Cellular and wi-fi connections explained in clear and simple language *Part 3 — Point, tap, talk! Cell phone calls are easy-peasy. Our voices are so clear that we seem to be standing right next to each other. Do you ever wonder how my voice travels through the phone to reach your ear? In this series, I translate complex ideas into simple language so…

Touchscreens & binary digital signals explained in clear and simple language *Part 2 — A swipe here and a jab there! We touch our devices thousands of times each day and they respond immediately, but we take this relationship for granted. We don’t even stop to ask our electronic friends-with-benefits why and how they behave the way they do. In this series, I translate…

LED phone light explained in clear and simple language * Part 1 — We are married to our mobile phones. They are our primary relationship — our needy companion. When we turn away, they chime, beep, and display notifications, desperate to lure us back. They know all about our personalities through our social media feeds and account settings, yet we know very little…

The 7 deadly sins that destroy your creativity — Abandon all hope, ye who enter writing contests, for you will be tempted away from creativity and toward lust, pride, sloth, greed, envy, gluttony, and wrath. 1. Lust

“I thought I saw a goddess” — Rashomon — Alt Text A vertical rectangle (bisected diagonally with the colors blue then peach) contains an embedded circle also split diagonally with the colors inverted, peach then blue. A white blurred outline surrounds the circle rendering it three-dimensional by implying that light reflects from its curved surface.

I murder my darlings and axe extra words — I am savage. I eliminate those I cherish most, slash the weakest, then revel in my violence. I didn’t start out this way. I was a naïve poet living in Small Town USA. I grew up with your values — show empathy, be kind, rewind. Cliches were safe with me…

How and why LITERALLY and LIKE have saturated our conversations — I am so over the word literally. Like, literally! But before we talk about the word literally let’s get a bird’s eye view. Literally (well OK, not literally). A brief overview of slang 🕑 In the roaring 1920s — food gave conversation its flavor: baloney was nonsense, and a raspberry was a disapproving sound. 🕒…

Get motivated by choosing effective role models to boost your creativity Art supplies Second-grade art class was fun! Remember the boxes of sixty-four crayons? Even their waxy whiff was enticing. Flip the top to see the bleachers filled with multi-colored cone hats. Sky-blue called out Pick Me! and we swiped thin lines…

Metaphors are gentle teachers * Part 5 — Translate complex ideas into simple language Complex ideas are best explained through similes and metaphors that place your reader in the center of the action. In this chapter, Isaac Newton discovers that blockchain security is like a constable on guard and cryptocurrency is a tadpole, with a unique number sequence etched in its translucent tail. If…