Conversion

At left, my view of the twitter bird. A rook?

One hundred forty characters. Really? Is that useful?

Turns out, it is. Quippy? Sure. Useful, though.

With that in mind, I've turned to recording some of my thoughts on writing crime, mayhem, deceit, even murder on the threads of @jacksblackpen. The blood is still damp on some of them. Don't get any on you. Hard to explain to the cops how it got there. Trust me.

Note that if you use JackBlacksPen, you might get something much funnier.

I haven't looked for Jack Black on Twitter yet, though it is amusing to imagine our audiences switched. [ Maybe not so funny for Jack's agent.]

A friend cautioned me: "what if something happens and the police look at you as a suspect?" When I answered "again?" I'm not sure they saw the humor in that.

I'm a trained engineer in weapons delivery and disbursement with a library of books on toxicology, venom, anatomy, physiology, hunting rounds and their advantages, and a solid collection of aviation accident reports from the FAA. I couldn't pass suspicion if the cat fell over of old age at 30. The cops would think I did it. Might as well go with the flow - and use a pen name.

I'm really excited about this new year. Really excited. Go to the gym and work off some excitement excited. I can almost smell the new next year.

Do you get that way?

This whole "I'm feeling good about what I've learned" business reminds me of the heady days in college when you'd get something in your head and go down to dinner just beaming with the sense of accomplishment though to the rest of the world, nothing changed. Well, it works that way in engineering school anyway.

So, out last night at a party of the dead. You know the one. Obligatory spousal date and that circle is filled with professionals who are tangentially related to my field but only on the farthest stretch of the rubber band. Thus, I exchanged pleasantries (and remembered one name: Fred) while imagining each as a murderer cast in a short story. Nothing came of it but it passed the time pleasantly.

I wonder if the elegant older woman on the settee knew I cast her as "Strychnine Sue" of Akron, OH?

Have some fun. I'm off to use a chainsaw. Bwaaaaahahahahahaha. Not that way. I have to cut some wood to size for the woodstove because the ice storm is likely tonight.

Write something at a party. Hide the body in a closet upstairs. Wait for the fun to erupt.

Ah, parlor games. So much more fun at holiday time.