inspiration from robots

Recently a lot of people have been sending me cartoons. I hope this trends continues :) In particular, a friend of mine has been getting me hooked on We The Robots. One from last week had me doubled over laughing (at work, no less) and heading off to the color printer to make an addition to my cube wall collection:

If the text in the first panel is too small for you, it reads, "In the tradition of all the great poets of the past, I shall take my inspiration from nature." There are certainly times when I have felt like this.

I've had the great privilege of having two interns with me this summer. Several times over the past weeks we've had great discussions about writing and it has felt pretty good. It's been a while since I last rolled the words of writing across my tongue, or ran the craft of writing through my fingers like ribbons. They've been asking me for writing advice (when did I become old enough to be on the giving end of advice?) and I've been reminded of some of the great advice given to me over the years. Two things stand out.

Years ago, my friend Idelette reminded me of the need for practice when she asked me simply "What do you call a writer who doesn't write?" I've also been reminded of Professor Szabo who told us "Scientists will tell you that the world is made up of atoms but they're wrong. The world is made up of stories." There is so much truth in that -- if you want to know the world, if you want to really understand it, ask people their stories. Learn their whys and wherefores and you will learn about yourself and about worlds you never knew.

Plato wrote, "He who tells the stories shapes society." I have that pinned to my cubicle wall -- that and a quote I found years ago that says "In ancient Rome, the name of the person who organized a gladiatorial fight to death was Editor." -- not far from the cartoon about robots.