Jamie Patterson's Blog, page 19
October 5, 2011
Accidental Cyclist
As part of an effort to enjoy the last of the beautiful weather in Minneapolis a friend and I headed out yesterday afternoon on our bikes to get a little exercise and see the fall colors. And see them we did. We went a good 18 miles farther than intended but we saw the lakes, downtown, the University of Minnesota, the Mississippi, the falls, then followed Minnehaha Creek back home. It was absolutely beautiful.
By the time we were a few miles from home there were pockets of cool air followed immediately by a poof of warm air. I never got cold and I never got too warm. It was perfect.
With more people reading Lost Edens I find myself answering the question of how I'm doing more and more. The answer is truly: couldn't be better. It's not just leisurely afternoons with friends enjoying beautiful cities (although so far that is the bulk of Dunloe Ave., the follow-up to Lost Edens) but all the kindness and goodness that led me to the point in my life where I can enjoy such things.
By the time we were a few miles from home there were pockets of cool air followed immediately by a poof of warm air. I never got cold and I never got too warm. It was perfect.
With more people reading Lost Edens I find myself answering the question of how I'm doing more and more. The answer is truly: couldn't be better. It's not just leisurely afternoons with friends enjoying beautiful cities (although so far that is the bulk of Dunloe Ave., the follow-up to Lost Edens) but all the kindness and goodness that led me to the point in my life where I can enjoy such things.
Expert
Just read an interesting article on why some people learn faster than others. It had a quote from Niels Bohr on what defines an expert: "a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field."
I love this. Especially because looking back over the last year publishing a book I see more mistakes (and expensive mistakes) than anything else. But I sure know a heckuva lot more about publishing books than I ever could have without those mistakes. I like how this definition of expert allows for these mistakes. Just think of all the lessons I'll learn by the time I publish books four and five!
"People learn how to get it right by getting it wrong again and again. Education isn't magic. Education is the wisdom wrung from failure."
I love this. Especially because looking back over the last year publishing a book I see more mistakes (and expensive mistakes) than anything else. But I sure know a heckuva lot more about publishing books than I ever could have without those mistakes. I like how this definition of expert allows for these mistakes. Just think of all the lessons I'll learn by the time I publish books four and five!
"People learn how to get it right by getting it wrong again and again. Education isn't magic. Education is the wisdom wrung from failure."
October 4, 2011
Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
It seriously doesn't get more beautiful than Minneapolis in the fall. Ignore the ugly rooftops and check out that blue sky! The orange tree! Seriously beautiful.
October 2, 2011
Lights of the City
I love night flights over land. Not so much over water (nothing to see!). Over land, though, it's absolutely beautiful at night. When you get to rural areas the lights on the ground look as evenly spaced as the stars so it's like the sky is all around. I'm looking forward to flying about for signings and book clubs. I think that by the end of the month I'll be in the air more than I have been lately. I keep telling people that if they live somewhere south of Minneapolis that I'll definitely plan on coming to their book club this winter. No current plans for Nashville but that's definitely south and (almost) definitely the city I snapped last night on my flight (below).
October 1, 2011
Baseball Scores at 32,000 Feet
I flew home last night on a Delta MD90 and managed to finish editing a dissertation I have due today. We were about an hour out of Minneapolis when the captain came on and asked everyone who is DVRing games to cover their ears and then shared the scores of sports games that had finished since we had been in the air.
Earlier in the flight, he had announced we were coming up over St. Louis on the left side of the plane.
I love anytime the flight deck makes an announcement. I always stop what I'm doing, take off the headsets, and listen. Doesn't always happen so last night was a bonus. It had the feel, though, of a passing era. Because I was working, I had the Internet up, too, and I knew before they announced it exactly where we were because I was tracking the flight on delta.com. How much longer before everyone on the plane has the Internet up and aren't just tracking the flight but watching the games on the ground streaming live?
The landing was perfect. I wanted to tell the pilots as we deplaned that it was probably the most perfect landing I've ever had but as I walked by the open door to the cockpit, they were working hard to wrap things up. They looked to be in their 60s, which means they flew at a time the cockpit door would stay open the entire flight. I remember leaning into the aisle as a kid to try and watch what was happening. They flew at a time when there was a smoking section on the plane and then when flights became smoke free. I remember people applauding every time the flight attendant announced preflight that the plane was smoke free. I remember people dressing up, too. Real silverware. Full meals in coach. We're not talking Pan Am here but it was a different time even just 20 years ago.
There was something about the pilot's announcements last night that brought a little bit of that back.
Earlier in the flight, he had announced we were coming up over St. Louis on the left side of the plane.
I love anytime the flight deck makes an announcement. I always stop what I'm doing, take off the headsets, and listen. Doesn't always happen so last night was a bonus. It had the feel, though, of a passing era. Because I was working, I had the Internet up, too, and I knew before they announced it exactly where we were because I was tracking the flight on delta.com. How much longer before everyone on the plane has the Internet up and aren't just tracking the flight but watching the games on the ground streaming live?
The landing was perfect. I wanted to tell the pilots as we deplaned that it was probably the most perfect landing I've ever had but as I walked by the open door to the cockpit, they were working hard to wrap things up. They looked to be in their 60s, which means they flew at a time the cockpit door would stay open the entire flight. I remember leaning into the aisle as a kid to try and watch what was happening. They flew at a time when there was a smoking section on the plane and then when flights became smoke free. I remember people applauding every time the flight attendant announced preflight that the plane was smoke free. I remember people dressing up, too. Real silverware. Full meals in coach. We're not talking Pan Am here but it was a different time even just 20 years ago.
There was something about the pilot's announcements last night that brought a little bit of that back.
September 30, 2011
Atlanta
I'm traveling now and have been thinking/talking/teaching/writing about academic writing since 6:00 a.m. EST this morning. I just got back to my room for the night (okay, so the last few hours included conversations completely unrelated to academic writing, but still) and my brain is pooped.
Traveling and working like this is both good and bad. Good because I escape from my daily life and immerse myself into another city for a week, bad because this means I escape from my daily life and things like exercise and proper (healthy) food consumption go by the wayside and more time is spent out in the city and in front of a television than I would ever do at home. I'm more productive than ever during working hours when I travel and then not productive at all the moment my last class ends.
My colleagues and I were lamenting this good/bad and one coworker mentioned that she was frustrated because she couldn't get her normal writing schedule in and it made me think of what a magnificent job I've done of avoiding any particular kind of writing schedule for myself. I tend to write these days when the spirit moves me and, let's be honest, that's sometimes a long wait.
I wrote Lost Edens in a matter of a month or so with full days of writing day after day and I worry sometimes that maybe that's the kind of schedule I need to be a writer. That I'll never be the get up at 4:00 a.m. and write for four hours before the day starts kind of person. I wonder how many more authors there would be in the world if they didn't have to fit writing around life? Hm. Faulty argument here, I suppose, if you think of Stephen King and J.K. Rowling who wrote around very full lives.
The one thing about travel, even if it is to go stay in a ghost town of a downtown and spend beautiful days in conference rooms, is that it helps you to see your "real life" a bit clearer. Maybe I can get home and find more time to put a word or two down on paper.
Traveling and working like this is both good and bad. Good because I escape from my daily life and immerse myself into another city for a week, bad because this means I escape from my daily life and things like exercise and proper (healthy) food consumption go by the wayside and more time is spent out in the city and in front of a television than I would ever do at home. I'm more productive than ever during working hours when I travel and then not productive at all the moment my last class ends.
My colleagues and I were lamenting this good/bad and one coworker mentioned that she was frustrated because she couldn't get her normal writing schedule in and it made me think of what a magnificent job I've done of avoiding any particular kind of writing schedule for myself. I tend to write these days when the spirit moves me and, let's be honest, that's sometimes a long wait.
I wrote Lost Edens in a matter of a month or so with full days of writing day after day and I worry sometimes that maybe that's the kind of schedule I need to be a writer. That I'll never be the get up at 4:00 a.m. and write for four hours before the day starts kind of person. I wonder how many more authors there would be in the world if they didn't have to fit writing around life? Hm. Faulty argument here, I suppose, if you think of Stephen King and J.K. Rowling who wrote around very full lives.
The one thing about travel, even if it is to go stay in a ghost town of a downtown and spend beautiful days in conference rooms, is that it helps you to see your "real life" a bit clearer. Maybe I can get home and find more time to put a word or two down on paper.
September 29, 2011
Bright Sunshiny Day
The picture didn't turn out too well but the white that's smudged all around are clouds, not snow. The clouds were really concentrated over certain areas and then all around were these beautiful, glowing swathes of a bright sunshiny day. It was funny to think that there were people who lived under the clouds who didn't know that just a few miles away it was a gorgeous day, and that the clouds would be moving on soon and they'd have a gorgeous day, too. It reminded me of the Thomas Edison quote: "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."
Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now
Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now
September 27, 2011
Readings and Thank Yous
I didn't write much about the book party my parents had a few weeks ago. It was fantastic. My mom really knows how to put together a nice gathering and we had over 100 people come and go. Taking a cue from Jay and Pixie's party in July, my dad asked me to read an excerpt. We were outdoors so I didn't want to read too long and Fr. Mike was there so I thought I'd read the short little bit about he and I sitting in the same backyard and talking about vows after I first came home from San Diego.
It was much more emotional than I expected, not because of the subject matter but because Fr. Mike's kindness at that time and over the years is overwhelming. He's another "character" I might never be able to thank properly.
In my dad's introduction before I read he said there are lots of reasons not to write a book and there are even more reasons not to write this book (Lost Edens) but that he was proud that I had. And I'm glad I did for no other reason than people like Fr. Mike and Dr. Miller can get a glimpse at how much they really positively affected another person's life. Thanks, again, to everyone who came and thanks to the Bensons for the picture!
It was much more emotional than I expected, not because of the subject matter but because Fr. Mike's kindness at that time and over the years is overwhelming. He's another "character" I might never be able to thank properly.
In my dad's introduction before I read he said there are lots of reasons not to write a book and there are even more reasons not to write this book (Lost Edens) but that he was proud that I had. And I'm glad I did for no other reason than people like Fr. Mike and Dr. Miller can get a glimpse at how much they really positively affected another person's life. Thanks, again, to everyone who came and thanks to the Bensons for the picture!
September 26, 2011
Cranky Old Dogs
The good news is that Huey is very, very nice to me. The bad news is that he doesn't like many people. Huey let my neighbor know what he thought of him tonight and even though I agree with Huey, it was a bit unfortunate that we scared the neighbor back into his house.
I was thinking that maybe Huey will turn into a super mellow old, old man because 8 years has mellowed him quite a bit already. Then I thought of the dog at the Princess of Wales pub in Stratford (East London, not outside of London). No pictures of the dog because no one could get close enough but he was this tiny, ancient little white dog who was losing all his fur.
The last I saw of this little dog was as I was rushing past him to get upstairs to retrieve very nice, very expensive perfume I'd left in the bathroom the day before (it was long gone, of course). I rushed right past and then something made me turn around. He looked so sweet and my heart went out to this little rough-looking guy who was slowly making his way out of this world. I reached out my hand to smooth what hair was left on his little head and he came to life: barking, growling, on all four tiny feet, barking, barking, barking. I could still hear him as I made my way down the stairs out the door to the street below.
I thought of him today because I think that could be a glimpse of Huey's future. Hopefully a decade from now, though, and without the hair loss.
Our room at the Princess of Wales was the window on the far right on the second floor, directly above the karaoke stage on the first floor. I could lie in bed and be face to face with passengers on the top deck of a bus. It was pretty awesome.
I was thinking that maybe Huey will turn into a super mellow old, old man because 8 years has mellowed him quite a bit already. Then I thought of the dog at the Princess of Wales pub in Stratford (East London, not outside of London). No pictures of the dog because no one could get close enough but he was this tiny, ancient little white dog who was losing all his fur.
The last I saw of this little dog was as I was rushing past him to get upstairs to retrieve very nice, very expensive perfume I'd left in the bathroom the day before (it was long gone, of course). I rushed right past and then something made me turn around. He looked so sweet and my heart went out to this little rough-looking guy who was slowly making his way out of this world. I reached out my hand to smooth what hair was left on his little head and he came to life: barking, growling, on all four tiny feet, barking, barking, barking. I could still hear him as I made my way down the stairs out the door to the street below.
I thought of him today because I think that could be a glimpse of Huey's future. Hopefully a decade from now, though, and without the hair loss.
Our room at the Princess of Wales was the window on the far right on the second floor, directly above the karaoke stage on the first floor. I could lie in bed and be face to face with passengers on the top deck of a bus. It was pretty awesome.
Fool's Parade
I just saw this picture of me, Siena, and Huey coming up to my parents' house and it reminded me of a man I worked with in one of my first jobs out of college. He was older and well-intentioned but liked to say things like "Well, this must be the fool's parade" when my department would walk by on our way to a meeting room.
It never bothered me much; I categorized it as one of those sayings people spit out without thinking. It really, really bothered my boss, though, which I didn't know until the day she finally said something back. It was a typical morning with the five of us in the PR department walking by the fundraising department. Older coworker emerges from office, says: "Well, this must be the fool's parade." My boss responds: "If it were, Joe, then you'd be the leader."
And that was the end of the fool's parade comments.
It never bothered me much; I categorized it as one of those sayings people spit out without thinking. It really, really bothered my boss, though, which I didn't know until the day she finally said something back. It was a typical morning with the five of us in the PR department walking by the fundraising department. Older coworker emerges from office, says: "Well, this must be the fool's parade." My boss responds: "If it were, Joe, then you'd be the leader."
And that was the end of the fool's parade comments.
