Tag: writers

A breed apart from ordinary humans, and responsible for much of their culture. Some would call them the salvation of humanity; others wouldn’t call them a cab.

“It’s Just That…”

THERE’S A THING — WELL, LET’S call it a verbal placeholder-prefix — used by writers of audiovisual entertainments when they want a character to segue away from or into an awkward conversation.

My friends, meet: “It’s just that…”

You’ve heard it. Sure you have. Classic situation in point: Someone is being politely badgered into self-revelation. They’ll begin by saying, “Oh, it’s nothing” (or the like). On being pressed further, they’ll begin to spill their guts by saying, “It’s just that…”

I first noticed this while watching Star Trek: Deep Space Nine reruns. Continue reading ““It’s Just That…””

Words To Bring Back: “Reverie”

– Definition: n. Abstracted musing; dreaming.

– Used in a sentence: Since late 2016, my reveries have been somewhat disturbed.

– Why: Although it comes from an Old French word meaning “dream,” it also reminds one of “revere” or “reverent.” And aren’t dreams something to hold in reverence?

Let Us Sit Upon the Ground and Sing Glad Songs to the Memory of Groovy English Teachers

WHEN MRS. BOISVERT TOLD ME in ninth-grade English class that I had the soul of a poet, I grimaced.

“I want to be a scientist,” I said.

She had no answer to that. But she had answers to lots of other things: the importance of Shakespeare, how to compose a good headline, and to write both tightly and brightly. And always to show. Never tell.

Because of Mrs. Boisvert, and my eighth-grade grade English teacher, Mr. Sullivan, I have had a career in newspaper journalism and a modest pile of writing awards. (Also, this nifty blog.) Continue reading “Let Us Sit Upon the Ground and Sing Glad Songs to the Memory of Groovy English Teachers”

Larry Niven Calls This “The Funniest Prayer in Literature”

TUCKED INTO MY INDUSTRIAL-STRENGTH siddur (prayerbook) is the following supplication. It’s there to keep me riding the trail of Faith without falling into the trap of thinking I know everything — or, really, anything — about that-which-some-people-call-God. Ladies, gentlemen, friends, Romans, countryfolk, I give you … The Agnostic’s Prayer, from Roger Zelazny’s Creatures of Light and Darkness (© 1969):

Insofar as I may be heard by anything, which may or may not care what I say, I ask, if it matters, that you be forgiven for anything you may have done or failed to do which requires forgiveness. Continue reading “Larry Niven Calls This “The Funniest Prayer in Literature””

Words to Bring Back: “Pellucid”

– Definition: adj. Permitting to a certain extent the passage of light.

– Used in a sentence: O, for a more perfectly pellucid presidency*!

– Why: I’m in favor of this one strictly for the sound of it; the feeling on my tongue as I shape each obscure syllable. (Plus, it makes a nice alliteration with “perfectly” and “presidency.”)

Why I Love: Robert Anton Wilson

IT’S THE WAY HE BLOWS my mind. It’s the way he mixes conviction with doubt. It’s his searingly funny prose. It’s his search for Ultimate Relativity. It’s that he taught me some important Latin phrases, like “Cui bono?” and “Non illegitimati carborundum” (look ’em up). It’s how he manages to make everything he writes sound like a personal communication to the reader. It’s the little phrase-gems he drops off-handedly like “reality-tunnel,” “domesticated primates,” or “guerrilla ontology.” It’s his nimble skipping from neuroscience to neuropoetry to neuroanalysis to neuropolitics. (It’s also that “neuro-” is his favorite prefix.) Continue reading “Why I Love: Robert Anton Wilson”

Words to Bring Back: “Concatenation”

– Definition: n. The act of linking together.

– Used in a sentence: One positive effect of the 2016 election was the concatenation of disparate progressives, some actually lucid.

– Why: Who could argue with a pentasyllabic synonym for “gathering?”

Words to Bring Back: “Adduce”

– Definition: v.t. To present for proof or consideration, as an example; cite; allege.

– Used in a sentence: Rod Serling could have saved himself a couple of seconds per episode if he had only prefaced his Twilight Zone introductions with, “Adduced.”

– Why: It sounds just enough like “deduce” to trip up poseurs who attempt to use it without first checking their definition-sets. Plus, in this age of plastic facts we could always use more synonyms for “allege.”

First Graf(s): The Fellowship of the Ring

IF YOU HAVE ONLY SEEN the movie version of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, you are missing out on an extraordinary literary work.

Granted, it takes a while to get into — a criticism also (and often) leveled against authors Steven King, Herman Melville and other exposition-happy types. But you’ll be surprised by the richness of the prose, the wealth of Middle-Earth’s detail, and the extensive background material. It truly reads like an historical travelogue filled with interesting sights and people. (And you’ll also encounter some significant differences from the movies, chief among which being that Aragorn is not a wimp.) Continue reading “First Graf(s): The Fellowship of the Ring”

Words to Bring Back: “Chary”

– Definition: adj. cautiously or suspiciously reluctant to do something.

– Used in a sentence: Due to long experience, my cat is no longer chary of taking his arthritis medicine.

– Why: I suppose you could always use the synonymic rhyme “wary,” but to me “chary” sounds similar to “charity” — and it’s sometimes prudent to be so when offered something for nothing.

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