Chapters 3 and 4 are "in the can"

They've been edited for sense and content and input into the computer. I'm 30% done with the text edits. Still need to do the book tour installment for them. I'm getting there. It's been very busy, lately, and I'm actually in a state of rebellion about getting down to WORK. I'm looking for a job, so the part of me that wants to be free and easy and not be encumbered by commercial concerns, is resisting finishing Fuel.

But looking back on that time, I'm struck by all the lessons it held -- not just about making sure you have a full tank as you motor across the countryside, but a whole bunch of other lessons about globalization and how I relate to it all. I have to say, I'm seeing myself in a new light, rehashing those experiences, and I see how the past five years have really changed me a great deal. There's an innocence in that book that pre-dates the September 11 attacks. There's a willingness to wonder and push envelopes and just surrender to an experience, that I haven't felt in several years. There's a dedication to my work and a willingness to maintain focus, no matter what the price, that is dissipated somewhat in the wake of my increasing disenfranchisement from the world around me, as a result of socio-political pressures. And there's a distinct lack of balance in my life, that has been rectified over the past couple of years -- as much due to disillusionment and bitterly failed promises, as due to coming to my senses.

I guess sometimes it takes a good kick in the ass to get you to smarten up. And a kick in the ass is what I've been getting, over and over and over, since that trip to Cornwall.

Well, life outside this study calls. Must away to my errands. But first, another cup of coffee...