Robert C. Day's Blog, page 13

Rhetoric

Some of the devices and techniques of rhetoric (the art of persuasion) are:

Simile – comparing one thing to another by use of the words ‘like’ and ‘as’ Metaphor – words or phrases used to describe things in terms of something that they are not Rhythm – varying things such as duration and accent (the strong/weak elements of sound) over time Assonance – repeating similar or identical vowel sounds, but using different consonants Alliteration – repeating consonants, at the beginning of words, th...

Margaret Atwood

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I just read a collection of writings called Murder in the Dark by Margaret Atwood and I have to tell you that I really like the way her mind works.

I suspect that she is me in another body.

Granted she’s not quite as funny as I am, but she is just as talented as a writer. If you like what and how I write then I recommend that you read her stuff too.

 

Obsessions

I’m obsessed with several things – some dark, some light, some to do with you. There are some that I don’t care to talk about, although I’m sure we all engage with them.

The thing that I’m most obsessed with is finishing a daily allocation of something. Books, TV series, foodstuffs, course assignments, blogs, work, electronic communications – they all have a daily target, and they all must be completed.

The next obsession I have is people. I must look and avoid. Looking involves collecting re...

Tender Loving Care

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When you’ve been sat down for so long that your bum hurts, it feels good to get some TLC.

Forever Gone

Closed eyes. Foursquare on the chair with nothing but hum and gurgle, light and fridge for company. Kurt rubbed flats of hands against legs and serge. The sound conjured the shush, shush of sea on shingles at midnight.

He opened his eyes and looked through the up and down strokes of long dried paint to a place he’d thought lost.

Eighteen years in his life. Her face as fresh as flowers he’d once woven through her hair. Life as strong as legs pounding the ground behind him as he ran before her....

Twenty-Year Plan

I went to a workshop today called Motivation to Publication during which I wrote a twenty-year plan for my writing.

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The highlights are that by the time twenty years have rolled around I will have published 23 books and have over a million followers on this blog. I might even make a bob or two out of it.

Yay for plans!

I am a Man

I’ve just realised that all my life I have been living under the illusion that I am not a man. I wish now to assert to the world that I am a man.

I am a man.

This startling thought came about because I was reading a book called You Are Not Your Brain by Jeffrey M. Schwartz & Rebecca Gladding. Chapter six is about encouraging the reader to find deceptive brain messages that cause emotional pain. When I first read it, I struggled to find anything.

It turns out that I just needed to listen to my...

All vs One

This blog is my effort to become a part of the world.

I am in two minds about the world. One mind says that I should just do what I want and that other people are not an important part of that. The other mind says that we are all connected on a fundamental level and that to fulfil our purpose in life we need to love everyone.

This blog was my effort to become a part of the world.

Having a blog has worked on one level but not in another. My connection to the world has improved but not my conne...

Generally

Live to be loved and love to be loved. Knowing that you are loved is difficult if you know that you are not being yourself. Being yourself and then not being loved leads to uncomfortable feelings. There are good people and bad people and people who just fall into a pattern because they don’t have the strength to be someone who is worth loving.

Hayfever Season

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I think that hayfever season is coming again. My right eye itches and I periodically give in to the urge to scratch it. That’s a beeeeg mistake.

Makes me wonder what we’re actually supposed to do with an itch. Normally an itch and a scratch go together like a scream and a rat. But, you know – the other way around. It’s not that you scream and a rat appears. Not usually.

Anyway, the natural thing to do is to scratch, but that just makes it itch more. And the more you scratch, the more it turn...