch writer for The Night Owls, a late-night live comedy show that airs every Saturday. With a couple of heartbreaks under her belt, she’s long abandoned the search for love, settling instead for the occasional hook-up, career success, and a close relationship with her stepfather to round out a satisfying life. But when Sally’s friend and fellow writer Danny Horst begin…
Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her big brother; she still had her home. She had a normal teenager’s life. Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily. Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, L…
The Grinch hated Christmas ! The whole Christmas season! Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason. It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all. May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.