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2006-01-11 - 10:32 p.m.
You are here, I see, and you are wondering what has become of me. Has he abandoned his writing? Does he like the East Coast? Does he have a job? Or perhaps you are not wondering what has become of me. Perhaps you have killed time visiting your usual websites, but, not willing to return to the task that you have been putting off, it has occurred to you to visit this site on the off chance that I have put something up. And as you see, I have. Perhaps I will continue to do so, using this site, or perhaps I will tail off when some new routine is thrust upon me. It was a half-resolved New Year�s resolution to pick up my writing in earnest, though it only occurred to me to make the resolution several days after the New Year.
Nevertheless, a happy new year to you all. I see that the old times at the Bonds� campfire have fallen by the wayside, but I do hope there will be some occasion to gather at some time in the future. I hope that your New Year in Moorhead, and in Evanston, and wherever else life might find you, was a fitting one. I hope you have resolved to do something to better yourself, something not too difficult to accomplish, and that you will remind yourself to do it. Reflection is always useful, despite what some editorial contributors to the New York Times might argue, and I have been doing too little of it, after doing perhaps too much of it for so long. But having restored the balance of my levels of self-reflection, letting feelings and ideas push down into my subconscious, perhaps they will spring up more fruitfully, as a farmer returning to cultivate a fallow field. My new year, incidentally, was spent in Boston with Isabel. Earlier in the day I went in to help my brother Mark move his girlfriend Jen into her apartment. A tiring day to begin a long night, but she fed us pizza and all was well. Later I met Isabel at the airport and we went around the city with our First Night buttons, looking at ice sculptures and watching fireworks in the snow with Mark and Jen. After we left them at their dinner date, we took in a few performances, a so-so dance/comedy group, and the wonderful Odetta, who celebrated her 75th birthday that very night. Odetta is a soul/folk singer who was apparently influential to the likes of Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan, and what a voice she has. Then we wandered into a bar where Isabel�s friend Jason works and rang in the new year with him and his partner Chris. The real highlight was seeing Isa truly drunk for the first time. Anyway, I�m not sure why you would be particularly interested information, unless I had some sort of point, which in this case I don�t. Better to relate things that give you some insight into my life, or even better your life. As for my status: I am still freelancing, which has generally been busy enough though over the holidays and new year it�s been slow. I keep looking for jobs, occasionally interviewing, but I wonder if my complacency and comfort with the freelancing is keeping me from getting a new job. Maybe I should act like I would really kill for one of these new jobs, even if I�m not feeling it. I had an interview at Hasbro, where Isabel works, before the holidays, but I�m not sure it�s an ideal fit. I would be writing package text and maybe instructions or something like that. Then I have an interview at a textbook company in Natick, which is about an hour away, about as far as I would consider going for a job. I�d much rather work nearby, or in Boston where I can take the train in. I won�t take just any job, and maybe I should really just try to make this freelance thing work, but I had the idea that it would be a good idea to actually interact with people from time to time, and maybe even get benefits. But if I just said �I�m a freelancer,� or wholeheartedly pursued some other career goal, such as A) writing a children�s book, B) starting our oral histories business scheme that Isabel dreamed up, or C) went for some other kinds of writing work, like grantwriting� maybe I�d be better off, and wouldn�t have to give up the short commute from my bed to my couch, or conversely, the caf� in which I now sit. Anyway, I�ll set the immediate goals for 2006 as writing a story for a children�s book, and to update this site at least once a week. I should have an outline written by the end of January. The rest of life? Not bad. I�m happy enough, Isa and I figuring out more about each other and how to work best together. We are different in a lot of ways. For example she is very concerned about safety, and I have spent by life acting like I couldn�t care less, as if the precautions people take every day, like locking their doors, are just silly, and it takes some work to find the right balance. But mostly it�s just awesome, being able to spent time with someone I love and like so much, talk about whatever, go around town, get dinner, watch movies, go on random adventures, whatever. It�s a blast. And it�s been fun getting through the adjustments of being in a new place together. Rhode Island is a different place than Chicago. People seem very casual, not bothering with many of the niceties that Isa�s used to, and something they�re just rude. But they also can be very friendly, and talk to you like they�ve known you for years. I feel like I�ve had more conversations with strangers here than I ever did in Chicago. Being closer to family has been good for the most part, and I think we�ve set the right balance of going up to see them just enough. Meanwhile, I�ve gone back to Isa�s family�s a couple of times since our engagement, and they�ve really treated me like family. I was quite spoiled seeing them over Christmas, and in November her dad took me to a family poker game. The wedding planning has been going fine for the most part, though I�m sure more crazy things will happen before it�s all said and done. I�d like to do some kind of extracurricular activity, like a writing group, or volunteering for a politician, or taking a class, or getting involved in a theater group. But then again I have to get writing too, so maybe I�ll make sure I have that rolling before I take on another new thing. Baby steps. So that�s the story from Providence. Check back in for the occasional updates. Till then, be cool, hang tough, and do something with your life, why don�t you. Because before you know it, you�ll be 150 years old and wondering what happened, other than the discovery of indefinite life expansion. .