Most
of the time you will find my writing unacceptable…you will either hate it or
tolerate it, but you might find what I have to say very relevant and often
agree with me.
Dear
follower:
I am not
presumptuous enough to think that I can write; after all, English is my third
language and I remember when I started college I had arrived in America barely
four years before. I had one of those English 101 classes and for the midterm I
had to write a short story. The professor, Mrs. Applegate gave me an F on the
paper because I used “bitter cold” and she said that it was trite.
To me, English was new, fresh and bitter cold was also new
and not trite. For the final, I wrote and wrote and had some of my friends read
it and offer advice. By the time the final came, I had almost memorized word by
word what I had to write. The story started with “my mind was like a skillet
full of scrambled eggs” and Mrs. Applegate thought that was brilliant.
Somewhere along the way; I realized that the English
language was somewhat bland. It was devoid of the passion and volatility of the
other languages I knew and could express myself so well. My solution was to
interject some salt and pepper into the otherwise bland English language
stew…profanity. That is why I use it often and I am not apologetic for it. Let
the criticisms flow as I stand behind all the FUCKS, SHIT, GOD DAMNED and any
other expletive I can come up with.
That is why sometimes I come across as abrasive,
opinionated, controversial and arrogant…but hey, Rush Limbaugh has made
millions being a pompous, controversial arrogant asshole. In my case, I don’t
even aim to make a single penny out of my writings because as you can see, I
don’t take advertising.
I have no illusions that I will ever write the great
American novel. Before I retired I thought that once I stopped working I could
paint, write and travel. I thought I would find time to do all these things and
the first year I painted 12 paintings, the second year I wrote “Los Cuentos de
la Tía Eloi” in Spanish got it copyrighted but never published it; the third
year I got so busy I didn’t have time to scratch my ass and it has been like
that ever since.
The only thing I humbly request of my followers is to offer
criticism when they notice a major blunder…but if you are going to scrutinize
every word, each and every sentence just to award yourself validation…go fuck
yourself. I welcome constructive criticism but not self-serving ego trips.
Saludos,
Raulito
PS: Please don’t make anonymous comments…I don’t publish
them.
Your mastery of the English language is far superior to the vast majority of Americans for whom English is their first and only language. You have nothing to apologize for, a everyone makes an occasional mistake. There are conventions in English that I think even "experts" may disagree on. (Like ending a sentence with a preposition.)
ReplyDeleteThank you Frank. You have always been supportive and have given me that welcomed encouragement.
ReplyDeletesaludos,
raulito
Ah, Raulito, if half the people born in the US were able to use the English language as well as you, the country would be in much better shape. I love your way with words and I especially love your final paragraph! Abrazitos!
ReplyDelete