Dumb Birds
Scissor-tail fly-catcher.
Liked the note about the Crested Cara-Cara, cf. Aries.
The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America – Matt Kracht
The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America (Bird Books, Books for Bird Lovers, Humor Books)
Another Reverse Bucket list item? Texas State Highway 90, San
Antonio to Van Horn, either east or west bound.
“Chasing the sunset,” or
“Spinning into a new sunrise.”
East-bound or West-bound, either way works.
Reading about Minnesota, in the their summer, made me think, done that Texas 90, two-three times now.
It’s not the “Mother Road,” but as an excursion through achingly, starkly beautiful countryside, sort a northern mirror to the Rio Grande itself? Mostly high desert, ending just past now-world-famous Marfa. All part of it, I suppose.
Think I first spotted the El Capitan in Van Horn, must’ve been in the dark corridors of time, perhaps even when the building was a bank? An interim solution. Have to wonder what movies have been made with the town as a backdrop. Looks “movie-set” (ish).
But the reverse bucket item, that road, not particularly scenic in the grandiose, manner of speaking, but quietly and evocatively interesting, especially for someone, like me, raised in around the great desert of the American Southwest.
It’s Texas, but it’s also — obviously — a land that is much, much older. The Rio Grande Valley has evidence of civilized habitation stretching more than four thousand years, as seen with the rock art. Think it was Presidio, lore had it that the Devil came to town one day. Didn’t stay.
“We don’t have truck with the likes of him.”
Still, all part of the myth and mystery of the great American “West.”
As a bucket list item , one time, that low road to El Paso is worth it. Just for the sights. It’s rural, a forgotten piece of the American landscape, and as the lonely road, headed westerly? Worth it, once, Think of it as a bucket list item.
Maybe “bucket list” is the wrong term, a small pail?
There’s a kind of openness and grit, the real west, and portions of a landscape that feel untouched for thousands of years. Looking at the rock art down along the river itself? Might be true. Area has been inhabited for several eons.
San Pedro Creek (temporarily free e-book)
There are two kinds of people in a relationship. There are those who know how to fold the bath towels. And the other, are those who know how to fold the bath towels.
Excellent advice from a wonderful British novelist. Been “stuck at home” since the end of March, and the way it looks out there, July and August are more “at home” months. What’s different — for me? This is a lesson about the disruption to my routine. I cut out frequent travels to Austin. That’s was about it. Missed my seven-year anniversary at the rock shop.
However, as noted, there’s no definite way to do this, but instead of talking about it? Better yet, I was in Old Austin, and one of the locally famous blues guys was singing, on stage, “You put one foot in front of another because (long pause) — that’s how it’s done.”
The bit about how to write, though, or how to create, and waiting on the perfect time? The muses are a fickle bunch, at best, and the application of “Butts in seats,” or, for me, “at the keyboard,” usually includes some coffee, but other than that?
No excuse.
“Writers write.”
It’s really a simple equation. I’ll admit the first part of the lock-down was traumatic and foiled my productivity, but over time, I got the rhythm back.
“Writers write.”
Surely it doesn’t need to be more clear than that?
Talking about it is talk. Talk is cheap, unless I’m consulting on an astrology chart (see astrofish.net/shop for details).
Addressing the nature of the work, and what I like, the space itself isn’t really important. Maybe it is for some.
Many years distant, I heard the great American novelist John Updike do an “appearance.” I think that’s what it was, a guest lecture one evening. Probably received a handsome honorarium — I can’t say. Same series allowed for a more intimate connection with a handful of proper feminist poets. Maybe I’ll discuss that impact later.
What I recalled from Updike’s talk, as he discussed how he worked, was that he used the second floor of a house in New England, and moved from room to room to follow the sun’s light throughout the day, including a portion of his afternoon spent typing out letters — correspondence — with editors, agents, and so forth. While I can’t recall specifics, it was implied that morning was for “creations” while afternoons were for the more mundane matters.
He alleged he followed the day’s sun from room to room, so he was always working in the sunlight.
In a tiny, tightly controlled space, the act of creation is what I do in a reading. It’s a localized version of what I do when I sit down to write. There’s always the problem of tempting the Fates and Furies, writing about the process itself, but all I can describe? What setting and set-up works.
To make the magic happen? It’s simple. “Cheeks in seats.”
Always something you know? I use a standing desk most often, so the expression is a metaphor, but the song remains the same — it’s all a part of my day job.
Two-Meat Tuesday – Kramer Wetzel
#tuesday
I doubt I would’ve seen this movie at the box office. However, streaming? Enjoyed it, but I was propped up in bed, fact-checking mind-numbing trivia with an iPad.
Frankly, I enjoyed the show. Simple as that. Sure was getting some heavy advertising, that’s for sure, and the results?
Same as a regular summer blockbuster — not sure I believe that.
But it was a good movie, and I suspect, the future of entertainment, at least, for now.
