Sunday, July 8, 2012

Summer = vacation time

You may have noticed that I haven't posted for a spell. It's because it's summer and I'm taking a little rest from blogging. As well, there are times when I am traveling and don't have Internet access.

For example, last week we spent a week camping at Popham Beach and there is literally no cell phone service there. The campground office has WiFi, but it is spotty and you have to sit outside for it to work much at all (trying to use the laptop in the sun is a challenge).

I'll tell you one Kerouac-related story from last week. Three different people asked me or someone in our party what my license plate (DHRMABM) meant. All three times, explaining that it was a reference to a book written by Jack Kerouac rang no bells. I chalk it up to the ages of those asking - mostly my generation or older - and their not being exposed to Kerouac in high school because it was considered too risque at the time. Now it's tame compared to the daily fare most adolescents see on-line.

I'll leave you with a Kerouac quote from his February 29, 1950 journal:
What kind of an age is this that flatters its own decadent weakness in the name of smart cocktail talk -- and mocks excellence.
Change is the only constant, but some things sure don't seem to change much.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can you please explain what the letters on your license plate mean, i saw your post on reddit and googled the letters and your post is what came up, figured i would ask here.

Rick Dale, author of The Beat Handbook said...

It's an abbreviation for Kerouac's novel, The Dharma Bums.