Vanderbrew

As I’m currently listening to Bag of Bones I’ve been thinking more about Stephen King’s writing and writing in general. It’s my opinion that Stephen King is a much better writer than many people give him credit for. Amber she suggested that it could be due to his particular subject matter and that makes sense, but I think that many people are missing out if they’re avoiding him for that reason.

Bag of Bones is a scary book at times and I find that it definitely keeps me on the edge of my proverbial seat but the writing is really, really good. I think that part of what makes his writing so enjoyable for me is the shear panorama of his imagery. I’ve done a lot of reading in my life and often when I’m reading something I know what an author will say before I read it because it’s just a common phrase. Not common enough to be trite or banal, but I’ve seen it before, or I’ve thought of it and I just kind of stay on the tracks of the book, gliding along while my mind smacks mindlessly on a piece of gum. With King however, I find that I’ll be reading (or listening) along and he won’t paint the picture how I expect him to. He zigs when many others would have zagged. I take a moment and the picture unfolds in my mind in a new and unexpected manner. This makes the story more real and keeps me more involved in it at the front of my mind rather than shuffling it along to the back while I think about other things.

Another thing about King (though it might be more this particular book than the author in general) is that he makes me want to write. It may be because he crafts something special but attainable. Yes, he’s a good writer. No, he’s not Faulkner, but he’s good. I can read what he writes, and grasp it, and aspire to it. It’s not so plain that there’s no pull and it’s not so vaunted that it’s completely out of my reach.

I was away from an internet connection for 4 complete weeks. No email, no web pages, no blogs, nothing.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t that bad.

I didn’t really think about it because it really wasn’t any sort of option.I came back to a ton of email and many unread blog posts but I don’t feel like I missed it. I suppose that this is a healthy response as it indicates that I can live without being in constant communication with a wider world, but I’m glad that I’m back “in the loop”.

The world is a different place when you measure your lighting ability by the energy stored in a battery. When you have to go outside to refill your water or use a toilet. When you get water from a well in 10 gallon increments. When you have to run a generator to get water from the well.

I’d been used to flicking a switch for light, opening a tap for water, walking a few barefoot feet to use the bathroom - but now I’m getting used to something else.

I notice the periods of this earth more. When it gets light. When it gets dark. What the stars look like. When the moon comes and goes.

When I wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, I hope it’s not raining; because these things matter now.

When I get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, I take a moment to look at the stars. When there’s no other large lights nearby, they’re really beautiful. Bright jewels scattered across the carpet of the night.

I see shooting stars when I dump the water we’ve used to wash our dishes.

This life that we’re currently living is very different from how we’ve lived before.

Since we started out camping, moving into a trailer is a big step. You realize how nice it is to have a 4 burner stove, rather than a 2 burner one. To be able to cook food without going outside. How warm it is with more insulation than a thin piece of canvas around you. How nice it is to not worry about whether the tent will leak if it rains.

It really puts a different perspective on life. It makes us appreciate things more for how they are. It makes us stop and look more, be more a part of the world, rather than just living on it.

The current number of pre-orders that Amazon.com has for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Preorders.

The book’s not even out yet and they’ve sold over 1 million copies at just this one (albeit large) retailer.

Absolutely amazing.

You too can watch the number climb

Oh, and yes, we’re one of them

“Dear me, I am terribly sorry for bleeding all over your floor like this.”

A few pages I’ve had hanging out in open browser windows for a while now. I think that they’re interesting/funny - you may too!

• Top 10 Uses for Used Coffee Grounds - some of these seem questionable but others are useful and you’ll get a chuckle.
• Color Inspiration from the Masters of Painting - color palettes created by looking at color usage in famous paintings.
• Green by (almost) design - a neat overview of some of the components and materials used in the PATH concept home

I finally got my Currently Reading and Currently Listening widgets going again (fed by LibraryThing). They’ve been off since I upgraded my theme a while ago.

Last week I didn’t do any Latin. I felt like I was too busy with work and other stuff to find the time for it. Towards the end of the week (while I was reading blogs during a short break from work) I realized that I did in fact have the time, I just had to find it.

This week I’m starting back to getting up at 5 and doing my Latin first thing when I get up. I don’t even crack my computer (it’s a laptop) until it’s done.

Two days in and it’s working well.

Non periculum videt.

Wishful thinking? (Yes, I only know third person and I don’t think that that’s a correct usage of ‘non’ but hopefully those of you who know Latin can understand my broken form.)

I just opened a jar of strawberry preserves we made back in May of 2006 to put on some bread that my wife made. I really like that we can (and do) do this.

Gregory comes downstairs and he’s a little fussy. He opens a cupboard and ssssttttrrreeetches up to get a box of Puffins (breakfast cereal). He has a big smile on his face as he carries it over to me.

“Oh, are you hungry?”

Big smile remains. He’s very proud of what he’s done.

“Ok, let me get a little cup to put some cereal in.”

I go and get him an empty yogurt cup and proceed to put some cereal in it. “Now, Gregory, there’s not much cereal left so you have to be careful with it and eat it.”

Off he goes back to the cupboard and gets down the box of Joe’s Ohs (like Cheerios). This one is fuller (and heavier) so he drops it a couple times but picks it back up each time. He brings it over to me with another big smile on his face.

“Oh, you want to supplement with some additional cereal. Ok.” I pour some Ohs in on top of the Puffins, shake the cup to mix them a bit and hand it to him. “Here you go.”

Off he toddles, quite happily eating his cereal.