Improvement on the Writing Front

I've come to realize that I have so much more to learn about good writing and how to become a better writer. I indulged in De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period, one of J.D. Salinger's Nine Stories, marveling at the smooth, descriptive yet terse prose in a riveting story encapsulated in 12 or so pages. Good reading begets good writing, they say.

Today I commence a 10-part series on what I've dubbed The Pantheon of Animals, a bombastic and exhaustive collection and enumeration of animals that we eat for food. You can track these articles in FoodGPS, on the link to the right or here. It's going to be a long commitment, with pieces every two weeks. I consider it the good kind of stress, something that will be time-consuming but allow me to fully experience the gamut of God's creations that he so lovingly and generously provided for our consumption. I enjoyed a recent tweet by John Piper, the legendary preacher and Christian thinker: "If God gave animals for our food (Gen 9:3) then killing critters that make us food is fine..."

Of course, in a rather blatant attempt to orient the series into a book, I will have to truncate the articles into something manageable in the blog form. Look forward to recipes and insight from well-known figures in the food world.

I figure I've done well enough with my photography to get to a point where I am satisfied with them. Now to bring up the 'copy' up a notch. Wish me luck.

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Tonight I'm planning a three-day adventure of dining solo, to restaurants I've never visited, to unexplored territory. Armed with a camera and perhaps a pencil/pad (yes I know this violates my prior principals so maybe I'll just employ my blackberry), I will dine like Simon Majumdar, of Eat My Globe and Dos Hermanos fame (London food blog), mooching my way through meals (a British term for people-watching and time-wasting). I think all of the introspection will be a stark contrast to my regular modus operandi of chattering away with my dining companions. The flavors will coalesce more strongly in my mind as with superb canvas in a gallery. Considering a food-soul search wrapped in one, as short-lived as it may be. To this as well, wish me luck.