Dined in Stratford-on-Avon with Mr and Mrs Relucent Reader, Mechanicsville, VA, passing through GB on a whirlwind tour. Such encounters present me with a dilemma. Those who know me only via the blog know me at my best. The fleshy presence is another thing. Apart from talking too loudly and hogging the limelight there is the shock of discovering my utterances on life, art and the material world are megaphoned in a regional accent that is difficult to take seriously.
Would it be kinder to issue my side of the conversation on yellow Post-Its? Or via mobile phone text? Fortunately the RRs were tolerant as well as witty and I had Mrs BB by my side to restrain my wilder impulses. Much of the talk concerned books since the RRs have experience on the other side of the counter, in libraries.
THE NOVEL Still revising but in new ways. Aware that I use “He smiled.” (covering several reactions to something said) and “He nodded.” (Agreement without saying “Yes.”) I wondered if I used them to excess. So I unlimbered MsW’s Find function and went trawling. Yes I do – but not now.
Worried that I had repeated details of Clare’s upbringing too often. This was more difficult so I trawled “parents” and “wealth”. The jury is out, perhaps because the search words are not sufficiently representative.
Would it be kinder to issue my side of the conversation on yellow Post-Its? Or via mobile phone text? Fortunately the RRs were tolerant as well as witty and I had Mrs BB by my side to restrain my wilder impulses. Much of the talk concerned books since the RRs have experience on the other side of the counter, in libraries.
THE NOVEL Still revising but in new ways. Aware that I use “He smiled.” (covering several reactions to something said) and “He nodded.” (Agreement without saying “Yes.”) I wondered if I used them to excess. So I unlimbered MsW’s Find function and went trawling. Yes I do – but not now.
Worried that I had repeated details of Clare’s upbringing too often. This was more difficult so I trawled “parents” and “wealth”. The jury is out, perhaps because the search words are not sufficiently representative.
THE PICTURE Note the date! This wine was created while France was still occupied. I have blogged about this before. My job was to taste this in 1995 on someone else’s behalf. If it was duff he would be charged £450 for the bottle, if OK £550. It was OK
9 comments:
Ha! If I ever make it across the Pond again, we might just have to sit ringed by buffer tables. Good that Mrs. BB knows how to keep folks under control in public places. I would expect nothing less given her profession.
That label is something, and it seems the wine was, too. Beer though has to be fresher. I can't image paying that much for such an old bottle of ale.
An interesting point about meeting blog correspondents in the flesh. A bit like going on a blind date, I guess.
Does our blog persona reflect our real selves? Would our fellow blogger have constructed a true picture of the person?
BB, to me, is a large, erudite man, good with words, poetic and holding forthright "Yorkshireman" opinions whilst underneath there is a hint of vulnerability.
RW (zS): I was wondering how we might recognise the RRs when they arrived. Simple. Book a table at an unpopular restaurant (though listed in the Good Food Guide - and the food was good) with the result that we were the only occupants. The waitress listened avidly to our conversation.
Avus: There's that word "erudite" cropping up again. M-L, who actually met us in London, used it too. To me it means learned and is inappropriate. I left school at 15 and became an auto-didact. Poetic is also unearned; I started writing verse less than a year ago, so I don't qualify. Large is good. Good with words is OK if it covers taking every opportunity to use five-dollar ones: rebarbative and jejune are heavily favoured. Vulnerable: yes, because I get into horrible tangles about social kissing.
I wonder what happened to Edlins Ltd.It sounds as though the wine was shipped in cask.
I vote you soften the blow for the rest of us by recording your voice reading one of your poems and popping it up as a post.
Plutarch: And landed at Brighton? Perhaps on a returning DUKW.
Julia: Terrific idea. It'll also give me a techno-subject to blog about.
To meet or not to meet? So far I have not met another blogger. Maybe one day...
How will you know when the novel is finished?
HHB: I suppose not many people "pass through" Perth. However there's no reason why Avus shouldn't have dumped you at a selection of addresses from the Bimmer (10 min. each drop - keep the crash helmet on to imply you're not stopping).
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