If a picture is worth a thousand words, should it really take a thousand words to describe a picture? A really great friend of mine is an English lit master from Berkeley. A word game he liked to do back in the day was simply saying the word “tree” and asking for a verbal description what sort of an image that evoked in your mind’s eye. Most people would simply describe a Pine or a twisted old Oak tree etcetera and some would even go into elaborate descriptions of a forest with ferns and waterfalls and dragon flies. My friend, the English lit master, said the first time he was asked the question, what he immediately envisioned in his mind’s eye was the type written word “tree.”
The words you’ll find around here will ultimately be a bit more besides all this stuff about what all this stuff is about. There will be short stories (to quote Jimmy Buffet ‘fictitious facts and factual fiction’), scripts and scenarios, original song lyrics, how-to do things and other expressions of process and procedure, and yes more stuff about what all this stuff is all about.
My wife is a published author and hopefully some of her mastery of the craft will rub off on what is eventually offered here. I treasure the moments in which I have been fortunate enough to spend some time with the magic of well written words. Seems like the only time I ever got the time to indulge in novels and pleasurable great writing was on vacation or when travelling long distances. Most of what I have read and continue to need to read these days is textbooks and instructional materials, which don’t get me wrong, when done well even an owner’s manual can be almost entertaining. There was a time however, when I rode the city bus back and forth to a factory I worked at. The time spent waiting for and riding the public transit afforded me the opportunity to read the truly great authors and novels I always wanted to read. I do not entirely know why it remains such a task to find the time for that type of indulgence. A small used bookstore downtown that I frequented during that period had a sign behind the main desk that stated “The classic novels, what so many people talk about yet so few ever read.” I discovered in that little bookstore and during those bus rides, a plethora of classic words that painted images as astonishing as the finest canvas, photograph or motion picture ever displayed. I also came across some “classics” that were almost as stimulating as watching paint dry or reading a poorly written owner’s manual. If I can accomplish with a thousand words what those great authors did with a sentence or two I would be pleased. Hopefully, with a bit of luck, I will not wind up as Truman Capote said of Jack Kerouac “He is not a writer, he is a typist.” That does not mean that is how Jack is it is just what Truman said (or wrote). Oh well; I believe you get the picture.
Coming soon there will be some sort of a comments page or guest book or blog or something like that around here. This is the email address at present that with a bit of luck you can make your way through the spam bots to send me some of your words. Just open your email program and type <insert email graphic here>. Apologies for not having a click it and send it type link here yet, but this is just one way for me to combat the spam bots. As I get more accomplished at writing the code and setting up the parameters required to keep a tidy in box I should be able to make this process as convenient as it was originally designed to be. Please, let me know what you think of this stuff and if you want to, let me know about your stuff.