Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The Lot, Tossed

And so it has come to November in the Northwest, the trees turn hues of amber orange and crimson but burn not with the same spark as the Northeast. However, the environment, terrain, and regular parks to break up the concrete provide for a key environment for that outdoor running; I now get the runner's high in about seven minutes and it maintains for at least forty thereafter; my distance has improved. Concrete in Portland is for the most-part friendly to the wheels of my skateboard, although the needles of pine have ruined my favorite path through Alberta Park, those thoughtless bastards. Beyond this I, as per a successful self-nomination, am now a member of the board of the Concordia Neighborhood Association, hold the chair of economic development, and will be contributing to the Concordia Newspaper as a writer; responsibility, obligation, means to ends. Converging the community, economics, and politics together into a triumvirate of awesomeness is entirely my intention and to waffle upon such matters of import would be not at all sweet like syrup. The new novel has found its name, "Ginataan and the White Balls", or at least for now, chapters falling into place but not so quickly nor orderly as dominoes. Having pitched Drug-Land Security, my script, to Mark, a lawyer at Nike and my cousin, I've re-sold myself on the concept that I'd moved beyond and now machinations are back in gear in this regard. The Glimmer Train Press literary magazine has a competition called "family matters" in which I've entered my short story From Whence We Come; inspired by a picture I'd found of my grandfather and my 5-year-old self playing catch in the Cape, the violet bouncy-ball having left his hands, arcing, frozen in mid-air, towards my open and expectant arms; 31 Dec 09 will be the judge, the final day of the Zeroes. The secret to maintaining optimal condition is to always be in pursuit of impossible perfection; complacency and contentedness being counter-productive in nature; and I am, like silly, as you should too buddy. Rock and Roll