HIGHWAY 62

Maybe you heard the news. Finished another novel a couple days ago. Trying to remember whether this is number ten or eleven. There’s four I can’t really count even though I wrote ‘em. Maybe those names will get counted one day. Not today for sure. So yeah, that’s My Gifts Are Hungry printed and waiting markup. I say “finished” knowing full well that there’s an edit pass. This serves a couple purposes. One, it makes me experience the book in reader time, ie over a course of ho

It's tough to look around and think that things are going well. Living through America's Years of Lead and seeing all the obvious, flagrant and almost comical violations of the law on the part of those in power and you'd be insane to think that things are going well. I'm just talking on a relatively limited personal basis. Hell, there's stuff still going on within reach that's bad enough that I won't freely discuss it here (and don't hold your breath.) So I'm clearly selfish

Thirty-five years ago, I started a job out of college. I'd moved to a new city to be with my girlfriend of four years, to one day to be my fiancée then wife who I'm still married to. I'm anything but a quitter I guess. Just don't talk to my bandmate in the Roswell Incident. The turn of the new year makes me think of this, mostly because I started that job on January second, which is basically monster-like behavior. It wasn't a great job, but it wasn't terrible. I was (shockin

In 2020, I drove out to San Francisco. I want to say it was in February. Reviewing, it was actually in January. I covered that trip here, in the post called " That Good Godspeed You Black Emperor Light. " There was a thing called Covid in the news, but it wasn't real. Not like it would be. It would be the last trip I took to the city until probably 2023? Just checked, actually December 0f 2022. I seem to be a month off in my recollections. Of course, Everything Horrible that'

I know, this should have a more Christmas-like or Solstice-like title. It is that time of year, right? Of course it is. That’s why I’m wiped. All that obligation dragged around, begins to weigh on ya. Yes, it’s joyous and a time of being together with your family (only this year it’s not, by and large – long story which I’m not relating here). No, nothing’s wrong with the immediate family, not any more than usual. Just weirdness with relatives. And oh, making it over to my fa

I'm spending more time these days responding to writing from other people than I am writing my own work. That's probably not a good sign. Though it's good in that there have been works worth responding to. That's something, right? Totally worth not getting back to my own work for. Sure, I guess. I'll lay the blame at the feet of the holiday season, which is a time of year where I have to do more and more with every year that passes. There's reasons for that. Maybe I'll be bra

I’m not particularly good at this. As it’s neither a formal essay nor an informal response to a piece of writing, I don’t exactly know where to start. So I’ll just keep writing until something catches, perhaps a piece of friction between two words sparks something. Bear with me. This is essential in apprehending the subjects we’re going to take a look at in this piece. A word of background on me, or at least some attempt at explanation. One of the areas of study I found mysel

Spent last weekend in a flux state, passing through more than couple interzones at a time. Saturday anniversary. Yes, I chose the wedding date. And I didn't. It was the first night we happened to get together, back in [redacted]. So yes, I decided to make that our wedding date as well even though it happens to fall upon Day of the Dead and All Souls Day and Samhain and I bet I'm missing a couple others in there. We've been married a good long time, together longer even than t

Long couple weeks, folks. Back from a draining and not reinvigorating trip to LA and straight into the wall of Birthday. Then straight into a weekend in the hospital for someone close and anxiety whether or not that would impact their upcoming surgery (essential and required for any manner of daily quality of life) and that went all day and we're still in the recovery phase. Lots of demands on time and energy. Just cleaning the goddamn house. Laundry. Cooking. Cleaning. Caret

Yeah, I guess that title has broad application these days. Maybe too much so. Drove down to Los Angeles last week. Normally that's a thing that I'm excited about. I'm not there often enough for my tastes, as most of my friends are down there and I'm some three hundred plus miles to the north as the Challenger drives. I was driving down this time because there was one fewer of them to visit and it was time to say goodbye. Only I wasn't there yet and not clear on when I'm gonna