First Post of 2011, Part 2

Here’s the rest of the list I was working on yesterday.

1. One of my dearest friends, Dan Kinney, played his first solo show in December. He recorded the performance, but I haven’t received a copy yet. If you follow the link provided above,  you can check out a couple of sample songs from his performance at the Nighlight in Chapel Hill, as well as a few demo tunes. I am excited for, and proud of, him.
2. Speaking of Dan, this past week he informed me that he’s working with The Future Kings of Nowhere (FKoN) again. Both Shayne Miel and Dan were the driving forces behind the first FKoN album. I am somewhat obsessed FKoN; they are amazing friends and my favorite band of the 21st century so far. Shayne has been battling cancer for the past year, and I was very happy to hear that he’s working on music again. The demo ep released last year was wonderful, in all its pared down glory, and I’m hoping those tunes are laid down in the studio.
3. New experiences, and the literary inspiration they provide, are my driving force for the next year. Last month, I took a trip to Aspen to visit a new friend. The town was lovely and I enjoyed being there. I had some unbelievably awesome food during the trip. But I learned something about myself that I would not have known without visiting: high altitudes do not agree with me. I was fine the first two days, but the constant driving up and down mountains started to make me queasy by the third day; not fun. If I hadn’t taken the trip, I wouldn’t have known. That, in and of itself, has spurred some interesting new short stories that I wouldn’t be able to write with authority otherwise.
4. Yes, I am writing more. However, not being in my new house, and staying with others, has made it difficult to get too deep into anything. I’m writing my short stories and a bit of porn. I finally started working on my idea for a novel for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), but it, unfortunately, coincided with my big move. So I haven’t gotten too far into that idea. On the short story front, I trying my best to garner new experiences to breathe life into new characters and ideas. As a result, I have a new-found appreciation for my repeated heartaches and related false starts.
5. Another dear friend of mine, Dr. Melissa Ditmore, released two books in 2010: Prostitution and Sex Work and Sex Work Matters,  a collection of “pioneering essays on the economics and sociology of sex work.” I bought Sex Work Matters last year, but I haven’t gotten Prostitution and Sex Work yet. I was lucky to see an early copy of Prostitution and Sex Work,”a historic overview of this controversial topic” and I think it’s one of the best books on the subject that I have ever read. Anyone with even the slightest interest in the issue should read, and own, Prostitution and Sex Work.

Thus concludes another list edition. (I have yet to proofread both Part 1 and Part 2; we all know I’m lazy on the blog proofreading front.)