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 |   Maybe meandering, possibly peripatetic and indisputably irregular. |
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So here it is.. a blog. Repository of some of my present musings and interests. Sometimes things pop into my head that should probably stay there - it is possible I shall share at least some of them here. (Naturally I shall filter out the ones about my sordid obsession with the culinary dark arts, one has to protect the innocent!) Please feel free not to take this too seriously, much of it could wind up being snippets of things that amuse me. Yesterday I came up with this: Few politicians can be considered first class, but not a few are number twos. What can I do with it? Nothing springs to mind, except perhaps blog it. Perhaps in some other life I'm a failed stand-up comedian. I have the beginnings of an idea to introduce another player into the Mr Moonlight story, a nice visual has occurred to me, and a summoning gone wrong seems appropriate. When I finish up here I shall literally put pen to paper. I find writing at least initially longhand helps my ideas flow. When I type up what I've written, I give it a first revision at the same time, and as a bare minimum check my spellings and grammar . I do want to keep tabs on my current reading here. I usually have several books on the go at the same time. Currently I am working through 'Pyramids' by Terry Pratchett. I reread Pratchett's books over and over - usually at work where they provide much needed amusement whilst I eat breakfast. 'The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle', by Stuart Turton was loaned to me by a friend who shares a love of murder mysteries, (especially Agatha Christie's works). It is a new take on the genre and very very clever. The protagonist occupies different bodies - a selection of the guests at the house where Evelyn is murdered. Each day he spends in a different guest, and he has been tasked with discovering the murderer - or maybe saving Evelyn from actually being murdered, it is hard to tell. The book twists and turns and is quite intriguing. 'New Science - Principles of the new science concerning the common nature of nations' is an English translation by David Marsh of 'La Scienza Nuova' by Giambattista Vico, published in 1725. Not far into this yet, I had to find a copy of the frontispiece online, as it wasn't included in the Kindle edition. The first part of the book explains the idea - and uses a detailed description of the frontispiece to convey this. So being without it would have made things somewhat harder. 'The Complete Works of Michael De Montaigne' is again a translation, this time by Donald M. Frame. Montaigne's Essays are famous, I kept reading about them, so treated myself to a nice hardbound copy to dip into - usually just before bedtime. So there we have it - a blog entry - enjoy! (whispers almost inaudibly 'Bon Appétit). |
| The Department of Introspection, Inspiration and Remedial Actions Mr. Dustin put his head inside the vast furnace. His thoughtful “Hmmm!” vibrated and echoed, slightly muffled. Pulling his head back, he turned to Mr. Smeems. “Well,” he began, “it's just as I suspected really. The fire has all but gone out. A classic catalogue of errors. It wasn't properly banked, inadequate supplies of fuel, and worst of all burning in too many places at once.” Mr. Dustin shook his head at the sorry state of the world in general, and the furnace in particular. “Small wonder it's near enough gone out.” “I see.” said Mr. Smeems, a tall thin man in a bowler hat and suit that screamed officialdom in polite and accentless English. “Marvellous thing these introspections.” He observed. “Yes they are Mr. Smeems. A great way to identify and rectify problems, and kick the lucky individual's creativity back into life.” Mr. Smeems looked down at Mr. Dustin, but purely because he was quite a bit taller than his colleague. Mr. Dustin was wearing the uniform of an engineer, his blue shirt and denim dungarees, both slightly, and properly, smeared with oil. In solidarity with Mr. Smeems, he also was wearing a bowler hat, though this too was lightly oiled. “Will it take a lot to fix him?” Mr Smeems asked, in the tones of one who was trying to sound casual, but had in fact a vested interest in the answer. Mr. Dustin sucked his teeth. “You need to be careful doing that.” Smeems observed. “Or you'll have the Department of Cliches, Misappropriations and Stereotyping on your case.” Mr. Dustin made a sound that though non verbal as such, communicated rather eloquently his opinion of the DCMS. “They've been going bloody mad recently, generating a lot of hot air and playing silly beggars. Load of nonsense it is.” “Quite so.” Said Mr. Smeems, who knew he himself owed more than a nod to “The Men From The Ministry.” Mr. Dustin had lost interest in the conversation, and was once more examining the insides of the furnace. “There's a bit smouldering over there,” He said over his shoulder. Then he turned and without asking took the clipboard from Mr. Smeems' unresisting hand. “Hmmm! French poetry translation. Good grief! Been going on for years on and off.” “See here.” Mr. Dustin tapped at the clipboard, and Mr. Smeems looked. It flares up every so often, has a brief burst of flame, and then it all but goes out again. Could be great if it were ever finished.” He thought for a moment. “Let's order some more fuel, and put in some restraints.” “Will something that simple work?” Mr Smeems seemed unconvinced. “The whole system is too sloppy Mr. Smeems. What it needs is some organisation, and especially some constraints. Daft thing is, that's what the poet he's translating was really smart about, clever bloke that Queneau. Anyway, it's got piles of potential, all wasted because she's trying to do too much at once and getting non of it finished.” “Yes. Yes, I see.” agreed Mr. Smeems. “I'll get some restraints organised this afternoon, get a delivery of fuel arranged and we'll just run the poetry translation, and see how that goes.” “Thank you Mr. Dustin.” “Oh, very welcome Mr. Smeems. Let's see, a concerted effort and we could see this finished in a month.” “A month?” “Needs a definite finish by date Mr. Smeems. Let's say by January 17th, and see how that goes, come back then and take another look?” Mr Smeems made some notes on his board. “Agreed Mr. Dustin, We'll come back and see in a month's time.” “No no Mr. Smeems.” Mr. Dustin was having second thoughts, “Now I think about it, we'd better pencil in some weekly checks. This is a long standing problem and needs a bit of care and attention to sort it out.” “Just as you say Mr. Dustin, weekly checks it is.” |
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). I mostly reject that. I'm eating rice with an egg this morning but Pannya just brought me chocolate milk from 7/11 (bless him; I really don't need it).
