Category: Writing

Shooting The Bolt

Writing

I must confess, looking back at my posts over the past few weeks, that I’m not batting up to my usual standards.  For one thing, the news and current affairs just suck.  If one doesn’t want to write about the Iran war (and I don’t) or talk about current political affairs (Swalwell’s resignation in disgrace, and not a moment too soon either) which I couldn’t be arsed to do either, then what’s left is guns ‘n  roses  Righteous Shootings, broads (see below) cars and music.

And on that last topic, I have to confess too that writing the Memoirs each week does drain Ye Olde Wryting Batterye a great deal, in terms of both time and mental effort.  Never mind;  I think that will all be over in about three weeks’ time, at which point normal service may be resumed.  Or not, I dunno.

My brain hurts.  I need coffee.

Memoirs Of A Busker – Chapter 1

Friends and Family, Music, Writing

Foreword

This work was inspired by a man who started off as a passing acquaintance, then a fellow-traveler, and then a great and lifelong friend who remained so even though our lives crossed but briefly and would eventually be separated by the oceans.  How we lost touch, then regained touch, and discovered that our friendship had endured, is a story for the ages.

So this memoir is dedicated to him.  And you’ll meet Max later, as the tale unfolds.

Read more

Serial Time

Writing

…and I’m not talking about Cheerios, either.

Starting tomorrow, I’ll be posting a chapter from my musical memoirs and thereafter a new chapter each Saturday till I’m done.  The period to be covered is from 1965 until 1986.

The story behind this outpouring of self-indulgence is that I recently reconnected with an old buddy from my pro music days, and he shared his (written) memoirs of the times gone by.  While our lives only overlapped on occasion, we became good, if somewhat remote friends — he now lives in Western Oz, poor man — cemented by a shared sense of humor that could best be described as “blacker than Minneapolis at midnight”.  And I think it was he who described our situation as “we played in different bands together, for over five years”.

Font-Wise

Writing

Before I read this article about “What Your Choice Of Font Says About You”, I picked my favorite fonts.  (I don’t actually care what anything “says about me”, because the opinions of others are largely irrelevant in my life anyway.)

They are:  Times New Roman (or Book Antiqua) for my novels;  Verdana for this blog (although WordPress gives one no choice, I’d probably stick with it anyway because it’s highly legible);  and for some reason, I like Papyrus for my book titles — although I was talked out of it after the first edition of Family Fortunes by my editor.

 

I was kinda disappointed by that, because I’d designed the first version myself, based as it was on Vienna Days (my first published novel):


…and which I wanted to continue through all my historical novels to come.  But no.  “Not punchy enough” and “Too whimsical” — and out went that design.

I still regret the change, though.

I had intended to have a totally different style for any non-historical works, e.g. Prime Target:


…because that format required a different feel, and I was quite okay with that.  But no:  “All your book covers should have a consistent look”, and as a one-time advertising and marketing executive, I had to agree with that.

It seems that I have digressed completely from the original thrust of this post, sorry.  Allow me to continue.

I find it interesting that a typeface / font should define a generation, but I shouldn’t be, really.  I mean, if I were to use something like:

…it might have worked back in the times of Edmund Blackadder (the latter word being the font’s actual name), but most readers of today would react by closing the book firmly, never to be read again.

Then again, there’s the Edwardian font:

…which might have suited the Victorian tone of Family Fortunes, but the readers’ reaction would probably have been the same.

But I draw the line at Comic Sans MS:

…which, as its very name suggests, should remain relegated to comic books.

And I don’t do comic books — neither writing nor reading.  Anyway:

The results revealed that Times New Roman – a font first designed back in 1931 – remains the most popular font, chosen by 27 per cent of respondents.

1931 is a little recent, for my liking, but as it replaced the handwriting-based Edwardian, it’ll have to do.

Then there’s this little snippet:

The news comes shortly after Microsoft replaced Calibri as its default font for the first time in 17 years.

It should come as no surprise to my Loyal Readers that Calibri is my favorite font for spreadsheets.

[200,000 words of angry anti-Microsoft vitriol deleted]

Then again, as I refuse to use the dreadful MS Excel at all, that change won’t affect me.

Opening That Box

Journalist Scum, Writing

Here’s a good one (via Insty, thankee Squire):

The Washington Post is planning to let amateur writers submit columns — with the help of AI

Well, I’m pretty much an “amateur writer”, but I guess my invitation to participate in said exercise got lost in the mail or something.  Still, I’m ready to pitch in.

And I won’t even need A.I.

However, I will need to do some preparation beforehand, so my Readers are welcome to suggest which topics they’d like to see me cover in the WashPo, in my usual style and manner.

Exemplar

Good Stuff, Writing

I love Yiddish, because so many of their terms are just wonderful to use as a pithy description of despicable behavior.

Today, we focus on the word chutzpah, which means “effrontery”, “cheek”, “impudence”, “gall” and so much more in the same vein.

For those still unclear on the concept, here’s a wonderful example:

California Gov Gavin Newsom (D) recently traveled to Washington to seek federal aid for addressing the impact of the recent fires.

How is this chutzpah?  Consider the context.

California, which failed to prevent the spread of wildfires in Los Angeles last month and is struggling to repair the damage, is set to spend nearly $10 billion on health care for illegal aliens.

…and even better:

Newsom recently signed $50 million in new spending to fight President Donald Trump’s policies.

I know what I would have said to him, were I the POTUS.

“Esn drek aun shtarbn, mamzer.”

For my non-Tribe Readers, that’s “Eat shit and die, you bastard.”