Saturday, July 25, 2015

Summer in Maine

It's been a good summer so far. We've only been to the beach a couple of times but we've also been to the lake and we've seen a lot of Sanford Mainers baseball games. I think this picture of my 9-year-old son fishing at Wadleigh Pond in Lyman best describes what summer in Maine is about:


Speaking of Sam, he's done a lot of writing this week. I worked at my desk while he sat in a chair in the corner of my office. We listened to Guns N' Roses for a while, until he told me it wasn't very good music for writing. Then I changed it to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and he loved it. He said, "You ever listen to music that's so good you almost have to stop listening because it makes you feel like you're going to explode?"

So while we listened to that, he wrote a 600-word story. The next day, he wrote a 1,200-word story. It's been a long time since I've done 1,800 words of fiction in two days. Not bad for a kid of 9.

I am still working on my novel, and I have ideas for several short stories. It's just finding time to get them down on paper. And I've been having problems with my neck and shoulders which limits the time I can write. But once I get my work station ergonomically correct, I'll be right back at it!

Speaking of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, I mentioned them (well, without Young) in my Sanford News column this week. It's about how high the cost of concert tickets are nowadays. Seriously, I like Cheap Trick, but in what universe are they worth $60 to see in concert?

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Top pick from the Springvale Library book sale

Yesterday was the Springvale Library annual book sale. I usually buy several books but I had my son with me this year so I didn't search as thoroughly as I normally do. I did get a Batman comic book compilation from 1966 that I think looks pretty cool:


I like that at the top it says, "Now America's No. 1 TV Hero." My son says he still is, because we watch the show every Saturday night.

I've read a few good books this summer. First there was Stephen King's Finders Keepers, and then Nick Hornby's Funny Girl, which was excellent. Now I'm reading Ball Four, the book about the 1969 MLB season by Jim Bouton which was considered so controversial. I'm really enjoying it.

This morning I wrote a newspaper column about the price of concert tickets, and this afternoon I'll probably work on my Coach Zim novel. But because it's about 80 degrees and sunny, I may get outside and enjoy the nice weather too.