"I have always found it difficult to start [writing] with a definite idea about a character, or even a definite emotion. . . . But if I start with a pond that is being drained because of a diesel fuel leak, and a cow named Hortense, and some blackbirds flying over, and a woman in the distance waving, then I might get somewhere." - Bobbie Ann Mason
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I like that quotation because I usually start work on a play, story or poem after a striking image has popped into my head.

I'm house/dog sitting for friends for a little while, so I'm not home often. That's why I'm not making daily blog entries. I just finished marking 20 university exams (with nobody failing!) and doing my income tax. It's been a very hectic week, including some fast trips (30 minutes each way on foot) between my friends' house and my apartment when I realized that something I needed was at home. David is staying there tonight and probably Saturday night. Then I take over again.

"Confront the dark parts of yourself. . . . Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing." - August Wilson

"Bad luck at fishing and worse with women made me what little writer I am." - Padgett Powell

One of the times I felt most alive in the last couple of years was at a Buddhist temple in Cambodia. I used my limited French and Japanese to translate for the temple's caretaker (who spoke Cambodian and some French) and a Japanese tourist (who was interested in Buddhism and in the destructive Khmer Rouge era of Cambodian history). While my brain was trying not to confuse English, French and Japanese, it struck me that if it weren't for this particular Canadian, these two Asians would not be able to communicate with each other.

I've spent a lot of time and money travelling in Asia over the years. I don't have a car or a house. I make less money per year than most of my friends. But I've had some wonderful experiences: on the road, on the stage and on the page.