Yeah, yeah, I know. I’ve been neglecting you.
It’s sort of a weird time lately. The time I usually spend on this blog waxing poetic about goofy stuff, promoting my fiction or just starting arguments seems to have been eaten up by other things lately.
The late hours at the office used to be good for a quick blog post, or at least dashing off a few words here and there that eventually would become a blog post. But downsizing and changes in the workplace sort of erased that.
Mornings at home used to be good blogging time, too. But it’s summer, the grass grows and the gardens need weeded and we have umpteen landscaping things going on and there always is someplace to be or something to do. And, most importantly, my daughter is home during these summer days, in between her triumphant success in first grade and the start of her second-grade adventures. So, even if Daddy decides to blow off mowing the lawn, or reading that book, or writing that new Calthus story, or heaving a few more heavy stones from Point A to Point B, Daddy still has his little girl to play with or read with. That’s fun and, frankly, it beats blogging.
For instance, daughter and I are reading “Romeo and Juliet.” She heard it mentioned on some Disney channel show or other, and vaguely remembered hearing those names. She asked me, “Daddy, do you know about Romeo and Juliet?”
“Sure, Shortcake,” I replied. “It’s a very famous play by William Shakespeare. I’ve read it a few times.”
“It’s in a book?”
“Yeah, right over there.” I pointed to the gigantic Globe volume on the lower shelf.
She smiled. “Can we read it?”
“Uh … well … um … it’s kind of a sad story.”
“OK.”
“Um … everybody dies.”
“Why?”
“Well, it’s a tragedy. Very sad.”
“Can we read it?”
“Well, you see, Shakespeare wrote a loooong time ago, and he’s a very great writer, but he used words very differently from the way people use them today. His stuff is really hard to understand, even for grownups.”
“Can we read it?”
What else could I do? “Sure.”
So, we’re reading “Romeo and Juliet” together. She’s grasped the concept of a play, and understands stage directions and such. I read a passage or two, pause, and ask my second-grader what she thinks is going on.
“It sounds like the prince is going to throw all these people in the dungeon if they don’t stop fighting in the streets.”
“Uh, yes. That’s it exactly, Shortcake.”
It’s slow going. We pause a lot and discuss what’s going on. We look at the costume illustrations. She sometimes has to back me up, because I forget to do the Nurse’s voice in a funny old-lady English accent. (Yeah. I know. The nurse isn’t English. Still.) Sometimes she gets distracted by the dog, or the TV, or something else. Sometimes, we find other fun stuff to do.
But she always comes back to it, reminds me to pick it up again and recalls what’s going on in the play so far. I’m impressed with her, and I just plain love spending time with her.
She also has picked up on some of Daddy’s night-owl tendencies this summer. She thinks it is really cool to stay up late with Daddy. And you know what? She’s right.
So, you see, I’m kind of busy these days.
Not too worry. I’m far too windy and opinionated to forego this blog forever. School will resume in the fall. Things at work will settle out at some point, the lawn will be more-or-less finished and I’ll find myself with some spare half-hour to devote to starting online arguments or dissecting Poe. Just … not now.
– Steve
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Hello, and welcome to the blog of a sword-and-sorcery writer. Most of the stuff here is about writing fiction, but you'll also find some stuff about beer and Godzilla, a few bits of Zen, really short film reviews and my now-and-then rants about social injustice.You can find topics by category, using the list further down in this sidebar.
