The nice folks at Poetic Diversity had interesting things to say about my last chapbook, "Warhold Days."

Both reviews, even the effectively "con," make me extremely hapy.

Sail, parky is chilly, cold. It can be used to talk about the weather ("Grab a coat, it's gone parky out there") or about a change in the atmosphere ("I really put my foot in it, I mentioned her ex-boyfriend and she went parky on me").

"Hampton" is a slightly obscure (I think it's obscure) bit of Cockney rhyming slang. Hampton Wick = prick or dick.

As in the more commonly known "pour me a shot of the gay and frisky" (whiskey) or "Ooooh, nice photo! Can I take a butcher's?" (butcher's hook = look).

I figured "his Hampton" was probably something along the way of an American male referring to "his Johnson" (and please don't ask me where it came from, because while I think I know, I'm not completely sure--possibly a surf board allusion) but with a twist. That Cockney rhyming slang can be wicked evil to try and disentangle; it's something one just has to grow up with to really understand.

Crap, I hate double posts.

Nice, Victor! Good for you (And for them, and the rest of us, too).

I think "anymore" as a synonym for "now" or "nowadays" is going national. I think I first heard it from a rural Pennsylvanian college friend circa 1990, but since then I've heard it in a variety of places. Never England, of course, but also never in Alabama or Georgia. Oklahoma, maybe, which would make sense if it's around in East Texas.

I confess that calling my grandmother an East Texas person is probably a misnomer, since she moved from there when she was like 18, moved around a lot as an adult, and she's nearly 80 now. So lord knows where she picked it up.

Nice, Victor! Good for you (And for them, and the rest of us, too).

Thanks. I actually came across the review by accident, but it looks like it was just posted recently. Funny thing is, I never sent out review copies. There were some people from "Poetic Diversity" at the house reading I did in Mar Vista last January, and I sold whole bunch of books there, so that must be where they got it. (I know some of the other reviewers, but not these two. Huh.)

That's shiny, Victor, and I see what you mean about both reviews.

I have no opinion about the usages of "anymore" and "parky".

I think his Hampton should always be at a rakish and jaunty angle, and that's how I will always picture it...

Heh. I always like the general order that told us we had to "salute all officers and standards not cased." I'm all for saluting "uncased" officers, anyday. Especially, if they start by saluting me.