Evolve

The word change has many meanings–make different, stop and start new, what’s left in your pocket.  Evolve is a better word for the flow of life because change is often viewed as abrupt. This blog is evolving.

I am a writer. Have been since I was a kid. Writing is an active escape. You can solve any problem on the page. Writing about writing, well, it’s helpful to new writers but does nothing for the writer and it’s a lot of work.

I am a writer with life experience and that is what this blog will evolve to reflect. I did some rebranding and changed my masthead photo and the tag line to Live Life Write. It used to be Practice Writing.

About the blogger

Born in Riverview, Michigan, I spent the first 30 years of my life observing life in the this Detroit suburb. Wayne State Univerisity on the pay-as-you-go plan was the next evolution. While working full-time for a company that customized cars, I attended Wayne State in the evenings. I will never forget the night on top of the Science Building in January in Downtown Detroit. This was after working an 8 hour day. It was 26 degrees with wind. We were observing Jupiter and were suppose the calculate it’s distance from Earth. My interest in astronomy was lost that night.

I took an evening acting class to help learn about character. One of the requirements was to see a play. I fell in love with the Theatre. My original plan was to study literary writing and journalism, but finding some of the professors in the English Department a little frightening and seeing a wonderful production of “Cyrano,” at the Hillberry Theatre; changed all that.

A million stories flood my mind. So many moments that changed me.

Wayne State lead to getting into graduate school. I honestly thought I’d end up at the University of Iowa or some place like it. But I got into The Actors Studio Drama School at the New School Univerisity in New York. My first reaction was that I couldn’t go. If not for the encouragement of my professors at Wayne State, I would not have gone.

Life evolved. One day I was living in the small suburb of Detroit and the next I was living in New York City, Upper West Side, Manhattan; 115th and Broadway. The greatest experience of my life. It took me one week to become a New Yorker and even though I don’t live in the City today, I will always be a New Yorker. I think I always was. A million stories.

I got my Master degree in Playwriting, became a member of the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, taught playwriting, read scripts for several theatre companies and many, many other things. I lived there for 15 years.

Evolution. My mother died and a few years later my Dad had to have a mid-thigh leg amputation. I felt it was my duty to go home. Everything was falling on my sister who lived the closest. I was doing okay in New York, but the crush of student debt prevented me taking some of the chances I needed to, to be a professional writer. I wasn’t doing well enough financially to do my fair share by sending money home. I used to joke, “If it’s a great honor and involves no money, I’ll win it.”

Returning to the house were I grew-up was the hardest evolution. The best I can say after 8 years is I’ve accepted it.

I inherited my Dad’s Standard Poodle since he could no longer walk him and fell in love with this breed. They are not a dog for everyone, but Merlin made living with my father bearable. He was a dog and a hobby. I learned to groom him myself and got pretty good at it. The one thing I missed in New York was a dog of my own.

I had to learn to cook because my Dad was supposed to be on a diabetic diet. I thought I’d write about that experience on a blog called, “The Rube Cook.” It became clear after the 7th recipe I was no longer a rube. Not to mention the hours it took to photograph the food and get the instructions correct. The blog is on blogspot. Not the best platform for recipes.

Eventually, I came to WordPress and started a writing a blog.

Writing About Writing

There is so much more to write about than writing; and there are so many writers who do it better than me. Writer’s have to live life and that is what I hope to show with this blog. Yes, I will impart my writing wisdom–try to stop me. But I will also include stories about how I got here. Entertaining stories, I hope. It will include informative articles about a variety of topics that are researched and, where possible, experts are consulted. You will meet my Dad, my sister, my brother, my friends my dogs and my cats. I will share recipes because a writer’s gotta eat and may get into topics like leash laws, dog training, Poodle grooming and being a good neighbor. And every now and than I may drop an episode of a fiction story.

What is your evolution? Let me know in the comments below.