I turned on a light and read awhile today, and found my every pore getting a bit dizzy. It’s altogether humorous to me to pour through rows of silly words, and to wrack my brain about the row of letters in my Scrabble rack ! It tickles my humerus.

A while ago, I would not have been concerned about those little squares of wood , but I know now that there’s no way to weigh potential winnings without studying my words, and possibly saying them aloud. I’m not allowed to be lazy, for my opponent will accept my complacency as being weak. Within a week, he’ll likely kick my butt, except I’ll be ready! I’ll gather my students around me. We’ll sit all together in the classroom aisle or at a round table, and write every vocabulary word with its right spelling eight times and memorize them all. They said the dog ate it, but I think they threw their homework in the trash yesterday. I’ll get even today. There are always some words that have more than one meaning, but we’ll memorize all ways possible. They’re going to turn their work in, there in the classroom, from now on.

*All right then, I’m through with this. I’ve done *a lot of studying here. I know my words too. I’ll be ready to play against at least two opponents now. This bard will not be barred from the game.

I’m out of here. I’m going to moor my row boat by a beech tree and spend some time collecting fish roe – or watching a bumble bee alight on the red rose beach plums.

Life is good… but they wonder why we can’t spell! 
*The only correct form

Such an elegant name, Elizabeth is! She’s a queen… She’s a city… She’s a poet… or two!

We all love Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her beautiful sonnets. Nearly all of us know her famous opening line, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways,” as it’s been etched into our own romantic minds for as long as we can recall. Browning’s wonderful poetry graced the literary world in the mid-nineteenth century, pioneering the way for future women to write and publish their own works. Elizabeth had a fancy for love, and an innate ability to write in iambic pentameter, rendering her an accomplished poetess. For most of her life she endured physical ailments that caused her to live reclusively, but also opened the doors to her brilliant literary talent.

One hundred fifty years later, in the day of the Internet, our writers’ community has discovered another “Elizabeth” who speaks artfully for our contemporary day. She is a poet. She is a lyricist. She is a devout historian. Elizabeth Santos is an amazing family matriarch, a business woman, a proponent for personal health issues, and a true inspiration for her readers. 

Mary Elizabeth (Scheffey) Santos grew up in the historic borough of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, a community that has thrived upon the steel industry for over two hundred years. As a young adult in the 1960’s, Liz joined the Peace Corps and spent four years serving in Brazil. She learned to speak Portuguese and tended the needy, until she finally returned to Pottstown with her young husband, Antonio Santos. While raising four children, Liz and Tony founded and operated their own bedding factory in 1979. Magic Sleeper made its own contribution to Pottstown’s industrial prosperity, and continues to be family operated today. When you visit their website you’ll hear a wonderful rendition of one of Liz’s many poems that have become song lyrics for Swedish musicians , Steve Eriksson – composer/singer, Tord Hjukstrom – composer, and Bjarne Lundquist – a renowned musician.

When Tony became ill in the late 1990’s, Liz found herself entering an unexpected chapter in her life. She encountered her own health problems, and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease shortly before she lost Tony to his battle with cancer. Amidst her grief, and being the stalwart that she is, Elizabeth stood tall, looked about, and decided to try her hand at writing poetry! She joined the writers’ family at Netpoets in 1999.   Glory Be – She is one amazing poet – much like Elizabeth Barrett Browning…

I do believe that Elizabeth Santos THINKS in iambic pentameter. I’ve had the pleasure of becoming good personal friends with Liz over the past ten years, and I’ve watched her write countless times. She wakes up early in the morning and produces a perfect iambic poem before the dawn. I’m in awe of her talent. I can write a sonnet with the best, but I can’t write one in less than an hour.

Liz has an amazing spirit of optimism that keeps her strong and steps before her to support every moment of her day. Like Elizabeth Barrett Browning, she has used her reclusive time to produce some of the best contemporary poetry I’ve seen today. Were it not for her health problems, Liz may never have taken her untrod literary road.

However, she’s written many hundreds of poems throughout the past decade; she continues to pen her best offerings for herself and also writes custom poetry for others . Given time-associated differences in syntax, I have to say that these are my two favorite Elizabeth’s of all time.

Did I mention that Liz researches old iron forges and writes for her local historical society in her spare time? !… (I say. shaking my head in wonderment).

If I Could Not Laugh Heartily
by Elizabeth Santos

If I could not laugh heartily
Then I would surely cry
If I could not live fully
I most certainly would die
If life were not mysterious
Each day would be mundane
And weep itself to sleep
In rhythmic sounds of summer rain
If I didn’t look, I wouldn’t observe
The rise of autumn geese
Nor sit by winter windows
In profound and silent peace
If there were not adversity
To spark the soul to fight
My flame would snuff itself in ways
No passion could ignite
If I had not once stepped into
Life’s bitter dark abyss
Then I would not be prone to write
A poem such as this

The literary world is experiencing a metamorphosis of sorts. Contemporary authors are finding it much easier to reach their audiences in today’s realm. Novelists and poets are uncovering new methods of producing their own works, without need for established “publishers.” There are now numerous self-publishing companies available for any writer who chooses direct production. This is a relatively new option for authors, and hasn’t completely matured as a viable avenue. Given another few years, though – I’m betting that it’ll be more prevalent than traditional publication modes

The Internet, though, is our greatest communication tool. It has taken us to a place where we can instantly be heard world-wide with the simple click of a mouse. On-line resources such as Netpoets.com now make it possible for us to share our works with our contemporaries and to communicate with other writers directly in “real time.” We’re very fortunate to be able to visit sites such as Netpoets’ PiPtalk forums and enjoy some of the best writers’ works available today.

But – How do we know which authors to read? The choices are endless! Where do we begin?

This section of Nan’s Morsels will focus on the best of the best. I’m fortunate to have been able to personally meet many of our resident writers throughout the past decade, and I’ll share some of my personal insights with you. I’ll offer my choices from among our best authors and hope that our visitors will do the same. I’ll look forward to your input. Stay tuned…

Poetry has definitely taken a decided liberal turn in the past century or so (I say, grumbling through my keyboard). Historically, structured poetry has been the only acceptable writers’ norm. By structured verse, I mean specific forms of “rhymed and metered” verse. I must admit to being a traditionalist on this issue, but I’ll also acquiesce to the new wave of poets that adamantly stands by the right to versify “freely.” I’ll give you folks your due, but please do feel FREE to slap me down if I seem a bit sardonic. Somehow I doubt that to be a problem… I’m just a die-hard structuralist in my writing, and I have a difficult time getting beyond the realm of what I consider to be “real” poetry. But I’m trying. I’m trying.

In spite of my protests, a large faction of contemporary poets has adopted the Free Verse format, and to a lesser degree, Blank Verse. There is a difference, folks.. Hah! Even in free expression there’s some structure. Sorry, I couldn’t resist. What, then, are considered guidelines when we write in free or blank verse? What makes some better than the rest? There are some basic tenets of poetry that good free versers employ; so when we see them in print, we recognize them as talented work.

All right, then – here we go. What’s the first rule of Free Verse?  The first rule, I believe, is that there are no rules!! The mid 1800’s actually saw some great poets, such as Walt Whitman, stepping outside the norm of structured poetry to venture into the realm of “free” verse. He has several to choose from, but let’s look at a relatively short piece. Whitman’s “A Noiseless Patient Spider” is a great example.

A Noiseless Patient Spider
by Walt Whitman

A noiseless patient spider,
I marked where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Marked how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launched forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.
And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be formed, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.

Free Verse becomes very personalized – totally expressing the inner feelings of the poet… thereby giving each and every poem its own format and ambience… That’s a good thing, isn’t it?.. Whitman likens himself to the patient spider in this poem. The first of his two five-line stanzas (note the allusion to format?) focuses on a little spider and his isolated attempts to reach out and find his way in the world. The second stanza correlates the spider to a human soul also venturing into the world to find its niche. The comparison is merely implied, but the author’s intent is clear.

Whitman delivers an obvious message to his reader through the use of very artful extended metaphor. There is no distinguishable meter necessary in free verse, and I can’t discern evidence of any in this piece. The theme, nevertheless, along with good imagery, works very well for this poem. Every poem, whether structured, free, or blank should impart a viable message or have a theme. Otherwise, it will be just a mumble-jumble of prattle. When you’re writing, always think carefully about what you’re trying to say – preferably before you start writing!

Blank verse is quite different from free verse – It is written in iambic pentameter. That means every line must follow a metered format of five iambic feet (-/-/-/-/-/), or five successive combinations of di-syllabic unstressed-STRESSED combinations. Blank verse has been used for hundreds of years, traceable back to Milton and Shakespeare. Unlike rhymed verse, it is frequently broken into unordered poetic “paragraphs,” rather than following traditionally formatted stanzas. Shakespeare rarely deviated from his signature iambic pentameter, but used blank verse as the basis of his characters’ conversations.

While blank verse incorporates specific line breaks that are defined by iambic pentameter, free verse line breaks are subject to the discretion of the poet. A free verse line can consist of any number of words, from one to the width of your tablet. An important point is that these line breaks should occur at points in the poem where they can best accentuate the words or thoughts being conveyed.

Rhyme is not relevant. Neither free nor blank verse needs to rhyme, though some poets will include a smattering of rhyming lines for effect. Imagery is probably the most important poetic tool a writer can employ in these types of poetry, and is definitely the key to quality verse. Some of the most common literary tools are:

• simile – a comparison using ‘as or like’
• metaphor – a comparison that doesn’t use ‘as or like’
• personification – giving human attributes to the inanimate
• alliteration – repeated consonant sounds
• assonance – repeated vowel sounds
• onomatopoeia – words that sound as they’re spelled
• hyperbole – exaggeration for effect
• extended metaphor – the poem’s entirety represents something other than the obvious).

I’ve written a mere smattering of free verse on occasion, and have one or two to share – but I’d sooner stick to my structured work, but do I have to admit to a strange desire to “spread my tentative wings” when I venture into the “free verse” world.

I think I’m a literary addict. I read, I write, I scourge and pillage the Internet for good articles and poetry. I post my work. I critique others. I talk to writers online. I go to bookstores to purchase new reading material for those times when my computer is overtaken by those interminable gremlins. And when I’m not doing any of these things, I teach writing prose and poetry in “real” time.

I have to admit that I spend more time reading and writing poetry than in the pursuit of more lengthy literary ventures. It’s mostly a matter of time. I have none. I’m far too busy with the aforementioned activities to find time to pour through War and Peace, or the like. I do enjoy a good book, though, non-fiction for the most part. Whatever we read, we’ll usually find that talented writers will have an innate ability for incorporating lots of good imagery into their works. Ergo, let’s explore some of the more common types of literary imagery.

So, what IS imagery? Very simply put – imagery is…  the use of descriptive words or ideas to create a visual “comparison” which will enhance the reader’s understanding of a literary work. Most of us have some understanding about simile, metaphor, personification, and the rest. But we must start somewhere, so if this is old hat to you, then feel free to go read some poems (or a novel?) and come back when we get to the more complicated part. I won’t be offended. But beware, you might just miss something good… and I’ll expect a report!

OK, novices, gather round. What is a simile, you ask? How does it differ from a metaphor? What is an extended metaphor? How about personification? Good questions! Simile and metaphor are nearly always taught in conjunction with each other. Rarely is one mentioned without the other trailing along. An extended metaphor is merely a more inclusive version of the simple metaphor, and personification brings “life” to inanimate entities. Each of these has its own special purpose in our writing. I’ll give examples of each form of imagery, all borrowed from my poet friends at Netpoets. These are all contemporary resident Netpoets writers who have artfully mastered their craft.

The simile is the most common of all imagery. It’s a comparison which utilizes one of the two words “as” or “like.” For example: My dear friend from Oregon, Heather Walters, posted, “Enchantress.” Heather penned the line “he approaches slowly, wary like a lion” – that’s a perfect simile, because “like a lion” gives the reader a clear vision of her intended inference.

Then there’s my friend, Wolfgang, from Ontario. He’s “One of a Kind.” In this poem he said, “Each one of us, just like the trees,/We reach a different height.” In subsequent stanzas he further compares humanity as being: “…just like the birds/ …like snowflakes falling down/ …like pearls inside a shell/ …just like the flowers.” You get the point by interpreting the comparison. Each line is a gem in itself.

Of course, I can’t neglect Toerag. I wouldn’t dare – that would be hazardous to my sanity. Toerag posted a very hysterical poem, “LongJohn’s Hoover Has Y2K.” It’s a must read, folks. Toerag wrote of LongJohn (another Netpoets favorite) and his vacuum cleaner, indicating that the “Hose was weaving like a snake.” There you have it folks – the simile. Don’t forget. A simile MUST include one of the terms “as” or “like.” Easy as 1-2-3, yes? (You got that, write?)

What about a metaphor? A metaphor also makes a comparison, but it does NOT use either as or like to convey its intended message. It is more obscure and oftentimes takes a discerning eye to glean its meaning from a poem. It certainly is fun to conceal your intentions behind an elusive mask, though, isn’t it? A metaphor alludes to something entirely different from the literal meaning of the writer’s words. In perusing the wonderful poems on Netpoets Passions in Poetry site, I found some exceptional examples. For instance:

Linda Dowd, in her poem, “My Suit of Armor,” wrote “My sword is his word.” That’s excellent! The sword isn’t really his word, but it conveys a very explicit message through the use of metaphor.

Then, of course, there’s Doreen Peri in, “A Mere Mirage.” This one is just wonderful. Doreen opened the poem with the line “The ocean is moments of time swept up in foam.” What a great picture that conjures up in my mind. A metaphor uses one image in place of another to affect a descriptive picture in the reader’s mind.

Personification is a wonderfully creative writing tool. It is just what it seems – giving the qualities of being human to an animal or inanimate entity, nothing more. The visual images created with personification really add to the zest of poetry, though.

Seymour Tabin, my dear departed friend from Fort Lauderdale, in, “Commitment,” wrote, “A tongue strikes an inner shell./The ring cries, a double swell./The pressures of circles ply,/To infinity they fly.” We all know a tongue cannot really strike, a ring cannot cry, and pressures cannot fly. But Sy makes that happen in your reader’s mind, with some very adept use of personification.

Then, of course, Poet deVine, in “The Search for Happiness,” opened her wonderful poem with the line “All of her today woes/were pushing happiness away.” Woes certainly cannot push – unless Poet deVine pens it – then it is so.

Now, I just can’t let this one pass without reference to Wendy LaTulippe whose words are quite eloquent. “Water” is a poem she posted on the main site of Passions. I believe that Wendy has invented a new form of imagery. I think I’ll call it “ex-personating.” I’ve never seen anything like this. Don’t be afraid to break the rules, folks! Instead of personifying something inanimate, Wendy’s done the opposite. She’s turned herself into a NON-living entity – though it’s hard to visualize the water in this poem as being inanimate. That’s some sensuous shower, even for the reader. Wendy needs to get out of the house more, or take more showers – I’m not sure which.

Then there’s the extended metaphor, which usually takes the form of an entire poem, representing something other than the obvious or literal meaning of the words in print. Let’s see, some examples – ah, yes, this one was easy.

My dear friend Mike, (aka Balladeer), wrote “The Architect,” seemingly about properly constructing a home. But on a deeper level, this poem is obviously about the construction of poetry – a subject very near and dear to my heart.

Another wonderful example is a poem written by Tim Chambers, entitled, “The Rocky Shore.” Tim wrote, “Must one climb the mountain/…to touch the sky above,/Soar on wings of eagles,/…to find the answer why?” He continues to weave a thread of life around these profound words – the entirety of this poem is about attaining our life’s goals. Yet, Tim presents his thoughts by climbing mountains and flying with eagles. I really love this one, Tim – it’s a perfect extended metaphor.

Let us not forget our wondrous Netpoets host, Ron Carnell. In “Winter’s Threads,” the title is, in itself, a foreshadowing of what’s to come. This entire poem represents solitude and the introspection of life’s accomplishments. If you haven’t read it, folks, you won’t regret finding the time.

All right, folks, I tried – but I can’t sign off without mentioning my favorite – malapropism. I have an obsession with this one. Those of you who know me certainly harass me enough about it, and the rest might as well join in. Very few of my poems escape my MissNTropic wand. A malapropism is, over simplified, an unintentional PUN – and such fun it is to pun in craft – intentionally. I use this one frequently. I can’t help it. It’s an affliction that I have.

Here are just a couple of quick examples from my poems: These are some lines from my personal pride and joy, “Serendipity:”

“From sheltered *berth* embarks the maiden sail” (and)
“Hibernal mariner with *white-capped* lore”, (and)
“That beck “Red-Right-Return” forever *moor*.

Or, perhaps one of my haiku:

Up, Up, and *A-weigh*
From the burdens of life in
Search of Levity

So, my aspiring writer friends – have you any questions? Ask away! I’d certainly welcome any and all of you to let me know what you’d like to hear about. What about hyperbole, alliteration, onomatopoeia, iambics, anapestics, refrains, quatrains, sonnets, rhyme schemes, pentameter, internal rhyme, free verse, blank?

Write On – I’m off to my weekly Writers’ Anonymous meeting…

What is a sonnet?
How do we write a sonnet?
Can a novice write a sonnet without knowing a lot about poetry?

Let’s see – Where to start…

A Little Song is the derivation of the word sonnet. I find the sonnet to be the most fun poetic format to work with, and it is by far my favorite. Sonnets originated in Italy hundreds of years ago, progressing further with the unsurpassed influence of the English, more specifically that of Shakespeare.

Although the mode of the twentieth century has been to deviate from established standard formats, my philosophy remains pretty old-fashioned, I guess. I adamantly believe that you can’t rightly break the rules of writing unless you know what they are…

Furthermore, breaking the rules effectively necessitates a thorough understanding of them. Ergo – I suggest knowing the rules of "sonnet-dom" before trying to write one.

I also follow formatting myself, by the way. I don’t consider myself proficient enough to break the rules yet (perhaps some day soon).

All righty – Let’s start with meter – the easy part…. A sonnet, properly written, is done in iambic pentameter. That means that every line will consist of five iambic feet. A metric foot is a combination of repeated stressed and unstressed syllables comprising a line of poetry. Each line of a true sonnet will follow this rhythm….

da-DUM/da-DUM/da-DUM/da-DUM/da-DUM

Theme is of ULTIMATE importance in a sonnet. You must present a conflict of sorts in your opening stanzas and a resolution in your closing ones. Think carefully of what you want to write about and how you want to develop your work before you begin writing.
The use of imagery is another important consideration. A sonnet is a very compact piece, and as such is a great format for extended metaphors. Try to incorporate some simile, metaphor, or other types of imagery into your work. Imagery is good for another entire blog entry… Later on that one..

Now then – Let’s get on to the format. Guess what – There are choices here. We can opt for any one of the following….

The original Italian/Petrarchan style sonnet. This format consists of an octet followed by a sestet. The conflict is presented in the octet and resolved in the sestet. This format allows you less conflict, but more "resolution" time, if you should need it…

The format is:
a-b-b-a-a-b-b-a/c-d-e-c-d-e

The most popular English/Shakespearean sonnet. In this format the conflict is presented within three quatrains of verse, and resolved in a final couplet.

The Shakespearean format is…
a-b-a-b/c-d-c-d/e-f-e-f/g-g

The final, and less known format is Spenserian. Actually, I’ve written several sonnets, but I haven’t yet done one in the Spenserian mode. That’ll be my plan on this one. This format is more similar to Shakespearean, as it incorporates three quatrains and a closing couplet. In either format, we’ll need to develop the conflict in the quatrains and resolve it in the couplet.

The Spenserian format is…
a-b-a-b/b-c-b-c/c-d-c-d/e-e

So – Can you tell what kind of sonnet mine is?

Dawn’s Sonnet

Night’s pallid hush ascends with gentle Grace.
Nocturnal fauna nestles back in ground.
Precursive solar tendrils peer around
Through tatted eyelets in morn’s tree-top lace.
Faint blushing tiers of pink and crimson hue
Unfold soft wisps of streaming cirrus cloud.
The meadow’s haze of gossamer a shroud,
As crystal sheaths submit to glist’ning dew
And cautious sunbeams flicker on the rise.
Clenched petals stretch to welcome dawning’s rays,
A valiant beacon bursts forth in full blaze.
The Morning Star now masked by azure skies -
‘Til breath of life, that brief eternity
God’s sacred Realm embraces only me.

Can two fundamental literary genres comfortably coexist in our reader’s eye? Prose and poetry are two entirely different modes of expression, and each seems to have its own following. We can certainly allow ourselves to write, read, and enjoy both, though, can’t we? After all, every literary work of art is unique in its own way, and offers us its own wisdom.

Though they are literary antitheses, poetry and prose do share some basic commonalities. Prose is the category for most every written format that doesn’t qualify as poetry, and is far less structured in composition. A truly good writer, though, knows that prosaic story-telling does have its own necessary inclusive elements, and uses them to write prose effectively. Imagine reading a story where the characters aren’t well developed or the resolving climax is written into the book before the actual plot develops. A storyline must follow a specific format, or literary anarchy will prevail. The reader would become lost in a melee of nonsensical, ambiguous chaos. That would be taking foreshadowing to a level of absurdity, wouldn’t it? Perhaps it would convert some of those die-hard prosers to poetry lovers, though.

An avid proponent of prose can easily devour two or three novels a week, simultaneously pouring over the shelves at the nearest bookstore in anxious await of new releases. This sort of “read-aholic” can probably discern one novelist’s style from another with just a cursory perusal of samples from some of their works.

Poetry offers a more succinct overview to its readers. Although a poem takes but a few moments to read and interpret, the prose-ponent rarely finds the way out of a novel to enjoy a bit of good rhyme. Traditional poetry is a rhythmic compilation of meter and rhyme schemes set in a philosophical theme that can be a wonderful adjunct to an otherwise busy day. There’s no time to sit with a good novel? Poetry is a fantastic alternative. Like its sister, prose, though – poetry includes a wide gamut of sub-categories. Many specific formats such as: the sonnet, villanelle, pantoum, tanka, haiku, all fall under the general guise of poetry. Each is a subject in its own right and will see its due here in days to come.

Conversely, the unstructured poem, which defies adhering to rhyme and meter, when extricated from the bonds of these limitations becomes a relatively new form of poesie called free verse. A good free verse writer will honor the art of free writing by focusing upon an inspiring theme expressed through strong visual imagery to whet the reader’s ear.

The more formal structure of rhyme and meter aren’t usually discernable in prose, though prosaic writing can sometimes lend itself to a smattering of versification, which is an artful blend of these two forms of writing. What we have then is actually called a prose poem – or a piece of prose that hints of common poetic elements. This will be an interesting form to explore.

Every author, from novelist to poet, has unique qualities about his or her work that set it apart from the rest of the literary world. There’s no reason why we can’t all dabble in both. While I write both, I personally lean toward poetry in my reading, because I enjoy its breviloquence. I’d need to extend my days, or give up sleeping to be able to read a novel a week. So, I read and write poetry in my spare time.

It’s all a matter of choice. The point is just write!

We write because…

We have to. We can’t NOT write. There’s so much to say, and so few ears within hearing distance, what other choice have we? Besides, when others are right beside us, they usually interrupt before we’re finished with our thought, and then we totally forget what we were saying. Silly people, think they have something to say as well! So, let’s WRITE it down.. Then share it with them on our own terms!

The avenue we choose to share our writing is really the only decision we have to make. How do we communicate, be heard, AND know that our words will make a difference? There are so many options before us today, this could be a monumental dilemma in its own right. The telephone might just be attached to the wall (maybe), but it’s definitely limited to its own range of capability. Snail mail is far too tedious. We’d have to find one of those nearly obsolete, elusive little stamps (buried in a drawer somewhere), and who actually knows the cost of one of those this week? We might not have the current ones at hand anyway.

Cellphones are better, and they travel with us on our daily treks. We can even write (text) our messages to others, so as to avoid unnecessary conversations that might interrupt whatever is more important to be doing at that moment.

We could try to publish a book – Let’s not even go there!

Why even consider all of those choices when we have the internet at our fingertips? We can write and share, then write and share some more – with everybody, everywhere – as long as they have a computer, and they can read our words.

Then there’s the whole expansive “social media” issue. We’ll definitely have to talk about that in another post.

“Everybody, everywhere” really does sum it up. This writers’ blog is for anybody who lives anywhere who has a computer (or knows someone who has a computer) and wants to read or write.. or improve upon their reading or writing… or wants to be able to turn off the proverbial volume when they think the other guy is writing/talking far too m…………………