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 A tentative blog to test the temperature. |
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Ten years ago I was writing several blogs on various subjects - F1 motor racing, Music, Classic Cars, Great Romances and, most crushingly, a personal journal that included my thoughts on America, memories of England and Africa, opinion, humour, writing and anything else that occurred. It all became too much (I was attempting to update the journal every day) and I collapsed, exhausted and thoroughly disillusioned in the end. So this blog is indeed a Toe in the Water, a place to document my thoughts in and on WdC but with a determination not to get sucked into the blog whirlpool ever again. Here's hoping.     |
| A Fortnight Tomorrow is the big day when I go in for the next part of the procedure (they don't call it an operation) begun two weeks ago. As a consequence, I may not be around in the morning. Such is life and the open endedness of things. In the meantime, reflect on this: two weeks in the USA is a fortnight in Britain. And the fortnight refers to the fact that it's fourteen nights. Sorta medieval contraction. |
| The Movies A great director was Ridley Scott much greater by far than Diddly-Squat and never mind Quentin Tarantino Alfred Hitchcock and Al Pacino. |
| Floors Well, I had a post about ceilings so it seems appropriate to mention floors today. And I'm with the Americans on this one. It makes sense that we should count the ground floor as number one, and that each succeeding floor upwards be numbered accordingly. Why the Brits thought it best to name the first floor the ground floor I'll never know, but it does lead to occasional confusion when speaking of multi-level buildings. Mind you, if naming a floor, while all the others are numbered, is wrong, perhaps we should count the basement as floor one. Or we could fudge the issue by giving it the number minus one. |
| Ceilings The thing about hospitals is that those who use them spend most of their time horizontal on a bed or gurney. The scenery experienced from such a position, though not exactly inspirational, allows us to become connoiseurs of ceilings. |
| Self Realisation Emerging rather slowly from three days in hospital (long story - might expand if asked), I realised something about myself. This occurred while I was answering some of the oft-repeated questions they throw at you in these places. Now, I’m a great believer in accuracy in these matters. It’s important that the questioner receive the full explanation of my answer and not go away with a wrong impression. And, to ensure that they get the full picture, I start, not with the answer, but the facts leading up to and explaining that answer. Leaving the answer until last ties ‘em down so that they can’t rush off before they know the whole truth. As I watched eyes glaze over during my preamble, I saw that I was telling them a story. Like it or not, they were duty bound to listen and I was making sure that they got their full money’s worth. It came to me then, this revelation of self. I saw, in more ways than I’d ever expected, that I was, in essence, a story teller. The simple answer is never enough for me - they must have the full tale if they want any answer at all. You can shrug and say that all writers tell stories but there’s more to it than that. It really has to do with why we write. And, if you’ve ever asked that question in a writers’ group, you’ll know that the answers are many and various. I write because I’m a story teller. I can’t help it and I’ve been doing it all my life without being entirely conscious of it for the first seventy-seven years. It’s a primal instinct, an essential motivation, a conspiracy concocted in some corner of my DNA string. I’m a story teller. So be warned, think carefully upon what you are doing before asking me a question. You are likely to get more than you asked for. Word count: 321 |
| Altitude There is little point in being on the sixth floor if you have no window. |
| Munday And seeing as it's Chooseday (Ooh, an alternate day), I choose to deal with Monday today. And it's a fairly easy choice, since no one likes Mundays. They might even be thought of as mundayne. |
| Sonday Having talked of Satireday on a Sonday, it now behooves me to speak of Sonday on a Monday (of which, more tomorrow). And we can take note straight away that Sonday is a homophone. It can be spelt in two different ways but sounds the same. And, if it can mean something related to the sun, it can equally refer to male offspring. So it may as well be a day for celebration of such creatures. The matter of instituting a Daughterday is way beyond my remit, however. No doubt someone will take up the task in time. |
| Satireday I know this is a bit late but I was busy yesterday. Well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Anyway, Saturday looked like a difficult one until I realised how close it came to satire. So that's what it should be. Kinda fitting for a writing site, ain't it? Has nothing to do with satyrs, by the way. I checked and satire is from Latin, satyr from Greek. |
| Fryday Friday is really asking for it, isn't it? But far be it from me to take the easy route. I shall say nothing of frying and friars and instead point at the Fry family of England, those staunch Quakers and chocolate manufacturers and their descendant, the large and well known actor/comedian/fount of all knowledge, Stephen Fry. The day was surely named to celebrate this bunch. And, if that's not enough to win you over, consider what the standard fare for such a day must be. I happen to like chocolate. |
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