Random Thoughts

It must be the heat. And the insomnia.

• I find office supply stores to be extremely seductive. They hold so much promise, so much hope within them. I stroll the aisles and everything says, “take me; I will put your life in order.” Binders, dividers, notecards, label makers, highlighters…inner peace can be found in a simple accordion file. Staples is like the Church of the OCPD.
• My wife can read with the television on. I don’t know how she does it. Do you need quiet to read?
• We picked up our daughter from her friend’s cottage on Sunday. It was located on a lake somewhere between Peterborough and Ottawa. I checked the rest stops along the way for reading material. Entertainment Weekly, Archie comics, and James Patterson books on CD. That’s about it, unless you count the “Ontario – Yours to Discover” brochures piled everywhere. I think the Ontario service centres along the 401 and 400 highways should have little bookracks for travellers featuring local authors and their works. Buy a book, get a feel for the place…and a discount on gas. Just a thought.
• I’m sorry, but iced tea doesn’t come out of a can.
• Are there particular authors you read only while on vacation? I went through a period a few years ago when I only seemed to read Graham Greene while on vacation. Come to think of it, there was a period quite a while ago when it was Mordecai Richler. No special reason.
• I usually take a walk up and down the beach to check what people are reading, kind of what I do when riding the subway.
• Perhaps the hardest thing for me about working on a manuscript is that when I have to put it down and pick it up again, I have to start at the beginning. Easy with a 2,500-word short story, a little more challenging with an 80,000-word novel. Sometimes I just have to find a still point to dive into.
• I had an art instructor in university who when asked how she knew a work was finished said, they’re not really finished; you just have to find the right place to stop.
• My sister just sent me an image of an in-store display at the Chapters in Windsor, a display incorporating @RiversideDrive. Social media can be great not just for re-broadcasting things like this to one’s Facebook and Twitter followers, but for thanking the bookseller that made it happen. I think that’s important.

The rain, flooding and power outages caught me a little off guard yesterday. More on that as I catch up later on today – barring any other near-disasters.