Everyone on my route got a soggy paper that day. Yes, like many boys when they got old enough to count good, I had a paper route of about four miles length with at most 75 customers, at least only 14-20. When it hit 14, my manager chewed me out and then he built it up to 75. That was a lot of papers to fold and throw. One afternoon, having stuffed my bag full and draped it over the handlebars of my bike, I hopped on and set off.....went about 30 yards when the bag slipped to one side of the front wheel, pulling it over and into the creek that ran alongside the sidewalk. Thank God the water wasn't running very deep when I stood up laughing at the clumsiness, but the banks of the creek were steep and came to shoulder level. I climbed out and pulled the bike after me and retrieved all the papers that were still in the water. The bag was soaked, I was soaked, and about all the papers were soaked. I thought it was funny and had a great laugh, since I didn't get hurt in the tumble. It was a wet paper day in the old town that afternoon; however, no one complained.
How does this relate to writing about cowboys and Indians and such you might ask. Well, in those days I read a bundle, including that newspaper, the "Deseret News", having free time, and enjoyed my hours in the library. I was on top of all the best-sellers and thumbed through many old time westerns and other novels, reading such as "Rock Candy Mountain" of Wallace Stegner, the Hornblower novels of the sea, Zane Grey, although I thought "Riders of the Purple Sage" was a little boring from all the descriptive writing. Zane Grey's cabin where he wrote a lot of them burned down a few years ago from a lightning strike, but it has been rebuilt in the same location, near Payson, AZ. Louis L'Amour was not found among the books in the library for some reason or other. I don't remember seeing his books until later on.
About the only reading material around our house was the Bible, of course, the Book of Mormon, and a church magazine, "The Improvement Era". Those first two were seldom opened, but often quoted. And occasionally there were a pulp western magazine or two brought home by an older brother, one being "Texas Rangers". When I was six or seven, I wrote a short story (awful short) similar to one of the characters in the "Rangers". It was about a lawman rounding up an outlaw and went all of a half page handwritten. And that is the only attempt made until I decided to try my hand at it again seven or eight years ago.
Never had enough time to spend on thinking about a plot, location, characters, action, etc., until I did some writing on family history, and then I concocted a long novel of around 525 pages, the first part being the story of my great-great-grandfather, and the following two parts made up from thin air. I then veered off into the Western genre and have been trying to write something publishable for the last six or seven years. I will get it perfected one of these days.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
It's a dog's life
So, back to the blogging after all the parties and merriment, and a HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE! I started to write this on a daily basis, but I find it more challenging than I thought it would be, so the articles will not appear as often, only when I think I have something to say or might be entertaining, but at least once a week or more.
I usually start my day off with a cup of coffee, followed by a glass of water, then another cup of coffee, and mixed in there will be a 12-oz glass filled thumb-high with water and filled up with cranberry juice to keep the water flowing through the corpus vivi. So to make up for a possible H2O deficiency, I drink more water, causing more trips to the bathroom, which takes me away from the computer and enables a tiny little bit of exercise.
My doctor is always telling me to get more exercise, it'll do me good. Well, I try to squeeze in a walk of a mile or two every day. That was no problem when I had my dog to go along with me. No, make it I went along with the dog. Every dog owner will tell you they have to walk the dog, but that's not true. It's more like the dog walks the owner, sometimes at inconvenient hours, like after midnight or early, real early, in the morning. But, you can't blame the dog, although, at times I think the dog was just using me to get a bit of fresh air, like, or he heard a noise outside and wanted to check it out. We have coyotes running through the yard once in awhile, and I think he used to hear them and just had to see what it was. I told him to stay inside when he sees a coyote. He wasn't a very large animal, and a coyote would take him in a minute, but he didn't care, that's why he had me along to protect him, just in case. But, the coyotes left us alone, and he lived a good long dog's life.
I told my wife, no more dogs. They are great for companionship, etc., but a lot of trouble when you have to leave them, or even take them along, even if they are well-behaved.
I usually start my day off with a cup of coffee, followed by a glass of water, then another cup of coffee, and mixed in there will be a 12-oz glass filled thumb-high with water and filled up with cranberry juice to keep the water flowing through the corpus vivi. So to make up for a possible H2O deficiency, I drink more water, causing more trips to the bathroom, which takes me away from the computer and enables a tiny little bit of exercise.
My doctor is always telling me to get more exercise, it'll do me good. Well, I try to squeeze in a walk of a mile or two every day. That was no problem when I had my dog to go along with me. No, make it I went along with the dog. Every dog owner will tell you they have to walk the dog, but that's not true. It's more like the dog walks the owner, sometimes at inconvenient hours, like after midnight or early, real early, in the morning. But, you can't blame the dog, although, at times I think the dog was just using me to get a bit of fresh air, like, or he heard a noise outside and wanted to check it out. We have coyotes running through the yard once in awhile, and I think he used to hear them and just had to see what it was. I told him to stay inside when he sees a coyote. He wasn't a very large animal, and a coyote would take him in a minute, but he didn't care, that's why he had me along to protect him, just in case. But, the coyotes left us alone, and he lived a good long dog's life.
I told my wife, no more dogs. They are great for companionship, etc., but a lot of trouble when you have to leave them, or even take them along, even if they are well-behaved.
Speaking of dogs, I think there is plenty of room for improvement in cowboy stories for a dog or two. I don't recall reading a novel that included a cowboy's dog, unless it was totally written about the dog. I'm guilty of this. I could have easily added a dog in my stories somewhere, but I'm sorry to say it has happened only once in a minor diversionary role at the beginning of the story. A pet could really come in handy, especially if it was more intelligent than the cowboy. Of course, Lassie would set the standard for that, but again, Lassie was the story.
Practically everybody in the town where I was born owned a dog or two. But these dogs didn't live in the house like they do today. No sir, they all worked to pay for their board and room in jobs like herding sheep or cows, guarding the house, duck hunting, etc. A dog in a story is practically a human, thinking like a human, doing like a human, but a little bit smarter than his owner, first on the scene, etc.
Maybe I can find a spot in a future story to put a smart dog, if I could just think of way to do it without it taking over the story. Hm-m.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
It's that time
Oh, puh-shaw! I hit the wrong key again and got published before I had even started. So, now, I'm editing the post that wasn't.
As the title says, "It's that time," again, to shut her down for a week or two or maybe even three to pass through the holiday season. It's been fairly un-busy around here up until now on the whole, but I can see where there just won't be enough time in a 24-hour day to squeeze in a blog post. Not that I'm skipping the country or anything. No. It's more like busy will be picking up, not all at once, but just enough to interfere with the normal routine. There will be no posting from now until January something, unless it becomes absolutely necessary to write about something that can't wait.
If you have enjoyed reading the posts so far, post a comment saying so, please, please, please. However, if you don't, I won't be discouraged in the least, because I plan to continue blogging no matter. And if anyone else has a blog, let me know, and I'll put the name on mine, if so desired.
Whew! With that out of the way, I'll just say "HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!"
As the title says, "It's that time," again, to shut her down for a week or two or maybe even three to pass through the holiday season. It's been fairly un-busy around here up until now on the whole, but I can see where there just won't be enough time in a 24-hour day to squeeze in a blog post. Not that I'm skipping the country or anything. No. It's more like busy will be picking up, not all at once, but just enough to interfere with the normal routine. There will be no posting from now until January something, unless it becomes absolutely necessary to write about something that can't wait.
If you have enjoyed reading the posts so far, post a comment saying so, please, please, please. However, if you don't, I won't be discouraged in the least, because I plan to continue blogging no matter. And if anyone else has a blog, let me know, and I'll put the name on mine, if so desired.
Whew! With that out of the way, I'll just say "HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!"
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Health
I had to visit a physician a couple months ago, and his advice for me was to drink a glass of wine, or beer, or a shot of whiskey, anything every day. Just one!
This may startle some friends, but I decided to take his advice. I've been on the wagon since early 1991, not a drop to drink, and didn't miss it. Follow doctor's orders, they say. My first purchase was a medium expensive jug of merlot, a standard fifth, I think it is. I began looking around for bargains, since there is only four glasses in a bottle. The next one I picked up at the grocery store, in fact, this time I procured three more bottles so I wouldn't have to be trotting to the liquor store so often. Two bottles of merlot, one French, and a cabernet sauvignon for what I thought was a reasonble price, about five or six dollars each. I said, as I drank my daily glass, that that was the end of the foreign stuff. I've never been a great reader of labels, but the time I spent in France showed me there was better wines than that somewhere.
Everybody says a glass of red wine is the best for you, so I'm sticking to merlot for now. Being a cheapskate, I started reading ads and checking sales and bought three more different labels, two of them cost about five bucks and one a little above two bucks. The two-dollar priced tasted about as good as the others, so the next time, and last for now, I purchased ten bottles for less than two dollars each of that label for Christmas and New Year's festivities, thinking I might have a relative or two paying a visit. And on top of that, I still have one large bottle of something I never heard of before waiting to be consumed. I don't how many glasses that contains, maybe six or eight, but the price was right. I should probably drink that next, I don't know how long cheap wine will hold it's flavor.
Along the way, there was a bottle of shiraz from Australia mixed in, which I thought was not quite to my taste as much as the merlot, but it will suffice if I have a bottle mixed up in there.
They say confession is good for the soul, but I don't believe there is any absolution necessary for a sin that is practically prescribed by the doctor, if it is a sin. How could something that makes you feel good and doesn't leave a hangover be a mortal sin? That's for the religious ones to decide, for now I'll just drink and enjoy.
This may startle some friends, but I decided to take his advice. I've been on the wagon since early 1991, not a drop to drink, and didn't miss it. Follow doctor's orders, they say. My first purchase was a medium expensive jug of merlot, a standard fifth, I think it is. I began looking around for bargains, since there is only four glasses in a bottle. The next one I picked up at the grocery store, in fact, this time I procured three more bottles so I wouldn't have to be trotting to the liquor store so often. Two bottles of merlot, one French, and a cabernet sauvignon for what I thought was a reasonble price, about five or six dollars each. I said, as I drank my daily glass, that that was the end of the foreign stuff. I've never been a great reader of labels, but the time I spent in France showed me there was better wines than that somewhere.
Everybody says a glass of red wine is the best for you, so I'm sticking to merlot for now. Being a cheapskate, I started reading ads and checking sales and bought three more different labels, two of them cost about five bucks and one a little above two bucks. The two-dollar priced tasted about as good as the others, so the next time, and last for now, I purchased ten bottles for less than two dollars each of that label for Christmas and New Year's festivities, thinking I might have a relative or two paying a visit. And on top of that, I still have one large bottle of something I never heard of before waiting to be consumed. I don't how many glasses that contains, maybe six or eight, but the price was right. I should probably drink that next, I don't know how long cheap wine will hold it's flavor.
Along the way, there was a bottle of shiraz from Australia mixed in, which I thought was not quite to my taste as much as the merlot, but it will suffice if I have a bottle mixed up in there.
They say confession is good for the soul, but I don't believe there is any absolution necessary for a sin that is practically prescribed by the doctor, if it is a sin. How could something that makes you feel good and doesn't leave a hangover be a mortal sin? That's for the religious ones to decide, for now I'll just drink and enjoy.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
More Reading
I guess I'll continue with more books on the shelf:
59. Civilisation by Kenneth Clark (This was a book club edition as I remember)
60. Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon (I read his "V" a few years ago and liked it so I picked this one up. It's a little far out in some parts, but explains the Line fine.)
61. Will Rogers, The Man And His Time by Richard M. Ketchum
62. The Day The Cowboys Quit by Elmer Kelton
63. The No Spin Zone by Bill O'Reilly (I forgot I had this. Haven't read it yet, but I've been reading his "Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity".)
64. Stars in the Water, The Story Of The Erie Canal, by George E. Condon
65. Across The Wide Missouri by Bernard DeVoto
66. I Married Wyatt Earp, The Recollections of Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp, collected and edited by Glenn G. Boyer
67. Prisons of the Mind by Kaziah May Hancock (This is autobiographical of a polygamist's wife.)
68. Wild Bill Sullivan, King of the Hollow, by Ann R. Hammons
69. The Virginian Exiles by Elizabeth Gray Vining
70. Polecat Bench by Allen G. Richardson
71. Hoofprints on Forest Ranges by Paul H. Roberts
72. A Treasury of Mississippi Folklore, Edited by B. A. Botkin
73. The Journals of Lewis And Clark, Edited by Bernard DeVoto
74. Roy Bean, Law West Of The Pecos, by C. L. Sonnichsen
75. They Broke The Prairie by Earnest Elmo Calkins
76. On The Border With Crook by John G. Bourke
77. My Sixty Years On The Plains by William Thomas Hamilton
78. Mountains And Molehills by Frank Maryat
79. Captivity Of The Oatman Girls by Royal R. Stratton
80. The Adventures of Big-Foot Wallace by John C. Duval
81. "Uncle Dick" Wootton by Harold L. Conard
Numbers 76 through 81 are part of the Classics of Old West series of Time-Life Books.
I don't recall the details of some of these, but, I'll tell you, there's a bunch of good reading right there, mostly non-fiction, covering a lot of territory from the Erie Canal to the Mexican border and the West coast of Oregon.
59. Civilisation by Kenneth Clark (This was a book club edition as I remember)
60. Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon (I read his "V" a few years ago and liked it so I picked this one up. It's a little far out in some parts, but explains the Line fine.)
61. Will Rogers, The Man And His Time by Richard M. Ketchum
62. The Day The Cowboys Quit by Elmer Kelton
63. The No Spin Zone by Bill O'Reilly (I forgot I had this. Haven't read it yet, but I've been reading his "Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity".)
64. Stars in the Water, The Story Of The Erie Canal, by George E. Condon
65. Across The Wide Missouri by Bernard DeVoto
66. I Married Wyatt Earp, The Recollections of Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp, collected and edited by Glenn G. Boyer
67. Prisons of the Mind by Kaziah May Hancock (This is autobiographical of a polygamist's wife.)
68. Wild Bill Sullivan, King of the Hollow, by Ann R. Hammons
69. The Virginian Exiles by Elizabeth Gray Vining
70. Polecat Bench by Allen G. Richardson
71. Hoofprints on Forest Ranges by Paul H. Roberts
72. A Treasury of Mississippi Folklore, Edited by B. A. Botkin
73. The Journals of Lewis And Clark, Edited by Bernard DeVoto
74. Roy Bean, Law West Of The Pecos, by C. L. Sonnichsen
75. They Broke The Prairie by Earnest Elmo Calkins
76. On The Border With Crook by John G. Bourke
77. My Sixty Years On The Plains by William Thomas Hamilton
78. Mountains And Molehills by Frank Maryat
79. Captivity Of The Oatman Girls by Royal R. Stratton
80. The Adventures of Big-Foot Wallace by John C. Duval
81. "Uncle Dick" Wootton by Harold L. Conard
Numbers 76 through 81 are part of the Classics of Old West series of Time-Life Books.
I don't recall the details of some of these, but, I'll tell you, there's a bunch of good reading right there, mostly non-fiction, covering a lot of territory from the Erie Canal to the Mexican border and the West coast of Oregon.
Monday, December 15, 2008
All right, here's another excerpt
From WIP "Upamona Gold":
Colleen was in a dither ever since she heard that Mr. Toller had been shot. She just knew that her new beau [Red Skene] was involved in it, and she ws worried sick. She refused to come out of her room, except to grab something to eat at mealtimes after everyone else had eaten.
"Colleen! You got to stop acting like a child," her mother said. "What's bothering you? Is it something to do with that outlaw feller? What's his name, Skene?"
Her mother had caught her sneaking into the kitchen for food again and wanted to know what was going on with her.
"You been acting like this ever since Tim [her brother] went to Roosevelt and got held up by those awful men. Tell me what is it that's got you in such a mess?"
"Oh, mother, I don't want to talk about it, but my world's coming apart," Colleen wailed.
"It's that Mr. Skene, isn't it? You think he's in cahoots with those bad men, don't you? And he seemed like such a nice gentleman, too, even though he just got out of prison and the papers called him the most famous outlaw in Utah. Just what did he do, anyway, to get such a bad reputation?"
"Nothing, mother. He said he didn't do anything, and I know he can't be mixed up in that store business, like people were talking at the funeral." She couldn't bring herself to say "killing."
"Didn't Tim tell you it was Graves who shot Mr. Toller?"
"I know, but folks at the funeral were saying it had to be Red, er-uh, Mr. Skene, that done it."
"That's just talk, Colleen. You know how gossip goes. It gets a story all twisted the more folks talk about it. And, before you know it, it ain't nothing like what acually happpened. You're beginning to like that feller too much, Colleen. With all the nice young men her in Upamona, you're falling for that outlaw, and you shouldn't be. The next thing you know, you'll be looking to run off somewhere with him and we'll never see you again. You got to stop this nonsense, Colleen. There's someone knocking at the door. Go get yourself presentable."
"Oh, mother, I don't want to see anybody!" and she went back to her room, as her mother went to see who was knocking.
Well, there it is, just a bit of it. That is the beginning of Chapter 14. There's two or three more chapters to bring it to some sort of dramatic conclusion.
Now that it's Monday morning and about everyone has to be at work or somewhere or going Christmas shopping maybe, the least that I can do is forewarn you to be careful on the slick roads, as if you hadn't already heard that a thousand times before. There were a plethora of accidents in the mountains yesterday during the first "good" snowstorm of the season, about 150 of one kind or another in and around Flagstaff, AZ, that the TV news had to tell everyone about.
Colleen was in a dither ever since she heard that Mr. Toller had been shot. She just knew that her new beau [Red Skene] was involved in it, and she ws worried sick. She refused to come out of her room, except to grab something to eat at mealtimes after everyone else had eaten.
"Colleen! You got to stop acting like a child," her mother said. "What's bothering you? Is it something to do with that outlaw feller? What's his name, Skene?"
Her mother had caught her sneaking into the kitchen for food again and wanted to know what was going on with her.
"You been acting like this ever since Tim [her brother] went to Roosevelt and got held up by those awful men. Tell me what is it that's got you in such a mess?"
"Oh, mother, I don't want to talk about it, but my world's coming apart," Colleen wailed.
"It's that Mr. Skene, isn't it? You think he's in cahoots with those bad men, don't you? And he seemed like such a nice gentleman, too, even though he just got out of prison and the papers called him the most famous outlaw in Utah. Just what did he do, anyway, to get such a bad reputation?"
"Nothing, mother. He said he didn't do anything, and I know he can't be mixed up in that store business, like people were talking at the funeral." She couldn't bring herself to say "killing."
"Didn't Tim tell you it was Graves who shot Mr. Toller?"
"I know, but folks at the funeral were saying it had to be Red, er-uh, Mr. Skene, that done it."
"That's just talk, Colleen. You know how gossip goes. It gets a story all twisted the more folks talk about it. And, before you know it, it ain't nothing like what acually happpened. You're beginning to like that feller too much, Colleen. With all the nice young men her in Upamona, you're falling for that outlaw, and you shouldn't be. The next thing you know, you'll be looking to run off somewhere with him and we'll never see you again. You got to stop this nonsense, Colleen. There's someone knocking at the door. Go get yourself presentable."
"Oh, mother, I don't want to see anybody!" and she went back to her room, as her mother went to see who was knocking.
Well, there it is, just a bit of it. That is the beginning of Chapter 14. There's two or three more chapters to bring it to some sort of dramatic conclusion.
Now that it's Monday morning and about everyone has to be at work or somewhere or going Christmas shopping maybe, the least that I can do is forewarn you to be careful on the slick roads, as if you hadn't already heard that a thousand times before. There were a plethora of accidents in the mountains yesterday during the first "good" snowstorm of the season, about 150 of one kind or another in and around Flagstaff, AZ, that the TV news had to tell everyone about.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Cuss a blue streak!
Well, I'll be a...a....a....monkey's uncle, a blathering idiot, a stupid jerk, or something very sinister, and if I was a person who cussed a lot, I would have drummed up a blue streak the like of which hasn't been heard in a coon's age, since that hurricane we dodged in the Caribbean or was it the night the Andrea Doria and the Stockholm ran smack dab into each other? Oh, well, it would be a blue streak for sure. I just lost another entry for my blog. This is getting to be a bad habit, not hitting "Save" before "Publish Post," and it disappeared into the blue.
I had written about blogs giving advice, and there are plenty of them, and how they may influence a person, if one was to follow all the advice given. And I said you have to take the bull by the horns, straddle the cow manure, and set sail in your own vessel. And that was my advice.
And then I copied an excerpt from my WIP, "Upamona Gold," which I'm not going to repeat here due to time restrictions. Yes, even on Sunday it can squeeze into time available for other things, and I won't fall prey to that, today anway.
Y'all go out, go to church, enjoy the day!
(And I'm going to hit the "Save Now" button first, right now.)
I had written about blogs giving advice, and there are plenty of them, and how they may influence a person, if one was to follow all the advice given. And I said you have to take the bull by the horns, straddle the cow manure, and set sail in your own vessel. And that was my advice.
And then I copied an excerpt from my WIP, "Upamona Gold," which I'm not going to repeat here due to time restrictions. Yes, even on Sunday it can squeeze into time available for other things, and I won't fall prey to that, today anway.
Y'all go out, go to church, enjoy the day!
(And I'm going to hit the "Save Now" button first, right now.)
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Reading or not reading
I have a copy of "A Century of Great Western Stories, An Anthology of Western Fiction," edited and introduced by John Jakes, which has been lying around since the summer untouched. It has an excellent selection of authors from Max Brand to John Jakes, including Ernest Haycox, Elmer Kelton, Luke Short, Zane Grey, etc., and I plan to start reading it one of these first days.
I plan to enter a short-story contest soon. I have it already to go, since it is a chapter out of another novel I'm working on in the rewrite phase. Don't know what I'm waiting for, maybe a new idea from up above that would make it better.
Having done that before, wait awhile before submitting, I never get a story in on time or never get it sent, although one got passed that phase and actually reached its destination on time, but I'm sorry to say it didn't even win an honorable mention. The judges must not have read it or they didn't like my version of "poetry" that was in it. So, I guess I'll try again. I'll send that one to another contest one of these days. Right now, I'm just thinking about it and waiting.
I plan to enter a short-story contest soon. I have it already to go, since it is a chapter out of another novel I'm working on in the rewrite phase. Don't know what I'm waiting for, maybe a new idea from up above that would make it better.
Having done that before, wait awhile before submitting, I never get a story in on time or never get it sent, although one got passed that phase and actually reached its destination on time, but I'm sorry to say it didn't even win an honorable mention. The judges must not have read it or they didn't like my version of "poetry" that was in it. So, I guess I'll try again. I'll send that one to another contest one of these days. Right now, I'm just thinking about it and waiting.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Oh, well
My computer was messing up this morning due to some automatic updates, and by the time it cleared up, I forgot what I was going to blog about. Oh, well. Or Oh, Hell.
I've been taking writing classes off and on for a couple years or more, and have joined a couple of writing groups, and hope the hell it is helping, or will help, somewhere along the line to get published before I kick the bucket a long time from now, I hope. A few years ago, about eight or nine, the first formal class was on Writing Your Family History, or something, and that's what got me interested in writing about genealogy and such. And when I had exhausted that avenue as far as I was concerned, began another class on writing about anything with the aim of finishing a book or two. My attitude about writing changed, and I began in earnest to write something that would sell. That was the wrong way to look at it, and now I just write for enjoyment and kill some free time.
I still have some work to do on "The Gold Claim" book before it's sent off, even though I've made progress. The way it's going it may be next year sometime when it gets finished, but it will definitely get finished. This part of it gets in the way of production and delays any new stuff. Oh, well.
TGIF! Enjoy the rest of it!
I've been taking writing classes off and on for a couple years or more, and have joined a couple of writing groups, and hope the hell it is helping, or will help, somewhere along the line to get published before I kick the bucket a long time from now, I hope. A few years ago, about eight or nine, the first formal class was on Writing Your Family History, or something, and that's what got me interested in writing about genealogy and such. And when I had exhausted that avenue as far as I was concerned, began another class on writing about anything with the aim of finishing a book or two. My attitude about writing changed, and I began in earnest to write something that would sell. That was the wrong way to look at it, and now I just write for enjoyment and kill some free time.
I still have some work to do on "The Gold Claim" book before it's sent off, even though I've made progress. The way it's going it may be next year sometime when it gets finished, but it will definitely get finished. This part of it gets in the way of production and delays any new stuff. Oh, well.
TGIF! Enjoy the rest of it!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Traveling
I saw somewhere a recent ad for flights to Iceland and Scandinavia at great-deal pricing, and then I began to wonder, who would want to go to Iceland in the middle of winter, or even Norway or Sweden?
Then I recalled a trip I made ONE time from Paris to Oslo in winter. Due to bad weather we were forced to land at Aalborg, Denmark. Damn! What a revolting development. Aalborg, never heard of the place, since Copenhagen gets all the publicity, but we were just going to be overnight. Aalborg was a great town, good food, good people, but only ONE night to see and do everything. We climbed back on the plane hung over, tired and sleepy, but not hungry, and continued to Oslo, where we would be two nights, or was it one? The snow was about a foot-and-a-half deep and cold, and I remember waiting in line, half-starved, for a night club to open for the night. One thing about the Norwegians, they made you order some food before you could start drinking, and the food was great, although I don't remember what I had, but I think it was something like viener schnitzel or flat-iron steak. And for breakfast at the hotel, there was a regular smorgasbord, all laid out in the dining room, and it was one of the best breakfast meals I've consumed. Maybe that's why I remember it. The whole trip was great fun after all with a smidgen of sight-seeing mixed in to the clubbing and drinking. I even dropped in to a book store or two, but don't remember seeing any Westerns, although I'm sure they had them. Just wasn't into it then.
So, if you want to get away, I'd say hop on a flight to Iceland and Scandinavia any time of the year and plan to have a good time, although I've never been to Iceland, but if you have to stop there, too, oh, well, what the hell.
Then I recalled a trip I made ONE time from Paris to Oslo in winter. Due to bad weather we were forced to land at Aalborg, Denmark. Damn! What a revolting development. Aalborg, never heard of the place, since Copenhagen gets all the publicity, but we were just going to be overnight. Aalborg was a great town, good food, good people, but only ONE night to see and do everything. We climbed back on the plane hung over, tired and sleepy, but not hungry, and continued to Oslo, where we would be two nights, or was it one? The snow was about a foot-and-a-half deep and cold, and I remember waiting in line, half-starved, for a night club to open for the night. One thing about the Norwegians, they made you order some food before you could start drinking, and the food was great, although I don't remember what I had, but I think it was something like viener schnitzel or flat-iron steak. And for breakfast at the hotel, there was a regular smorgasbord, all laid out in the dining room, and it was one of the best breakfast meals I've consumed. Maybe that's why I remember it. The whole trip was great fun after all with a smidgen of sight-seeing mixed in to the clubbing and drinking. I even dropped in to a book store or two, but don't remember seeing any Westerns, although I'm sure they had them. Just wasn't into it then.
So, if you want to get away, I'd say hop on a flight to Iceland and Scandinavia any time of the year and plan to have a good time, although I've never been to Iceland, but if you have to stop there, too, oh, well, what the hell.
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