2005 - 07-27-05

Bob Dylan was interviewed on the TV show,
"60 Minutes" recently. He recited the lyrics from some of
his earlier songs. He then commented something to the
effect,

"Where did that come from? The lyrics were
absolutely magical. There was almost a cosmic aspect to
them."
He also commented he couldn't write like
that now since he was unable to access and tap into whatever
source it was that enabled him to write those lyrics.

Something akin to that happened while I was
writing "A Valentine For Jessica". I have read it and reread
it, and I honestly don't know if I could ever write like
that again. It seems to me (and I'll prove it very
dramatically a little later in this newsletter) it was an
extremely important piece of writing. Until recently, I
didn't know why it was important and for whom
it was important.

But I'll tell you what: As "New Agey" and
flowery and mushy as some people perceive "A Valentine For
Jessica" to be, I personally think it is a very straight
forward piece of writing. A marketing friend of mine emailed
me to say, as far as he was concerned, there was nothing in
that piece of writing for him.

He was correct. That piece wasn't written
for him.

You know, it's almost like I didn't write
that piece myself. It's almost like a "higher power" was
guiding my thoughts and my hands. It's almost as though I
were nothing but the "channel" through which an important
message was being transmitted. (This doesn't sound like the
same Gary Halbert you've come to love, adore, respect, and
despise... does it?)

Anyway, let's give this little essay a
surface examination. What we have here is a man who is
smitten by a woman and contrives to meet her. As she reveals
herself to him, he is enchanted. But, she is not enchanted
by him. And one day, she just evaporates from his life with
nary a backward glance. But, for the rest of his life, he is
unable to forget his meeting with this incredible woman.