I’m very, very tired.

The structure of my epic poem is a mix of poetry and pros. The main chapters, dealing with the main plot, and the spirit world, are in poetic form, as a dialogue between a voodoo priestess and her summoned muse. In between, are short little stories (I call them interludes) that indirectly go over the themes of the surrounding chapters, and tell independent stories set, mostly, in the real world.

When Neil Gaiman wanted to make one of his novels sound different, he decided to handwrite it, to change the rhythm of the sentences. So I tried that technique with the interludes only (to make them sound a little different than the chapters). I got a fountain pen and am using a journal I got as a gift (thanks Torrie! I read Patrick’s rune before every writing, to ward off writer’s block and darker things still).

I get a little freedom when I write the interludes, and lately, I’ve been writing them by the new pillar circle and fountain on campus, usually after midnight (they keep it lit up all night…and I like running water).

The other night I walked in the rain to clear my head on a plot point…it worked.

Tonight I set out to write a couple of interludes. One of them was not the first I”ve written, but I’ve decided to make the first interlude, as it sort of indirectly, in narrative, explains the form and shape of my book. Just a short interlude, and introduction to all the others. Well…words mounted as well as metaphysical theories and now I’ve found I’ve commented on the very nature of the universe and its shape…and it took all freaking night. I like it…but it wasn’t supposed to take so long (I guess delving into the secrets of the universe eats up time).

The other night, one of those new Coke machines (the ones that you can see the inner workings of) corrected itself. I’ve never seen this before. I typed in a combo of letter and number to get a cherry coke…and the little conveyer belt went up to the level…and there was a wine as the coke was supposed to fall out and then be conveyed to the slot…but there was just a wine, no coke, and the belt moved. The belt went down and then up again and tried again. No dice. The machine spat out my money and I tried a different coke and this time it worked. This is a big deal to me. Every machine I’ve ever dealt with has been apt to steal your money at the drop of your hat – to eat money or give the wrong product or give you back less change than you put in when you finally ask for it. This machine self corrected. If vending machines have gotten so honorable that they are willing to admit a mistake and fix it…maybe people can learn this too…

There’s more…but I have to sleep…