gruffuddartist

Greetings, Peter, Well, if you're of an age to retire, you will certainly have had a Classical education. Likewise, probably, if you retired due to independent means - just don't get me started on the politics of it, or I'll be racking up warnings like a maverick comedian. There are some things it just Will Not Do to be shooting my mouth off on the keyboard about - except on Twitter, which is like a bear-pit anyway. That said, I love playing fast and loose with language. I especially love messing about with cliches' heads - in the book I'm writing at the moment (Think Yourself Lucky - a symphony of wisdom), I postulate that "if it quacks like a duck, waddles like a duck and swims like a duck, it's unlikely to be a steam-roller". I usually avoid cliches like the plague, however - except that one, because I love the almost fractal ironies therein. Sic transit Gloria Swanson, as they say. And as you say, it's just a bit of fun! Blessings Andrew

Thank you, Trevor. Peter, I can't say the Aeneid is all that familiar to me, and far be it from me to compare myself to Virgil - that'd be virgil on the ridiculous. As far as classic epics go, I'm more familiar with Homer's Odyssey, 'though it's been an epoch since I read that, too. Alas, I was denied a Classical education for being too young by a few months - the Classical Studies teacher at my school retired just as I was eligible to take his class, so unfortunately what Latin I have been able to cobble together is of the porcine variety. Still, nil illigitimi carborundum, eh? My English classes included precious little of The Bard's work, 'though with some application on my part, I've been able to memorise and record a few lines. And it wasn't exactly an ideal preparation for authorship, either, 'though I didn't let that stop me. How long did it take you to write your book, if you don't mind me asking? Mine took seven years, on and off.

Renew

Finished.

...Your attention I beg and I crave... well, not really, but I thought the first few lines from Steeleye Span's Hark the Village Wait album might be an interesting ice-breaker. Not that I need an ice-breaker, given my very warm personality. Bubbly doesn't quite cut it, but when you're a creative, an actor, model, artist, musician and writer, like wot I iz, you can pretty much call on anything to be that little bit different. Not that my Jaguar S-Type doubles as a can-opener in its down-time, or is adorned with the Union Flag when its tail is up. But it's a beautiful car for all that, and a delight to be cossetted in. I might let you have a peek when I can get the pictures from my camera to my computer.

I'm in Chelsea, London, the natural home of the sports car, given that Malcolm Campbell's old Bluebird garage is just up the road from me.