The 29th

First Day of work went very well. Tired, I am.  Sleep well. I'll try and be more witty mañana. Or maybe not. It's been a whirlwind, but a nice one. 

80 Miles to Jersey

I'm back. Left last Sat. for The King Crimson Concert in NYC. They were unbelievable. Carolyn went with me. Sunday I left Harlem and went to Mum's. We watched the Seahawks beat Denver, again! Then I went to Mike and Mimas and saw their two adorable girls, Megan and Lindsay. Tuesday, Mum and I went to the 9/11 Museum. It was very powerful. Then dinner with Mel and Jan.

Now I am back putting my home together and, wait for it, ...editing.


Did I fail to mention that the Toyota overheated and had steam pouring off the engine in NYC? And I got stopped before that, in Harlem, because my headlight was out. And my car got towed in Harlem because the police "forgot" to put up a no parking sign for the Harlem Day Parade. No ticket - but I had to hunt down my car with the 28th precinct and then walk 20 blocks to get it.

Well, Frank's auto just called. I need a new cooling fan, and break pads - it'll be about $650.

When does that new job start?

The Never-Ending Editing Dance

17:47 EDT

I am doing another edit on The Spanish Exile, the novel that took five years to write. Vicky and I edited in in 2012. Then my life got in the way. A lot in the way. No I have 7 work days before I have start work. The idea is to get it done and done before the 29th. And then, it goes to Jimbo, English Professor, for final editing and discussion.

It's been a long haul. Even elephants only gestate for 400 days.

And then, come the Rapture or the apocalypse, I will self publish this baby. It will be a dream come true. And maybe, I will one day be able to support myself by writing. 

I'm 65% of the way done.

The 8th Life

I guess I'm kind of like a cat, although I hope I have more than 9 lives, since I'm already on number 8. Or maybe I'lll just stop using them up so quickly.


Let's review;

1. 1968 - born in Jersey, later move to Hasbrouck Heights, NJ 
2. 1986 - Off to college at Fairfield, CT
3. 1990 - Jamaica, WI, to build houses, teach, and see the world.
4. Lodi, NJ with Susan; we marry in 1994
5. 1998 - Down to NOVA, buy house in McLean, VA.
6. 2007 - Sue and I agree to separate. In a desperate attempt at staying sane, I move to Madrid, Spain.
7. Aug. 8, 2012 - Due to the economic collapse in Spain, and the fact that I needed to come home eventually, I repatriate to CT and live with Mum
8. Mum moves to Jersey. I am living on my own for the first time and inherit a whole new heap of bills living on my own and get laid off the same week Mum moves (can you say fuck!) Sept. 17 - I accept a job offer from a UK company here in the US, launching recruiting software in the USA.

That's a lot of stuff to pack into 46 years, but we all have our own fascinating stories. No life is the same. Every person is like an individual snowflake.

She said luck is all you make it
You just reach out and take it
Now let's dance a while

She said nothing ever happens
If you don't make it happen
And if you can't laugh then smile

But after a while
You realize time flies
And the best thing that you can do
Is take whatever comes to you
'Cause time flies

And laughing under summer showers
Is still the way I see you now

-Porcupine Tree

And so it begins.

Back in the Game

I got offered a job today and I accepted. It's a company that makes recruiting software. They are launching here in the US, but they have 5 years under their belt in the UK and South Africa. I start on the 29th. Woo Hoo!

Read, Read, Read

It's been a great few months for highly anticipated novels. In August, Haruki Murakami's newest novel, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, was finally released in English. He is a master of surreal fiction. 

I just finished David Mitchell's, The Bone Clocks, which was fantastic and came out this month. 

Mañana sees the release of the conclusion of Ken Follet's brilliant Century Trilogy, The Edge of Eternity. Along with that, Rick Yancey's, The Infinite Sea (The Fifth Wave, book 2.)

Anne Rice revisits her Vampire Chronicles with Prince Lestat, released on Oct. 30th, of course.

So go outside in the lovely Sept. weather and read a book. And bless all of folks who still read!

Kept

East German Flag



Happy birthday to the best Mum ever! She raised Mel and I as a single parent during a time when single parent families were as plentiful as 4 leaf clover. And she kept us!

I was a good student and she could have sold me to Japanese-American for about $10,000. Mel was an exceptional athlete (without the help of steroids.) East Germany would have paid $20,000 to make her a citizen and put her on the Olympic swimming team (bonus; she'd pass the doping tests.)

But Mum kept us. Bless her heart.

From Horrible to Oblivion

Unless you live in a box, which you probably don't if you read this blog, then you know all about the damning Ray Rice video that TMZ released on Monday.  And now, one of the elite running backs in the league, Minnesota's Adrian Peterson, has been indicted for child abuse after 'disciplining' his child with a 'switch,' or tree branch. The photos the doctor took were brutal. The kid's legs and backside were all torn and lacerated.



The 1st week of the NFL season has been a PR nightmare. Roger Goodell should be be fired. Obviously, he has not been earning his $40m salary this year. Then, the NFL needs to take this shit out of the game by showing players that the NFL will not tolerate domestic abuse in any form. If players are getting suspended a year for PEDs or pot, doesn't domestic violence warrant at least that long?

The last week has been a shit storm for the NFL. Heads should roll. I'm talking to you, Goodell.

An Eye Towards the Fall

Summer's going fast, nights growing colder
Children growing up, old friends growing older
Freeze this moment a little bit longer
Make each sensation a little bit stronger
Experience slips away
Experience slips away...
The innocence slips away

-Rush

It was 68 F in the house when I woke up at 8 AM. Damn! 

I think I am 'job searched out' for the week. Still waiting to hear from the one place who said they'd have an answer today.

Mañana, Kevin and I go to Hartford to see Tom Petty. Woo hoo! And on Sunday, Mum turns an undisclosed age (like sixty-something, I forget.)

I read somewhere that OJ Simpson is on a hunger strike in jail. Can that dude's life get any more fucked up? If he wants to die, Nevada has the death penalty (lethal injection,) so why not just off this guy. I don't think anyone will miss him.

Another Day

Mum came to CT to see her accountant. Then we went out to dinner with our neighbors, Bob and Barbara. It was fun. Always good too see Mum. Weird for her to be in Jersey coming up to me in CT. It was the other way around for many years.

I have a 2nd interview mañana. Hooray!

The Difference a Year Makes

Looking at the NFL schedule, it looks like I will be able to watch 8 Seahawks games from my own home. What a difference winning the Super Bowl makes. This is especially helpful because Mum is no longer here to go to Whiskey's and watch the game. 

The Patriots lost! Now that's good news. New Orleans lost in OT. Buffalo beat the bears on the road in OT. And the Jets won. What the hell?

I am watching SF crush Dallas. If I had the chance to punch one dude in the face, it would be Jim Harbaugh.

- - - 

MONDAY

Back to shuffling CV's across the job boards of CT, NJ and NY. Hooray!

Immortality

Wow! Last night I watched Only Lovers Left Alive with Tilda Swinton,Tom Hiddleston, and John Hurt. It was amazing. Swinton and Hiddleston (known as Eve and Adam) are vampires who have lived for hundreds and hundreds of years. But they no longer kill humans and also have a fascinating appreciation of the arts (Eve - literature, Adam is a musician.) It's not gory and it's very cerebral. Tilda Swinton was amazing. I rate it second only to Byzantium, which is my favorite vamp movie ever. Like Byzantium, Only Lovers Left Alive is offbeat and poignant. It even has an arc about how the humans ('zombies,' as Adam calls them,) are poisoning the planet.

I was blown away. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Back in New England

Collapse the light into Earth
-Porcupine Tree

I saw Carolyn and Dani in Harlem on Sat. That was fun. Then I headed to Mum's. We had an awesome BBQ and Mel and Jan's and then we played poker in the AC cause it was hotter than the hinges of hell. We also got a lot of moving-in stuff at Mum's. i drove back today. I have an interview mañana. Catch you on Thurs.