Something New

I have decided to bite the bullet and give bullet journaling a try. I have mentioned it in a previous post, and I mentioned I didn’t believe I had the proper qualufications of anal retenative and OCD. However desperation has driven me foward. Every since my “zombie” episode, see Zombie Factor, I have been trying to catch everything up and I feel things are slipping through the cracks. 

Work is getting back on track, thank you Dear Lord, so now to get the other stuff caught up. I have taken on a new project and I am still learning my way around. As for my writing I am creeping back into it. I finally picked my fountain pen back up and realizing how much I missed watching the ink flow when I write. I was lucky the notebook I chose to Bullet Journal has fountain pen friendly paper. At night after filing out my Bullet Journal entries, I turn to my regular journal and write until I’m satisfied or until I’m sleepy. 

I am on day three of my bullet journal experiment and I’m starting to get the hang of it. I like the repeating entries, it helps cement it that I need to do x,y,z on such and such day. I didn’t set the monthly calendar up exactly since we are close to the end of August. I’ll set September up right and who knows I may keep my weekly overview. I am staying open minded to making this work for me. 

I’ll keep you guys posted on how it goes. Cheers, james

Dean Koontz’s Watchers

Last night I finished this much beloved story. I am a Dean Koontz (DK) fan, but somehow I missed this back in the day. It was only after listening to my hubby’s repeated “this is your kinda book”. I decided to give it a try. I will try to speak generally because I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn’t read it yet. 

That said anyone familar with DK knows his great affection for dogs. I believe most of his books have a dog somewhere in them. Watchers features a doggie protaganist along with his human protaganists. I feel like I am back writing in college or high school. (Sorry Ms. Brown) Anyway DK wrote and first published this book in the late ’80s  before all the computer revelution of the ’90s and early ’00s. Talk about being able to read the writing on the wall. As a child of the ’90s I grew up with computers as the start of everyday tool. So to read this book now, amazes me how many things have come to pass. Sadly information has lost its impact, people live more in the virtual than the physical world. DK hinted at this a couple of times although one protaganist believed information would set us free. Instead it distracts us from that which we should be observing like the hawk on the power line waiting for supper. 

All in all I found Watchers to be a great modern novel  with powerful themes of love, loyalty and a dash of humor in just the best places.All but one character showed depth and roundness. Richly told, richly peopled this is a story people will still be reading when computers have faded from memory and we are part of the world wide web on a physical and mental level. A time when humanity and technology meets in the womb of imagination.
The following link is to an Afterward in the 2008 edition of Watchers. In it DK speaks of the writing of Watchers and an admirable sense of humor. Give my regards to Mr. Foot.

WATCHERS From the Author

The Zombie Factor

The shambling moaning undead endless searching for …

Words. Yep you guessed it. Forget flesh eating, brains chomping zombies, I’m talking about the writers that during certain months of the year turn into the stumbling mumbling undead. 

I love the idea behind NaNoWriMo, the camps, and Chris Beattys’s “we need your story” philisophy. Words, stories touch us and connect us to each other. What I don’t love is something I am calling the zombie effect. Last November I did NaNo, had a great time until Dec. 2 and I realized I had no real memories of November. Oops. I figured it was me, a fluke, one time deal until I finished camp. There was so many things I let go during those months. My blog posts were late or left for the following week. I stopped journaling for the entire month. Work was the worst. It was like I hadn’t done anything when I normally do things. Crazy, scary, and very, very bad.

Am I the only one suffering the NaNo zombie factor? If there are others how have you fought it, coped with it? I’d love your comments or suggestions. 

Cheers on this stormy Sunday evening, james 

Drained

Dear Readers,

Camp finished up and I am feeling drained. Physically, mentally and creatively empty. I will keep this short and I should be back next week to my regular weekly posting. I applaude all the ones that did camp and I applaude the ones that kept writing anyway regardless.

Cheers, james