jolly times with the pluperfect

    There seems to be the half muttered assumption that
    learning the mechanisms of language is as dreary a chore
    as tidying one's bedroom. Yet it seems to me that for
    a writer his relationship to his weapon is much the same
    as the sniper's to his rifle: being able to assemble it while
    blindfolded, knowing how to clean & oil it, taking pleasure
    in the smooth interlocking of finely machined parts....

    I suppose I must be sick. But I always found grammar
    to be FUN. In the old days, having led the rugger team
    to victory, then dealt with the attentions of the more attractive
    girls, I could think of few pleasanter diversions than a evening
    of Hunt the Metonymy, or a debate on Whither the Subjunctive?
    or a civilised hour pasting the latest entries into my Metaphor
    album.

    Scottie B.

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Received on Tue Sep 10 03:32:55 2002