I traveled home over Labor Day weekend and surprised my mom for her 75th birthday. My niece was in the right place at the right time and snapped this action shot. It’s a little tough to see because it’s a phone pic, but you get the idea. No amount of money could have made my mom happier in that moment.
It’s good to remember times like this as we all struggle with our individual rat races day in and day out. Money buys a lot of things, but not hearts and minds.
I also took advantage of the long weekend to visit with all my Rochester pals and have a few beers and wings at our favorite local dive, Mo’s Mulberry Street. We enjoyed a long night of conversation and catching up. I had a blast, didn’t get much sleep, and returned to Florida exhausted but happy.
Currently reading:
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, David Sedaris (one of my favorite authors)
A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (re-reading one of my all-time favorite novels)
Spook Country, William Gibson (one of the brilliant SF minds of my generation)
Writing:
For you folks writing and creating out there, who may be struggling with a project the way I’m struggling with my novel right now, the great American filmmaker Billy Wilder once said, “You are as good as the best thing you’ve ever done.” Remember that. None of us are at our best every single day. Life just doesn’t work that way. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t any good. Sometimes it’s easier to get down on ourselves than it is to get up. Success comes from continued effort, trying and trying, over and over again. We won’t hit our best if we don’t keep working at it. We owe it to ourselves to rock on!
