The Brink of Autumn

It’s been a rather long and dreary week.  I can’t say that I’ve done as much writing as I should have done; just a few bits here and there.  I guess I’ve been distracted yet again!

Aside from the usual humdrum work, I went off to see a play called “Is That a Bolt in Your Neck?” It’s a rather amusing parody of Frankenstein; the actors were marvelous and the production was very well-done.  And I had a good laugh or too.

I took a bit of a walk around Fountains Abbey.  This abbey has always been a favorite of mine; it’s very distinctive with its towering arches and its tall square tower, and it has an expansive and picturesque garden.  At this time of the year, the surrounding trees and foliage is starting to transform from green to gold; autumn is surely upon us.  I took some decent photos with my new camera; they are probably the highest quality images I’ve taken at the place yet.  And with its unique setting that turns all but one color to black-and-white, I produced some very interesting images.  Some of them might be inspirational for a future story idea.

Yes, as we draw closer to the brink of autumn time, I find myself thinking about a story idea I conceived of last year.  I have a possible title, a possible subject, maybe a character, but no real story or plot to go with it (it’s strange how some of my favorite ideas form that way).  At its core though, I know that I want to focus on the feeling and essence of autumn time.  There is something about the fall that feels special in its own way; certainly not as warm and uplifting as spring or summer, but autumn time still retains a semblance of the light of summer, while simultaneously touching on the cold of winter.  And in this nether-season, when the vegetation turns to red and gold and the harvesting begins, it seems like the perfect setting for an unusual and atmospheric story.

The more I think about it, the more I wonder if I should experiment with writing a more surrealist story.  In the same vein as certain films I’ve seen lately (“Donnie Darko,” “Triangle,” or “Mulholland Drive”), perhaps it would be interesting to tell a story that operates on its own rules in its own environment, but without a direct explanation.  This would force the audience to really think and figure the story out on their own (is it a dream? Is it all in the character’s mind? Is it a parallel universe?).  Such a thing could probably be incorporated well into my autumn story idea; it will require a lot more thought and development though.

But right now, I am distracted yet again.  Not just by this blog, but also by the brand-new PlayStation 3 that arrived in the mail.  Having accidentally dropped my old “phat” model and breaking it beyond all known repair (do’h!!!), I decided to invest in a new slim model with the PS Move bundle included.  The Move feature is quite slick, and is actually rather invigorating beating virtual people up by swinging my arms around instead of pushing buttons.  After over a month without being able to play PS3 games, I have grown a little anxious to resume playing a number of favorites.  I really should have used the time to get reacquainted with good old-fashioned PC gaming, but I never did.  It seems that the PS3 has spoiled me and turned me into a console fanboy.

With a new PS3 at hand, I’m now spending time reinstalling, re-downloading, and re-enabling all my old favorite features.   It’ll be fun re-exploring the games, but hopefully I’ll find time somewhere to resume working on a manuscript.