A Cross Tic

I’m addicted to writing, mostly because I’m infatuated with words, and by extension, word games. Wordle and Strands, for example. It’s a lifelong obsession. I recall as a young buck doing word searches. You know the ones where you have to scan a block of letters to discover twenty words related to Ocean Creatures or some such thing? I like puns too (I try to avoid birthdays–too many will kill you). My father-in-law Harold loved them too. His favorite dinner line, “Eat every bean and pea on your plate.”

Not clear how to declutter the cobwebs in your mental attic? Consider anagrams, like Word Cookies or Boggle. You begin with a bunch of letters and make as many words as you can. It stretches the brain muscles, keeps you young. It’s not a treadmill or stairmaster, but gotta keep the neurons firing. I’ve done crosswords, jumbles, Scrabble, Mad Libs–they’re all good.

Sure, there are plenty of other forms of wordplay. I love me a good palindrome, those words/phrases that are the same backward and forward. Not just the words, but the actual letters. When I was young, Lanny Witt told me that radar was a palindrome. “Not true,” I said. “It’s radar and dar-raid. Those are different,” I replied with confidence. Give me a break–I was eight at the time. I would argue I wasn’t a good speller, but in fact, I won the St. Anthony’s spelling bee when I was in sixth grade. True, I schooled the entire student body, first through eighth grade.

What I should mention is my favorite palindrome. There are simple ones–Borrow or rob? or Taco cat. Not much imagination required on those. Murder for a jar of red rum. Okay, now we’re getting more complex. Sometimes, they’re pithy, like Madam, in Eden, I’m Adam. The key is to create something that isn’t just a non-sensical list of words. My all-time fave is the classic A man, a plan, a canal. Panama. It’s not the longest, but it actually says something.

To wit (that’s an odd phrase, don’t you think? I’m not sure what that actually means, and I don’t have the attention span today to look it up.)

Write or read was the dilemma I faced this morning. I love to read–articles, novels, fiction or non. Confession: sometimes I read my own stuff to see if it’s any good. Mixed bag. Sometimes I impress myself and other times, Blech. I wonder what I was thinking. I long to write a single great line. To be or not to be. Call me Ishmael. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth. I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy. Good stuff.

Today. Today is a good day. Before I settled in to write, I began with a strong workout on the stationary bike. I listened to a podcast of The White Horse Inn, a weekly look at various topics in Reformation Theology. Deep stuff for a 45-minute ride, but it helps pass the time. I can work the body and mind at the same time. More words. (Confession–I do watch ESPN while I pedal and listen. Don’t judge me.)

Got real tired around the fifty minute mark and decided to call it a morning. Quick shower and check in with Melanie and here I am, surrounded by all sorts of people and noise, though my focus is on the keyboard. Even now, I listen to music while I write. More and more words.

Any kind of wordplay might amuse me, which is one reason I’m so fond of Shakespeare. I know, I know, you might be saying, “That old dude just isn’t for me.” But wait. Reading a play by Willie Shakes (not his nickname, but it’s what I call him) isn’t the same as watching professionals do it. You get used to the language when it’s done well, when the words match the actions and facial expressions. Try it out some time. Fire up Much Ado About Nothing with Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh and Denzel and Keanu (no last names required) and Michael Keaton. It’s gold, I’m telling ya. Check out this clip if you don’t believe me.

Ideas? Fire up some comments below and tell me what you think. Maybe you’re not as interested in words as I am. That’s cool. If you have better topics to write about, I’d love to hear them. I didn’t even get to acrostics, which is where the first letter or word spells out some sort of hidden message. I mean, that’s pretty cool.

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