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The absolutely brilliant photo below was taken in Pensacola by Dan Dunn during the record-setting snowfall in Florida's Panhandle (10"). Previous record: 4"
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While searching through my personal files for a Choir file that needed updating, I ran across a title that made my eyes pop. It is likely something that turned up on Facebook, but so long ago I forgot I saved it. And as far as I can remember, I have never used it. But in these times when practically everyone I know is grinding his/her teeth—when it looks as if Democracy has been replaced by Dictatorship in less than ten days—we need a more unique way to express our displeasure. Well, here are some ways to do just that. (Sorry, no attribution given.)
INSULTS WORTH READING
These insults are from an era “before” the English language got boiled down to 4-letter words.
1. "He had delusions of adequacy ” Walter Kerr
2. "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.”- Winston Churchill
3. "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure. - Clarence Darrow
4. "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.”-William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)
5. "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?"- Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
6. "Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it.” - Moses Hadas
7. "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.” - Mark Twain
8. "He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.” - Oscar Wilde
9. "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend, if you have one.” -George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
10. "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one.” - Winston Churchill, in response
11. "I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here” - Stephen Bishop
12. "He is a self-made man and worships his creator.” - John Bright
13. "I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial.” - Irvin S. Cobb
14. "He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others.” - Samuel Johnson
15. "He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up. - Paul Keating
16. "He loves nature in spite of what it did to him.” - Forrest Tucker
17. "Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?” - Mark Twain
18. "His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.” - Mae West
19. "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.” - Oscar Wilde
20. "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination.” - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
21. "He has Van Gogh's ear for music.” - Billy Wilder
22. "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But I'm afraid this wasn't it.” - Groucho Marx
23. The exchange between Winston Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison." He said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."
24. "He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." - Abraham Lincoln
25. "There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." -- Jack E. Leonard
26. "They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." -- Thomas Brackett Reed
27. "He inherited some good instincts from his Quaker forebears, but by diligent hard work, he overcame them." -- James Reston (about Richard Nixon)
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Inside Info on Grace's (Blair Bancroft's)s latest book.
As anyone who has read The Abandoned Daughter may have guessed, I grew very fond of the major who suffered from what we now call PTSD. So much so that I built on that character to create the hero of my next book. I was planning on another Gothic with multiple phantoms; in fact, my book sections are headed, Phantom 1, Phantom 2 . . . Except my reincarnation of Major Benedict Hawley refused to take back seat to a bunch of ethereal characters, no matter how long they might have been lurking in Lark House, Wiltshire, not far from Stonehenge. New title: The Stone Soldier and the Lady. (Nor is the lady a shy miss who kowtows to either ghosts or hardened spies.)
So, if you haven't yet read The Abandoned Daughter, a Mystery/Adventure/Romance set in Bath, you might want to check it out so you can appreciate the transformation of Major Benedict Hawley to British spy, Captain Hugh Fox.
Isabelle Bainbridge—abandoned by her gamester father, leery of the
young lord who claims he is rescuing her—is more than a little
surprised to find herself employed as companion to his grandmother in
Bath, who treats her more like a ward than an employee. A near idyllic
situation, until Isabelle discovers a young woman's body floating in the
Kennet & Avon canal—an alleged suicide—soon followed by a series of
murders that shake the tranquility of the beautiful city known as a
refuge for the elderly and infirm.
Although Isabelle is determined to
despise her rescuer—the viscount who won her home in a game of
cards—she is forced to rely on him as she is stalked and it becomes
apparent she may be next on the killer's list. There are several
surprises, as well as moments of terror, before this Gothic adventure
finds its happy ending.
