Time gets away from me.
The last three weeks have been about everything except for blogging. I'm hoping that will change in the near future as I get back into a groove. Here are a few short snippets on what I've been up to, the books that I've read and the thoughts in my head (Rhyming rules!):
Canada Book Day
This was back on April 23, which is a wonderful day to look back at the hundreds of books that I've read in my life. I am so blessed to not only live in a country where literacy is encouraged, but also where it is so readily available to anyone who wants it. Canada Book Day probably passed by without you noticing, but trust me, we should always be thankful that books offer an alternative to Wii and Playstation and Morgan Freeman.
Toronto visit
I can't write a blog entry without mentioning one of my favourite literary locations, the one where it all started: my house in Toronto. I would spend hours sitting in my room, or around the house, reading book after book. The shelves would be filled with library books, many of which would go unread, and books new, used and handed down from generations past. And I cannot help but mention my parents, who instilled a love of reading at an early age, and who did everything possible to nurture my passion for words. (Although I'm certain they would have been happy if I had come up for air every so often to go outside and play sports. I think I compromised by reading a few books about sports. That counts, right?)
The Venetian Betrayal, by Steve Berry
This is a gloriously fast-paced book, with shallow characters and a plot that mixes history, conspiracy and a fictitious Asian conglomerate. You won't find anything new or groundbreaking here, but like a summer action movie, it provides solid entertainment for 500+ pages. And the hero’s name is Cotton Malone, which is one of the best names for a character that I've seen recently. Plus, really short chapters for those with short attention spans, which is pretty much me.
New Dan Brown
The biggest news in the literary world is that Dan Brown's new book is set to debut in September. His other books are of the vein of The Venetian Betrayal: history, conspiracy and mystery combining to create a compelling tale. His last book sold a zillion copies and no doubt his next novel will sell another zillion copies; Hollywood will make it into a movie starring Tom Hanks; and Dan Brown will buy an island and marry J. K. Rowling to form a super writer that will no doubt destroy us all. I'm beginning to hoard. Just in case.
Toronto Blue Jays
No real literary connection. I'm just impressed that they're one of the best teams in the league. Many an afternoon and evening has been wasted yelling at the TV in hopes that they won't blow the game instead of writing blogs. So really, I'm going to lay the blame squarely on the Blue Jays' shoulder. It's their fault I haven’t blogged.
Free Comic Book Day
Oh glorious day! I woke that morning chastising my wife for not wishing me a Happy Free Comic Book Day (my sister-in-law remembered, however, to wish me Many Happy Returns, which was impressive). This is a great day for comic books, as I get to stroll (and by stroll, I mean drive) to a comic shop to pick up a slew of free comics, some I greatly look forward to, others I pick up just because they say "free" on the cover (let's be honest, I'm not reading the free Archie Comics, but I’m compelled to take it because they gave it to me and it’s in comic book form). I love this day, not only because of the free comic books, but also because of the sight that greeted me as I came into the shop: fathers and sons and mothers and daughters, coming together to enjoy the medium. I hope that these kids, like I did, grow up to respect and admire comics as not only a fun way to kill an afternoon, but a real literary experience, on par with any novel.
Star Wars Day
Also nothing to do with literacy. May 4th is Star Wars Day, because "May the fourth be with you". Get it? It's so corny, that it's funny.
Shatterday, by Harlan Ellison
“Writer’s take tours in other people’s lives.”
The first short story in this collection begins with this line and other subsequent stories repeat it, driving home Harlan Ellison’s point. This collection turns sci-fi, horror and fantasy into literary gold, each story displaying the author’s strength as a storyteller and his love of the English language. If there is one thing that a writer can take away from these stories is that you can’t be afraid to write what is in your heart. You can’t be deterred by what people might think and you have to be prepared to bare your soul to the reader and hope that they can sift through the fact and fiction to get to the truth of what the author is trying to say. So really, while Harlan Ellison took tours in other people’s lives, he also took a tour through his own, and it is one that I have voyeuristically enjoyed. (Not in an icky way, though) This book has given me inspirations for my own short stories, which I hope one day will be half as good as what Ellison's imagination has conjured.
The last three weeks have been about everything except for blogging. I'm hoping that will change in the near future as I get back into a groove. Here are a few short snippets on what I've been up to, the books that I've read and the thoughts in my head (Rhyming rules!):
Canada Book Day
This was back on April 23, which is a wonderful day to look back at the hundreds of books that I've read in my life. I am so blessed to not only live in a country where literacy is encouraged, but also where it is so readily available to anyone who wants it. Canada Book Day probably passed by without you noticing, but trust me, we should always be thankful that books offer an alternative to Wii and Playstation and Morgan Freeman.
Toronto visit
I can't write a blog entry without mentioning one of my favourite literary locations, the one where it all started: my house in Toronto. I would spend hours sitting in my room, or around the house, reading book after book. The shelves would be filled with library books, many of which would go unread, and books new, used and handed down from generations past. And I cannot help but mention my parents, who instilled a love of reading at an early age, and who did everything possible to nurture my passion for words. (Although I'm certain they would have been happy if I had come up for air every so often to go outside and play sports. I think I compromised by reading a few books about sports. That counts, right?)
The Venetian Betrayal, by Steve Berry
This is a gloriously fast-paced book, with shallow characters and a plot that mixes history, conspiracy and a fictitious Asian conglomerate. You won't find anything new or groundbreaking here, but like a summer action movie, it provides solid entertainment for 500+ pages. And the hero’s name is Cotton Malone, which is one of the best names for a character that I've seen recently. Plus, really short chapters for those with short attention spans, which is pretty much me.
New Dan Brown
The biggest news in the literary world is that Dan Brown's new book is set to debut in September. His other books are of the vein of The Venetian Betrayal: history, conspiracy and mystery combining to create a compelling tale. His last book sold a zillion copies and no doubt his next novel will sell another zillion copies; Hollywood will make it into a movie starring Tom Hanks; and Dan Brown will buy an island and marry J. K. Rowling to form a super writer that will no doubt destroy us all. I'm beginning to hoard. Just in case.
Toronto Blue Jays
No real literary connection. I'm just impressed that they're one of the best teams in the league. Many an afternoon and evening has been wasted yelling at the TV in hopes that they won't blow the game instead of writing blogs. So really, I'm going to lay the blame squarely on the Blue Jays' shoulder. It's their fault I haven’t blogged.
Free Comic Book Day
Oh glorious day! I woke that morning chastising my wife for not wishing me a Happy Free Comic Book Day (my sister-in-law remembered, however, to wish me Many Happy Returns, which was impressive). This is a great day for comic books, as I get to stroll (and by stroll, I mean drive) to a comic shop to pick up a slew of free comics, some I greatly look forward to, others I pick up just because they say "free" on the cover (let's be honest, I'm not reading the free Archie Comics, but I’m compelled to take it because they gave it to me and it’s in comic book form). I love this day, not only because of the free comic books, but also because of the sight that greeted me as I came into the shop: fathers and sons and mothers and daughters, coming together to enjoy the medium. I hope that these kids, like I did, grow up to respect and admire comics as not only a fun way to kill an afternoon, but a real literary experience, on par with any novel.
Star Wars Day
Also nothing to do with literacy. May 4th is Star Wars Day, because "May the fourth be with you". Get it? It's so corny, that it's funny.
Shatterday, by Harlan Ellison
“Writer’s take tours in other people’s lives.”
The first short story in this collection begins with this line and other subsequent stories repeat it, driving home Harlan Ellison’s point. This collection turns sci-fi, horror and fantasy into literary gold, each story displaying the author’s strength as a storyteller and his love of the English language. If there is one thing that a writer can take away from these stories is that you can’t be afraid to write what is in your heart. You can’t be deterred by what people might think and you have to be prepared to bare your soul to the reader and hope that they can sift through the fact and fiction to get to the truth of what the author is trying to say. So really, while Harlan Ellison took tours in other people’s lives, he also took a tour through his own, and it is one that I have voyeuristically enjoyed. (Not in an icky way, though) This book has given me inspirations for my own short stories, which I hope one day will be half as good as what Ellison's imagination has conjured.
* * *
That is the sum of my thoughts for tonight. Seriously, that's all I got. I tried coming up with a clever line to tie it up, but I'm coming up with zilch. So do me a favour and just imagine I said something funny or intelligent or meaningful here.
That is the sum of my thoughts for tonight. Seriously, that's all I got. I tried coming up with a clever line to tie it up, but I'm coming up with zilch. So do me a favour and just imagine I said something funny or intelligent or meaningful here.
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