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Personal competition gets stuff done

A post on Time Management Ninja entitled Be More Productive by Making Your Life a Game struck a chord with me. While I do not adhere strictly to the premise of the article, I often transform aspects of my life into a game in order to accomplish more or increase my level of engagement. Three…

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The most critical lessons that I teach my students each year

As I prepare to re-enter the classroom next week for another year of teaching, I was thinking about some of the most important lessons that I will attempt to impart on my students in the coming school year. There are too many to even begin to try listing, of course, but there always seems to…

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She expects me to read her mind

This morning my daughter was making up a new song about a “twirly swing” at the park. She was in the midst of creation, inventing the lyrics and the melody at that very moment, when she insisted that I sing along. There was no way for me to know what the words or melody were,…

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Second place sucks

I competed in The Moth’s StorySLAM last night and came in second place, losing to my storytelling hero, Steve Zimmer, by a tenth of a point. It was actually an honor to compete against to Zimmer, who was exceptionally gracious in his victory, and I should be feeling good about a second place finish after…

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Three unique book reviews

The reviews of MEMOIRS OF AN IMAGINARY FRIEND have been pouring in, and while I will not share all of them with you, I thought that these three were worth a mention for their rather unique characteristics: The review in which my wife, Elysha, is praised The review that I appreciate very much but cannot…

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Bookseller love

I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting Stanley Hadsell of Market Block Books in Troy, New York, but he is my hero. Actually, all booksellers are my heroes and heroines, but based upon sales data and anecdotal reports, Stanley hand sells more of my books than any other bookseller on the planet. By…

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Forgetfulness

At last night’s book launch, I read a poem by Billy Collins while recommending one of this books of poetry. I also spoke about the importance of listening to Collins read his own poems and the remarkable visuals that have been applied to some of his work. This is one of my favorites:

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My book launch included three very special people

Last night’s book launch at Barnes & Noble was wonderful, and I thank all of my friends and family and fans for their support. We had about one hundred people in attendance to hear me read a smidgen from MEMOIRS OF AN IMAGINARY FRIEND, tell some stories related to the book, recommend some of my…

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Pub day outfit

I came home from the gym this morning and found my little boy wearing this pub day celebratory outfit. First she hires someone to mow the lawn for me, and then she does this. My wife is truly the best.

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