Category Archives: Writing

Before You Let a Man Sweep You Off Your Feet

This is a really lovely little prose poem by Ace Metaphor. Source: (1) Ace Metaphor – Timeline

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Letters of Note

This blog of famous people’s letters is fascinating. I particularly liked the one-two punch of Einstein’s views on God and Steinbeck’s struggles over story. http://www.lettersofnote.com/

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Nac Mac Feegle

The Ramtops have many legends about the Nac Mac Feegle. One, similar to the legend of Waylands Smithy, says that if you leave sixpence and an unshod horse at a certain Feegle cairn overnight, then in the morning the coin will be gone, and you will never see your horse again either. Another says that […]

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Archy & Mehitabel

I was enlightening a friend to the existence of Archy & Mehitabel, whose praises I’m sure I’ve sung in the past. Don Marquis’ witty and melancholic epigrams and poems are some of my most prized books. Very much worth checking out.   herriman_don_marquis001-750×647.jpg 750×647 pixels.

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Corrections

A writer at the New York Times accidentally wrote that EB White worked at The New Yorker for 5 centuries, not decades.  A correction was published, and of course the wags are now having their way: An earlier version of this article misidentified the number of good books written by Jack Kerouac. It is zero. […]

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Writing advice from C.S. Lewis

1. Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn’t mean anything else. 2. Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don’t implement promises, but keep them. 3. Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you […]

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I like words

Oh, to have this man’s wit, whimsy, élan, verve and vocabulary! Dear Sir: I like words. I like fat buttery words, such as ooze, turpitude, glutinous, toady. I like solemn, angular, creaky words, such as straitlaced, cantankerous, pecunious, valedictory. I like spurious, black-is-white words, such as mortician, liquidate, tonsorial, demi-monde. I like suave “V” words, […]

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The East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse

http://creativereuse.org/ Toronto has a(n in)famous store called Active Surplus, where geeks buy tech bits and bobs and electrical doodads with which to assemble terrific things. This looks like an estrogen-enhanced Active Surplus, where crafters can buy fabric ends and creative bric-a-brac with which to assemble impressive things. I wish there was one locally!

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100802/ap_en_tv/us_obit_mankiewicz Tom Mankiewicz, the screenwriter of such James Bond films as “Diamonds Are Forever” and “Live and Let Die” and the first two “Superman” movies, has died in Los Angeles at 68. Sad news, though I’m surprised that he was as young as he was – his voice led me to think he was much […]

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http://www.grammar-monster.com/common_errors.htm Great resource for sorting out common grammatical errors. Unfortunately, the people who need this advice are not the types to seek it.

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