Month: August 2004

Friday, August 20, 2004

Sorry it’s been a while since I posted. Here’s a breakdown of what’s been occurring:

Camping: last weekend a bunch of us went up to the nearby campgrounds in the hills and ate until we couldn’t eat any more. Car camping has its advantages – including the ridiculous amount of good food you can bring with you – and we sat around the fire, told ghost stories, cooked, then cooked some more and went to sleep under the stars. Very good.

Olympics watching: my once-every-four-year foray into unlikely sports. Watching Paul Hamm and Svetlana Khorkina in the gymnastics was like meeting old friends again. And there’s always time for a bit of archery or kayaking. And the track and field stuff hasn’t even started yet. US coverage is a bit patchy – tons of softball, but no field hockey and precious little cycling – but I’m doing OK with it.

Weather update – the monsoon storms are getting more sporadic now (although we had a good dump last night), and there’s more of a nip in the air. Soon we’ll be heading into autumn.

Green fingers – there’s been a new addition to our family: a russian sage plant (called Nikolai), who’s taken up residence outside Marci’s study.

Book news – the smaller paperback edition of The Accidental Pilgrim should be out soon in Ireland and online, which is good because there are no more trade paperback sized copies to be had. That’s right, they ran out, which means a little under 3000 copies sold. Yay!

Monday, August 09, 2004

On Friday it was pointed out to me that New Mexico licence plates not only have the state written on them, they also have “USA” beside it (there’s also space at the top for the county name, and the motto at the bottom: ‘Land of Enchantment’).

Exhibit A:

Licence plates from other states don’t include the country description.

Exhibit B:

The reason for this (and I’m not making this up) is that many of our fellow Americans outside the Southwest don’t know that New Mexico actually is a state in the union, and tend to lump us in with the real Mexicans over the border.

So, just to clarify, the New Mexico licence plate has USA on it so that other Americans don’t think we’re from another country.

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Monday, August 09, 2004

From the earliest days of Crowded House (and then some archaeology to unearth the Split Enz stuff I was too young to have listened to at the time), I’ve been impressed and moved by Neil Finn’s music.

He’s just about to release a new album with his brother Tim (no mean musician and songwriter himself), and you can listen to the new single here.

It’s tender and uplifting, and getting news of it in my mailbox has made Monday morning a lot better than it might have been.

Friday, August 06, 2004

Richard Ford reading at the Lensic last night was just brilliant – warm and urbane but with a clarity and precision to his prose that made me very jealous.

He read a couple of extended passages from his forthcoming novel – the third in the Frank Bascombe trilogy that started with The Sportswriter and continued with Independence Day.

As well as his spare and beautiful prose (I think only Martin Amis can match him for this), he manages to be funny and wise while absolutely nailing his characters and their world. Ford’s soft Mississippi accent was great to hear – and that’ll be the voice in my head now when I’m reading his stuff.

It’s enough to make me think about writing fiction, but also enough to scare me horribly.

Friday, August 06, 2004

Seems I’m not the only who likes the challenge of riding up to the ski basin – this Sunday they’re holding the annual Hill Climb Race.

The fastest time to the top (3,300 vertical feet in 14.7 miles – that makes it over 4% gradient) is 53 minutes and 55 seconds, or an average of 16.3 miles per hour.

Don’t think I’ll be doing it this year – but I’ll definitely keep riding it in my own time, getting nearer the top each time (I hope).

Get the full story from our local paper, the Santa Fe New Mexican (free registration might be required).