Joe Langen  

(Pumpkin Bottom)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Good but a little weary.
CALLIOPE: From what?
JOE: Watching the world series two night in a row rather than getting to be early. I was still up at the crack of dawn or before.
CALLIOPE: I didn't know you were a baseball fanatic.
JOE: I'm not. I don't usually get interested until sometime during the world series.
CALLIOPE: Anything especially fascinating to you?
JOE: Yes. Commentaries discussed hitting and pitching streaks and slumps. I saw a parallel with writing.
CALLIOPE: How so?
JOE: I wanted to write over the past week but just couldn't seem to immerse myself in it.
CALLIOPE: You have been writing.
JOE: Yes but not with much enthusiasm as much as I tried to generate some. Suddenly my boiler fired up and I'm back at it with full energy.
CALLIOPE: Another of life's mysteries?
JOE: I suppose so. I'm just glad my writing energy is back. Talk with you tomorrow.

(Wedding Conversation)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Thinking.
CALLIOPE: About what?
JOE: Yesterday I worked on search engine optimization (SEO), what it is all about and how to do it.
CALLIOPE: And?
JOE: As I was considering what to write this morning, the term "brain optimization" popped into my mind.
CALLIOPE: What do you mean by it?
JOE: How should I know. I've never heard these two words together before.
CALLIOPE: Then speculate?
JOE: Fair enough. I found a definition of SEO yesterday, "altering and improving the natural search listings that will be returned for various keywords and phrases."
CALLIOPE: Sounds rather stodgy to me. How could it apply to brains?
JOE: We could arrange our brains to respond to others by giving something important to them.
CALLIOPE: Interesting.
JOE: I think we often tell people what's important to us and forget about their needs. Something to work on. Talk with you tomorrow.

(Storm Clouds)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Wondering about suicide bombers.
CALLIOPE: What brings them to mind?
JOE: A program I happened on this morning on TV about the psychology of suicide bombers.
CALLIOPE: What was the jist?
JOE: Sometimes cells of people with similar thinking form bonds not necessarily at the behest of al Qaeda or other influence.
CALLIOPE: How do they get to suicide bombing?
JOE: They seem to form tight bonds beyond consideration of family or even strangers and depersonalize others. The group bond becomes the only thing in their life.
CALLIOPE: How does the suicide part fit it?
JOE: If they explained that, I missed it. The program stressed the importance of the group bond but did not address other motivation.
CALLIOPE: Does it make sense to you?
JOE: No. But then I'm not a suicide bomber. It's hard for me to even imagine.
CALLIOPE: Perhaps it is too complex to understand. Once people explode themselves it's too late to explore their motivation.
JOE: I agree. Another of life's mysteries at least for now. Talk with you tomorrow.

(Belly Flop Contest)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: I went to bed last night mad at myself for not accomplishing much.
CALLIOPE: How did that come about.
JOE: First I woke up tired after going to bed late Sunday night. My store of energy was nowhere to be found.
CALLIOPE: How did you spend the day?
JOE: Watching television in the morning and doing yard work in the afternoon.
CALLIOPE: Was it a total loss?
JOE: I realized this morning that it wasn't. The exercise of course was good for me. On TV I watched classic movies and studied their approach and technique. I also looked at the many commercials from a marketing point of view.
CALLIOPE: So you did accomplish something.
JOE: I didn't produce anything but did recharge my creative batteries much as a field is rejuvenated by being allowed to lie fallow for a time.
CALLIOPE: Is your field still fallow?
JOE: Not this morning. I plan to get back to work exploring several projects on the coals.
CALLIOPE: That's the spirit.
JOE: Talk with you tomorrow.

(Columbus Circle Statues)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Ready for another week?
JOE: I am.
CALLIOPE: What have you been up to over the weekend?
JOE: I started reading Oliver Sacks' book Musicophilia Tales of Music and the Brain.
CALLIOPE: What did you discover?
JOE: A provocative line toward the beginning raising a question about what use music is and why does it exist and enchant us. Then I spent Saturday evening enchanted by the Dady Brothers, Roxanne Ziegler and Irish Dancers.
CALLIOPE: To what end?
JOE: I reached the conclusion that sometimes words fail us and we must think and communicate in other ways.
CALLIOPE: As a champion of epic poetry, I must remind you that the arts were originally ways of relating our heritage, ideas and culture.
JOE: No doubt. But there is something else too. Even writing does not just convey information. It touches our souls and hearts and brings us together.
CALLIOPE: So you see the arts, including literature as a way for our minds and souls to communicate?
JOE: I do. I'm not sure I can explain it any further. Maybe it is something to contemplate without words.
CALLIOPE: Perhaps so. Let's both meditate on it.
JOE: Agreed. Talk with you tomorrow.

(Columbus Circle Sculpture)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Quite good.
CALLIOPE: What have you been up to?
JOE: My major accomplishment yesterday was completing a critique of a friend's new book. I also posted my Sliding Otter News newsletter to my mailing list although I still need to post it to my website.
CALLIOPE: Sounds like you have been busy.
JOE: I have. I also found some good information in Internet marketing and development of keywords. Steve Weber also sent me a very useful link for small business resources at http://www.monstersmallbusiness.com.
CALLIOPE: So you social networking is paying off.
JOE: It is. Also Writers Digest recently opened a site for writers at http://writersdigest.ning.com. It is already quite active and appears to be a very promising on-line community. I'm excited about it.
CALLIOPE: It's about time you got excited.
JOE: I agree. Sometimes I seem to just plod along. It's nice to have some enthusiasm.
CALLIOPE: Use it to good advantage.
JOE: I will. Talk with you on Monday.