I feel like a blogging fool this week, but it has been an active couple weeks running and hiking. All this activity sets my mind afire. So today my I am full of things I’ve read, seen, and experienced. What better way to get it all out than with a thought collage.
- “We strive to be wild on the inside, while we wipe out the wild on the outside.” -Donna Mulvenna. A great quote from a submitter to Eco-fiction.com’s Green Reads – Excerpts site.
- On a three-mile hike yesterday I met two very old men walking with canes. They were tall, thin, and gray-haired, one with a beard, and carried binoculars. As I ran by I noticed one of the gentlemen had picked up something, which he and the other were gazing at excitedly. He showed me; it was a woodpecker’s feather. Such simple delights on a hot day.
- Remember when we were young and had to learn the concept of “single file”? I believe it was an early lesson on situational awareness and allowing others to have room on the sidewalk or school hall. As a runner, I notice that some people never learned that lesson. They have no idea that anyone but them is on the sidewalk. They also may not think anyone else deserves to be on their sidewalk. Their dog leash is spread across the sidewalk and beyond, and they are never even aware that you tripped on it.
- On my hike yesterday I saw a beautiful rowan tree, snapped a shot of it, and then Google enhanced that photo. It reminded me of a short story I wrote for the Winds of Change: Short Stories about Our Climate anthology. That story is here. I don’t know if it’s that good, but it was fun to write.
- I saw Star Trek Beyond last night and realized I am so tired of franchise movies. But my grandfather was such a big fan of Star Trek, and I used to curl up and watch it with him, so it’s very nostalgic to me. My favorite character has always been Spock.
- I tweeted this the other day, but one movie I am really looking forward to is Annihilation. Some new photos of film shots is at Collider.com. Now I’m even more hyped about this enviro-horror. The author of the book (which is part of the Southern Reach Trilogy) was kind enough to give me an interview. You can read more about the trilogy, Jeff, ecological weird fiction, and the upcoming movie here.
- Speaking of that, I wonder how many writers envision their novels as movies someday? It’s a pipe dream. I heard from a major entertainment studio last week, wondering if my novel had any film rights assigned yet. It hasn’t. The email was legit, kind of a dream. But I am not getting my hopes up. Even if it was optioned (which would be awesome), it’s very rare to get your book made into a movie. Still, that was a very cool email to read.
- Speaking of that, WritingForums.com published an interview they did with me. I was deeply honored and gracious for that. (I can’t remember if I had posted about that before.) I became a member after that and was reading around and found that they also recently had an interview with Ann VanderMeer (Jeff’s wife). She seems very down-to-earth and friendly.
- I still think about my Dad a lot when running. His death was a Big Reminder to share your parents’ dreams while they are still alive. This is the reason we went to Ireland with Mom, before she gets too old. Never got to share a lot of dreams with Dad because his Parkinsons lasted so long. But my memories of him are mostly before Parkinsons. I sometimes can’t believe he’s really gone. There is a deep void in my life since his death–he was the first person very close to me who has died, so I feel like I’m still getting used to his absence. It is true what they say: that you sometimes feel like you might forget what someone looks like. I don’t, but I worry about it.
- An acquaintance recently had a tragic accident in her family (a father trying to save his daughter from drowning, and they both died), and when I read it on Facebook, I just sank inside. I do not know how anyone gets through that. I know we humans can be very resilient, but when something so tragic, unexpected, and unimaginable like that happens when you are young, you have to be very strong to continue on in life and be able to function.
- I don’t often get political in this blog, but in this election year, expect it now and then. We can start off with James Cameron’s “Not Reality TV”.