Directions: Think, Write, Speak. Do not skip ahead.

Once, when asked why I write, I replied that as the youngest child in a loud, opinionated, Italian-American family, it was the only way for me to get anyone's attention. But what I think I really meant is that off the page I don't always trust what might come out of my mouth – that is, unless I have had sufficient time to plan out what I'm going to say in advance.

So, ask me to make a presentation, teach a class, lead a seminar, introduce someone, give a speech, and I'm good. Because first, I can write it all out. And rewrite it. And revise. And edit. But ask me to sit next to your hyper-intelligent cousin who can hold the attention of a full dinner table, and I go practically silent. Or worse, stammer, sputter and say stupid things.

Which is why I was so relieved to read, in the New York Times Book Review the other day, an essay by Arthur Krystal, "When Writers Speak." Mind you, Krystal's premise that many writers are not good at conversation is based on people like Balzac and Nabokov and others of such literary prowess and renown that the public was often surprised to learn they were not wonderful speakers – and not little ole me. Still, I feel better now.

Snow Days and Books and Mr. Geisel

As Google reminded us today, Happy Birthday Theodor Geisel.

It's a snow day, and after playing their allotted hours of Wii, I found my kids curled up on separate couches, reading. Though they are far from beginning readers now, it made me think back to Dr. Seuss and how excited I'd get when I was a very young reader, and a crisp new book arrived in the mail each month, many times one of his.

Today the 10-year-old is reading the final book in a series about a young British spy with fantastical gadgets, and the teenager is pushing through a two-pound Star Wars-inspired novel.

Kind of makes me want to dig out the entire Seuss catalog from my attic, but it's far too cold up there. So I crack open a new novel and silently thank one extremely intelligent and wonderfully wacky early teacher.

"You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room." - T. Geisel

Enough said.