The Mad Genius of Stephen King

Stephen King is my hero! What was that?! Did you just roll your eyes? Okay, okay, that's fine. I'm somewhat used to that reaction. All I can say is let me refer you to one of my favorite quotes: "There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance--that principle is contempt prior to investigation." (Or, "don't knock it if ya' ain't tried it"!)

So, if you've tried to read Stephen King and you don't like him, then so be it. If, however, you've never even touched one of his books because "he's a horror writer, and I don't like horror" then that's fine too, but don't roll your eyes when I say that the man is an absolute genius. He is one of the most amazing authors of our times. And yes, his books are creepy, scary, spooky. Sometimes they're gross. But this is a man who is completely in touch with the inner workings of the ordinary person's mind. He gets the fears that whisper to us when we're alone in the dark. He knows our secret desires and obsessions. And he's able to convey those in everyday language without sacrificing the ability to weave magic from his prose.

Plus, he is the master of late 20th century pop culture, inserting sly references which, when encountered in the midst of mind-numbing terror, make me screech out loud with nervous laughter. He knows how to play us.

Yes, I obsessively read everything he comes out with. I was shocked when he announced several years ago that he might not stop writing, but he would stop publishing. I celebrated when he found he just couldn't do that to me, Constant Reader.

I just finished _Duma Key_, his latest offering. I am still in that slightly awestruck, I couldn't put it down but didn't want it to end, mourning phase. I'll get over it. But I won't forget it for some time. When I least expect it, some ghost from one of his stories will jump out at me. (Oh yeah, thanks Stephen for giving me the phobias about clowns and storm grates!)

Stephen King is my hero.

Exercise is Hard Work

So, LoML and I bought a Bowflex and have been exercising. It's fun, but as we're mere mortals, we need much supervision. The only problem is that supervising exercise is *really* hard work. It tends to wear one out.
Good thing he had a pillow!

Dolphin Watch

Again, may I say I live in an amazing place. Breathtaking, actually. My friend and coworker called me yesterday morning on her way in to work. She had to pull off the road to take some pictures, and a video....of a newly-born dolphin! The best we can figure, she got there right as the blessed event was taking place. The normal practice is for the mother dolphin to go to a shallow area to have her baby, accompanied by an "auntie" dolphin, who will swim around and keep everyone else away.

I tried to embed the video here, but am still learning my away around these things, so the best I could do was embed the link: http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f22/gitchisumit/?action=view&current=dolphin006.flv

You'll hear vehicle traffic in the background...this was just off the main road! You'll also hear the exclamation from my friend's son ;D Watch the video a couple of times and you'll see the best shot of the baby right after the video starts. Mom breaches the surface, closely followed by baby. How cool is this???

Enjoy!

Soaring Pelican

The Birds Come

The Soundtrack of My Life

"Sometimes the world tries to knock it out of you. But I believe in music the way that some people believe in fairy tales" --August Rush

Okay, first, my plug for the movie: August Rush is an amazingly beautiful movie. I admit it: I'm a movie junkie. I love movies...all kinds of movies. I love the whole experience of watching movies, whether it be in the theatre or at our home theatre (although increasingly I go for the latter option...no crying babies, pauses for snack breaks whenever necessary, etc.). And I admit I'm not a very harsh critic. I don't need my movie to be profound, to be a contender for one of those art-sy awards from Cannes. I just like being entertained. I like suspending disbelief and being transported away through some one's imagination to another time, another place. Now, having said all that, I certainly appreciate it when a movie has a message or makes me feel or makes me think. August Rush certainly did all that. And I hesitate a little when I tell my friends how very much I loved this movie, because I wonder if they'll like it as much as I did...if they'll be flat-out blown away. And I realize that maybe part of the draw for me is that here is a movie with characters who feel the pull of the music running through their lives...and I relate to that.

Which brings me to my second point: my life has a soundtrack. By that I mean that always, underneath everything, has been the music. My parents love music. Would I if they didn't? I don't know. I guess it doesn't matter. I know I was exposed to all kinds of music growing up. I was taught music theory, took lessons on a couple of different instruments, developed a passion for singing. (Yes, I was even in several bands in my teens and early twenty's, though we would always manage to break up right before we would play anywhere.)

Over the years my taste in music has changed some. There are constants that will always comfort me. But I also go through phases...some of my past phases might even surprise people who know me now. (Best perhaps to save that for another time.) You know how a good composer can weave a theme through a soundtrack so that certain musical elements will evoke a mood or introduce a character? My inner composer does that. There are songs that can instantly transport me back through time and space to some particular point in my life. That's powerful.

Another interesting (read weird?) piece of trivia about me: I wake up every day with some song running through my head. Yep. Every day. It's different every day. Sometimes it's just a song that I've listened to recently. But sometimes it's more about a mood...I don't even know if it's a carry-over from a dream or if it's like a forecast for the day ahead. Sometimes it's a song I swear I haven't heard in years. Where does it come from? Your guess is as good as mine.

Does anybody else out there have a soundtrack? Wanna' share what's on it?

A Grand Adventure

This past Saturday was the Grand Opening of a PetSmart near us. We took Phil. It was a grand adventure. He'd never been to a PetSmart before. We got there early to take advantage of special offers...like a free nail trim and a free portrait--the one you see above (with me edited out, of course). It was wild. There were lots of dogs everywhere. We met another greyhound...a female red brindle. There were bulldogs, pugs, poodles, labs and goldens. There were others too. It was quite the madhouse.

Phil particularly liked checking out the food aisles and the treat aisles. I had to pay particular attention there as I feared he may just start helping himself to rawhides as we walked along. As we stood waiting to have our portrait done, someone started vigorously squeaking a toy a few aisles over and Phil's ears went straight up. His ears are very expressive. I thought they got a great shot of him in the picture because they got the ears out and the head tilt.

The head tilt is one of my favorite expressions. Of course, it's good that he only uses the head tilt when he's feeling quizzical, as opposed to having a permanent one. He had a stroke this past year, and the vet that treated him cautioned us that his head tilt may very well be permanent. He's had a remarkable recovery and seems to be doing quite well. He received terrific care at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at NCSU. Those folks are absolutely terrific. I can't say enough good things about them.

We didn't buy too many things, but did get Phil a new Kong dental toy. It's one of the ones that you can hide treats in. He was really giving it a working over yesterday afternoon. I'm not sure whether he really liked it, or whether it was ticking him off!

We ran a few errands on the way home and Phil was great about waiting patiently in the car. Later on, Phil sang the Carolina fight song with LoML and helped pull them through to the Final Four. Go Heels! All in all, it was quite the happy day.

A Tribute to Grandparents

So I've been thinking a lot about grandparents. Those who know me well understand why that's particularly true at this time of year. I was fortunate to have my grandparents in my life well into adulthood. My paternal grandparents passed away earlier than my maternal grandparents...who both passed in '05.

I was born on my maternal grandfather's birthday. That fact shaped my life. While it's natural to love and be close to grandparents, I was always especially close to him. Until he passed away, we only missed celebrating two birthdays together.

I could tell you how all four of my grandparents were good people with strong morals who believed in being involved in their communities. I could tell you that they were terrific role models. That they loved me through my trying times and that I'm so glad that they got to see me come out the other side of some rough patches and have some successes in life. I could tell you that they were honest, hard-working, salt-of-the-earth kinda' folks who were special in the lives of those around them.

Mostly, though, I just want to tell you that grandparents should be treasured. If you still have yours in your life, send them a card, give them a call...better yet, go hug them! If you don't still have them around, stop for a minute and think a happy thought about them. If you are a grandparent, pat yourself on the back and know that you are important. And loved. As you should be.

Willow & the Terrible Towel Monster

I spend a lot of time wondering what goes through the minds of cats. I think it's a fascinating place. I get that sometimes I totally anthropomorphize them...thinking of them as funny little people in fur coats. But sometimes I just fantasize about what *really* goes on in those little brains...I, for one, have no doubts that while their intellect is quite different than ours, they are wonderfully bright. This gets me to one of my frequent musings: they're really aliens sent down to study us humans. Have you ever noticed that sometimes, despite knowing all your cat's favorite hiding places, you just can't locate them? That's because you happen to be looking at one of the brief moments when they've beamed back up to the mothership to report in on what crazy things we're doing down here now. Don't worry. They don't stay long. You'll walk off, and then suddenly discover that they're right in plain sight in one of the spots you already looked a half a dozen times. They gaze at you stoically. They wonder why you are out of breath and hollering their name. They blink. They get up and stretch. They decide it's time to eat.

Willow and I have a game we play. It starts with a bath towel. The towel starts out lying on the tile floor of the bathroom. Then I pick up one corner and slowly twitch the towel. Wil' launches herself onto one edge of the towel, reaches up and grabs more towel...then she flings herself onto her side, whilst holding on to the towel with front paws and maybe teeth. Then we get the "rabbit kick". I *love* the rabbit kick. This is performed on the side, holding the prey tightly with the front paws and kicking its guts out with the back feet. When she thinks it's dead, she slowly lets up. But she keeps an eye on it, because sometimes, it was only faking and comes back to life! This can go on for long periods of time...generally until I'm ready for bed.

Livin' in God's Country

This is what I get to see driving home in the evenings...I never tire of it. It amazes me that we humans can get so wrapped up in our crazy lives that we forget to stop. And look. And breathe. I live in a truly beautiful place and I don't want to ever take it for granted.

Maybe you don't have this view available to you. (I sometimes wonder what it's like for people who grow up in the middle of this country and never see the ocean.) But I bet that wherever you are there's some place nearby that has an awesome view of the sunset. Go watch the next one!