Vacation Is Nearly Over

Russ... God, I hope so... My self-created vacation is about to end...Learned a few things about myself, the man I'm with, and how travel to far-off places isn't always necessary. How did your visit with the Icelandic one pan out? Or dare I ask? Saw SUPERMAN RETURNS. Enjoyed it. Has a dark adult sheen to it...feels like a continuation of the first two but with an innoncence-lost tinge to it... Hope you're well, my friend...GaP _______________________________________________________ G--, Sometimes the travels to far off places can be a diversion which takes us away from the real journey ... the one inside. It's when travels augment and illumine the psyche that they are really beneficial. I remember ready that Carl Jung derided the "age of exploration," Shakleton, et al., as a rather sissified period. He said the real daring explorations are the ones we make into our own interior. Travel, it seems to me, takes us away from the ordinary and gives us new eyes ... not unlike Superman's x-ray vision. The visit with Jeannie of Antarctica went very well. We had a good time exploring parts of Virginia and North Carolina. It's nice to have a female companion; again, new eyes ... not to mention other comforts. Hmm? I don't know where you got the idea she's Icelandic. She's Swedish/Welsh by genetics and Oregonian by birth. I was going to see Superman Returns this afternoon. When I got to the wrong theater at showtime the only thing on was Pirates of the Carribean. Too long ... too much lame action. It was cool inside, though, on a very hot day. Tell me more about your "self created vacuum." What was that all about? I'll have the computer on the trip, so I'll be in touch. All best, Russ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Russ... I reread my message...and it said self-created VACATION. Not sure why I referred to it as such. Maybe it was the cobbled-together nature of it...part-travel, part lounging at home...In this case, travel DID help us to illuminate what was going on inside. Except for Halifax and Yarmouth, I didn't particularly enjoy the long road travel. Plus Bill just got rattled with the change of routine... So we've been home for a few days now...no problems... Carolyn is having her birthday party today...thrown by ME. Ray is getting a bit...resentful? Lonely? because of my extended absences from home. I guess he likes a familial presence around that doesn't walk on all fours...Ah well...he's had the opportunity to be tired of my CONSTANT presence once upon a time...now he's got the opposite... Let me know what you think of the film when you see it...Oh, and in a classic case of cross-media pollination, Supes NOW has a crystalline-based Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic based on the movies.(The WB's SMALLVILLE also had Clark creating the Fortress in the same way...I guess it's an iconic image) Superman is a mythology that grows and evolves over time...Comics influenced the radio programs which created Jimmy Olsen and Kryptonite, both of which were later introduced in the comic. Then Superboy(The Adventures of Superman...when he was a boy!) comes along...and informs the Smallville part of the myth...Then Supes is radically reinvented in 1986 by John Byrne...all of the fun stuff was taken out...his Kryptonian relatives,(Kara Zo-rel...Supergirl) the knowledge of his culture, Superdog...BUT Clark and Martha Kent, his adoptive parents are still around. THAT's an improvement. It's good for Kal-El to have a simple refuge out in the heartland when he needs a break. But now Supergirl is back...by popular demand. She was a popular character as well... But I digress... However, I think I'll be buying Seasons 1 and 2 of the George Reeves television show...and Season 1 of SUPERBOY. I AM a fanboy... Hope you're well,my good friend...GaP