Work/plays...

It's almost a given that my older sister would have exactly the same idea for a posting and get it online several days before mine. This entry could easily turn into a list of ways in which she has preceded me (and I'm grateful, believe me, that she's tested so much ice) but I'll save that topic for another time.

Of course, I wasted at least two days half-heartedly sorting through several piles of batteries, finally digging up a live quartet with enough juice to power my camera. The photographic subject? My newly furnished workspace, located in the second-floor "writer's garret" of Scott Towers.



It was more than time to allow myself a cordoned-off area in which to write, a scribe-nook tucked away from the daily press. I've been making due scribbling words in lively cafes with biscotti-strewn surfaces (quirky), sterile libraries with coffee vending machines (quaint) and have even written part of an article with paper pressed against a concrete parking curb (queer).

Like my sister, I was inspired by a recent article, but I at least had the foresight to catalog my finding for future reference (I win!). Incidentally, the article refers to Mad Men, an AMC television show, and maybe the greatest new series to premiere in decades. Definitely one to check out. I've also been reading a very interesting book called the New New Journalism which is a series of interviews with long-form non-fiction writers about their habits and methods. Every author I've read about so far recommends facing a blank wall, and you can see that my space ignores this advice, but the view is quite unremarkable and perhaps I can learn semaphore to signal messages to people walking by.



I'm already quite fond of my new spot, although the internet signal is weak (another quiet blessing for a distractable fellow). I've cluttered it up with far too many organizational tools (which I love but tend to over-collect), so hopefully my production will reflect the spirit of these digs but not its messes.