Monday, December 31, 2012

What's in a name?

So, a while back I was playing with the idea of starting another novel rather than finishing the first.  At the same time I was considering blogging about the travel I do for work in my accidental profession of higher education publishing.  The theme here is that I was conceiving of absolutely anything to avoid the task at hand: finishing the novel.

In the little research I did for the second novel idea I came upon the name: the salesman problem.  The traveling salesman problem is actually a mathematical problem dating back to the 1800s.  How does a salesman get from city to city to city, and then back again for the least amount of money?  Seems simple enough, but then you should see some of my or my colleague's expense reports. And you should hear some of our stories.  Cost can be measured in more ways than just financial, though.  I have a theory that there is a direct correlation between time spent waiting in airport security lines and the deepening lines on my face.
    
 Also, the name conjures up a certain  pulpy, noir-like quality, which is what I was after in the first place. Think Walter Neff in Double Indemnity.  He's a salesman.  And he's got a problem. 

It's many-layered, though.  It's not at all a reach to suggest the salesman problem as a metaphor for life.  How does one get from point A to B to C and back with the least amount of cost i.e how does one navigate life?  How indeed.

Well, the first novel is for all practical purposes finished.  I've got edits to do, of course.  And that in itself seems like reason enough to publish this blog: the salesman problem.