Hi Folks: Sixty nine years old, played 3-4 chord guitar for 40 years, written a lot of what I call song/poem/storys about my childhood on a dairy farm in the Catskill Mountains and subsequent and various accidents and incidents throughout my life. I was a Chinese-Mandarin linguist for the Army, I have survived the fatal strain of malaria, I have been thrown from a car going 60 miles per hour with a 6 month old baby on my lap, I have been broadsided on my bicycle by a 84 Buick Riveria going 60 mph on 9/11/2000, I have been bitten, scratched, stepped on, kicked, hooked and **** upon by various farm and wild animals....and...I've also been married 42 years to the same saint of a woman. I am also not sure that any of this (or the stuff I write) is relevant to anyone but my friends and family as I post writings of these and other things on my blog: http://gerryhubbard.blogspot.com/. But, I am now studying a couple of poetry books to figure out what I did and try to apply metric poetry principles to my stuff and hope this forum can help. I look forward to hearing from you...Gerry
Welcome to the forum. Yes, what a life to draw upon for your writing, I hope another car doesn't tag you again.
Hello Gerry, Welcome to the Writing Forums. I too grew up in the Catskills, in and around the town of Catskill itself. And you'd be surprised - the stories that are personal to you, that you feel other people wouldn't relate to, may well be the ones that readers take to heart. Posting your own work should not be the very first thing you do here. It is really worthwhile to see what other people have done to improve their writing, and see if some of it applies to your writing as well. That is part of why we require members to review other members' work before posting their own for review. On the other hand, there are no restrictions, other than content and copyright rules, on showcasing your work in your member blog. If you haven't explored the site yet, you should probably do so soon. Newcomers often gravitate to the Lounge, the Word Games, or the Review Room, but there is much more to be discovered if you poke in the corners. Remember to check out our FAQ as well, and be sure to read through the forum rules, too, to avoid any misunderstandings or hurt feelings. Respect for one another is our principal mandate. As for the Review Room, new joiners often wonder why we do things a bit differently on this site than on other writing sites. We emphasize reviewing as a critical writing skill. Training your eye by reviewing other people's work helps you improve your own writing even before you present it for others to see. Therefore, we ask members to review other people's writing before posting work of their own. The Review Room forums on this site, therefore, are true workshops, not just a bulletin board for displaying your work (and on that note, please only post each item for review in one Review Room forum). See this post, Why Write Reviews Before Posting My Work? for more information. Enjoy your stay here, and have fun!
A lot to write about indeed. Well, welcome to WF and have fun writing and reviewing. Ciao, The Easy Listener.
Hiya, Gerry. You've seen and done a lot it seems, glad to see you still write about all you do. Welcome, and maybe see ya 'round!
hey, there, gerry!... we're the same age, by golly... when do you reach the big 70?... i'll get there in just a few weeks [sept 14]... welcome to the party!... i'm pretty much a full time poet and mentor lots of aspiring ones, so if you want a hand with anything in that line, just drop me a line... love and hugs, maia maia3maia@hotmail.com
