Search Results: feed
East Russell Street Feed and Seed sold everything from hanging plants and corn seed to dog pedicures and Easter chicks. I was 16 when I worked there—my first non-babysitting-or-lawnmowing-and-comes-with-a-paycheck job.
Read More[I’m starting (actually I started it a couple of weeks ago) an informal series on Instagram, where I will be recommending books on leadership—primarily military but also corporate, nonprofit, and so forth. The first book, inevitably, will be the Iliad. Doing some preliminary research I stumbled onto this post from nine years ago, before we were even doing “Writing Wednesdays.” I bring it back today, just for the literary greatness of the passages quoted from Homer. I hope our readers judge it worth their time and attention.] Was there a greater war story, ever, than Homer’s Iliad? It’s almost a…
Read More“McGuffin” is a term primarily associated with movies (Alfred Hitchcock is usually credited with inventing—or naming—it), but the concept applies with equal effectiveness to prose fiction and even nonfiction. The McGuffin is what the villain wants. The granddaddy of McGuffins is the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. Closer to home it’s the letters of transit in Casablanca, the suitcase in Pulp Fiction, the Maltese Falcon, the Ark of the Covenant. R2D2 is the McGuffin in Star Wars, according to George Lucas. Here’s the McGuffin’s origin story from a 1966 interview with Hitchcock by Francois Truffaut (also explained by Hitch in…
Read MoreFor the 14th year in a row, my kids and I drove to Pentagon City Mall for a picture with Santa. Now 15 and 11, they know the fat guy in the red suit is an echo of their childhood. Still there, and still nice, and still happiness-and-laughter inducing, but not the same as before the veil was lifted. How could it be the same? Once you know, there’s no going back.
Read MoreFrom the Archives: This one is from December 31, 2010—almost eight years ago. Not much has changed, other than the social media piece, which we’ve still not jumped into whole hog, preferring to invest with readers one on one, rather than relying on social media to connect us. Takes more time, but it’s worth it—and the relationships will last longer than Facebook. There’s only one change that really matters. We said goodbye to Carroll LeFon, a.k.a “Neptunus Lex.” His was one of the first blogs I followed and then I had the honor of corresponding with him about books and family.…
Read MoreThe simple things don’t require connections to people who have already “made it.” Last week I touched on the power of simple hand-written notes. Some of the responses I’ve received have been along the lines of not being able to obtain the contact information of well-known, “made” individuals or not physically being able to do the handwriting.
Read MoreI made a mistake this week. I was introduced to a few dozen new people. I attempted to correct the mistake. I was introduced to more new people.
Read MoreShawn Coyne: Hi and welcome to Part Five of The War of Art Mini-Course. My name is Shawn Coyne and I am the publisher of The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. All right. Let’s say we understand that everything we’ve talked about in these first four episodes. We know what Resistance is. We understand its own presence in our own lives. We’ve seen how it’s beaten us into submission in the past. We totally understand overcoming and combating it by “turning pro” and we understand how important it is to master our own craft. So at that point, where…
Read More(Past is present. With a December 6, 2013 date, this post is a little over four years old. The drones haven’t replaced humans yet, but Amazon is still pushing distribution, with its announcement that Amazon is going to enter UPS’ and FedEx’s space. O’Reilly has continued to change things up since this writing, but is still leading the way. More cultivated subscription models, too.) “Don’t major in the minor.” Mellody Hobson said it, but I’ve thought it these last few days, since watching Jeff Bezos on 60 Minutes this past Sunday. In case you haven’t heard, Bezos unveiled a prototype…
Read MoreFREE MINI COURSE
Start with this War of Art [27-minute] mini-course. It's free. The course's five audio lessons will ground you in the principles and characteristics of the artist's inner battle.