Vintage Monday: Dark and Rainy

Hollywood at night 1950s

As a writer you'll be scoffed at if you if your plot relies even on a single coincidence. But coincidences happen.

We've been having unpleasant weather here in L.A. recently--hot and muggy. Then it started to rain. In August. It never rains in the summer in southern California. Our window for precipitation is roughly October-March.

It was drizzling when I drove over to the used bookstore to search for books on cocktails and bar tending for my next project. While there I checked the mystery paperback section for Ross Macdonald books I don't have yet. I found one: The Far Side of the Dollar.

MacDonald wrote my favorite type of mystery, hardboiled detective novels from the fifties to the seventies. The filmic equivalent of this genre is Film Noir. They won the name both for content and their dark visuals. It's ironic that the biggest names in the hardboiled genre--MacDonald, Dashiel Hammet, Raymond Chandler--set their stories in perpetually sunny Southern California.

At the bookstore I pulled The Far Side of the Dollar off the shelf, opened it, and read the first line:

It was August, and it shouldn't have been raining.

Wednesday Word: Scofflaw

scofflaw |ˈskôfˌlô; ˈskäf-|noun informala person who flouts the law, esp. by failing to comply with a law that is difficult to enforce effectively.

I learned this word watching a Ken Burns documentary about the Prohibition. Apparently, the Boston Herald held a competition for readers to come up with a word to describe those who broke the new law. Two unrelated entrants submitted "scofflaw" and it was chosen as the winner.

Vintage Monday: Summer Time

I wish I was that toddler in the washtub. He doesn't seem to have a care in the world.

Currently LA is experiencing a moderate heatwave with high humidity and weird wether. There were sudden downpours yesterday at some places and we don't normally get rain at this time of year. There was also lightning, and at least one person died from it at Venice Beach.

I pick the washtub in the backyard.

Wednesday Word: Chary

chary |ˈ ch e(ə)rē|adjective ( charier , chariest )cautious; wary : most people are chary of allowing themselves to be photographed.• cautious about the amount one gives or reveals : he was chary with specifics about the script.DERIVATIVEScharily |ˈ ch e(ə)rəlē| adverbORIGIN Old English cearig [sorrowful, anxious] ; related to care . The current sense arose in the mid16th cent.

I bagged this beauty reading Diana Gabaldon's Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade. I couldn't care less about the rest of the Outlander series, but Lord John stole my heart.

Vintage Monday: Field Shower, WWII

Once upon a time I was in the army reserves, as a laundry and bath specialist. Mine was support unit, tasked with setting up laundry and shower units in the field. I never got called up for active service, but one summer my unit was part of a field exercise for two weeks. I can tell you, all the soldiers were happy to see us. Our showers were inside tents though.

Wednesday Word: Mellifluous

mellifluous |məˈlifloōəs|adjective(of a voice or words) sweet or musical; pleasant to hear: the voice was mellifluous and smooth.DERIVATIVESmellifluously adverbmellifluousness nounORIGIN late 15th cent.: from late Latin mellifluus(from mel ‘honey’ + fluere ‘to flow’ ) + -ous .

What an awesome word—like honey dripping from a spoon. I can't say I've ever used it in conversation. Situations when you get to comment on another person's voice is rare, and even then we usually just say something like, oh yeah, she has a great voice. I wonder if David Attenborough's voice can be called mellifluous. I could listen to it for hours.

Vintage Monday: Victorian Dandy

I've been doing a research into men's Victorian fashion lately because of book cover designs. I uncovered a wide variety of collar and neckwear styles--they range from cravats to bow ties. Vests--I should say waistcoats since we're talking British--were commonplace among upper and lower classes alike.

I've just started writing a new story too, where bow ties feature. So I give you this fine Victorian gentleman with s bow tie and beautiful mustache.