Seven Quick Takes Vol. 55

My intention to blog more is off to a slow start. Part of that is that I had a freelance job to complete this week, which occupied a lot of my writing time, and part of it is that I still haven’t quite worked out how best to schedule my time to get done everything I want to get done in a day. I try to put most of my efforts into fiction writing, so blogging (and email) kind of gets the short end of the stick, especially since I largely stay off the internet for most of the day

This week I listened to the audio version of From the Corner of His Eye by Dean Koontz, who has quickly become one of my favorite contemporary authors. Mr. Koontz generally seems to cater to dark science fiction or horror stories that are nevertheless laced with lots of hope and humor, which is pretty much exactly the sort of thing I like. I’ll have to write more about his work soon. By the way, when I say dark, I mean dark, as in ‘serial-killers, rapists, and lots of bad things happening to good people.’ For instance, From the Corner of His Eye featured long stretches from the point of view of a delusional psychopath who doesn’t have a single redeeming quality and divides his thoughts between considering what a wonderful, sophisticated man he is and fretting about how cruel the world is to him as he goes from one horrific crime to another. At the same time, though, his scenes are laced with a strange kind of pitch-black humor, since he’s really just such a pathetic loser you kind of have to laugh at him even as he makes your skin crawl.

As I think I mentioned before, I have what may be an unhealthy fascination with evil: crime, disaster, and even demonology and the occult (though I have the sense not to attempt any serious study of the latter two: I know enough of the subject to know that that would be a really stupid thing to do). I’m toying with the idea of trying to make a study of criminology, or at least to dip my toes in to see whether it interests me enough to pursue as a serious field of interest.

Don’t get me wrong: my interest in such things isn’t mere ghoulish fascination. Actually, as far as that goes, I’m more squeamish than anything and crime stories depress me as often as not. Rather, my interest is more as an off-shoot of my interest in self-defense issues. It’s a dangerous world out there, and I prefer to have an idea of what I’m up against. ‘Know thy enemy’ and all that.

My blood pressure’s going down fitfully, though it keeps flipping back up again, but at least it’s trending downward. Last weekend I ordered a salad as my main course at a restaurant for the first time in my life, and found that it was actually pretty tasty: chicken Caesar. Though it doesn’t really satisfy the insides proper, if you know what I mean, and I’m looking forward to the days when I’ll again be able to indulge in hearty foods at least some of the time (yes, I intend to keep bringing my weight down and watching my diet permanently, but giving up delicious meat is out of the question).

I’ve also been walking a lot: mostly down to the coffee shop and back to write and enjoy a nice cup of coffee and a baked good (neither is good for my blood, but I figure a small indulgence in the midst of a four-mile round-trip won’t hurt), but occasionally to the library (one mile) as well. Maybe it’s because it’s Ann Arbor and we’re a town of loonies, but I don’t find the selection particularly impressive. I’m gonna see if they have Inside the Criminal Mind next time I’m there.