I'M LEAVIN' ON A JET PLANE...

"The untented Kosmos my abode,
I pass, a willful stranger
My mistress still the open road
And the bright eyes of danger." Robert Louis Stevenson 1850-1894 - Ibid "Youth and Love"

The bags are packed. Everything is in order. I went for a delicious massage today and tomorrow I'll get my hair done. Then, by Monday evening we're off on another big adventure!

If you want to keep track of the journey, you'll have to log onto my travel blog:
http://travelthroughhistory.blogspot.com

First stop, London, then Wales, then onto Greece by May 30. I wont be back until the end of June.
So this is my last "Writer's Life" blog unless the Muse speaks to me urgently to pass on some writer's news. Of course when I get back, I'll continue writing here.

It's been a wild, (somewhat hair-raising) weekend what with the 'almost' loss of my bank cards, and all the last-minute preparations. Last night was a get-together with friends for dinner and later for dancing at the L.Q. -- an early birthday celebration for my friend Suzaki and me, as I'll be in Athens for my birthday and hers. I have this amazing group of friends (old and brand new) who are so supportive, generous and thoughtful. And there we were last night, the gang of us all having such great fun that I was actually asked by a young woman who we were and did we all work together? I guess the thing is at the L.Q. we are kind of the 'in crowd'.

So, before I sign off here, Scott has tagged me, and here's my response:
Total # of books I own? Probably close to 200. A large majority of them are history/research books and books about writing. Some of them are literary magzines.

The last book I bought? Steven Pressfield's "Gates of Fire". Ever since a friend gave me his
"Virtues of War" for my birthday last year, I have become a fan of Pressfield's historical fiction writing and I've read most of what he's written. "Gates of Fire" will be my reading material while I travel. (And yes, I've been to Sparta twice!)

The last book I read? One of the women in my travel writing class loaned me a book by an amazing Czech writer, Josef Skvorecky, "The Swell Season", and I am absolutely captivated by his writing. I've heard his "When Eve Was Naked" is excellent. Mr. Skvorecky now lives in Canada and he's written a great many books and won the Governor General's Award for literature.

Five books that mean a lot ot me? The Tao te Ching, by Lao-tzu. (And along with that,
The I Ching, which I consult regularly.
Robin Lane Fox's "Alexander the Great" one of the best books for researching Alexander.
Plutarch's "Lives of Alexander" and absolutely anything by Mary Renault, in particular
"Fire From Heaven", "The Persian Boy" and "The Mask of Apollo".
And, anything by Steven Pressfield, my current favorite. "Tides of War" was fascinating, and so was "Last of the Amazons."

Okay, that's probably more than five. And there are others, of course.
So, now it's your turn Di, Ozbuoy, Martha, Sam...consider yourself tagged!
(That means you have list yours on your blog site.)

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." Lao-tzu 604-531 B.C.