1. Why do you blog?
I blog to keep track of what catches my eye from moment to moment, day to day. Blogging forces me to think about my gut reactions and put them into words, indirectly helping my fiction and poetry.
2. Which author and/or book has most influenced you?
Salinger’s THE CATCHER IN THE RYE. Holden Caulfield’s voice was the first I read to which I could relate fully. I try to engage the reader on the same level in my own writing.
3. Which three blogs do you most visit?
Sarah Weinman’s Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind, Lee Goldberg’s A Writer’s Life, and S.J.Rozan’s blog.
4. Why do you read fiction?
I’m fascinated by the places words on a page can take the imagination. When done well, a written passage can come to life more vividly than a movie because the reader has a hand in its presentation. I read to have this experience and to learn how to create it for others.
5. What makes you laugh?
People and their quirks.
Gerald So’s blog, If You Want To Know About My Life. . . is at: http://geraldso.blogspot.com/
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Jul 5th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
1. Why do you blog? - I blog to release myself, release my creativity, to empty myself,
so that all things following my emptiness can flow through me like the wind blows through a window - Fresh, and unfiltered. I am the window opening, and the dust and grime accumulating at the window seal are the entries in which I write - washing them away.
2. Which author and/or book has most influenced you? - Zen Mind, Beginners Mind by Shunryu Suzuki
3. Which three blogs do you most visit? - I’m still searching for blogs that I would like to frequent.
4. Why do you read fiction? - I don’t.
5. What makes you laugh? - fiction
Jul 6th, 2006 at 9:50 pm
Travis, I do believe that you’re playing little Zen tricks on us.
Am I wrong to think that there are hundreds or thousands of Zen and Taoist fictions stretching far back into the past, as there are, of course, in all known human cultures?
Jul 7th, 2006 at 1:32 am
John! Wow, Is this the first time I got you to post a reply to a comment of mine?
No Zen trickery here and I would think that you would be correct to think that there are hundreds or thousands of Zen and Taoist fictions stretching far back into the past, as there are, of course, in all known human cultures. Yes, I have read many of them, but in general, I normally do not go out looking to read fiction. Nevertheless, the entries in your blog continue to hold my interest.
Jul 7th, 2006 at 9:15 am
That’s great, Travis, that you find some of the posts interesting. Although it is fairly obviously so from your comments, which are often so self-evident that they don’t need a reply. Your comment on identity for example, I found so true that I might have said it myself and could only nod and smile.
But I think you’ll find that I did reply to at least two of your previous comments, the ones that didn’t leave me speechless . . .
And I still don’t really understand your take on fiction. You write poetry, don’t you. Do you regard that as something other than fiction?
But, hey, listen. I’d really like you to read a novel. How about it? Just one. What do you say?
Jul 7th, 2006 at 2:27 pm
Perhaps Travis should read ‘Albert Angelo’ by B S Johnson, who said ‘fiction is lying’ and that he wrote novels but not fiction. Very good novels. He wrote some good Zen attached to a bottle of brandy for the person who was to discover his body in the bath: ‘Barry — finish this’.
Jul 7th, 2006 at 2:35 pm
I understand, thank you for explaining. Yes, I will read a novel at your request. Which one would you like me to read?
Jul 7th, 2006 at 4:48 pm
This could be good. A particular novel doesn’t immediately come to mind. I don’t think BS Johnson quite fills the bill here. If Travis agrees I’ll put the question in a separate post and ask others for suggestions.
Jul 7th, 2006 at 8:00 pm
Putting the question in a seperate post is fine with me.
Jul 8th, 2006 at 2:00 am
OMG! I just now realized something about these “Five Questions” posts. As you know since your wrote it, they are the answers from the persons name after the title! I didn’t even realize that till now. I’m so embarrassed for putting my own answers! Now I feel like a scatter brain for not seeing that.
Jul 8th, 2006 at 11:30 am
Something for Travis to read. . .