I may end up living here.
The end.
Blog
Air travel
Made it! Of course, a six am flight isn’t my idea of ideal travel conditions. But at least I was able to sleep a bit on the first leg of the journey. But not enough.
Arrived in Seattle for a quick turnaround, then on to Anchorage. It was just after noon local time, so we walked around a bit, ate, then slept. Now it’s off for the next day.
Alaska-bound
And we’re off. I’ve been planning for this trip for nearly a year. Now, finally, it’s here. I know that it won’t disappoint.
There are many people I’ve spoken with who’ve told me how amazing of a trip this is. There are internet sites, and people posting on that annoying Instagram app… All about Alaska. And I wonder, would John Muir recognize it, with all this notoriety? This land that’s been called simply: “Great.”
“Never before this had I been embosomed in scenery so hopelessly beyond description.” – John Muir
Perhaps I attract those who like to travel. Perhaps it’s a similar feeling in myself that allows those to open up to me – like attracts like.
But perhaps it’s that the tourism trade has done a number on exploring. What is exploration anymore? What is the journey vs. the destination? What is vacation vs. life?
These are things that I will ponder looking out upon the expanse of this wonderful State.
May Reading
Books Bought:
- A Slip of the Keyboard: Collected Nonfiction – Terry Pratchett
- Views: Art & Industrial Design of Roger Dean – Roger Dean
- Anasi Boys (Audiobook) – Neil Gaiman (Read by Lenny Henry)
- Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid – Douglas Hofstadter
- The Elegant Universe – Brian Greene
- In Search of Frankenstein – Radu Florescu
- Lycanthia, or The Children of Wolves – Tanith Lee
Books Read:
- Kraken – China Mieville (unfinished)
- The Dispatcher – John Scalzi
- The Rooster Bar – John Grisham
- Black Klansman – Ron Stallworth (unfinished)
- The Intelligent Investor – Benjamin Graham (Revised Edition) unfinished
- Godel, Escher, Bach – Douglas Hofstadter (unfinished)
The month was busier than the last, and I wasn’t able to commit as much time to books as I would like. The only reason Dispatcher and Rooster Bar were finished was owing to their relatively short page counts. Black Klansman was a shorter one also, but I didn’t get it finished in the last week of the month.
I spent some time with Benjamin Graham’s book, one of the seminal works on investing. I had first purchased it back in the early 00s, possibly at the recommendation of my father. But I didn’t give it that much attention.
Since I started investing again maybe eighteen months ago, and this was on my to-read list, I picked up another copy used (the first one is somewhere in storage). The advice has stood up over time owing primarily to its simplicity – invest in companies that have good value for the price. I’m maybe five chapters in, and it’s got some heft to it.
A lot of these books were revisits. Anasi Boys, Godel et al., and Slip of the Keyboard were all something I had at least perused in the past. The first two I’ve owned, but repurchased for convenience. Pratchett’s I had read some selections from, but not owned previously.
Most of the month was spent reading grants, rather than books. It was scoring time for one of the committees I’m on, and I had thirty organizations to score. So I bought a few books to remind me that I will eventually read everything I own (I hope).
Hofstadter, Greene, Florescu, and Lee were purchased secondhand at a little book store I found. The latter two I was unfamiliar with, but picked them up owing to my preoccupation with the supernatural. Lycanthia is supposed to be a fun werewolf novel. I’ve come across Tanith Lee once or twice, but am otherwise unfamiliar with her work.
I greatly enjoyed Rooster Bar. I’m not sure what it is about the prose style Grisham uses, but it flows easily and moves quick. It had been several years since last reading but me of his novels, and I had forgotten what I liked about them. This was a nice refresher.
Elegant Universe I may take with me on my trip tomorrow, but I’m always conflicted about which book to bring on travels. I try and go light, and who knows what bookstores I may find while out and about.
Slow the f*ck down
Life sure is fast.
I started writing this in January. I think it had something to do with cars speeding to places. Why? Because we’re always going. I’ve wrote a lot about time management, staying busy, etc. But what is the answer?
We work too much, to make just enough money to buy what we don’t need, and pay off the debts that we built up spending more than we had yesterday. We plan for more tomorrow, but don’t expect it to be enough because we’re not satisfied with what we have today, hoping that we’ll be satisfied with what we have tomorrow if only we can work hard enough today to make more than we did yesterday.
It’s f*#!ing exhausting. And we are exhausted. Collectively, we are done. You can tell when you look at us. We escape, rather than inhabit. We tune in, turn off – rather than unplug and be. But it’s coming. The change is coming, when we understand it’s not enough just to keep going – but rather that we must find ways of existing that aren’t so damn fast.
Week’s highlights
Some of the interesting things I have been thinking about this week:
- First – my new car. I’ve seen this ad a number of times now, and I have completely fallen in love with this vehicle. Now, it won’t come out until 2020, but I’m on the list for initial test drives. I. Cannot. Wait.
- Thanks to the above ad, I’ve resisted a song I listened to three years ago a lot. Simon & Garfunkle’s Sound of Silence, performed by Disturbed. It was a haunting take on a classic song, and listening to it again this week was a bit cathartic.
- Humble Bundle. Another revisit that I seem to have been discussing a lot this week. Several years ago I purchased the Neil Gaiman bundle, and have since added comics and other ebooks to my library, with some money going to charity and some going to creators, with only a little bit going back to the company. It’s a good model, and I appreciate the work that they do there.
- Why I don’t need to be superproductive. It was nice coming across this week, when it’s felt so hectic that I just didn’t seem to get near enough accomplished. So, thank you Outside. Thank you Brad Stulberg. Thank you Oliver Burkeman, of The Guardian. And thank you me, for letting me slow down a bit.
Keeping it going
I am behind. I know, it happens. But it seems that this week, and last, has kept me more busy than I’ve been in several months.
Trying to create time to write, to read, to produce other work, and to sell, has been a juggling act like little I’ve had to do before. So how do I do it?
Writing I am just eking out, one post at a time. Reading, less so. A stack of books is piled by my bed, and other stacks on and around the bookshelf. Other work? Well, that’s another story.
I guess the silver lining is I’m selling well, and should be making enough pay to finance my trip to Alaska next week. Hard to believe it’s less than seven days away. I’m looking forward to writing from there.
Consume vs. create
There are moments when we choose whether to be consumers or creators. When we can write or read. Turn on the tv, or dream with our eye open. Listen to the radio, or sing to our own song.
There is a time for both – to be a consumer and to be a creator. But we are not here to consume. We are here to create.
Always remember that.
Hadestown for the win
Take a classic Greek tragic myth – the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. Create a modern retelling, throw in some jazz swing style musicians on stage with the performers, and take it to the Great White Way. What’s the result? Tony Award for best musical, obviously.
I may get a chance to see it in September, but for now I’ve only listened. I like it okay, but it’s probably not the type of musical I generally go for.
The myth aspect is great, but the songs for me aren’t the most singable. And that’s often how I become attracted to musical cast recordings – songs I can sing along with.
All five musicals seemed to be worthy of the nomination, and I had it down to Hadestown or The Prom, though my money was on The Prom to win.
But I was wrong. Congrats Hadestown!
An immigration dilemma
The current view on immigration is like an infection. Fear that foreign bodies will invade and take over otherwise healthy systems. There are two problems with this view.
- Corrective action against foreign bodies does not take a holistic view of the patient and environment. Unless the environment that is causing infection is healed as well, no amount of medication will keep a host healthy.
- Most importantly, the US isn’t an infected host, and immigrants aren’t a disease. The rich and diverse cultures that make up the United States are further developed by infusing new blood into the system.
It’s not a disease. It’s an infusion.
Michael's Musings 