So, in late May my brother and I will be heading to Toronto for a long weekend. The major reason for this is to see the Union play Toronto FC (and hopefully not get our heads caved in by the rare "angry" Canadians). But I'm also viewing it as a test of just how much driving I can do. If the Plan is to come about, then I'm going to be facing a rump-testing amount of time in the car. So, twenty-hours in one weekend should be as good a place to start as any.
Funny bit - to me, anyway - I've been talking to a couple of old timers recently who have done the same. My list of must-sees has jumped from [approx.] twenty to [approx.] fifty, and the crooked little vein on my trip just became a kid's menu maze. This has engender more planning, and a restructuring of my financial outlook for it. For a journey that is most likely going to end in vagrancy and dereliction, there sure is a lot of number crunching involved. Also, the time table has had to get another going over due to 1) funds, 2) weather patterns, and 3) the very real possibility of needing a passport to get into AZ.
But all of that is in the realm of yet-to-pass. Currently I'm just watching my summer reading stack grow: mostly Roger Zelazny, PKD, and Alfred Bester - I figured this would work well, since RZ wrote books with both. However, I do find it odd that I keep coming across PKD stuff that I haven't read - not just recovers, but whole novels that never presented themselves before. It's going to be interesting to see if this has any affect on my own attempts at writing. I somehow merged Victorian Manners and Post Cyber-Punk styles for a few pages when I read "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell" and "Cryptonomicon" at the same time - so who knows what New Wave/amphetamine intensive/Pre-Cyber-Punk Sci.Fi. will have on my wretched little book. Or the Kershaw script (see: story of R.).
In other "trying to write" news - I'm just leading with my jaw on the new bit. I'm not going to try and be artsy (Project Van Buren) or pander (three untitled bits clogging my hard-drive). I'm just letting off steam and trying to keep my interest. Which isn't easy, since everything seems like I'm trying to be Jonathan Franzen. I'm not. He's a great author, sure - I'll go so far as to say he's one of the best at this point in time and maybe, in fact, the current "Great American Novelist" - but his shit bores me to no end. I'm amazed by his skill in the same way I'm amazed by Michael Bay: he knows what he does well, he plays to his strengths, and I really find nothing there to connect with. That might just be me (and looking over the reviews, it probably is just me) but there you go.
More updates as they come.
Funny bit - to me, anyway - I've been talking to a couple of old timers recently who have done the same. My list of must-sees has jumped from [approx.] twenty to [approx.] fifty, and the crooked little vein on my trip just became a kid's menu maze. This has engender more planning, and a restructuring of my financial outlook for it. For a journey that is most likely going to end in vagrancy and dereliction, there sure is a lot of number crunching involved. Also, the time table has had to get another going over due to 1) funds, 2) weather patterns, and 3) the very real possibility of needing a passport to get into AZ.
But all of that is in the realm of yet-to-pass. Currently I'm just watching my summer reading stack grow: mostly Roger Zelazny, PKD, and Alfred Bester - I figured this would work well, since RZ wrote books with both. However, I do find it odd that I keep coming across PKD stuff that I haven't read - not just recovers, but whole novels that never presented themselves before. It's going to be interesting to see if this has any affect on my own attempts at writing. I somehow merged Victorian Manners and Post Cyber-Punk styles for a few pages when I read "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell" and "Cryptonomicon" at the same time - so who knows what New Wave/amphetamine intensive/Pre-Cyber-Punk Sci.Fi. will have on my wretched little book. Or the Kershaw script (see: story of R.).
In other "trying to write" news - I'm just leading with my jaw on the new bit. I'm not going to try and be artsy (Project Van Buren) or pander (three untitled bits clogging my hard-drive). I'm just letting off steam and trying to keep my interest. Which isn't easy, since everything seems like I'm trying to be Jonathan Franzen. I'm not. He's a great author, sure - I'll go so far as to say he's one of the best at this point in time and maybe, in fact, the current "Great American Novelist" - but his shit bores me to no end. I'm amazed by his skill in the same way I'm amazed by Michael Bay: he knows what he does well, he plays to his strengths, and I really find nothing there to connect with. That might just be me (and looking over the reviews, it probably is just me) but there you go.
More updates as they come.
