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The Scriveners Compulsion
WINNER!
Blue or Black, Black and Blue, Bluey black.
Why does blue ink seem so transitory, lack the authority of funereal black. Surely the blue reading experience should be as, if not more, enjoyable. The colour of summer sky's, the paradise seas and majestic in life should please and intrigue, seduce and entice. But does the levity and seriousness of authoritarian black, the ink of birth and death, marriage & divorce, freedom and confinement; officialdom, not improve and increase the power and meaning of the written word? Are you truly weak of mind for being attracted to green ink? Is it not just a more pleasant writing experience? Or is it the literary equivalent of the winking tic? Worn with pride by the terminally annoying, the office “joker”. That pitifully persistent people pleaser, them middle aged “still with parents” domiciled.
...Or my dog is dead and Nanny is a cripple.
How to write a country song.
Rattle Rattle
The joys of late night rail travel will never cease to amaze and baffle me. The almost magical scything through the landscape, this fallen lighthouse hurtling ever onwards to home and away. The animal instincts of travellers for ever protecting their temporary burrow, safe behind their seat walls from the horrors of eye contact and interaction with strangers. Anxious for the arrival of that knight of the wheeled rocket, the ticket inspector. Imbued with the dark arts, to diffuse conflict, protect the innocent and spirit away the safely stored ticket from it's last resting place to some Area 51 of luggage interior (and in extreme cases, exterior) pocket, never before encountered in years of use and since that first exploration determining suitability and practicality, true capacity and robustness.
Solitude of the Nightshift
The night shift is more productive than the “superior” day shift. The loneliness of the enforced solitude increases the concentration and attention, to focus singularly on the job in hand. Free from distraction and enquiry, bother & strife; a release and abstention from the demands of consultation, advice and the constant waiting for the end of shift & the happiness of home.
The 21st Century Train Spotter
Due to the ever increasing speed of the domestic train system, some would say miraculously, the train spotter has to evolve. Reactions have to increase, eyesight to sharpen, stamina and physiology to adapt to cope with long periods of inactivity, interspersed with sudden, explosive & vigorous activity. An amalgamation of the hibernators dormancy & the stealth hunters bursts of hard edged, razor sharp reflexes. Kind of like and sleepy & neurotic obese panther.
“The acceptable face of violence”. Retribution for honour.
The gentlemen of old accepted and thrived on what the modern world deems violence. Yet the Edwardian era was conceivably a safer place, on the streets, in & of the home. Maybe the tradition of the duel should be revived, perhaps even promoted for the modern dispute, to ease the path to settlement. With today’s technological advances and level playing field of personal armament, the worker, read poorer, need not be at the disadvantage of those privileged elitists, the once rich only gun owners essentially. Would the blame/claim culture, “justice for all” trends, be satiated with this Biblical style of retribution, the “eye for and eye” ethos, but then are we just one stop from the Gladiatorial spectacle entertainment? Somewhere and something for the high street mercenary to prove his prowess, justified and legitimatised.
The addiction of Blogging...
I have a blog, I blog what I think I can, and try hard to make it worthwhile. But why do my posts seems less interesting than everyone else’s? Do interesting blog posts have to have explanations/story’s attached to idea generating pictures? Does the picture come first & then the blog, or does it illustrate only and exist as a bonus? Do they each lead to the other, exist in symbiosis, would the constant use of and thinking photographically lead to a better blog?