Twelve days ago, on May 3, I edited the first sample chapter I had written for Earning Freedom for the fourth time. I could tell from the reaction in Carole’s voice that she did not like it so much. I read it to a friend of mine here in the prison and he asked whether [...]
I’m in a new month now and that always brings thoughts about how many more must pass before I begin my life at home. People in society may think it foolish for me to obsess over time. I’m regularly contemplating how many months of imprisonment I have behind me and how many more I am [...]
I’ve been reading from two books and a published paper on California’s prison system that Dr. Joan Petersilia wrote. She is a distinguihsed professor who publishes extensively on issues pertaining to crime and corrections. As I read these academic writings I remember my early years as a prisoner, and the reality of how much of [...]
At 3:00 this morning, as I waited for officers to walk by my cubicle for a morning census count, I listened to an NPR broadcast reporting on Pesident Obama’s mandate to cut hundreds of millions in wasteful spending from the U.S. budget. That report inspired me to write a few blogs on the need for [...]
I resumed work on the rewrite of the chapter for Professor Joan Petersilia at 2:20 this morning. By 7:30 I had completed the project. Had I been able to access a typewriter, I could have typed the document in a couple of hours at most. Prison has made me a fast typist, but the rules [...]
At 2:22 this morning I resumed work on the chapter for Professor Petersilia. I wrote the first words for this chapter last Wednesday morning at 2:15, and today, at 7:15, I finished a first draft. Professor Petersilia asked me to write 7,000 words. Since I’ve written the chapter in longhand I don’t have an exact [...]
This morning I resumed work on the chapter for Professor Joan Petersilia’s book at 1:55. It was my third day of writing for the chapter and I’ve made good progress. If my writing is as productive tomorrow, I ought to finish a first draft of the chapter. The chapter provides a condensed view of the [...]
With an eagerness to complete this chapter I’m writing for Professor Joan Petersilia’s book, I woke this morning at 2:06. I had a productive writing session until 7:30 this morning. The sun was shining and I then walked to the track to begin my exercise. I ran 10 miles and followed the run with 400 [...]
At 2:15 this morning I began writing a chapter for Professor Joan Petersilia’s new book, Oxford Handbook on Sentencing and Corrections. I worked on the project enthusiastically, as I want to finish a draft of the chapter by next week. With discipline, that will not be a problem. My responsibility is to write about living [...]
