Trattoria Bordino - Florence, Italy

Here on Beyond the Rhetoric, I put up the occasional blog post with valuable lessons from the unlikeliest of sources. These usually draw upon both real people like Conan O’Brien and fictional characters like Danny Tanner. Well, Meg Tripp has taken this idea to another level describing the many things she learned from coffee. Yes, even inanimate objects can provide us with key wisdom, like how strength has nothing to do with size. Compare some wicked espresso with the bland Dunkin coffee and you’ll get the idea.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but let’s not forget that a thousand words can paint many more pictures too. To this end, Kristen Lamb reminds us that writers are magicians, because “writing is the only art form with the ability to evoke all the senses.” Through the power of carefully crafted words, writers are able to “breathe life into immortal creatures” and “characters so rich that others don’t want to let them go.” This applies equally to fiction and non-fiction.

And on the subject of writing, my good friend Bob Buskirk recently interviewed me about my business and how I go about my day as a professional freelance writer. The interview covers how I decided on freelance writing as a career, what this job has enabled me to do, what tools I use to make my job easier, and both the best and more challenging aspects of the work that I do. If you’ve wanted to peer into my process, it’s worth a read.

We’ve heard the old adage that you should do what you love and the money will follow. Most of us feel that the world really doesn’t work that way, but not Tom Morkes. In fact, he illustrates how the “pay what you want” model can actually help you double your income. I’m not convinced that “giving it away for free” is necessarily the best business model for most folks, but there are several examples where it has proven very successful. What do you think?

Finally, we congratulate Stacey Robinsmith on the launch of his new blog, Eating in the Burbs. One of his first posts there discusses whether or not municipalities should be replacing the ornamental trees with fruit-bearing trees instead. If you’re going to have trees on public property, they may as well serve a purpose beyond just looking nice, right? Is this idea ripe for the picking or will it create more problems than it’s solving?