(link credit: Josh Spector)
Jenn See’s mother, Cynthia, sent this to me awhile back. After yet another round of destructive tornadoes (this time very close to home. My wife’s aunt was in the hospital that was hit, thankfully she is okay) it seemed like it might be a good time to share it with you. You deserve a good heart-warming feeling, and a smile.
I would be more willing to watch commercials if they were all this creative.
Once again a bit late. Nevertheless Kailana and I are on Part 5 of our joint read of Charles de Lint’s latest short story collection.
The stories we read for this week were:
‘Winter was Hard’
‘The Conjure Man’
‘We Are Dead Together’
Two of these three were quite excellent. Examples of de Lint at his short story finest. As always I would encourage you to go read Kailana’s answers by clicking here.
And mine can be found after the jump.
(Image from IMDB)
How oft has a similar scene played out over the years in a time not so long ago, in a galaxy not so very far, far away?
For most people April showers bring May flowers and the day set aside to honor the woman–women for those of us who have wives that have borne us children–who should be honored every day of the year. This is true in the Anderson household as well. But for some of us the month of May for the past 34 years (since May 25th, 1977) has also been strongly associated with George Lucas because of the children of his imagination.
It struck me last night as we watched the second film of the prequel trilogy, Attack of the Clones, that whereas the original trilogy pivoted on the role of a father, the prequel trilogy has a strong thread of motherhood running through it. In the first film we see Shmi Skywalker sending her son off to meet his destiny. In the second, the terrible fate of young Anakin Skywalker’s mother firmly establishes him on a path from which a mother’s love and guiding hand might have saved him. The prequel trilogy concludes with young Padme Skywalker, nee Amidala, giving birth to those famous twins, Luke and Leia, the grandchildren of Shmi Skywalker.
In spite of their many and varied flaws, it appears that George Lucas has actually crafted the perfect films for Mother’s Day viewing! 🙂 At least that is what we have been doing in our home this Mother’s Day Weekend. I bet my mom is glad she is out of town!
Happy Mother’s Day to my wonderful mother, who thankfully has never crossed paths with a Tusken Raider and to my darling wife who did not bear to me twin saviors of the galaxy, but did give me the gift I wanted most: a baby girl. (Shhh…don’t tell anyone that was nearly 19 years ago. It makes me feel old!)
And Happy Mother’s Day to all the rest of you out there, those who have become mothers through the miracle of childbirth, those who choose to bring children into your home through foster care and/or adoption, and those who have stepped into the mothering role in someone else’s life. You are all very real heroes and you have my eternal gratitude.
I dropped the ball over the last couple of weeks, missing my post last week and am now two days late for this week’s. But now I’m back on track, having secured Kailana’s forgiveness for dropping the ball, and am more than ready to discuss some more of the offerings of the talented Charles de Lint.
After the jump I’ll tackle this week’s questions (which it was my turn to come up with) and will follow that with my answers to Kailana’s questions from the week before.
Continue reading Short Story Mon..er, Wed: The Very Best of Charles de Lint Parts 3&4
(photo by Peter Rosbjerg)
If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.
~Raymond Inmon
On an otherwise unremarkable day, in a small town library in northeastern Nebraska, three sketchily drawn teenagers standing out against a stark white background caught my eye and were soon to capture my heart. That was nearly three decades ago, in 1982. I was thirteen years old and had just discovered Daniel Pinkwater’s latest novel, The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, standing erect just above eye level on the shelf showcasing new arrivals. I will never know which librarian chose to place that particular book face-out on that particular shelf on that particular day, but he/she will forever be counted among my heroes.
It was roughly thirteen years ago that I picked up my paperback copy of the same book to read aloud to my six year old daughter. Pinkwater’s absurd wordplay coupled with a storyline about teenagers sneaking out at night to go to the movies and track down nefarious ne’er-do-wells contained the perfect balance of adventure and silliness to make a young child look forward to before-bed story time.
Recently my now nearly nineteen year old daughter requested that I read the story to her once more, a request seconded by her mother who missed out on the ending of the story all those years ago and is quick to remind me of that fact if ever The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death works its way into conversation. And so, in stolen moments between work, schoolwork, and bedtime, we have been revisiting Walter Galt, Winston Bongo, Bentley Saunders Harrison Matthews (aka, Rat) and the rest of the menagerie of Baconburg. We are a third of the way through the book and are enjoying it as if it were our first time.