Words, words, words...

What do you read my lord?
Words, words, words..
What is the matter, my lord?
Between who?

Back from sweet San Diego. Oh the sunshine. That air in from the water. Sea lions basking on buoys in the harbor. Clean and chill, but somehow vacant. Missing something. Or at least I didn't find the right places.. Though there were moments, standing near the border, looking up at those hills when I found myself thinking about the desert.. and Joshua Tree.

Surprises in store when I got to my desk on Sunday afternoon to push piles of paperwork around (oh the forms!). What to say? Words. But I'm unfortunately buried in them now. Piles to push through, miles to go before I sleep. Or some such thing. I'm feeling the need for a weekend in the mountains. A cabin. Something simple. And sweet.

Thoughts on Wild and Crossing to Safety and NW to come. Also currently enjoying the new Kanye single and R.L. Burnside (of course) and that Dylan AARP interview..

Edit (1/28): Searching for the RA setlist from September, I found this. Oh the Internet Archive.

Crossing to Safety

“A western buckaroo, I share his scorn for people who go camping by the book, relying on the authority of some half-assed assistant scoutmaster whose total experience outdoors probably consists of two overnight hikes and a weekend in the Catskills. But we have just had that confrontation. The one who goes by Pritchard's book is Sid's wife, and I am wary. It is not my expedition. I am a guest here.”

I finished Crossing to Safety in the air over South Carolina last week. And sighed. There's so much tucked in there. So much that resonated. Both things I want - and things I wonder about. The contrasts between Sid and Charity's relationship and Larry and Sally's. The slow and quiet growth - of people and places - over time.

After seeing Inherent Vice the other night, I'm going to take the book with me to San Diego tomorrow.. it should read just about right in that warm California sun. Today, working on a summary judgment motion in the quiet office. Waiting for spring to come, smokin' down the track.

St. Louis Blues

My first work trip has been a bit of a blur. Somewhat surreal. And brutally cold. There's so much musical history so close - from Yank Rachell to Scott Joplin to Chuck Berry..

I finished half of Crossing to Safety on the flight out. And can't wait to finish. It doesn't have as many moving pieces as Angle of Repose, but that incisive, simple voice is there. The power of some of those sentences and observations. The nuances of the intersection of lives in motion..

Next week in South Carolina.. then back to Cali.