So, on April 20th 2021, the jury in the case of the State of Minnesota vs. Derek Michael Chauvin (Court File No.: 27-CR-20-12646) found the defendant guilty on counts of unintentional second-degree murder while committing a felony (count I), third-degree murder, perpetrating an eminently dangerous act (count II), and second-degree manslaughter, culpable negligence creating an …
Over the last week or so, I have read a number of fountain pen blog entries which begin with something akin to, "I usually try and stay in my lane..." or "I try to stay apolitical...". Well, here at Writing for Pain and Pleasure, I've never really had a lane as such, and I've never …
Continue reading It’s Not About Politics, And Yet It Is, And Must Be.
I received the following comment a few days ago (with some follow-up in a similar vein), from someone who read at least one post of mine, and replied via the encrypted e-mail service "protonmail.com". EMail Address: ausoz@protonmail.com IP Address: 37.120.215.243; 45.152.182.131 Although, of course, these are probably not their real IP addresses, and I'm not …
I don't write much poetry—and after you read my efforts below, no doubt you'll feel that's probably the right choice, and that's the way it should stay. However, following the recent arrests of a couple of very good friends of mine, protesting the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New York a couple …
Having one of those Sundays where I was doing my absolute best to avoid any kind of actual work, I found myself passing by my wife's office. Her little sanctum is directly opposite my own, but far enough away that I'm not in any immediate danger of sitting at my computer. As I've said before, …
Continue reading Lazy Sunday Afternoons… No Work, No Pens, No Worries
Do lightweight, motivational messages, on internet memes irritate you? Just a bit? They kind of do that to me. A few months ago I could have used a motivational message or two, and frankly, was about ready to give up on a lot of things... PhD., research, writing, you name it; anything but family. I …
Continue reading You’re Never Too Old To Listen To Your Mother
Imitating Warland's Table Once again, I'm going to revisit one of my old writing assignments. I'm going to expand on the original task, which was limited to half a page in length, and I'm going to use it to write a follow-up sometime soon, because, well... things move on. Anyway here's the task, you be …
A few weeks ago I wrote a post about a creative writing task I had, as part of a course for my PhD. The title was a Definition In Two Parts: Fear. It was based on something that happened to me whilst I was working as a ranger at a safari park in the UK. …
I sit in my car as I leave the Town of Pearth (names and locations have been cunningly disguised to conceal the identities of the not-so innocent). It’s a hot summer’s day, and the sun is bright enough to make me squint. I'm waiting for the traffic signals at the four-way intersection to change; these …
A few years back, I took a creative writing course at the start of my PhD. I've always enjoyed writing, and the prof' running it that year, was generally thought of as a great person to study with, so I grabbed the opportunity... and loved it. What follows, was one of the tasks we were …
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