Hunters & Gatherers: Looking To March

Eleanor says: I am setting the tone and atmosphere for the rest of my story -- the creation of it, at least. The "process," as I am reminded. My Biographer and I will be spending much of this week going through archived manuscript pages ... some of them 18 years old, and some of them, collected -- several inches high, maybe even a foot (I need to find a yardstick, actually). We plan to begin posting again (our final 31 entries) in earnest beginning Sunday, March 1, so please mark your calendars and -- please -- please, please, please -- come back for a look. Thank you. (I mean this as an "invitation," as I am reminded to write.) (Perhaps I am only setting part of the tone and only part of the atmosphere, but whatever happens, you can see it unfold.)

Eleanor, on a tangent or two

Eleanor: My Biographer and I are somewhere along the Atlantic Ocean, but he tells me we'll be back in The Little Room by next week. I have so much to tell you, I can't even begin here or I'll get carried away. As it is, I'm getting these words in while my Biographer is making friends with the seagulls. I suppose that makes sense, since his honorary Native American name is "Brave Falling Feather." But we all need to be brave, yes? -- whether we're falling or not, or whether we're feathers or not. I don't even really know what the name means, but he tells me that it means as much as any name, which is really quite a lot. Now I fear I'm going off on all kinds of tangents, and it's because of everything I have to tell you! I need to wait, for now -- I know, I know. Oh, one more thing before my Biographer notices I'm here, typing. We are getting so close to Posting No. 500. I shouldn't even be using up one of the precious final postings. I just wanted to let you know that we're okay, and that we'll be home soon, and that Gatsby's green light will show us the way. Okay -- if you want more words about our adventures, just scroll down. We don't keep too many secrets. It's all here. Most of it, at least. All of it so far, anyhow.

Eleanor Hands Over Definitions:

Eleanor hands her Biographer a list of words, and their definitions. "We need to remember these," she says with conviction. "We can define the words, or let them define us. It's our choice, right? But everything will fit together through these, the good parts -- and even the bad parts."

Her Biographer looks at the list, sets it down, and says a simple: "Okay."

*
Serendipity - the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for. Etymology: from its possession by the heroes of the Persian fairy tale "The Three Princes of Serendip" - Date: 1754.

--------
Kismet - Destiny; fate.
---------
Destiny -
1. something to which a person or thing is destined: FORTUNE.
2. a predetermined course of events often held to be an irresistible power or agency -
synonym see FATE.
-----------
Fortune -
1. often capitalized: a hypothetical force or personified power
that unpredictably determines events and issues favorably or unfavorably.
2. obsolete: ACCIDENT, INCIDENT.
3. a: prosperity attained partly through luck: SUCCESS
b: LUCK - the turns and courses of luck accompanying one's progress (as through life).
4: DESTINY, FATE; also: a prediction of fortune.
------------
Fate -
1. the principle or determining cause or will by which things in general
are believed to come to be as they are or events to happen as they do: DESTINY.
2. a: an inevitable and often adverse outcome, condition, or end.
b: DISASTER; especially: DEATH.
3. a: final outcome.
b: the expected result of normal development.
4. plural, capitalized: the three goddesses who determine the course of human life
in classical mythology.
synonyms FATE, DESTINY, LOT, PORTION, DOOM mean a predetermined state or end.
FATE implies an inevitable and usually an adverse outcome.
DESTINY implies something foreordained and often suggests a great or noble course or end.
LOT and PORTION imply a distribution by fate or destiny,
LOT suggesting blind chance,
PORTION implying the apportioning of good and evil.
DOOM distinctly implies a grim or calamitous fate.
------------
Providence - 1. a: often capitalized: divine guidance or care.
b: capitalized: God conceived as the power sustaining and guiding human destiny.

(Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Eleanor & Her Biographer: On The Road

Eleanor and her Biographer are spending much of February on the road, collecting thoughts and words as they go. They plan to return to the refurbished Little Room, with the manic energy necessary for the final 34 postings on This Side of Paradise.

They have jointly issued the following statement:

"We thank you for reading, and sincerely hope that you will scroll down on this page -- if you have not already -- and read some of our adventures to date. This has been a year-long journey into the creative process. We plan to finish our ascent to Posting Number 500 with both drama and a bit of whimsy. We hope you will keep following the 'ascent' with us, right up to the wire. We appreciate your patience."

In addition, Eleanor has issued
her own statement:

"I collected some of my moondust (I finally remembered where I hid my ultra-secret stash) and traded it in for several more Moleskine notebooks. I'm not going to let a single word from a single thought get away from my Biographer and my story. I like road trips, though, and we've seen some magical things so far. Like the Full Moon, happening today. I've already collected enough new moondust to replace my stash, and it should last for the rest of the month. It's going to be moondust tea and inspiration and perhaps, if I'm lucky, I'll get to interview my Biographer again (see January 22, 2009). He thinks I'm keeping things from him, which I probably am to be honest, but really, I mean, really -- nobody's ever truly an open book, and, well, he's been keeping a lot from me, this I know, and I need to see how what he's been keeping from me relates to his writing, and then, specifically, what it means for me, you know? Now, I have one last comment to make, and I hope that everyone reading this will pay special attention, because --."

(Please Note: The last section of Eleanor's statement is smudged -- most likely from the abundance of moondust. We regret that we have been unable to reach Eleanor to fill in the blanks.)

(Addendum: Eleanor insists that she didn't smudge anything and blames the messenger.)

*

"In my writing I am acting as a map maker, an explorer of psychic areas, a cosmonaut of inner space, and I see no point in exploring areas that have already been thoroughly surveyed."
-- William S. Burroughs