The Fun in Design

I've been having much more fun lately picking theme after theme after Wordpress theme to don my blog with than writing. Or so it would seem. This could very well be the last post till sometime in 2008 or it could be my version of gearing up for National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo as it is known in familiar circles. No it doesn't start until November, but I gotta brush the dust off.

There are numerous reasons for my blogging distance. None of them are important but suffice it to say I've got words pouring from my nether regions in other genres. Of course there's a non-fiction project that's been well under way for way too long. But I'm the farthest on it I've ever been. There are even some non-fiction short story situations I've been brewing.

Then there's NaNoWriMo. While I can't start writing till November 1, I am allowed to start thinking of what I'll write. I figure it'll be a good time to try my hand at making up stories. Or, rather, taking stories I've lived, watched, and ducked from and changing facts and names to protect the innocent (or guilty as the case may be). I'll try and not conk out mid-month -- 50,000 words in thirty days might be doable. Especially if I train. Meanwhile, I've developed a fascination, perhaps even an addiction, for 19th century American history. This interest would have helped me much more in high school or even college, but I suppose if it takes Abe Lincoln and Henry Ward Beecher to make it happen then it's just gotta be.

It began with a book called Lincoln's Melancholy by Thomas Wolf Shenk, which investigates Lincoln's, well, melancholy and how he used it to be the president he was. Then there was Manhunt by James L. Swanson, which is about the search for that damn Booth guy. It was a stressful read, because, despite the fact of history, I secretly hoped Lincoln wouldn't go to the theatre that night. What're you gonna do?

More recently, I was all up in The Most Famous Man in America by Debby Applegate. She won a Pulitzer Prize for Biography for her troubles, which began when she was a doctoral student at Yale. One of the best parts about reading the book, besides learning about the crazy guy who liked to talk, wear good clothes, and love some god, was having it in my bag as I sat in a Brooklyn courtroom to see whether I'd have to serve on a jury.

Turns out the courtroom is less than a mile from where Beecher preached at Plymouth Church. There's also a statue of him in the court's courtyard. I stared at it for a long time, knowing he walked, lived, preached and stepped out on his wife in that area. Yes, I was rather star-struck by a statue. There are worse things.

This first post back will have to end here, as to go into everything else I've been doing, thinking, feeling and seeing would take more energy than I've got at 4:56 on Saturday morning. But I'd like to be back. We'll see how far my training gets me.