Category Archives: Influence

Getting Away

- February 8, 2013

I like to be entertained by stories. I want to be taken away to a place I’ve never been or to see place I’m familiar with in a new way. That’s not asking too much, is it? Now, don’t get me wrong – we need all kinds of stories. We learn from them, we are […]

It’s All About Storytelling (Again)

- February 7, 2013

Humans are a storytelling species. Stories are how we make sense of the world. Stories turn raw data into intelligence. We cannot make decisions without telling ourselves what stories we would like to make true. My federal counterparts hire contractors to do the information collection and repackaging work that I do for the state. On […]

We Will Always Need Cautionary Tales

- February 7, 2013

After Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 — his dystopian novel of a world where books are burned — he reportedly told interviewers “I wasn’t trying to tell the future, I was trying to prevent it.” Fahrenheit 451 is a cautionary tale, like so many of my favorite stories. If you think about it, some of the best stories are those […]

There Are No Stories Here

- February 6, 2013

The world doesn’t need stories. Stories are purely entertainment, a way to fritter away time better spent being constructive. Think of the money we would all save without stories. Books, of course—that’s the obvious one. We could get rid of all the bookcases around our house, as well as the expensive e-readers. I know a […]

Escaping Reality

- February 5, 2013

Every person has their own reason for picking up a book. Sometimes it is because a teacher has given them an assignment, other times it is because they need to escape to a fantasy world, and sometimes it is simply for the sheer delight of reading. The world needs stories. It needs people to come […]