Beware catfishers, and ten-a-penny Keanus!

A few of my 2022 DM spammers

I am old enough to remember a time when SPAM meant tinned meat — spiced ham produced in 1937 and popularised during the food shortages of World War II. I remember seeing the Monty Python SPAM sketch for the first time, too. If you haven’t seen it, check it out here. Of course, the sketch came out in the 1970s before the internet existed. It was twenty years before unwanted messages began popping up in ever-increasing numbers, and like the spam on the menu in the Monty Python sketch, drowned out everything else. That was when the word got its modern meaning. This sort of spam was on my mind in the second half of 2022.

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Procrastination

One thing all the writers I know have in common is an innate ability to procrastinate, particularly when they’re supposed to be writing. Perhaps it has something to do with having an overactive imagination, or maybe it’s because writing is much harder than people think. Then again, it could all be part of the process. By letting our minds wander or flit from one inconsequential thing to another, we may allow the ideas to come to us. Whatever it is, I know I do it a lot. Today, I thought I’d share a few of the odd things that lead me away from my keyboard.

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Beware of trolls

With Commando on furlough, I suddenly found myself with a walking companion. I’d been telling him about the fairy doors I’d seen on the Butterfly Trail and the fact that many had been removed. He suggested a little circular walk to have a look at what was left. The idea of walking down to the sea was appealing, although from what I’d seen on social media, it was so crowded down there that actually walking along the shingle wasn’t going to be an option.

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