Well, we have just passed the year’s midnight and it’s almost Christmas, and my overriding wish is to say Thank You to you:
Thank You for reading my musings.
Thank You for commenting.
Thank You if you have chosen the paid option.
But, regardless, Thank You to each and every one of you.
The English historian John Julius Norwich (1929-2018) used to compile an annual commonplace book that he titled A Christmas Cracker. In the 2017 edition, the final one before his death, he included this piece by Leonard Alston (1875-1953) that struck me as appropriate to put here because it provides some fascinating details about the task of what these days gets labelled content creation:
Addison composed walking to and fro in a large room, a bottle of wine at each end. Barham [author of The Ingoldsby Legends] had a cat on each shoulder, Dumas ainé wrote novels on blue paper, articles on pink, poetry on yellow, and wouldn’t use the same pen for novel and play. He received Wagner dressed in plumed helmet, lifebelt and flowered Japanese dressing-gown - and put on woollen socks for love scenes. Conrad wrote every book six times; P. Oppenheim used to dictate three books at once, Handel always composed in court dress, and Emerson wrote his essay on M. Angelo in a coat he had bought in Florence.
Hmm, while not pretending to compare myself in any way with such luminaries you may be interested in the fact that I do write, a lot of the time, with a small dog on my lap. Say hello to Winnie …
I think maybe Winnie and I will aim to produce a modest commonplace selection of our own for this time next year. In that final issue of A Christmas Cracker, John Julius Norwich did, in fact, include something that, I’m sure, Winnie definitely approves - a “Chappie” dog food advertisement from the Second World War:
If your dog is deprived of “Chappie”, just tell him how sorry we are. Give him this message from his more fortunate brothers: “Cheer up old chap, we know the good things you are missing. Bark for the downfall of Hitler. Then, when peace comes, see that your master puts you on “Chappie”. We’ll say it’s worth barking for!
Thank you, again, and I wish each and every one of you a very Happy Christmas.