I promised myself that after 100 posts I would draw a breath and see what was memorable, what worked, and attempt to restore order to the carnage in my wake.
Memorable was tough, as most of the parts I remember are the glaring misspellings, the missing punctuation, and the pedantic oratory of a fellow used to sniping from the sidelines, not featured center stage.
What worked is a mystery, I giggled at a couple of things after re-reading them, but mostly I blushed, violating every rule in Strunk and White, and then flailing about, with the Collected Works of William Shakespeare in no jeopardy of being unseated anytime soon.
Here’s what I know about you; most of your browsing occurs at work, you live in the US, and you don’t say much.
Here’s what I have found out; writing is bloody hard work, and pulling creativity out of thin air is the hardest of all. It is more fun to pull the author’s chin whiskers, than be the author.
I’ve attempted to throw a wide loop and cover as many fly fishing topics as I could to see what sparked interest. The results are standard Brownliner fare, muddy and unclear.
Here is your opportunity to stand up and be counted; what did you like, what didn’t you like, what do you want to see more of…grab a big handful of whiskers and yank – help me mold the next 100 posts.
Still no responses to this, so I’ll go first. I prefer posts that are irreverent, humorous, sarcastic, witty. Information is good. I liked the post about tanning road kill. It prompted me to pick up a book on taxidermy. Revealing a bit more about yourself would be better. When you do fish, I’d like to know what rod and reel you’re using, accompanied by photos. I’d like to see close-ups of the flies in your fly box. I’d like to see pictures of whatever you happen to be tying at the moment, and photos of your tying bench. That you’re passionate about bugs and fly tying is obvious, but sometimes I’ll think, “He takes this stuff way too seriously.” Some posts have left me scratching my head, but I’ve enjoyed reading most of them.
I haven’t been reading very long, but so far I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read. I like reading about many of the things San Mateo Joe mentioned, but to be honest I’m not too interested in the gear stuff. I’m more interested in why you fly fish, not how.
I think the two are related. If Tom Chandler (who usually fishes with bamboo rods and dry flies) were to delete all the gear references from his fishing posts, they’d lose some of their flavor. Gear is also something you can poke fun at and ridicule. Describing how an angler used an exquisite bamboo rod and Hardy reel to float a pegged bead under an indicator past a squawfish is funny, whereas fishing for squawfish is just…odd.
Thanks for breaking the ice gents.
I dunno; I love the humor, and I wonder if doing anything but writing the stuff you want to write will lead to anything approaching longevity.
The reason why many mainstream fly fishing magazines are so bland is the same reason sex with an unenthusiastic partner is so unsatisfying: they’re both faking it, and it shows.
Keep up the odd work.
Thanks for taking the time to respond, I’ll address each of the requests in future posts. I just have to figure out how to make my horrific reasons for fishing into something Mother Theresa would say…
I have really enjoyed your posts. I do like your posts on gear, like the one on vest features and all the sources of bulk fly tying materials. The Phallic Trout was genius. And it is shocking or unsettling to read your exploration of the real costs of outfitting you and your better half and of tying flies yourself instead of buying them. Your post on Cal’s Bird’s Nest was intriguing. And your long post on entomology and fly selection made me think it was straight out of Curtis Creek Manifesto. Brownlining is a continuing classic feature. Keep up all that you’re doing and I’ll keep the paper towels by my monitor to clean up any humor induced spewed milk.