Last Day In Pittsburgh, Marking The Spot

The last day in Pittsburgh. Tomorrow begins a new life -- still filled with words, but in vastly different surroundings. Going from a great old house built in 1919 to what I hope will be a great new place, built in 2005. Culture shock there, because I like the creaks and groans and the sense of spirits having decided to stick around for a while, being so accustomed to the current structure. I still imagine that in the quiet, I can hear music, and that it's coming from inside, somewhere -- but also like a memory from sometime long ago, and someone else's memory at that.

The next personal posting after today will travel your way some 600-plus miles from where I sit now, perhaps from a coffeehouse at first. I'll be able to observe the people. I suspect that Eleanor will be observing, too, and telling me everything I'd ever want to know about this person or that.

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The end goal of This Side of Paradise is 500 postings. We're more than 40 percent of the way there. If you stumble on this spot, mark it, and come back to visit. In the meanwhile, there are still I don't know how many thousands of words in the postings below, on the single long page, to catch up on. Scroll down, find a good spot to begin, and if you'd like to keep in closer contact, sent us an email (the left-side column has the contact information).

The creative process doesn't stop when someone moves from one physical space to another, or place to place, or even one emotional state to another. I'll be interested to see what my brain cells produce, heated up a bit from the summer temperatures. And, of course, there's still a novel to be finished before going back to a previous one, and to be finished with plenty of documentation along the way -- within the time constraints and remainder of this page. You've had tastings and other samples, but Eleanor really wants to shake up the world, even if it turns out to be just my own small canvas in this larger scheme of a world. I haven't reached the mythical "Page 43" yet.

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TO YOU: Whatever form the words embody your art, your senses -- from writing, to something to hang upon the wall, to music or film -- it's all good, and it all makes a difference. There are words in the images, and in the music, and on the page. Make whatever you create come from your heart, and you can't go wrong. That written, see you soon -- from This Side of Paradise -- in a week or two (I hope). And note this isn't a goodbye, but a weird sort of transition toward the unknown. Yes, it will be an adventure, because it needs to be. And that said, we'll save the rest until we have the chance to put it all down, in a good and entertaining order.

-- Geoff