Category: Uncategorized
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George Orwell in Germany. In the 1970s. In the US Army.
A reader, still unclear about my discussion of “process” in yesterday’s blog post, asked me to demonstrate. I won’t print the entire screed, but here’s a big chunk. Remember, the task I’d set for myself was to write an appreciation of George Orwell, who does not appear after the first third of this excerpt. …
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The Subject was Orwell
Thirty-five years ago, I started graduate school at UNH. After four years in the Army, a year doing radio in Missouri and getting my bachelor’s degree in 17 months, I was beginning work toward a master’s degree in reading. Anyone who’s tried to do a chronology of my life, is amazed that at this…
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If This is the Kind of Thing You Like, I Think You’ll Like This
“Millions of people long for eternal life when they don’t know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon.” This morning Sam (is a dog) and I went for a long walk. Well, not that long really, a couple miles under a moist grey sky, ending up having coffee with Pete and Muffin…
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Veterans Writing Retreat 9/22-9/24
Updated Information for the First Tiny White Box Veteran Writers’ Retreat Dates: September 22 – 24 (3 days) September 22 — 29 (8 days) Transportation will be provided by volunteers on Friday, 9/22 up to Pittsburg; Sunday, 9/24 and Friday, 9/29 back from Pittsburg. Rides will be available from Nashua and Manchester, although if you’ve…
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No, No Thoreau
Journal Entry, September 4, 2017 Many, many people, including my oldest daughter, Becca, who is way smarter than I was at her age—and a better writer than I am now—ask me the same question, posed in different words: “So are you trying to emulate Thoreau?” “Did Walden inspire you?” “Do you have any quotes from…
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Bar Mitzvah by Necessity–Becoming a Real Live Man
Journal Entry, September 3, 2017 As a boy, I watched my parents drink. Every day when they got home from work, they would each have a martini with an olive—when I was allowed to eat those olives, I only felt the gin (and the whisper of vermouth) spoiled their flavor. After dinner, they’d each…
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Sam is a Dog
Journal Entry. September 1, 2017 Today is September 1, the official beginning of my great adventure. Although I moved in a little more than a week ago, since I’d announced my resignation from Liberty House last February my target date was September 1. I noticed the web site has kept a countdown clock which I…
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Novelistador Goes to the Library
A quick word on the title: Norman Mailer, in writing journalism, often referred to himself as Aquarius. Ted Williams, in conversation, referred to himself as Teddy Ballgame. I think of myself as Novelistador. So shoot me. Journal Entry, 9/31, 2017 Well, it had to happen. After a week of clear skies and warm afternoons, today…
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Serenity and Progress
Journal Entry Wednesday, August 30, 2017 Last night I found serenity floating like a cork on a quiet lake. Around 5:30 or so, Chief Worrall, Terry and I drove to Round Pond, about three miles from here. The two of them got into a fishing boat and set out to catch nothing much, while…
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Secret Clubs and Replenishable Meat
Tuesday, August 29, 2017 Sam and I went to civilization last night, or at least to Colebrook. For the last 10 years, I’ve been going to a secret club, first in Nashua, then in Manchester, then in Nashua again (and in between in England and various parts of the US). This club meets to review…
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Bacon Today, Oatmeal Forever After
9:45, Monday, August 28, 2017 The adventure is truly beginning now. I got in late Thursday night, so Sam and I slept in the box with just the battery electricity to light us. Of course, because it wasn’t cold and all we were doing, after taking a walk and letting each of us pee under…
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Silence, Silence Everywhere, and Naught a Thought to Think.
Sam, the boxer/lab six-month-old puppy who’s thrown in his lot with me, and I have landed in the Great North Woods to live in a Tiny White Box. (If I’m not careful, another sentence like the last one–with its common words capitalized–will make me sound as if I’m living in the 17th century, instead of…
Tiny White Box--Thoughts on Life, Death, Recovery, and Other Mundane Topics 