Category: travel

last day in paradise

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Took a trip up to Haileybury, just for giggles and beer.

Not that we were booze cruising. I’m just an aficionado of food and drink, from greasy spoon to Michelin star, from lagers to merlot and back again to scotch and cigars.

I don’t know why. I know it’s all bad for you.

But not in moderation.

And in moderation, we do fine.

Of course, kimchi burger, a stout and later, a bison burger and an IPA may not be the moderation we seek.

Oh, well.

It could also be the coward’s method of self-harm. A slow motion death, in concert with the rest of the planet.

Anyway, it has been beautiful here, despite the family fights, the neighbour fights, the complete lack of downtime or quiet moments to read more than a handful of pages and constant activity in our cabin.

I want to walk into the woods and stay there, but I am ill prepared. I am no outdoorsman.

I wouldn’t last ten minutes.

Target: 800 words
Written: 865 words, novella: The Mungk

Read: Brothers Of Earth, CJ Cherryh
Comics: The Crow: Pestilence 1-4
Music: Random Music, again - Pearl Jam, The Rolling Stones, Todd Snider, Spacehog

morbid wonder

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I suppose I’m giving the impression that I’m suicidal. I’m not, not really. I’ve too much I’ve not done in this life yet for that, though the depression’s relentless attacks on my ability to do any of it is wearing on me.

So, in that sense, yeah, maybe. There’s a lot of the time where giving up, half-assing it, letting go of any sort of potential for joy, all seems like the best path forward.

Sinking into mediocrity, a sort of mind-numbed endurance, its own special skill, though any and most of us have mastered it.

It’s called “waiting to die”.

Coming up here reminds me there is more to this world than our petty differences, our pointless bullshit.

There’s more than in-fighting.

There’s wonder.

One look at that sky, graded robin’s egg to to royal blue, stroked with tender brushes of clouds and one can’t help but be reminded: religion may be a fiction, but there is still a sense of the divine.

Of majesty and beauty, grandeur.

Holiness.

It has nothing to do with little men in the sky and everything to do with the sheer vastness of what’s beyond our own meager skulls.

It could be so easy to give it all up.

But then what?

Target: 800 words
Written: 584 words, novella: The Mungk

Read: Brothers Of Earth, CJ Cherryh
Comics: The Crow: Skinning The Wolves 3, The Crow: Curare 1-3
Music: More Random Songs - Julian Plenti, Linkin Park, McCoy Brothers, Misfits, Overflow

glacial

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Despite the fact that it’s eminently swimmable, there’s a glacial tinge to the waters up here that feeds something primal inside me.

I feel like it’s recharging. Connecting.

Communing, even.

I spent most of our trip on the pontoon boat thinking about sinking to the bottom and laying for a while.

I’d like it to be my final resting place. Not rotting in the woods (although maybe rotting in the woods).

But frozen, down there.

Waiting.

Target: 800 words
Written: 784 words, novella: The Mungk

Read: Brothers Of Earth, CJ Cherryh (so slow going and not because it's not good; no one will leave me alone to read more than a page or two)
Comics: The Crow: Death And Rebirth 4-5, The Crow: Skinning The Wolves 1-2
Music: Random Shit - Ben Harper, Anti-Flag, Green Day, Gnarkill, Guns 'n' Roses

tranquility base

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My uncle has a secret place in the woods.

It’s just off Cassel Lake (or Castle, I didn’t look it up), but he plans to die there.

I mean, he’s hardly suicidal, but he’s told his family that when he goes, that’s where it will be.

Feet kicked up on the little wooden table, arms folded, a coffee cup of camp brew nearby.

Sixty-year old tent behind him.

He took us there.

It’s the most peaceful place I’ve ever been.

I’m considering following in his footsteps.

Target: 800 words
Written: 1322 words, novella: The Mungk

Read: Brothers Of Earth, CJ Cherryh
Comics: The Crow v2 10, The Crow: Death And Rebirth 1-3
Music: Random Acoustic Stuff, Screaming Trees, Anti-Flag, Linkin Park

fire tower

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I couldn’t do it. Didn’t even try it. With my blood pressure being so out of whack and my concerns of having a stroke partway up, I chose not to climb to the top of the fire tower, as in years past. The goal, hopefully, is next year.

Perhaps, if I lose another dozen pounds and get back to the weight I was when I did it the last time, maybe there’s a shot.

I don’t need the aneurysm.

I don’t need the heart attack.

I don’t need the stress of forcing myself to do something that could kill me with no appreciable gain.

I just need to be in the outdoors, in love.

Target: 800 words
Written: 546 words, novella: The Mungk

Read: Brothers Of Earth, C.J. Cherryh
Comics: The Crow v2 6-9
Music: Universally Speaking, Red Hot Chili Peppers

morning walks

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There’s something glorious about the Canadian Shield.

It seems almost immovable, grand on a scale that begs one to try and change it, but change it one cannot. Only in the most meager of ways.

It feels like a piece of me. It feels like home. Hard, but teeming with life. Gentle, but dangerous.

Unexpected depths. Untapped resources.

Like a good Canadian should be.

Target: 800 words
Written: 614 words, novella: The Mungk

Read: Brothers Of Earth, C.J. Cherryh
Comics: The Crow v2 2-5
Music: The Universal (I and II), Blur

temagami

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Today, I return to the motherland, children and dogs in tow.

I can’t wait. I need to reconnect.

Target: 800 words
Written: 600 words, novella: The Mungk

Read: Brothers Of Earth, CJ Cherryh
Comics: The Crow/Razor: Kill The Pain 0, Final, Lost Chapter, The Crow v2 1
Music: Unintended, Pt 1 & 2, Muse

dogsittin’ 2

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Part of me thinks I should call in sick. Part of me would be glad to be away from the dogs for a bit.

But we’re leaving tomorrow, for a week, and I have shit to do.

Neither dogs nor work can stop me.

But they can sure slow me down, and turn the whole process into a zoo in the meanwhile.

Target: 800 words
Written: 1616 words, novella: The Mungk

Read: The Adventures Of Captain Hatteras, Jules Verne
Comics: The Crow/Razor: Kill The Pain 1-4
Music: The Unforgettable Fire, U2

escape from new york

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Such a long, delayed flight, we didn’t get back and to bed until after 2AM. I am dying.

Too much walking. Too much heat.

Too many people for my introvert heart.

I am turning inside and finding only discomfort, tightness and pain.

Would that I could stand sensory deprivation, but claustrophobia’s a real bitch.

Target: 700 words
Written: 854 words, novella: The Mungk

Read: Through The Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll
Comics: Saga 5-8
Music: Other Worlds, Screaming Trees

flatiron to times square

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We did that walk. Down Broadway. In ninety degree heat.

On the plus side, I got a good deal on good shirts and shorts from an Aeropostale outlet.

Also, of fashion in New York. I’m not sure who convinced women that the new trend should skin-tight, see-through and bra-less, but hell, good job, Illuminati or Obama or whoever we have to thank for that.

I know, I know.

Dirty old man, it’s horrible. I’m horrible.

I should be spayed and neutered already, and I would be, if it wasn’t for this damn sex drive. I’ll get you next time, meddling sex drive.

I think it’s official; I’ve got heat delusion. Goodbye, Central Park Zoo. I love your red panda and your penguins, but you should really let them all go home.

Target: 700 words
Written: 456 words, novella: The Mungk

Read: Assholes Finish First, Tucker Max (this shit is colouring my views, thank heaven it's done)
Comics: Saga 1-4 (HOLY SHIT)
Music: I Don't Give A Fuck About You, Pearl Jam