Like love and other things, writing lessons are where you find them. For example, want to read some good dialogue, and learn from it? Look no further than my favorite coffee mug.

The mug, which was my favorite Christmas present last year, features text from UrbanDictionary.com.  To illustrate the phrase “moo point,” there’s this dialogue from an episode of Friends:

Joey: All right, Rach. The big question is, “does he like you?” All right? Because if he doesn’t like you, this is all a moo point.

Rachel: Huh. A moo point?

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My friend Richie from up the street asks me, “When do you find time to write?”

“Late at night is the second best time,” I tell him, “for me anyway.” He waits for the rest of my answer.  ”But my favorite time is before sunrise.  Five a.m.  While you’re still sleeping.”

Richie cringes just at the sound of  ”five a.m.”  ”You set your alarm?” he asks.

“No, I just wake up some mornings and know it’s time to write. I awake the hound (Simone, our Italian greyhound) and we go downstairs together. She goes back to sleep on the sofa and I pour a large mug of Kona coffee and head for the keyboard.

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Now this is different. There are half a dozen topics ping-ponging in my mind, but instead I read through the menu of choices on the screen and begin to stare at "Add New. [...]
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So there you are, beginning to read a new novel, or write a new story, and you ask yourself just how much sweetness you want. If you ask me, I’m going to answer “a [...]
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When I first saw that insurance commercial where the sophisticated caveman, upset by Geico’s slogan (“So easy a caveman can do it”), reminds modern [...]
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On Wednesday I had the opportunity to talk with middle school students at Island Pacific Academy (IPA) in Kapolei as part of their Career Day. Thank you, Cami Nih [...]
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One fast desktop computer with all-in-one printer: $1,750. One ream of paper for the printer: $2.85.  One cup of freshly brewed Kona coffee next to the computer: priceless.

This is my writing world. Throw in some good music coming from the computer speakers and I’m ready to write.  At this moment I’m listening to “Java Jive,” first from the Ink Spots, and then the Manhattan Transfer version.  “I like coffee, I like tea, I like the java jive and it likes me.”  The tempo slow and easy, telling you to take your time, enjoy the journey, don’t get too buzzed.

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I sometimes ask my piano students what parts of the body we use to play the piano. Their answers begin with the obvious one (fingers, hands) and then move on t [...]
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A man and a woman sat across from each other at a corner table in a small neighborhood restaurant. Each one held a script and studied it, not speaking or looking [...]
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If I watch one more rerun of Seinfeld I swear I’m going to turn into one of the characters. I think I’ll be Jerry.  He seems the least neurotic.  Kramer is the happiest in the group, but being Cosmo Kramer would be risky business most days.

George and Elaine? Really? Don’t even go there, although the time that Elaine got to be boss for a while and talked on the phone while she smoked a cigar with her feet up on the desk is memorable.

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