Tag: creating

Making stuff: up, real, and nicely.

Word to Bring Back: “Amphitryon”

– Definition: (French) n. person with whom or at whose expense one dines

– Used in a sentence: My father is a well-known and gracious amphitryon.

– Why: Aside from its capitalized Greek origin (Amphitryon was, according to Sophocles, a king of Thebes and companion to Heracles), famed 18th-century gastronome J.A. Brillat-Savarin is wholly enamored of its use in his seminal Physiology of Taste wherein it is synonymous with “host.” (If you’re going to steal, steal from the greats. Especially if they stole it first.)

The Writer’s Task

… [T]here is no need for you to go a-begging for aphorisms from philosophers, precepts from Holy Scripture, fables from poets, speeches from orators, or miracles from saints; but merely to take care that your style and diction run musically, pleasantly, and plainly, with clear, proper, and well-placed words, setting forth your purpose to the best of your power and as well as possible, and putting your ideas intelligibly, without confusion or obscurity. Strive, too, that in reading your story the melancholy may be moved to laughter, and the merry made merrier still; that the simple shall not be wearied, that the judicious shall admire the invention, that the grave shall not despise it, nor the wise fail to praise it. … [I]f you succeed in this you will have achieved no small success.”
— Miguel de Cervantes (from the Prologue to Don Quixote)

Words To Bring Back: “Daresay”

– Definition: v., archaic used to indicate that one believes something is probable.

– Used in a sentence: I daresay we need to get out the vote this November, or all will be lost.

– Why: You could always and instead use the more commonplace “suppose,” I suppose, but why be common? Flex those archaisms and focus your listeners’ attention!

Our Hero Returns!

IT’S BACK TO THE EXILIC Lands for our dauntless and resourceful holyman-turned-mercenary-cook, where he seeks rewards both profitable and profound in a world unlike any you’ve ever visited. The forty-five new stories in More Commonwell Tales pick up where Across the Rimless Sea left off, carrying Prosatio Silban’s saga forward with history, pathos, comedy, disaster, fame, romance — even a quest or two. Download your free copy today!

Top 10 Metaphoragings: 2021

AND SO, AS OUR EARTH races to catch up to the orbital location arbitrarily assigned to “New Year’s Day,” let us pause and reflect on the year that’s passed (bloggishly speaking, anyway):

My Favorite Jewish Joke – 130 views
Far and away, the winner for Most-Viewed Post of 2021 was the one whose punchline is the simple but effective, “Moses, do whatever the hell you want.” (And no, that’s not a spoiler. It is, however, a trenchant understanding of / comment on Jewish practice.)

365 Names of God: “The Light of Eternal Mind” – 71 views
We’ve had a lot of fun with the “365 Names of God” series, including one of my own personal favorites. Continue reading “Top 10 Metaphoragings: 2021”

Words To Bring Back: “Kratocracy”

– Definition: n. A government established by seizure, utilizing force or deceit, with rule maintained by strength.

– Used in a sentence: One side effect of social-media-as-lie-amplifiers is that they can more easily enable a kratocracy.

– Why: Please, God* and fellow citizens: Let it not be so.

Words to Bring Back: “Inveigle”

– Definition: v. to entice or induce by guile or flattery
– Used in a sentence: Demagogues often use exceptionalism to inveigle their would-be followers.
– Why: It is something so pervasive that critical-thinking skills should be taught beginning in kindergarten.

Meetin’ and Greetin’

MY PUBLISHER ADVISES ME THUS: “…[W]rite a blog post that you’ve published an in-depth Q&A interview … and invite your blog readers to comment on your blog and suggest additional questions they’d like to see answered in your interview (and then go back and answer those questions too!).”

This is that blog post. Do what thou wilt.

Our Meaningful Century

THIS PAST WEEK SAW A couple of personal milestones: the completion of my 100th Prosatio Silban story, and my e-book‘s first review. (Pop the confetti and cue the corks.) To celebrate, here are synopses for all the Cook For Any Price tales spun so far, including some not yet published in the e-book or as blog posts. Please enjoy these concise bites of “in which Our Hero …”

Advertent Appetizer: … ‘s customer literally sings for her supper.
Affable Invitation: … diverts a probing question.
Agreeable Disagreement: … settles a religious contretemps.
Ambiguous Twins: … caters for children who may not be as they seem.
Annual Doom: … looks Death, or at least its messenger, square in the face.
Antecedent History: … learns the secret behind the name “Exilic Lands.”
Anxious Drummer: … attempts to calm a nervous noncombatant.
Arrow Escape: … helps a fugitive slave toward a better life.
Balance (Amuse Bouche): …reflects on what makes Eating, Dining.
Beloved Animal: … explores the nature of adoration. Continue reading “Our Meaningful Century”

Word to Bring Back (Okay, Forward): “Fabtastic”

– Definition: adj. portmanteau of “fabulous” and “fantastic”
– Used in a sentence: You have fabtastic style, my dear.
– Why: I generally dislike modern portmanteaus, but this one leaped onto the screen when I tried to type “fantastic” and hit the “b” key instead of the “n”. My contribution to the English-speaking world’s lexicon.

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