Final thoughts on travel writing

I get a lot of attention when I am out in public and writing. I could be anywhere, even in a coffee shop, and inevitably people stare and ask questions (as if it isn't obvious what I am doing).

One time I was at the cottage by myself overnight, and I took my journal down to the pier and sat there writing. A lot of people stared at me as they walked by, and this one guy (I can't even remember his name now) came up and sat on the bench opposite of me--I mean, facing out to the opposite side of the pier. I actually wrote about how annoyed I was with him, as he continually stared over at me, and I could see he was straining to read what I was writing.

Finally, I looked up and he spoke to me, and of course, asked what I was writing. I was polite, but cool. Somehow he mentioned that he played the guitar, and as it happened, I was just reading "Zen Guitar" that weekend (very very cool book) (and check out that website too--extra cool--I just found it! :) and I play guitar as well.

We ended up hanging out around town for the rest of the evening, blabbing about music. It was really a nice evening in the end, and I wrote a short story that incorporated some of what happened.

Funny, that story just reminded me of running into this Parisian man in the Albright Knox Art Gallery when I was writing in my journal there, sitting in front of Matisse's "View of Notre Dame in the Late Afternoon." I'll save that cool story for another post.