Hello wayfaring strangers. I hope you are in good health, because from what I hear, there are a million new theories about how we’re all going to die, and the media seems to be damn sure that no fewer than ALL of these doomsday scenarios are bound to occur. Repent while you can. Or, you know, don’t repent. I’m not going to pass judgment on you.
Bird Flu
Plague
Extinction
World War III
Terrorists
Earthquake!
Killer Lawnmowers
I’ve been working (on the railroad) all day long, so there isn’t that much personal news to share with you. Last night I spoke with Jet and we hashed out our Chicago plans–or at least the majority of them. Apparently there’s a lot of roadwork being done on I-90 or I-94 and five lanes are forced to merge into one lane, so she gave me an alternate route to get into the city. I should be getting there fairly early Sunday, and I’ll be there probably until Wednesday or Thursday, depending on when my interviewees are available and whether or not I accomplish all the other things I need to do there.
We spoke about the book for a while, Jet and I. She pointed out some key mistakes I keep making, like switching between past and present tense in descriptions and interviews, which is something I’m fairly cognizant of but need to keep reminding myself. I think I’m going to try to keep the whole book in the present tense because it’s pretty unique and sounds cool when pulled off correctly. It’s also another way to draw in readers and make ’em feel like they’re in the car next to me, listening to me ramble on about how I love the countryside and need to get laid. Yeaaaaaaaaaah.
Anyway…She also mentioned that I am hesitant to share any personal information about myself
with the reader, which is something else I recognized and agreed with. It’s sort of a hypocritical characteristic of mine. While it may appear from this “blog” that I’m a self-absorbed geek who can’t not talk about himself, I’m actually quite reluctant to share more personal details of my life. I guess what that means is, I’m very shy most of the time. I need to get over that. One way we thought about conquering this fear would be to have friends interview me about the trip and then I could transcribe certain things and use them. Being asked direct questions about what I felt at certain times would force me to be honest in my reflections and assertions about this super-important adventure. Jet pointed out that yeah it’s an incredibly interesting idea to go out and interview bands, but what about me and what were my reasons and what was I thinking this whole time? I think before I can commit myself to delving into those questions and coming up with genuinely truthful answers I need to get into the correct head-space and not worry about coming off like a dolt. Hopefully this short trip will reunite me with those reflexive and confident characteristics that I so brazenly showed off upon my return last August.
