Black America? Tune-in to CNN

CNN Trains Its Lens on Race
By FELICIA R. LEE
CNN explores how black people are feeling, thinking and doing in the two-part “Black in America” series.
“Black Americans think there is a black America,” Ms. O’Brien said in the interview. “It’s a metaphor for a chunk of experiences. Every black person will tell you that white people [...]

Riehl’s Writer Story on “How We Became Writers”

Joel Heffner is a man of many projects. One of his really fun ones is a site called “How We Became Writers: This is how we did it.”
He’s just posted my story of how I became a writer which includes my poem “Scribbler,” from “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary.”

You can read the entire post by [...]

The Big Write…for KIDS!…Enter now.

Students! Want to enter the annual writing contest, The Big Write? Get started now. Submission deadline is Sept. 12.
The three top winners in each of two grade level categories: (1) 4th and 5th graders, and (2) 6th through 8th graders, will win $100 for 1st place, $50 for second place, and $25 for 3rd [...]

“Foyle’s War” Shows War Wounds at Home

What is Foyle’s War? To uphold human values in a time of war, in this case World War II Britain, when those values are put aside in the fighting of the war for the sake of the greater good. If it’s all right to kill in war, is it all right to kill at home?
Detective [...]

TLC’s “The Singing Office” features my young friend Annemieke Marie Farrow in “Animal Shelter vs. School Bus Drivers”

Annemieke Marie Farrow, Master of the Portable Portfolio
Today at 9 p.m. CST (my time!) for 60 minutes check out:
The Singing Office
Animal Shelter vs. School Bus Drivers
Joey Fatone (N’SYNC) and Mel B. (Spice Girls) are on a fun mission to discover hidden talent in workplaces across America. Mel B. is searching at the SPCALA while [...]

Family Stories Tip

Family stories do not have to be diary-like stories. They can be word ideas.

Little boy in diaper.

Icecream cone.
There, now: don’t you get vivid images and memories from these phrases?

Riehl’s poetry & music on www.blogtalkradio.com/AuthorsRead

Old Time Radio

Like three other friends of mine, I’m now, Saturday, 11 a.m., to appear on Blogtalk Radio’s Authors Read program hosted by Lillian Brummet (Conscious Discussions talk radio).
Folks, this is a great resource and readily available to any of you authors out there who wanna read from your books!
For my show, what I’m [...]

“Grow Easy”

Easy grow.
Grow easy.
Go easy.
How can we grow easier in our lives and our skins?

Space Design Meets Life Design Meets Spiritual Practice: Outer, Inner, Secret, and Innermost Secret

African goddess mask emerging from Botswana basket…greeting and welcoming guests as they enter the Goddess Gathering Room. —JGR
The phrase “Outer, Inner, Secret, and Innermost Secret” comes from a practice sequence in Tibeten Buddhism.
OUTER
In the design of space in my apartment, the Outer room in the front room…what most folks would call the “living room.” [...]

Riehlife Mississippi Floodstage Series Concludes with 12th post: nonegenarian looks back on lifetime of flooding

From July 4th to July 12th I’ve posted 12 entries written by Erwin A. Thompson giving a historical perspective on the Mississippi River floodstages through the years.
I sure hope you’ll have a chance to look through these as a series. It’s been a pleasure posting them. Hats off to my father, Erwin A. Thompson for [...]