Like a befuddled kite in a trade wind, I now find myself whirling into the cyber ether. This is the inaugural entry of my newly minted blog. Yes, with my wife’s technical assistance, I’ve officially been dragged kicking and screaming into the new millennium. As a published writer hoping to further ply his trade, I’ve known for some time that I needed to create more of an “online presence” as they say. And thus I now blog. Much of my writing gravitates towards historic themes, so this sort of modernity doesn’t necessarily come easy to me. For God’s sake, even my spell check doesn’t recognize the notion of “blog.” It strongly suggests that the word I meant to write is “bog” – as in a dank, spongy expanse into which unfamiliar wayfarers might fatally sink. So… Welcome to my bog!
The truth is, I’m probably more suited to the quill pen than the keyboard, which brings me to Nathaniel Hawthorne. My collegian daughter has recently taken on an assignment exploring ‘ol Nat’s use of folklore. Knowing that her sire had tiptoed through the hawthorn in his time, she asked me for short story suggestions. Having read most of “Twice-Told Tales” – which, by the way, my daughter thinks is the best title ever, as do I. – I offered up three of those: "The Minister's Black Veil," "The Gray Champion" and "The May-Pole of Merry Mount." She’d just read “Young Goodman Brown” (from the collection Mosses from an Old Manse) so that seemed like a good quartet of stories to work off of.
Inspired by that discussion, I spent the next couple of days rereading those four tales plus several others by the venerable old Salemian. (Isn’t that what you call a denizen of Salem , Massachusetts Hawthorne New England , pull down that dusty volume (the one your grandfather gave you for your high school graduation) and revisit my favorite Bododian. (Isn’t that what you call someone who attended Bowdoin College
Hey Michael it' s Terry! Since I got my iPhone I will be able to check in on your Blog anytime anywhere, so technology can be very useful. And you are helping me to join the 21st century as I have never visited a blog before ( although I have seen a bog a time or two). Anyway, your blog is absolutely stunning. I love the colors and graphics. Hats off to Helen! Guess my posted comment should not be like a letter but I am an old geezer just like you! I will catch on. I will look forward to yourfuture posts my friend and I love your writing. It expands my mind and never fails to give me a chuckle!
ReplyDeleteHi Michael - Internet publishing looks good to me. I have read several direct-to-Kindle books which were very popular, and they weren't very well written. Looks to me like there is lots of room for good writers like you. -Harry Saxman
ReplyDeleteMy dear Mr. Nethercott,
ReplyDeleteAllow me to pull myself away from my ink-on-paper portable reading device we used to call “a book.” I fancy myself a man of the world, so I daresay I am up for adventure as much as the next chap. I must admit, my good man, that I was a bit apprehensive at first, what, with all this talk of “dank, spongy expanses.” I must suggest, with all due respect, that you are (or at least your "spell-check" is)in error, that “bog” has anything at all to do with this new genre that you identify as a “blog.” Allow me to offer an alternative theory with the help of our good friend, Mr. Webster. I would like to suggest that this word, blog, is actually not a meaningless term as it first appears. Rather, I believe that it is a hybrid; to be more precise, that it is a combination of the words “blotter” and “cog.” Mr. Webster reminds us that a blotter is “a book in which entries of occurrences are made as they take place.” And to cog (though it does have some rather unfortunate associations with the casting of dice) suggests as much as anything “to wheedle,” which in turn means “to entice by soft words or the like.” I believe that I am to understand, then, that to blog means to entice a reader with pleasant and clever words into the writer’s world of everyday occurrences. Could this not be said then, rather to resort to the sloppy short-cutting and slashing of perfectly good words? I fear the slippery slope. Where will it end? With mere letters standing in for full words? Ha! I agree, that would be too fabulous. After all, it has been five thousand years since we had to do with such bare markings. Well, my good friend, I fear I have outstayed my welcome, so I must bid you a good evening. Allow me to say in closing, that I did not find this space to be dank at all, but found it rather cheery and bright. It is more perhaps like a picture-with-words on a canvas that invites the viewer’s participation. I wonder if there are other such, what do they call it, “sites”? Perhaps that will be for another outing for another day.
I wish you all good health,
And I am very truly yours,
Mr. Trenchard
Postscript: I wrote a version of the above into the little white box at the end of the “comments” section. I then had the most unpleasant experience of having to visit other sites to send my comment, but by then my comment disappeared and I could not retrieve it. I threatened to pull out my trusty typewriter, but I understand that these picture-words and the typewritten page do not intermarry. To make a long story short, I had to rewrite my piece, and now I will try again. But I must say that my mood is not as promising as when I began this venture.
Mr. Trenchard - allow me to say that you are the perfect match for my dear Mr. Nethercott, and your posting can only serve to encourage him. Well done! And I think the key to having your words be posted is to sign in first.
ReplyDelete(here's hoping it works for me)
Helen