Wednesday, January 03, 2007

I'm Back

Google has apparently straightened out its Blogger sign-in problems. They have an improved Blogger system, but I've declined to sign up for it. They say you have to have a Google password in order to use it. I have a Google password, but they wouldn't accept it last week, so I'm not optimistic that they'll accept it now.

A few quick GKC things: The Blog of the American Chesterton Society has apparently made a New Year's resolution to be active this year. Check it out. A blogger has decided to try to her hands at Clerihews, using other bloggers as the subject. Quite unique.

What? You don't know what a clerihew is? Check out Wikipedia's entry. Excerpt:

A Clerihew (or clerihew) is a very specific kind of short humorous verse, typically with the following properties:

  • It is biographical and usually whimsical, showing the subject from an unusual point of view; but it is hardly ever satirical, abusive or obscene
  • It has four lines of irregular length (for comic effect)
  • The first line consists solely (or almost solely) of a well-known person's name.

The form was invented by and is named after Edmund Clerihew Bentley. As a student, Bentley invented the clerihew on Humphry Davy (see below) during his studies, and it was a great hit with his friends. The first use of the word in print was in 1928.[1]

Bentley's friend, G. K. Chesterton, was a practitioner of the clerihew and one of the sources of its popularity. However, other serious authors also produced clerihews, including W. H. Auden.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Chesterton and Friends
a misconception mends:
That prose or poetry from an era long past
Nothing to do with the present hast.

Thanks for the links, Eric.

BTW, I'm going crazy with my mind automatically trying to rhyme words in every idle moment of my day, and I blame you entirely. Since cursing is sinful, and I'm not sure I'll be able to get to confession this weekend, may the good Lord bless you with many more children.

Anonymous said...

I may have to to try my hand at one of these...though I doubt I'll be able to resist making it at least a little mean-spirited. :p