Other Interests

September 16, 2009

I recently finished reading "The Chaco Meridian: Centers of Political Power in the Ancient Southwest" by Stephen H. Lekson. Lekson is an archaeologist and the book is all about a fairly controversial theory he has about three Anasazi sites, Chaco, Aztec, and Paquime.

It was not the easiest book I've ever read, but thankfully it was fairly short. It was essentially written for archaeologists (who could then fight over his conclusions), not for people like me who've never had an archaeology class. About a third of the book was over my head (and some of it, even I have to question his theories).

But I've become fascinated by the Anasazi (which, by the way, is a Navajo word that translates roughly as "the ancient ones" or "the ancient enemies." Even using "Anasazi" among archaeologists tends to be a bit controversial, so they tend to use "ancient pueblo dwellers."). I'm not entirely sure where this interest in the Anasazi comes from. I know that when I trip across an article in Archaeology magazine that also concerns tribes in the Mississippi and Florida regions from the same time period (about 800 AD to 1300 AD) I'm fascinated. What became of these people? Are the Anasazi now Zuni, Hopi, and Mesquite? (Probably). Why leave? How can you have an organized culture for 500 freakin' years and then disappear, abandoning your buildings?

Between my graduation in college and the 18 years before I became a full-time writer, my primary obsession was writing and reading. Primarily thrillers and mysteries, crime novels of one sort or another. I read Smithsonian and Time and Writers Digest. It's mostly been in the last 5 years, since I became a full-time writer, that I've had the time to pursue other interests: guitar, biking, kayaking, martial arts... and reading nonfiction about history and the Anasazi and other things.

It was also pushed along by the death of my father, I'm sure, an awareness that life is, as a matter of fact, short, and if there's something you're interested in doing or learning about, you'd better try to do it now rather than later. I'm also a proponent of lifelong learning and I try to cultivate my own intellectual curiosity. There's a big ol' universe out there and I don't want to shrug and say, "Who cares?" and turn on the TV instead of enjoying some of it.

I've also become fairly passionate about guitar, although I was passionate about music before I got out into the working world and primarily had time to work, commute, spend an hour or two with the family before everyone went to bed, then write for an hour before collapsing between the sheets to do it all over again the next day, ad nauseum. (There are good reasons to find something to do for a living that you're passionate about. You spend a lot of time doing it).

Anyway, what are your passions besides writing? What makes you you?

Cheers,

Mark Terry