The Much Promised, Highly Vaunted Villanelle – I Did It And It Was Okay – Also A Tiny Bit About An Old DOS Game I Enjoyed

Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 22148 – 720:

I sat down and wrote this and I feel pretty good about it. I am highly honored to know that there are, in my very audience, at least two actively working school teachers, one of who is an English teacher. Along with them is an English major. This makes me feel a little self-conscious sometimes. But then I get over it. I have helped a lot of people edit their papers over the years and I think I have the basics down somewhat. I give myself a shot in the arm like that every now and then and I start to feel better. More confident. Like I could…Like I COULD…TAKE ON THE WORLD!!! Er, sorry. I was feeling like Purple Tentacle for a minute there, but I’m okay. really. For those of you who don’t know, it’s from an old DOS video game called Day of the Tentacle. It was made by Lucas Arts and is pretty funny and pretty fun. I think there are two scenes that have one cuss word each. Nothing up to a current modern level. I thought the only place you could get it was on Steam but I have since discovered that you can purchase it from GOG.com and buy it outright and not have to use a third-party client if you don’t want to. It comes with the original game and the newly remastered version which is exactly true to the original. It’s how the original would have been written if the technology had existed at the time.

Here are a couple of links to a couple of trailers but I didn’t want to embed them because really this post is not about this at all. https://youtu.be/yCCJxqTzpiA https://youtu.be/jsHKPPHdm7o

I’m not an affiliate of GOG.com, I just like their concept of allowing you to play games you paid good money for without having a connection or a special browser or anything else.

I found this really cool picture on Pixabay.com and thought it would go well with Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 22148 – 720, today’s post.

Image by Myriam Zilles from Pixabay

So, sorry for the digression, moving right along, as we hopefully are, I think I did fairly well on my first go at a Villanelle. Especially since the only reason I did it is that I had never heard of one before James Proclaims did one. I may do another one or two just to say I did them but I don’t really like them all that much as a style. The examples I saw on different websites were pretty depressing but I hope that’s not a requirement, although I did pick a serious and important subject.

TANSTAAFLOC

There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch – Or Cup (Everything has a cost)

The best things in life are not always free
In fact, that statement really makes me laugh.
One of the best things in life is coffee.

Donut shop refills all now cost a fee
Sometimes the price comes out to almost half!
The best things in life are not always free.

Coffee shop prices? Extr’ordinary!
Sometimes it is the only choice you have
One of the best things in life is coffee.

I like to stay at home and make coffee
For me and on my family’s behalf.
The best things in life are not always free.

E’en then there is a cost that you will see
But you can make your own for less than half.
One of the best things in life is coffee.

I feel home-brewed is quite the best for me.
BUT NEVER DECAF!
The best things in life are not always free.
One of the best things in life is coffee.


Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read my stuff. Remember, there was the sign in a diner I saw one time which said, “Please don’t insult our coffee. Some day you’ll be old and weak too.”

14 Comments

  1. A fine effort and an important subject matter. In some respects much better than mine because I forgot that you are supposed to use repetition in some of the lines but you lose a point for not alternating the rhyme structure so we come out about even I think. Neither of us bad for beginners though. I think I’ll stick to haikus and limericks for the most part but always fun to try something new.

  2. Herb, I love the way you write — and think. You’re an excellent writer because you’re “you” on the page and that is the best thing a writer can be because the work is then original, and unique, but connects with what’s human in the reader. I enjoyed the Villanelle!!

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