h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi there.

I've just read all the stuff you put in the AWW last night. I loved them all, I find your voice so hilarious, and so suited to these harrased rants. I've always enjoyed that kind of style, and I must say that you excel at it. I'm rather dazzled actually after reading them all at once. They work so well together all at once, reading very much as a collection.
I'm writing here and not in the specific threads as I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed them all. I'm in work right now, so giving you an account of each individually is a bit difficult, but I shall on my next day off. Thank you for posting them all. They are hillarious, warm and wonderfully 'inclusive' to read, if you know what I mean.

A pleasure, old bean
Fatty

Thank you most kindly dear Lizzard (most slim I'm sure ).
They are some of the articles that have appeared in the post. I am hoping I may be able to somehow put them into an odd sitcom...the wanderings of an addled mind, that sort of thing. I truly don't know if it will work which is why I posted them back into AWW. The characters are largely drawn from RL but are composites and I am looking for the two that have the best dynamics.
Barring one entry they are all in my archives (Some I didn't post to AWW as they already lurk there in the past)...somewhere on my space there's a link (I have to get help with guide ml...thanks Wolf if you are lurking )
I have pulled one entry as it was not written with discipline, rather emotion and really should have been kept private.
I'm so glad you enjoyed. There are obviously a few of us out there that appreciate the madness that is this life!
Take care and many thanks
boots

Oh verily, we do have a fine appreciation for the absurdities of life. We live in our very own carry on world.

Sorry to butt in, but where goes my lizard so go I!

I adore your style of writing, all the more so because I have no talent for it myself. I'm helplessly serious in prose.

By sitcom so you mean script or paper?

I could see you doing very well with a weekend column in a broadsheet, or writing an autobiography style year in the life type book. I would certainly like to read such a thing.

Yes, do you mean an actual script for a sticom? I have the dubious honour of being a scriptwriter, in potentia anyway. I'm currently taking an MA in the discipline. Although, that is exactly what I lack.
And thankfully, no. I am as fatty as my name. Having endured my teenage years with a flat stomach, I finally got myself some heft, when my lovely fish came into my life and I realised that I, too, had the right to be beautiful. Which in my case meant being fat. A real epiphany for me, and now I have a body with which I'm happy. Good luck in your quest for same, if quest it be.
With joy
Fatty

Hi to newest best friends speckled fish and skinny lizzard...you are so 'write', the absurdities of life make it most worthwhile. The reality is too hard a burden (sp) to seriously digest.

Haven't a clue is the answer to the question.

Don't even know if there is anything worth saying...so many of us have the same thoughts.

The sitcom thing is because of the aunty beeb competition...hidden somwhere on the writing site (not the 'get writing' site)... the rest is merely because I have to. I am most lucky person in the whole world the universe and the galaxy...I have friends and family...shit may happen but I am still rich.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A1063180... a bit of history...the time before was the best part of my life...thank you Ravager.

Bless you newest best friend of and and thank you for sharing that. I have no words for you, but you have my sympathy, respect and tears.

As for writing...it is true that many have the same thoughts, but no-one else will have them in exactly the same way as you, or express them in the way that you do. That's part of the joy of writing. It may well be that there is nothing new under the sun, certainly nothing is created in a vacuum (though fleas are created in our hoover) and everything creative flows from everything that precedes it. It is in the details and the uniqueness of our own experiences and selves that newness comes as we creep imperceptibly from the old to the new.

Gosh, it's getting windy in here. I suppose what I am saying is never think that because what you are saying is not 100% origional that it is not worth saying.

***Quote Alert***
...In my own work I write not only what I want to read - understanding fully and indelibly that if I don't do it no one else is so vitally interested, or capable of doing it to my satisfaction - I write all the things I should have read. - Alice Walker.

I shall start reading through the entries today. I'll comment on them individually in the threads in the AWW, since that might stimulate some debate, then post an overview back here. Be warned, when we get our serious critique heads on we can be quite thorough, but I'm sure you wouldn't have asked if you couldn't take it.

Cheers m'dear

Thank you special peeps for being so lovely. yes can take the critique...makes a change from rejection slips! Watch out for those fleas and chat more soon.
take care
boots (off to bed NOW!)

Liar...I still see you!

Sleep well.

Would you rather me continue with the detailed commentaries on the WW set or move onto another set? Do you want such detailed comments or would a more general approach be more useful? I could compare and contrast between sets, or concentrate on what I think you should do with them (like how best to edit them all together into a cohesive prose sequence or which elements and characters I think would work best in the radio sitcom idea)

I'm yours to command. As is lizardy!

Good morrow fair hound of the less than useless variety. The fish is right that I'm less than sober, so on with it. On I say.

As you can tell, she's the one that deals with the detailed critique. Not my bag, and I'm less than fagged. What poetry. I've already authored and taped a tape this eventide. I'm listening to the fuits now, currently at Crying In The Rain- Everly Bros. Next track is a hilarious epiphany by Our Francis who art in heaven. Or Franki Howerd, whichever you prefer. God, I'm rambling, apologies.

Onto grammer. I have gathered from various posts of yours that your mildly,if not more, paranoid about your grammer. I say this, and heed.

The rules of grammer, whilst useful at best, are not set in stone. Your grammer is not always standard. Halleujah. In fact it often does things that are rarely seen in writing. Let's look at one sentence, one of my favourites.

'four pounds sweaty fifty'

Here we have a sentence that could, possibly, be seen as profoundly ungammatical. Thank God. It's hillarious, and I should imagine instinctive. I love the descriptiveness of this line. It gives one soooo much information in one burst. '...swaety fifty'. How great is that line? I may have to steal it.

You see, the rules of grammer are fine for an essay, journalistic piece, or even an ordinary novel. Your command of English is not ordinary.

I love linguistic flair, and that is one thing your writing has in buckets. I'm sorry I don't include examples, but look through your work yourself, and see what I mean.

*stops to sway to Buddy Holly*

I did tell you i'd done a tape. Out of interest, you do understand I'm 23 and the missus is 25. I hope our youth does not decrease your interest in our opinions?

Anyway, grammer is a thing to be manipulated. Most people do not use the language in any kind of interesting way. You do. Welcome to our world. You create not only words (i.e. offsprung, gapee), but also manipulate the language to your own ends. It comes off as breathtakingly original writing, to us at least. I read all your submissions to the AWW, and I thought they all displayed a high degree of language control.

Grammer is a construct, and as writer's, we deconstruct it. Don't care about what you think should be. Write how you want it to be. I haven't found a single word you've writen to br difficult to understand, or hard to read.

I don't know how best to explain myself. And I'm a bit p****d. Excuse the asterixs. I think you have a great flair with the language.

Oh, boots, I don't know how to tell you. I concur with everything Fisk has to say. We've spent much of the week discussing your writing. Grammer is to be played with, and you do. You create your own words where nothing suitable, or succinct, exists. And you do it with flair, and clarity. I love a private language. Fisk and I live with our crony John, and we have our own private language. We use words where they are inappropriate, and create new ones where nothing good enough exists. You do the same.

As I'm rambling, I'll cease, and finish my £2.99 white cider. Truly, I am a verbal, liquid,musical and linguistic whore. Can you say that here? I hope so.

Yours in pickled parentheses,
Fatty

Boots 's out load!
Oh joy another late night drunken rambler...I am not alone!
Thanks both for all that. Re the threads Speckly, I don't think it matters. I am going to print them off anyway and cross reference comments against hard copy...of course you could always send to [email protected]. Don't even have to highlight that way,I told you I was lazy!

Re the age thing. Never a problem. The years, the offsprung, Ravager, the Tweedles and so many more have taught me that intellect and imagination, wisdon and compassion sit happily on all shoulders. I am a slow learner so all tutorials welcomed. (Whoops sorry that was your comment Lizard)

Thank you for all the enebriated praise. Great to read first thing on a saturday morning...almost makes the day job bearable! Will catch up later, the Tweedles are braying for breakfast.
take care both
boots (also huge BH fan!)

Good morning, well afternoon, dearest Boots. You will be unsurprised to hear that I greet the day with a hangover. But Alkee Seltzee and many sugar filled liquids have made me semi-functional. And I come into work and it's busier than it's been for ages. Ho hum.

I will give you a more coherent and structered review of your bits, i promise. I doubt I'll have time here today, as the calls are interupting me so much. Tommorrw I'm away to visit my bro in the hospital, so tomorrow night, or Monday, also a day off.

I am sorry its taken me so long. We have talked about them a lot, and the missus tends to come here when we're at home much more often than I do. I only use the net at home to e-mail and play stupidly addictive games which require little other than frantic clicking. Oh the sound of pixles exploding!

Sorry, i'm rambling again. It's being alone with my brain and the keyboard that does it. I love listing to the sound of my own text. It's probably why I don't make a lot of friends online. I'm too inhibited to ramble on at most people, so it's a sign of devotion that I do it so much in your direction

Anyway, have a bona day, chuck, and I may ramble aimlessly again later

Fatty

Indeed the lovely lizard is correct. Constant calls are not condusive to inteligent thought. Humph!

Lets hope it quietens down later.

Oh, I have my own Oodles in the AWW now! Was feeling brave so I dropped a few stories in. Feel free to browse through them if you get a chance.

Bit of a dodgy day yesterday. Not one of my best. Need to do a little monica-ing today to try and bring some normality back into life. Everything changes but it all seems to be happening far too quickly and all at once. Need a duvet to bury my head under. However, instead will mow the lawn, change the sheets and hoover until all pile has been removed from carpets. To reward myself later I shall dip into AWW!
Take care both
boots

Here have this for your poor muddled head -

It's been a busy weekend but you and your wonderful words have not been forgotten.

We've been talking abut Angela quite a bit. Making her stupid would work - but at the expence of a great deal more we feel you could do with the character. We both liked her gentle nievety(sp?) and kindness. It does come through just not strongly enough. We think you can do justice to the character without losing anything. Lizardy particularly sees the comedy potential of her. She can be very funny, strangely literal (a trait Lizardy shares, so she has much sympathy with it), and rather dotty. These are traits which can be balanced very nicely against her sympathetic kindness and patience, to make her funny, a good foil and a rounded character. It's just a matter of teasing it all out onto the page.

Lizardy feels that she has the potential to be the best foil for your narrator.

I hope the flurry of monica-ing helped to make you more tranquil. Take heart dear Hound, for tomorrow is another day.



PS Hi there - Fatty

Thanks folks. You have actually described Angela to a T. She is all of that, now I have to go and draw it out. I was perfectly beastly to her yesterday...mind you she was the only member of the gang I would even speak to yesterday. I made her sit in silence through the entire 'enders omnibus and silence is not Angela's strng suit! But she did it 'cos she is nice. Today is better the sun doth shine. Not good for baby boots though, Aberbloodydeen is grey, not good when you are feeling blue. Off to send her an ornage poster!
take care
boots

That just shows that you have caught her character already. It just needs to come over more strongly so that readers who aren't reading as closely as we are will see it too. *preens and feels special, then remembers that she's not the queen of everything and head deflates again.*

It's good to have friends one can be beastly to occasionally without causing offence. Tell her from me that if even half of what's in the Angela character is true of her, then she's a wonderful person.

I will. And I don't take enough care of her. Her most special is not in perfect health and her offsprungs are, well, offsprungs. She has lots of bad dollops to deal with and is always there for me. I am just old wicked witch who needs to grab the fragmented happy good times as they happen and can only look after peeps when it is really bad for them, but I can only do that...I cannot do more. That is sad but true and I can only be true.
I have had most special evening with Ravager pup and I can go to sleep happy, most selfish but happy.
We go to market tomorrow at 5 am. The whole gang...they are coming for me, 'cos they know it is a bit difficult. We will have greasy spoon brekkie and lots of laughs , and a few leaky eye moments, but that will be cool...I am so lucky.
My dear friend who did look after offsprung on gap year bit in downunder has just lost Dad, who I did know and love and did love Mum big heaps. I have to do flowers. That is not easy, but I am experienced now so can help and make it special...not better, just special. Thank you Ravager you did teach me well. Thank you Speckly and Lizzard, you did open my mind.
Take care and sleep well...I shall have serious breakfast in greasy spoon for you both tomorrow!
Boots

Doing some more commenting, forgiveness if I'm off-form, I'm coming down with a cold and my head is stuffy. Can't tell if I'm making sense at all...