It’s not just about me. I grew up in a family of word and book lovers, and my own family is the same. My blog title comes from a story my mother wrote. It demonstrates her (and my father’s) love of the English language in all its wonder. The masthead picture, of my mother, also adorns the modest publication my siblings and I produced of my mother’s stories, essays and poems (you’ll find “shiny and spanglered” there).
My own family follows suit — my wife is a voracious reader and inveterate solver of even the “bitch mother of all crosswords,” the Saturday NY Times puzzle. My younger daughter is also an avid reader and a librarian, my older daughter is a wicked-good blogger (catch her at http://theittybittybloghorn.wordpress.com), and my new granddaughter is a budding “word nerd.”
I try to keep my writing humorous, but don’t be fooled — humor is no laughing matter. It’s a way of winkling small truths out of the idiosyncracies of life and, occasionally, of grappling with the larger questions without giving in to terminal seriousness. I do try to balance my brickbats with bouquets — some things are loathable, some loveable. But everything is laughable.
Your wit is only outdone by your rugged good looks and life long travels. I look forward to your blog and all the information I’ll be able to squeeze out of it.