Friday, May 13, 2011

New Blog Series (Trying This Again)

I posted yesterday about a new project I'm starting, but the post seems to have disappeared during the Blogger service issues. As luck would have it, I don't have a saved copy of the post, so I'm just starting over again. I also want to say thank you to aahsome, L.G. Smith, D.U. Okonkwo, and Kendal. I did not get a chance to reply to your kind comments on the original post before it vanished.

Also thank you to Yvonne and Caren for your comments on the post that ended up being restored. I'm sorry I'm a little messed up here with duplicate posts! 

I had really bad timing as far as the service disruption, as I had fallen behind on my blog visits and was happy to get caught up yesterday. From what I understand though, all of the comments written yesterday also disappeared, so I'm quite bummed about that. I hope to get caught up again over the weekend. 

Anyway, back to the subject at hand.

I am starting a new project based on the John Steinbeck novel Travels With Charley. My project? Travels With Clancy. It's not exactly original, I know.

Unlike Steinbeck and his dog Charley, Clancy and I will not be traveling from one end of the United States to the other. Instead, we are going to explore the Midwest. Or at least our little corner of it.

My plan is for Clancy and me to visit parks, nature preserves, and other dog-friendly places here in Cincinnati and the surrounding area, and also to take day trips (as well as a few overnight ones) around Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. I hope to go to a new place each week, although I know weather and time constraints may be a factor. But, I'm hoping to be as consistent as possible, and to explore at least two places a month.

When I first had the idea for this project, I was simply looking for dog-friendly places for Clancy and me to visit over the summer. But as I thought more about it, the project took on a broader scope. For most of my adult life, I've wanted to go somewhere else and be someone else, with no clear idea of where or who that would be. In the past few years, I've made an effort to be more accepting of who and where I am, and to be more appreciative of the here and now. So this series became an opportunity to find and explore the beauty in my own backyard, and, at the same time, to feel more comfortable in my own skin.

I'm also working on learning to view things through the eyes of a writer, and to take the time to pay more attention to the details of what is going on around me. I think this will be a perfect chance to get more practice in that regard, and to view both the new and the familiar from the perspective of a writer.

I originally planned to make this a summer project, but I decided instead to do it for a year, so that I could capture the changing seasons and various holiday activities in the area. So, from now until the summer of 2012, Clancy and I will be traveling.

I've got my notebook and my camera, and Clancy is all set to be my co-pilot. He's so excited about the chance to go on so many car rides, he even smiled a bit for the camera.


I'll be writing about our explorations, and sharing my observations of where we go and who we meet, in a blog series here. I hope you'll join Clancy and me on our travels!

22 comments:

  1. Hi Julie! Supposedly all this will be fixed and put back on...soon! Please see my newest post!

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  2. Thanks, Becky! I just saw your post, thanks for the heads-up. I guess if the old post comes back I'll delete this one LOL.

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  3. I love Travels with Charley, and I think Travels with Clancy is a great idea for a recurring blog theme. Nothing's new anyway, it's all in the telling. That's the challenging thing about writing, looking at something from a different perspective. Your project will definitely help you do that. I look forward to reading what you come with.

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  4. @Tim, thank you, I hope so. I love Travels with Charley too, such a great book.

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  5. I was wondering what happened to the comment on my one post, it probably got 'eaten' with Blogger's outage. I have Blogger e-mail me all comments on my blog so at least I still was able to read the comment. Hopefully at least some of the blogs you commented on have the e-mail notification.

    I really like your project idea, that sounds like it will be really fun for you and Clancy. I'm looking forward to your posts from the various places you both visit. Have you been to Big Bone Lick State Park? I was there years ago and it came to mind when you mentioned Kentucky.

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  6. I'm sorry you had to re-write your story. My blog
    re-appeared, without the comments. So thank you just in case I missed you. Back to you, I love your idea, and know that you will make Travels With Clancy an adventurous read! Clancy is adorable! Good luck and have fun! Julie

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  7. Hi,
    I had just mentioned I'd be looking forward to reading about your trips in the Midwest. This summer, we're taking a road trip from Southern Calfornia up to British Columbia, Canada.

    I'll be posting about that (when we stay in a hotel with wifi access.) sometimes we camp. :)

    Since being laid off, we've taken this opportunity to road travel the past 2 summers...driving from CA to Oregon. We'd be gone about 3-4 weeks.

    So, I look forward to us reading & sharing about our travels.

    Sandi
    http://www.ahhsome.wordpress.com
    Lake Forest, CA

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  8. That sounds like a fantastic idea, Julie! I can't wait to hear more about how it goes.

    I hear you with the blog comments - I was planning to spend Friday catching up! That certainly didn't work out!

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  9. What a great idea! I can't wait to read along on your travels. Have fun with it!!

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  10. @Claire, yeah, I get the same thing with e-mail notifications, so I'm glad for that at least. It was just weird to get the notices and then get "does not exist" when I tried to reply. Last week was definitely frustrating with Blogger! About Big Bone Park, that is one of the places on my list! It's only about 30 minutes from me, but I've never been. If it ever stops raining here Clancy and I are definitely going there. Thanks for your comments!!

    @Julie, thanks so much! Yeah, it's a shame everyone's comments on all the blogs are gone for good, but it's great at least the posts were restored.

    @ahhsome, thank you, I'm really looking forward to reading about your travels as well, that will be fun! Thanks for re-posting, I appreciate it.

    @Talli, thanks so much, I hope it will go well.

    @Kim, thank you! I think it will be fun, I'm anxious to get started.

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  11. Hi Julie! My post came back but only on my edit posts page & without comments. boo hoo. and just when I was getting back at it.
    I LOVE your idea. It has so many good points and will work as a spine for your blog. I think this daily writing practice really improves one's writing so all good. And Clancy will love it too.
    Jan Morrison

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  12. Hey, Juliet. I feel your pain with the Blogger disruption! I was unable to log in all on Friday, and lost loads of great comments from my Wednesday post. Oh, well. I look forward to reading more of your blog :o)

    DUO

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  13. @Jan, thank you! I hope the practice will be good for me, and I know Clancy and I will have fun. Thanks so much.

    @DUO, I know, the disruption was so annoying, I had the exact same thing happen as far as the comments. Thank you for reading! :)

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  14. What a fun project to take on. I hope the weather is great for you and you get to see tons.

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  15. First of all Blogger is a jerk! I lost a bunch of comments and I am too lazy to copy them from my email. Anyway this sounds like a lot of fun and very interesting. Clancy looks like an awfully cute travel buddy.

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  16. Yeah, who broke blogger. :)

    Sounds like a great new project and Clancy is mega adorable.

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  17. Hey - this is a really cool idea!! Lucky doggy :D

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  18. I'm looking forward to reading this series. You and Clancy will have a great time!

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  19. Oh, now this will clear up any writing block within 250 square miles! You've got it made. This will be so much fun for you and Clancy. Loved his smile, by the way. LOL Enjoy and let me know if you hit the Kansas City area. We've got some GREAT dog parks. ;D

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  20. @Donna, thank you! I hope we will get some decent weather soon so Clancy and I can get started. Lately we seem to get nothing but rain every day.

    @Jennifer, yeah, the whole Blogger mess was beyond irritating. I just hope it's all fixed now. Thanks so much, Clancy really is a cutie, and he loves riding in the car more than anything. :)

    @M Pax, thanks!! I'll pass on the compliment to Clancy. :D

    @Trisha, thank you!

    @Carol, I hope you will like the series, thanks so much.

    @Victoria, I hope so! Oh, Kansas City would be great, we're not planning on going that far now but who knows, maybe we'll end up extending our trips. :D Thank you!

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  21. New series sounds like a great idea. I look forwad to the postings.

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  22. @Retired Knitter, thank you! I hope you will enjoy them, thanks so much.

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