The next word on my randomly generated list of topics to write about is ‘square’ – probably easier than the previous one, ‘purpose’ which ended up as a feeble ramble about a porpoise – which is ironic really! The next one is ‘books’ and I think the difficulty there will be narrowing it down from all the ideas which will spring into my head (already springing, actually) So, square… my first thought was something like Trafalgar Square or Washington Square, and I might ponder on that, also ‘square’ as the now old fashioned and probably obsolete slang for someone who is old-fashioned. I guess back to the basic shape, i could write about something which is literally square.
Re-reading the previous paragraph – these ideas are very dull. I’ve mentioned before that I jot notes on my phone, notes of things I observe, notice, overhear, ponder on – my writing is too illegible to read hand-written jottings. The thing is – my phone notes might be legible, but sometimes I struggle to understand what I mean. Here are some examples –
- Breath – Dominic someone – did I mean there was someone called Dominic Breath? I google and first up – ‘Breathe’ by Dominick Donald – “Donald combines historical events and fictional characters to superb effect, in a novel that deserves to win prizes” The Sunday Times.
So that’s what I was noting, a book I’d heard about probably on the radio – and looking up more about it I think I might get a copy, it’s a novel set in London in 1952, at the time of the terrible smog, known as the Great Smog which may have killed 6,000 people and affected many tens of thousands more. - “I made my … out of Meccano…” Meccano is/was a toy construction kit made out of metal bits you could fasten together with nuts and bolts. Why did I write that incomplete sentence? Did I not hear the key word to reveal what was made out of Meccano? Did the person (whoever it was) leave a gap on purpose? What on earth did I imagine I would write about this?
- “Feeling quite reared up!” I think I must have misheard this or maybe whoever said it actually said ‘fired up’, or maybe they meant fired up. However… I’ve just looked it up and there is a slang term, pronounced ‘rared up’ which can indeed mean fired up – maybe as in ‘raring to go‘, but can also mean drunk, stoned, inebriated.
- and finally – and I have absolutely no clue what on earth I was thinking of, but I could definitely write something about this one – ‘the unicorn fell at the last fence’
This last one reminds me of a unicorn incident I experienced with my writing friends a couple of years ago… I will share it tomorrow!
Lois Elsden 