I came across the text of a graduation speech given at Stanford University this month by Steve Jobs. Here’s the link. He includes three stories, one about dropping out of college, the second about being fired from Apple, and the third about his brush with death.
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I’m not a fan of hot weather. Even what others consider warm weather. I’ve always believed it was a mistake that I was born in a place where it never even snows. I love to knit with wool, and regret having to put away my long sleeves and sweaters.

Since I’m not likely to change the fact that summer rolls around every year, I try to focus on the pleasant things about summer. One of the best things about the warmer season is the food.
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I pay a lot of attention to my dreams. Often they’re no more than mental regurgitation of a day’s events, or nonsense, if I recall them at all. But some stand out in my mind and provide important insights. Do you ever act on your dreams?

This morning I dreamed I met a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning author. The author in the dream doesn’t exist in real life, as far as I know. He let me take a look at his latest prize. It was a large silver disk, nothing close to what is actually presented to winners, I’m sure. (more…)

Excuse me, but I think your fault line just bumped into my fault line.

It feels like earthquake season. Yesterday’s quake, so soon after the previous one, and fast on the heels of a little tsunami scare for California and Oregon, make me wonder what the earth has in store for us next.

In case you’d like to check up on seismic activity anywhere in the world, I’ve linked online resources below.

Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS)

USGS Earthquake Activity World Map

USGS California and Nevada Earthquake Activity Map

I’ve noticed a hush over the Internet lately that gives me the idea people are sick and tired of bad news. My desire for a lift sent me in search of news that isn’t always gloom and doom. Do you ever feel the need for that? Something that focuses on the world but doesn’t bring you down? A few sources advertise positive news, but most use the term “good news” and look at things primarily from a religious viewpoint, which isn’t what I was looking for.

I’m a romantic who likes to think this news simply makes the idea of chemistry between two people a scientifically verifiable fact. “See? We weren’t just being silly when we fell in love, honey.” But a potion? Scientifically engineered trust? I have trouble with that. Maybe I’ve read too much George Orwell. (more…)

If you’re an aspiring writer, and even if you’re not but want to know more about the possible randomness of publishing today, I urge you to hop over to historical mystery author Eric Mayer’s Byzantine Blog to read his series of blog entries about Michael Allen’s On the Survival of Rats in the Slush Pile, beginning with Eric’s post, Considering Rats in the Slush Pile.

I recently read The Writer’s Mentor, by Cathleen Rountree, which has already become a favorite resource for me, one of those books on writing I’ll keep on my shelf and go back to again and again.

The Writer’s Mentor isn’t a book full of how-to tips and writing exercises. It’s more about the writing life, and how to keep your creative self nourished. I found it vaguely reminiscent of Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, but more specific to writers, and without structured exercises like morning pages and artist dates. Aspiring writers are instead encouraged to find their own best patterns of writing and creative renewal.
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Return To Me with Minnie Driver, David Duchovny and Bonnie Hunt, is a tale of what happens when a heart transplant recipient accidentally meets her donor’s husband. I wasn’t sure if I’d like this movie, but it’s sensitive, intelligent and romantic. No ghosts or spooks involved. You may need a box of tissues. It’s light on humor, heavy on the better side of human nature, and has a distinct healing affect on the viewer. Bonnie Hunt directed and wrote the screenplay with Don Lake. It’s from a few years ago—2000, released on DVD in 2001.

Postscript May 23: I watched this DVD again last night, and it was even better the second time around. The humor stood out for me more and I enjoyed that a lot. Perhaps on the first viewing I was caught up in the emotion of the theme. James Belushi and the late Carroll O’Connor, also in the cast, were hilarious.

Postscript July 28, 2007 This post has been edited from its original form because the news story it linked to moved or became unavailable at the URL I posted. Some of the comments refer to that news article, which mentioned that some people in India who saw another movie (not Return to Me) grew suspicious of transplants for religious or superstitious reasons.

Vikk Simmons at Down the Writer’s Path asks Why write every day?

I read yesterday in The Writer’s Mentor that Mark Twain began writing the story of Joan of Arc six times over the course of twelve years. He said, “There are some books that refuse to be written . . . only because the right form for the story does not present itself.” Of course, he didn’t let that not-ready-to-be-written story stop him. According to the site linked under his name, Twain published nine works including Life on the Mississippi, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer Abroad, and Pudd’nhead Wilson during the twelve-year period prior to Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc.

Regarding the need to write every day, the only question a writer in that situation ought to ask is: Do I want to write? If the answer is yes, even though what you think you want to write may be stuck for now, that doesn’t mean you should stop writing. (more…)

In spite of occasionally dreaming of winning the lottery, I confess I seldom bother to buy tickets. But I’ve noticed those lottery numbers inside fortune cookies, and I’ve wondered if they’re worth a try. According to this report, Fortune cookies lucky for 110 lottery winners, they are. Well, sometimes.