July 2008 - the SLO life

I moved into my new digs on the 2nd of the month.  I brought clothes, guitar, a couple of microphones, my computer, all my old writings, and not much else.  The first day I was there I went grocery shopping at the bottom of the hill at the organic food market, New Frontiers, and made sure to pick up a pack of cigarettes, a handle of gin, several small bottles of tonic, and a sackful of limes.  My mission, like my drink of choice, was clear.

Immediately upon arriving I had several ideas for what to do with projects I was working on.  I woke up, leisurely made breakfast, played guitar, got down to writing, had a drink, leisurely made dinner, read for a bit, went for a walk or a bike ride, etc.  Not that I stuck to a routine or anything.  Such a thing would have reeked of work and discipline.  Those were the typical elements of any given day, and they came and went as they pleased.

I kept a journal of my work.  Each night I would record what I had worked on that day, how much I had accomplished, and remember to myself any ideas I might have had about new projects or how to advance current ones.  I can see from my record keeping that in my first week there I wrote about 9,000 words over 3 projects.  I also had a nice day at the beach on the 4th of July, which ended with fireworks at a parent's beach house in Pismo.

Mid-month I was back in LA visiting my grandma and taking care of unemployment business, but after less than a week of that I ran straight back north and go to writing again.  I hosted my first couchsurfer, Olly, from England but making his way home from Korea at the time.  Before the end of the month I had started a new project, completed an old one, and made good headway on a couple in between.

Of course, by then I had discovered the television and Asimov's Foundation novels, so there days when I simply cooked, ate, read, watched a movie, talked to a friend, drank, smoked, and went right back to bed, sometimes without ever having put on real pants.  I was a writer!  I just had to write more...