Burp and scratch?

Lemme see, kendall . . . does the Hostery Channel feature programs on entertaining in your home?

I'm retired. But I've worked at a variety of jobs, from professional entertainer (folk music, from the mid-Fifties through the Sixties), to production illustrator at Boeing, to radio announcer and news director, to telephone operator, to technical writer for the Bonneville Power Administration.

These days I spend most of my time writing:   I've had several magazine articles published, and I'm working on a book. Bob Nelson (Deckman) and I are planning to do a concert together this coming fall, so I'm practicing a bunch, singing a lot of stuff I used to sing and learning a few new songs (I haven't done a full-blown concert since the early Eighties, so I've gotta get my socks pulled up!). I'm also doing some research pending putting together a home studio, because I intend to record a batch of the songs I do and make them available on CD. Gathering information at this point. I don't have any records out, and as Dave Van Ronk said, "In vinyl, veritas!"

In addition to writing and practice, I give a few guitar lessons during the week, watch television selectively, and read a lot on a wide variety of subjects. I'm also pretty active politically (letters to editors, bugging legislators, etc.). And I also visit with friends in the 3-D world.

One thing that makes the writing go fairly fast—and that allows me to write long screeds here on Mudcat without spending all that much time at it—is that I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking, a voice-recognition program, a lot. I just dictate to the computer, and what I dictate appears on the screen. A little judicious editing, and away it goes.

Don Firth

P. S. Every now and then, for variety, I like to write with a Dixon Ticonderoga No. 2 wooden pencil on a yellow legal pad.