This is my garage. Clean right? It hasn’t always looked this way. In fact, it is safe to say that even though it has been cleaned out various times over the last 8 years that we’ve lived in this home, it has NEVER looked like this.
Despite 97 degree temps a heat index of 105+, I decided to take my father up on his offer to come over and clean my garage. It was literally hot, hot, HOT!
(shadow on fence, Ventnor, NJ., photo by Jenn See)
“Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.”
~James Dean
It is evening and the day is almost done. I have been absent for a fortnight, and yet I could not let this day, of all days, pass without settling in with all who would take the time to read this. Today I could not help but reflect back upon the very humble beginnings of this online adventure. I was a wanderer, traveling without a map, looking for kindred spirits with whom I could share this journey. While on this road, I stumbled upon a mention of fish, a familiar image of Delirium, from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, and, of all things, a very gorgeous picture of Audrey Tautou. In that moment I knew I was among friends. On that day I met Mysfit, Old Ben, and Jenn See–the triumvirate of Following My Fish. And that day made me realize just how much fun I could have with this blog. It really was the moment which planted the seeds of what Stainless Steel Droppings has become.
Finally! After nearly a month without an active internet connection in the home (Thank you Comcast for your excellent service….he says, dripping with sarcasm), we are finally back up and running. It feels so good to have a live connection again. I realize that all internet providers are both good and bad. What works well for one person is the personification of evil for another. For my part, Comcast was lightening fast in my home. Fantastic speeds. But it went down every time there was bad weather. Common sense dictates that there was something wrong with the connection at the line outside the house…hence it being affected by the weather. Doh! But Comcast refused on a regular basis to do anything more than send technicians out to poke around inside the house. This last time was the proverbial last straw. I now have ATT’s Elite DSL service and so far it is really stable and runs great. I can detect minor differences in speeds, but not enough to disappoint me. And it is much cheaper than what I was paying for Comcast–in today’s economy that is a plus!
Now, I must admit that I’ve been back online for 3 days now. You may well ask, where have I been? That, my friends, is where I run into a conundrum.
I received the following request from author (and Endicott Studio friend) Midori Snyder last week:
“I am writing you to ask you to have a look at this post in Colleen Mondor’s Guys Lit Wire blog. They are sponsoring a very cool project to build a library in a juvenile prison in L.A. which currently has no books available for the boys. I thought it might be something you would be willing to post on Stainless Steel Droppings. The Book Fair runs two weeks.”
Unfortunately I have been without internet service since the first part of May (which is why you haven’t seen me much either here or at your blogs) and the chances for me to get online during work lunch breaks have become non-existent as the workload has been very demanding.
But it is not too late, so come with me and learn about an opportunity to get the word out, literally, to the minds and hearts of young men who desperately need the life-changing power of literature in their lives.
Debi has been hosting a Mini-Challenge for the month of May which involves posting about a book, or books, that one is coveting. I have recently joined some friends of mine in trying to turn my financial state around (in other words, eliminate debt) by following Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover plan. Doing that means that I am, and will be, doing much more coveting than actual purchasing over the next several months. I certainly won’t stop buying books, but the amount I buy vs. using the library has already gone waaay down and will continue to do so.
The book that I am currently coveting is the follow up to Gordon Dahlquist’s book, The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters. It is called The Dark Volume. The book is already out in other versions, but I want this Subterranean Press version with the Dave McKean cover which matches the Subterranean Press version of Glass Books that I own. It may seem odd to be coveting it considering I have never finished Glass Books. As with (I am ashamed to admit) Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, it is a book that I read about a third of, absolutely loved, and then got distracted and never got back to. Don’t know what it is about chunkster books that keeps me from finishing them no matter how much I am enjoying them. Gotta overcome that!
The interesting thing about coveting this book, which is on Pre-order right now, is that I think I may have already pre-ordered it many months ago. I would have to email Subterranean to find out, or go back and dig through my Paypal account, which I may just do. The mystery of whether I have or have not is kind of exciting though!
So that’s it. May still has some days left in it, so if you want to participate and talk about books you are coveting, please find out all the details here.
You are also welcome to talk about your covetous ways in the comments!