Carol Driscoll
Bio
Carol is a freelance writer, compulsive reader, and somewhat sociable introvert.
Stories (9/0)
A Legendary Dog
We gave him a gentleman’s name, but he was a bit of a renegade. As a surprise one day, our mom and dad brought home a six-month old puppy. He was a little, wooly ball of energy and my brothers and I were overjoyed. He was our first family dog and we argued over whose turn it was to pet and cuddle him and most of all to name him. I forgot who came up with the name Dudley, but it was unanimous that the name suited him perfectly.
By Carol Driscoll12 months ago in Petlife
- Top Story - July 2022
Who Invented Scrabble?Top Story - July 2022
The grid of perfectly scaled squares hinting of an underlying respect for structure, the meticulously planned numbering system, the lettered tiles, and even the wooden letter holder that resembles a sample of ceiling molding might be clues to the profession of the inventor of Scrabble. Alfred Mosher Butts, born in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1899, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1924 with a degree in architecture and soon after joined the New York firm of Holden, McLaughlin & Associates. In 1931, however, suffering from the devastating economic effects of America's Great Depression, the architectural firm was forced to shut its doors, and Butts, like the majority of Americans, was laid off from his job.
By Carol Driscollabout a year ago in FYI
Capital by John Lancaster
I'm “daft” about English novels. I like it when "nappies", "crisps", "biscuits", "knackered", "cheeky" and "bugger off" pop up in the dialogue. I love it when tea is served with elaborate pastries on fragile china. I like sly spinsters in tidy cottages who solve heinous crimes on their way to jumble sales and drunken old colonels who talk endlessly of their time in India.
By Carol Driscollabout a year ago in Fiction
- Top Story - July 2022
On Playing Games at WorkTop Story - July 2022
When is a game not a game? I’ll cast my vote for the games played on one of those annual retreat days, where workers are liberated from their desks to join supervisors and co-workers for a day of organized “fun”. The primary goal of these gatherings is to get chummy with our fellow employees and to build a spirit of camaraderie through games and play. In an inside-out sense of good sportsmanship, we are actually competing with our co-workers on how team-oriented and cooperative we are. Turning every game into “one for all and all for one” becomes the actual work at these retreats and tedious work it is. By the end of the day, you are longing for a raucous, competitive hand of Texas Hold-em.
By Carol Driscollabout a year ago in Journal
When I don't want to write
This is not a how-to article. In Those articles, the writer defines a problem and then provides a series of steps to solve the problem. I have a recurring problem. The issue for me is my resistance to writing, an overall feeling of dread and heaviness every time I sit down and try to transform a nebulous idea into printable prose. There is a reluctance to begin the process and a hesitancy to follow through on what I think are the vague ideas and notions I have of what I want to write about. I want to write, but I don’t want the burden of what, for me, is the slow, laborious process of wrangling words into a readable shape. I drag my feet, I procrastinate, I dawdle; knowing that this avoidance is a waste of time. Also, it delays the satisfying feeling of finishing a piece of writing. Dorothy Parker once quipped, “I hate writing, I love having written”. Amen.
By Carol Driscollabout a year ago in Confessions
