Readers of my blogs would have noticed that a regular feature alongside my blog articles is a black and white sketch of flowers, leaves, stems, in various combinations, and lately, animals of the feathery kind. Those are the creations of my wife, a fact that bears repeating. She has no formal training in the art of drawing. What she has is her innate sense of proportion and an ability to trace out patterns that just jive. Here I don’t mean tracing as in following a stencil, but rather the hand tracing out the mental pattern in the mind.
In one of his comments on my blog, my nephew has likened the sketches to a sedative with tranquilizing influence, shrouding him in serenity. Now he has added some color to one of the sketches. I’ve decided to put the two side by side so that readers can voice their preference. Personally, I think the black and white sketch blends in better with the blog décor that I’ve chosen, being of a light and subdued color scheme. Also, the staid look helps to accentuate the lines, the strokes, and their interweaving. In that sense, the colored sketch seems slightly out of place, seemingly usurping the limelight instead of sharing the same stage, as a husband and wife team would.
My daughter agrees with my assessment too, though I did not venture to ask for the reason. However, the episode did prompt me into learning to use Photoshop, which has been on my computer since day one. So both the coloring effort by my nephew, and its nudging me into learning Photoshop, are pleasant surprises.
Three-peat that wasn’t meant to be. Here I’m referring to an earlier blog on a series of football games on consecutive days starting last Friday. The last leg of that 3-peat was dashed when the Bucs lost in NY 3-21. So after two heart-rending wins (to the opposing teams), Bucs was back on familiar territory. I guess two out of three really wasn’t that bad. So I’m going to register this as a pleasant surprise, thus validating its inclusion here.
“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.” Sounds simple enough? Well, that’s according to Mark Twain, that quintessential American writer.
But for mortals like us, writing can be a contrived exercise in communication. Fortunately, writing skills can be acquired, good writing habits cultivated, provided we are taught by experienced teachers or at least guided by good handbooks.
In my case, I did take a course in Technical Communication while in grad school. But I felt “reined in” in a way for we had to follow strict rules of writing etiquette. So my prose writing, if I can claim that’s what I’m doing right now, has benefited from numerous authors whose books I’ve read (see a random selection from my book collection at my other blog, courtesy of LibraryThing). I’m glad that I’ve cultivated my reading habit since I was in school and that the investment has paid off handsomely in the form of my blogging activity.
More important, it has helped to sustain my writing habit, be it blogging or commenting on others’ blogs. My maiden blog was made on Sep 30. So I’ve survived a full month of blogging, averaging more than one blog article per day. For that, I’ve decided to accord a pleasant surprise to myself, not that there was ever any doubt in my mind.
May I blog for the next month, next year, next …
P.S. In case you're looking up the word "luniversary", trust me, it does not exist. I have coined the word in analogy to anniversary to celebrate the passing of one full month of my blogging avocation. It's silly no doubt but where else can you act silly and not censured except in your own blog? But I may have spoken too soon.
2 comments:
When I told my wife the sketch was done by Bee Khoon,she was too delighted.
I feel the black & white is better.
Well done!
My wife was delighted too, at the compliments from a dear friend.
Similarly, your wife's culinary prowess is legendary and it's a delight to partake. We sure miss that!
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