Michael Brady, that rambunctious rascal, continues to have fun laughing at
my handicapped prose. First he quotes me:
"> All words are preceded by a thought; the mind then
> searches for the words to express that thought. But that first thought is
not
> "viscous" at all; indeed it's more slippery-fast than the words it
fetches
up.
> But Adams does not recognize the usual growth of thought. This is because
he
> rushes that first watery thought into ink, figures that's that, and
gambols
> on to his next bubble-thought."
Then Michael displays an enviable bubbly youthfulness as he mocks his
struggling elder:
"The mind looks around ("searches") for things that it can use ("words" to
"express that thought") and when it finds some, it retrieves them ("fetches
[them] up")? And on top of it all, the thoughts are fluid ("watery")?
"My goodness, I think your notions are -- um, what's that word? Where did I
put
it? Oh, yes, there it is -- metaphorical."
I appreciate his effort to deride, but I do feel Michael is too generous
here. 'Metaphorical' to my mind suggests a more elaborate and integrated
product than I manage in those lines. At best I am merely figurative. And even
there I am, for those of Michael's turn of mind, ambiguous. When I call
certain thoughts "watery", I don't mean to convey they are "fluid", but,
rather,
thin, non-nourishing. I think perhaps Michael now sees what I mean.
