Who Knows?

Ridley

I'm traveling this week to D23, Disney's resurrection of a fan convention that may attract as many as 10,000 attendees. There, Dave Barry and I will address a gathering with Dave on live video from a FedEx Kinkos in South Florida. At the same time I will be showing PowerPoint slides that Dave and I will discuss. Now a pessimist would say: "That ought to go well." And an optimist might say: "That could be cool." Or an author could say, "What happens if it doesn't work?"

I'm assembling a list of topics to blog about. A pessimist might say, "Oh, heavens, no!" An optimist might say, "Oh, heavens, finally." An author might say, "Oh, heavens: a list?"

In between I'm buying propane at The Home Depot, Chinese vegetables from a World Market, and standing in the line at the Post Office to return a pair of pants bought on-line from New Zealand. Bottom line: don't buy pants online from New Zealand, not unless you love lines at the Post Office (I don't, as it happens).

I don't like lines. I don't like looking for something misplaced (which is why I have a place for everything material I care about, and always return said item to its spot, even if a corner of a desk). I'm not saying I have a system!

And I'm practicing -- ie relearning -- songs that I wrote 35 years ago for a reunion of an acoustic band I once played in. We tried being James Taylor meets Paul Winter Group for eight years. We were either way ahead of our time, or vastly lacking in talent. An optimist would say...

I've been asked to start up a creative writing department, in English, at the university where I taught last year (in China). It would be the first such department ever formed in the People's Republic. A pessimist would say...

So, I guess what I'm saying is, This Is The Week That Was: school restarted for our daughters; several book projects going--one in edit, two in first draft; cars needing repair; songs needing learning; the dogs need walking. Disney convention Thurs and Friday. A reading here in St Louis on Sunday.

Labor Day has passed. Life has restarted. An optimist would say...
Happy New Year