The Educated Emotion

One of the hardest things to do is start fresh, start anew. As an entrepreneur, you will inevitably find yourself in situations where friends, family, mentors, former coworkers...are simply unable to help. That is because you are doing something different, something that has not been done before.  A Template For Life   In an excerpt from a poem I wrote in 2010, "Blank Pages and Empty Rooms" I weigh the pros and cons of a blank page. I was raised on templates. There is a way to cook, to bake, to love, to study, to be a lady. As an adult, that has been expanded to include a way to eat, walk, talk, write a contract, and even begin a business. As much as I complained about all these "rules" of society, I realized recently that I had also been comforted by this structure.  As an entrepreneur, I have had to reexamine my fears of the blank page. In the planning stages, I still had templates to rely on - business books, business plans, financial sheet...

Register for Classes Happy Monday! After being swept away with my new bundle this year, I am stirring up a little bit of action. I hope to have a full set of offerings this coming Spring. In the meantime, I have some classes and activities that might be of interest. Note: All times provided are EST. Nov. 1 - Tru Story Blog Reloaded With renewed focus and content, I am finally ready to relaunch the Tru Story Blog. Expect honest conversation about success, failure, entrepreneurship, social justice, community and more.  Location: WORLDWIDE at   www.trustorysuccess.com Nov. 1 - #NaNoWriMo2016  National Novel Writing Month and the Writer's Digest PAD (Poem a Day) Challenge Location: United States at www.nanowrimo.org or http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/2016-november-pad-chapbook-challenge-day-1 When: Nov. 1 -Nov. 30 Nov. 5 - Remembrance Project Author and Producer, H. Buchanan, will launch The Remembrance Project Location: Carr C...

End of Summer  Have you ever noticed how a slogan will start to be passed around in advertising for a while? As a kid, I remember all the stores that were open late in the fall would call their sales "midnight madness" or something to that effect.  A few years ago the buzz phrase was "Christmas in July". This year is no different. I have heard Labor Day termed "the unofficial last day of Summer" more than a handful of times this year. It doesn't have quite the same charm as Christmas in July but it does give one pause. Ending Summer when living in the Midwest is quite a sobering thought. But guess what? In Michigan, Summer isn't the only exciting season around here! Fall in Michigan means amusement parks without blistering heat, cider mill and maple tree tours, and...the ARTS!! One way to verify that fall is here is with the Kerrytown Bookfest happening this Sunday. John F. Buckley The writing and poetry community is definitely read...

Ann Arbor, Michigan has made it to the top of many lists as the best place to live for women, bicyclists, and even dating. Recently, Ann Arbor has made it to the top of a not-so-noble list: The Laziest Cities list.  My first reaction was that of disbelief. But, then I read how the list was derived. For instance, locals like to begin their day at an average time of 8:17 a.m., which is later than most cities in the United States. My guess is that Ann Arbor's appearance on this list is a byproduct for some of the other lists it has topped. Locals like to carpool, bike, walk, and jog to work. Also, there is a lot of support for the arts. Between 2004 and 2005 I witnessed thousands of people lose their jobs and careers after a major pharmaceutical company left town. The estimated loss to the local arts community was nearly $400,000. This is a combination of the loss in funding directly given by the company as well as the decrease in highly paid professionals with time and...

Veterans' Day, unlike Memorial Day, is for all (this world and the next) those who sacrificed their freedom at any point to secure ours. Whether your office is closed in observance of Veterans Day or it is business as usual, it would be grievous not to take a moment out to show a little gratitude to those who patriots who exhibit their loyalty every day for our safety. Feel free to take a moment to post names and service, photographs, stories, or poems about your loved ones in the comments! Thanks, #lesgosocial

Gotcha! There is no poetry tax (yet). This was my first year adding self-employment income to my tax preparation. The IRS estimates that small business owners spend about 13 hours preparing taxes. That includes times spent collecting and compiling receipts, reading up on new tax codes and laws, as well as actual preparation time. I did not log my time, but I am pretty sure I spent about double that amount of time preparing. Now that I have e-filed and my peers are running around on tax day, I can breathe again. And, by personality, if I am breathing I am smiling. So, in lieu of Annual Poetry Month and Tax Day , I thought I might share a few of my favorite tax poems: The Eiffel Tower is the Empire State  Building after taxes. Anonymous. In "Thoughts on the Business of Life, Forbes, 12/29/97. The more you earn, the less you keep, And now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to take, If the tax collector hasn't got it before I wake. Ogden N...