I’ve been quiet for a while since I moved out of the Dream Cafe and into my own place in Houston. A lot of my life is in transition right now, and sadly I haven’t done much writing lately. It’s been an adjustment to living on my own again, but I’m enjoying it. What I’m really loving is living in a big city again. A lot of my Austin friends lump on Houston, but I’m thriving here so far. It’s a very neighborhood oriented place, with areas of awesomeness and freaky funkyness, areas of urban decay, and soulless corporate emptiness. A few weeks ago I watched Metropolis (1927) with a live band performing the soundtrack in a park hiding in the shadows of skyscrapers in the heart of downtown, then road home through a warehouse-laden industrial wasteland. I’m finding the good places to ride my bike and learning my way around.
There have been some ups and downs as I adjust to a new city, a new social circle with new people in it, and unwinding from the stress and mental weirdness of 2008, but overall I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time. The lack of writing has been eating at me, however. I haven’t established good writing habits again, and I can feel my muse suffering from not being expressed enough. It’s a weird feeling, a voice whispering at the back of my brain but unable to find the way to express itself lately. I’m working on fixing this, and have written a poem recently and been thinking on some fiction. I’m hopeful I can keep myself accountable by posting here again, and also renew my involvement in my languishing online writing community.
Recent activities: I’ve been expressing myself online a lot via my twitter feed. I’ve been watching the Wire and Buffy for the first time and thinking on serial storytelling. I’m doing freelance webgeekery for my mom’s company. I had a wonderful Flipside and I sure am craving Decompression.
As a result of my Houston explorations, I’m doing some thinking on dive bars, stoner havens, and other liminal spaces. Share your experience with these urban treasues in the comments to my post on Words Words Words.
