Writing

Merry Christmas! I’m sending you a tune to brighten your holiday. Thanks for reading BrockelPress.
In many ways, 2020 has been the year from hell, hasn’t it? I’ve been working from home since March 13 …

Guide to good writing is still relevant forty years after it was published by Ogilvy & Mather
TV series like Thirtysomething, Bewitched, and more recently, Mad Men broughtthe advertising industry into focus on the small screen. The 25-years that spanned the …

WFH: Folks say funny things online during lockdown workdays. Check out some of my favorites.
I’ve been working from home since March 13th and now and then I need to zone out for a while, …

U.S. coronavirus deaths approach 100k—NYTimes shows the power of the printed word.
One story. Just words. Graphically impactful. Tragic. With its singular focus, The front page of The New York Times, blew me away …

Typewriters are wonderful machines. Two are coming to auction, and they’re more wonderful than most.
I started earnestly writing when I was 15 years old. I wrote with a Parker 75 fountain pen filled with Sheaffer’s …

Dulé Hill reads “As Fast As Words Could Fly.” A wonderful, thoughtful, & teachable 16 minutes.
I joined Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists—now, SAG-AFTRA—in 1972. For the past 48 …

Explainer videos are exceptional or awful. 1950s explainers were films and usually pretty great.
Today, corporations make short explainer videos fast and on the cheap. And, most of them look it. While popular data …

A new Library of Congress exhibition showcases Rosa Parks through her own words and rare documents.
Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words opens December 5 and showcases rarely seen materials that offer an intimate view of Rosa …

Nibs, barrels, grips, and feeds. Today is National Fountain Pen Day. Here’s a write-on memory.
My broad-nib Montblanc Meisterstück 149 died a few years ago. On a cross-country trip, it was frozen in my luggage …

My friend and fellow writer, Brian Sullam retired last year. I thought you might like to meet him.
A PERSONAL REFLECTION In late 2017, four T. Rowe Price talent scouts were at Bukowski’s—a dark, dusty little joint in …

Attention Designer Types: MyFonts.com has deeply discounted the Artegra Sans family.
It’s a simple truth: I love fonts. A font can do a lot of heavy lifting. The right font, in …

Christie’s: “Everyone from Tom Hanks to Lady Gaga is rediscovering the beauty of manual typewriters.”
In the old days, writers used to sit in front of a typewriter and stare out of the window. Nowadays, …

Late draft of Donald Trump’s acceptance speech.(Via Politico, it’s scary.)
We are going to build a great border wall to stop illegal immigration, to stop the gangs and the violence, …

Time Inc., “We’re hiring a bacon critic.”
Polish up that resume and say, “Mmmmm, pork.” More from ExtraCrispy.Com

Alice asked, “How long is forever?” The White Rabbit responded, “Sometimes, just one second.”
An original 1865 edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the Lewis Carroll fantasy that went on to become one of the most …

Not the best question to ask a gay guy: “So what does your wife do?”
I’m a writer in the financial services and asset management industry. Some years ago, a new manager came to lead our department. To introduce …