Finding my porpoise

Random quote of the day:


"All writers are vain, selfish, and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives lies a mystery. Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand."

—George Orwell, “Why I Write”



A very interesting essay. You can find the rest of it here.



( Illustrated version. )

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

Coincidences and I told you so's

Item the first.

Kevin and I dined at the same place in Lyme Regis, but five years apart.

Item the second.

Today's horoscope from The Onion:

"You have no idea who the hell this Orwell guy was, but he sure screwed up when he didn't fill up that farm with hilarious monkeys."

(Okay, okay, so it was yesterday's horoscope, but I read it today, and it does go wonderfully well with today's random quote of the day.)

Item the third.

This is the reason I verify every quote, whether I get them from the net or quoted in books or wherever. This sort of thing happens all the time, albeit on a more modest scale. I've been nailed by this in the past myself. I've even found favored authors who have tampered with quotes in order to make them fit their books or stories more closely. The only time I don't verify quotes is when I've read the actual original source and excerpted it myself. Because most times, I've found, I can trust myself. Though not always.

And, yes, I'm obsessive, too.