Professional athletes do it. So do Doctors. Chess Grand Masters require a lot of it. I imagine programmers benefit from it, too. What is it? Practice, of course. It's something that helps me.

Lately my writing has been suffering. It's from a lack of practice. I re-read my Saturday post about Duck Calling. Flat. Yes, I got the ideas across. But even I was bored going back over the piece. There were several interesting points that I failed to convey.

For one thing, the MC took so much time that my wife, daughter, her husband and I all started to complain out loud. We annoyed some die hard duck calling fans. Not knowing the etiquette caused me to embarrass myself. Sort of like when you laugh at a funeral. Bad form.

Another highlight was when, in the middle of the long intro the mayor of Stuttgart, Arkansas was introduced. He talked fondly of Stuttgart, its 9,000 residents and its rich duck calling tradition. I forget his name, but he sounded just like one of the characters in the Fox Show "King of the Hill". So the rest of the night we referred to him as "Boomhower."

My wife seemed to be a bit confused. One minute she was telling me that there was no difference between one caller and another. Next she was talking openly about how we should pick up the competition sound track. Evil looks all around from the faithful. No sense of humor.

After the first round the MC announce, "that concludes the first round." My daughter and wife both exhaled simultaneously and exclaimed, "I'm not staying for another round!" Sitting between them was a fine stereophonic experience. I forgot about that in my haste Saturday night.

And how can one express the level of duck calling interest in Brent's life. Duck callers stream in and out of Wilde Arrow each and every day. Many, perhaps most, don't even care about archery. Calling ducks. That's the thing.

Yes, I forgot about many of these things. And I kick myself (not literally) for being a lazy, out of practice writer.......
9:51:58 PM    comment []