Author: Mark

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Scuttlebutt

Scuttlebutt is objectively an excellent word. It’s fun to say, has a playful connotation that lands better than “gossip,” and is a great example of a multisyllabic word that is even more amusing when you switch up the consonants that begin each half. Buttlescutt.

I wanted to understand where this word came from.

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A Sad Baseball Boy

I’ve had this print of a painting for around twenty years.

I bought it at a garage sale in my neighborhood as a kid, and I’ve brought it with me everywhere I’ve moved since. Despite having it for so long, I’ve never closely looked at it until writing about it now. Doing so revealed two things: The painting is titled Troubled Pals, and the artist is Keith Ward.

Once I realized that, I tried to track down anything else about this painter or painting. The first result was a painting with a similar setup but an adjusted setting.

I found this version less impactful—what’s tough in this situation? Is the implication supposed to be that the boy doesn’t have enough money for the dog food in question? The problem is unclear compared to the baseball version I have.

Plus, I think the dog in mine is cuter.

I was able to find a few basic biographies of Mr. Ward on sites that posted his artwork. In short, he lived 1906–2000, was born in Kansas, but mostly grew up in California. He spent his early career out east after attending art school in New York, but eventually ended up back in California. This blog post from 2007 is the most comprehensive overview of his work and style I could find.

There’s no exciting revelation here, but I’m happy to know a bit more about this print that’s always been near my desk.

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NaNoWriMo 2024 Check In

This has been a great experience so far. I had a great start, followed by a few rough days after a five-day trip to Denver. I caught up this past weekend and am back on track, though I’m looking to keep pushing hard because going home for Thanksgiving will only complicate my attempts to write.

Even with that said, I’m proud of what I’ve done so far. Compared to 2019, I’ve started building a better story. I’m more thoughtful about creating characters and pushing a plot forward. I certainly won’t have told a complete story by the end of the 50,000 words, but that’s not necessarily the goal.

This has been a good experience halfway through the month, and I hope to bring the same drive and enthusiasm to the rest of the challenge.

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I Voted for Kamala Harris

The oldest posts on this blog comprise a three–part series I wrote in fervor after the 2016 election. I was a college student who couldn’t drink alcohol yet but had learned a tremendous amount about the world while working as a residence advisor. I empathized with the experiences of others with incomprehensibly different life stories. I saw the fear, frustration, and numbness that came over people I loved and cared about. It was awful.

I wrote the third part two days after that election, closing in part with this naive statement of hope:

So as I contemplate the culture we have become entrenched in, I truly hope that Trump can work to fix some of the major damage he has done. I hope that the hateful speech grinds to a halt and that he can focus on legitimate policies which can hopefully be beneficial to many Americans. While it will be a struggle for so many who are hurt by the shift in mood we are faced with, I hope we can make strides in mending our interactions, discourse and culture.

Nothing has changed. We’ve spent eight years watching the brazenness of hate increase. Trump and his crew of self-serving, power-thirsty thugs that he will leave in his wake have no incentive to change their ways, to improve anything except for themselves. It didn’t happen eight years ago, and it sure as hell won’t happen now.

The only option is to resoundingly rebuke his rhetoric at the polls. Among many other reasons, that’s why I voted for Kamala Harris on Saturday during Connecticut’s early voting period. Unlike Trump and his ilk, this isn’t about retribution or getting back at anyone. It’s about determining the best choice for what America is supposed to represent. It’s about having the mental fortitude to accept that nothing will ever be perfect, but that doesn’t mean we should let it deteriorate beyond recognition. It is a straightforward choice between a felon with no moral boundaries and a politician similar to most of the others; importantly, someone who respects our institutions and will work to preserve them.

We live in a goddamn society, and it takes individual effort to preserve it.

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NaNoWriMo 2024 Announcement

I’m doing it again.

I plan to return to the basics for the first time since my initial attempt in 2019. I’ll be sitting at any number of devices—I have half a mind to resurrect my old ThinkPad that runs Pop!_OS and make it a dedicated writing computer—and writing a new novel wholecloth. I feel both intimidated and energized by the prospect. I’ve been working hard on other side projects, including writing blog posts in advance, to make sure I have the space to give this a good effort.

In light of the NaNoWriMo controversy and the near-dissolution of the official website among those who care, I’ll track my daily word count in a spreadsheet, which I’ll make available on the NaNoWriMo page of my website. In addition, I’ll link to a PDF file in Dropbox that I’ll update at least daily, as I’ve done in the past.

NaNoWriMo is about the perfect mixture of commitment and carelessness: You need the perseverance and motivation to keep pushing each day but the naivety not to second-guess yourself the whole way through. I’m intrigued to see what comes out of my head this time.