An end-of-year thanks to my readers

It's that time of year when one takes stock of things, counts one's blessings, sets down goals for the future, and the like. I particularly wanted to say thank you to everyone out there who reads my blog rantings and ravings about Jack Kerouac. While my book about Jack has garnered no great commercial success (which I honestly didn't think it would), it has allowed me to meet and interact with a host of interesting people, both in person (e.g., David Amram) and via e-mail (e.g., Helen Weaver), and especially on-line, which has connected me to folks all around the world, from India to Great Britain to . . . I cannot even remember all the places. I truly appreciate you, my blog readers, and I promise to keep blogging (maybe not daily like I did for a while) in 2010.

Who knows what the new year will bring? I hope to get to Lowell Celebrates Kerouac again, and I hope to keep meeting interesting people, and, yes, I hope to keep selling a book now and then (yesterday numbers 46 and 47 sold on Amazon - that is not insignificant, at least to me). I've sold about that many in person, and probably have given away an equal amount, so there are about 150 copies floating around out there, from the U.S. to Europe to Asia.

My hope? That once in a blue while moon someone picks up The Beat Handbook and gets a chuckle, or has a deep thought, or decides to read some Kerouac, or, best of all, just decides to live while they're alive, which I often forget to do, and I suspect that goes for most of us.

When's the last time you just headed out (driving, hitchhiking, whatever) with no plan, no destination, no supplies, no cares? With nothing but the urge to go go go? With nothing but the desire to experience what's around the next corner?

As Jack put it, "What's in store for me in the direction I don't take?"

Yair! Happy New Year and thanks to everyone who has enriched my life through our mutual connection to Jack Kerouac. And thanks, Jack; without you, I'd have never written a book.

Which reminds me: I think it's about time to start work on my second book. The hardest part (for me) is settling on an idea (and, of course, getting started).

Got any ideas?