a Byronesque adolescent in Saudade

having finished reading Nova Swing, my quickest read in a while, i also gobbled up Paul Di Filippo's Victoria, first in his much hooplahed 'Steampunk Trilogy', well within the succeeding twenty-four hours (before my full response to Nova Swing could finally sink in and put my reading brain into hibernation)...will be posting my thoughts on those and maybe a few others over on the other life in a few...i hope...if i can properly wrap my head around them. 's been a while since i did a proper blogpost, yeah?

meanwhile...i've been wondering if Saudade is where i've been these past few days; more like weeks, probably months: this blog, of late, has fallen into deeper, more pathetic, ruefully solipsistic disrepair, and the last few posts, i feel, have been a bit too confessional, a little too close to where i've *really* been in the past few so's and so's...and i've been wondering: where have i been taking myself to dredge these things up?

a friend reminded me today of the old Byronesque incarnation of myself in my adolescence, and while the description made me smile, i had to wonder what that meant, and could only conclude:

'we are utterances, not makers'

John Clute, The Guardian, on Nova Swing

*

i've been friends with 'E. Cross Saltire' for the better part of my life now, and while our intellectual crossfire has left many an upturned (empty) bottle of rum, vodka and/or gin in its wake (hardly ever beer--he 'can't' drink beer in the same way he 'can't', to Mabel's continued delight, eat 'peanuts'), he still manages to astonish me:

http://nontrivialpursuit.blogspot.com/

on the 'literary front', as much as i'd like to throw my lot in on M. John Harrison's rather extreme opinion of 'world-building', and perhaps have myself branded an 'Harrison Apologist', i see Banzai Cat has already gone and done covered that side of things better than i would've done without launching on another full-on rant that would probably have gotten me in some sort of trouble:

http://estranghero.blogspot.com/2007/02/imaginary-worlds-in-house-divided.html

nevermind the 'elitist' comment he managed to sneak into the whole thing at the end. (wink wink.)

if you haven't been there, or haven't been paying attention, other things of writerly interest may be found on Mr Harrison's blog:

Uncle Zip's Window

right. well, wasn't that just a cheeky little post? just thought i'd remind everybody (that's right, all three of you who actually read this tripe--unless you've all buggered off to better things) what it *used* to be like around here.

and that, yes: i'm still around; if not *quite* where i'd rather be.

sigh.