Grappling with King Charles’ Head

Posted on by M.K. Waller in Uncategorized
Portrait of King Charles I in the robes of the...
Portrait of King Charles I in the robes of the Order of the Garter. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have been–to use a term I learned from fellow blogger Kate Shrewsday–in a funk hole.

Recent events in the American political arena have had me biting my tongue and wearing mittens to keep from making an abject fool of myself on this blog.

Every time I started a post, I immediately thought of a number of men whose names I will not mention–yes, always men–and my chosen topic veered off the rails into an area I prefer not to traverse.

I felt like Mr. Dick, David Copperfield’s friend, whose attempts to complete his Memorial were repeatedly obstructed by the intrusion of King Charles’ Head.

Lacking Mr. Dick’s good sense, sweet temper, and ability to construct a kite from a laptop monitor, I went underground. Crawled under the porch. Played Bookworm for two or three weeks.

Bookworm is a good game. One evening I racked up 2,000,000 points before my library burned up. This is not a boast. It is a source of shame. But it kept me from posting.

I’ve also watched all the P. D. James mystery adaptations on Netflix, some of them twice. And all the episodes of Kingdom three or four times. I was so unhappy to learn Kingdom ran only three seasons. Here I am left hanging, wondering who Peter Kingdom really is.

But I believe my topic has once again taken off on its own.

The point is that you, Dear Reader, do not come here to read what I think of the current U. S. political scene, nor do you need to know about my obsessive-compulsive personality. Or my sharp tongue.

I prefer that you think of me as a kindly, marshmallowy creature, constitutionally incapable of an unrefined thought. Kind of like Jane Bennett.

And to that end, I found myself a funk hole and crawled in.

When I came out to test the waters, I wrote about cats, the subject least likely to attract King Charles’ Head.

Having passed that test, I now return to the fold.

Round #2 of A Round of Words in 80 Days begins this week. I flunked–if that’s possible–Round #1–but I’m willing to give it another try.

My Round #2 goal is to submit to my critique group every week. Period.

King Charles and the U. S. Congress can go fly a kite.

19 thoughts on “Grappling with King Charles’ Head”

  1. 😀 It is good to see this term used with much panache, Kathy. And reading your post I realise that clever women who have abilities way beyond their surroundings must often resort to funk holes. We spend weeks at a time in them distracting ourselves from the fact that, though we speak with the tongues of angels the powers that be will not listen. Here’s to the funk hole: the dugout designed to muffle our baffled, incredulous disbelief.

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    1. If I hadn’t read your post, I would still be in that funk hole, because I wouldn’t have known how to say where I’d been hiding. Thanks for the language. Retiring to a funk hole is much more elegant than crawling under the porch. 🙂

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  2. I have to say, I wouldn’t complain if I was visited by the ghost of King Charles II. Or the Earl of Rochester. [very big grin]

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  4. i am laughing so hard at your blog that I’m afraid I’ll wet my pants. Laughing with you I should say because this is ablog that I could have so easily written. Only thing is my Netflix preference is Midsomer Murders and my game, Spider Solitaire. But I can’t tell you how many blogs I’ve thrown away because of political antics making me want to rant. Thanks for sharing. You’ll get a Bean’s Pat tomorrow.

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    1. I wonder how many of us could have written that blog, Pat? I have a lot to learn about getting out of my own way when I write. I also need to learn to control my tongue at home. I’m sure my righteous indignation has had my husband wanting his own funk hole.

      I like Midsomer Murders, too. Have you watched Mapp and Lucia? That’s my current non-mystery addiction.

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  5. For me, it’s crossword puzzles and blog reconstruction. I, too, am struggling against political/social ranting. Trying very hard to remember that I may have an opinion on my blog, I have no desire to alienate readers. I feel your pain!

    I scaled back too, this round. Good luck with your critique group!

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    1. Ah, a fellow sufferer. Pain is the word, all right. At least your blog title gives you permission to express yourself, in case something boils over on to the page.

      Crossword puzzles would be so much more productive than Bookworm, but if I’m at the computer I have the illusion I’m accomplishing something. And I haven’t managed to make friends with online crosswords.

      Good luck with your goals, too, and thank for stopping by.

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  6. I read some advice about blogging (unfortunately I can’t remember where) which said to never be afraid of expressing your opinion because that is the real you and that’s what makes your blog special! So go rant and if you don’t take every reader with you, who cares?!

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    1. If I could express myself with style–like Molly Ivins or Art Buchwald or Russell Baker–I would be less concerned about ranting. Actually, I have ranted a couple of times on this blog: the time I expressed my opinion of the State Board of Education turned into a real mess, with follow-up posts, and I haven’t quite gotten over it.

      But since reading your advice, I’m thinking…

      Thanks for stopping by.

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  8. I love your voice in this post! And I’m glad you’ve climbed out of your funk hole to join Round 2. Your goal sounds really good–solid and easy to track but with room for some variance. Looking forward to seeing how it goes. See you at the check-ins!

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    1. Thank you. It feels much better out of the funk hole than in. Over the year of participating in ROW80, I’ve steadily modified my goals to the point where I’m almost down to something I can hope to achieve.

      Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Good luck with your goals. Be seeing you.

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