December 27, 2020

The word — When I think back on the pandemic year, and reaching this point in our lives (in our 50s, empty nest coming, roles changing vis-a-vis our surviving parents who are each 87) I recognize that more writing is the goal. My capital-w Writing of late has not been as high a priority, as other aspects of working life took precedent. In this uncommon year the way forward became clear: reconnect with old friends, focus on the written word.

Find your voice — It’s always about clarity and relating. When you’re creating a presentation, stop doing what every other person always does; make yours different. Same as with public speaking — in writing, resist being uninteresting. 

• Work on really good first sentences. The ones that could stop right there. Formulate thoughts that cut to the heart of the matter and resonate in the final paragraph. Avoid the cliché news “lede” and under no circumstances write that lede. 

• Words matter. The acceptance of a new thought or idea largely depends on how that thought is presented. Our brains are wired to search the horizon for the novel or the “extraordinary.” Make your words unusual enough that they penetrate and HALT that scan of the proverbial horizon.

Close friends know I can write anywhere — They’re as likely to find me at the coffee shop patio, tapping away, as jotting notes upstairs at the cafe, at the nearby gourmet grocer. So it was with true dismay that I recognized that the virus spelled the demise of this desirable option — the ability to write “out.” It was a bummer to lose these wonderful places after enjoying this productive work routine for the past nine years.

However, I also recognize that disrupting routine can trigger entirely new creative insights. As April turned to May, I moved from the “kitchen table HQ,” and the “hunkered in the club chair” modes and ventured out to write at an outdoor table on the back porch. In June, began writing using only an iPad equipped with a “smart keyboard,” and have at times revisited an old practice of composing with voice dictation via Dragon Naturally Speaking combined with a Thinkpad. Anything that injects novelty helps with writing inspiration.

And I anticipated the energy these changes would deliver. Dug through old writing files and notebooks. A single Texas Co-op spiral notebook, full of ideas that I later sold, now reads like a clarion call to Repeat The Process. “Fill a notebook by hand!” it shouted. Thus the handwritten journal I began in June has exploded, with more than 300 pages of material.

For example, this project was born on a brisk afternoon in late November at the aforementioned backporch table, when I decided to challenge myself to take the next step in 21st-century authorship. You are reading “Step 1” of the online work. 

Fellow Toastmasters — If ’21 will be about the word, ’20 was literally about voice. I gave a Toastmasters International talk. Overall, it went very well. I was told, “great projection and use of moving through the space.”  Other comments hit upon “good storytelling and cadence,” “captivating introduction,” and an “interesting and excellent ending.” (Rocket fuel! I can live on a good compliment for two months.) On the other hand, I unconsciously used the filler words, “um” and “uh,” a whole lot. Work on it! What I learned from the experience: When giving a talk, it’s not about you. You’re giving “them” action, direction, insight, motivation. Give listeners something they can use to understand more about (or be better at) the chosen topic. Advance just one strong argument. You cannot say too little, but you need to get your listener’s attention. Then land the plane.

October 1 marked 25 years — “Austin with its sandstone and live oaks and vintage convertibles and shitloads of restaurants and freaks and carpetbaggers.” That’s an early impression I preserved a few months after we moved here from Chicago on October 1, 1995. By the way this period is also referred to as, “When Mopac was my personal expressway.” 

Another milestone — Checking the math, I’ve now been keeping a journal for 45 years. Often it’s just a sentence or two per day. What we did, who I saw. Who won. Sometimes, it was a more lengthy dive into reactions to events and my surroundings. And obviously the journal has preserved detail that would’ve long been forgotten, and has on occasion delivered life-changing insight. Regardless, the steady routine of putting thoughts on the page, and finding solutions via the written word, has real merit. Preserving ideas big and small improves work, sharpens memory, and boosts creativity. 

Check your notes — Within those unrevisited journal thoughts, unexplored iPhone Notes, coffee-stained Post-Its, self voicemails, and emails we send to ourselves are the half-formed ideas and topics we want to cover… we need to cover. Like many, I rummaged through the 2020 closets, drawers, and file folders, tossing out and reorganizing. But I also struck gold in that I revived several concepts I acted on. I dusted off (and read) an old high school journal to use as a public-speaking prop. I sifted through back issues of Spy, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, Esquire, and more. The result: Ideas are flowing.

Habit — I rarely go anywhere without a notebook. The habit originates for me November 7, 1975 — Day One of a journaling habit that continues to the present. As a high schooler I began keeping longer journals, still writing them by hand. When I left IU for Chicago, I started typing with a Brother electronic typewriter until I purchased my first word processor (an Apple Mac Plus) in 1990 and electronic writing became the priority. 

The analog approach took a back seat but never died. Austin, 1995 — I bought a Waterman Expert fountain pen (discounted when the Co-Op was renovating) and used it for a couple years. That pen was good, not great, but writing with it led me back to the love of fountain pens — of one particular old favorite. That would be the Montblanc 320, a cheaper, student-oriented cartridge filler that my brother got during his Hamburg studies and gave me for Christmas, 1984. Thirty Christmases passed and then I decided to buy one (and subsequently, others) on eBay. 

Although word processing is still leading my journaling, I’m enjoying the return of longhand. (Nerd.) Besides writing on every page – or every day – of a 12-month calendar, as I once did, filling up an entire notebook is a more recent phenomenon. Since 2014 I have been striving to capture thoughts and log them in the pages of Rhodia, Leuchtturm and other bound notebooks. I’m aware of the numerous alternative ways to store information, including Rev, iPhone Notes, and Voice memo apps I routinely use. (NERD!) Still, there is no cool like the old cool of the Montblanc nib gliding along the page.

* * * * *

Random:

Get happy — A springtime study found that happiness skyrockets in one’s 50s (Yippee!), if we’ve already focused on healthy pursuits and made sure to balance work and play. Among techniques I’ve used to maintain this soaring contentment during The Unpleasantness: 

• The Wim Hof cold water/cold showers “method” really works (and man, does it invigorate! Lasts hours)

• To the other extreme, I’ve discovered the stress-busting power of steam room / sauna

• “Lifting simple” — just a deadlift, dumbbell press, and weighted squats — helps you relax and increase confidence

• Daily walking — Traversing the 1.2-mile lap around the public golf course a stone’s throw north clears the mind 

• Eating a diet that focuses on protein, and low sugars/grains, getting adequate sleep, and you can’t help but get Peak Happy (Weeee!)

Finally, “You are what you think.” Unplugging from screens has been a monster secret weapon keeping perspective, and gratitude, front and center. 

The ultimate PR client — Won’t say too much about this, but for most of ’20 I’ve been helping a “client” get his product out there to a specialized audience. So far, so good. Will be able to look back on this effort, under the extraordinary circumstances, with pride. [2021 postscript: He succeeded!]

Call it the Lloyd Dobler Effect — It occurred to me an entire generation now sells, buys and processes nothing: Under about age 40 now, people own no LPs, no cassettes, no CDs. No books, no DVDs, no videos. All their “content” is digital. Rather than possess things, items they maybe traveled somewhere to procure, they possess digits. They subscribe to — rather than purchase — so really they only temporarily hold these digits until expiration. Their subscription media plays on a phone, not through an audio system, and the vast majority own no audio player larger than a deck of cards, no speakers larger than the circumference of their own earholes. (Larger question re Ephemeral ownership aka the Sharing Economy: Uber, WeWork, Favor, AirBnB. What long-term impact will “rent-everything, own-nothing” have?)  **NB: Wouldn’t you know it? There is a band called Lloyd Dobler Effect.

(On a related note) “Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded” — Here’s a Yogi Berra-inspired conclusion I offer you during the current age. We have at our fingertips a zillion communication modes and options, yet nobody follows up with anybody anymore. In ’21, I’ll be the nerd leaving you a voice mail.

Commence social media distancing — When in Rome, be a fountain not a drain. Focus on where you are going and do not deviate. 

Re-read this book: “Beatles ’66: The Revolutionary Year” — I’m fascinated by the three-year period (1963-66) that Paul McCartney lived with the family of his then-fiancee, actress Jane Asher. While John, George and Ringo each bought houses in the London suburbs, 21-year-old Paul stayed downtown and soaked up the culture. Most evenings he went to the theater, arts, to live music, lectures, etc.: “The Ashers were a sophisticated family. Jane and her sister, Clare, were actresses; their brother, Peter, was a pupil at the prestigious Westminster School and sang in a musical duo with his friend Gordon Waller (Peter and Gordon) that Paul would give Lennon-McCartney songs to for them to record and later write specifically for them…” This intellectually invigorating period had a major impact on who Paul would later become.

Universal solution for politics — Each candidate must provide a comprehensive and confirmable list of every album he or she owned in high school/college. Then, we’ll Know. Because there’s no hiding that Warrant LP.

Free pursuit — Getting through the slowdown has been about revisiting old favorites including the journal, reading fiction once again, and streaming the good stuff out there. Working out, Sunday ride. Boys’ hoops, and resurgent Indiana football (the best that team has been in my lifetime). And writing. And grilling.

Steak and a goddamn martini — The key to happiness, still. An undefeated classic. On par with Lennon and McCartney! It’s the dream team, the Jordan and Pippen of meal combos. But, seriously. A steak. And a goddamn martini. Yeah, baby!

Ranking the eating “holidays” —

#5 Your birthday 

#4 Tie: Easter brunch/Fourth of July 

#3 Super Bowl Sunday 

#2 Christmas 

#1 Thanksgiving

Let’s end on The “Big Kiss” — A Bugs Bunny “construct,” I love the “Big kiss on the lips” of your rival (Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Laughing Boy, etc.) before the inevitable angry chase ensues. Perhaps it’s fitting: Sidle up to the problem-child year of all years. Plant one, then RUN!