The other day, my brother said, “I think words like ‘ouch’ are left over from the first language.” And then he dared me to weigh in. So I did. What I discovered–as is often the case when I dive into etymology–was both fascinating and surprising. For example, according to the OED, the earliest examples ofContinue reading “Ouch!”
Author Archives: Samuel Snoek-Brown
To read or not to read? READ!
The other day, my writer/rock star friend Ryan Werner sent me a link to an article titled “The 10 Most Harmful Novels for Aspiring Writers.” The gist of the article is that people should stop reading certain books, by certain authors, because those books suck us into pale imitations and lock us out of ourContinue reading “To read or not to read? READ!”
A Writer’s Notebook: Poetry (Childhood memory)
I’m not a great poet. I give it a go when I can, though, and I have a strong respect for poetry and poets–in fact, I believe that poetry informs fiction in profound ways, that the best prose comes from someone who at least appreciates poetry. So I try to keep my hand in, ifContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Poetry (Childhood memory)”
Word nerd
A friend of mine from college posted a couple of videos on Facebook, each showing Weird Al Yankovich repairing American society’s poor grammar, and I simply had to share them here. Also, shout out to my mother-in-law, who carries a rainbow of Sharpies (clickable, so she can wield them one-handed!) in her purse in caseContinue reading “Word nerd”
Photo blog 3
The Netherlands: The End
Day 10.7 Thursday, April 22, 2010 So far so good, and I’m actually feeling pretty positive about going out tomorrow. The skies are still problematic but some flights are leaving and the situation gets better every hour, so, fingers crossed. Today, we decided to hit our last museum (or what I hope is our lastContinue reading “The Netherlands: The End”
A Writer’s Notebook: Collaborative fiction
My friend Ryan Werner and I are involved in a work of collaborative fiction, the old Round Robin exercise. I’ll describe the general rules and what we’re up to below, but you probably already know something about this sort of exercise as it is. It’s been my turn to contribute for longer than I canContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Collaborative fiction”
The Netherlands: Days 10.5 & 10.6 (the Great Volcano Standstill, 2010)
Day 10.5 Tuesday, April 20, 2010 Success? Relief? I hope so. We spent all last night checking trains and buses, but nothing we could find was getting us anywhere any faster. Our B&B hostess found a train to Istanbul that would take only two days, but some legs of the journey were unavailable for onlineContinue reading “The Netherlands: Days 10.5 & 10.6 (the Great Volcano Standstill, 2010)”
The Netherlands: Days 10.3 & 10.4 (the Great Volcano Standstill, 2010)
Day 10.3 Sunday, April 18, 2010 Ever since this fiasco began, we’d been considering alternate forms of travel, just in case. As Tuesday approaches and the situation in the skies shows little sign of improving, Jennifer decided it might be smart to start planning alternate travel now, just in case our Tuesday flight gets canceledContinue reading “The Netherlands: Days 10.3 & 10.4 (the Great Volcano Standstill, 2010)”
Photo blog 2
“Views of next door: Rooftop, door, and yard.” Abu Dhabi, April and May 2010. Individual photos (left to right, from top): “I love UAE!” (Outdoor chair and graffito celebrating UAE’s National Day: 38 years as a nation) “Dog days” (stuffed animal on a rooftop) “Cat on a hot tin roof” (street kitten hiding inside aContinue reading “Photo blog 2”
Samuel Snoek-Brown 