So,
I'm drinking a beer, listening to Steve Earle and looking at the Atlantic Ocean. Feeling pretty pleased with my life.
Both of us have been pretty rudderless since Darby and Lynn took off for Portland, so we're indulging all of our male vices free of female supervision. He's cooking salmon and potatoes right now.
Other things I'm feeling good about:
#1. I recently finished a new short story about The Ovens. I'm calling the story (wait for it) "The Ovens" and I'm pretty happy with it. Think I'm going to submit to The Malahat Review.
#2. Surprisingly enough, I quite enjoy having a meaningless minimum-wage job I have exactly 0% emotional investment in. Who knew? It's nice to take a break from worrying about my career/school/future. Every shift I get a decent amount of reading, writing and thinking done. Which is ideal for right now. And it pays the rent.
#3. I just finished reading 19 Knives by Mark Anthony Jarman. It's a beautifully crafted, angry, masculine manifesto. It's also very Canadian. And I loved it.
Some quotes I enjoyed:
"I don't like people who use the word constitute when they don't need to use the word constitute".
"drinking in shorts is fundamentally different than drinking in long pants."
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| Mark Anthony Jarman |
"No one uses signal lights and every busker is convinced they can play the harmonica. These things kill me."
In other words, you should read this book. I highly recommend the stories "Cougar" and "Burn Man on a Texas Porch".
#4. I've made a few writerly friends in Halifax–namely, Chris Donahoe, Trevor Corkum and Kris Bertin. It's nice to have dudes around who know what it's like. And the fact that one of them is a bartender suits me quite nicely.
#5. I've been jogging across the MacDonald Bridge lately, and I bought myself a chin-up bar. Let's see if it pays off. I'm paying for my five years of gluttonous sloth, with interest.
Anyways, I've uploaded some pretty pictures of Nova Scotia after the jump. Hope you enjoy.
Will!!
