Stone Point Creative

11/19/2015

It's all about stories, folks.

11/11/2015

This is one of the reasons I love editing as much as writing.

11/08/2015

01/26/2015

A new post!

As is probably clear to everyone by now, English (and particularly American English) is a waking nightmare. Words with similar spellings are pronounced differently: cough, tough, bough, through, and though all end in -ough, yet they don't sound anything alike. Heteronyms (also known as heterographs…

09/30/2014

The best part of my job? Telling the story of someone who's changing the world for the better. Meet Jacqueline Barrientos, MD, whose research has led to a revolutionary new treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Papyri written around 1600 BC describe various cases, with one concluding that ?there is no treatment.? But there?s hope for patients diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia ( CLL )?a cancer that attacks the blood and bone marrow?thanks to Jacqueline Barrientos, MD, who isn?t intimidated by the…

09/11/2014

Reflections on 9/11.

It's September 11 again. Thirteen years after The Day That Everything
Changed.

Once more, I'm remembering where I was when I first heard the news,
reliving the nightmare that unfolded on the television screen.

How I stood in my boss's office with my colleagues, watching CNN on his
compact TV in mute horror as the first tower collapsed. All of us crying
out, in a single, anguished voice, when the second began to crumble.

Seeing smoke from the Pentagon drift past the Washington Monument, which
was visible from my cubicle window. Frantically trying to contact family
and friends in New York, and the recorded message telling me all lines were
busy. My mother, who finally got through on my office line, imploring me to
go home. The frenzied exodus from downtown D.C. as Metro shut down. I was
ferried out of the city by a co-worker I barely knew, who delivered me to
the Suitland Metro station so I could get my car and drive home. (Thanks,
Vanessa, wherever you are

09/08/2014

Observations on the writing process: my latest blog post.

“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second
greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The
Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now,
while they’re happy.” — Dorothy Parker

Long before I ever thought to ask someone to pay me for it, I was a writer.
Stories, essays, songs ... writing has always been integral to my being.
There's something about choreographing words in an elegant dance — to
convey a thought, evoke a place, elicit an emotion — that's gratifying and
soul-filling.

It's also a colossal pain in the tuchus.

I find that the act of writing unfolds in several stages — a variation on
the Five Stages of Grief. And because my passion for the written word is
exceeded only by my love of Broadway musicals, I've assigned a song title
to each stage. (Humor me.)

08/22/2014

Check out my latest blog post! http://www.stonepointcreative.com/a-labyrinth-of-perplexities/its-a-girl

My first step-granddaughter was born last week. As I held her in my arms, one thought kept ricocheting around my brain:  You're barely a day old, kid, and you're already behind the eight ball. No matter what that tiny, squinchy-faced bundle of cute (let's call her Abigail) does or how much she accom…

08/15/2014

Check out my latest story! Adefemi Betiku says Project L/EARN "changed my life"; after talking with him, I have no doubt he's going to change lives, too. http://ow.ly/AmFb0

Adefemi Betiku, a Doctor of Physical Therapy student, began forming a deeper interest in the issues black men face, especially in education, at...

08/13/2014

Kudos to Prof. Mirzakhani! Looking forward to the day when "female" isn't the most newsworthy part of the headline. http://ow.ly/AhC7W

A professor at Stanford who made an important discovery about dynamical systems joined three other mathematicians in accepting the Fields Medal.

07/10/2014

A refreshed blog with a new title and a new post on advocacy writing. Check it out! http://blog.stonepointcreative.com/2014/07/judgment-day.html

07/01/2014

Can a text message treat depression? Check out my latest article for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, highlighting Dr. Adrian Aguilera's fascinating research into using mobile technology to create better mental health outcomes for disadvantaged populations. http://ow.ly/yFAa5