Observations From Hadleyville: IN THE COMPANY OF HEROES

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

IN THE COMPANY OF HEROES

I made the list. I have acquired Folk Hero status; got a song to prove it.

Last week I sat in court with a man from my congregation. I do this more than you might think. And for my fellow cynics out there I state for the record that most of these cases are civil actions.

Anyway, last Sunday--Super Bowel Sunday, mind you--the guy shows up at church with a song he's written in my honor, extolling my virtues as a pastor. He sang his panegyric to me for the whole assembly. Needless to say, I'm truly moved to be in company with Babe the Blue Ox, Robin Hood and Billy the Kid, to name but a few.

Henceforth you may refer to me as Don the Baptist.

I know I will.

2 comments:

Kathleen Flynn said...: Can you hum the first bar?; February 6, 2008 at 7:14 PM
Don the Baptist said...: Donnnn! the man they call Donnnn!

He robbed from the rich and he gave to the poor

Stood up to the man and he gave him what for

Our love for him now ain't hard to explain

The hero of Quartz Hill the man they call Don!

...No, wait, that's from FIREFLY; "the man they call Jane."; February 6, 2008 at 9:48 PM

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WORDS OF WISDOM FOR WRITERS

The secret of becoming a writer is that you have to write. You have to write a lot. You also have to finish what you write, even though no one wants it yet. If you don't learn to finish your work, no one will ever want to see it. The biggest mistake new writers make is carrying around copies of unfinished work to inflict on their friends.

I am sure it has been done with less, but you should be prepared to write and throw away a million words of finished material. By finished, I mean completed, done, ready to submit, and written as well as you know how at the time you wrote it.
-Jerry Pournelle

WHAT'S THIS HADLEYVILLE THING?

Those of you familiar with Mark Twain’s works might recognize my blog title. As Samuel Clemons grew older, he became increasingly disillusioned with humanity. Towards the end he began referring to the Damned Human Race; employing the secular and religious epithet at one stroke.

I find I’ve not reached that level of despair myself. I still believe in redemption and I still see signs of nobility even among we fallen, damned creatures. So, I could not bring myself to call this blog “On the Damned Human Race.” I do however, resonate with another of Clemmons stories; “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg.” And viola, there you have it. “Observations From Hadleyville.”