wed/20220810
67ºF, cloudy: no storms last night, no "tree-related contact" outage / transformer explosion so that was nice... two more PRESS (A)'s assembled - getting more comfortable with the process, +/- an hour for each copy + one envelope rewritten for legibility; three now bound for the mercy of the postal service later this afternoon ... reminded of the Virginia Woolf quote about rhythm especially as I'm in the embryonic stages of the new MainFiction Thing / PRESS (A) 02 – clogged with the ideas and no way to get them out – other than to write them down and hope that the music, their music, will come to me: this is the theory, at least... started the last of Ellroy's first LA Quartet, WHITE JAZZ and, like all Ellroy, it'll take me at least to page 50 to find his rhythm for that particular work (though it's always welcoming to read salacious gossip at the start, on the QT and very hush hush)... would be thrilled if this printer became more than a concept… CHORUS remains excellent though I want to fly like in CRIMSON SKIES and the controls just don't want to cooperate / such is life... the day awaits.
THE CANDY HOUSE (Egan, 2022)
(read: 20220803->09): a brief recording of initial thoughts / combining of shards upon finishing Egan's latest this morning (and the first attempt at an honest effort of keeping a record of my readings here beyond the list: huge fan of Egan's work, but CANDY HOUSE left me - on first impression, and even though I adore (and always will) her voice and rhythm and her characters/story populace - a little cold: I can't silence the overarching sensation of having missed something; what that something is I haven't a clue – but it's definitely something. Will update this as/if I think about it more. Adding GOON SQUAD to the re-read pile. (FTW, her recent conversation with Jaron Lanier on CITY ARTS LECTURES is definitely worth a listen.)
tue/20220809
Stormy last night with a power outage heralded by a flashing and popping transformer from somewhere through the window from 2345 until 0237 (which I know because I distinctly remember checking my phone first when we reported it and then again when it came back on). Lesson of this outage: I've underestimated how essential that fan has become to my sleeping: hated it when I first came to live here and now my brain doesn't shut up without it and my brain says some weird shit when the power goes out and the fan stops running.
"They even broke into my safe!" = this decade's "I am not a crook.'“
barnfall, part two
Over the past few weeks, a crew has been dismantling (and trucking off for expensive homes in Montana) the long-crumbling barn (built circa 1858) at my grandfather’s house. Today was my first time seeing the results in person: a strange, disorienting view sans the red monument that had been a constant presence every time I visited for the last 41 years. I absconded with souvenirs - will explore more later.
Original view from driveway (and here’s part one with more pictures from before the felling):
Current view from driveway:
Closer:
Cleanup crew should arrive in a couple weeks and it will be like it never existed.
now available: PRESS (A) TO START 01
Newsletter subscribers can now order up the first issue of PRESS (A) TO START, my a twice-a-year, print-only, newsletter-exclusive premium (though decidedly imperfect and raw) zine: this first issue features LAST CHRISTMAS IN JULY: A COWARD’S EXORCISM, an exploration of the complexities of the present and the narratives of memory and of regret following my mother’s death in April, my final act of settling both her estate and my mind. Sign up here to subscribe and request a copy - and be patient: since I’m assembling these myself, I’m estimating three to six weeks from request to your hands.
mon/20220808
PRESS (A) 01 is in the world (of newsletter subscribers) and I'm 41 and I've already started work on PRESS (A) 02: new Kanban created in Obsidian and a new main page for a phrase that's been in my head for awhile that managed to claw its way to the top of the brainmatter – and push another thing off to the wayside: as I'm a different writer than I was before 01, I'd rather explore this new clawing, see where it leads.
Arrival: I used gift cards to buy Kirby a menagerie of Jolly Balls and now he has eight of them in different sizes (horse-sized and slightly less than horse-sized) to play with in the backyard: may we all be as happy with things as Kirby was with the Jolly Balls; like Sheryl Crow said, it's not about getting what you want but wanting what you've got or something like that:
Why am I thinking of an early aughts Sheryl Crow song?