Thursday, August 6, 2009

Family re-union

My son has moved into his house on the beach and since many parts of his family were there for extended times, I was invited for dinner. These were lovely times and I enjoyed both the food and the company. Gilbert gave me whole crabs to take home with me, and I can say, never have I had so much crab in such a short period of time. Whenever there are crab left over I am urged to take them home and so I have had crab sandwiches and crab omelets and crab tacos. I feel so lucky to have a son who can fish for crab.

Anna and Steve and Kate, the navy pilot, and friend, Gilbert and Chris and I had Gilbert's birthday dinner there. Gilbert made Carnitas and they were delicious. Anna had made Tosca and shaped it into cake shape and served it with one candle. It was a wonderful evening with many "Do you remembers" I loved the banter between the siblings and next week the two sisters from the San Francisco Area will be here with Anna again and I look forward to more of the same fun dinner conversation. The three girls will be staying here at my place.

The reason for the long delay again is that I went to shop at Costco and I spied a book on the sale's table with the title SPEND 20 MINUTES A DAY AND LEARN HOW TO WRITE. I read the first chapter which was about punctuation and capitals. I discovered that I knew nothing about the subjects and it totally threw me for a loop. How can I have nerve enough to write this blog showing my ignorance. Then I thought it is too late to worry about that now. Everybody knows my lack of grammar skills. If I were writing in Swedish I would be showing the same lack. But I am spending twenty minutes a day reading that book and maybe you will gradually observe an improvement in my writing.

9 comments:

Dorothy said...

Oh, my gosh! You do NOT need that book! You are a terrific writer, and your command of language is great. Books like those can sometimes do more harm than good -- be careful reading it! :)

Joanna said...

Listen to Dorothy! :-)

Alice Jane E said...

I have worked for more than twenty-five years as an editor. I have seen all kinds of writing. It's great that you want to improve -- I would never tell anyone not to do that. But don't be concerned about your ability. You are clear and stylish and understandable, which are all important elements of good writing.

Most important, you have a distinct, strong, lovely voice. In story-telling, voice is a big part of it.

You were good from the start. Any improvement in grammar now is terrific, but you are already good, so don't be embarrassed about those early posts! :-)

Charlene said...

What has already been said goes for me as well. I am here because I love reading about your life, past and present. You are charming and interesting. Without that, perfect grammar and punctuation would be as exciting as reading the dictionary.

Glad your son is now nearby and you are having wonderful times with your family.

MWill said...

I agree with everything everyone else said. You're such a lovely writer as it is! Your stories have such charm to them, I would hate to see a "how to" book stifle that.

And I'm so glad you have family nearby now - I will worry about your absences less and assume it is just that you are out having fun!

Barbara said...

You are a naturally good writer. If you want to refresh yourself on a few rules of grammar - why not? - but remember, especially in the realm of art (and your writing IS art) rules are made to be bent, and, sometimes, broken.

I wish you many happy times with your family.

Anonymous said...

Yeesh! Don't worry about that garbage! You can make yourself understood, on an emotional level, and you are great at painting a visual picture. One can have an editor if need be!
There is a difference between 'writing' and writing (imagine italics). One is about mechanics, and the other is about an innate urge and gift for connecting to others. Captials, schmaptials!

Melinda said...

I love your writing and all your stories. We don't need any fancy punctuation around here. I'm so glad to hear you're enjoying time with family!

weeder1 said...

Your blog is wonderful! Don't stress. You are so down to earth and REAL & your stories are so very interesting that I look forward to each and every one. Just keep writing!