Postprandial Ruminations

The Little Apple Brewing Company was a bit of a disappointment. The food was fine, but the single beer (the Riley’s Red Ale) was just adequate. And the atmosphere was most definitely not the sort I’m used to experiencing in brew pubs; it struck me as a large, purely profit-driven establishment that caters to people who want flash more than they want flavor and familiarity. The establishment is no Third Place; Ray Oldenburg would find none of the attributes of a third place there, nor did I. Perhaps I’ll try again tomorrow at the Tallgrass Tap House. If that’s not it, there’s bound to be a contender for the title on the KSU campus, too. It will just take some digging. The structure and complexity of my novel—the working title of which is First, We Take Manhattan—is maturing. I’ve been concerned that it has not carried the same emotional gravitas nor depth of character development on which I pride myself. The more I learn of Manhattan, Kansas, and the characters themselves, the happier I’m becoming with it. Not necessarily what I’ve written thus far, but what I feel sure will emerge from expanding what I’ve written and augmenting it by incorporating the sense of place I’m developing by wandering through Oklahoma and Kansas. I expect some of the interactions I’ve had in Emporia and Manhattan will find their way into interactions and character expressions in both existing and new chapters. Tomorrow, we will visit the KSU insect zoo. If time permits, I will try to find my way to KSU Rathbone Hall, where I might get lucky and meet the guys I contacted via email.