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

Hi Birby,

These are for you :



They are long stemmed - make sure you put them in a vase and give them a bit of sunlight. I hope your Canadian phone call cheered you up.

Take care,


(Me, I'll stick to )

G.W.S. (secret code)?

So thoughtful of you, Brasso (but very traditional! ha! ha! - many years ago an Italian b/f (he lived in Naples) sent me orchids for Valentine.

About this writing lark, I just thought of Michael Johnson - he shouldn't have won all those races the way he ran - technical superiority sometimes doesn't get you anywhere. So, the same can be said about writing, dear friend. At times one has to write in a wrong way to convey/create the right ... (whatever).

Thanks again. G'day.
Birbeck

PS My purse was stolen today (damn & botheration!) - didn't have much money, but c.cards/driving lic/etc - but my daughter bought it in the US (rather nice).

GWS = Get Well Soon. Thought you might like them more than

On the subject of writing - I think you have to go with the way your brain works. I could never do 'literature' or 'fine writing', I prefer gritty writing - dialect, intrigue, action, characterisation. An example would be 'Papillon' - written by a guy who could barely write but who had a strong story to tell. Too fine writing can take away the atmosphere - as exampled by that fine sentence I had fixed up. I had to keep it a little rough to fit in.

I haven't written anything good for a couple of weeks. I started a writing course last night - guy knows his stuff, is a full time writer. Hopefully I can gain something - next week it's poetry - my weakest spot.

Hi Brasso
Just a very short msg. Hope the writing course is inspiring you - not that you need any help. Have you done the poetry stuff yet? I guess a course should support you in strengthening your weaknesses - so I'll be expecting some stirring/emotionally-charged poems from you, soon!

Take care, Birbeck

Help! I have to write a poem about Sandpaper - that's rough. There will be plenty of stirring and emotional charging :

I had some sandpaper
It was very rough
I rubbed it on some wood
And it went smooth

Hi Brasso, I hadn't looked on site for about a week, so I'm sorry about reply delay.

Well, I don't know what to say(!) - I guess you could describe how uninteresting, bland, hardly thought of an object it is - that people admire an object's shape, colour, smoothness without realising the sandpaper's part in it. For the humble little block, roll or sheet of it has been used in the process of creating many beautiful pieces of objet d'art in wood, stone, etc, crafts & DIY. How a piece of gnarled, splintery wood needed rubbing down with different grades of sandpaper to gain the final smooth effect. It is used in boat-making too. Maybe, something about roughness creating a smooth, sometimes porcelain finish.

Am I crazy? Well, I think you need to be.
G'day, Birbeck

Ta Birbeck. I did write a poem - not good. Wrote some other stuff. Off to the cinema now. Hope to catch you around soon.