Being in Ventura also made me realize how much more energy I have at a lower altitude.  I think I am at around 8000 feet here where I live and to be at sea level (or whatever Ventura is) is like having some sort of energy boost.  It made me wonder if I would be more productive at a lower altitude or that after I became used to it, it would no longer provide that extra energy.   It isn't something I hadn't noticed before.  I notice it every time I visit a lower altitude.  I am pretty sure that observation is rooted in science and that it takes more energy for your body to keep going at a higher altitude.  

I had a truly fun time!  I really love central Cal and I am already hoping for a trip to Santa Barbara during the winter sometime.

As we drove 101 back to Burbank we noticed that 101 going north around LA was backed up for miles.  I am serious about miles, at least 10 miles and it was NOT moving at all.  Even 101 south that we were driving was only moving at about 6 miles per hour.  I don't think I will complain so much about Albuquerque traffic anymore.  :-)

Yep, I leave Tuesday for Ventura, California. 

It occurred to me that it has been several years since I have been on a plane.  I had to check the TSA list of banned items.  Last time I flew was before the ban on "liquids."  It isn't exactly a ban, you can bring liquids in bottles of 3 oz or less.  Try finding a 3 oz bottle of hair mousse, it doesn't exist.  I must have mousse so I will be checking the airport gift shop upon landing. 

Aside from the hassle and the fact that I hate airports and planes -- I know that I will enjoy myself once I am there.  Sure, it is a business trip, but I will still make it to the beach (which is only a block away from the hotel) and have a good time.  Although, it is also true that if travel were not such a hassle, I would do a lot more of it. 

American airports are horrible!  I remember coming home from France a few years ago.  The airport there was totally laid back and polite.  Yes, they had lots of security watching and doing random searches.  I was one of the random searches and they were soooooooo polite about it, to the point of apologizing that they had to do it.  They didn't at all make me feel like a criminal.  I land in Atlanta, where I have to change planes and I am literally herded through this security check point where security people are practically yelling for everyone to remove their shoes and going through carry on bags.   The people in security there were as rude as they come and I thought -- so this is how we welcome people to America?  Not to mention that when you have to go through that before getting on a flight it kind of shatters your sense of well being.  

OK, so wish me luck with the actual travel part. 

I will have my macbook and internet access and if I have anything to report or photos to post while I am gone I will be posting  at TDF. 

Often when I click on facebook to go to my page it won't load and it causes my modem to go offline.  It also fucks up my browser and I have to shut it down and restart it.  I thought this was only happening on the Mac, but just now I had it happen on my PC.  It didn't make my modem go offline, but it did freeze my browser.

8/10/08 Update - Whatever the problem was seems to have been fixed and I am no longer having problems.

That is the new driveway gate that Britton and I put up.  We did a pretty awesome job or so I think.

Gates are weird things though.  They are almost always build to restrict something, either people coming in or getting out.  In our case it is to restrict the dog from getting out.  

I particularly liked that gate because it reminds me a something that would be at the entrance to an old haunted house of some sort.  Of course, the one in my image of that would be grown over with vines and there isn't much chance of that here.  Probably I have seen one too many gothic horror movies that had big black gates. 

I have never thought of a big black iron gate without also thinking of some haunted house or a cemetery.  The cemetery thought is more reality.  I have been to many cemeteries that have big black gates.  I have never been to a supposed haunted house that has one.  I am sure there are some, but the only ones I have seen are in the movies or described in books.  

I have to admit that my gate does not have the haunting effect I had hoped for in the bright sunny day. :-)  It does look nice though and you can even see Manzano Mountain in the background. 

Aside from that, Tiki provides lots of other stuff -- photo galleries, blogs, forums and probably other things I am forgetting.  So check it out if you get a chance and it you want to add anything to the site you can register as a member -- in the right sidebar.   

1. I can't live without a computer, even if there is no internet access.  So my Macbook would be in the baggage.

2. I-pod

3. At least 2 good books -- One fiction, one non-fiction.  Who knows how long you might be on a plane, stuck at an airport or in traffic?

4. If it is a long flight, like to London, my gameboy.

Sometimes I feel like I spend all of my time writing.  I am not complaining, obviously I love writing or I wouldn't have so many blogs or write columns for free.  I prefer writing to actual talking.  When I am talking things often come out wrong or I just continue to talk long after I should have shut up.  I still do those types of things when writing, but far less.  

Anyhow, I haven't forgot about this blog or Machine Elf, I have just been busy with other writing.  I will return soon. 

    Those who know me know that there are several authors that I idolize.  Hunter S. Thompson is #1 on that list.
    I remember the first time I read Hunter and I remember my adoration of him was instantaneous.  
    As I remember (and memories from so far back are often confused and wrong), I subscribed to Rolling Stone, not only because I was 16 or 17 and really into music, but mostly so I could read the excerpts of Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities that they were printing in there each month.  Sometime during this they did a republishing on some Hunter S. Thompson stuff (Fear and Loathing in LV, I think) and I was totally hooked.  
    I was soon at the bookstore purchasing Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.  Then Hell’s Angels and so on.  
    The thing I love about Hunter is that you never are completely sure where that line between fiction and non-fiction is.  I think probably the first couple reprints I read I took as total truth, even as wacky as they were.  
    Somewhere along the line I clicked and thought to myself - wait a sec, this can’t possibly all be true.  Well, duh!  
    It didn’t matter, because Hunter took things that I would have otherwise found completely dull, like politics, and made it entertaining.  Even now my eyes often glaze over when I have to hear too much politics, but as a teenager, except for hearing about it from Hunter, they always did.  
    I am thinking about Hunter today because just the other day I watched the Apple trailer of the upcoming documentary film - Gonzo.  In a strange synchronicity, later that day (though I didn’t see it until the following day) I received a friends request on Facebook from Phoebe Legere.  Of course, any friend of Dr. Thompson is a friend of mine, but it was a strange coincidence, happening on the same day like that.  There is no way Phoebe could have known that I linked to that trailer on facebook because profiles are private, except for those who are already friends.  I am pretty sure Phoebe found me on Reality Sandwich and it had nothing to do with Hunter, except for that synchronicity on my side.
    OK, enough about synchronicity.  
    Back to Hunter and fictitious non-fiction .  I am wondering if most non-fiction isn’t partly fiction?  Non-fiction does consist of ideas and theories that are not always proven.  If I report on what President Bush says, is that fiction or non?  It is a serious question because what he says is based on his thoughts and theories, which may or may not be true.  My reporting on it may be accurate, but his statements may not.  Likewise, if I am writing a piece on global warming and there are several different groups with different sets of statistics, which is true?  I would have to pick one, but would it be the right one?  Would it be fiction or non-fiction?  
    Is there any real way to determine what is fiction in this modern world?
    I know skeptics of ufology use that argument a lot.  You can’t say a ufo photo or film is real because anything can be faked, but what is so different about the rest of the world?  In the end is not most news based on the notions of those interviewed about the subject, which are likely biased in some way and may or may not be the truth of the matter?  Are there not those who will outright lie to help spread their agenda?
    I think that in general all the world is and has probably always been Gonzo.  Nobody really perceives it as such because the tales are not so exciting and grand as Dr. Thompson, but they are in fact often the same - part truth and part fiction.  All of it done without the grace, class or entertainment that Dr. Thompson provided. 

Recently I was watching a book related show on C-SPAN with Matt Taibbi. Someone asked Matt why he became a political writer and he explained that he had wanted to be a fiction writer, but he sucked at it.

I could totally relate.

My thought had also always been to be a fiction writer. I wanted to write horror, gothic ghost tales and dark fantasy. As it turned out I also totally sucked at it.

There are many elements to writing a fiction story. There is the basic storyline, but also there is describing people, places and emotions in such a way that it keeps people interested in the story. I can actually come up with storylines (some of them might be pretty good) I just suck at actually writing the tale - the important part - the people, places and emotion.

I keep trying and hoping that some day I will become better at it. You never know.

That is in no way to say that I am not happy writing about the things that do write about. I sometimes even throw in a bit of fiction. I guess, I am mostly pointing out that things don’t always turn out the way you think they will.

Back years ago I would have never dreamt I would be updating blogs daily, writing a weekly column for Binnall of America and a monthly one for UFO Magazine. Really the thought of writing journals or non-fiction never crossed my mind. Although, in 1997 I did write a Roswell Festival article for some online ezine. At the time I never thought to continue with such writing. Of course, that was before blogs. Yes, in the before time.

I guess my point is that even if things don’t go quite as you plan, sometimes they turn out good anyway.

Also, it is always possible that all my non-fiction writing will one day make me a better fiction writer, or at least one that doesn’t suck.

Yes, there could also be those who will say that most of what I write is fiction anyhow. :-)