Lest it go Unsaid

Buck Owens was cool.

I Need Some Help

I've been invited to talk to some people next week on a topic they're calling "Loving People Who Are Different" by which I think they mean "Loving Unconditionally" (which may be redundant) and I could use some input.

If you're all still out there and still checking the blog (which apparently you are) you represent some pretty disparate approaches to Life and I'd like to hear what you have to say about the topic at hand.

The warning (and a source of great apprehension for me): In order to dissect something you have to kill it.

Shawn'll Love This

Check this out.

Liked This One

"To the right, books; to the left, a teacup. In front of me, the fireplace... There is no greater hapiness than this."

--Teiga

Happy Birthday, Mr. Hoo-Hoo!

Seems like so much longer ago than a year.

(And we're doing this again?)

Wow.

I just finished Wally Lamb's, I Know This Much is True. It had been a while since I'd read one that really got to me -- Kavalier & Clay, I guess, and that was November of '04. Wow.

I suppose it's not for everyone -- what is? -- but for those of you with a feel and a taste for the kind of stuff I'm into, (Chris, Justin, et al,) it doesn't get much better.

Here then is my recently, (like ten minutes ago,) revised Top Five Favorite Novels in the order in which I discovered them.

1. Lovesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry
2. A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
3. Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides
4. Empire Falls, by Richard Russo
5. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon
6. I Know This Much is True, by Wally Lamb

Thanks for the heads-up babe.

That's Just Not Cool

Kirby Puckett is dead.

Huh?

Don Knotts was one thing, but come on, the guy was 81 years old and had only ever been a rerun to me. But Kirby Puckett?

Walter Payton's been gone a while, but he was sick -- he didn't shock us like this.

Reggie White's dead too, but I never liked him.

But Kirby Puckett? Kirby Puckett?

That's rough.

Interesting You Should Bring That Up

(Chris)

I have indeed read Middlesex and it's in my Top Five. Couldn't believe how well-written it was. Couldn't put it down. I was about to mention that...

Ruthie and Randy and I watched The Virgin Suicides the other night -- loved it -- and the whole time I'm thinking, that's a familiar title -- where have I heard that? As we watched I chalked it up to the whole Soffia Coppola thing, and not until the making of documentary at the end did I realize that it was based on a novel by a man named Jeffrey Eugenides (apparently he wanted to be a paperback writer). Same guy who gave the world Middlesex and it's from the back cover of that one that I recognized The Virgin Suicides. Gotta be worth reading.

Just for Fun

The Last Five Songs I've Purchased From iTunes:

Drops of Jupiter -- Train
Alison -- Elvis Costello
Walking in Memphis -- Marc Cohn
Come Down in Time -- Elton John
The Middle -- Jimmy Eat World

Made It

Today was the last in a string of eight days in a row at work. That's a bit longish for me.

Currently reading Wally Lamb's I Know This Much is True, which Ruthie loved and recommended strongly. She was right. Unless this thing peters out big-time in the last hundred or so pages it'll crack my all-time top five (AKA The Owen Meany List).

Pregnancy rolls along. I think we're supposed to go hear a heartbeat next week. Last time we did that was one of the biggest anticlimaxes of my Life. Overhyped.

We've started the finishing of the basement. There are people in the world who enjoy projects like that. I am not one of them.

Wine-tasting tonight with Randy.