MATTERS TO AMUSE AND ASTOUND

Spotted today on South Main Street in Canandaigua: A pedestrian jaywalking directly behind a state trooper's car, with state trooper inside.

That takes a certain helping of demented chutzpah. But then again, troopers don't really handle jaywalking; that's in the city cops' purview. So demented chutzpahed jaywalker got away with it.

Spotted today at the library: A book titled Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul.

The franchise has apparently reached its outer limits. (Though watch: Next week they'll come out with Chicken Soup for the Outer Limits Soul.)

Also spotted today: leopards and Dalmatians

Current state o' mind: Bemused


Current book: The Science Fiction Century, a short-story anthology edited by David G. Hartwell. Just started it yesterday and have read two of the stories: "Beam Us Home" by James Tiptree Jr. (whom I never knew was really a woman), which paid subtle homage to "Star Trek" in its story of a young man who, in the back of his mind, considered himself a researcher left behind in a backward time by the NCC1701 crew, while knowing they were fictional. He finds himself rattled when on the front lines of a dirty chemical war in Venezuela . "Ministering Angels" was by C.S. Lewis -- I'd never read any of his short science fiction of the 50s/60s, and this one is vintage Lewis while at the same time kind of unexpected: A research crew on Mars finds themselves visited by a second ship from Earth bearing -- as decided by psychological bureaucrats -- prostitutes to relieve their tensions. Though actually, the only ones they could find were a very large 70-something hooker a couple dozen years past her prime, and a humorless psychological bureaucrat who thinks only in ideology ... Science fiction is just plain limitless in subject, theme, tone, etc. Next up: Edgar Pangborn's "The Music Master of Babylon."

I GOTS A STORY TO TELL

The novel remains slow going -- it's only one of several projects I have going on. Plus, I'm not going to push myself; I want it to remain fun. Fiction writing is, for me, both enjoyable pastime and discipline -- but I try not to overdo the discipline aspect, or it's no longer an enjoyable pastime. As with most things, it's a matter of balance.

I am, however, thinking of taking one of the chapters I've written and, with just a minor tweak or two, submitting it to some markets as a short story. It's the one chapter I've written that can stand by itself, though it is tied to the plot as a whole. Long as I can maintain the copyright -- I'll have to research the markets and see what rights I retain. That's assuming I can sell the thing anyplace. I'm thinking of starting near the top -- Fantasy & Science Fiction, where I'm competing with real, live pros -- and then working my way down ... I'm fully expecting a few drawers full of rejection notes, as is par for the course. Maybe by the time I get the story sold, if ever, the novel will be done! Then it's a matter of finding markets for that, which will be even harder, because that's one weird monstrosity, a Frankenstein of styles.

Gawrsh, if I sell this thing -- novel or short story -- I'll be a pro. Of sorts. And the cosmos gets ever stranger.

Current state o' mind: Hopeful