Happy Birthday, Bailey!

Feed me.

Bailey has learned that being the DogSon of a writer has certain liabilities. A major one:  Dad sits still behind the computer for hours at a time... That's OK when Bailey is sleeping, but when it's time to eat or play! Bailey knows his responsibility: climb into dad's lap and slap the paw down on the keyboard. 


Enough's enough already–Woof.  

Thanks, Aunt Diane!

Bailey received a wonderful gift from Rich's UMaine colleague, Diane Jackson. Nothing like a new toy... especially one he can not destroy. "Woof-you," Aunt Diane!

from Natalie Goldberg

"Writers live twice. They go along with their regular life, are as fast as anyone in the grocery store, crossing the street, getting dressed for work in the morning. But there's another part of them that they have been training. The one that lives everything a second time. That sits down and sees their life again and goes over it. Looks at the texture and detail." -Natalie Goldberg in Writing Down the Bones.

Moose Hunt: Road trip to Rangeley

In search of moose, we took to the roads and headed up to Rangeley and what's called the Height of Land... the highest point where cars can get to.Rangeley is a summer and winter tourist town in the mountains about 40 minutes from Rumford.

We had burgers at a sports pub and then on the trip back, we saw two lonely moose on the edge of the road... a big male and smaller female. Unfortunately, the darkness didn't allow for photos and when Bailey started barking, the poor moose took off like blowing balls through the woods.

Bailey and Cousin Zellie play with the boys

Bailey had some fun with his cousin Zellie and his brothers up at Black Mountain of Maine. For more photos click on this sentence.

Companion WorkBook to Writing on the Bus

Here's the proof cover of The Athlete's Workbook... many book cover attempts later. We'll see whether this one makes the cut when it arrives in proof form. This the workbook is for all sports and both genders, it got tricky trying to include photographs. Click on the picture to get a closer look.

Stay in the Chair... keep writing.

Word Web

In the companion book to Writing on the Bus--a workbook with journal prompts and a training log for athletes--I suggest using Word Webs when an athlete is stuck on a topic. Here's a model I created using the prompt "When you were young, who did you admire as an athlete and why?" My answer, my big brother Fred.

"Bailey Chilling on a Saturday" by Simon

Over the hump

Over the hump

There comes a time when a writer gets over the hump of a project. That happened today with my new book called The Athlete's Workbook. It needs to be said that every word, line, paragraph, section, and chapter has a "hump" of some sort. But a book hump, that's a big muthah. So, I'm at page 102 and rolling. This workbook/journal will take less time and effort than Writing on the Bus, but I have a sense that the book will prove to be a vital tool and an important model for coaches, athletes, and sports psychologists. Here's hoping... and here's to Hump Day!

Who is that character?

In responding to a writing student of mine today, I made the following suggestion about helping her analyze the description of her main character Marie:

Print out the first chapter and take a yellow highlighter and highlight the descriptive passages and words about Marie. Has the narrator done a good job of helping readers come to know her? If you think your description of Marie is not as strong as it could be, write a separate character sketch of her and add a few of those traits into the first 25 pages.

Why we write...

A lot of writers live to engage ideas and work with words. Many of us like being alone with our thoughts. As a young writer, the possibility of signing autographs turned me on (don’t I know how lame this sounds). Another reason to write: some day a friend might write a thoughtful review of your book.

New book

Kind of fun: my new book's resource website was cited by New York Times Bestselling author Daniel Coyle, author of Lance Armstrong's War; Hardball: A Season in the Projects; and The Talent Code. He writes, "Notebooks. Writing stuff down is a good way to increase planning, reflection, and understanding; it lets us think our way past obstacles and see ourselves clearly. Check out writingathletes.com for some good ideas and tools." To read Coyle's blog and see the comments, just click on this sentence. The fun thing is, after five days my book's resource website has experienced nearly 2000 hits from readers. The graph above shows the first surge.

Got snow? Got revision?

My friend and colleague Jane Wellman-Little at the university said Bailey looks like he has goth make-up on in this picture. Truth is, he just finished playing sno-frisbee with the two boys. He won. Hands down. He had them diving into snow banks and running here and there. Large and in charge on this Sunday in January.

For his writer, I started an article for an educational journal last summer and submitted it. The inevitable critique landed on my computer screen just before the holidays... Merry Revision, Mr. Kent.

It's interesting to read the critiques by reviewers. Usually, the writer receives 3 different sets of comments from 3 different readers. They don't know the writer and the writer doesn't get to know the readers... it's called "blind review" for a peer reviewed journal. Here are a few sentences from each review:

Reviewer 1: This is a very interesting manuscript. While is does not fully comply with traditional journal writing practice and APA style, it is thoughtful and generally well documented.

Reviewer 2: The article you submitted is very difficult to follow and the organization of its contents need improvement. You seem to be sharing the results of a study you completed; however, your writing fails to provide a review of the literature, your methodology, etc. It is suggested that you review the APA Manual (6^th edition) to determine the type of article you are presenting (see pp. 9-11).

Reviewer 3: This is an interesting article—the author provides an engaging narrative on Athletes’ Journals. However, the article in some sections lacks clarity and tends to drift away from the central focus on the key participant (Charlie). The narrative style is unique and is refreshing, but would be better served by a more clear and concise outline that provides a bit more context on Charlie followed by a discussion of the various elements contributing to this writing outlet.

****

After a conversation with the journal's editor, I revised the piece over the next ten days. It's interesting, every writer goes through the same process and each time this request for revision happens we're all just a bit surprised it's happening yet again. You'd think we'd get it right the first time... but that's just not how writing works.

New snow, happy dog

Bailey loves the snow, but loves running off leash even more. Jan captured this photo when he took Bailey on a hike in the woods behind our home.

Running the back woods....

Simon snapped this photo over the weekend.

With the lack of snow, Bailey and I have been running the back woods these past few weeks. He loves being out in the mountains. With the national cross-country ski championships being held in Rumford, we haven't been to the ski area much this past 10 days. But, the hundreds of miles of trails in the back yard sure do a great job of providing space for a run. Even Simon and Jan have taken to the mountains out back.

Happy Pup... the boys and their dog

I remember my own dog Tippy when I was a boy. Oldest brother Allen says he lay Tippy as a puppy on my mother's swollen tummy during the summer of 1953, and she awoke thinking the little furball was a skunk.... white tipped tale and face. Back then, Tippy was just a part of the family and I think he was just like my brothers and sister... just there. But now, watching Jan and Simon with Bailey reminds me that boys and dogs just go together. It's fun to watch. Lucky Bailey...

Bailey, The Guard Dog

Bailey watches the chimney for Santa!

Bailey Guides Rich to Finish Line

Bailey stayed beneath Rich's writing chair just long enough to finish his new book, Writing on the Bus. To view the book's website, just click on this sentence.

Writing Perfect

Luiz and Bailey at UMF

After yesterday's UMF soccer match vs. Johnson State (Vermont) with former exchange student Luiz Gustavo Ristow. Exciting match with a 3-1 result to UMF. Sixteen Rumford fans attended the match to support Luiz and his teammates. Luiz played a terrific match at midfield... his distribution to teammates was excellent and his attacks into the red zone created havoc for Johnson State. Well played, Luiz!

Running Black Mountain of Maine's cross-country trail.

This morning, I finished what I suspect, and hope, will be the final edit of Writing on the Bus. To celebrate, extra BBQ chips for lunch and four Oreo cookies... then, a run on Black Mountain of Maine's cross-country trail with Bailey, the editing hound. Now, I wait for the final proof and the cover draft.

The boys and me on Bubble Rock Mountain on Mt. Desert Island

What we miss...

What we miss...the book came back in a pdf composite draft. I and a copy editor from the publishing house had both been over a previous draft a few weeks back. But when I went over the draft this time, I noticed that the typesetter had left out the conclusion from the Contents page and that the conclusion had been backed into the penultimate chapter of the book, an FAQ section. More than several eyes had reviewed this manuscript for issues--and we found some in both the first and second drafts. But a whole chapter being left out …combined with another chapter...? It just goes to show what most of us already know: the more we look at something we think we know—but don't—the more it looks like it’s supposed to be... Uh? Complicated, mysterious, and difficult... that's writing. 

Our friend Minga

Our neighbor-friend Minga is going through some difficult times and we're thinking about her.... After this summer's bout with Bailey and his neck injury, I experienced the deep emotional connection between pets and owners. We're thinking of Minga's brother Bapu and her moms, Kate and Gayle. Here's to good medicine!

Climbing with the family

Bailey's getting better and better off leash as we climb mountains. i keep him on leash for the first 30-45 minutes, and once he has tired out, I let him off. So far, so good. Oh... though today, he rolled in some kind of poop.

Rain Walking with His Brother Simon

We've been spanked by wet weather the past few days/week. Yesterday, horrific thunderstorms tore through out town and took down a number of trees. Between Irene, the down-graded hurricane, and the thunderstorms, we've been hammered by the weather.

New Book... More Sleeping

Bailey has once again taken up his editorial position under my office chair as I write a companion book for my forthcoming book Writing on the Bus: Using Athletic Team Notebooks and Journals to Advance Learning and Performance in Sports.

Brothers

I've neglected this blog for another: Bailey's Brothers. I have to say that Bailey loves his new brothers. He loves playing with them in the house and waking them up in the morning time. They enjoy him as well. I feel pretty lucky to have these three "sons."

There's something unique about a boy and his dog... and in our case, a dog and his boys.

Weld Romp

Bailey's new brother Simon challenged him to a romp n Weld during our family weekend. The day ended with a movie and--well, what boys and dogs do after a long day of play.

Bailey lands a GodDogFather!

Bailey's brother Alex Szeps from Sweden will now serve as Bailey's God Dog Father. Birthdays, Christmas/ Hanukkah, special days... Bailey really just wants an RV for Road Trips (<--click here for preferred model)! Thanks, Alex!

GodMum & Bailey

Victoria arrived today and Bailey enjoyed meeting his GodMum once again.

Hiking with Bailey

We've had a slew of visitors this summer. Just last week we had a great hike on White Cap Mountain here in western Maine with two former exchange students and our new brother, Jan. White Cap is a just 15 minutes from home.