The Daily News
1 Yesterday I spent the day writing and re-reading books on writing.
2 I then had a little time on my hands, always a danger.
3 I decided I would go on a hunt for a good pho restaurant.
4 Pho, for you non-Asians out there, is a Vietnamese soup that is delicious. It is pronounced "fuh".
5 San Jose has pho places everywhere. I've had trouble finding a good place up in Sac.
6 It might be because I fear the freeways up here. People are almost as lousy driving up here as they are in the Bay Area.
7 Lots of small guys in huge trucks, many who tailgate and change lanes without signaling.
8 My kinda guys.
9 LOTS of angry white guys.
10 Anyway, I couldn't find anywhere close, so I went to this place I know, located a little over a mile from where I live.
11 It opened at 11 a.m. That's pretty late for a pho place to be opening, in my eyes.
12 I knew that their pho was all right, but nothing like the places in San Jose. Most pho places in San Jose open at 9, and that's if they don't close at 3 a.m.
13 I thought it might be nice to do a little reading about writing, something I do.
14 I looked around and re-discovered my favorite book on the subject, Stephen King's On Writing.
15 I loved it because I had bookmarked a chapter that talked about how rude it is to read in a restaurant. I bookmarked it with a Dickey's Barbecue Pit menu, ironically. I went in; the place was packed, and I ordered a number one. The girl waiting on me was really nice, and they got the bowl of pho to me really fast.
16 So there I was, enjoying a fat bowl of hot pho, reading about how rude it is to read during meals, at least in polite society.
17 Stephen King's gave me an answer.
18 Screw polite society.
19 Gotta love that guy.
20 You just gotta.
21 Here are King's words regarding reading during meals:
Reading at meals is considered rude in polite society, but if
you expect to succeed as a writer, rudeness should be the
second-to-the-least of your concerns. The least of all should
be polite society and what it expects. If you intend to write as
truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society
are numbered, anyway.
22 His basic premise is that if you wish to write, you must read.
23 It's that simple.
24 We must also remember to re-read. I'm not sure if King said that or not, but re-reading something becomes re-discovering something.
25 Every time I pick up King's On Writing I find something new.
26 I loved that I bookmarked the King excerpt with a restaurant menu.
27 I haven't moved to the health-veggie craze quite yet. I'm convinced that at some point I will need to do that. Meanwhile, I shall continue eating stuff that is sloppy and crazy good.
28 Childish yes, but long-time readers of this nonsense expect no less.
29 Yesterday, for example, I dripped infinitesimal bits of pho on my copy of the King book.
30 Sriracha Badge of Courage, if you ask me.
31 Haha, I spell-checked "scriracha" and got it right.
32 It amazes me that you can get that word on Dictionary.com.
33 We've come quite a ways since the original Apple computer days.
34 Moving On, Part One: I used to be a great speller. College and teaching destroyed all of that.
35 I won our school's sixth-grade spelling bee. I don't have many accomplishments, but I do own those bragging rights.
36 The vast majority of human beings walking around couldn't care less.
37 I won it on the word legume.
38 This tidbit impressed all one of you.
39 The only times I would share that bit of info with students would be any time a bee would fly into my classroom.
40 Kids inherently know that any time a bee flies into the room, they get a carte blanche right to completely disrupt the lesson. Boys try chasing the bee down and killing it; girls scream.
41 For the most part.
42 I would usually pause, smile, and say quietly, "Don't trip. It's just a spelling bee."
43 The bee usually finds its way out, and the lessons somehow continue.
44 Boring is as boring does, or some such thing.
45 Friday. You can get away with tons on a Friday. The day stops at noon. Every week. This gives me the afternoon off from whatever it is I do.
46 Think I'm going to get me some ribs. All this relaxing is making me hungry.
47 I'm taking off early. Okay with you? Good. Hope you don't mind. It'll occur to you later on. Ah, Friday. I really do gottago.
48 Have a GREAT weekend.
49 See you again.
50 Peace.
Reading at meals is considered rude in polite society, but if
you expect to succeed as a writer, rudeness should be the
second-to-the-least of your concerns. The least of all should
be polite society and what it expects. If you intend to write as
truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society
are numbered, anyway.
22 His basic premise is that if you wish to write, you must read.
23 It's that simple.
24 We must also remember to re-read. I'm not sure if King said that or not, but re-reading something becomes re-discovering something.
25 Every time I pick up King's On Writing I find something new.
26 I loved that I bookmarked the King excerpt with a restaurant menu.
27 I haven't moved to the health-veggie craze quite yet. I'm convinced that at some point I will need to do that. Meanwhile, I shall continue eating stuff that is sloppy and crazy good.
28 Childish yes, but long-time readers of this nonsense expect no less.
29 Yesterday, for example, I dripped infinitesimal bits of pho on my copy of the King book.
30 Sriracha Badge of Courage, if you ask me.
31 Haha, I spell-checked "scriracha" and got it right.
32 It amazes me that you can get that word on Dictionary.com.
33 We've come quite a ways since the original Apple computer days.
34 Moving On, Part One: I used to be a great speller. College and teaching destroyed all of that.
35 I won our school's sixth-grade spelling bee. I don't have many accomplishments, but I do own those bragging rights.
36 The vast majority of human beings walking around couldn't care less.
37 I won it on the word legume.
38 This tidbit impressed all one of you.
39 The only times I would share that bit of info with students would be any time a bee would fly into my classroom.
40 Kids inherently know that any time a bee flies into the room, they get a carte blanche right to completely disrupt the lesson. Boys try chasing the bee down and killing it; girls scream.
41 For the most part.
42 I would usually pause, smile, and say quietly, "Don't trip. It's just a spelling bee."
43 The bee usually finds its way out, and the lessons somehow continue.
44 Boring is as boring does, or some such thing.
45 Friday. You can get away with tons on a Friday. The day stops at noon. Every week. This gives me the afternoon off from whatever it is I do.
46 Think I'm going to get me some ribs. All this relaxing is making me hungry.
47 I'm taking off early. Okay with you? Good. Hope you don't mind. It'll occur to you later on. Ah, Friday. I really do gottago.
48 Have a GREAT weekend.
49 See you again.
50 Peace.
~H~
fin.
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