TreeHouseLetter
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Recent Letters
Through the Keyhole
3 Min read On laundry and language 2 Book recs Philosophy and Literature Excerpt: David Wemyss...
The Ever Restless Soul
5 Min read 1 Book rec on creativity 1 Song and artist rec Mother and daughter / parent and child...
Confusables, Contronyms, and Jane’s Potato Salad
2 Min read Word Nerd special Humor and the paraprosdokian Usage manual rec - The authority on...
The Music in the Stories: Pavan on Borges
7 Min read Book rec, three Borges stories Argentine composer and guitarist Carlos Pavan...
Beyond Grade-School Sentences: Adding Depth and Texture to Writing
4 Min read Depth and texture in writing Cumulative and suspensive sentences The Music in Prose:...
On Theft, Death, and the Moon
3 Min read Ryokan, Japanese Zen monk René Descartes, Discourse- Part II on Method and Part IV on...
The Master Sentence and the Centenarian
5 Min Read One book rec Punctuation guide Sentence construction Language Lover and Word Nerd...
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Reader Favorites
Degree of Separation
5 Min read Social connection on Earth in 2023 Network theory U.S. Army and Armed Forces Math geek special, logarithm AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes * Thought exercise for the day. How many friends between you and anyone on the planet? In popular culture this...
A Day with the Night Stalkers
8 Min read 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) The Soldier and the Citizen Nashville Ides of March AVAILABLE ON PODCAST SPOTIFY iTunes * On a lonesome stretch of road north of Nashville, we turned onto a farmer's path. Strains of Johnny Cash and the...
Charlie Munger and the Art of Swearing
5 Min read EXPLICIT language, Ages 13 to 103 True Story, investing Toolbox Essay and book rec, Ursula Le Guin Patton's Speech AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes * Charlie Munger was making the rounds with investors. A living icon in the investing world, he was some...
The Meaning in Music
4 min read Song and Story Rachmaninoff Rybnikov AVAILABLE IN PODCAST (Listen to this letter to hear the piano music) Spotify iTunes Anchor.fm/emelle Your job will change, where you live will change, the people in your life will change, but you will always have your...
Books as Trophies? the Bibliophile vs the Bibliophagist
6 Min read 2 Book recs Music in Prose Toolbox, Ages 9 to 99 Word Nerd Special AVAILABLE ON PODCAST iTunes Spotify anchor.fm/emelle * * I have a book problem. It's a good kind of problem because books teach me a lot and I get to hang out and learn with the best. The...
On Becoming Sheepdogs, a Modern Fable
AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Anchor.fm Spotify iTunes In the wake of recent events regarding the tragic death of George Floyd and the ensuing protests, this letter seems more relevant than ever. It has been updated to relate my own experience and the role of the brave men and...
Dulce et Decorum Est – Is it sweet and noble to die for one’s country? or just an old lie?
A tribute to Roman soldier poet Horace and British soldier poet Wilfred Owen On Memorial Day we remember those who died while serving their country, a holiday dating back to the Civil War, but with roots going even farther back than that. The highest honor for...
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On Life
Where’s Your Cathedral?
3 min read 1 parable 2 book recs 10,000 hours rule AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes * Three men at work were asked, What are you doing? "I am cutting this stone," said the first. "I am earning three shilling and six pence a day," said the next. The last man stood,...
Degree of Separation
5 Min read Social connection on Earth in 2023 Network theory U.S. Army and Armed Forces Math geek special, logarithm AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes * Thought exercise for the day. How many friends between you and anyone on the planet? In popular culture this...
“It is precisely because life is so precious to me that I am prepared to die.”
5 Min read Letter to wife in the event of death A Soldier's Own Obituary, NYTimes 3 March 1971 Major John Alexander Hottell, III Memorial Day AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes I first saw this in my son's Bugle Notes 2020-2024, a pocket-sized book with mission and...
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Stories
The Ever Restless Soul
5 Min read 1 Book rec on creativity 1 Song and artist rec Mother and daughter / parent and child AVAILABLE ON PODCAST SPOTIFY * This is for my friends K--- and M--- and for you, dear reader, but I suppose it's for myself more than anything. For the love of my...
The Music in the Stories: Pavan on Borges
7 Min read Book rec, three Borges stories Argentine composer and guitarist Carlos Pavan Literature: song and story Perfect memory Music in Prose * AVAILABLE NOW ON PODCAST SPOTIFY * Probably you were expecting a young and handsome Argentine, but then here I am, the...
July 4th Declarations: a Nation, a Panda, a Soldier
6 Min read 1 Book rec Declaration of Independence* (5 min read) July 4th, Independence Day U.S. Army Air Assault Explicit language * AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes * July 4th is the birthday of the nation and I've been thinking about what to write. It's been busy...
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On Education
Today is a Numeric Palindrome
1 Min read Word Nerd Alert Toolbox * * Today has a date format which is a numeric palindrome. Or, a palindromic number. Or, a palindromic number sequence. Fun, if you're in to such things as I am, sequences and syntax and such. Or alliteration. Or sentence fragments....
ChatGPT on the Meaning of Life, Love, War
3 Min Read Prompts on life's mysteries Artificial Intelligence generates short answer, sonnet, couplet, haiku, blog post Writer's Toolbox OpenAI and ChatGPT * Three times a charm. I finally got onto the site in the witching hours; maybe a 3:30 AM login helps. If you...
The New Words Are In, Merriam-Webster Dictionary
2 Min read 13 New words Late to Coffee with a Baker's dozen * New words are in. And, 370 words have been added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary this September. You likely know many and below are some of my favorites. The editors break them down by category, but I...
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On Literature
The Music in the Stories: Pavan on Borges
7 Min read Book rec, three Borges stories Argentine composer and guitarist Carlos Pavan Literature: song and story Perfect memory Music in Prose * AVAILABLE NOW ON PODCAST SPOTIFY * Probably you were expecting a young and handsome Argentine, but then here I am, the...
What Book Would You Take to a Desert Island?
7 Min read 2 Book recs Film rec Article abstract, on Virtue and Vice* Toolbox, Improve writing, ages 9 to 99 AVAILABLE IN PODCAST Spotify iTunes * What book would you take to a desert island? I didn't know and hadn't given it much thought until Saturday when I told my...
Exercises in Style: a Writing Tribute
3 min read Book rec Writing Toolbox Wordplay Ages 9 to 99 AVAILABLE IN PODCAST HERE Titles begin with letters as human forms Narrative One day at about midday in the food line, behind the checkout of a more or less busy Costco, I observed a person with a very big...
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Bookshelf
The Ever Restless Soul
5 Min read 1 Book rec on creativity 1 Song and artist rec Mother and daughter / parent and child AVAILABLE ON PODCAST SPOTIFY * This is for my friends K--- and M--- and for you, dear reader, but I suppose it's for myself more than anything. For the love of my...
Confusables, Contronyms, and Jane’s Potato Salad
2 Min read Word Nerd special Humor and the paraprosdokian Usage manual rec - The authority on grammar, usage, and style Essay rec - DFW on assignment to research the above lexicon and the Usage Wars AVAILABLE ON PODCAST SPOTIFY * The limits of my language means the...
The Music in the Stories: Pavan on Borges
7 Min read Book rec, three Borges stories Argentine composer and guitarist Carlos Pavan Literature: song and story Perfect memory Music in Prose * AVAILABLE NOW ON PODCAST SPOTIFY * Probably you were expecting a young and handsome Argentine, but then here I am, the...
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On the Military
July 4th Declarations: a Nation, a Panda, a Soldier
6 Min read 1 Book rec Declaration of Independence* (5 min read) July 4th, Independence Day U.S. Army Air Assault Explicit language * AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes * July 4th is the birthday of the nation and I've been thinking about what to write. It's been busy...
Degree of Separation
5 Min read Social connection on Earth in 2023 Network theory U.S. Army and Armed Forces Math geek special, logarithm AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes * Thought exercise for the day. How many friends between you and anyone on the planet? In popular culture this...
What Makes a Speech Great?
2 Min read Admiral McRaven Operation Neptune Spear Toolbox, Speaking skills AVAIlABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes Admiral 'Bill' McRaven spoke at the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment event to commemorate Operation Neptune Spear. He started by saying he was...
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Writing Features
The Music in Prose
The Music in the Stories: Pavan on Borges
7 Min read Book rec, three Borges stories Argentine composer and guitarist Carlos Pavan Literature: song and story Perfect memory Music in Prose * AVAILABLE NOW ON PODCAST SPOTIFY * Probably you were expecting a young and handsome Argentine, but then here I am, the...
Beyond Grade-School Sentences: Adding Depth and Texture to Writing
4 Min read Depth and texture in writing Cumulative and suspensive sentences The Music in Prose: Ernest Hemingway, Vivian Gornick, Ralph Waldo Emerson Crayon packs and colors Toolbox, improve writing immediately * AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes * Grade-school...
Classic Prose: Thought and Presentation
4 min read 2 Book recs Toolbox, improve writing immediately Music in Prose, Ocean Vuong * AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes * In the classic stand on the elements of style, writing is neither a way of thinking something out nor an art that exists for its own sake....
Poetry for Emergencies
The Edgeless Sound and the Night Owl
2 Min read Poetry for Emergencies Leonard Cohen Roshi's Poem The Poe Arch - Edgar Allan Poe Memorial Gateway AVAILABLE ON PODCAST SPOTIFY iTunes * TreeHouse view of dawn * The book falls open to Roshi's Poem. Though I had already read it, in my hurry up the stairs I...
Prescription for Life and Rumi’s Cow
2 Min read 1 Memoir, Short Take Poetry for Emergencies Rumi, Mystic Poet * AVAILABLE ON PODCAST SPOTIFY iTunes Dx, Rx. You may recognize these as abbreviations for Diagnosis (Dx) and Prescription (Rx). Melody Moezzi writes how the poet and mystic helped her deal with...
Books I Love
5 Min read 17 Books, 19.5 including mentions in footnotes Genres: Memoir, Essays, Fiction, Writing, Love, Poetry, War Toolbox, Texture in writing Contemporary and classic books from the top of my stacks, my more current reading. * The most common question I get is,...
Toolbox
Confusables, Contronyms, and Jane’s Potato Salad
2 Min read Word Nerd special Humor and the paraprosdokian Usage manual rec - The authority on grammar, usage, and style Essay rec - DFW on assignment to research the above lexicon and the Usage Wars AVAILABLE ON PODCAST SPOTIFY * The limits of my language means the...
Beyond Grade-School Sentences: Adding Depth and Texture to Writing
4 Min read Depth and texture in writing Cumulative and suspensive sentences The Music in Prose: Ernest Hemingway, Vivian Gornick, Ralph Waldo Emerson Crayon packs and colors Toolbox, improve writing immediately * AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes * Grade-school...
The Master Sentence and the Centenarian
5 Min Read One book rec Punctuation guide Sentence construction Language Lover and Word Nerd Special Toolbox, ages 9 to 109 * AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes * A master sentence tends to be long though length is not its sole characteristic, nor is it a sign of a...