Plaintext

7:43 PM, Thursday evening and all is well.

It’d be cool to compose writings by flexing and wiggling your fingers, sans keyboard. Creating images and metaphors by rhythmically gyrating your body, chuckling, smiling -- dancing sentences into life, playing words like notes on some exotic musical instrument.

I like to write while listening to music in the background (at least sometimes). Often I get into a typing groove that mimics the beat of the song I’m listening to. I have, unfortunately, never been much of a touch-typist, however. My keyboard chops are sort of a modified, high-speed, "hunt-and-peck" with my left hand doing most of the work. So when I’m "beat writing" (pun intended) the music and my mind often out-pace my hands. I know speech recognition is coming along nicely now and I probably will be able to dictate a story at some point -- but that won’t be the same.

For me writing is a physical thing. It’s about movement and rhythm. It’s not a vocal performance, if you know what I mean. At least not in the formative stages.

I’m listening to New Order’s "Substance" CD while I’m writing this, by-the-way.

Tomorrow I’m going to see a concert with a bunch of friends and then, on Saturday morning, I’m heading to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for two weeks. My family has been going to the Outer Banks in the Summer for over twenty years. Nowadays, getting everyone together for the trip has gotten a bit difficult. I try not to miss it, though (and haven’t yet). It’s a great time to unwind and recharge.

I’m taking down two or three novels, a notebook and pen, a bottle of wine, and not much else. I’m looking forward to it (and to seeing Julia again, if possible).

Radiohead is up next on the CD player. I think I’ll groove a bit and then...do the dishes, I guess.

Hah, this was pretty plain text, wasn’t it?

--- JWR, 8/13/98