Start the week #79
Loadsa links
Greetings!
It’s really hard keeping up with all the great writing around, and I’m about to make it even harder. This week’s edition of Start the Week contains links to other newsletters, as usual, and some of those newsletters contain links to other writers here. What a nice problem to have.
But enough of this persiflage! On with the newsletter.
Bikeability
It’s official: Elaine and I are insane. We signed up to do a course called Bikeability. We’ve already completed levels 1 and 2, and have the badges and certificates to prove it, so there. Last week we did Level 3. This involved cycling across several lanes of traffic (I do that anyway) and should have included navigating a roundabout or two, but that was not feasible. The total distance was around 15 miles, but that wouldn’t have been too bad had there not been a fierce headwind whichever direction we faced. This is what I was like afterwards:
As you can see, not only did I lose most of my hair during the day (I told you it was a fierce headwind) but I aged about 60 years too. We didn’t even get a badge after all that. (Got the certificate though, <brag>, <boast>!)
It does that
When I was Head of Computing in a neighbouring borough, my local specialist advisor was someone called Michael1. Whenever I told him something had happened tech-wise but not in a good way he would say, “It does that”. Very helpful. I phoned him up one evening to ask his advice:
Me: I’ve tried updating my version of Word, but every time I get to the very last bit I get a strange-looking error message.
Michael: It does that.
Me: Well, do you have a solution?
Michael: Yes. Put your computer into Safe Mode, then click on Cancel when you get that error message.
…
Me: I did what you said, and now Word won’t work at all: it just crashes every time I click on it.
Michael: Yeah it did that for me as well.
Me:
Sketches
Some people here —
, and — have been encouraging me to get back into sketching, which I used to do ages ago. Well, I wasn’t sure, but then Elaine came across a few of my old sketchbooks in the loft. I don’t feel comfortable about this, but as I’m always encouraging people to write and put it “out there” I suppose I ought to follow my own injunction as far as art is concerned. So here are a few bits, which I hope will provide you with a soupçon of pleasure, or even a great deal of it.
Now, if you want to check out some good original artwork, then peruse these writers and their newsletters:
at at Writer’s Notebook atOther people’s articles
Mom vs the IRS, by
A great (true) story by Paul about how his mum, now 95 and still going strong, saw off the IRS!, by . Erica features short-form fiction. I didn’t know about this when I started my short-form series (which includes nonfiction too), but I’m glad I’ve discovered it (via who writes imaginitive 50-word short stories at Leaves). I regard our publications as complementary. The latest edition of Microzine features a call for submissions.A robin’s bath (can a bird be mindful?), by
is a nice article about her friendly robin.Slow blooming with Nathan, a good interview conducted by
.My articles
6 word reviews - do read this because it includes some great contributions plus links to even more good writing.
Letter to Rebecca #24-18 is my most recent epistle to
. She will be replying to me next Wednesday.Expandable space includes my recently-formulated Freedman’s Law, all within the 500 word limit I set myself.
Experiments in style: travel diary is the latest version of a very simple story, this time in the style of an excerpt from a travel diary. If you’d like to know more about how I went about writing this, and other inside information, upgrade to paid in order to gain access to the Experiments in Stle Extra series. (There’s a free one here.)
My writing courses
Here are some courses I’m running.
Writing for blogs: online in November, in person next July.
The 60 minute writer: online in the spring 2025 term.
Creative writing using constraints: in person next June.
Videos
This sould give you a laugh:
I quite like this example of looping and then playing over it.
This should make you chortle.
Hopefully there will be another instalment of sax chronicles next week. I had a tooth taken out a few days ago, so I’m afraid I haven’t practised.
That’s it for now. Do leave a comment, share, subscribe, upgrade, or all of them. Thanks!
Terry
Actually, it wasn’t: I’ve changed the name to protect the innocent.
Wow, Terry. I have seen your flash sketches of cats and a couple of hasty bicycles and self portraits.... but this art is a completely different level. You are a man with fingers in far too many pies, but I do hope you don't leave the art work behind. Lovely.
My god, you and Elaine are so brave, you go on bikes around moving cars?! I even don't drive on highways.(Why I am telling that?) I love your black and white sketches. So much mood...