Best Of

By Paul Ford

An amateur's chrestomathy.

In an effort to figure out what I'd like to do next, I've been trying to decide what I like best from this site, where my skills are, and what I should do next, in life as well as with prose/hypertext. I figure that by finding those pieces which were most fun to write, I might be able to do a better job, and have more fun.

With the perpetual sniff of burning WTC in the air of downtown Brooklyn, more fun is in order. This handful are my best word-babies:

1. My Busy Day - It would be good to be this goofy more often. Probably the only piece of work I've ever done which I wouldn't change at all. And what did I do? I stuck things into my mouth and made faces.
2. Also, Forthcoming Science Trade Books. “Stick it in, Mr. Feynman.” General goofiness, but it gave me real pleasure. This sort of writing is like creating puzzles, nesting the jokes.
3. That Was Some Experiment - political screed, small, uneven.
4. The Subway Diary Guide to Self-Loathing - because you gotta have fun while you hate yourself. Drawing the razorblad was half the fun.
5. Romance - when I was an emotional lad. Maudlin and immature, but I remember weeping when I wrote it, feeling I'd gotten something right. I'd like that feeling back.
6. Microcelebrity - a “figuring it all out” essay with a rhythm of its own. The author and I share little, anymore; perhaps I should try to be more like him.

So...what now?