My first time in Belgium, a brand new weekly newsletter, confessions of a counterterrorism agent, and answering all of your questions.

I made few things in June that would suffice as projects, but I’m happy with what I shared nonetheless. The photos from my short time in Oviedo made for an interesting little set, especially considering my slight editing tweaks. In addition, I answered about twenty-five questions from the Patreon community/social media. Be warned, I answered them in paragraphs. I also posted a new video, Promenade, to my YouTube channel, shot last month in Santander, Spain.

What I’m most excited about though is my new project, Ten Photos. It’s a weekly newsletter where I send, well, ten photos. That’s it. It will be a place for me to share some of my work without constraint. I’m setting the bar a little high for myself, because I want the newsletter to be a good one, and I’m finding that I’m already taking photos I otherwise wouldn’t. There will likely be many future Patreon posts about the making of this newsletter, but, for now, I’d appreciate it if you’d subscribe to it. I won’t be cannibalizing the Recollect email list for that one, so if you’d like to receive Ten Photos, make sure you subscribe. You can do so by clicking here.

Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent. More of a general memoir than individual counterterrorism cases, Fred Burton’s book quickly walks us through the lifestyle of an agent in his particular, highly-stressful department. Rather than punish those who commit crimes of terror, he’s in the business of preventing them from ever happening. We learn about the endless tide of received intelligence, valid or not, and the toll it can take to sift through it. Miss one thing and lives could be lost. Not for everyone, as there’s a specific style he’s going for, but if you’re in the mood for something akin to Zero Dark Thirty, check this out.

Hit Man. I don’t know how I found this book, and I don’t know what genre I’d classify it under, but boy was it fun. Hit Man follows Keller, a normal guy in every regard, except for his occupation. Keller is a hitman, and he’s a good one. The book is structured as a series of short stories where each chapter has Keller working a new job (read: killing a different person), but it reads as one cohesive story. Crime fiction? Thriller? Black comedy? It doesn’t matter, just read it.

The Best of Peter Egan. Peter Egan, the writer not the actor, is known for his automotive journalism, particularly his articles about motorcycles. I like motorcycles. This book is a collection of some of the best articles that he wrote during his time with the motorcycle magazine, Cycle World. If you do not like riding far or fast or both on two wheels, this is certainly not for you. However, if you’re way cool and enjoy tempting fate by leaning over concrete at high speeds with nothing to protect you but a fizzy cocktail of unequal parts skill and luck, it just might be.

Hunger. If you’re a fan of Kafka or Camus, Knut Hamsun’s Hunger will surely be up your alley. The short novel is narrated by our literally-starving protagonist. He’s a writer who struggling to find work, although his demeanor would say otherwise. His decision-making is strange, given his circumstances, and I found my feelings toward him vacillated between pity and irritation. Hunger reminds me a lot of Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground, from which Knut apparently took inspiration. I liked reading this quite a bit, but I’d understand why most normal people wouldn’t.

Ah, Belgium. It’s my first time here and I’ve fallen madly in love. Yes, I’ve had plenty of beer and chocolate and all the rest of it, and that’s all swell, but what’s really grabbed me has been the overwhelming beauty. Around every corner, there’s something impressive. The architecture, the foliage, the overall atmosphere, it’s all amazing. Also, the people have been incredibly kind. I guess that’s not the stereotype, as every Belgian I’ve mentioned it to has twisted their face in confusion, but it’s true. The Belgians are cool. However, the cost of food, especially when going out, is insane. Coming from Spain it’s been hard to stomach, but luckily the groceries aren’t too bad, and that’s what we’re used to anyway. Trains in this part of the world always make traveling around the country easy, so we’ve been on a few day trips to smaller towns, and they’re even more picturesque than here in Antwerp. I’m especially excited to make it out to Bruges, and I also have a bit of work to do around Brussels, so that should be fun. Overall, I’m really enjoying Belgium, and I can guarantee that I’ll be back. But hey, that's all for this month. I hope you enjoyed this issue of Recollect. If you did, or if you didn’t, let me know. Hit the black box below to send me an email with your thoughts. I’m all ears. Thank you for your support. I’ll see you next month.