Writers should take advantage of their surroundings, if only to trigger memories that juice their writing.

Escape the safety of the small by taking the risks to become part of something bigger. Your true self demands it. Listen for the timer on the oven to sound-that's when the memory curtain parts, flashing moments that really mattered.

Anyone who wants to be a writer should, if given the opportunity, hang out with "real writers," that is, poets or writers who are lions in literature, semi-lions, or published authors.

It's no fun watching you disintegrate. Where is the old "I Love Myself" mantra? You need to feel you are indeed lovable and that your life matters. Listen. The birds are singing your name.

I'm fascinated how owning something, especially something as big as a home, can affect your political leanings. Home ownership spawns thoughts of equity and maintaining value.

I learned that famous writers are people with foibles like anyone else and this helped me realize reaching their level of notoriety wasn't impossible.

Now is history as fast as the mind remembers.