Off, soon...

I got to get a handle on this blogging business. Its been months since I've written. After a very, very hard summer in NYC, I traveled to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I stayed on a fellowship at the Santa Fe Art Institute--a beautiful place. Great artists at the residency. Finished many chapters of a book; took 50 more pages of notes. Now I'm wrapping up business in NYC before leaving for Europe. In a few months, the first draft will be done.

I'm packing like crazy. Studying Spanish on my own. I feel like a 20 year old kid. Here are some pix from the Art Institute and also of Valley Grande, an ancient caldera located west of Los Alamos.

On a banka to a hidden cove-Zambales, Philippines

January and February in the Philippines...

Ucross, Wyoming at dusk

Hello!

This is the first paragraph of the first blog of my life. Since January, I've travelled to sandy islands in the South China Sea; watched fires in sugar cane fields at dawn; rode a bumpy jeepney gathering family members from the road to a family reunion on the other side of a Philippine province; climbed an extinct volcano on the island of Lanzarote, off the coast of Africa; and now I'm in Wyoming, typing from a cabin.

I'm currently doing a writing residency at the wonderful Ucross Foundation. I have a great studio on the first floor of the building I live in. I have the view of a field dotted with cotttonwood trees--high plains ecosystem, I think. The land stretches all around me--23,000 acres owned by the ranch, alone. I'm finishing up a script and a novel. On page 70 of the script, and when I reach p. 120, I'll go back to the book.

When I was in the Philippines, I wanted to write a day-to-day blog about my adventures. But alas! The only internet connection was in the bayan, the town, a few miles away. I had to content myself with the luxury of writing on a laptop.

There'll be more news. But welcome, welcome, all!

Peace--