Short Ride

Spring sports are winding down, and I've decided to draw my own volunteer involvement to a close and let someone else take the reigns of this particular tornado. Events of last fall have given me a new desire to better enjoy the time I have, doing things that I like to do. That means parenting, of course, but also trying to get back into the creative mode, and shake off the stresses and self-made obligations that take away from that.

Life is a short ride on a fast machine... and like last year at this time, John Adams' compositions seem to be particularly apt to my frame of mind. This one is perhaps more joyful than the other work, and feels more like a conclusion that a collision. Enjoy, and I look forward to returning soon.

Mesh

Adams may not be everyone's cup of tea. I've only been recently exposed to him through a piece on an anthology album, and then recognized his name while browsing the CDs at the library. As both a former brass player and a lover of intertwined, complex music, this pushes my buttons in grand ways. I bet it would be fun to play, if the counting didn't drive you crazy.

This is pretty much what it's like in my brain these days...



Does it remind anyone else of a room full of typewriters?

Like a Lion

March is kicking my butt this year: I hope to check back in with the 'sphere soon. Enjoying your blogs, as always...

Personal Best

Typed on a 1966 Montgomery Ward (Brother) Signature 513

Coming Soon

I feel like I keep posting about this, but criminy, is this year moving fast. It's the last day of summer here in the northern hemisphere, and the vacant storefronts in the shopping plazas have all been taken over by pop-up Halloween costume stores. Nano's just around the corner, folks.

Time Slip

How did it get to be almost the middle of September already? It's been over two weeks since a blog update from me, and I don't even have the excuse of taking a vacation to cover for it. I've been utterly swamped at work, and that's not leaving me much energy or inclination for outside pursuits, beyond keeping my reading list stocked and my library card in regular use. There are worse ways to pass the time.

The kids are in school, fall sports are under way, and the calendar is creeping towards November whether or not I am prepared for it. My summer rewrite plans hit a bit of a snag when I realized that the draft I was rewriting was exceptionally, deadly dull stuff. I don't think I'm being overly self-critical here. If anything, I'm pleased that I could distance myself enough from the writing to realize that large chunks of it are simply idling or linguistic plate-spinning, when what I need is a good crash and some broken crockery to liven things up. I'm not sure how to approach a fix, though. That's put me in a bit of a writing funk, too.

I'm still here, though. Still breathing and demonstrating a fair amount of restraint at the odd typewriter that's crossed my path. There's a small rhino on my desk, reminding me that soon we'll be slipping into that annual word frenzy and the working vacation of NaNo. September is beginning to slip by, but I won't let the season of the Brigade pass.

Remarkable

My sweet ride for setup and cleanup of the track meet: turned out to be more reliable than my own car.





Unremarkable low-light cell-phone snap of Reggie, post-cleaning.



Typed on "Reggie," a late model Silver-Seiko (or is it Silver Reed?) built Royal Mercury.

Big Brother

Typed on a 1966 Brother-made Signature 513

The Autumn Ujtu

Typed on my 1952 Skyriter: