I managed to set fire to my lunch, again. Those that follow my blog may recall this http://chris-r-evans.livejournal.com/43080.html

Happily, no oven mitts were incinerated this time, only spaghetti. I had the water on boil and as I always do took the spaghetti strands and snapped them in half over the pot. A few errant strands managed to fall under the pot and catch fire (did I mention I have a gas stove?) In retrospect, I suppose the first thing I should have done was turn the burner off. Instead, I raced around looking for a pair of needle nose pliers with which to delicately pluck the burning spaghetti from the flame while simultaneously stirring the spaghetti that made it into the water. Not sure what to call it, but I think I might have invented a new way to serve spaghetti, that is if you like blackened, crunchy bits mixed in. I thought the sauce might mask the charred flavor.

It doesn’t.

Hard to believe I’m still single…

When I write I imagine my heroes looking like this, albeit with a sword or musket casually resting on their broad shoulders…and not looking quite so dorky.

It’s simple, it’s straight forward, and it will be the hardest thing I’ve ever attempted. My resolution? Be honest with myself. About everything. Sounds easy enough when I write it, but the ramifications loom before me like thunder clouds. This is going to hurt. The thing of it is, I know I won’t succeed, not completely, and I’m ok with that. We need a certain degree of self-deception and rationalization in order to survive in this world, but that rationalizing begets more until it’s easy to view black as white and up as down.

I had a hell of a 2009, and through its many vagaries what was left to bring forward into 2010 was my realization that if I can’t be honest with myself then everything that follows will be skewed, refracting my life through a succession of prisms until I won’t be able to recognize myself in the mirror. Ok, that’s a bit melodramatic, but you get the point.

So here’s to 2010 being the most frightening and rewarding year yet.

I’ve noticed a lot of bloggers listing all the books they read this year. They are rightly proud of their achievement. Reading is an activity that should be encouraged. The reward, as I see it, lies more in what one gets out of a book than in the number tallied though I do see the essence of truth in Stalin’s observation that “quantity has a quality all its own.” Reading is almost always instructive, even if (or perhaps because) the writing is bad.

I’ve never kept a list of the books I’ve read. Those that resonate with me stay with me always, and those that don’t drift away. I’ve also noticed that this internal list is constantly changing. Some grow stronger, etching their meaning ever deeper into my being while others that once captivated me get replaced with something else. It’s very much a living, sentient thing.

In other news, there’s a new interview with yours truly over at elbakin.net, the great French fantasy website run by Emmanuel Chastellière. If you’re up for it, you can read it in French – http://www.elbakin.net/fantasy/news/Un-entretien-exclusif-avec-Chris-Evans or English http://www.elbakin.net/fantasy/news/Un-entretien-exclusif-avec-Chris-Evans2 Personally, I think I sound much more sophisticated and certain of things in French. I should speak French more often…or as I don’t really speak French, just hire a full time translator.

Oh, and in a few hours it’s about to become 2010 here. I think I’m supposed to go to Times Square and shout. Maybe at a police officer on a horse. That could be fun. For the horse. They don’t wear those metal shoes just for show. Oops, I think my suicidal tendencies are showing again 🙂

Bonne Année!

Cheers, mes amis,

Chris

If you’re eagerly awaiting the film adaption of the Hobbit then you’ll be happy to know it remains on schedule according to producer Peter Jackson. Casting has begun and filming should begin this summer. Here’s a link to an interview Jackson gave last week:

http://www.heatvisionblog.com/2009/12/peter-jackson-talks-hobbit.html

In other news, I’m back from Florida and it’s freezing here in New York City! My blood must have thinned out a bit in the sunny south. I need to re-acclimatize myself quick because I want to get back out running, but I think if I went today I probably wouldn’t get past the first coffee shop.