Summer started with a lot of good intentions. The Summer of Proust initiative continued with The Captive, while a flurry of activity found me deep into preliminary work on a new writing project, powered by Ritual Coffee’s Teenage Riot Espresso, found here in town at Luke’s Drug Mart, with a mind to have a first manuscript draft done by the end of summer.

(Not sure if I liked the taste of the Creme de Violette or Glorious Angst best but the Sonic Youth song has always been a favourite.)

Calgary Folk Festival is this week and When Words Collide is right around the corner, but I’ll be laying low as I’ve spent the better part of the last two weeks filling my journal pages in the back of various European concert halls as I helped chaperone members of the Calgary Youth Orchestra. It was a great experience that saw me gain some writing time while the orchestra played in places like these:

Godollo Palace, outside of Budapest

Haydenhall, Esterhazy Palace, Eisenstadt

Votivkirche, Vienna

 Muth Hall, Vienna Boys’ Choir Concert Hall, Vienna

 Krzysztof Penderecki Concert Hall, near Krakow