Friday, December 02, 2005

Maundering

  1. To talk incoherently or aimlessly.
  2. To move or act aimlessly or vaguely; wander.
At some point in my daily blogsurf, I found a place where the host features a word-of-the-day (or was it a word-of-the-week?) Hopefully, she'll stop by, because I can't remember how I found her. As you all know, there are way too few blogs in the world, so I've been thinking about inaugurating another. More on that later. You'll notice a few changes around Shatter:
  • New favorites! Yeah, I keep meaning to update these every week . . .
  • Shameless self-promotion gives links to the two stories of mine that are available on the 'net. They also happen to be two that I'm proud of, or at least, I don't cringe when I reread them. "The Mechanic," in particular, is worth a quick check.
  • A new image for my better half's occasional blog, Chelicera. I figure I've broken down Beth's phobia enough to put up a really tiny and really, really cute REAL spider. Really!
  • New meters for The Brakan Correspondent edit and my NaNoWriMo NiP, Get Well Soon.
  • Linkage to new pal Blue Gal.
By the way: if you'd like me to link to you, drop me a line (a reply to this post will do).
***
I have blog envy. It's the Type A in me. I'm envious of the group blogs that attract huge followings . . . I mean, look at Boing Boing. Why are they so popular? And why can't I do the same thing? We. Think Group. We. If any of my regulars are interested in brainstorming this in email-space, please kick off a discussion in the comments, or just plain email me. I even thought up a great name for the blog:
Balls and Walnuts
What do you think? It has a mellifluous Crooks and Liars feel to it. (God and Consequences does too, but that one's taken ;o) Naturally, once we all team up, we'll choose a name all democratic-like. As for theme . . . how about a political blog? I don't see too many of those around. I think it may be an unfilled niche! D.

11 Comments:

Blogger Kate said...

you are fine. you are lovely. that dress makes you look much slimmer and I love what you've done with your hair lately.

now will you hush up about your popularity? and tell me what this is? Steatopygos

12/03/2005 05:13:00 AM  
Blogger Kate said...

and if you go for political I think you'd do best following a jesus general format.

12/03/2005 06:43:00 AM  
Blogger Pat J said...

jesus general format <-- please to explain???

Also, Doug: There's a book called Bastards and Boneheads that is a survey of Canadian prime ministers, done on the theory that every single PM we've ever had fits neatly into one (or both) of those categories. For example: Pierre Trudeau = bastard, Jean Chrétien = bastard, Joe Clark = bonehead, Brian Mulroney = both. Maybe you could call your political blog "Bastards and Boneheads -- the American Iteration"...

12/03/2005 06:48:00 AM  
Blogger Douglas Hoffman said...

Kate: the root steato- = fat. You can figure out the rest.

There truly is a medical condition called steatopygia. Check out that link; the "Khoikhoi apron" was a new one on me. What would a woman do with a four-inch dangly labia? For that matter, what would a guy do with it?

Maybe I need to write a sex-only blog. Wait! That's this one ;o)

Pat: You need to visit Jesus' General. Sarcasm elevated to art form. Bastards and Boneheads? I'm afraid Crooks and Liars already ran with that concept, but let me see what I can come up with . . .

Morons and Murderers?

12/03/2005 08:16:00 AM  
Blogger Bobbie (Sunny) Cole said...

And when might we expect a link to "The Mechanic"???

Snorfling at balls & walnuts. All I could think of was...Cracked?

12/03/2005 08:38:00 AM  
Blogger Douglas Hoffman said...

It's over to the right, Lyn -- under the heading "shameless self-promotion". I just tested it. It works.

Can't say I care for the white-on-black formatting, but my ezine stories have suffered worse.

That reminds me . . . I ought to post a link to "Sex and the Single Wendigo," too. That's my "Sex and the City" spoof. Not as well written as "The Mechanic" or "Saul," but it has its moments.

12/03/2005 08:47:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Some thoughts:

1. There are never enough books, or enough blogs. Send whoever says there are to me.

2. Being popular is not as important as having fun. Whatever you do, have fun, otherwise it becomes a chore.

3. Something like 82% of all Americans want to write a book, right? Pubbed authors are usually interested in reading about how other writers handle the life so they can get fresh ideas, too. So talking shop is never a bad thing.

4. Politics, eh. Depressing.

5. Humor!

6. Blog titles can brand you. Find one that sticks in everyone's head. "Shatter" is interesting, but when I think of you I don't think of that. I think: doctor, writer, funny guy, smart, real, etc. Find something short and sweet that says that to anyone who looks at your blog title.

12/04/2005 10:37:00 AM  
Blogger Douglas Hoffman said...

Thanks for your comments, Sheila. I love having you around this place. Makes me feel like my favorite English teacher* is watching over me, cheering me on.

Guess I'll stick to this blog for a while. (Maybe I should rename this one Balls and Walnuts. Hmm.)

*Anne Middleton, who still teaches Classics at Berkeley. I really need to blog about her one of these days.

12/04/2005 11:26:00 AM  
Blogger Pat J said...

"Ball and Walnuts", eh? Yeah, I noticed.

12/05/2005 07:33:00 AM  
Blogger Pat Kirby said...

Ball 'n Walnuts...Twigs and Berries.

Politics are only fun if they are funny, i.e. Jesus' General. The cool thing is that right wing trolls rarely comment over there. Satire seems to confuse them.

Humor's always good. Funny thing is, for the most part, blogs about writing bore me. [shrugs].

12/05/2005 09:32:00 AM  
Blogger Douglas Hoffman said...

I'd go for Clams and Oysters, but how many folks would get the reference? (See below . . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

This comes from the seduction scene between Lawrence Olivier and Tony Curtis in Spartacus. "Some men like oysters; some like clams. I like both." Or something like that.

12/05/2005 03:01:00 PM  

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