Rainy Afternoon

Home from work a couple hour later than planned. The steady rain puts me in the mood for a nap, but that can't be incorporated into the agenda as there's much to do this afternoon and evening before I get started with the cooking. I dearly love days like this: dark and dreary with a delightful rain. Few things put one in the mood to curl up all day with a book or scribble for hours in the journal about nothing and everying. At least for me, there's something about rainy days that spurs on the creative/intellectual processes.

Anyway...off to make coffee lest I succumb to the temptation of sleep.

Morning Coffee

Just a few quick lines before I ready myself for work. We're having a bit of dense fog here in Norfolk this morning with more rain on the way for later today, tonight, and tomorrow. If all goes as planned, I am going to take off early from the office, hopefully no later than noon or shortly thereafter. It has been a long week, so I am looking forward to starting the weekend early. Besides, a friend will be coming over for dinner tonight (that's the plan anyway) and I need to tidy up the apartment and make a run to the grocery for a few things.

Anyway...off to ready myself for the day.

The Selection

It took but a little deliberation after Sunday's post to select the next book: I decided to go with the Che biography. I had planned that afternoon to read only the introduction and maybe begin the first chapter, but when i got into the book I ended up reading well into the night and only reluctantly stopped due to the necessity of sleep for an early day at the office on Monday. As today is a holiday from work with little on the agenda, I plan to spend quality hours with Che. I am impressed with Anderson's writing style: lively and engaging, full of detail, yet far from tedious. My current assessment is that this is going to be a very good book and I regret having waited so long to read it.

Lazy Sunday

I’ve done little today other than read. Hours spent curled up in a chair with a book and a coffee near at hand. Such a delight, this. Early this afternoon I finished up Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray and am giving some thought now to the next selection. I’ve narrowed the possibilities down to two, both revolutionary in nature: Thomas Paine’s The Age of Reason, or John Lee Anderson’s biography of Che Guevara. Most likely I’ll spend a little more time browsing the bookcases here at home to see if anything else catches my eye. While I would be happy with either of the two finalists, I rather enjoy a book leaping off the shelf and saying “READ ME!” Not literally, of course. If such was the case, that particular volume would summarily be flung from the window at the end of a broom.

Saturday Morning Update

It’s a quiet Saturday morning here in Norfolk. Autumn, my favorite time of the year, is in full swing. The dogwood outside my study, backlit by the rising sun, glows a brilliant red, with green pines beyond creating a delightful contrast. Change is in the air. The weather is forecast to be mild today with a chance of rain later on. While it would be an almost ideal day to get out on a day trip/photo expedition, pager duty with work will unhappily keep me close to home. While I need to go to the office today to work on a few things beginning to pile up on my desk, I’m thinking that I will forego that and enjoy the time here at home. Such free time is a treat of sorts as I’ve worked so many weekends this year.

So much time as passed since I last posted regular entries on here that I don’t quite know where, nor how, to resume the conversation. And I’m equally unsure how blogging fell by the wayside the way it did. I suspect a combination of factors was responsible. Shifting interests, lack of time, and just plain ol’ laziness. As is often the case, I tend to fall headlong into such endeavors until I’m forced to take a break due to sheer exhaustion. Photography captured my attention for a while, but has since been placed on the backburner until I‘m inspired again to pick up the camera. Probably the same this is true with my blogging habits. During my time away from here, I have noticed a sort of inverse relationship between blogging and journal keeping. While my posts here all but ceased, there was a marked upswing in the handwritten journal entries, the result of which was a number of Moleskine notebooks filled with much of the random prattle that used to appear on here.


Speaking of journaling, I thought I'd post an image of such for everyone's viewing pleasure. This is a shot of my "thematic journal" (which has since been converted to more of a daily journal format) taken earlier this year. The notebook is a Moleskine and the fountain pen a Lamy Safari. Fountain pens were an experiment this year (had never really used one before) and I've become quite enamored with them, though their use has necessitated a modification in my writing style, meaning I've had to write larger than usual. I still use my favorite micro-fine point gel pens from time to time depending on my mood. My biggest gripe about the fountain pen and Moleskine combination is that some inks tend to bleed through the thin paper of the Moleskine journal. While this is frustrating to a point, I do enjoy the experimentation it entails. And the unworkable inks...well...they make good Christmas gifts. :P

On Reading

Back in January I set a goal to read a minimum of 20 books this year. An easily surpassable mark. Or so I though. Well, here we are now in late October and I've managed but a disappointing nine for a total of 2,384 pages read. At this point last year I had read 16 books for a total of 4,516 pages. While there is still time to add to this year's total, the goal of 20 books is too far out of reach at this late point.

There is really no excuse for this failing save for personal indolence in terms of reading. Sure I got bogged down in a couple books (Sir Thoma More's "Utopia" for one), but that hardly accounts for being so far behind schedule. Better luck with this next year.

Back again....

Just a quick note to say that I'm back again after nearly a year away from this thing. More later. Perhaps.....

*dusts off blog*

My how time flies. First it was "oh I'll just write a post tomorrow" to "I don't feel like blogging now, so I'll probably just post next week when I feel more up to the endeavour" to.. what has it been now? Since January? Long enough to forget my password and almost the name of my blog. And I'm also not sure the reason for posting again.

Maybe I'm just bored this afternoon.

Who knows.

Anyone still out there?

Nightly Ritual

A glass of wine and a few quiet moments to record the key events of the day.

What I Got Myself for Christmas

That's right. The Canon Rebel XTi. Sure beats the hell out of my old point and shoot camera.