Catch 22

Damn: the nightmare never ends. Today my mother is weak and her breathing is labored, the home nurse says her pulse is low and we called the doctor to make an appointment. Eight thirty a.m. Wednesday morning. Asked nurse if I should take her to ER but I know if I take her to the ER it will wear her out more , waiting around for hours just to admit her! He said to monitor her so it's no sleep for me tonight! I know that the ER would be very hard on her. Feel like I'm caught between the proverbial rock and hard place!

A pretty face is like a melody

I was going through the photos I took while at the World Con in Montreal and noticed this one I took at the signing wall, that gave a quick bio of each writer, (as if people at the con needed to read a bio of who Neil Gaiman was!) I remember this photo gave me a good laugh, for that man hasn't look that pretty for at least a decade! Made me wonder why they used such an old photo of the Dream King? I must admit, when I first saw the talented writer, five years ago, I was impressed by how handsome he was! He was showing signs of aging, there was white hairs in that famous jet black mane but still a damn, rock-star handsome man! I had seen him often from a distance but due to his huge fan base never bothered to go through that pain in the proverbial ass of waiting in a signing line (God Bless you DreamHaven Book Store!). So not until I went to the world con in Montreal did I notice how much that poor man has aged! And not in a good way! I was shocked to see how haggard and gaunt his face looked! He looked like a man in his mid-fifties pushing sixty than a man who is going to be 49 this year! Plus he had a bit of a gut, which was real odd for his arms were very slim and lacked muscle tone. It was so depressing! The first day I saw him walk by me, I wanted to break out in tears, for it was so sad to see once such a handsome man change so.

So why did they post this glamour shot? It reminded me those flyers I get from yoga studio, advertising a workshop and on the flyer they show a youthful, buff , sexy man and when you attend the workshop you realize that this photo was taken YEARS ago and the yoga teacher is no longer young and often a bit heavy set. Do they they think we woman are as shallow as men and are only interested in a pretty face?

Love among the ruins

This is my favorite photo of the Dream King Neil Gaiman, for he's wearing color! Not exactly an unattractive man but far from the glamour short above. The poor man bags under his eyes had excess baggage and his complexion was so swarthy and blotchy. After seeing him I wondered what a 33 year old Amanda Palmer saw in him, but then when one is a 48 year old famous, talented and wealthy man, it's easy for a man to attract a much younger woman. Then to be fair , Mr. Gaiman can very very charming. Still, I was rather shock and depressed to see how much he had aged!

Once apond a midnight dreary

The heat is triple digits hot and the foothills are a blazed, it hard to believe that it's actually Fall and soon it will be sweater weather and we will be sipping hot cider and sharing ghosts stories on a chilly Fall evening.I believe the reason I love ghost stories so, is because I find comfort in thinking there may be another reality than this, My heart has been broken too often to bring me faith in this one.

Danger, danger, don't talk to strangers...

I was reading Miss Canary's blog and she was writing about being in a new town and how wonderful it is to meet new people. In this country we are so paranoid about trusting strangers. As a child I was taught the American mantra :"Danger, danger , don't talk to strangers" but that is just a great injustice to our spirit, Yes, there are BAD people OUT there! And some wicked , sick,evil people out there wishing to cause us harm but most victims of violent crimes know the person who commits the crime to them. And some mass murderers get away with their crimes because they count on strangers not coming to the aid of other strangers. So we American's keep up this emotional fence of defense around them but I believe that most people are really kind. I love to travel because it gets me out of my comfort zone and makes me go out and communicate to strangers. If you are careful and keep your awareness of your surrounding you can avoid being a victim of crime and most people just want your money. If if comes down to it SHOW them the money and run like hell. It's just money, let them have it! Still in the everyday world most people aren't out to harm you. I notice that now people are hiding behind their BlackBerry or I phone, chatting to strangers they'll never meet (sharing more details than they share with their co-workers who see them everyday!) So instead of sitting in a Starbucks or even a Sport's Bar and sharing a simple thought with a stranger we choose to remain ALONE! Put down the damn phone, look up from your laptop and connect with the human being next to you. While at the WorldCon I smiled at a woman wearing a Worldcon badge and I asked her what she did for a living. She was a writer and invited me to join her group at the bar. That evening I met a group of wonderful, fun people , (one who I still write to on Facebook , the amazingly, talented Virginia O"Dine) we dined then went out and explored the night-life in Montreal. Now, if I wasn't the type to talk to strangers or had my head buried in my BlackBerry I would had spend a lonely evening in my hotel room instead of having a good time in a super town with super people! So Talk to strangers!

A Civil Tongue

Yes, what Kanye West did to Taylor Swift while she was receiving her MTV reward was just plain rude behavior but a lot of fuss has been expressed because Taylor Swift is so young. EXCUSE ME? I don't care if Ms. Swift was a 45 year old grown woman, IT WAS RUDE BEHAVIOR! What are people saying, it's okay to be rude to adults? Yes, it was classy of Beyonce to gave up her spot light to the young Ms. Swift but where the hell was security at the MTV rewards to allow this classless jerk to jump up on stage and take her mike away? And the staff of the MTV awards should had given the young artistic the air time to speak. Why did Ms. Beyonce had to do it? Security should had taken Mr. West off the stage and escorted the man OUT of the theater and send him home and allow Ms. Taylor to give her speech! The MTV staff action were just as rude and heartless! Still, no one should act so rude to anyone, no matter their AGE!

I see dead people

Neil Gaiman Tweeted an interview he gave to "Entertainment Weekly" voicing his opinions on this new pop-culture passion for vampires on screen, film and books. It's well worth the read, for he does point out some very insight facts on why so many people are hook on tales about the Undead.
One being that vampire fiction does address our struggles with are ideas of human sexuality and we are a culture obsessed with sex. From Madonna parading in her leather corset outfit like a latter-day whore of Babylon or the Jonas Brothers with their purity rings, we are self-absorbed with our sexuality. But this is nothing new, ever since man and woman went out and became fruitful we human creature make rules on that drive that sends us soaring. Plato wanted to band flute players for he thought that the music lead to licentious behavior. Caesar Augustus wrote laws on sexual behavior, trying to outlaw homosexuality,
Our sexual nature is a great source of study and entertainment.
Another issue Mr. Gaiman bought up was the conflict that Aides has had on our ideas of sexual practice. Whither it's HIV, S.T.D.S or Herpes , sex can be dangerous, Even Oparh had a show discussing our young people having "RainBow Parties", a game played by girls and boys where a rainbow of lipstick rings and put on a boys penis. Damn: whatever happen to "Spin the Bottle".
I an also understand why Mr. Gaiman brought up the Christian idea of Communion, where the body and blood of Christ is taken. But that is only a symbol of utr union with the divine therefore the name Communion. Our Christian forefathers realized that they were giving the pagans a new religion and pagans need the mystery of the ceremony of book, bell and candle.
What the talented writer Gaiman failed to address was the fact that these vampire stories are well written stories that are character driven. In the book of Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse romance with vampire Bill isn't an easy ride in the coffin. Bill leaves her and breaks her heart. She a work-class girl that has to deal with everyday reality of paying the bills and being drawn into her co-workers personal dramas.
I recall reading Ms. Harris first book while I was dealing with a boyfriend who was cheating on me viva the Internet. Ironically the book was his for he was a great fan of comic books, SF, Fantasy and Horror fiction. I found myself relating to the pain of the heart broken Sookie.
I haven't read the "Twilight" books but i feel that the reason for the frenzy over these books is the fact that it addresses the sexual issues of teenage girls.
Sookie is an outsider and most girls in high school feel like outsiders and here are books addressing their own true desire to be loved for the outsider they are.
But still, what is more powerful is the fact that these characters are so damn interesting. We care about Tara Thornton who in the TV show "True Blood" seems a bit more interesting than Sooki. Vampire Eric upstages vampire Bill. And Lafayette Reynolds is one of the most noble characters in the show. Actually the show "True Blood" is really all about Gay Rights then vampires. But if it's the lives of the undead or small town working class folks dealing with super-natural creatures, we stay tune, buy the books, go to the movies because we care about the characters because they remind us of the issues we are dealing with and are so damn interesting.

Holy hostile takeover

Holy hostile takeover Disney bought Marvel comics for 7.4 BILLION dollars!

Great that's all we need, more mind control over our children from Mighty Mouse! Like Disney needs to make MORE money!

I have a feeling they're going to do for comics ,what they did for pop music. Hanna Montana is a money machine!

Damn!

Photo taken of a cute little coffee shop and gift shoppe in Montreal.