A week in a row. I see that this is the first time since September that I've managed to post here seven days in a row. Until August I posted every day most months, with an occasional week off either four or five times a year, for close to a year and a half. For me, the issue was time, as I started up a daily web publication for our university -- a tolerable excuse, but still a disappointing falling off here. But time stands in for the real problem, which is losing the chance to recharge by reading what others are doing. That's the essential act -- looking outward, taking a chance with other people's ideas and experiences, recharging yourself with the energy in another person's words. Energy that comes from that person's encounter with experience, gathered up in language and available for reuse. That's what there was no time for. But it's a good lesson for a teacher and writer -- you can only turn inward for so long; you can only run on old batteries for so long. Look outward to stay alive. [0 & P]