Category: Nonfiction

Posted on

Wacky Wednesday: February 24

The final Wacky Wednesday of February is a little light. There isn’t much wackiness today. To continue our trek into the world of old English insults, we have Tallowcatch. Another of Shakespeare’s inventions directed at the gross, womanizing knight Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 1. It’s probably derived from “tallow ketch,” literally “a barrel of fat.” Our next word is Triptaker. This word refers to someone who is a finicky, fault-finding pedant, someone who nitpicks at every detail. You could say they have a problem for every solution.

For our wacky holidays this week, we have our token food holiday National Tortilla Chip Day. And that’s it. That’s the only holiday you need worry about today, and let’s be honest, you don’t need any other holidays because I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like tortilla chips. Tortilla chips came about in the 1940s when Rebecca Webb Carranza repurposed rejected tortillas from the automated line in her workplace. She would later receive the Golden Tortilla Award in 1994 for her exemplary contribution to the food industry. Try using the new insults you learned today while enjoying some tortilla chips in honor of Rebecca Webb Carranza. But maybe don’t insult people to their face or while chewing the chips.

Posted on

Coffee and Contemplation: Studies in Supernatural Storytelling

As promised, I am changing up how I approach the weekly Coffee and Contemplation segments. Think of this as the introduction post. This will kind of be like reviews but focused on the spooky things. This may include films, television, and various other things. My main focus will be on books. As I want to be a writer of supernatural horror, speculative fiction, and magical realism, these are the kinds of books I’ve been reading for the past couple years. I plan to go through them one by one offering my opinion of the works, saying how spooky they are, and perhaps something I learned about writing in this genre.

I can tell you one thing I’ve learned already. The best supernatural horror stories have some real-life horrors included. I mean things that actually have or could happen such as genocide and rape. I will offer and overall rating of the work between one and five stars like so many other rating systems. I will also include a Spooky Spider Scale. I will rate the level of scariness in the book between one and ten spiders. I don’t scare easy. For example, a children’s book might have some scary bits for kids but not for adults. These might be one or two spiders. The average horror novel might get 5 or 6 spiders. It’s too scary for kids but teens and young adults won’t get too scared.

I may need to perfect this scale as I start writing about these different novels. I have read many and have many a book on my To-Read list. I try to keep my list updated on my Goodreads profile. Follow me or friend request me there to see what I’m reading now. And feel free to offer suggestions or comment on what you thought about whichever book I discussed on a certain week. These posts are intended to be a conversation and I want to hear from you all. I hope to have lots of fun with this new approach to my Sunday posts. I’m already excited. Will you join me on this journey into spookiness?

Posted on

Wacky Wednesday: February 17

Welcome to the Wacky Wednesday following Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday). If you’re unfamiliar with Fat Tuesday, it’s always the day before Ash Wednesday. More about that a little later. First, we have our old English insults for the day. Stampcrab refers to a heavy-footed, clumsy person. Have you ever met someone who always bumped into or knocked over things? That’s a stampcrab. Our next word has more of an explanation. Stymphalist refers to someone who smells unpleasant. In Greek mythology, one of The Twelve Labors of Hercules was to destroy the Stymphalian birds, a flock of monstrous, man-eating birds with metal beaks and feathers, who produced a stinking and highly toxic guano. And that’s where the name comes from.

Today’s only token food holiday is National Cabbage Day. The cabbage family of greens includes Brussels sprout, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, kohlrabi, and kale. Cabbage helps create some of the best Celtic recipes. Consider some corned beef and cabbage in March. As a part of Random Acts of Kindness Week, today is National Random Acts of Kindness Day. To learn more about the week and the day, visit the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. Finally, we have Ash Wednesday. 46 days before Easter, Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lenten season for Christians. The day begins a time of meditation, reflection, self-examination, study, and contemplation when Christian consider their own mortality and sinfulness in preparation for Easter.