California Casualty Blog Awards

California Casualty Insurance has chosen The 5-2: Crime Poetry Weekly as a top blog for law enforcement officers. During the month of June, you can vote for The 5-2 in a charity competition with other top blogs. If we win, California Casualty will donate $200 to the the American Red Cross.

At The 5-2: "The Widower" by William Dylan Powell

From Texas noir writer Powell, this haiku of a homicidal husband.

Also, I'm seeking an original poem inspired by Raymond Chandler or Philip Marlowe to publish the week of July 23. Submit by July 1 to be considered.

Not My Type

Members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society are sharing typewriter memories. I was neither very fast nor proficient with a typewriter, and was always conscious of how much paper I wasted. Luckily, by the time I had to type term papers, several relatives were on their way to becoming programmers, and I had access to computers and printers.

Working on a magazine in college, I had basic knowledge of MS Word and ClarisWorks, but always preferred WordPerfect.

I've been a Linux/OpenOffice user since 2004. I bought my current computer new for $800 in 2006 and in six years of system updates, it has never slowed down like my two previous Windows machines.

All this said, I brainstorm with a pen and memo pad, which might be conspicuous in public if people ever looked up from their laptops and smartphones.