“We can add some pretty pictures if we have room at the end.” I have heard this more times than I care to remember. It usually comes in response to me asking about a team’s plan for what illustrations to … Continue reading Make room for pictures
“Can my proposal be shorter than the page limit?” I get that question more often than I would have ever guessed. Quite a few proposal writers take any page limit as a suggested length. As a result, they worry that … Continue reading You are not in high school anymore
Putting the most important information first seems like an obvious strategy, when you know your reader is pressed for time. Of course you want them to get your key point before their attention wanders. So why do so many proposal … Continue reading Forget inverted pyramids
When writing proposals, you are less likely to win if you assume your proposal is about you. You are the one who is asking for funding and your record of accomplishments and expertise are going to determine whether you get … Continue reading It’s not about you
“Marseilles was wonderful. The old harbor is such a scenic place and there is this church high on a hill above it with a wonderful view. And then there was this little bakery that had these wonderful sweets and I was so proud that the woman behind the counter responded in French.” I am listening to the best of all husbands recounting a wonderful summer vacation. He is so animated and describes it so vividly to our friends that for a moment I think: “I wish I had been there too.”
Continue reading “Memories”
If there is one thing that you learn growing up in Germany, it is that there is a right way to do everything. There is a right way that closing a Mercedes car door should sound, a right way to build an Autobahn smooth as glass for driving without a speed limit and there is a right way to recycle. Continue reading “The Right Way”
“And what is Jeff to you?” the female voice with the Southern accent asks over the phone. “We are married,” I respond in the best matter-of-fact tone I can muster. My declaration is followed by a curt “hold on” and a silence that seems to go on and on. I picture the woman from the call center leaning over her cubicle wall and hollering to her supervisor, “You won’t believe what this guy just told me.” Continue reading “A Matter of Credit”
“What do you think?” – I offer bravely as I point at a sofa in one of the catalogs that has just shown up in our mailbox. An extended pause is followed by the best of all husbands’ response of “it is not to my liking.” Couples therapy must really be paying off. I’m certain that just a few months ago, I would have gotten an even longer pause, a scowl and “that’s hideous.” I, of course, would translate that as “the fact that you like this piece of crap makes me reconsider my marriage vows. How can you even consider ruining my carefully designed plan for the living room? Do I know you at all?” The only reasons that I don’t hear “I should have listened to my mother” is that I know that Jeff’s mom always thought I was a good catch. Altogether this is a classic example of how quickly a conversation can go off the rails. Continue reading “Game Time”
“I will paint this ceiling, if it is the last thing I do.” It is Saturday morning and my weapon of choice is an extension paint roller, fully loaded. I’m on a mission to bring a new calm to the living room. My only explanation for the current color is stress induced brain fog. Or perhaps it was the sheer relief of having finally found a house we both liked and could marginally afford. After the tribulations of the search, when the best of all husbands pulled out the color wheel and showed me a rather electric shade of yellow for the living room, my only reaction was: “Of course I love it.” Continue reading “A House of Many Colors”
One of the hardest to accept facts of our relationship was that I had not only found someone who loves me, but someone who genuinely likes me. That might sound surprising given that we have been married and have been living together for years, but think about it for a moment. Someone who sleeps in the same bed with you every night, wakes up with you every morning, knows all your dirty laundry and still likes you. Continue reading “An Improbable Truth”
Rolf Danner 