The Modesty Writers Guild

chess is one of those games that i have always desired to be better at but never am. i love anything strategy and feel as a whole chess provokes much more thought (and anxiety) than checkers or a video game. i believe i enjoy the board game for many reasons. the history alone dates back hundreds of years and still it is a prevalent game in some circles currently. i am partial to the fact that it has an almost ‘outcast’ stigma attached. as in if you were in the chess club as opposed to the football team you were considered on the lower echelon of the socially excepted. yet most chess players usually hire the football players years down the road, funny how life works out as so. however, i think my favorite reason for appreciating the game is that in chess one of the keys to victory (or check mate) is to always think 2-3 moves ahead. at least that’s the goal. you begin to place your pieces in strategic settings and hope that you will find an opening or an advantage in the game. it doesn’t...

it was trampled, mangled, dirty, and you could even see footprints from size 6 shoes but it didn’t have any words on it so i claimed it as my own. pure gold, that’s what it was worth to any 5th grader in our class. all the boys were going, or the ones that were in the know. my new found treasure was a bi fold invitation that had been torn in half, but there was no name on it now, so technically it could have been mine.; perhaps at one time it was in an envelope with my first and last name on it, but was dropped, taken out of its envelope, misplaced, ripped, and winded up just feet from my desk as if it was fate that we should end up in each others hands. it wasn’t mine. and the person who was giving them out made sure to tell me that i wasn’t invited, i know this because i showed it to the others in the class and they relayed the information to its rightful owner, a neglectful caretaker of precious goods. the birthday party was going to be the next weekend, and all week i had hyped t...

while reading a great book from a (new, yet) dear friend called ‘simple spirituality’* i stumbled across some interesting quotes by various authors but one stood out a little more than most. the lesson was by a man named henri j.m. nouwen a dutch born, catholic priest who authored more than 40 books on spirituality. in his writings henri said that there are three lies that one needs to overcome in this world for a full life. 1. i am what i have. i have done many blogs on possessions and the attempt to collect and hoard wealth because, well that seems to be the new american dream. no longer is it the pursuit of happiness, but the pursuit of store bought happiness. samuel kamalaleson, vice president of world vision said that if ‘we are unable to give something away, then we do not possess it, rather it possesses us. this struck me rather hard as i began to think/name off all the inanimate objects that i doubt i could part with. my car, my guitar, being a simple start but still convictin...

‘you have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.’ -ray bradbury 'so this is the new year and i don’t feel any different' (-DCFC), actually a lot has happened in 2008. A LOT. this blog is simply a suggestion for those in need of new years resolution, or those who need another one to add to the list of things to change or improve on in the next 365 days. or 16 days, or 3 depending on your self discipline. i heard a story recently (whether it was true or not i could not figure out but i did check out several websites that reverberated the same story) about producer steven spielburg and how he got his start by wondering off of tour on the universal studio’s lot and started meeting people and making connections which began his career. that got me thinking, how much guts it had to take to knowingly sign up for the tour knowing full well that you just want to sneak off and begin a career even though your probably breaking the tour rules, and perhaps breaking a few ...

this way i can update easier from the cell phone out on the road. -technologically inferior stephen

i was just a kid when i heard about jean ‘django’ reinhardt; i heard about him in a movie called ‘swing kids’ which randomly still makes me tear up at the end. i never found myself interested in the big band sound, it was to... well i don't know, it just never sat right no matter how hard i tried to like it. while writing this last record in new orleans i discovered a new type of jazz that really caught my attention, started by the above stated name. it was called gypsy jazz and had a different sound, a unique sound that makes me feel like im sitting on Frenchman street every time i listen to it. the amazing thing about the man who created an entire GENRE of music is that django was trapped inside a house fire django had one leg paralyzed, and could only use two fingers; all the solos, and the chords were played with only two fingers. when tragedy occurs in our own life, whether physical or emotional we tend to turn off parts of our life to accommodate our handicaps and shortcomin...

i finished an incredible book called ‘the road’ by cormac mccarthy while on my travels in the UK. the book is a post-apocalyptic book about a man and his son trying to make their way south to 'the coast' where there is warmer weather and a chance to survive this ash covered world in which they live. it is quite a mystery as to where the man and his son are, and it remains so throughout the book. i theorize that they may be in a post nuclear world and almost all the inhabitants of the earth have died. the book is very much about endurance of the human will, the author said the inspiration for the book came from trying to imagine ‘what the city might look like in the future, and pictured fires on the hill.’ this book led me to many thoughts about the survival of mankind when faced with nothing but himself inside an empty world. this book reminded me of another one of my favorite books of all time, a simple read called ‘lord of the flies,’ by william golding. the book is abou...

there is a (not so) current writing trend that is really pretty profound. short but profound. what it is is that authors, writers, and such are writing their whole memoir in just 6 words. some creative ones that i have found are... Nobody cared, then they did. Why? - Chuck Klosterman 70 years, few tears, hairy ears. - Bill Querengesser "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn" -Ernest Hemingway recently people have been putting pictures to their 6 word memoir and they have been incredible. here are some on this NPR LINK . so i think it would be great if each one of us did one about ourself. perhaps post a photoshopped picture and 6 words, or just your 6 word memoir all on its own. either way, i think it would be so interesting to see each others lives in a simple 6 words. HERE IS MINE: .............. LEFT BEHIND A LEFT BEHIND CHILD .................... alternates for mine: always looking, never finding. feeling found. lonely child found fame, lost self. -stephen so SO many good ones...

this is one of the hardest topics for me to discuss, so im going to keep a running tab on thoughts here till i come to my own conclusion. tolstoy, ghandi, martin luther king jr., gk chesterton. and the list of pacifist's grow. this should seem like such an easy and logical decision. war= not good. death. killing. peace= contentment, stability, life. but when you have grown up in a country where the church, state, and weaponry have all blurred into the same entity it is a much harder decision to come to. there are SO MANY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE on this blog, just read through the comments! my LORD! you guys are brillant. ang said "There is a time and a place for everything, it depends on the situation." but i would like to hear the situations in which violence is necessary. defend yourself? your family? but what about war, when do we have to kill? 'one murder made a villain, millions a hero'. your right ang this is hard because i would defend my family to the death wh...

someone recently gave me this book, and if she is reading this thank you! if you have time you NEED to watch this lecture. it is powerful, moving, and challenging. this is a speech by randy pausch, a professor who died recently of cancer. this was his last lecture to his college students and fellow professors where he taught. i hope you get as much out of it as i did. -stephen

to be honest i was a little confused when i signed up for philosophy classes at university. i thought that there would be actual classes to help you figure out what our own personal philosophies were. as if the classes asked you tough questions that you had to go research and come up with your own conclusions. man was i ever wrong. we just learned about dead guys who came up with the answers to questions no one asked. since then i have always wanted to write a book. with no answers, just a series of questions. even aristotle said "the unexamined life is not worth living,' but he never really told us how to examine life. he just said to do it or die. today i was reading through a book and i hit several tough questions, ones that took me back and made me really think, stare up at the coffee shop ceiling and even tear up a little when answering them. (its weird to think of ones own death). so here is your assignment for the day. it would be really cool if you do this in the comme...

'Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.' -Haile Selassie i wanted a lighthouse. maybe i was supposed to be the lighthouse. either way with the fact is at moments life has a way of slowly putting a pillow over your face as you try to sleep. a slow and steady suffocation, i wish it was all of a sudden so that you could instantly deal with it and leave it in yesterdays wake. at moments this feels like such a negative world we live in, the only bright spots in it we ourselves must create for others. i woke to the sounds of an argument or 'discussion' with a loved one, i can't seem to make them happy, or maybe they can't make themselves happy. either way i feel very responsible and helpless this many miles away. some time ago i got news that a friend nearly killed himse...

hello modesty. i will be doing a reading from my new book 'the orphaned anything's' in NYC september 4, 2008. i will be opening up for augusten burroughs and tegan quin (of tegan and sara). this is a fundraising event for 'housing works' an organization founded to help fight the spread of aids/hiv. below are details if you are interested. THIS WILL SELL OUT! -stephen christian Tickets available at www.livefromhome.org/events All participants are available for interviews to preview the event and press tickets are available for event coverage. Thursday September 4, 2008 Doors at 7:30 p.m. Show at 8 p.m. Housing Works Bookstore Café 126 Crosby Street (one block east of Broadway between Houston and Prince) Subway: W, R to Prince; B, D, F, V to Broadway/Lafayette; 6 to Bleecker General Information: (212) 334-3324 $20 and a new or gently used book Tegan Quin and Augusten Burroughs Co-Headline SPIN.com Benefit for Housing Works Sept. 4 in NYC Celebrate SPIN.com's Bo...

A little boy of three sittin' on the floor Looks up and says, "Daddy, what is war?" "son, that's when people fight and die" The little boy of three says "Daddy, why?" A young man of seventeen in Sunday school Being taught the golden rule And by the time another year has gone around It may be his turn to lay his life down Can you blame the voice of youth for asking "What is truth?" -johnny cash this blog will shed no light on the answers, you will walk away just as confused as before you decided to read this… but i am learning slowly that it is all about the journey, not the destination (because in philosophy one rarely reaches a destination). the scene is set, Jesus is being interrogated by pontius pilate before He was to be crucified, Jesus said “everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” to this pilate replied ‘what is truth?’, even 2000 years ago, in the midst of one of the most famous trials in history, the debate raged on. ‘what ...

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes. -charles swindoll

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." -John Calvin Coolidge

i wish i was born with self discipline. how is it that some people can set up a routine and completely stick with it; like clockwork in the brain, almost robot like. my uncle was like that, he heard that we spend 1/3 of our life sleeping and he refused. for nearly 15 years he would only sleep 5 hours a day, the rest he would study, read, write, and invent (he has several patents). i did not get one single of those genes. in fact i enjoy sleep, im not lazy i promise, but there are moments when i wake up looking forward to sleeping! can we change? how does one just choose to be self-disciplined? i have heard it said that pain is the biggest instigator of change. which i can see! if someone has been smoking their whole life and develops lung cancer, endures painful chemo, and watches their own health slowly dissipate then the next cigarette doesn't look so appetizing. why must it come to that, i want to change because i know i should, not because eventually i will have to. is this som...

here i am in west hollywood, sitting in my office (better known as a coffee shop) and reading through the messages you guys have sent me these last few weeks on my modesty email account pertaining to those who have read " the orphaned anythings ". my chest swelled, i could feel my heartbeat, and i was tearing up (but played it off like i was yawning). thank you so much my dear friends for seeing through me, for belonging; for making me feel like i belong. a conductor stands before his orchestra, prim and proper he approaches the podium, lifts his small cork-ended baton. he lifts it into the air and as if it was magnetically charged the instruments raise in unison at the same time. he taps, for the attention of not the crowd sitting behind him, but of the person's playing the instrument facing him. he then begins to swing frantically seemingly lifting and pulling notes out of thin air, commanding them to be louder and softer, harsh and bitter or light like a feather floati...

“We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.” -e. e. cummings