To whom should I address these messages? What voice should I use? How personal should I get? Should this be a journal, a forum for my rants and raves, a creative writing depository, or all of the above?
I don’t know the answer to any of these questions. There’s stuff going on in my life that isn’t making it to these pages, and poems I’m writing that probably never will. I doubt anyone wants to read about what I dreamed the night before, even if I do dream epics that Kubrik would want to film if he were still alive, bless him. But I think there needs to be more “me” in these entries. I guess, so far, I’ve just been trying to feel out the format and audience, and some of you have been kind enough to tell me what you like (and what you don’t). Please do so more often. In return, I’ll try to be a little braver with what I post. It’s weird…I don’t worry much in “real” life about who I please and who I don’t; I didn’t expect to have inhibitions of that sort in my on-line clap trap. You learn something new every day.
This dip into introspection is probably due to lack of sleep; Debbie’s out of town this week and I’m taking care of her dog Nick, who woke me up at 4:30 a.m. The poor hound is sick — his ehrlichia is flaring up again — so I didn’t mutter at him too much as I let him out. If you had told me 5 years ago that I’d now have responsibility for 4 cats, a blind dog, an iguana and 3 horses (all named Eric…no, no, just kidding), I’d’ve said you were loony. Ah, farm life.
Music Plug
Check out the Inca Campers, a group from Lititz, Pennsylvania. In the words of their web site, “Just when you’ve given up on trying to discover original home grown, home spun tapestries of music, the Inca Campers sneak into your field of vision, making a soul incision, melting the cheese on your overgrown heart and smoothing the butter on your toasty dance moves!” My cousin Jackie (heretofore just called “Jackie”; if you don’t know who I’m talking about you’ll have to read the rest of my entries) introduced me to them a few years ago. I warn you, they’re addictive, so listen with care…