Carhart Blog

End of 2010 Update

2010-11-05T13:14:00.001-07:00

So it's been nearly a year since I last posted my "ode to Lori" missive on this blog. We've been pretty busy this year. So much so that I haven't had much of an opportunity to update this blog. So here I go...

WRITING

This was the year of finally setting things straight. For many years, I've been looking forward to the re-release of my Fairlight novels. I had a contract with Blademaster Press to bring them back out (as well as some other books) but, unfortunately, that fell through. Nevertheless, thorugh other means, this year has so-far seen the re-release of Chance for the Future and Hope for Tomorrow and I'm hopeful that Faith in the Past will be available before the holidays. Also this year, the wide-release of One of the Girls with a slightly re-worked cover (cover art is still provided by the inestimable Kris Cartwright) and the first-ever release of my first non-fiction work, Zooming Thru Life. All of these books are available in trade paperback from both the publisher and/or Amazon.com as well as in a variety of digital eBook formats. More information can be found at paulcarhart.com.

I'm currently making the final edits on A Stranger On Bay Street (the first installment in the Worlds Collide series), which I hope will be released in 2011. And I'm also editing Plunge Into Eden, the first novel in the Planetfall trilogy, which I also hope will be released by the end of 2011.

After that, I hope to write the second and third Planetfall books and then we'll see where we'll go from there.

LAUNCH PAD

Our band had some ups and downs this year but I'm particularly excited about it right now because we have rehearsal in a few hours and a gig at the Long Beach East Village Farmers Market tomorrow morning (11:30 am). Earlier, I posted details of what we've been through as a band on the Launch Pad blog. We've also been getting some play on ThePrimeSpot show at KBEACH.org in support of our upcoming gig. And we hope to play more frequent gigs and continue recording as we go into 2011.

You can find out more about Launch Pad at our MySpace and Facebook pages.

MELODY

Melody is now six years old and in the first grade. She's in the accelerated class and is holding her own quite well. She's also taking violin and is rapidly improving. Lori continues to be her teacher at home, guiding her through academics, behavior and music while still helping to care for her mom. One thing I sorta miss is reading to Melody. Nowadays, she reads to ME!

WORK

Work has been steady this year and more secure than in 2009 (or at least it has felt that way). The company I work for seems to be making positive strides in stability and growth/expansion. So I'm hopeful that I can remain downtown, in close (walking distance) proximity to our home and Melody's school. It's nice to have Lori pick me up for lunch every once in awhile and I like being able to make it to Melody's school activities (and parent-teacher conferences... which is coming up! Yikes!).

SCI-FI

So I'm still walking to work. In April, it'll have been three years since I started that. I read the whole way both directions. Lori even got me a small reading lamp for when I'm coming home in the dark (when it gets dark earlier). Lately, I've been catching up on my Star Wars novels. Currently I'm reading the Republic Commando series that Karen Traviss penned. They're quite different than the standard Luke-saves-the-day variety of novels and I'm enjoying that difference.

I know I've outlined my thoughts on certain TV shows (mostly Sci-Fi themed) in the past. I'll try to quickly encapsulate where I'm at with TV right now. Maybe I'll follow up with a more detailed post later.

There are only three new shows I've started this year. They are The Event (NBC) on Mondays, No Ordinary Family (ABC) on Tuesdays and Undercovers (NBC) on Wednesdays. Surprisingly (based on my track record), two of the three have apparently warranted a full season order. Undercovers, apparently, has been whacked (despite J.J. Abrams' attachment). Oh, and both Lori and I liked Covert Affairs (USA) from this past summer. We both also like the BBC import Sherlock (a modern-day take on Sherlock Holmes) currently airing on PBS (there are three 90 minute episodes produced to-date... the third will air as part of Masterpiece Mystery this Sunday on most PBS stations and this Thursday on the Los Angeles-based KCET).

As for ongoing (not new) shows, I'm still watching Chuck (NBC) and Castle (ABC) on Mondays. Lori really digs Castle (and I suspect she has a bit of a crush on Mr. Fillion). I was following Caprica (SyFy) on Tuesdays until they pulled the plug on it (promising to air the final five episodes in 2011). Thursdays belong to Fringe. And on Fridays, I'm still holding on to my CW Smallville (supposedly the final season) and Supernatural block. Smallville, in particular, is getting quite good as they spiral toward Clark Kent inevitably becoming Superman. Also on Fridays, I follow Sanctuary (SyFy) and Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Cartoon Network) which has grown on me more with each season.

Other shows I watch: Psych and Burn Notice (both USA) are supposedly coming back this month with new episodes and Eureka and Warehouse 13 (both SyFy) are both supposed to have Holiday-themed episodes before returning in 2011.

So I guess that's it for now.

Still Ticking

2010-10-26T17:36:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since either Lori or I have posted anything here but I thought I might get back to it. Stay tuned for a rundown of what's up and what's coming.

In the meantime, I posted to our band's blog earlier today. That'll tell you at least what's been happening from a music and ministry perspective.

Teaching Photoshop Again

2010-03-02T10:39:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to say that I'm teaching a brief course on retouching and color-shifting in Photoshop today at The Designory in Long Beach.

It's a talented group of designers that I'll be talking to, so I'm sure it'll be fun.

What I'm Thankful For:Lori, My Brilliant Wife

2009-12-02T12:26:00.000-08:00

I know this is a little late, but we've been through a lot over the past few years and, late or not, I wanted to finally say what I've always meant to say. Besides, Thanksgiving gets the short end of the stick every year anyway. Nowadays, we seem to, as a culture, go immediately from trick-or-treating to stuffing stockings. Thanksgiving is important. It should not be forgotten.

So I'm going to take just a moment to give thanks for Lori. As a writer, the best way I know how to do this is with words.

I used the term "brilliant" in the headline and that was not by accident. The word "brilliant" has many different meanings. And they all apply to Lori. Shall we explore them?

1 (of light) very bright and radiant.
(of a color) brightly and intensely vivid.

Lori is definately bright. She's whip-smart and not much gets past her. She was a first-grade teacher for seven years and a substitute teacher before (and after) that. Now she's Melody's teacher at home and boy does she have her work cut out for her. Melody herself is a brilliant little handful!

Lori is also radiant. Her smile is like a sunrise and her eyes gleam, especially when she's locked onto something that she wants. Her strong and vivid personality, often hidden to others because she's somewhat shy, is a primary reason we have acheived, as a family, as much as we have in the six short years since we've been married. I think vivid could also be used to describe the scope of Lori's emotions. She feels things strongly... passionately. When she's happy, she's joyful. When she's sorrowful, she's in, to quote Anne Shirley, "the depths of despair." She possesses an artistic temperment which leads me to the next definition for "brilliant."

2 (of light) outstanding; impressive.

Lori impressed me the first time we met. She's smart, savvy and classy. Just being seen next to her bumps me up the social ladder by at least two rungs (she'd probably say three). She's smarter than the average girl, which might intimidate some guys. She's also taller than the average girl, especially in heels or boots. I never wanted to date someone who could kick my butt. And while I don't think Lori really could, I don't think I'd ever want to give her a run for her money. She's like Wonder Woman and she's got the sexy legs to prove it.

As a song writer, Lori continues to impress me. While I'm sort of the de facto wordsmith of the family, providing my fair share of lyrics to our songs, Lori's lyrics are real and touch preciesely where they need to. Sometimes she (wisely) asks for my help with the lyrics. Another place she impresses. Guys never ask for help. But Lori truly collaborates with me. Of course, her knowledge of music far surpasses mine. Anything I write in the realm of musical notes will be rudimentary. While I can put down broad-stroke musical phrases, Lori's chords are what shade the music. Every time I think I know where she's going to go, she surprises me and pulls something else out of her magic bag of tricks.

Brit., informal. very good, excellent or marvelous

But it's her vocal performances that are truly marvelous. Lori, a fan of everything from rap to classic rock to brit pop to black gospel can belt it out like the best of them. She has a great range and a strong and solid delivery. Her passion shines through when she's really giving it her all. And, when she's had a good night's sleep, I'd put her pipes up there with Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey or Christina Aguleria. I'm not joking when I say she's our band's lead singer. For anyone else in the group, myself included, to claim that title would be ridiculous.

Perhaps most impressive and marvelous of all is that Lori agreed to be my wife. She consented to go on this journey called life with me. We didn't always know where it would take us or what we'd go through. But we're doing it together. She's the sounding board for all my novels and short stories. Nonfiction too. She's the believer in my dreams and the dreamer of many herself. And, even though I don't always agree, I've learned to always listen to her. She has unparallelled insight. She sees the glass as half-full when I'm often tempted to turn the thing over and dump out the paltry contents.

She puts brightness and sparkle into each of my days.

If that doesn't describe brilliance, then I don't know what does.

Thank you, God, for my brilliant wife.

And thank you, Lori, for sticking with me.

TV Mid-Season Round-UP

2009-12-02T10:36:00.000-08:00

Naturally, there's more going on in our lives than what I watch on TV. We've finally wrapped up our financial situation with our house and we're for the most part very please with the results and we're currently all decorated for Christmas. Melody is doing very well in school. She just needs to be a little less chatty. My writing and publishing venture is beginning to bloom. And the band/worship work Lori and I have been working on since stepping down from The Connection is finally coming to fruition.

But this post is about my favorite TV shows and where we're at with them. Most of them have come to some sort of mid-season finale. And some won't start at all until January. So I'm gonna start with Mondays and go from there.

Monday

Heroes

I'm sorta tired of justifying my continued devotion to this show. I will agree that it hasn't ever been as good as it was the first season. But it hasn't been as bad as a lot of fanboys have made it out to be. It's still pretty cool and the Thanksgiving episode was perhaps the best of the season. The last episode, in which a key character finally bites the dust, was also good I thought and I'm interested to see where they're going to take it from here. So count me in for the season. Whether it goes out with a bang or gets another chance to re-capture season one's glory has yet to be determined. I say, if they can't step the game up to season one levels, perhaps it's better to go out altogether. Heroes returns January 4 with a two-hour episode. The following week, it will move to its new time at 9 pm (following new episodes of Chuck).

Castle

As a writer, it's easy to like Castle. It's about a writer (Richard Castle, played by Nathan Fillion of Firefly fame) in the vein of Stephen King and he teams up with a pretty detective to solve crimes and get inspiration for his crime novels. Naturally, snarky quips and romantic-tinted banter abound. It's fun and it's a show that Lori will watch with me and actually enjoy. There's a new episode next week so I don't know if it will slow down through the holidays or not. Mondays at 10 pm on ABC.

Still To Come: Chuck

Chuck is the guy who could have been so much more except he got kicked out of Stanford and wound up heading up the Nerd Herd at the local Buy More (read: Geek Squad at Best Buy). It would have been a bleak existance had an ex-college buddy who was secretly a spy not sent Chuck the Intersec, a high-tech computer that holds all the country's secrets. With a mere click of a mouse, Chuck opened the e-mail containing the Interesec (that's some serious file compression to send something like that via an e-mail attachment) and the next thing Chuck knows is that he's downloaded the whole thing into his head. To protect him while he's harboring this supercomputer, Chuck's been assigned the kick-butt Casey (Adam Baldwin) and Sarah, a female spy who poses as his girlfriend. Sparks fly between Chuck and Sarah but they can't be together while he's got the Intersec in his brain. At the end of last season, Chuck finally got said computer out of his head only to end up downloading the new version of it into his head. Now, in addition to knowing all of the country's secrets, Chuck also has new physical abilities, Matrix-style. Clips for the new season look promising. They're upping the ante by bringing Chuck more into the spy world, it appears. While Chuck has always been fun, it'll be nice to turn the formula on its ear a little. Chuck's third season starts on Sunday, January 10 with two episodes and then moves to it's usual Monday timeslot on January 11 at 8 pm.

Tuesday

V

Yes, it's the re-imagining of that cheesetackular mini-series from the 80s that I loved so much as a youth. So far, it's fairly good. I'll admit to not having watched the latest episode yet. They only showed four episodes before the holidays. Supposedly, it's going to come back early next year, although ABC has yet to set a return date.

Still To Come: Lost

Do I really have to explain Lost? I'm not even sure if I could. This is the final season, so everything is supposed to wrap up. Last year, Juliet exploded an atomic bomb in the 70s, supposedly blowing up our heroes and potentially re-setting the timeline. A lot of returning characters who are supposed to be dead are set to make appearances this year so if you've followed the adventures of survivors of Oceanic 815 and The Island this far, there's really no reason not to complete your journey. Lost is set to return on ABC on February 2.

Wednesday

Still To Come: Psych

I can't say how much I love this comedic fake-psychic murder-mystery series. It's peppered with quips, snark and 80s pop culture references. The characters are well-drawn and hilarious. As long as they can keep it funny and fun, I'll keep watching. Psych starts back up on it's new night (Wednesdays) on January 27 on USA.

Still To Come: Human Target

Haven't seen this yet. It's based on a comic book that I haven't read but the premise seems like fun. A guy saves people by becoming them. I'm gonna give it a shot, despite the fact that it's on FOX (see Dollhouse below). The first episode of Human Target will air at 8 pm on Sunday, January 17 on FOX before it moves to its usual timeslot, Wednesdays at 8 pm starting January 20.

Thursday

FlashForward

Billed as the New Lost by ABC prior to its debut, FlashForward had a lot of things going for it including Ralph Fiennes (Shakespeare In Love). But even that couldn't keep my wife's attention. And apparently the masses agree. It's been sinking in the ratings for weeks now. I'm still watching it. There are momemnts of promise. But part of the problem I think is that the biggest event that will ever happen on this show happened in the pilot (everyone on the planet blacked out for 3 minutes, 17 seconds and caught a glimpse of their future). It's hard to have twisty surprises when the biggest thing that could happen already happened and we're basically just watching everyone's reaction to it. Sure, the same arguement could be made of Lost, but what our friends found on The Island was so unexpected and bizarre that the writers were able to continually provide surprises. So far, the biggest surprise was that the future isn't necessarily written in stone. Or maybe it is. Or something.

Fringe

From J.J Abrams, architect of the once-great (and always good) Alias and re-imaginer of the always watchable Star Trek, comes a worthy heir to X-Files. This year is more of the same from last year. Except now we know we're dealing with an alternate universe, which, outside of Sliders, is a rare subject matter for TV, even genre TV. The writing is always solid and watching John Noble's Vincent Price-esque performances are always worth the 60 minutes to watch.

Supernatural

From the outset, I liked this show because it didn't shy away from the fact that there are supernatural elements to our world. The two brothers drove their souped up Impala cross-country every week to fight ghosts and goblins and save the innocent while searching for their dad. Then they moved on to some other obscure stuff. They found their dad and then he was killed off. Around that time, they started dispatching demons. Then angels started showing up. And now the angels have ushered in the apocolyspe, Lucifer is on the loose and one angel, Castiel, is hoping to bring God onboard. While the show definately plays fast and loose with Biblical mythology, it hasn't been disappointing in the storytelling department. I highly recommend it, but only for those probalby over about 16 years of age. The Apcolypse picks back up when Supernatural returns on January 14 to the CW.

Friday

Monk

Adrian Monk has had a good run. But now we're down to the finale. Supposedly he'll solve his wife's murder. Finally. Check it out this Friday. 9 pm. USA. Note: The first part of the finale encores at 8 pm.

Dollhouse

Against all odds, this show (from Joss Whedon of Buffy, Angel and Firefly fame) about people who have their minds wiped and imprinted with whatever rich clients want received a second season. Unfortunately, ratings were still dismal and FOX has cancelled it. Fortunately, they're going to air the remaining episodes. This Friday, they're airing two back-to-back. Then the schedule goes sorta haywire but they're promising to air them all.

Smallville

No. Clark Kent isn't Superman yet. But he's something they call The Blur (I guess cause he's so fast no one can see him... last year he was The Red-Blue Blur because he always wears red and blue clothes. Get it? Like Superman?). But now clones of Kryptonians have been released on earth, including Zod (the cloning was done when he was a major though) and Clark's going to have to take him down before the season ends. Oh yeah. And Clark's finally over Lana (now that she's off the show) and is finally romancing Lois Lane. Smallville's actually been pretty good in this, its ninth year. Can you believe it? Nine years! And they're shooting for a tenth! Whatever the case, The Blur will return with new episodes of Smallville starting January 22.

Sanctuary

I'm still taping this show every week and I still have not seen one episode of it. Maybe over the holiday hiatuses, I'll be able to check it out.

Still To Come: Caprica

This Battlestar Galactica (the reboot) prequel series stars Eric Stolz and Esai Morales. Sounds like a good mix to me.

Saturday

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

These half-hour shockingly good glimpses into the Prequel-Era Star Wars universe actually debut on The Cartoon Network on Friday nights but I have too much to watch on Fridays. So I tape the encores on Saturday morning at roughly 8:30 am (sometimes it switches to 9 am for some reason). I told Lori once that if I was twelve I would really love this show. As it is, I really like it alot.

Sunday

The Legend Of The Seeker

Fantasy on TV done right. I don't know how close it hews to the original Sword of Truth books by Terry Goodkind, but if this kind of stuff would have come out when I was a teenager, I would have never missed a minute. Hey, I don't miss any minutes now either. Hmmm... The show is syndicated so it's time and day will probably vary from region to region. In my area, it's on at 4 pm on Sundays on the CW.

So there you have it. Plenty to catch up on. Plenty to enjoy for the future. And I didn't even touch on Eureka or Burn Notice.

The Whats-On-TV Update

2009-10-05T17:36:00.000-07:00

So I'm watching quite a bit on TV these days. Between returning favorites and brand new stuff, there's quite a bit to see, esepcially in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy arena.

So here we go:

Mondays

HEROES, NBC @8pm

Yes, I'm among the die-hards who are still watching this show. Season one was so good and the writer's strike interrupted season two prematurely so I was willing to forgive. After that, it just seems like they've never really regained their momentum... or footing... or something. There are moments of greatness so I'm still watching and hoping for this show to return to fulfilling its potential.

CASTLE, ABC @10pm

Anything with Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Firefly) in it is worth the watch. What surprised me most was that Lori took a liking to this show about a suspense/thriller author (think Stephen King... Rick Castle?) who teams up with the police for research (and to solve copycat murders from his books in the pilot). The writing is fresh, the banter snappy and the mysteries aren't too easy to solve either. They had me at Nathan Fillion and the fact that he's a writer.

The fact that I'm not watching anything on Tuesdays and Wednesdays these days is made up for by the sheer number of shows I'm trying to keep up with on Thursdays and Fridays. It's a good thing that a lot of what I watch on Friday is on cable with multiple air times or I'd miss some of it.

Thursdays

FLASH FORWARD, ABC @8pm

This show is being touted as the "new Lost." So far, I'm seeing the correlation although I'm not sure I agree with it. I'm intrigued for now but there's not a lot happening every episode. And what is happening seems somewhat predictable. Lori seems to like this one too (there aren't a lot of my shows that I can say that about) so I'll keep checking it out.

FRINGE, FOX @9pm

This show, new last year, continues to surprise. It's sort of the worthy heir to The X-Files but instead of aliens, it seems to be dealing with an alternate universe that often manifests in our world as something the characters are calling The Pattern (the conceit is that the team investigates "fringe science" but it all seems to be increasingly tied to this alternate universe. Oh yeah, and there's this bald pale guy called The Observer who is supposedly in every episode. Except I'm usually too wrapped up in what's going on to locate him. The mad scientist, Walter Bishop is genuinely funny, if not morbidly so, and very unique. John Noble should get an Emmy for portraying him. Oh yeah, and did I mention Leonard Nimoy plays the enigmatic William Bell? Plenty of freaky surprises to go around.

SUPERNATURAL, CW @9pm

Here's a show that has been getting darker and yet better with every season. The show started out about these two brothers (Dean and Sam Winchester) who were traveling across the country looking for their dad who had disappeared. Of course, their dad hunts supernatural beings (think ghosts, zombies, vampires, etc.) and vanquishes them. The sons are also schooled in such ways and follow in dear old dad's footsteps in hopes of finding him. Over the years, they found their dad, their dad got killed, and then each of the brothers have been killed only to have been brought back for some reason. Last season, a bunch of demons were released and angels came into the mythology as the brothers and everyone they know were trying to stop The Apocolypse. At the end of last season, Lucifer was released. And now the brothers, with the help of an angel named Castiel, are trying to stop Armageddon. The show plays hard-and-fast with Biblical canon, apparently having their own definitions for demons (other than fallen angels) and even what angels are. But it's all pretty cool, nevertheless. One thing I do like about it is that it doesn't try to pretend that there's not a supernatural aspect to our lives, even if they take dramatic liberties in presenting it.

Fridays

MONK, USA @9pm

I've followed Monk since the first episode. Probably since MASH, there hasn't been a show that has succeeded at being funny yet sad at the same time. This is being touted as the last season and I believe there are only a few more episodes left. Still to come: Monk's original nurse, Sharona, drops in for an episode and the two-part finale that I hope will finally wrap up Monk's wife's murder and get him re-instated to the SF Police force (or at least will find him happy with where he ends up). I have high hopes that the writers will pay this series off well. It's been successful both financially for USA and critically (Tony Shaloub has won multiple Emmys... I've lost count of just how many... for his portrayal of Adrian Monk).

PSYCH, USA @10pm

I have to admit, when USA premiered Psych, I didn't get it all that much. I liked the lead character, despite how flaky he is. But I didn't much get the sidekick. Since then, and with the help of multiple flashbacks to the 80s in each episode's opening, I have come to understand and even revel in the relationship between Shawn and Gus that dates back to their childhood. The writing on Psych is top-notch and hilarious. The one-liners often force me to rewind to hear it again and the pop-culture references, often back to the 80s, are to die for. Which is a good thing because there's usually a murder to be solved. Shawn, raised by his policeman father to be ultra-perceptive, pretends to be a psychic because it's the only way the police will believe him. With success behind him, he and his best friend open up Psych, the psychic detective agency and, as they say in Hollywood pitch meetings, "hilarity ensues." Except this time, it really does.

SMALLVILLE, CW @8pm

It's 9 years old this season. And finally, depsite the fact that the great Michael Rosenbaum has departed the show and thus taken the character of Lex Luthor with him, we're finally getting into some Superman stuff. Except they're calling him The Blur (which comes from The Red-Blue Blur, a term that was being used to describe the super-speeding Clark Kent as he would swoop in to save the day). AT least that's what they're calling him for now. Clark still can't fly. But Lana is gone and the romance between Clark and Lois Lane is blossoming. It's only a couple steps away from the Superman that we know. Clark is even wearing the S on his shirt. It's just silver on a black shirt and instead of a cape, he's got a trench coat. I say, just take us there already! I've diligently watched this show from the beginning. When it's time to wrap it up, give me Superman and bring back Lex for the finale. Do that, and all 9 (or 10 if it comes to that) years of watching will have been worth it.

DOLLHOUSE, FOX @9pm

I was never much of a Buffy or Angel fan. But Firefly was my kind of show. So last year I gave Joss Whedon's new show about mind-wiped disposable people a shot. I found it mildly engaging and discovered that Whedon was using the show to subtly comment on our culture. It started out a little wobbly and got better with each episode. By the time the finale came around, I was fully on board but somewhat sad because I didn't think it had any chance for renewal. But never underestimate the power of fans in this 'verse. Lo and behold, Dollhouse was renewed and now it's back with some slight tweaks (now the lead character who is routinely wiped of her memory is maintaining some aspect of the various personalities that she's imprinted with). It's still engaging and the between-the-lines commentary is still there. Ratings aren't, however, so if you want to check out Dollhouse, you might want to hurry.

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS, CN @ 8pm

To those of you who like to pretend that the Star Wars prequels never happened, I have to say I disagree with you. And it's not because I have an irrational love of Jar Jar Binks (although he doesn't bug me as much as he does some SW fans). It's mostly because, if the prequels didn't exist, than either would this excellent computer animated series, set between Episode 2 and Episode 3. There are times I'm watching The Clone Wars and I think to myself, "this is what the movies should have been like." We get full-fledged Jedi action, plenty of battle droids, lots of 'splosions, even a lot of Expanded Universe references and, since the show is in the half-hour format, characterizations that get straight to the point. There's nothing not to love. If you like Star Wars and you've given up since the prequels, give Clone Wars a chance. You'll be glad you did.

SANCTUARY, SYFY @ 10 pm

I have to be honest here. This show seems like it would be right up my alley. And I recorded the entire first season. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to watch any of it. So I don't know if I can/should recommend it. But everything I've read about it supports my suspicions that it's my kind of show. It starts back up this Friday with a 13 episode second season. So I expect I'll tape those too and eventually I'll get to them all. More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary_(TV_series)

Saturdays

LEGEND OF THE SEEKER, Syndicated (in Long Beach, CW @ 5pm)

A lot of sword & sorcery translates to the small screen (and to the big screen for that matter) as pure cheese. But Sam Raimi does a pretty good job with this one, adapted from Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" novels. I don't know how good the adaptation is since I haven't read the books. But the show is consistently pretty good. The new season supposedly starts the weekend of October 31 but, as with all first-run syndicated shows, you may have to hunt for it.

And that's it for now. Chuck and Lost are supposed to come back mid-season and there's the new V, Caprica (Battlestar Galactica prequel spin-off) and Day One (the latter having been recently downgraded into a mini-series) that I'm looking forward to as well. Not to mention the oft-delayed Battlestar Galactia: The Plan movie. But I'll have to weigh in on those once they start and/or return.

For now, enjoy good stories wherever you can find them.

Let's Play Catch Up

2009-07-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

Since we lost Lyric back on New Year's Eve, a lot of things have sorta shifted around. Lori and I have had many discussions about priorities and where our various creative and other endeavors will fall over the next year or so.

There's quite a bit to ingest, so I'm gonna lay it all out here in hopes that I can both share it with you, the (hopefully) interested reader as well as wrap my own head around it all.

Show Me The Money!
So it seems as if, after many false starts and time lags, that we finally have an agreement with our lender that everyone is happy with. Lori and I are very pleased with the results in the monthly payment department and I was just waiting on a few more details regarding the loan terms before we put pen to paper and lock this sucker down. That was before my phone just rang. Now we're ready to go! Both Lori and I see the results of this process as an answer to prayer. Especially, since we had previously been offered an agreement that wasn't as beneficial to us. So it's time to thank God this weekend and that's how I'm going into the weekend. With a thankful heart and a good attitude!

This new agreement will give us some breathing room and maybe even some travel money down the line. So stay tuned for where Lori and I have been discussing going.

Pooling Around
It's been extremely hot out this summer and Lori has tried multiple times to have a pool in the back for Melody to play in. The neighbors have a really large pool set up and Melody sometimes goes there to play. But Melody has never had swimming lessons so we don't like to let her go over without one of us being right there. The first inflatable pool Lori bought was quite large and rectangular. It lasted about a day before the neighborhood cats, I guess thinking they had found the mother lode of thirst quenchers, destroyed it with their claws (climbing up to get a drink?). Lori tried to replace it but all additional pools of like design had disappeared off the shelves. So she got this other inflatable one that sprays water out of a giraffe head. The downside though is it's really a small pool, despite the multiple 10-year olds playing in it on the box. I'd call that false advertising, but maybe that's just me. So we've been really good about emptying it and removing it to the garage whenever Melody gets out so the neighborhood cats won't get their claws on (or in) it. But lately, it's been so hot that even Lori and her mom were thinking it would be nice to get in the pool. So the two of them together conspired to get this other, much larger pool. In fact, its probably as large as our neighbor's pool, although not as deep or as high up. So now we have this pool. The top ring inflates and as its filled with water, the top rises, making the pool deeper. Kind of ingenious if you ask me. It also has a water pump that's supposed to clean the water but I have yet to hook that up (it looks like it might be missing some pieces, but maybe I can make it work). So that's the girls' summer fun for you. Maybe I'll get in it this weekend after I mow a lawn or two. Whatever the case, it's too big to take down every day so I've sprayed dog and cat repellent all around it and on the rim. Twice. So far it's fared well over two nights. I guess we'll see.

Rock Around The House
In the meantime, I've been on sort of a household improvement and repair kick. A few weeks ago, I repainted most of the front porch. It's all the same colors as before but just giving it a refreshing. I've also gone around and retouched the house wherever there were any chips in the olive paint. So the place is looking a little spiffier. The driveway gate is getting a little wobbly so I'm going to try to secure that this weekend. Plus probably try to set up the pool's water pump and a few other minor projects around the house. The key is to make the list and prioritize the projects and not try to do them all at once. Otherwise, I won't enjoy my weekend at all. The idea is to push some of them to another weekend. The list is merely there so I don't forget anything.

The Sound Of Music
For awhile now, Lori and I have felt called to have a worship gathering/Bible study for the neighborhood in our basement. When we stepped down from leading worship at The Connection, one of the projects we felt led to was writing our own music. Between Lori and I, we've written a lot of stuff over the past year. And I gotta say, it's all pretty good. I'm really proud of it. Both Lori and I sing the songs. Lori plays keys and I play bass and I think we have a pretty unique sound. Recently, we added to that sound with Ed Che playing guitar and Lou Diaz on drums. The result is Launch Pad: the band. I must say, it is so satisfying to hear the music come together with the full band. But this band isn't just about turning it up to eleven and rockin out. We see the band as the front-end of a missionary movement. Yes, we've written some songs that those who go to church would call "worship" songs. But we've also written other songs that eschew Christianese and just tell it the way it is. We want to be real. We don't want to be churchy. We've got a lot to say and we're saying most of it through music. So, we're going to be rehearsing a lot over the next couple months and then we'll be playing out around town. I hope you can check us out. More info as it comes.

The Write Stuff
In addition to all of the musical mayhem going on, I've been steadily writing as well. Unfortunately, probably mostly due to the economic downturn, my publisher was starting to let some key production dates on Chance for the Future slide. So we had a chat and he released me from my contracts at my request. So, the downside is I'm back without a publishing deal. The upside is, I'm not locked into a deal that isn't going anywhere. As for my backlist, I'm currently working out a publishing schedule for bringing these all back out on my own. They'll require new covers and I'll have to do my own book layout, but it's a minor inconvenience.

That said, "Zooming Thru Life" is pretty much ready to go. It needs a cover but I'll use the logo from the articles/blog. "One of the Girls" will probably get a new edition very soon as well (so it'll have a wider availability, especially online) but I'll probably keep the Kris Cartwright artwork in one way or another. "Chance For The Future" was delivered to the publisher with the new short story, so that's a clean edit that I just need a new cover for. Hope For Tomorrow has had the manuscript marked-up and only needs the edits to be implemented (and a new cover). Faith In The Past will be the next one to get the manuscript polish and also needs a new cover. I just finished the first round of edits on the newly again re-titled "A Stranger On Bay Street" (it'll probably get another couple passes before it's published, but the title shouldn't change again). I must say I'm quite pleased with how that story came out. As with "One of the Girls," I look forward to writing sequels in this world. And progress continues on "Plunge Into Eden," the first book in my sci-fi alternate-universe trilogy. I finished Chapter 23 the other night our of an expected 28 (and an epilogue). So that one nears completion. I'm so very glad to be working on this stuff again on a regular basis.

Meet Melody's New Friend
Another thing that has kept me busy, especially on the weekend, is the dog-escape-proofing of our yard. Because we now have a puppy. Her name is Harmony. She's supposedly half-Golden Retriever (and maybe half shepherd? Dunno). She's short haired and very playful. She's going to be a very big dog when she grows up though so she's an outside dog. I'm actually hoping she'll scare the cats away from our pool. She has a big bed on the back porch that might be nicer than mine and all sorts of chew toys because she's teething and if I don't provide said toys, she will chew the paint off my house and chew through the back porch wood supports like beaver. I've already had to spray stuff I don't want her to chew with this "bitter chew" stuff they had at PetSmart. We'll see if it works. She seems to be pretty smart though. She's already very good at bringing the slobbery tennis ball back when I throw it. But she lived next door for a couple weeks so she still tries to get back over there now and again. So I put up chicken wire along the picket fence (she could squeeze through!) and I've extended the height of our fence in a couple places (and painted the extensions to match the fence for camouflage's sake. Melody really loves "her doggy." The first thing she wants to do every morning is "play with Harmony," even though that dog could bowl her over without thinking about it twice.

Graduation and Pre-K
Which brings me to Melody. She graduated from preschool late last month and started a Pre-K class immediately thereafter. She really enjoys school but I wonder if this new class is taxing her in different ways. Whatever the case, it's probably good for her. The preschool class she was in was lax in a lot of ways. This new class seems to be more structured. I guess she has it for one more week. Overlapping that, starting next week is Melody's swimming class. So, yes, with all this pool talk, we're actually getting Melody some lessons. I'm sure she'll love it. After that, she'll start up at Stevenson (named after author Robert Louis Stevenson... I couldn't be more pleased... ha!) in a year-round schedule, which both Lori and I actually like.

Reminiscences
Today would have been my dad's 70th birthday had he not passed away a few years ago. Working around the house so much these days, I can't help but recall helping him work around his house when I was a kid. It seemed like he always knew exactly what to do to fix anything. I don't have anywhere near that kind of knowledge. But then I realize that it probably seems to Melody that I know exactly what to do too. Is it all such a sham? I don't know. But I do know that if my dad was still alive, I'd be hitting him up for advice on how to fix this or that around the house. And he would probably be coming over to explain it to me just so he could play with his little granddaughter. He was very close with Melody's cousin, Violet. But he only held Melody a handful of times as he started getting sick right around the time she was born. I know if he were around, he would be proud of everything she can do these days. I know I am. She's getting so big. She's not a baby anymore. She's a little girl. And she's my little girl. I guess that will never really change.

I'm sure there's other stuff going on, but that's gonna have to be it for this update.

Well, it's Friday and Lori's picking me up after work so I can start the weekend off right with my girls (sans Harmony). We're going to celebrate everything God's doing in our lives and just enjoy being together. What else can I ask for? I'm Looking forward to it!

What I'm Reading - Revised

2009-07-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I had a dentist appointment a couple weeks ago and I must have been so addled by it (nothing wrong, by the way, it was merely a teeth cleaning and the dentist said everything looked great) that I have misplaced my Last Days of Krypton book. I can't find it. I was roughly halfway through it and now, unless I pick up another copy somewhere, I guess I'll never finish it. Bummer.

Worse though: For years I've had this hard cover that slips on to mass-market size paperback books. I don't think you can even get them anymore. Anyway, it was on the aforementioned missing book. So now I have no paperback protection! I've looked online for a new cover but I'm not enamored with any of the newer designs.

I checked with the dentist and they haven't found it there. I don't know where I put it. Maybe I'll run across it someday. In the meantime, I'm reading Hopscotch by the same author (Kevin J. Anderson). I figured if I wasn't going to finish his Superman history, I might as well finish something else by him. As for Hopscotch, it's an interesting read so far. I can tell he's setting up a lot of things. How it will all connect and converge will be something to discover.

Anyway, I still hope to find the other book and cover in the next couple weeks... It would be nice if I could find them around the time I wrap up this book. But we'll see.

What I'm Reading

2009-06-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

Well, it took awhile, but I completed the Dark Nest trilogy of Star Wars novels (my guilty pleasure) and they were actually pretty good.

Now I'm knee-deep in The Last Days of Krypton by Kevin J. Anderson.

I met Mr. Anderson at a Pikes Peak Writer's Conference when I lived in Colorado (we were both on faculty) and actually had the good fortune of having lunch with him and his wife (Rebecca Moesta) in the main hall. In general, I like his work. I first encountered his writing through my guilty pleasure (Star Wars novels) but have since read some of his other work. In particular, I enjoyed his Captain Nemo novel, which he signed for me at the aforementioned conference. His writing style is very direct. Not simple, really, but it gets right to the point and does not draw attention to itself, instead allowing the story to quickly unfold. He also writes a lot of short chapters, which I prefer over a few very long chapters.

So far, this particular book is intriguing. It chronicles the last days of the planet that Superman is from. My understanding is that Mr. Anderson took many different threads from comics, films, etc. and has weaved them together into one coherent whole. It's fun to visit this world that Superman fans really have mostly only heard about.

I'm also looking forward to Mr. Anderson's new Superman/Batman novel.

New Class: Interactive Production

2009-05-28T17:31:00.001-07:00

Teaching a new class next week on Interactive Production at The Designory. It's meant as an orientation for the mostly print-experienced Production folks here to transition over to doing production work in interactive space. Hopefully, shortly thereafter, these folks can get their hands dirty with some real Interactive Production work.

Writing Update: February 2009 - WIPs

2009-02-27T08:30:00.000-08:00

For those of you out there who are not familiar with the term, WIP stands for Works In Progress. I happen to have a few projects that are in various stages of completion and I'm going to try to make sense of them here (if for no other reason than to get a handle on them myself).

First, what's been delivered to the publisher: Chance for the Future new edit and the new Chance short story, Power to the People.

Hope for Tomorrow (new edit)
The last chapter will get my red pen today at lunch. Next, I need to go into the document and actually make the edits. Another week or two and HFT will be ready to be delivered to my publisher along with the short story, Riot Act.

Zooming Thru Life (tech polish)
Now that I've stepped into the Web 2.0 world of iPhones and mobile connectivity, there are a few places where ZTL can be tweaked to make it a tad more tech-savvy. I'll start this polish with the red pen next week during my lunch hours and will make the fixes to the document by the end of March.

A Stranger On Lake Street (new title)
This is the latest novel I've written, the first in (hopefully) a new series called Worlds Collide. Over the course of several weeks, I read it aloud to Lori before we hit the hay. I think she thought it was a little gory near the end, but heck, it's a war between angels and demons! What do you expect? Anyway, I noticed a few places I could touch up this story when I was reading it to Lori, so I'll tackle a new edit for it once I finish with ZTL. Once the new edit is ready, I'll see if my publisher is interested.

Faith In The Past (new edit)
After I give the new novel another pass, I'll break out the red pen and give the third Fairlight novel another polish before handing it off to my publisher (along with the short story, Saint Nik).

Plunge Into Eden
Planning a trilogy from the outset means, for me anyway, committing to a world and characters for two or three years. The Fairlight novels evolved into a series. Plunge Into Eden is the first in what I've planned as a trilogy (The Earthship Endeavor Chronicles). I've got the basic arc of the trilogy planned and the first novel fully plotted. Anyway, this is the novel I'm writing now. I completed chapter 3 last night and it is progressing nicely. I also need to perfect a logline for at least the first book (if not the entire trilogy) and pitch this series to my publisher as well.

One of the Girls
This book is contracted for a new release through Blademaster but it's a pretty clean manuscript. I might give it one more polish before it runs though. We'll see. I guess it sorta depends on if my publisher asks for it. If so, I may need to re-prioritize. Obviously, books with contracts take priority.

So that's where it all stands. I hope to do another Zooming book as well when time permits (it's mostly about gathering notes) and there's always the Zooming Thru Life blog (). I know it's been a few weeks since I've posted there, but I intend to get back to a regular schedule again. Losing our daughter (in the miscarriage) sorta slowed me down but we're recovering and we're moving forward.

In the future, I'd also like to write sequels to One of the Girls, A Stranger On Lake Street as well as additional Fairlight novels. But more on that another time.

Thanks for reading!

Photoshop Class #3 at The Designory

2009-01-26T13:41:00.001-08:00

So my third Photoshop class here at The Designory is as a moderator for a Photoshop Tips and Tricks lab that will take place this Thursday at noon (apparently lunch will be served as well).

The idea is to host a lab where long-time Photoshop "creatives" can come together and share some of their tips and tricks. I'll have some of mine and some subjects to bring up if others don't bring what they need. Apparently lunch will be served so I'm hoping for a good turn out. The announcement is going out today so I'll probably know by the end of the day what the response was.

It's kinda exciting to participate in this way with other "creatives."

Writing Update: January 2009

2009-01-22T14:30:00.000-08:00

So, while there's not a lot to speak of as far as increased availability of my work, I'll just take a moment to touch upon the various projects that are currently in "a" stage of progress.

Chance for the Future: This is a brand-new edit of my original 2000 novel that I self-published. The hardcover was due last year. There have been some schedule setbacks with the publisher but I'm assured that the new edition is on track for sometime this year. A mmp (mass market paperback) edition is supposed to follow the hardcover edition (as well as digital releases, supposedly PDF and Kindle). All editions should include a new Chance short story, "Power To The People". With the slips in the schedule, it makes me wonder if this will come out before the novel's ten year anniversary.

Hope for Tomorrow: The sequel to Chance for the Future was originally supposed to see release this year. With the schedule slipping, I'm not sure where this one will fall on the calendar. Like, CFTF, HFT is supposed to see a hardcover release as well as a mmp release (and the digital releases). All editions will be a completely new edit of the story (I'll have completed my edits in another week and have the new draft to the publisher probably early in February) and will include the Nik-centric short story, "Riot Act."

Faith in the Past: The third novel in the Fairlight series will again be a brand-new edit. It's currently set to be a hardcover and mmp release (as well as the aforementioned digital releases). All editions should include the Faith and Nik short story, "Saint Nik."

Zooming Thru Life: My first nonfiction book is slated for August 2009 in trade paperback and digital releases. At this point, I'd be surprised if we make that date based on the publisher's schedule slips. More release info when I have it.

Stranger On A Quiet Street: My angels vs. demons contemporary fantasy novel is pretty much wrapped up. I've been reading it, one chapter at a time, to Lori at night and she seems to dig it. I've noticed a few minor tweaks I need to make to it so once I get through it with Lori, I'll polish it one more time and then let my publisher take a look to see if he's interested. To be honest, I'd like to see some of these other books come out before I get him excited about something else so it might be a good thing to wait a little while before handing it off. Also, the title will probably change somewhat. I think I'll keep "Stranger" in the title but that may be all.

One of the Girls: My YA superhero novel that I self-published shortly before moving back to California (and actually the latest one I've put out) has been picked up by my publisher to see a new edition. That said, I've still got a lot of copies of the original August Too edition. In the past, I've visited elementary schools with these books and it looks like I may start doing that again this year. I currently have feelers out to two schools. More info as I get it.

Plunge Into Eden: This is the working name of the first book in what I expect to be a trilogy called The Earthship Endeavor Chronicles. I've started writing it, even though I haven't fully plotted it yet. I'll be working on the plot tonight and just the anticipation of working on it tonight has excited me enough to drop this entire blog post! Yes. I'm excited about this one. I need to be very excited about a concept and the characters to decide to write a trilogy because it will be a major part of my life for the next two or three years. It is nice to be back to actual science fiction again though. The last two have been more in the realm of contemporary fantasy. The Earthship Endeavor is a spacecraft. So I'm out among the stars this time... at least I am when the tale starts...

Remembering Lyric Phoebe Carhart

2009-01-12T13:50:00.000-08:00

As previously noted on this blog, Lori and I were expecting a new baby in April, 2009. Tragically, we suffered a miscarriage at five months on New Year's Eve, 2008. The end result is that we lost our baby. While we had been hoping for a little boy, as it turns out, our child would have been a little girl. Lori named her Lyric Phoebe. It was a devestating turn of events. Both Lori and I are still heartbroken by the loss.

Lori's primary way of dealing with the loss was to have me take down the crib and changing table from the baby's room. Since we've decided we're not going to try again, we got rid of all of the baby stuff. I sent an e-mail to everyone at work who's expecting and had a decent response. We gave away a lot of stuff. Thousands of dollars worth of stuff, probably. Crib, strollers, etc.

The way I deal with this kind of loss has to do with re-focusing my plans and goals. So tonight, Lori and I are going to sit down and look at our goals in every area of our life and adjust where we can, allowing for what our life will probably look like now without this new child in it over the next year or so.

So while we've decided to remove certain items from our life that will remind us of our loss, we choose to remember Lyric Phoebe, our child who "just couldn't make it."

Writing Update: December 2008

2008-12-12T11:42:00.001-08:00

Now that we're knee-deep in the holidays, my free time tends to extend more to family matters than to matters of the pen. The good news is that I finished the second draft of Stranger On A Quiet Street and have put it aside to gel. Well, at least I thought I had. Lori wants to read it but, since she's nauseous (we're expecting our second child in April), she never really feels like getting around to it. So I've taken to reading it to her, one chapter a night. I actually found myself nervous when I started but now I look forward to reading it to her every night and to her feedback.

Each day at lunch, I polish another chapter in Fairlight #2, Hope For Tomorrow, for the Blademaster Press edition. There are very few fixes. It was always a pretty clean manuscript. It's a good story with believable characters. I'm enjoying reading it again almost 8 years after its original publication.

I've also started research on my next novel, which I'm wisely (I think) waiting until after the holidays to start plotting. The idea is to make a trilogy out of this concept so I'll be committing to it for several years once I start it. But it occupies a lot of my thoughts and it feels like the right one to do next. So that's the direction I'm going.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Photoshop Class 2: Photoshop in New Media

2008-12-12T11:40:00.000-08:00

My second Photoshop class did well yesterday. A lot of good feedback and comments. My favorite response so far was that several people loved my comment, in trying to explain resolution, that a Lite Bright is about 4 dpi.

Photoshop Class Update

2008-11-19T10:55:00.000-08:00

So the first class on Photoshop that I'm teaching at The Designory is tomorrow. It's just a basics class. Really, I'll probably only answer this question: "What the heck is Photoshop?" I only have an hour, after all. I'm going to try to make it humorous. Most of the people coming are non-creatives who are just curious about what the program can do (although there are a couple of ADs and even a Sr. Creative Director attending).

Of course, the program can't do anything without a talented individual operating it. Leave it on the computer overnight and it won't do anything someone hasn't told it to do (read: Actions).

There will be two more classes that I'm teaching. The next one (currently set for Dec. 2) will be a demonstration class about how the Interactive team uses Photoshop in-house. And the last (not-yet-scheduled) will be more of an expert-level Tips & Tricks Forum where Art Directors, ACDs and Creative Directors can share the different things they've learned.

I asked Lori to pick up some AAA batteries for my laser pointer today. I hope she can get around to it.

Writing Update: October 2008

2008-10-22T12:30:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, I completed the first draft of "Stranger On A Quiet Street" which is what I hope will be the first in a new series called "Worlds Collide." Since then, I've been vigorously editing the first draft and I'll probably have all my notes down by the end of this week. Next week, I'll get the edits into the manuscript and I'll have a pretty clean second draft that I can put aside for awhile.

Already, I've started considering what I'm going to write next. My mind continues to circle a concept that I discussed with a friend of mine (Doug Coning) years ago. The kernel of the idea was his so I didn't want to pursue it without at least chatting with him again and getting his blessing to go ahead with it and develop it to my satisfaction.

Last week, I wrote to him and he gave me the go-ahead. There are a lot of research aspects to the world-building that I will need to do and it sounds as if Doug is very interested in bouncing ideas around with me on the subject. So I'm looking forward to that. I'm sure Lori will have some input too and I'll be referring to some of her late father's related documents as well. That's all I'm going to say for now! I don't want to spoil the fun nor do I want to let the concept for the story to slip just yet.

In the meantime, and before I really get the ball rolling on the new story, I'm going to have to keep my editorial hat on for a few more weeks because I owe my publisher a new draft of "Hope For Tomorrow" (Fairlight #2) soon. I might as well get it out of the way so I don't have to interrupt the new story with it. So that will be next, once I finish the second draft of SOAQS.

So that's the update. "Chance For The Future" is still supposedly shooting for a February 2009 release in hard cover. Mass market paperback to follow after. I hope the schedule doesn't shift again.

Teaching Photoshop

2008-10-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to sorta toot my own horn. It appears that I've been selected to teach a class or two on Photoshop here at The Designory (my day job). Details are scant at this time, but it's something I know very well and it's a nice opportunity to get back into the speaking game.

Plus, I guess I get some extra vacation time for doing it. Never a bad thing.

A Blogging Fool

2008-10-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

So, in addition to this blog that Lori and I contribute to together and the recently launched weekly Zooming Thru Life blog that I put together to bring my Zooming Thru Life articles to the Internet and promote the Zooming Thru Life series of books, Lori and I have launched another blog that is related to our worship and Bible-study ministry, Launch Pad.

So check out Launch Pad: The Blog. Each month, we'll post the teaching from our meeting and we'll probably have other Faith-related articles as well every once in awhile. I'm hoping for a once-a-week posting, so we'll see.

Celebrate The Milestone!

2008-10-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

This week, I completed the first draft of my latest novel: "A Stranger on a Quiet Street" which is the first in what I hope will be a series called Worlds Collide.

It's been a bumpy road for this novel. It was started when my dad was still alive and we were living in Colorado. Since then, we've moved several times and the book has had many starts and stops.

Of course, as Ernest Hemingway said, "The first draft of anything is sh*t." So now the editing begins. Thankfully, despite the interruptions, I had an outline for the novel from the outset and never lost sight of it. I'm pretty sure it will still hold together nicely, even though I have since re-read portions of it that I don't even remember writing!

I'm pretty sure my publisher wants to see it when I have a polished draft, so all the more reason to get crackin.

So even though I'm celebrating the milestone of finishing the first draft, I'm not spending much time in the celebration. There's always more to do.

Chance for the Future Release Moved

2008-09-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post, I was lamenting my publishing delays. Well, I thought I'd post a little update.

My editor contacted me today, apologized for being behind schedule (I think all publishers are perpetually behind schedule) and informed me that we're looking at a probable February 2009 release date for "Chance for the Future" in hard cover.

So I'm told the cover will come back shortly and I'll get to see it when it comes in. And galleys should come to me sometime in October for me to review.

The other book schedules will probably also shift but he also tells me he'll get me a new schedule over the weekend.

So good news comes to those who wait!

September 11

2008-09-11T10:27:00.001-07:00

Well, here it is. Seven years since the attacks on the World Trade Center, The Pentagon and what would have presumably been the White House (or some other part of Washington DC), if not for some brave Americans.

I wanted to say something of note but, over the years, I think most of what I would have said has been said.

The only addition I would make is that we should not forget, especially during this time of election, what kind of world it is out there. We have our cushy jobs and our happy homes but many of us rarely leave the enclave of our immediate neighborhood. But the world beyond is not safe and it is possible that it can and will intrude on our charmed lives.

Do not forget the events of September 11, 2001. Do not forget that there are still those out there who wish to do Americans harm for no other reason than because of their nationality.

And do not forget that making the world a better place starts at home. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Love your neighbor as yourself. Give and it shall be given.

As for more words concerning 9/11, I got nuthin.

Stressy Stress Stressington

2008-09-02T09:53:00.000-07:00

So I was telling Lori last night that I don't think I've ever experienced the level of stress in as many simultaneous places as I'm experiencing right now. I know it's been awhile since I've posted much of consequence regarding what's going on with us. Most of my recent posts have been about writing updates. It's been somewhat superficial or it hasn't been there are all. And Lori's posts have been even fewer and farther between.

I want to make it clear that I am not writing this post to air the family dirty laundry either. I'm going to be vague where I can but I need to get some things off my chest and out of my mind. So here are just a few areas of my life that are giving me stress.

On The Work Front
Basically it comes down to the increase in gas prices, but we've had a few layoffs at work. I was going to say "minor" layoffs but I'm sure the folks getting the axe wouldn't consider them minor. My heart goes out for them at the same time I breathe my own sigh of relief. Morale isn't that great but at least they're telling us they're done "trimming the fat." A lot of people have left on their own as well in the past year or so. In fact, there are only a handful of folks left who were here when I started. I'm sure I could get more elsewhere with my talent/skills/experience. But I sorta like being downtown. I walk to work these days so I save gas, wear-and-tear on the Mustang, I lose weight and I read while I walk. I get home at a decent time and that means I have time to accomplish some of the other things we want to do. It's a pretty nice lifestyle and I don't really want to trade it for a two hour a day (or more) commute.

The Expanding Family
Lori and I have now told our respective families so I think it's fair to announce that we are expecting another child. A momentous occasion, to be sure. We're praying for a boy since we've already got our little Melody and we probably won't try for another. Already, the nausea has started. Lori's been calling around for a doctor and we're now remembering all the things we hate about the medical profession/industry. But, at least God is giving us a new little blessing!

The Big Investment
This section was gonna be a lot bigger and longer because it really is the source of most of my current stress. However, I realized after I wrote it that I was sharing far more information than I should on a public blog. Not only might I regret it later, Lori would probably give me all kinds of guff about finances and privacy. So, suffice it to say: Our housing situation isn't what we thought it was going to be going into it. The market has gone down considerably. Our options are limited. We're exploring them and praying for a positive outcome. Plenty enough info to explain why it's giving me stress.

A Chip Off The Old Block
Naturally, there's still stuff we want to do to the house. Unfortunately, we have to focus on the things that don't cost money because we don't have any. So our attention has shifted to what Lori calls the "Back 40" (I call it Death Valley because it's like a desert out there). It's the area out back behind the garage where we were originally going to build a unit. That plan has been scrapped, however. Right now it's nothing but dirt but we discovered that about a foot underneath a lot of the dirt is cement. So we've taken to clearing the dirt and exposing the cement. Sounds easy, huh? Well, it's not something you can just do with a shovel. Apparently, the previous owners used to drive over this dirt on the way out the back of the property (we've since put a fence in to cut off alley access). So it requires a pretty hefty pick axe and me doing my best John Henry impersonation to break the dirt up enough to shovel it into a wheel barrow and cart it off to an area of the yard that needs to be more level. Last night we finally finished clearing the first section but that took a good month and there's a lot more to go. The idea is to clear the cement, move our patio furniture back there (currently it's in front of our garage) and then we can park our cars side-by-side instead of stacking them. Lori wants to sod the remaining dirt areas but we'll probably have to settle for planting grass (since we don't have money). In the end, we'll probably have a nice little park in the back where Melody can run or maybe we can even put a dog if we can ever afford one.

This Little Girl
Speaking of our little princess: Her behavior is getting out of control. She's been moved around so much, including having her very own pink bedroom taken away from her, that she just fights us at every turn. The only times her behavior has been better was when she attended preschool for that short time in Los Alamitos and when she was in her various dance classes. So we think she's bored and she needs to be engaged by other children and with a firm authority figure in charge. She should probably be in preschool, but alas we can't afford to send her. "Free" preschools abound in our area but, even though I pay the taxes to fund them, apparently our one-income family makes too much money to actually have our daughter attend one. I'm sure there are plenty of children attending these preschools whose parents don't pay any taxes (or aren't even in this country legally) but I digress. So we're exploring our options. Hopefully, we can at least get her into some more Parks and Rec classes. Regardless, she's going to end up sharing the room she's in sooner than later since we're currently renting to room that was intended for her.

Re-Launching Launch Pad
If you read this blog at all (and I don't think anyone actually does), you'll have seen posts, mostly by Lori, about something we call Launch Pad. One of the things we did this summer to relieve some of our stress was break away from the church where we were leading worship. In place of that, we've turned our attention back to the ministry we felt God had called us to several years ago. Basically, it means getting away from a lot of the formal trappings of church and into something that more resembles the early church as seen in the book of Acts. What we envision is something one Saturday night of the month that is very much worship-centric with teaching on the side. Ultimately, we would like it to have its own building and maybe go to a weekly format. The idea at that point would basically be a sort of worship night club where freedom is the order of the day and worshiping God would be the primary purpose. For now, we've cleaned up our basement, moved our worship gear down and set up a few chairs. We're hoping to start it as a sort of worship-centric Bible study and see where it goes from there. We've even written some original material that I think we're both fairly proud of. I would hold it up lyrically, musically and melodically to anything being done in modern worship. But we need a band. Ideally, we want a drummer and a guitar player. We want our band to be good. Tight. Able to improvise. We don't have to be rock stars and we don't need guitar heroes or drumstick wizards necessarily either. But we need to have a tight band that sounds good if we want to glorify God with music. So we're praying and seeking for band-mates who will share the Launch Pad vision.

Books, Books Everywhere But Not A One To Read
When I was a single Art Director in Colorado, I chose to publish my own works because I knew I could do as good a job as the "professionals." Now that I'm married with a kid and another on the way, I don't want to spend what little time I have for my writing on cover design and typesetting. That's why I was excited when Blademaster Press chose to pick up my three (existing) Fairlight novels (I'd still like to write more), "One of the Girls" and my first nonfiction book, "Zooming Thru Life." Blademaster is a very small press out of Las Vegas, Nevada. I know the primary guy has suffered some setbacks over the past year and believe me, I can sympathize. Unfortunately, the scheduling has also suffered for a variety of reasons. CFTF was supposed to see hard cover release this month. It will not. To be honest, I never really cared if these books came out in hard cover. In my opinion, they're really just fun, adventuresome quick-reads that are best suited to mass market paperbacks. But I'm happy for them to see publication in whatever format my publisher sees fit. I still believe Blademaster will publish my work. But since I haven't received an updated scheudle, the question seems to be "When?" I'm sure I'll hear from them soon.

The Write Stuff
Still, I continue to peck away at the latest novel. I'll probably be finishing up Chapter 22 tonight. I think I figured it to be 29 or 30 chapters. So I'm closing in on the finale. Once that's done, I'm going to go back through it with a red pen and sharpen it up some. The story was started in 2004 and it's now 2008. Normally, even with work and all of the other diversions, I can complete a novel in about a year. But with all our moves and life events over the past four years... well, this novel has been started, stopped and re-started so many times, I've lost count. So I want to take a little extra time and make sure the spark of life is in there.

On The Run Again
As always, I'm still working on losing weight. Lori had really come down before I went and got her pregnant so she's in great shape going into this. Me? I still need some work, so, in addition to walking a mile each way to and from work, I'm running two miles a night, four nights a week until I can work my way back up to three miles. It's my goal to be down close to where I want to be by the time our little boy pops onto the scene.

So, as you can see, the stress is building as we close out summer and head into the holidays. All of this, and I still haven't had a chance to see "The Dark Knight." Oh well, at least I got to see "Indiana Jones" and, despite what a lot of online geeks are saying, I loved it!

Zooming Thru Life: The Blog

2008-08-29T14:07:00.001-07:00

So I started a new blog where I can post my Zooming Thru Life On-The-Go Lifestyle articles on a weekly basis.

The original idea was to publish these articles in local newspapers or magazines and help build up visibility for my upcoming book. Unfortunately, it seems that most smaller print publications are doing all they can to merely survive these days and there's not a lot of room for new columnists to break in. And, let's be honest, I'm not big enough to break into the larger publications. So, as I've often done in the past, I've decided to take control once again of my distribution and publish the articles myself via blog.

Please visit often (at least once a week) and tell your friends. I think you'll find the information valuable and hopefully we'll have a small army of folks clamoring for the Zooming Thru Life book when it becomes available next August.

Visit now: Zooming Thru Life Blog

New Look

2008-08-28T13:26:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems the old template that we were using for our blog has gone away so I've gone through the templates and chose something that I think Lori will like. So, although the look of the blog is slightly different, it's got all the same content as always.

I'm hoping to start the updates again soon and am even contemplating a new blog that would compliment my upcoming Zooming Thru Life nonfiction book.

More on that later.

Are you Zooming Thru Life?

2008-04-28T12:11:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late in sharing this news, but I thought I'd go ahead and also announce that my first nonfiction book, "Zooming Thru Life: Creative Tips To Bring Sanity To Your On-The-Go Lifestyle," has also been picked up by Blademaster Press. It's nice to have a publishing home that is interested in the different kinds of things I write.

The book will come out in only one print format, trade paperback, as well as an e-book format (Amazon Kindle and/or PDF, not sure if both). The tentative release is set for sometime in August, 2009.

I'm very excited for this book to finally see print. I've spent a good number of years perfecting it and one of the things that I've realized is that, because it draws so deeply from my life experiences, it's never really done. Because of this reality, and in hopes of helping to promote the book, I've started a series of "Zooming Thru Life" articles (I've already written eleven of them and outlined ten more). The plan is to begin pitching them as a column to local weekly newspapers and magazines. If the response is good, I hope to expand the market nationally.

I've already got several sequels to the book in mind. One would be a traditional sequel to the first but incorporating more family-friendly tips (most of the first book was written when I was single). I've already started listing them. I've also started outlining a Disneyland-based entry that will compile my tips and experience navigating through Walt Disney's original magic kingdom in Anaheim, California (I do not profess to be an expert at all on the East Coast Disney parks). I think that one will have a built-in audience if I can make them aware of it. A third will feature "Zooming Thru Your Move" which is mostly written and will incorporate all of the knowledge about moving that Lori and I have gleaned over the past decade and a half. It will probably not be as long as the other books so I may include a lot of the articles from the column to flesh it out. I've also got one in the very early stages that would focus solely on marriage from a male (my) perspective that is tentatively titled, "Zooming Thru Wife." So I'm viewing the whole "Zooming" and "On-the go Lifestyle" thing as a brand for, at least the first phase, of my nonfiction writing. Naturally, for these sequels to see print, the first book will have to do relatively well when it is released next year.

So please, when "Zooming Thru Life" comes out, pick up a copy for yourself and a few more as gifts.

Check this blog for book signing opportunities as well as for more information regarding the future of the "Zooming Thru Life" column.

"Chance for the Future" Release Update

2008-04-28T11:57:00.001-07:00

Although there was a slight publishing delay for "Chance for the Future," it is still scheduled for release this year.

It should be available in a new hard cover edition on or around September 9, 2008.

The Amazon Kindle version is slated for availability on August 1, 2008 (whether or not it will also be available as a PDF-style eBook is not yet clear to me).

The mass-market paperback edition is set for a November 4, 2008 release.

All editions, I believe, will include the brand new Chance short story, "Power to the People."

I'm very much looking forward to having this novel available in a format and price-point that I think is fair and affordable.

Release dates for the other two existing Fairlight novels, "Hope for Tomorrow" and "Faith in the Past," were not affected by the delay and should not differ from my previous post.

A Hairy Situation

2008-03-16T21:20:00.001-07:00

Unless you like long, thin black hairs baked into the cheese on your pizza, don't order from Papa John's on 4th Street in Long Beach.

Not only did we discover said DNA in our dinner, when I called them to report it, they were less than professional about it. First they suggested that I drive the pizzas back over and they'd make new ones for us. We had it delivered! The last thing I wanted was to go get new ones.

Then they said their driver would bring us new ones (if we give the driver the hair-infested ones to bring back) so I asked "How do I know there won't be hair in these ones?" I thought it was a fair question. He said, "I'll have someone who's bald make them." Hardly the response of someone taking me seriously. So I replied, "I hope his eyebrows don't shed while he's doing it."

I waited almost another half hour for the new pizzas to arrive. By then, Melody was extremely hungry and Lori was making her a sandwich. Finally I called them back and told them not to bother and dumped the pizzas into the outside garbage can.

So basically we paid for two pizzas tonight that Papa Johns never made good on (and the guy got a tip too).

Needless to say, we won't frequent there again. I'm encouraging you to go elsewhere as well. In fact, give Tony's on 7th and Long Beach Blvd. a try. Their hours are somewhat odd sometimes (which was why we tried Papa Johns to begin with), but for the money, they've got the best pizza in town.

Power To The People

2008-03-06T11:49:00.000-08:00

No. The title of this post is not in reference to the historic election madness that's sweeping the nation.

"Power To The People" is the name of the new Chance short story that I delivered to my editor last week.

As is my custom, I tested it with Lori before I sent it along. While she generally liked the piece, she did think that part of it was somewhat, well I'll use her word: "gross."

Which was intended. There's usually an "ick" factor to a Chance story. I delight in dumping my character into trash, sludge, grime and (in the case of torture scenes) his own bodily fluids. This time, I put him in touch with a substance I've never used before.

So I was okay with her response.

When I heard back from my editor regarding the story, I wasn't sure what to expect. You see, I happen to know that my editor is going through some tough times in his personal life right now. I was actually a little suprised to hear back as soon as I did.

"So what did you think of it?" I asked. "Is it too gross?"

He replied, "I laughed. Hard!" He then went on to explain, "I needed to laugh too."

The intended response! A ringing endorsement! I couldn't have asked for a better reply.

"Power To The People" will only be available in the upcoming Blademaster Press edition of Chance for the Future, available in hardcover this summer from your favorite book store.

Make sure you pick up a copy and let me know what you think.

"One of the Girls" Also Picked Up!

2008-02-08T14:15:00.000-08:00

My Young Adult superhero novel that had previously only seen print in a short-run self-published paperback edition (and wasn't even available through Amazon.com) has also been picked up by Blademaster Press. My understanding is that the hardcover edition should be available in January of 2009 with a mass-market paperback edition to follow.

If it does well, I might get to write a sequel!

So buy it when it comes out!

We Moved... Or Twitched...

2007-12-19T14:31:00.000-08:00

Well, we moved again. Finally. We got the keys to the new house on the day after Thanksgiving and every single day since then Lori and I have either been packing or working on the new place. I actually took four days off work because things were falling behind and I needed to regain some sense of control. I was mostly successful.

We moved last weekend (thanks, Ray, Joe and Jim! - and Grammy for watching Melody during the move!) and it took the whole weekend to do it, so we're still setting up, finding things, etc. There's a lot to do and we're both beyond tired. Sometimes I think the only way Lori knows I'm still alive is that I twitch every once in awhile. This week, I'm back to work but only physically so. I find myself drifting off at the computer and I have to visit the bathroom to slap cold water onto my face. Still, we're in even though we can't find everything.

We did get our fake Christmas tree up on Sunday though. So there is some holiday joy to be found. We probably won't do a real one this year with all of the moving expenses, but at least we have the fake one. This is the first year we haven't had a real one but it's also extenuating circumstances.

Now if I can just get the rest of the drapes up, the mailbox back out front and find my writing stuff. After all, I've got a new draft of "Chance for the Future" due to my publisher on January 15. I'd better wake up and get cracking.

Silence is Golden?

2007-11-16T00:11:00.000-08:00

There is a new trend sweeping America.

Silence.

Everywhere, everyone wants you to be quiet.

I used to think, growing up in church, that it was just church people that wanted me to be quiet (I am a Christian not a church person). Don't sing, Don't dance. Be a good little girl. I remember sitting in church all my life knowing there was more to God. I remember as an adult experiencing the presence of God, only to have it quenched so a someone on the stage could read a quote from the latest Christian book.

Whatever.

But I have learned something extremely important over the last two years of my life.

It is not just church people who want you to be quiet.

People who don't know God... people who drink, party, smoke cigarettes, smoke pot and/or sleep around also want you to be quiet.

You see, in the PC world we live in you can do almost anything.

As long as you are quiet.

You can smuggle illegals across the border. You can boss people around. You can have sex out of wedlock. You can molest children. You can smoke pot, get drunk, take other illegal substances and transport drugs, all without a social security number if you like while taking advantage of goverment programs without paying the taxes it takes to fund them while concurrently taking home twice the amount of money as someone who actually has to pay taxes.

By the way Paul and I pay taxes. We both have since we were sixteen and we will until we retire. The Bible says, "Render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's..."

Perhaps this makes sense on the surface. Naturally, those who are breaking the law prefer to fly under the radar. After all, they don't want to get caught and face the music. But let me take a moment to tell you what you can't do in America that might be sometimes loud, but is not a sin in God's eyes.

You can't discipline your children. Even though the Bible says, " Spare the rod spoil the child."

You can't have a heated discussion with your spouse. Even though the Bible says, "What God has brought together, let no man separate."

You can't worship God in your own home. Even though the Bible says, "In the last days I will pour out my spirit..." and "Now is the time when God is looking for true worshipers. Worshipers who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth."

As long as you are quiet in church you can commit any sin you want.

As long as you are quiet in the world you can commit any sin you want.

But if you are loud in the church or in the world and are living a pure life, people will judge you all the more.

Dance is loud.

Music is loud.

Singing is loud.

Drama is loud.

Artists are usually loud.

But if there is no room in the church for artists and no room in the world for purity... Then where does a Pure Artist go?

Launch Pad.

Hope to see all of the Pure Artists there.

UPDATE: The Launch Pad meeting place isn't quite ready and won't be until later this year. Sorry. We'll post here when the space becomes suitable to meet. Thanks in advance!

Exciting News!There's a Future for "Chance for the Future"

2007-11-14T13:37:00.001-08:00

I have very exciting news to share today concerning my writing career.

This week, I signed a three-book deal with Blademaster Press, a small press out of Las Vegas, Nevada, to publish the first three Fairlight novels. The publisher is very committed to the books and has high hopes for their success.

Granted, an earlier version of each of these novels have been published in the POD trade paperback format in the past and therefore have been theoretically available online at (what I think are) bloated prices (and these POD editions will shortly be discontinued to make way for the Blademaster editions). But, even though Blademaster is a small press and the advance is modest, it marks the first time my work has been published in a non-self-publishing model. And this is THE distinction. I am no longer merely self-published. The Blademaster editions of my Fairlight novels makes me a published author.

Although the schedule has not been completely worked out and assuming all goes as planned, I'm told that the hard cover edition of "Chance for the Future" should release sometime in the summer of 2008. A mass-market paperback edition will follow sometime in the fall of the same year. Both editions should contain a new Chance short story (I'm working on it even now so it's REALLY new) so even if you have a copy of CFTF, you'll want to pick up a new one for that reason alone. But wait! There's more! The new edition of CFTF is also a brand new edit. CFTF was the first novel I published and I've grown a lot as a writer since I wrote it. Indeed, there were passages that made me cringe when I glanced back through it. Therefore, I've given the entire novel a polish and it's much better off for it. I'm very pleased with the new edit!

Summer of 2009 should bring the hard cover edition of "Hope for Tomorrow" with a mass-market paperback edition following in the fall of the same year. I'm told "Faith in the Past" will mirror the same schedule for hard cover and mass-market paperback in 2010. Both sequels will get a new polish as well, but they won't be as extensive as what I did for CFTF. Also, both sequels will probably also get a short story to distinguish the new editions.

So it's exciting to be me this week! I'm extremely grateful for this opportunity to revisit these novels in the larger marketplace. Lori was also very excited at this news and we're already thinking of ways to proactively promote and market the novels when they release. So expect future event news as well. Very exciting times, indeed.

And did I mention we're buying a house? See previous post...

Here We Go Again!

2007-11-14T13:22:00.000-08:00

Well it saddens me to say that the previous post is already obsolete. Melody's last day at preschool has already occurred. At least at that particular preschool. Why? Because we're moving.

Again.

But this time, the good news is, we're buying a house! I'm not going to post the address here but suffice it to say that it's a really cool 1915 Craftsman house in the downtown area of Long Beach... about a five minute drive from my job at The Designory! It's on a really large lot and has a really long driveway. The garage is only about two years old and it even has a bedroom-sized basement (in addition to the three official bedrooms).

Unfortunately, life goes on hold again for the duration... probably until after January. Certainly Launch Pad will be on hiatus until then and I probably won't get much writing done between now and then either. But we're very focussed on this and it's all coming together swimmingly.

As with most nearly-100-year-old houses, there are some things we want to do to it before we move in, so we're going to be overlapping about two weeks with our apartment so we can make the new place ready without having to scoot around furniture to make it happen.

Escrow closes the day before Thanksgiving. The current owners get three days to vacate (basically the long weekend) and then it's time to get to work. I'm booking my moving truck rental for December 15. So it's move it in, set it up and put up the Christmas tree!

Lori is very excited that we'll finally own again and Melody is looking forward to FINALLY having a back yard. As usual, if I can keep my girls happy, it makes for a happier me.

Perhaps in January, when the dust settles and the holidays are behind us, we'll find Melody another preschool closer to our new home. We'll assess anew at that time.

Melody's First Day

2007-10-02T11:50:00.000-07:00

Melody's first day in pre-school was today. Took a few pictures of her coming down the stairs this morning. She was very excited and Lori had her hair in the cutest pigtails.

Lori will be picking her up in about ten minutes. I'm going to call and see how it went...

Fall Season: My Returning Favorites

2007-09-20T16:00:00.000-07:00

Naturally, there are some shows that I watch coming back this season. And I must say I'm looking forward to picking up where they left off and seeing where they're going to take me this year.

Mondays:

Heroes : Returns Sept. 24, 9 pm, NBC
The coolest new show last year comes back to reveal who all died and who didn't and then to go on from there. Whoo hoo!

Thursdays:

Smallville : Returns Sept. 27, 8 pm, CW
If you've given up on Smallville at some point, you should come back. Lex is getting darker, Lana seems to have died, Chloe seems to have died, Lois is a regular and this season. Rumor has it, we get Supergirl and Clark learns to fly.

Without A Trace : Returns Sept. 27, 10 pm, CBS
Perhaps the only procedural that's worth my time, Without A Trace seems to always be able to keep itself fresh, despite the innate formula of the program (person goes missing, team must find them by delving into the missing person's private life). Sometimes these stories are very dark and they affect me far differently than they did before Lori and I had Melody. And yet, we continue to watch. Last season's finale landed on a different night than usual, which caused me to miss it but it's airing again tonight (one week before the premiere) so I'll be all caught up and ready to go next week.

Supernatural : Returns Oct. 4, 9 pm, CW
Speaking of darkness... Supernatural gets one thing right that few others do. We do live in a world where supernatural beings exist. Despite the fictional mythollogy, it's kinda cool to see someone struggling with that instead of the usual teen angst on the CW. Welcome back Sam and Dean.

This year, there doesn't seem to be as many shows returning that I watch. Perhaps that's because two other returning favorites aren't coming back until later. Battlestar Galactica returns with a two hour movie entitled "Razor" in November before finally delivering new episodes in January of 2008. And Lost won't be back until January 2008 either.

- Paul

Fall Season: Brand New Shows

2007-09-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

Unless I want to permanently attach my bottom to a cushion of the couch, there is no way I can watch every new show premiering this season. I can't even watch every new genre-related show this season. NBC, capitalizing on the success of their hit, Heroes, has really upped the ante this season. Besides, there are returning favorites I want to keep up with too. So I need to seriously limit what I'm going to add to my must-watch list. Here's what's on the early version of the list.

Mondays:

Chuck: Premieres Sept. 24, 8 pm, NBC
Perched right before the Heroes juggernaut is Chuck. The idea, as I hear it, is that there's a geek and somehow a national security database is downloaded into his head. If the geek were a stud, it would sound like Fox's defunct John Doe. But the premise has promise so I'll give it a go. For now.

Journeyman : Premieres Sept. 24, 10 pm, NBC
Coming in right after Heroes, and making Monday night sort of sci-fi night on NBC, is Journeyman. Which, the way I hear it, is sorts like Quantum Leap except the guy isn't a scientist and doesn't know why he's moving through time. Again, the idea is right up my alley so I'm gonna give it a shot.

Wednesdays:

Bionic Woman : Premieres Sept. 26, 9 pm, NBC
From one of the guys who re-made Battlestar Galactica, comes another re-make of a 70s sci-fi icon: The Bionic Woman. No Six Million Dollar Man this time (perhaps because it would cost way more than six million dollars these days to do this kind of work). The premise is somewhat the same, although she gets a bionic eye AND a bionic ear (the original had a bionic ear, while Steve Austin had the bionic eye). I'm a child of the 70s and 80s, The Six Million Dollar Man was my favorite show in grade school and I really like the new Battlestar. So I'll check it out.

Pushing Daisies : Premieres Oct. 3, 8 pm, ABC
Probably the most anticipated show of the new season, Pushing Daisies is getting the kind of buzz Lost (one of my favorites, but not returning until January) got before its premiere. The idea is that there's this guy who can bring things (people, plants, etc.) back to life by touching them. The downside is that if he touches them again, said thing dies again for good. The twist is that he brings back his sweetheart... and thus, cannot touch her. At least, that's how I hear it. Lots of possibilities here. The show's success will largely lie with the tone of the show and the likability of the characters. But it's getting a lot of good buzz so I have high hopes for it.

Sorry, every other show. I just don't have time for you. I can only take on so many new shows. I've got returning favorites too (which I'll get to in another post), so I'll probably have to eliminate a couple of these based on the first or second episode.

- Paul

Summer TV Roundup

2007-09-20T14:50:00.000-07:00

The new network seasons are about to start and the short summer season is wrapping up. Let's take a moment to see how we did this summer.

First of all, USA Network seems to have perfected the summer series. Only one of the shows I've been watching this summer is from another cable channel (Eureka is on the SciFi channel) and both channels are actually owned by NBC/Universal, which just goes to show that someone over there has figured out a plan that works.

Monk
Not since MASH have I seen a show that is simultaneously funny and sad. Until I watched Monk. Tony Shaloub's defective detective is as nuanced as any character can be and this season was on an even keel with the previous episodes. For awhile, it seemed as if they had dropped the Trudy (Monk's deceased wife) storyline but they picked it up with flying colors for the finale. For a show full of laughs, once again both Lori and I were crying at the end of the season finale. Bravo, Monk! Looking forward to new episodes in January.

Psych
If Psych wasn't designed specifically to be paired with Monk, some USA network executive is the matchmaker to TV shows. The show centers on slacker Shawn Spencer who has a talent for detective work a la Sherlock Holmes. But because he's looking for the easy (and perhaps fun) way through life, he leads the police to believe he's a psychic since the clues to solving the crimes seem to always be over their head. Shawn is accompanied by his childhood friend, Gus, who plays the straight man to Shawn's antics and the dynamic between the two of them keep things going even in shallowest of mysteries. Psych is zanier, and not nearly the heartstring-puller that Monk often is. But its goofy antics, obscure 80's humor and likeable characters keep Lori and me coming back for more. The season finale hinted at a possible future romance between Shawn and Juliet (aka Jules) to whet our appetite for the new episodes expected in January. We're looking forward to them.

The Dead Zone
Perhaps the first of the USA summer series, The Dead Zone started out strong and only got better. Until this season. What happened? Most of the characters from the show are gone. Walt was killed off in the first episode! Bruce left town only to be visited once this episode. The kid who played J.J. has been replaced with another actor and nobody noticed (shades of Darren on Bewitched). Purdy disappeared (I guess he'll re-appear in the season finale). Stillson is no longer the guy who's going to destroy the world. I know they changed filming locations but if you're going to do that, at least take the cast of the show with you! That said, the stories this season haven't been that bad. There's been this thread weaving through them concerning what Walt was investigating when he was killed which brings Chris Bruno back an episode here or there to be present in Johnny's visions. But it's not the same. And what's up with Sarah? She wanted to be with Johnny all this time and now that her husband is gone and suitable time has passed for her to move on, she's going to go with Stillson (who she knows, according to Johnny, is going to destroy the world... or maybe he's not anymore)? I have yet to watch the season (series?) finale, but it just seems silly that she's going to move out because Johnny kept one thing from her. He's come clean. He was keeping it from her so as to not hurt her. And she can't forgive him, after how many times he's saved all of their lives and despite their relationship for years before he went into a coma? She needs to grow up. Her son needs a dad (Johnny's really his dad anyway, which isn't a show secret anymore either). It just all seems dumb. I'm hoping the finale resolves everything satisfactorily because I have a feeling The Dead Zone might actually be dead after this season. Here's hoping they have one more season though to at least make sense of this one.

The 4400
Here's another show that started out promising. In this case, it was a miniseries about 4400 people over the years who were abducted and then brought back all at once, none of them aging a day. As the series went on, we learned that it was not aliens, but humans from the future, who had abducted these people and their motives are still a mystery. And I mean, still. Four seasons later. The returnees, also known as The 4400, each have a special ability and the world becomes a different place. Last season, things shifted even more as a shot was developed that could give a person a 4400 ability... or kill them. 50/50 chance. This changed the stakes some and gave this season all sorts of directions to go. However, a lot of this season seems to have been business as usual. I have yet to see the last two episodes and it does seem that things are starting to move faster with Tom being one of The Marked (essentially possessed by a future human to advance their agenda in the present) but, like The Dead Zone, I have to wonder if this show will ever rise again to what it once was. Something about all of it reminds me of The X-Files... another show that was great until it sank under the weight of its own mythology. Still, I hope it gets picked up for another season. I'd like to see The 4400 redeemed before it disappears into television obscurity.

Eureka
The SciFi Channel's only entry on my list is actually pretty good and it seems to be getting better in its second season. The idea is that there is this secret town in the midwest where all of the country's greatest scientists live and work on new technology. Admitedly, this leaves open all sorts of opportunities to have a technology-runs-amuck-story-of-the-week situation. Which happens. But its the twists on the formula and the quirky characters that make this show work. There are still a few more episodes left in the season (it actually overlaps a little with the new fall season) so I'm not sure how it'll wrap up but I'm looking forward to finding out.

Burn Notice
Every once in awhile you see a commercial for a show that looks like it might be fun. Indeed, Lori spotted the commercial for Burn Notice first and told me, "Hey, I saw a commercial for a show you would like today." And boy was she right. Michael Weston was a spy (presumably) for the U.S. government until he was uncerimoniously "burned" or cut off from the spy community. He was left with nothing but the clothes on his back, no money, credit, job experience he can talk about, etc. in Miami which, perhaps coincidentally, is his home town. So at least he can cry on his mom's shoulder, right? Not exactly. His mom is bitter that he's been gone for the past ten years, his brother is a slacker, the only guy who will talk to him from his spy days is keeping tabs on him for the CIA and he's blessed or cursed (you decide) by the constant companionship of a trigger-happy ex-IRA operative girlfriend who clearly wants more from him than he's able to give. The result is a strange cocktail of Magnum PI, Alias and maybe the first couple season of MacGyver. Already picked up for a second season, Burn Notice is fun, smart and fast-paced and it's worth a a few summer nights.

And things are about to get much busier. I'll be back soon to look ahead at what I'm looking forward to this Fall season, both new and returning.

- Paul

A Second Look: The Count of Monte Cristo

2007-09-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

Before Captain Jack Sparrow raided the Spanish Main (but not before The Pirates raided the Carribbean in Anaheim... unless you count the Dumas novel), The Count of Monte Cristo took his cinematic revenge on those who wronged him. And his faith in God took a perilous journey into darkness. In the end, he learns a powerful lesson and the audience is all-the-wiser for it.

The 2002 version of "The Count of Monte Cristo" is one of my favorite period films. James Caviezel (Jesus, "The Passion of the Christ") does a great job of playing both the innocent sailor, Edmond Dantes, and the more jaded title character. The film also boasts Guy Pearce in a sleazy role and Richard Harris in one of his final performances. Indeed, for the acting alone, the film is a delight to watch time and again. But there's more to it than mere acting... It's a love story, an action story, a story of revenge. Indeed, everything The Princess Bride professes to be in fun, The Count is in cinematic reality.

I know I haven't said alot about plot, but I don't want to give anything away. If you haven't seen it, rent (or dare I say, buy) it. And if you have seen it, I'm sure you agree that it's time to watch it once again. This is one of those films that might have slipped under the radar but, in my opinion, is one that belongs in everyone's film collection.

It's only $10 over at Amazon. You're not doing anything more important this weekend anyway. So pick it up and enjoy yourself.

Now if I can just pick up a Monte Cristo sandwich at Disneyland next week...

- Paul

Sticks and Stones

2007-09-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

The other day I heard a nearby teenager (who obviously didn't know what he was talking about) refer to my husband as a Pussy.

Later, I was telling Paul about it and without blinking an eye he said, "Well, we are what we eat."

I love my husband.

Reflections on Denominations / Launch Pad

2007-09-17T00:31:00.000-07:00

My Mom and I were talking the other day and she told me a story that I had never heard before. Back when Paul, Melody, and I were in Colorado, my Mom attended my niece's baby dedication. It was at the church where I was blacklisted from the choir and the Sunday school class (which is another story, trust me). My Mom said that she was there during the worship time when people started popping up saying different things. She said that a woman in the middle of the choir (the woman who kicked me out of her Sunday school class and was instrumental in removing me from the choir) started saying a prophetic word. But my Mom said it was not prophetic. It was in the flesh. This woman said something along the lines of, "Lord, people's anger may last, but yours only lasts for a while." My Mom said this woman was not in the spirit, but in her flesh. This woman knew my Mom was mad about what this woman had done to me. This woman also had kicked me in the shins and threw a chair during Sunday school. So she had issues with anger as much as anyone.

There are many things about this news that are funny to me. First, instead of making things right by me according to the word of God, (Restore a brother and sister in love lest ye fall), she chose not to. Then, when she saw that my mother was angry about it, she used the house of God to pretend to condemn my mother. But it wasn't God or the Holy Spirit condemning my mother. It was this woman's flesh. The second thing that makes this humorous is that my mother is older and wiser than this younger woman. And my Mom knew exactly what this woman was doing.

I am amazed how people think they, in their flesh, can try to condemn people like God would. In a sense, they are making themselves God, which is precisely what Lucifer did prior to his fall from heaven.

The other funny thing about this story is this: The whole reason why I got blacklisted from the choir and Sunday school class was because I allowed myself to get angry and got in my flesh during a service. This is exactly what this woman did herself. My Dad told the pastor, "You are using selective grace." The pastor said, "I don't see it that way."

This same pastor sent my mother flowers and a sympathy card when my Dad died. This pastor was also responsible for my Dad not teaching Sunday school, probably the one thing for sure that God had called my Dad to do. But the pastor didn't want my Dad teaching Sunday school because my dad was better looking than him, thinner, smarter, better educated, more articulate and perhaps most importantly, my Dad wasn't a "yes" man.

This pastor's flowers and card were the first I threw in the trash after my father's funeral.

It was a joke.

Do people really think people are that stupid? You treat someone and their daughter like crap and then, once they are dead, you send a card and flowers.

A day late and a dollar short.

It is how you treat people when they are alive that counts, not what you do when they are dead.

Getting back to this alleged prophetic word: Let me speak some wisdom on this subject, since so many people don't know what they are doing. First, the prophetic word comes from the spirit of God. It can at times be condemning, but it is mostly to edify the body of Christ. A pure vessel (human) has to be right with God and be open to His word. They also have to be sensitive and hear what the spirit of the Lord wants to say to His people. It is your voice, but it is the words of God or the Holy Spirit, not words you want to say to condemn people.

The false prophet in the choir came from a CEA background. I was raised Assembly of God and, although they still look good on paper, sad to say they have gone the way of the mostly dead mainstream church. I will never attend an Assembly of God church again. I am fourth generation, but I like what T.D. Jakes says, "Are you traditional or transitional?" When you grew up experiencing the presence of God in a denomination and then that denomination opts to exhalt money, numbers, and popularity over God's presence, it is time to get out. This church had three suicides within the congregation. This shouldn't be a surprise. When you don't allow God's presence in church, people lose hope.

I'm sure every denomination and church has them but I've noticed that the CEA denomination has a lot of screwed up people. First let's go back to the 1960's when my dad attended a CEA church. He told me how all the women wore long white dresses. But he and my Mom, who dressed normal, waited until they were married to have sex. Meanwhile, all of the long white dress women were doing it with men in the CEA. The grandmother of the choir false prophet looked at my mother, who was at the alter (My mom was crying and speaking in tongues and had been saved since she was a young girl) and said, "Are you saved?" My Mom just kinda looked at her like "Yes. Duh!"

This woman wasn't super-spiritual. She was mad at my mother because my mother was prettier than her daughter. Her daughter had broke up with a guy and that guy was dating my mother. She gave my mom dirty looks in the restaurant because my mom was with her daughter's ex-boyfriend that her daughter broke up with.

Talk about nerve!

I guess fleshly church runs in the family. But the CEA-screwy people connection doesn't stop there. When I was in the fifth grade I attended a Brethren school. There was a girl in my class that was part of the CEA. When I didn't let her copy my homework, she squeezed my breasts! As a child, I just thought she was mean. But now as an adult I realized she was probably sexually molested and very screwed up. And as a former teacher, I can now look back and realize that my teacher wasn't doing a very good job. I would have noticed something like that going on in my classroom.

When I started attending the church where I was eventually blacklisted, this same girl was playing piano. I remember thinking, "Is she well enough adjusted to be playing piano in church?" But I didn't say anything. Come to find out, she ends up having an affair with a married man... the music minister! And then she had a child out of wedlock with another guy. The things that are allowed in the CEA! I know for a fact that there is a known child molester on the board of a CEA church. Indeed, it's not just the Catholic church who have to deal with these very same problems. I believe the CEA denomination has many people who were molested within the denomination and that is why they are so screwed up.

The mother of the man who kicked me out of the choir (Both CEA) and refused to let me back in told me a story of how her son didn't get to do something in kindergarten and because he was mad he told the teacher, " I didn't want to do it anyway!" His mother thought it was funny. These same CEA pastors snubbed an epileptic and a crippled couple because they could no longer tithe at their church (because they bought a home and were moving).

How cruel!

I remember thinking, "What a brat!" If Melody ever does something like that, I won't be laughing about it. She will have privelages taken away. Like I always say, "Anybody can reproduce, but it takes a lot of work to raise a kind, decent human being." When your child is a brat, you don't laugh it off. You discipline them.

There is only one thing worse then a child brat: an adult one. They cause a lot of damage to a lot of people. And thank God that there will be no prima donnas in heaven. I know a lot of married woman who told me they went home crying from this choir director and their un-saved husbands were going to beat him up. That may very well be the best thing that could ever happen to him.

The cousins of the CEA brother and sister who kicked me out of the choir and Sunday school class (who used to be in the CEA) were on staff at Ted Haggard's church in Colorado Springs (Paul and I visited New Life when we lived in Colorado). They knew he was doing drugs and men and they didn't say anything for three years. Only when it came out, did they say or do anything.

That is just plain wrong.

THEN New Life put these men in charge after Ted Haggard left. What's up with that? How can people who cover their leader's sins be trusted to lead people in righteousness? Totally wrong!

I am so glad Paul and I prefer to operate outside of denominations when at all possible. We don't even go to Brethren which is how Paul was raised (actually, Paul was brought up in the United Bretheren church). We've tried many different churches. Unfortunately, at this point, I've come to the decision that the best thing I can do for my daughter is to teach her the word of God and worship God with her. Church or no church.

Church can be a scary place. Especially for children.

Paul and I have a vision of something just a little different.

It would be a home for those who are tired of religion and the politics of church. A place for Word and Worship. We call it Launch Pad. It's not meant to necessarily replace church, but it is intended to be a place to worship without all of the dumb stuff that modern churches seem to have adopted... without that stuff that gets in the way. When space permits, the plan is to meet every 3rd Saturday of the month at 6 p.m at our home, probably in our garage. We will never take a salary and we will never allow anyone to be alone with your children. Paul and I were both raped in different ways (not sexually) by the church. We want a safe and secure place for us, our daughter, and you and your children.

Launch Pad: Worship without weird. Cool without sin.

E-mail me for more information: MakinMusic@paulcarhart.com

Our Neighborhood The Beautiful

2007-09-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

: sing to the tune of America The Beautiful :

Oh beautiful 2 a.m. parties
with beer and loud talking
The post-it notes
The rampant sex
And a home for border-hopping

Chorus:

I don't agree
But I deal with it
Because they should be free
So I will sing and worhsip God
Me and my family

Lori: Mommy, Wife and Fan of Delicious Flavor

2007-09-13T17:17:00.000-07:00

Well I'm flabbergasted.

It's one thing to write a wonderful article about Melody but I honestly had no idea that Lori was gonna write that article about me.

And the quotes at the end had me seriously cracking up. Which is why I put in my own inside joke in the title of this post (if you watch Psych on USA, you might get the reference).

Whether I'm a worthy Mr. Darcy or not is perhaps up for debate. I do appreciate, however, Lori's willingness to be a good sport. Until she met me, she probably had little exposure to Science Fiction or Fantasy. Now I make her watch it and even read it (especially when I write it). Lori's very supportive of my writing now that we've worked out my writing schedule and she even scours the local papers for opportunities to present my work. Indeed, the appearance at the Second Saturday Art Walk was her idea.

Lori is a gifted singer and piano player, an annointed worshipper, and I've never met anyone with a stronger yearning for the deeper things of God. She's extremely smart, almost to my own detriment sometimes. She's always got an opinion on any given subject, which makes her a great pre-reader of my work. She doesn't just tell me what I want to hear. I can't get away with lazy writing with her around. If there's a question, she's going to ask it and I'd better have a good reason for doing whatever it was I did. She's firey passionate about what she cares about and she has a refined sense of humor. At home, she's a responsible mother who cares as much, if not more, about Melody on the inside than she does about her outward appearance (despite the fact that both mommy and daughter are always stylish). Oh yeah, she's not bad to look at either. She has beautiful blue eyes (that we thought Melody had inherrited but now Melody's are going green) and a winning smile.

Did I mention the dangerous curves? Oh, behave!

Lori's my friend. We have slumber parties when Melody goes to sleep and we both crack up watching Red Eye on Fox News. She spends a lot of the week at home. So when the weekend comes, she's ready to escape. I, on the other hand, pretty much only spend the time I'm sleeping or writing at home. Nevertheless, we love to plan weekend outings, watch movies, go for walks, hit the road with the top down, etc. and she's always up for a trip to Disneyland.

Sometimes, if Lori's gone to sleep before me while I'm still up, I'll watch her sleep for just a little bit. When I think about everything that she's gone through with the church, waiting to get married, the rough pregnancy, moving to Colorado and back, her dad passing away shortly after mine did... I want to protect her. And after all, that's my job. Even though we're a team, in the end I've got two girls to protect.

All I can do is my best.

It's true, as Lori says, I sometimes write poetry. And I have, on more than one ocassion, penned something for Lori.

I Need A Hand
Paul M. Carhart

A lonely life I've led
Spare time to find so hard
At home, an empty bed
At work, a full dance card

My heart, a hollow shell
My mind, a frenzied cur
My soul, it tipped toward hell
Until I fell for her

Now I am a knight
A chivilrous sort of clown
No need for me to fight
I've put my weapons down

My intentions now are pure
My destiny is planned
My fallen state is cured
By the touch of Lori's hand

Thanks for taking care of me. Thanks for clearing the way so I can have a writing schedule. Thanks for raising our little girl. Thanks for loving me and for putting up with me.

- Paul

Paul

2007-09-06T01:02:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago Paul, Melody, and I were driving down PCH. I love PCH. I have been to New York and the Bahamas and have yet to find a drive like PCH. Even in Colorado Springs, with the beauty of the mountains, it didn't compare to the Southern California coast. Wish they all could be California roads.

As we were driving, I looked over at my husband. I looked back at my daughter. "Mommy, this is fun," she declared. A scripture came to mind. "I will renew your youth like the eagles." Paul's yellow convertible Mustang is a fun car. When I drive in it it makes up for all the times I didn't have a date in high school.

I thought of all the years in junior high and high school when I didn't have a boyfriend. How I had a college boyfriend and it just didn't seem right. And then was single for 33 years.

I know a lot of people who got married young and I am so much better off than them. Not only with my choice in mate, but with the career I had and the financial place we are in. Not that being a stay-at-home Mom is easy.

Paul and I often joke that even though we have been married for only 4 years that it seems like 25. We got pregnant two months after we were married. Melody and I were both in the hospital a month and we had massive medical bills (that we actually paid off!) Both of our Dads died within 3 months of each other. The night I found my Dad's body I was a mess and Paul just took over and called 911. I don't think I could have got through that night without Paul. We have moved five times. Not to mention that we are both first born children, strong-willed, both single a long time and set in our ways.

There were the flowers that Paul sent me when we were dating. There was the poetry he wrote me. The love and the romance. It was all special and wonderful.

But my most favorite memory of Paul is when he slow-danced with me in ICU. When he would go and hold Melody and sing to her when I was too weak to do so. When I was lying on the bed at our house in Colorado and he was dressing my un-healed incision. I thought he must really love me to do this. We went from having sex every night to Paul wiping up my vomit. Like I said that's true love.

Paul and I are emotional artists. We both have horrible tempers. But with God's help we are getting them under control. Anal people always want to say that artists are bipolar. Some are. But just because you are not stable and boring all the time doesn't mean you are bipolar. I love this quote: "The pitiful and the magnificent of the hypersensitive are the salt of the earth." That is Paul and Lori. We are either really happy or really sad. There is no in-between. Melody is the same but squared.

I love eating dinner with Paul. I love watching tv and movies with him. He is my best friend. He is my lover. He is the father of our child. I love when we pray together and worship God together. I love listening to 80's music with Paul. Paul introduced me to Delirious? and Superchic[k]. Two of my favorite bands. Melody loves them too. He even goes and see artsy movies with me which most guys would never do. He doesn't watch Monday night football or play golf. That's what I'm talkin about.

With everyone out there bragging about how many people they have been with, I have to tell you this. I am glad Paul and I waited. He was worth the wait. He is a good lover. He rubs my feet.

Sometimes when you wait, you might think you missed out. But God has been bringing people across my path to show me that I haven't missed out. In fact, I am actually better off than the girls and boys who sleep around.

If you are reading this and are alone, know that God has someone for you. God does not want us to be alone.

God gave me my English gentleman. He is my Mr. Darcy. He opens doors for me and he walks on the outside of me. Just like I used to see my Dad do for my Mom. I love when Paul holds my hand and hugs me. I love his kisses. I still remember the LAX kiss. I love you Paul Michael Carhart!!!

Oh behave!!!!

My God, you're a firecracker!!

Are you a fan of delicious flavor?!!

Melody

2007-09-06T00:18:00.000-07:00

I remember the first time I felt life inside of me. What a unique feeling!

I remember thinking of all the women at church who mocked me for wanting to be a mother. I remember coming to a low place in my life when I accepted that I might never have children and never get married. The thought of that made me not want to go on.

But how God steps in when everyone else says it will never happen!

I remember the fear that gripped me when the doctor said they were going to take Melody out at 7 months. I didn't get to deliver naturally, which is what I always wanted. I also didn't get to breast feed, which is another thing I aways wanted to do. But I was so happy that she and I were both alive.

I remember going into surgery and asking God to keep his Holy Spirit on Melody. I remember lying on the operating table as they were putting me back together. The nurses were weighing Melody. One of them said, "Look how cute she is. Look at how peaceful she looks." When I heard that, I knew God had kept his Holy Spirit on her. I cried. I thanked God.

As she progressed well in the NICU, I ended up in the ICU. I remember death coming at me. The nurses said I was halicinating but I wasn't. I knew exactly what I was doing. I was yelling out the name of Jesus and speaking in tongues. I had too much will to live. I had a new husband and a new baby and I wasn't about to let the enemy take my life. The devil is a liar.

Once Melody and I got home, she had to be on oxygen and zantax (sp?). Her first year in Colorado was a cold one. She was sick almost once a month. It was a rough year. But God protected her.

I remember the first time she smiled. The first time she crawled. The first time she walked. Her first word, "Da-Da"

Women do all the work. Men get all the glory!!!

I love to watch Melody dance. I love to watch her sing and play piano. She loves to learn. She loves learning her numbers and letters. She loves to read the Bible with Mommy and to worhsip God. She is a beautiful girl on the outside. I am still working with her on how to be beautiful on the inside. I love Melody's hugs. I love Melody's "Kisses on the cheeks."

Sometimes when Melody and I are alone she says to me, "Mommy, tell me the doctor story." And I tell her how she was born... How God kept his hand on her. I tell her how Mommy and Daddy didn't ever think they would have children. How blessed we are to have her.

Whatever you desire today, don't let anyone tell you it won't happen.

It will.

Maybe you want a baby.

Maybe you have another dream.

Whatever it is, God is no respector of persons.

Don't let embittered people bring you down.

I almost did. But God stepped in.

Whatever dreams you have, God will bring them to pass. You may not have yours as soon as someone else but, in the long run, you'll be better off. Good things come to those who wait. Blessings come to those who may suffer for a season but are blessed for a lifetime.

Don't settle! Wait for what God has for you. It is worth the wait.

Mommy loves you, Melody Hannah!!!

Upcoming Book Signing: September 8

2007-08-31T16:17:00.000-07:00

I hate to post something so closely on the heels of Lori's great post (and thus pushing it down the page a little further), but I just discovered that I will be signing books in Downtown Long Beach on Saturday, September 8.

Every month, Long Beach does the "Second Saturday Art Walk" where artists of all types gather to show and sell their wares. The event takes place on Linden where it crosses Broadway. There's everything from painters and jewelry makers to musicians and writers. It sorta reminds me of the Creative Underground (those of you who ever listened to my now-defunct internet radio show and/or read my novel, "Chance for the Future" and its sequels will know what I'm talking about).

The event takes place between 4 pm and 10 pm and I will be there with plenty of copies of "One of the Girls." This is my first public signing since we've been back to California (school signings don't count as public). We're only gonna charge $8.00 (tax included) a book (nearly $1 off cover the price) and, of course, I'll sign whatever you buy. Naturally, I should point out that this Young Adult contemporary superhero fantasy with-a-twist would make a great holiday gift so come on out and snap up a dozen or so for all your friends and relations. Neither you nor they will be sorry.

Even if you already have a copy of "One of the Girls" or can't afford to throw down $8 right now, don't hesitate to swing by and say "hi." I'm sure I'm gonna have time to kill and I'd love some company (I'm sure Lori and Melody will be with me part of the time but I don't expect them to remain for the entire six hours).

And make sure you scroll down past this announcement to read Lori's post on the subject of Spiritual Bimbos as well as one who is decidedly not one.

More info on One of the Girls: www.paulcarhart.com

Thanks! See you there on the 8th!

- Paul

Mom Hedgpeth: No Spiritual Bimbo

2007-08-31T06:20:00.000-07:00

You know, I always knew I had a good Mom. But it wasn't until I had to deal with women in the church that I came to understand what a good mother I had. My mother taught me to be kind to people. She taught me that it is not about what you can get from people but what you can give to them. My mother is a Proverbs 31 woman. So am I. But most women, Christian or not, choose to be contentious women because it is a easier walk.

Thanks for being the best Mom in the world! I am going to raise Melody the same way.

I was watching TV the other night and Pamela Anderson was being interviewed. She was talking about how hard she had to work at her Baywatch run.

I laughed. I said, "Really?" I thought back to all of my hard work.

Working seven minimum wage jobs while going to high school and graduating with a B.A. from CSULB. Then, going back for my teaching credential at UCLA. Teaching full time, going to school Tuesday and Thursday nights and all day on Saturdays. Having only enough time to sleep in some on Sundays (to be able to get through the next week), throw in a load of laundry, and go to church Sunday night.

Now I am a stay at home Mom, which is not only the most important job in the world but one of the toughest. Still, it is not as hard as working and going to school. But if anything convinced me to be a stay at home Mom, it was my teaching career. There is a whole generation of children who not only can't read, but who are not being taught the basic manners that my Mother taught me. When a student of mine would say something rude or act like a brat in my class, I would tell them that was not allowed. The number one response was, "But my Mom lets me say that at home!" And I would always respond, "This isn't your home. This is Miss Hedgpeth's room. Different rules here."

They would look at me in shock. They would look at me as if I was the meanest person in the world.

But you know what? Even my toughest kid wanted my approval. And not only did all my students love me for teaching them academics, they also loved me for teaching them manners. They craved discipline because they didn't have it in the home. Because love isn't just the warm fuzzies. It is the strictness as well.

My daughter Melody tests me all day long. She cries when I take privileges away. She'll cry for 10 minutes. She'll scream as if the world is coming to an end. But when it is over she comes to me, kisses me on my arms and says, "Mommy, I am going to be a good girl. Mommy, I am not going to be a brat."

Yeah, I am sure the Baywatch run was really difficult.

But you know, I can accept this "Bimbo" mentality because that is how she makes her money.

However, this same "Bimbo" mentality is sadly part of the American church. And it should not be.

For 37 years I have stood by and listened to church lady gossips speak as if they have wisdom when they have none. Wisdom comes from walking the walk. It doesn't come by sewing blankets and cooking. Spiritual Bimbos have been talking long enough. It is time for some women with wisdom to speak and speak truth, not lies.

There are a slew of young and old Church ladies that are guiding and teaching young women. They speak as if they have wisdom but they have not walked the walk it takes to have it.

In order to have wisdom as a woman of God, you have to not only continue to grow in the Word and worship, but you have to allow God to break you when trials come your way. It is through brokeness and crying that you mature. When you harden your heart and toughen up as a woman, you just become a "witch" and the only thing you are going to contribute to others is how to become a spoiled brat like you.

I was attending a local church where a Spiritual Bimbo didn't like me. She called me a freak, she kicked me in the leg in church. She lied and told people I said I was hearing voices. She and her same-sex lover used to make fun of the fact that I wanted to be a wife, a mother and a missionary. They didn't want to admit to their sin of gossip so they said I was hearing voices. I have never heard voices and I never said that I did. But they lied anyway. I was prettier than both of these women, more educated, a better baker, more talented, and I was reading God's word, worshiping, and walking the walk, Counting the cost. They were playing church. They were jealous. She wrote me a letter and left a message on my answering machine stating, "Don't fight us, you will lose." When my father addressed to the pastor that he wasn't aware that anyone in the kingdom of heaven "loses," the pastor didn't respond.

He, by the way, left the same message on my machine. And he claimed to have a pastor's heart. Whatever.

Spiritual Bimbos can be male too. I'm reminded of the time a pastor in a local church said to a young man during a sound check, "Do you like to be with boys? I love to be with boys! Why don't you come and be with me and all of my little boys?"

This same male bimbo left a message on my answering machine and wrote in a letter that I was going to hell. He refused to reinstate me into the choir (see below for more about that). The Bible says, "Restore a brother and sister in love, lest ye fall." He had a lover in the choir. I was a 33 year virgin on my wedding night. Whatever. I was walking the walk. He was playing church.

Another all-time classic was when another pastor said to me, "You know Lori, my wife said, 'I wish somebody would just marry that poor girl." I had to laugh. I had almost every man or woman in that church hit on me at one time or another. The reason I wasn't married wasn't because I couldn't get man. I could have had a man. I had a USC football player who was cuter than the average actor ask me out for a beer. I had a Baptist board member hit on me at the gas station. He was married with kids and commuted from LA to Riverside and wanted to set me up as his mistress in some apartment. Grooooosssss!!!!! I wasn't married because I was walking the walk, counting the cost. What these men were offering me was sex, not a marriage where I could raise my children. I was and am a beautiful, college educated, singer, piano player, and godly woman who has lived a life of integrity. I wasn't a poor girl. I was a good girl! And by the way, let's get over the Virgin Myth. The only diffence between a good girl and a bad girl is the wedding night.

A good reputation doesn't become bad because of couple of Spiritual Bimbos gossip about you.

A good reputation becomes bad when you fornicate in the house of God.

I wasn't opening my legs for every guy like all of the choir and the rest of the girls in the church who were getting married. God didn't give them a man. They were sleeping around.

Another good Spiritual Bimbo story was when I told a pastor that a married man in the church came up to me and asked me if I was a bad girl. The pastor looked me straight in the eye and said, "That man is a good man." In shock, I turned to look at his wife and she put her head down. Not what God meant by submission at all. God wants women to protect other women, not let men get away with things because they are men. Another man in the choir used to rub his hands on my back during worship time. I told the pastor about this and he said he would talk to him. He stopped for awhile and then one night during choir practice everyone was laughing and being lustful and he gave me a dirty look and rubbed his hands on my back as if to say, "Well, the pastor may have told me not to but I am still gonna do it."

I was kicked out of a church choir because I got angry in public. The choir director got angry every week at the choir. I was a virgin who didn't drink or smoke. I got kicked out of a Sunday school for saying someone was fat when those same people would gossip about me and called me a freak. The choir director asked of group of singers to sing with me and they refused to do so. One night when I was in the prayer room praying, I heard them all having sex in the church. Whatever.

By the way, until these two pastors restore my reputation to the choir and Sunday school and tell people the truth about me instead of the lies they spread to cover their own sin, they will not have peace in their life. They always reminded me of bratty first graders who never grew up. They were brats as children and nothing changed when they became adults. You can not do wrong by someone and be a pastor and get away with it. God will hold you to a higher accountability than others.

Another great Spiritual Bimbo moment was when this lady said to me, "Well, all the men in the church look at you!" She was jealous. But what was so stupid about that comment is that is doesn't matter how many men look at you because when you are a Christian woman you are only going to sleep with one man and not until your wedding night. This same bimbo, when I addressed her about gossiping said, "Well, everybody does it!" Wow. What a Godly example. This same woman told me that it was my "Last Chance" Really? That's funny because the Bible say two things:

"God's mercies are new every morning." And, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins."

See why it is good to read the Bible? Spiritual bimbos take things out of context because they are too busy working in the church instead of reading God's word. My Dad told me that when this woman sang, she not only sang off key but he could she demons manifesting. Kinda sad that the pastor and his wife promoted this woman. They did so because she went around and fixed the votes so they could have who they wanted on their board. And by doing this, secure their job so they could never be voted out of the church. Not everyone who is a pastor is there because of God. Many play politics to secure their job and they use whoever it takes to get there. Or they just inherit a church and it is a better gig then having to work at Wal-Mart.

Another one of my favorite spiritual bimbo moments was when the church treasurer told me I only tithed pennies. There were two things funny about this statement. First, according to the Bible, a widow's might is just as important to God as someone who gives a lot. Second, at the time for a single woman, I was making pretty good money. I not only tithed, but I gave extra to missions, supported a child in mexico, and payed for four years for a student to go to college in India. Besides her lack of spiritual wisdom, it is just plain tacky to tell someone that when you are the treasurer.

One time, a married woman in the church was ministering in music. This Spiritual Bimbo had an affair on her husband, shared it from the platform and then said, "Well, could you blame him?" Not only was it tacky and rude but it was totally an ungodly thing to do. You don't try to be a role model to young people by screwing up your life and then bragging about it. You are a role model to young people by walking the walk and counting the cost. By the way, you don't have to be pretty to have a husband or have an affair on him. You just have to be easy.

One of the cruelest Spiritual Bimbo stories was a time in my life when my mother was going through a very bad depression. I went into the women's restroom. This lady and her daughter were in there. The daughter says, "Mom, you are such a good Mom. Thank you for making cranberry cookies." And then she looked at me with this mean look and so did her mother as if to say "well your mom is sick so you don't have a good mother." What is funny about that is that my mom, even with her depression, was a better mother than hers because she would have never allowed me to be that cruel to a person. Plus, my Mom makes the BEST chocolate chip cookies I have ever had anywhere. Anal women bake cranberries and pound cake. Artistic women bake chocolate!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My last and final Spiritual Bimbo story involves women who get saved and think they are more mature than women who have been walking with the Lord all of their life. There was a woman in a church who had had four abortions, a child out of wedlock, and then hooked up with a guy and got married. I'd had one of the roughest weeks of my life. And prior to marrying my husband, I hadn't dated in six years. I lived by myself and desperately wanted to be married and have children. The pain was sometimes too much to bear. It was the hell of loniness that only a virgin would know. I had cried alot the night before but I put my make up on, dressed nice, and went to church. I was extremely broken. After the service I went to the restroom and washed my hands. While I was doing so, this woman, who wanted to be Miss Ministry and Miss Spiritually but hadn't walked the walk, says to me, "Lori, you should be more friendly. You are not friendly enough." I just looked at her and said, "Everybody is different. God created us to all be different or the world would be boring." And she said, "Well you could at least be friendly!" I just said, "Ugh." You see, she didn't have a clue what it was like to be alone or what kind of hell I was going through. She wanted to be in ministry but she hadn't walked the walk it takes to truly have compassion for people and realize what kind of pain they are going through.

You can't live your life anyway you want, come to God, and immediately expect to impart wisdom to other people. It is the blind leading the blind. If you want to impart wisdom to others, you have to count a cost, walk the walk. Any woman or man can be a Spiritual Bimbo. But I challenge you today to walk the walk, count the cost, and allow through your trials in life for God to break you. It is then and only then that God can truly use you in other people's lives. Don't get so busy with "church stuff" that you don't take time to read the word and worship God. That is where the growth is. Spiritual Bimbos are a dime a dozen, male and female. Choose today to be a man or woman of wisdom. Sharing your opinion is sharing your heart and confidence comes from living a life of integrity. Integrity is what you walk, not what people say about you. Gossips will speak well of a pastor even if he is living in sin. Gossips will speak bad about a virgin, even if she is living a pure life before God. But that's how they get the latest choir solo, even though they don't have a clue what singing for God is about.

Mom, thanks for being the best Mom in the world and one of my best friends. Your intelligence, Godly wisdom, and common sense are what made me a kind human being. And I am going to pass that down to Melody.

Thanks Mom!

Melody's Site Updated

2007-07-19T10:14:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd put a quick note up here on the blog that Melody's website has been updated this morning with about a year and a half of stuff (I think it's six new pages). She loved watching me build out the new pages so we thought we'd share our little princess with the rest of you.

Visit Melody's Website

Food Sticks, Anyone?

2007-07-11T10:05:00.000-07:00

Anyone out there remember or ever hear of Food Sticks?

Learn more.

Daddy Hedgpeth

2007-07-06T16:57:00.000-07:00

I have always loved and respected my father. But now, after a year and a half of his passing, I have more and more respect for him everyday.

I respect him as a husband who loved my mother.

I respect him as a Father, not only for loving me but for disciplining me even when many are creating laws against spanking.

I respect him as a businessman who worked hard all of his life.

I respect him as a Creationist who loved science and astronomy, not just with his intellect but with Biblical knowledge.

I respect him as a grandfather who gave Melody a love to read the Bible and to know that "Ga-Ga showed me the moon!"

I respect him for providing for my Mother, even in death, so she doesn't have to work and is debt free.

I respect him as a Veteran who served in the Navy for four years.

But the thing I respect most about my Father is that he was a Christian man.

I know Pastors with mega churches who take drugs and cheat on their wives. I know Pastors who are in all kinds of perversions and who are pedophiles. These human beings are church people. Church men and church women. They play church, participate in the programs, etc.

My Daddy was a Christian. He read God's word. He worshiped God in spirit and in truth. Not for the woos or applause or for a paycheck. He did it because he loved God.

I have had people in my life who had a father… someone to take care of them. But they didn't have a "daddy" and that is so sad because those people miss out on the strong bond and relationship that is possible. Many people have fathers and are way to critical of them. No father is perfect. He did the best he could. Be thankful you have one. I know many of my first grade students who would have died to have a Father. If you have one, stop being critical. Be thankful. And if you don't have one, then know that God is a father to the fatherless. God can never take you to a baseball game but he can carry you through difficult times.

Having a daddy makes you a strong person. I remember one time in my life when a man suggested I needed counseling. This man had no relationship with his father and was extremely jealous of mine. He used the words "lick it!" during a sound check in church. Obviously he had many stronger issues than I have ever had to deal with. Many times people who are way more screwed up than you like to say you need help when, in actuality, they wouldn't be strong enough to walk a day in your shoes. I had another man and woman make fun of my daddy and me and that was because they both had a horrible father relationships and were jealous of the one I had.

Most women I have known in my life who would fit into the "witch" category have major father issues. Women who have to gossip or stab other women in the back either don't have a father or they have one but not a daddy.

It is my firm belief after dealing with church women that they wouldn't need to gossip if they had a good relationship with their father. When your father tells you you’re smart, pretty, funny, etc., you have confidence. Then, when you marry, you marry a man who appreciates the qualities you have. You don't have a need to put other women down when you have a daddy.

There are four vicious women I have known. They are church ladies. They go to church every Sunday but tear down the reputations of others to promote themselves. All four of these women do not have good relationships with their fathers.

When a women has a daddy, she has the confidence to know that she is pretty, smart, funny, talented, etc. because her Daddy instilled that in her. Thank you, Daddy.

Just like as Christians, when we read the word and worship God, we can have confidence in who we are in Christ. A Christian man or woman has confidence based on God's word, not by gossiping and putting others down. That is something church men and church women have to rely on because they haven't got past church.

Daddy, I know you are up in heaven worshiping God. Someday we will all be up there with you. What a day that will be. Thank you, Daddy for being a Christian not a church man.

When I was attending a local church, a man who was on his second marriage told me to be "Married to Jesus." A women who was married with children and had a gray beard and hair told me "It's not God's will for you to be married". This women with a gray beard came on to me sexually during a church service. The pastor’s wife told me, "You need to come to a point where you can serve God even if you never get married." She was, of course, married with children. She cracked her knuckles, and wore her hair like a man. Then there was the woman who told me, "Well, I didn't get married until I was 30!" And she was rather a plain Jane. Another woman told me, "Well Lori, you are like Jesus. You won't get married until your 33." Of course, that sounded weird. I guess she didn't read the Bible enough to know that Jesus never got married. The final straw was when the biggest church gossip told me a story about her granddaugther's 1st grade teacher who was "Tall and was never going to get married." She was slamming me because I was a first grade teacher, was tall and at that point was still single. By the way being the height of a super model is sexy!! (Or so my husband tells me!)

I went to my dad and told him all this and do you know what he said?

"You can't hold hands with Jesus. You can't have sex and babies with Jesus. Jesus can be a spiritual husband but he can never be a physical one."

A daddy is sooo practical and not weird.

Three months later Daddy Hedgpeth hooked me up with one of the best men I have ever met, my husband Paul Carhart.

Is Paul Carhart perfect?

No. No human being is. But I tell you this: He is faithful to Melody and me. And I know if 300 people in a church were becoming pedophiles to please the pastor my husband would have the balls to not participate.

And so would my daddy.

Thanks Daddy. I love you!

Why Isn't It Chocolate?

2007-07-06T13:29:00.001-07:00

Have you ever peered into a box of donuts and found the only thing left is a maple bar?

Why isn't that a chocolate bar?

It wouldn't have cost any more to get chocolate instead of maple.

This is what I call the Why Isn't It Chocolate Syndrome.

There are a lot of things that suffer from WIICS.

Jelly beans. Why aren't they Goobers? Skittles. Why aren't they M&Ms? Licorice. Why aren't they really long tootsie rolls? You get the picture.

Besides, if it's not going to be chocolate, the least it could be is peanut butter.

I'm sure I've missed a lot of things so help me out. What is in your life that should be chocolate but isn't?

I Know What I'm Watching This Summer

2007-07-05T11:45:00.000-07:00

The summer series (virtually invented by USA) is back with the return of The Dead Zone and The 4400, both of which I enjoy. My other favorites are also on the cusp of returning. Add to that two new entries: The Starter Wife (a Debra Messing-starring miniseries that Lori and her mom both liked... and even I looked forward to) and the new Burn Notice and it looks like my mostly mindless summer viewing is set.

The Starter Wife
Lori dug this roughly six hour miniseries about a Hollywood wife, basically the brains behind the studio exec, who gets traded in for a younger pop tart. Snarky writing ensures that hilarity ensues. I think it's still airing on USA and, knowing them, they'll probably have a marathon of all of the episodes at some point. Pretty fun, mindless, shallow Hollywoodsy stuff.

The Dead Zone
Returning against all odds and amidst rumors of its demise, the Anthony Michael Hall starring series based on the Stephen King novel gets a slight make over as the first new episode kills off a series regular. The aforementioned decommissioned character is still omnipresent though as repurcussions of his/her death ripple through the other remaining characters (I say "other remaining" because two other series regulars seem to have simply disappeared from the series as well). The other strange change is the fact that now Vice President Greg Stillson (the always supurb Sean Patrick Flannery) seems to no longer be the bad guy... or at least he isn't as bad as he once was. It seems The Apocolypse is no longer on the horizon! What the heck? Anyway, the writing on this show has always been top notch, so I'm going to trust them to take me somewhere worth going. I'll be interested to see how all of these threads come together. If they fail to come together... well, in that case I'd be surprised if Johnny Smith gets another season. Which would be too bad. New summer episodes of The Dead Zone are currently airing Sundays on USA. Check local listings.

The 4400
Before there were Heroes (but not before there were X-Men), there were the 4400 people who were abducted over the years and returned to Earth four years ago, each with some sort of strange ability. Last season, Jordon Collier (the always-intense Billy Campbell) apparently returned from the dead and made "4400 abilities" more common. All you had to do was take a shot and you had a 50/50 chance to get an ability. Of course, if you didn't get an ability, you died. This raised the stakes in this once-freak-of-the-week series and I think, based on the first two episodes this summer, it's for the better. Again, sharp writing makes up for the substantially lower cable budget so I'm watching with eyes wide open to see where they take me. So far, I haven't been disappointed. New summer episodes of The 4400 are currently airing Sundays on USA. Check local listings.

Burn Notice
Here's a new idea. Take the guy from Touching Evil. Make him a secret agent who gets fired (a "burn notice" is put out on him) and thus cut off from all of the resources he normally has at his disposal, including his bank account. Strand him in an exotic locale. Oh, the budget doesn't allow for the exotic locale? Okay. Strand him in Miami. Then throw in Bruce Campbell as the out-of-work-spy best friend to get all of the real geeks to watch and mix it up with a hypochondriac mom (Cagney and Lacey's Sharon Gless) who wonders what's wrong with her as she chain smokes and some Magnum PI-like over-the-top narration. The result? A pretty funny, if somewhat identity-deprived, quasi-spy show that, despite its first episode taking place during Christmas, is perfect summer viewing for the likes of me. Only one episode has aired at the time of writing this (roughly 90 minutes). You can probably find it in rerun on USA. New episodes air Thursday nights on USA. Check local listings for times.

Eureka
It's been almost a year since this quirky sci-fi dramady about a hidden utopia made up of the country's most gifted scientists originally aired and I'm looking forward to where they're going to go this time. Airs Tuesday nights starting 7/10 on SciFi (the only one of these shows NOT on USA, although they're both owned by NBC-Universal).

Monk
The defective detective is back. Although the mysteries have never been too tough (think two steps up from a Scooby Doo mystery), the real joy of this show is watching three-time Emmy-winner Tony Shaloub do his Monk thang. It's hilarious. And rightly so since this show is much more a comedy than it is a crime drama. Shaloub does a wonderful job of walking the line between pathetic victim to selfish victim. Whatever the case, Adrian Monk is still the victim except when he's solving the crimes. New episodes air Fridays on USA starting 7/13. Check local listings.

Psych
If ever there was a series designed to play along side Monk, it would have to be Psych. And despite the fact that this series was likely such contrived, I still find myself looking forward to the next episode. The idea is this: N'er-do-well Shawn Spencer is a young man with a gift for observation a la Sherlock Holmes (or Monk, but without the disorders) that was nurtured by his police detective father from a young age. He's so good, in fact, that no one believes him when he tries to help the police solve a crime. So, in order to bring the bad guys to justice and thus help the coppers, he pretends he is a psychic (a la Johnny Smith on The Dead Zone). And to perpetuate his success (as well as future episodes of the series), he starts a psychic detective agency and drags his straight-man childhood chum along for the ride. To give you an idea of the tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek feel of this hybrid comedy, Spencer names his new psychic detective agency Psych (as in you've been psyched out). New episodes air Fridays alongside Monk on USA starting 7/13. Check local listings.

Of all my summer shows, Lori probably likes Monk and Psych the best. She also enjoys The Dead Zone. The others? Not so much. But she still watches them with me.

So now you know what I'm watching this summer. What are you watching? Grass grow?

A Second Look: Superman Returns

2007-02-02T11:46:00.000-08:00

I just want to bring fire to the people. And I want my cut.”
- Lex Luthor

Now that we have Melody, Lori and I don’t get out to the movies much. We did check out The Holiday this year and we both liked it. More on that later. We also caught “Superman Returns” when it bowed last summer. I liked it. I recommended it, actually. But there was always something somber about it. Over the holiday break I got a chance to watch it again and, as I’ll do in these recurring “Second Look” articles, I’d like to share my thoughts and opinions regarding “Supermans Returns” the second time around.

Most of the pieces are in place to make a compelling sequel to the first two Christopher Reeve Superman films (wisely ignoring Superman III and Superman IV). The special effects are phenomenal. If you love Superman the way I do, you’ll enjoy just seeing him zip through the air. Finally the effects can pull off what it should look like. The big rescue of the airliner itself is worth the price of admission and there area few other really cool action scenes. Surprisingly, though, this is not as much of an action/superhero movie as you might think.

Most of the cast does a great job of extending the characters established back in the seventies. Brandon Routh isn’t Christopher Reeve, but he does a decent job and I actually like him as Superman. Kevin Spacey makes a compelling Luthor. He’s a more sinister, hardened man than the Hackman version from before but he’s still obsessively interested in real estate. Probably the only character that I felt didn’t translate well from the previous films is Lois Lane. Kate Bosworth isn’t a bad Lois. She smart. She’s feisty. She’s pretty. But it’s a stretch to go from the broadly painted Lois portrayed by Margot Kidder to this younger, prettier Lois when it’s supposed to be five years later. It works okay within the context of this film, but if you’re going to treat SR as a sequel, which it was clearly designed to be, it jars you from the story, which destroys the suspension of disbelief required for any story to transport you from your world into the world of the story.

Is this what makes “Superman Returns” somber? No. It’s just a minor nitpick. What makes it somber to me has to do with the basic premise of the movie, which is actually intriguing. Superman has been gone from Earth for five years and comes back to a world that has decided it doesn’t need him. Perhaps the biggest betrayal is that Lois has actually won a Pulitzer Prize for an article detailing why the world doesn’t need him. So Supes is understandably depressed. Add to this the fact that Lois has moved on (she’s about to marry Perry White’s nephew with whom she’s apparently had a child) and you can see why there’s a somber taint to this picture. It’s Superman’s movie. We see things through his eyes and we even sorta feel sorry for him.

Some of the films revelations go to great lengths to lift this mood. There’s this whole God/savior parallel that is clearly prevalent in several scenes and, for the most part, I’m pretty cool with all that stuff. I like multiple thematic levels in my storytelling, thanks very much. There are a couple pretty good plot twists that point the franchise in an entirely new direction. But even after this, there’s still a melancholy feeling. Even when Superman is accepted again and he’s discovered his place in the Father/Son scheme (did I mention they did a great job of bringing Marlon Brando’s Jor El back from the dead?) you still sorta feel like it woulda been cool if there was more to the whole thing.

Which I guess is the point. Perhaps this somber tone isn't out of place at all. It's merely the story that Director, Bryan Singer wanted to tell. Besides, it’s recently been reported that Singer will be making the next sequel, “The Man of Steel.” So I guess we’ll see where he’s going with some of these loose ends and hopefully we'll lighten up a little too.

And let’s forget about Lex Luthor for at least one movie, please. With these kinds of special effects, we need to finally see Big Blue open up a can on a gang of intergalactic baddies.

Now wouldn’t that be cool?

Writing Update: Bringing One of the Girls to One of the Schools

2007-01-30T11:18:00.000-08:00

This is something I’ve been hoping to do for some time.

Next week, I’ll be speaking at Craig Williams Elementary School in Bellflower, California to all of their fourth, fifth and sixth grade students on reading and writing and sharing One of the Girls. I’m told it’ll be nearly 300 students.

Pretty exciting! I wrote One of the Girls to be a childhood adventure that I would have loved when I was a kid. I embedded in it the superhero elements I loved growing up combined with aspects of Hardy Boys-style mysteries. In short, these kids are who I wrote this book for.

In preparation for the event, I made flyers that each student took home to their parents with instructions on how to get a signed and/or personalized copy of One of the Girls. I’ve discounted the book by about a dollar and am handling the tax myself to keep things priced as low as I can. I also made some small posters for each teacher to hang in their classroom as a reminder. Apparently some of the posters may go in the main office as well. I’m told the flyers went home last week. I’m hoping to use events like these to vastly expand my readership and to duplicate this event at different schools (and likely at different scales) across Southern California. In fact, I recently sent out a packet to do a similar thing at another elementary school in Long Beach. Hopefully I’ll hear back from them soon and I’ll be able to do another event on the heels of this one.

This is a bit larger event than I originally anticipated (I approached them with the idea of speaking to one classroom) but I’m up for it and I’m looking forward to it. Indeed, either extreme suits me fine.

So here we go! The plan is for Lori to go with me, so I've got good support going in. I’m finalizing my outline this week and, after the event, sometime late next week, I’ll post again with news on how the event went.

Writing Update: December 2006

2006-12-22T14:30:00.000-08:00

It’s been awhile since I’ve mentioned what’s been going on with my writing. Indeed, for awhile there, very little was happening. We’ve moved three times in the past year and I’ve been working the day job as well. But now that I’m coming up on a short holiday break from work and will be able to steal away just a little time to write, I thought it was an ideal time to look ahead at what I hope will occur on the writing front in 2007.

Zooming Thru Life

My first nonfiction book is finally nearing completion. It’s been a long time coming. Some history: The idea originally came as a series of travel tips that I either figured out on my own or learned from traveling companions while globetrotting. Since I’m an artist by nature and not very well organized at heart, I figured out how to apply a lot of what I learned to every day life to help streamline things. The original title of the book was going to be “Travel Tips For Every Day.” But I had a problem with it sounding too much like a travel book and not enough like an everyday how-to-streamline-your-life book. So the title changed to “Zooming Thru Life: Creative Tips To Bring Sanity To Your On-The-Go Lifestyle.” And that’s the title to this day. In fact, since the title solidified, I’ve started either writing or outlining several other books in what will become my “Zooming” series. Titles you can look forward to are “Zooming Thru Your Move” (which capitalizes on what I’ve learned moving both cross country and locally over the past ten years) and “Zooming Thru Disneyland” (which finally gathers into one place all of the tips and tidbits I’ve learned about streamlining your visit to Disneyland in Anaheim, CA).

And I’ve taken the Zooming “brand” even further. At this point, I’ve written three tip-laden Zooming articles (and have more in the pipeline). The current ones are “Zooming Thru The Holidays,” “Zooming Thru Your Book” and “Zooming Thru Your Work Day.” I do have specific plans for these as well as their yet-to-be-written siblings, but I’ll share that at another time. For now, they’ll remain unpublished (even on this blog).

One of the Girls

For those of you who have not yet read my Young Adult contemporary superhero fantasy, “One of the Girls,” please feel free to order a copy. It’s currently available only from my website (www.paulcarhart.com).

When the book came out in April of 2005, my dad was really sick. So, instead of focusing on distribution and promotion of the book, we were more channeled toward selling our house in Colorado and getting back out to California to be with him. We didn’t make it in time and my dad never did read OOTG. As a side note, all four of his children had something put in his casket. So he is buried with his copy of OOTG. But let’s be real. He still isn’t going to read it.

However, three moves later, I can now turn my attention to what to do with OOTG. I’d love to write a sequel, but to be honest, no one knows about the first book so that would be impractical. The idea now is to take OOTG into the elementary and middle schools of Southern California and speak to the kids about writing and creativity while offering my books there.

So, with that in mind, Lori and I put together a proposal packet during the fall. As a former elementary school teacher, Lori’s help was invaluable in prepping this thing. We presented it to a school in Bellflower and it sounds like they like the idea so much that they’re going to try to do it as an assembly for all of their fifth and sixth graders sometime in January or February! So this is exciting news, as I’ll finally be able to get readers for this book (a flyer will go home with the kids prior to the event telling them about the book and how to purchase a signed copy for their child). The idea is to replicate this event on a classroom and/or assembly level at other schools as well. I currently have another lead for a school in Long Beach, so I’ll pursue that after the holidays. The plan is to sell enough books and get enough of a readership that a major agent or publisher will take notice and take this book and (hopefully) series to the next level.

So if you’re reading this and you have any clout with any elementary or middle schools, please contact me at writeme@paulcarhart.com and I’ll get a proposal packet put together for your lead.

The Fairlight novels

With “One of the Girls,” I utilized a new publishing model. We basically started a small publishing company and went for it. While I don’t think I’ll go that route again in the near future, a couple other publishing options have come to my attention. The current reigning idea is to test one of them with ZTL (see above) and to test the other with a re-edited Special Edition of “Chance for the Future.”

I have two issues with the current edition of CFTF and, for that matter, the other two published Fairlight novels (although not to the same degree with FITP as with the other two). The first issue, which I’ve always had, concerns the cover price. $20.95 is just too much money to ask for fiction from a new author. When I’m at signings, I feel like I’m asking people to do something I wouldn’t do myself.

The other issue has to do with my growth as a writer. Since CFTF first came out, I’m a much better writer and editor. My work in OOTG is far cleaner than it is in the version of CFTF that is currently available. But I love the Fairlight stories and characters and hope to continue them one day. So I’ve taken the time over the past two years to squeeze in edits here and there. The result is a shiny new and leaner edition of “Chance for the Future.” It won’t be any less story, mind you. Just less words in the telling of it. The idea is to give “Hope for Tomorrow” and “Faith in the Past” a similar treatment and re-release them over the course of 2007.

If you’ve already got a copy of these novels, the new ones will still be worth picking up. The idea is to re-publish each of the three novels with an additional short story. HFT will probably come with “Riot Act.” FITP will probably come with “Saint Nik” and the idea is to write a brand new Chance story for CFTF called “Give Chance a Piece” (“Taking Chances” has since been folded into the narrative of FITP).

When I go to the middle schools, I’ll take along the Fairlight novels as well as OOTG but they’re probably a bit much for the elementary schools.

And then Lori and I had this idea to promote my writing that has to do with arts festivals and interactive, on-the-spot storytelling. But more on that another time.

I probably won’t post again until 2007. So, for now, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

See you on the flip side.

What I’m Watching: TV Series Returning Next Year (part four)

2006-12-22T09:23:00.000-08:00

Psych

Psych is a pretty new show. It sorta plays off of Monk and The Dead Zone. The idea is that there’s this young, irresponsible punk who is reminiscent of Ben Stiller in his Meet The Parents mode. His dad was a no-nonsense police officer so, growing up, the kid’s powers of observation were honed to a level to rival Sherlock Holmes. Of course, the kid is a rebel so he doesn’t wanna be a detective when he grows up. But when he starts solving mysteries from the outside and tries to explain how he knows facts about cases that haven’t even been released, he realizes he has to tell the police something. So he tells them he’s a psychic.

So now he’s a fake psychic who can unearth clues that the police miss. What else can he do but start up a psychic consulting agency? And as if to throw it all in everyone's face, he names the agency Psych. Of course, the kid is too irresponsible to run such a company on his own, so he brings along his straighter-than-straight man friend Gus. It’s part mystery, part comedy, and never to be taken seriously. Only seven episodes aired over the summer but they were pretty funny. Lori and I are looking forward to new episodes returning on January 19. Check it out on USA (check local listings for times).

So as you can see, despite my growing family, I still manage to watch some of my favorite shows and I’ve even got Lori on board for most of them.

Movies? Not so much. At least not until they reach DVD.

But that’s another story. Or three.

The Pursuit

2006-12-21T16:06:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Constitution guarantees us life, liberty and THE PURSUIT of happiness.

It does not guarantee us the attainment of happiness. That is for each individual to achieve. And therefore, there is no guarantee for constant and eternal happiness either. Well, at least not in the constitution and not on earth.

So it occurs to me that this may be a major problem with American culture. We’ve been taught through fairy tales and Disney movies that what we’re shooting for is “happily ever after.”

Ever after…

Does that mean forever?

I submit that happiness is a destination, not necessarily part of the journey. I also suggest that there may even be various levels of happiness for us to attain. When one journey ends, it is time for another to begin.

But let’s take a moment to examine this idea of constant bliss. The human being is not meant to experience endless happiness. We’re not even built to handle happiness for an extended period of time.

When I tickle Melody, and I do tickle her, she laughs really hard. But ultimately, I have to stop. Why? Because her sides hurt. She can’t continue to laugh forever. It’s painful!

The sexual orgasm is perhaps considered the pinnacle of ecstasy. But if you had one for hours on end, your organs would hurt. You can’t do it, nor are you meant to.

But increasingly, we seem to be obsessed with constantly being happy. People leave marriages because they’re “not happy.” People leave jobs because they’re “not happy.” People abandon their kids because they’re “not happy.” Where is the endurance? Where is the joy at achieving a goal, even if you didn’t feel like striving for it at the time?

Half of what I do, I wouldn’t do if I did it based on how I feel. Do I always feel like getting up and going to work in the morning? Family obligations? Disciplining my child? Changing a diaper for crying out loud?

No. But I do these things anyway. Why? Because there is a goal to be achieved: A paycheck as a reward for my reliable work. A blessing to my family for putting them first. An offspring who ultimately knows the difference between right and wrong. And after toiling through the swampy guacamole burrito, a clean bottom and fresh surrounding air for all to enjoy! Each of these results can and usually do elicit happiness for all parties involved.

In the end, it is the pursuit of happiness that is the important thing. It is the journey. We seek to follow our dreams. We seek to better our world and ourselves. Sure, we’ll attain happiness now and again. We may even enjoy entire seasons of happiness. But all good things must come to an end. We may even be happy as we set off on the next journey. But we can’t expect to be happy one hundred percent of the time. And it is dangerous to maintain that expectation.

We need to accept that there will be times of unhappiness and when that time comes, it is time to persevere…to journey onward…to overcome the circumstances and face another day.

We need to be content in the knowledge that we can and will achieve happiness on occasion and we must relish that time.

For it does not last forever.

Word Play: Phobia

2006-12-21T12:21:00.000-08:00

As a writer, I often cringe at the misuse of words and grammar in everyday life. More often than not, we collectively look like ignorant fools based on how we communicate. So I thought I’d start a series of short “Word Play” articles to shed light on the truth behind some of these common misuses.

So Rosie O’Donnell just talked smack about The Donald and it sounds like he’s not going to let her off very easy. All this reminds me of something I saw her say on a promo for "The View" the other day. Her exact line was “I find that a very homophobic remark.”

I don’t know what the remark was. But, in my experience, there is very little homoPHOBIA left in mainstream society. Anger? Maybe. Disgust? Perhaps. Mostly I see tolerance. So I thought it might be worthwhile to take a look at the word, Phobia.

American Heritage Dictionary
pho·bi·a (fō'bē-ə) n.
- a persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous.
- a strong fear, dislike, or aversion.

So perhaps there are still people out there who are unwilling to merely sit by and hold their tongue as they watch their modern society slide into a dung heap. But I highly doubt that it was a phobic remark of any kind.

What I’m Watching: TV Series Returning Next Year (part three)

2006-12-21T10:28:00.000-08:00

The 4400

Before there were Heroes, there were The 4400. This series started as a six-part miniseries. In that miniseries, 4400 “abductees” from over the years (starting in the twenties, I think) were returned to America all at once without aging a single minute. Immediately, these people are quarantined and a government agency is set up to deal with the “returnees,” many of whom no longer have any surviving family members or whose families have moved on after assuming their loved one had somehow perished. Soon after their return, many of the 4400 started exhibiting special powers and abilities. Tom Baldwin and his partner Diana Skouris work for the newly formed government agency and are sent out to deal with the “freak of the week” aspects of the show. But they’re involved too. Tom’s son Kyle was with one of the returnees (his cousin Shawn Farrell) when he was abducted and has been in a coma ever since). Diana winds up adopting Maia, a young clairvoyant from the 20s. The lives of other 4400s interweave throughout the series. Questions permeated the original miniseries. Who abducted these people? Why were they returned? How did they get their abilities? Why were they given abilities? At the end of the miniseries, we discovered that humans “from the future” had abducted the 4400 and had returned them to avert some future catastrophe. We still don’t know what that catastrophe is or how it comes about and there is some speculation now that re-introducing the 4400 back into the earth’s population might be what causes the catastrophe. We can only watch to discover more.

The show was picked up as a series and then ran for two seasons until it went on hiatus at the end of this past summer. But it’s been picked up for a fourth season (they apparently count the miniseries as a short first season). The 4400 deals brilliantly with issues of the day in a way that has elicited comparisons to The X-Men. The characters are rich and invested in the increasingly interweaving political aspects of the world in which they live and, when it’s running new episodes, I consider it a much-watch, edge-of-your-seat show. Not so much for Lori, but it’s pretty high up there on the geek-o-meter for me. Check it out on USA (check local listings for times).

What I’m Watching: TV Series Returning Next Year (part two)

2006-12-20T13:45:00.000-08:00

The Dead Zone

It may have been the first of what is now common cable programming protocol: The summer series. Based loosely on the Stephen King novel of the same name, Johnny Smith (played deftly by former brat-packer Anthony Michael Hall) survives a near-fatal car accident but just barely. He’s in a coma for six years. In the meantime, his fiancé marries the town sheriff and they’re raising Johnny’s son that she had while he was in the coma. When Johnny wakes up, he discovers that he can read a person’s future by touching them.

Lori and I both like The Dead Zone, which apparently has been picked up for a sixth season. The sci-fi stuff is cool, but the core success of this show is in the characters and they’re dynamics. I won’t get into all of them but some of them started out seemingly as bad guys and have shifted. Agendas clash. And then there’s the vision of Armageddon that Johnny had when he first touched sleazy politician Greg Stillson (played with ultimate abandon by Sean Patrick Flannery, who I loved as Young Indiana Jones).

So check out The Dead Zone on USA (check local listings for times). Repeats are abundant right now, but a sixth season has been promised.

Christmas Is The Holiday

2006-12-19T14:03:00.000-08:00

Okay. I understand that we have a diverse culture here in the U.S. I realize that there are people of Jewish descent and that there are people who adhere to the Hindu, Muslim and Buddist religions. I get it that there are multiple races swirling together in our melting pot.

I’m not ignorant of these facts.

But there’s another fact that seems to always be ignored at this time of year when “the season” brings out our more litigious nature (rather than the jolly one that should be present) and that fact is this:

Christmas Day and New Year’s Day are the only two actual legal holidays on the calendar. It is for these two days that the mail stops and it is for these two days that businesses cease to operate.

In light of this irrefutable fact, any arguments regarding the preeminence of Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, etc. during this time of the year in the United States should be moot. You can personally celebrate whatever you like. If you want to hang a Star of David and light a menorah, please feel free to do so. But the celebration of any holiday other than Christmas and/or New Year’s Day should not eclipse or supplant the days that have been set aside by this country as legal holidays.

Which is why, whether you like it or not, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

What I’m Watching:TV Series Returning Next Year (part one)

2006-12-19T13:06:00.000-08:00

In addition to the aforementioned Eureka on SciFi (see the previously posted “What I’m Watching: Tuedays), there are four other currently running shows that are on hiatus, mostly because they usually air during the summer. But not always. Usually their already cable-short seasons are split in strange places. So let’s take a look at these more obscure shows so you’ll be ready for them when they come back.

Monk

Is it a crime show? A mystery? A comedy? A character study of someone who has been seriously damaged? How about all of the above. Adrian Monk is the hilarious, if overly flawed, obsessive-compulsive detective whose multitude of phobias and nervous habits enable him to be a sort of modern-day Sherlock Holmes. Monk is portrayed expertly and with great complexity and finesse by Emmy-winner Tony Shalhoub and it’s almost worth your time to tune in each week to watch Shalhoub work. It’s impossible to watch Monk without feeling sorry for him a little but you’ll laugh out loud more often than not. He’s also sometimes quite a jerk (he’s stingy, cheap and self-centered). But because you know his story (he was a quirky police detective who, when his wife was killed by a car bomb, went off the deep end and has never recovered) you usually wind up on his side. Like Holmes, Monk is a pulled in by the Police Department (in Monk’s case, it’s San Francisco) almost every episode to help solve one crime or another and like Holmes, he brings along an assistant. The crimes are sometimes more difficult than others, but watching Monk solve them (even if you’ve figured it out yourself) is 95% of the fun. It’s maybe the one show Lori likes probably as much as I do. There’s a new episode on December 22 (strangely airing in black & white and then in color immediately following) and then new episodes return on January 19. Check it out on USA Network (check local listings for dates and times).

Random Thoughts: On Books

2006-12-18T17:25:00.000-08:00

So I noticed something the other day when I was putting Melody down for the night. She loves books. Now, this isn’t a new observation. But as she was cuddling up in her bed with both arms wrapped around a book, it occurred to me why e-books have never caught on.

Kids are just smaller, uncorrupted versions of us. They’re what we were before we were hurt, damaged and forced to go earn money. So I often watch Melody’s reactions because they are so telling. She pulled that book up to her chest and she would only let me have it if she knew I was going to read it to her.

Which, naturally, I did.

But that, my friends, is why a printed book will always be in demand.

What I’m Watching: Sundays

2006-12-18T10:09:00.000-08:00

Welcome back. Hope you had a great weekend. Continuing the series, we’ll catch up by tackling Sunday and then we’ll do something slightly different for the rest of the week.

Without a Trace

I don’t watch CSI. Never took to it. But this other Bruckheimer produced procedural, Without a Trace, is pretty cool. Lori took to it as well. Unfortunately, neither of us seems to like the show now (it’s in its fourth season) as much as we did when we first started watching it. And that has little to do with the show itself and more to do with us. You see, every episode, someone goes missing and this team of FBI agents then must search for them, usually by starting with those closest to the missing person. And since Lori and I have been married and had Melody, these episodes and the accompanying real-life Missing Persons bulletins that go out with the show each week (apparently they’ve been really successful in helping to find real missing persons) really hit you where it counts. So, Jack Malone and team, you’re doing a great job. Keep up the good work. But I’m making sure my little one is tucked safely in bed before Lori and I settle down to share in your adventures. Check out new episodes on CBS and reruns on TNT (check local listings for exact time).

So that’s my usual TV week if we’re not in a repeat slump, as we are now. Of course, there’s always the stray monkey wrench. Sometimes we’ll have a special miniseries (like last week’s The Lost Room on SciFi), a cool made-for-TV movie (like The Librarian: Return To King Solomon’s Mines on TNT from a couple weeks ago) or one of my favorite summer series returns at an odd time (as is happening on December 22 with the next show on my list). So swing back by tomorrow and I’ll touch on the first of some running series that are currently on hiatus.

What I’m Watching: Fridays

2006-12-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

I rarely watch my Friday night show on the night it airs. And because it’s Lori’s least favorite show out of all of the ones I watch, I sometimes go weeks without watching it and wind up squeezing it in late at night or while she’s running errands. But I couldn’t call myself a true SF geek if I didn’t watch every episode of…

Battlestar Galactica

Hailed by many as the greatest drama currently airing on television, the gritty modern update of this beloved classic sci-fi series may even be more revered than its predecessor. Taking the basic premise of the original 70’s series (twelve human-occupied planets are destroyed by Cylons who then relentlessly pursue the remenants of the human race as they search for Earth) and turning it on its ear, Battlestar Galactica manages to surprise with every episode. And it’s not just the gimmicky twist-at-the-end kind of surprise either. Even though the universe of this show is realized expertly, Battlestar Galactica is all about characters and how their relationships intertwine and change. And this show does change. Watch any random episode from season one and then watch another from season three. The differences will blow your mind. So many things will have happened that you’ll have no idea what’s going on. The relationships between the characters shift. Agendas change. Perhaps for these reasons, SciFi often runs full-day marathons of BSG, maintaining the original airing order. They also usually run a “the story so far” recap show between seasons or during hiatus. Check out what you’ve been missing on SciFi. The last new episode for awhile airs tonight (check local listings for exact time). New episodes return on January 21, when the show moves to Sundays.

I don’t really watch any television shows that air on Saturday, so come back next week to check out thoughts on my favorite crime drama procedural. It airs on Sundays. Can you guess?

Have a great weekend!

What I’m Reading: December ’06 (part 2)

2006-12-14T16:42:00.000-08:00

Okay. I tried and I tried to complete the allegedly Harry Harrison novel, The Hammer and the Cross. And, while it wasn’t horrible, it just never grabbed me. As a writer, I’ve been told to grab the reader in the first five pages. I went through half of the book and I could still care less that the main character had lost his true love, been sold into slavery and had his eye gouged out. Those are pretty major things for a character to experience and one should feel at least something. I didn’t.

Last week, I was writing a companion article for my upcoming nonfiction book (Zooming Thru Life) called “Zooming Through Your Book: Ten Creative Tips To Keep The Pages Turning On Whatever Book You're Reading.” At the end of the article I gave a bonus tip that reads as follows:

Bonus: Read only what interests you
Life is too short to read a book only because you started it. Don’t waste your minutes on this planet plodding through something that bores you to tears. Follow this simple rule: If you can put it down, you probably should. Then, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, read something enthralling. Something that captivates you. Something that you can connect to. Something that speaks to your heart. Something you cannot put down.That’s what reading should be about.

I realized after I wrote it, that I wasn’t making much progress in my current book because I didn’t care about it. I had forgot why I was reading to begin with and it took giving potential readers my best advice to snap me out of it. So I took my own advice. I retired that book as well as its two companion novels in the trilogy. Sorry Harry. Life’s too short.

So now I’m reading a Batman novel. It’s fairly new. It’s called “Dead White” and it’s by John Shirley. So far, it’s pretty cool but I’ve only read one chapter. It seems to marginally take place in the universe of the Batman Begins film, which is fine by me.

Let’s see if I can zoom through this one.

What I’m Watching: Thursdays

2006-12-14T10:06:00.000-08:00

Thursday is a full night for me. Good thing I tape these shows.

Smallville

Ever since I was a kid, I was always a big Superman fan. I loved the old George Reeves TV show before I could ever imagine what Christopher Reeve and modern special effects (at the time) would do with the part. I even dug the new Bryan Singer movie that came out this year. But Smallville, although it plays fast and loose with the Superman mythos, does a great job of touching on the under-the-surface things that makes Superman tick… Clark Kent. And in recent seasons we’ve been seeing Clark inch closer and closer to the Man of Steel he eventually will be come. And we’re getting to see Lex creep closer to his dark side. Rumor is it’ll go one more (a seventh) season. What else does CW have that’s as big? Even so, I say it’s well-deserved. Even though it’s got that WB vibe, it’s a pretty cool take on Superman. And that’s okay in my book. Lori usually watches it with me, but I think she’s just humoring the geek in me. Check it out on the CW (check local listings for exact time).

Supernatural

The idea for this show was simple enough. Two brothers (Sam and Dean Winchester) drive a classic 1967 Chevy Impalla cross-country searching for their demon-hunting dad and finishing off supernatural beings themselves as they go. It was billed as one very dark and spooky hour of television and it has pretty much lived up to its promise. Along the way the mythology has filled out and the banter between the brothers has become more believable (and just downright funny). They found their dad at the end of last season and he kicked the bucket early on this year. And still, they’re searching. They’ve just switched gears as to what they’re searching for. I don’t think they even know. But, to my surprise, the show is more interesting than ever now that they found what they were looking for. One thing I like about this show, even though it can be extremely dark, is the acceptance of the fact that we live in a world where supernatural powers are at work. Sure, it’s fictionalized here. But it’s nice to have acknowledgement of our spiritual nature. This is one that Lori actually likes (but we never watch it until Melody is down for the count). Check it out on the CW right after Smallville (check local listings for exact time).

Six Degrees

I gave this show a chance for two reasons: 1) Alias and Lost mastermind J.J. Abrams was behind it and 2) I thought my wife would like it since it features multiple romantic story lines (although not all of them are romantic) and takes place in New York. I wasn’t wrong either. It is Lori’s favorite show this season and the writing is good enough that I enjoy it as well. Borrowing from the popular “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” theory, the show revolves around six individuals in New York who cross paths, unknowingly (usually anyway) affecting the others as they go. It’s sorta the “coincidence” aspect of Lost set in New York. Unfortunately, it hasn’t had the staying power I had hoped it would. It went on hiatus in November but ABC is promising to bring it back in January. I suspect if anyone other than Mr. Abrams was behind this show, it would’ve already got the axe. There’s a rumor there might be some retooling but I liked it as it was. It’s a good show so maybe when it returns, it’ll finally get the audience it deserves. Watch it on ABC if you can (check local listings for exact time when it returns – hopefully – in January).

Tomorrow we’ll wind up the week with my Friday pick. By now, you surely know where I’m going.

What I’m Watching: Wednesdays

2006-12-13T09:42:00.000-08:00

Continuing my series on my favorite current TV shows, what sucks up my time on Wednesdays? Let’s explore.

Lost

I’ve been following Lost since before it was a phenomenon. The show broke new ground in TV storytelling and has continued to surprise. These are some gutsy writers. Since it first aired, they’ve killed off at least four major characters and a handful of minor ones. Something you don’t usually expect of standard prime time TV fare. It’s on a short hiatus right now with new episodes to return next year. They dropped a couple “other shoes” this season and it’s been pretty good. The cliffhanger before the hiatus was awesome and I have a new respect for the acting chops of Matthew Fox. The slow pace of the show may be a turn off to some but, of course, I’ll watch it until it’s off the air. Day Break is currently airing in its slot. Didn’t look much like a worthy successor, so I passed. Not doing too well either, from what I hear so it was probably a good call. Check out Lost with me (and Lori, she likes this one) when it returns (Feb. 7) an hour later than it has been airing on ABC (check local listings for exact time).

Jericho

Of the new Lost wannabes, Jericho has been the most successful (unless you count Heroes, which does borrow from Lost’s slow storytelling style but otherwise is unlike Lost in most respects). Instead of being stranded on an island a la Lost, the inhabitants of a small rural town (Jericho) are stranded in their town following the sighting of a distant mushroom cloud followed by losing contact with the rest of the outside world. Everyone has to fend for themselves or pick sides as politics, family feuds and more than a few secret agendas come into play. Like Lost, they had the guts to kill off a pretty major character and, also like Lost, it’s taking some time off until early next year. This is another one that Lori likes too so check it out on CBS when it returns February 14 with a recap show. The next new episode is on February 21 (check local listings for exact time).

I watch more shows that air on Thursdays than any other night. Three of them! We’ll find out about them tomorrow. Oh, and feel free to share your own thoughts about these shows or even chime with your own favorites as we go.

What I’m Watching: Tuesdays

2006-12-12T09:31:00.000-08:00

Continuing my series on my favorite current TV shows, let’s look at what’s out there of note on Tuesdays.

Eureka

Okay, so it’s in repeats right now and will be for the foreseeable future. But I’m not really watching anything else on Tuesdays so I thought I’d mention Eureka. Besides, it’s been picked up for a second season so now’s a good time to catch up on what you’ve been missing. Eureka is a small town where all the country’s best scientists reside. The action revolves around the newcomer sheriff who must cope with the alternative geek culture. Naturally, hilarity ensues. It’s a quirky show, funnier than a lot of sci-fi fare, which is probably the only reason Lori tolerates it. Check it out on SciFi (check local listings for exact time).

Tomorrow, we’ll check out the two shows I watch on Wednesdays. Can you guess what they are?

What I’m Watching: Mondays

2006-12-11T17:50:00.000-08:00

So the new television season has been up and running long enough now to see what sinks and what swims. As we reach this time of repeats for most shows, thankfully, most of my current favorite shows and the new ones I opted to try are still afloat. I’m gonna go down the list briefly of what I watch on each night of the week and share some random thoughts. So let's look into what I watch on Mondays.

Heroes

Possibly the coolest show this season, new or not (although Lori would no doubt disagree). This show holds the bar pretty high in telling multiple interweaving stories simultaneously that continue from week to week. The action revolves around a group of seemingly unrelated individuals who all seem to be experiencing the onset of super powers. Pretty cool! Check it out on NBC. Repeats the same week on SciFi (check local listings for exact times). Despite the high register on the geek-o-meter, Lori does watch Heroes with me.

Tomorrow, we’ll check out my Tuesday night faves.

Daddy Is No Go To Work

2006-12-08T17:27:00.000-08:00

Over Thanksgiving weekend, Melody got spoiled.

You see, Melody gets up at the crack of dawn every morning. It doesn’t matter what time she goes to bed or whether or not she had a nap the day before. Our little two and a half year old is still up at roughly 6:30 every morning. So one of us, either Lori or myself, has to get up with her.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, that task fell to me more often than not. And Melody reveled in it. Because, you see, Daddy watches Disney movies with Melody and makes pancakes which is a step or two up from PBS and oatmeal.

So when it came time for me to go back to work, Melody put this little pout on her face and said, “No. Daddy is no go to work.”

And I said, “But Melody, I have to go to work. Otherwise, we won’t have any money.”

“No. Daddy is stay home for Melody for awhile,” she replied.

“On Saturday, I can stay with Melody, but today I have to go to work,” I sighed. I decided to try a different tact… to get her excited about something else. “But today Grandma is going to come and watch you.”

“No,” Melody stated, “Grandma is go to work.”

I laughed. “Grandma doesn’t really have Photoshop skills,” I explained.

Melody thought for a moment. “Okay. Mommy and Melody is go to work. Okay?”

Sounds good to me!

Have a great weekend.

Reflections on The Creative Underground

2006-12-08T09:44:00.000-08:00

So it’s been just over two years since I put The Creative Underground (my UCCS internet radio program) on permanent hiatus. Since then, we moved from Colorado to California so there’s little chance of reviving the show through UCCS.

But the subject comes up often enough in conversation with Lori. Wouldn’t it be cool to start it up again out here? Wouldn’t it be cool to do a TV version? Maybe on public access? Or college radio? Or even through podcasting? Naturally, I’d love to do it on commercial radio or TV.

There are a lot of options, but right now I have no open doors (other than maybe opening the podcasting door myself).

So what thinks you, the reader? Should I seek a new broadcasting avenue? Anyone out there know how I can break in? If anyone out there would like samples of The Creative Underground from its Colorado Internet run, let me know.

I’d be delighted to help perpetuate the existence of the show.

Click for more info on The Creative Underground.
Choose the "radio" link in the site main navigation.

On Shaving

2006-12-07T18:07:00.000-08:00

Oh how my wife would love me to be clean shaven every day.

But here’s the thing. It hurts! My skin must be sensitive because I don’t know how some of these business types shave their faces every day. I mean, most women I know don’t even shave their legs every day. Why should I shave my face every day?

That said, I do find myself shaving more frequently than I used to. Maybe Lori will be happy if I meet her halfway.

That would be Wednesday and Saturday. Right?

What I’m Reading - December 06

2006-12-07T10:03:00.000-08:00

As the year comes closer to an end, I’m wrapping up my latest fiction read which is by Harry Harrison… or at least it says it is. It’s called "The Hammer and the Cross" and it’s a fictional alternate history of the Vikings and the Christians through the eyes of Shef. This character starts out very low in the pecking order and, I’m assuming through the course of the trilogy of books, he eventually becomes the ruler of some place or another.

I say the book is supposedly by Harry Harrison (Stainless Steel Rat, Deathworld, To The Stars) because the writing style doesn’t really seem like him at all. And indeed, upon further investigation of the book’s copyright, credit for the writing of the novel seems to be shared between Harrison and someone named John Holm. I find it odd that Holm doesn’t share credit on the cover. The fact that the book doesn’t read much like Harrison makes me wonder if Holm wrote the bulk of it with merely input from Harrison. If so, Holm got screwed.

All said though, it’s a decent book. Epic storytelling (each of the three books are somewhere in the 500 page range). I’m most-the-way through the first one and intend to, of course, read the remainder of the series. Although it’s pretty good, I don’t think I’d characterize it as my favorite series so far… and some of Harrison’s stuff I do rank as such. So we’ll see how it goes.

I am also looking forward to getting a few books for Christmas. My guilty pleasure of reading the Star Wars novels continues. I’ve been a little behind of late, but Christmas oughta catch me all the way up on Clone Wars, Old Republic and the new Legacy of the Force series. I’m also gonna get the new Walt Disney biography by Neal Gabler. I can’t wait to dive into that one.

A friend of mine also sent me a book by Don Piper, "90 Minutes In Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life," about his experience dying for 90 minutes and returning to earth. Sounds intriguing.

So much to read. So little time.

The N Word

2006-12-06T18:02:00.000-08:00

Michael Richards recently re-opened this can of worms. Truth is, this has never been a very nice word to toss around, no matter what race you are.

And, to my way of thinking, this kind of language in comedy only underlines a laziness in the comedy writing. How many comics resort to tossing language around rather than actually come up with some clever or witty remarks to wow the audience with? Most of them these days. It used to be for shock value but now it’s “just the way it is.”

Perhaps if one good thing comes out of the Michael Richards event, it won’t be the banning of the “N Word.” I don’t think censorship is really ever the answer to anything. It’ll be writers and comics actually doing their job and coming up with the funniest stuff they can rather than dressing up schlock in dirty language.

There’s plenty of stuff in this world to laugh at. What we need are people to point it out to those of us too busy to notice it.

The Latest Update

2006-05-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

Lots has been going on, but even more is to come. Isn’t that, in a nutshell, everyone’s life? That said, we’re finally beginning to get settled into a rough semblance of normalcy.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading of late. I read George Barna’s “Revolution” which was very informative. I read David Koenig’s “Mouse Under Glass” and am almost through his “Mouse Tales: A Behind-The-Ears Look At Disneyland,” both of which have been enlightening. I’m also part-way through Dave Duncan’s final Kings Blades novel, “Jaguar Knights,” which is just as entertaining as the previous five.

I’m writing steadily again, making progress on my angels and demons contemporary fantasy as well as quickly bringing to a close my long-gestating “Zooming Through Life” nonfiction piece.

In April, Lori and I took Melody to Disneyland for her birthday. Then we took her again in May for my birthday. This time, Melody finally “got it.” She met Snow White and she drove an Autopia car and she road the train and went on Roger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin. She loved it and asked to go again frequently the following day. Lori and I have come to the decision that the next trip should be just us so we’ll leave Melody with either Lori’s mom or mine and hit the park again in June (right before the summer rush hits) and we’ll ride all of the things that we don’t take Melody on.

Then there’s the secret venture that has Lori and I very excited. We’ve been working toward it for many years, both of us in some ways even before we met. It’s something that would allow the both of us to operate in the gifts and callings that God’s given us and the idea of it is exciting. And the excitement is contagious.

But I can’t say any more about it at this time. Perhaps next time.

Until then.

What I'm Reading: DisneyWar

2006-03-10T16:45:00.000-08:00

I haven’t posted anything here for a long time, it seems. Indeed, I’ve felt that I should post my entry about Lori’s dad before I get back to normal blogging.

That said, I want Lori to go over and “approve” what I have to say about her dad and get her agreement that it honors him. So, that said, the entry about her dad, Ray Hedgpeth, will have to wait a little longer.

However, I would like to get back to making entries about what I am reading, especially since I've got something to chirp about now.

For the past week or so, I’ve been reading “DisneyWar” by James B. Stewart. This book is so fascinating! I know it’s been around for awhile but with the move and everything that’s happened, I hadn’t got around to it until late February. Like similar books that have come before it (“Storming the Magic Kingdom,” “The Disney Touch,” “Keys to the Magic Kingdom” – all of which I’ve read), “DisneyWar” turns the spotlight behind the scenes at The Walt Disney Company. But this time it takes us right up to the end of the Eisner era. And the book does an exceptional job of laying the groundwork for the recent Disney/Pixar acquisition. It’s almost as if the author knew what was coming.

And perhaps he did.

Anyway, if you love Disney (as I do) and/or the machinations of behind-the-scenes Hollywood, you’ll dig this book.

Now I can’t wait for the one that chronicles the whole Disney/Pixar affair.

Settling In

2006-02-03T17:10:00.000-08:00

Well, here we are at the beginning of February.

Over the Christmas break, Lori’s dad unexpectedly passed away and we’ve been dealing with that for the past month or so. So, over the course of five months, Lori and I lost my dad and then her dad. It’s a lot to work through, especially with the cross-state move and looking for work.

More on Lori’s dad in another post.

So in early January we moved out of Lori’s parent’s house and into our own place close to downtown Long Beach. That was an important issue for us when we started looking because in January, The Designory, an upscale ad and multimedia agency on Ocean Blvd. in downtown Long Beach brought me on fulltime in their interactive department. So now, even though we’re in Southern California, I have only a seven-minute commute to and from work.

So we’re settling in. The house is taking shape and starting to seem like a home. And we’re starting to do things again with friends.

And hopefully, I’ll start writing again soon. I’ve been on hiatus for too long (since August).

10 Months of Melody

2005-12-08T13:56:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, we put up selected pictures from the last ten months of Melody's life this past weekend.

Check out how adorable our little daughter is!

Even when things aren't so great, they're pretty good.

He Works Hard For The Money

2005-12-08T13:55:00.000-08:00

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted to this blog. That’s because not much has changed over the past two months. I continue to look for fulltime work and we continue to stay with Lori’s parents. It’s not an ideal situation but it is what it is and there’s little I can do about it until I find fulltime permanent employment as an Art Director, Web Designer or Senior Graphic Designer.

There have been some nibbles though. I’ve interviewed a few times and I even thought I had one or two positions sewn up… and I’m waiting to hear back from at least one more. I’m praying for that to come through. But pickins are lean. I don’t know if it’s the holidays or if potential employers don’t know what to make of me (since I’m equal parts print designer and equal parts web designer).

In the meantime, I’ve signed up with an agency called Creative Focus. They send me out on occasional onsite freelance jobs. I’ve worked a few assignments for them over the course of the past two months, most notably the work I’m doing at The Designory in Downtown Long Beach. Today I got my own parking card and I’m now listed in the employee directory as Freelance Computer Production Artist.

Oh how the mighty have fallen.

But I’m not above production work. I almost always end up doing most of my own production anyway so it’s no big deal. And it does bring home the bacon. At least some of the bacon. It’s not permanent though. This time out, it’s for a two week stint in their interactive department.

So, in my spare time, I continue to look for fulltime permanent employment. Which means, my future employer is presumably looking for me.

I sure wish he or she would hurry up.

Here We Are

2005-10-11T15:37:00.000-07:00

Well here we are.

Sunny California.

Long Beach.

Or as Lori would say, "Home."

I must say that I share her sentiments on some level. I liked Colorado but there is something nostalgic about coming home.

The grave stone is in at my dad's grave site. It looks about right. Wish it were someone else's name on it though.

So we've been here for about a week now and we've had something to do every day... opening a new bank account, unloading the truck into the storage unit, researching neighborhoods, picking up Disneyland passes. Well, some things are more important than others. You judge. Not to mention looking for work, which is the prerequisite for getting a house or apartment. It's my highest priority. I must have applied for thirty different positions now through Monster.com, HotJobs.com and Adweek.com.

So here we are.

We're sharing Lori's parents house for the time being, which isn't as unpleasant as it could be. Thankfully, we all get along. But I've been on my own for a long time, so it's quite an adjustment.

Yesterday we started our running again. We picked up a jogging stroller so we could take Melody with us. Running without the altitude makes quite a difference. I also noticed that the Mustang has a lot more get up and go than it did in Colorado Springs. That's cool!

I can't believe what they've done to Signal Hill. Two million dollar homes up there now! I remember when it was the gang hang out complete with dirt roads and it's own inspiration point. Now you can't even get to the top unless you live in one of the gated communities. Some developer somewhere is a genius.

Yet here we are.

If you're reading this and you know anyone in Southern California who's looking for an Art Director, Web Designer or Senior Graphic Designer, have them shoot me an e-mail at writeme@paulcarhart.com.

I promise to be the best employee they've ever had.

Until I get work though, here we are.

Tick Tock

2005-09-19T09:49:00.000-07:00

So, I put in my two-week notice on September 8.

I’ll say one thing: It’s good to be organized.

By the end of last week, my website duties had been transferred to one of my Creative Services colleagues and my catalog duties had been delivered to another. My music products ad duties have also been passed off to a new guy in the music products division. I’m finishing up a couple smaller projects this week and on Wednesday I’ll be packing up my desk and heading for parts unknown.

Well, not completely unknown.

I’m no stranger to packing and moving. Seems like I move every couple years or so. We really wanted to stay in our house for a long time when we bought it but we’ve decided to go to California. Essentially, we’ve chosen family over “stuff.” We started serious packing this past weekend and will continue it through this week and over next weekend.

We do have a couple music ministry loose ends to tie up. On Sunday the 25th, Lori and I will lead worship at Grace Be Unto You Outreach Church for the last time. It’ll be the last hurrah and we’ll have almost every musician in the church on stage with us for the send-off. That should be interesting. Lori and I play off of each other almost subconsciously but I’ll have to really work at giving directions to the others, which isn’t easy to do with both hands playing bass. But I’m sure it will work out. They’ll just have to pay attention.

Then on Monday the 26th, we’ll lead worship at the Springs Rescue Mission for the last time. On the 27th, Lori’s parents arrive to help with the move. On the 29th we pick up the truck and load it. On the 30th, we hit the road.

So now is the time for packing and staging everything in the garage.

It is indeed good to be organized.

And time is ticking.

California here I come. Right back where I started from...

Brain Drain

2005-09-09T04:48:00.000-07:00

It's about 5:30 in the morning. I've been up since 2:30.

My head is swimming with so many things to do.

I put in my two week notice today at work. Okay. It was technically yesterday.

We're going to California in roughly three weeks. This time, we're not coming back to Colorado. In many ways, it's sad. But in other ways... well, we're coming home.

But it's a big undertaking. A grand adventure. Quitting a job. Selling a house. Moving across country. Staying with family. Aquiring new jobs. Getting a new home. Any of those things alone would be enough weight on the shoulders. We're doing all of it at once, barely a month after losing my dad.

To say I'm feeling stressed would be an understatement.

After all, I'm the husband. I'm the dad. It's all my responsibility.

So, while I was tired enough to go to sleep at 10:30 last night (after reading a chapter of pure escapism in my Star Wars novel), it was my turn to feed Melody if she needed it (Lori's teaching tomorrow, okay today).

Melody got up at 2:30.

When I laid back down after feeding and changing her, I couldn't stop thinking about what all needs to be done. Schedule the truck. Airline tickets for the in-laws (so they can help with the move). Packing everything (and therefore aquiring the needed boxes). Securing a car trailer for the Mustang. The list goes on.

So I tried to shift mental gears. Suddenly I'm thinking about work. What I need to do for the Westone website so there'll be a smooth transition. Who will I turn it over to and the politics that come with that. What about all the advertising for the music products division? Someone's got to pick that up. And I need to pass that contact info on to all of the magazines. I have my ideas about the best course of action but, after all, I'm not going to be there anymore so who cares what I think. I pick up so many pieces on a daily basis that no one even knows about. The fact is though that I need to start showing somebody all of the stuff I do every day so things won't fall through the cracks. After all, not every art director has another art director on staff to sweat the details. Some people are going to have to step up and start looking at the details. Or else they'll find themselves in over their head even more than they are now.

But what do I care? September 21 is my last day. It's not my problem after that.

And yet I do care.

Which is why I'm not asleep.

After stressing over both my personal and professional life for an hour in bed with my eyes wide open, I decided to get my mind off of it. I had a few episodes of the new Battlestar Galactica that I hadn't seen yet so I took them downstairs and watched two of them.

Just when I thought I was tired enough to hit the hay again, Melody started crying. So I had to coddle her back to sleep before I could lay back down.

By that point, my mind was back on everything that's going on... or needs to go on.

So now I'm up writing this. After all, this blog is more therapy than anything else. I should probably be working on my novel though.

In a half hour, Lori will be up... getting ready for work.

I hope she slept well.

What I’m Reading: Goal, Motivation, Conflict

2005-09-07T16:04:00.000-07:00

Been meaning to read “Goal, Motivation, Conflict” by Debra Dixon for a long time. Finished it this morning. It breaks down, you guessed it, character goals, motivations and conflicts into a very simple chart so you can let character decisions drive the plot of your story.

Although it’s perhaps a little on the analytical side, the book makes some good points. If used correctly, it would force me to really look at what’s driving my story before I ever type word one. It also has a great little section on using GMC to deconstruct the story into a quick little logline that can be used when pitching to editors and/or agents (or regaling your dinner guests with your latest literary masterpiece).

All in all, a good read.

Now I’ve picked up “The Evolution Conspiracy” by Caryl Matrisciana and Roger Oakland, which I expect to be similar to a book I read a few weeks ago (see previous "What I'm Reading" posts). This one, however, purports that there is a hidden agenda to deceive mankind regarding evolution and creationism. It was published in 1991. At some point I bought it and, once again, never read it. Anyway, I don’t know if I buy the whole conspiracy aspect of evolution, but maybe the book will change my mind.

I’ll let you know.

What I’m Reading: Roaring Lambs

2005-08-25T15:11:00.000-07:00

Okay. I did quite a bit of reading while we were in California. I went entirely through a book on "cherished American myths and fables" (I don't remember the exact name but there's tons of similar books out there). Very interesting what we’re willing to believe and what was, in fact, truth.

I read the myths book mostly as diversion. It was a quick read and easily jumped into and out of. It was also completely shallow.

So I picked up “Roaring Lambs.” I had actually purchased this book years ago because it seemed like something I could sink my teeth in to. But I had never had a chance to read it.

The book is by Bob Briner, who has since left us. It’s basically his manifesto on how Christians can change the world through the arts, an area that Christians and churches have basically abdicated, leaving “the world” to dominate in movies, film, writing, music, and the visual arts. Rather than boycott these things when they postulate non-Christian values, Briner’s solution is to offer up something that’s just as good that glorifies God. He proposes that lighting even one candle is better than cursing the darkness. To that end, he espouses the need for Christian writers and artists operating in mainstream America. Each chapter covers a different area of the arts and in this way it the book starts getting repetitive. His solutions are the same for every area, we need more Christians doing these things.

Still, overall, I like the book. Not in the same ways that I like Eldredge’s “Wild At Heart” or “Waking The Dead” (it’s not all that deep) but it’s solid reasoning and he’s saying things I’ve said for years. If you agree with the sentiments in the above paragraph, you might want to pick up “Roaring Lambs.”

Or maybe I just like to find folks who agree with me, even if they’re no longer with us.

Perhaps I’m the only one saying these things anymore.

Let’s hope not folks.

And The Walls Came Tumbling Down

2005-08-25T14:59:00.000-07:00

On Friday last week, once work was over and everything became still, I finally turned my thoughts to what I had been through over the past month or so.

Thoughts about my mom and dad flooded back over me and I found myself laying in bed bawling, Lori holding me while I sobbed.

That continued for an hour or so and then I started to chill. Literally. A fever set in. I took a hot shower but I couldn’t seem to get warm enough. Lori gave me some medicine and ended up taking care of me for the rest of the weekend.

Finally, on Sunday (we had to skip church), I got over most of it. I did, however, have some difficulty swallowing until yesterday.

When I got up for work on Monday morning, Lori had the same thing I had. I don’t have a lot of vacation days left at work so I had to take care of her at lunch. When I got home from work, I sent her straight to bed and took care of Melody myself. Thankfully, Lori was well enough on Tuesday to take care of Melody during the day but she wasn’t really “all better” until yesterday.

All this just goes to show what can happen to you if you go full steam ahead for too long without taking care of yourself.

So, take care of yourselves.

Thanks.

Remembering Mike Carhart

2005-08-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

July 24, 1939 – August 7, 2005

"Your hero should always be tall, you know."
– Mike Carhart, 1958

It’s been longer than I would have liked since I posted to this blog. Moreover, I wish it were happier circumstances that had kept me away. Instead, a complicated set of events transpired that included my dad passing away, getting the family out to California and not only attending his funeral but helping with the planning and speaking at the service.

Only now am I even approaching recovery.

So, before the whole thing turns into a blur, I wanted to document this time.

My dad had been fighting a rare case of cancer that had attacked him in his jaw. The prescribed treatment included cutting open his face, grinding out part of his jaw and grafting bone from his leg into his jaw. This surgery was followed by radiation treatment, which was meant to finish off the cancer.

At first it had seemed successful. But the cancer came back. The wound on his face from the surgery, to my knowledge, never really healed and he found himself back in and out of the hospital over the course of a year. This past summer, he started chemo.

On July 13, he tried to stand and could not. My mom and brother-in-law called the paramedics and he went to the hospital. He was diagnosed with some big sounding name that basically meant his muscles had become mushy. They put him in a nursing facility to allow him to get stronger before his next chemo treatment.

A week or two later, his heart rate was down to 40 and he was sent back to the hospital, this time into ICU. It was determined that the chemo wasn’t working and that they were not going to continue the treatment. On Friday night, August 5, my sister called me with the news that the doctors had given my dad two weeks to two months to live.

All along, my dad had wanted to be kept in the loop. He didn’t want people talking behind his back or lying to him. So my sister told my dad the prognosis.

The next day, the nurses were unable to wake him. He had slipped into a coma. Lori and I started packing our suitcases. On Sunday morning, August 7, just as we were loading up the car, my sister called with the news that my dad had passed away.

Other than the fact that I didn’t get to see my dad before he passed away, it really didn’t change anything. We put Melody in the car seat, loaded up the back and made the drive from Colorado Springs to Long Beach, California in record time (we left on Sunday around 3 pm and arrived around 8 pm on Monday). When we arrived, Jim and Cheryl (one of my brothers and my sister) showed me pictures they’d found and things he had written in the hospital room. Chief among them was his will. Although probably not legally binding, this simple piece of paper attached to a clipboard detailed what he wanted his best friend to have and to divide up his knife and gun collection among his children. It was signed “James Carhart.” No one will dispute its authenticity. He knew his time was up. He had made his peace.

The next day, we were meeting with Jeb at Forest Lawn.

Things move quickly with funerals. So quickly that you never really have a chance to take stock of what has occurred until well after your loved one is in the ground.

The funeral was Friday, August 12, at noon. We thought that high noon was fitting for someone who loved the Old West as much as my dad did. Dad’s best friend, Allen Gonzales, picked out his favorite cowboy attire, including his hat, to have him dressed in.

Many of us decided to put something in the casket with him. Before he had gone in the hospital (and had been so heavily medicated), I had sent my dad a personalized copy of "One of the Girls," my latest book. Unfortunately, due to the medication, he never read it. It was that book, with the inscription, “Dad, hope you enjoy it,” that I had put into his casket.

Note that I said I had it "put into his casket." I, perhaps selfishly, chose not to view his body. Instead, I want to remember him playing catch with me in the street... or riding motorcycles together... or playing ping-pong with me after school... or drawing pictures for me after dinner... or working on my truck with me... or any other memory I have of him while he was with us. So Allen -- or maybe Jim -- put it in the casket for me. I don't know. I wasn't there.

Before the funeral, Pastor Nick Kerns (my mom’s pastor) told me that he had spoke with my dad about Jesus and they had prayed together. He assured me that my dad had come to the Lord. It was a great comfort to me. It is one thing to know that he no longer has to live with the pain he had been suffering. To know that he will live forever and that I’ll seem him again was a blessing.

At the funeral chapel service, my sister Cheryl sang. It fell to me, perhaps because I am the writer in the family or perhaps because I am the oldest sibling, to present a sort of chronology of milestones in my dad’s life. I present that chronology now.

James Micheal Carhart was born to Paul William and Vonnie Leona Carhart in Mt. Vernon, Ohio on July 24, 1939. Since a very early age, he was known as Mike and he was always tall.

The Carhart family lived in Millwood, Ohio where Mike spent his childhood with his older sister, Carol.

Mike exhibited artistic abilities at a young age. He would also watch the serials at the local movie theater. His hero was John Wayne.

Mike attended Howard High School where he participated in both sports and the arts. He played baseball, basketball and was involved in chorus and drama. In his freshman year, he was the football manager. He was also on student council for two years and was on the yearbook staff. He graduated in 1958.

In 1959, Mike came to California with two high school friends. He attended Imperial Valley College in El Centro for two years.

In 1961 Mike moved to Long Beach, California and took a job at Pacific Valves where he played on the company basketball and baseball teams. It was with this company, now part of Crane Valve, that he continued to support his family until he retired in 2004. Nearly 43 years!

Mike worked with Jack Bridges. One day Jack showed Mike a picture that had his wife’s sister, Bobbie Fredricks in it. Bobbie had just come out from Kentucky and Mike was determined to meet her.

Mike was confident to show up at the Bridges house alone (with no support), while they were moving nonetheless, to meet Bobbie. Upon his arrival, she thought he was “strikingly handsome.”

For their first date, Mike took Bobbie to the Lions Drag Strip in Long Beach.

About a week later, Mike took Bobbie to El Patio. It was her first experience with Mexican food. The restaurant was a family staple until it closed in 2003.

It was around this time that Mike purchased a blue 1965 Pontiac GTO and had it customized to his liking. It was his favorite car. Selling it was perhaps his only regret. Indeed, the GTO and pictures he took of it was a popular topic of conversation for the rest of his life.

On November 20, 1965, Mike and Bobbie were married at The Little Chapel of the Flowers in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the time of his passing, they had been married for almost 40 years.

In early 1966, they bought their first house at 3349 Gondar in Long Beach.

On May 19, 1968, Mike and Bobbie gave birth to their first son, Paul Michael Carhart (named after Mike’s father as well as Mike).

Bobbie had a dream one night that Paul had run into the street and had been killed by a car. So Mike built a white picket fence around the yard. Bobbie, clad in a bikini, helped to paint it.

On March 21, 1970, Mike and Bobbie welcomed James Alan Carhart into the world (again, named partially for Mike).

In 1973, on July 13, the family welcomed their only daughter (Cheryl Ann) into the world.

The house on Gondar was now full so the family moved to a larger house at 3123 San Anseline in Long Beach. Although extensively altered, it is still the family residence.

In 1975, the family welcomed Brian Matthew into the world.

Growing up, the Carhart children were treated to John Wayne movies at home, Disney films at the drive-in, after-dinner time with Mike drawing cartoons for the children and summer weekends riding motorcycles and shooting cans in the dessert. The years were also peppered with occasional visits to Disneyland and summer road trips back east to visit family.

Although Mike always made a distinction from his daily job and his creative pursuits, he passed on many artistic traits to his children. He was proud of their accomplishments.

Mike was good with his hands. He would make necklaces and carve trinkets for his children and was good at fixing things. Mike would often scour garage sales for used guns and pick up bicycle parts. Mike started building bicycles from scratch. All the kids in the neighborhood would come to the Carhart house to ride the bikes that Mike built.

Throughout his life, Mike loved the time of the Old West and he studied it extensively.

One of his favorite things to do was to frequent the gun shows. Mike’s trademark cowboy hat could often be found towering over the aisles. He collected knives and guns and crafted his own custom pistol handles, knife handles and leather goods.

Mike loved racing. In November, 2003, before he fell ill, he delighted in fulfilling a lifelong dream of driving a NASCAR by completing the Racing Adventure 2 program with his son-in-law, Joe Benitez, at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, California.

Today, Mike is survived by his wife, all of his children and two grandchildren (Violet Benitez and Melody Carhart).

Over the years, Mike shared his love of all-things-western with a few select friends. His longest friendship was with Allen Gonzales.

That’s when Allen came up, dressed in full cowboy regalia, and shared his friendship with my dad. After a brief message from the pastor, it was time to go outside.

The pallbearers consisted of myself, my brother Jim, my brother Brian, my brother-in-law Joe, Allen and Bill Reynolds (another of my dad’s friends). With the help of a cart, we took my dad’s casket out to the grave site. We had a short graveside service where Bill spoke briefly.

After the service, there was what I can only call a reception (it wasn’t exactly a wake) at my brother Jim’s house where he had set up photo albums, a book of my dad’s drawings as well as some of his favorite guns and western wear. It was a fitting tribute.

Then we made the journey back.

Melody didn’t take well to the road. The drive was replete with scowls from the back seat. When we got home, she ran around the living room and then hugged Lori’s legs. As for Lori (who has stood by my side the whole time) and I, we are both emotionally, mentally and physically drained.

And yet, life goes on.

Groceries must be bought. Paychecks must be earned. And time with family, more relevant to me now than ever, must not be squandered.

I would like to take just a moment to thank everyone who sent a card, an e-mail or called us on the phone as well as everyone who has offered their thoughts and prayers both to my dad while he was in the hospital as well as to my family. We appreciate your support.

But, sad as it is that we all go, I know my dad would have rather that we buried him than he had to bury any of his kids. Children should outlive their parents. So, although his time perhaps came too soon and I will miss my dad, things are, at least in this one way, as they should be.

Now Available: One of the Girls

2005-08-05T15:42:00.000-07:00

Okay. This is perhaps a little self-serving. However, I thought I’d just put up a quick little note that my new young adult superhero fantasy novel, One of the Girls, is now available in limited distribution from my website: paulcarhart.com.

What? You want to know what it's about before you buy it? Very well. The blurb from the back of the book:

When sixteen-year-old Jana Swain discovers flying rocks coming to her rescue while fleeing bullies after school,she knows her life has changed forever. But she could have never guessed what would come next. With the help of her popular cheerleader twin sister Jeni, her comic book-obsessed younger brother and her neighbors from across the street, Jana seeks to get to the bottom of her strange encounter. What she discovers is that she's somehow received, in her brother's words, "super hero powers." She can move things with her mind!

With coaching from her siblings, Jana reluctantly takes the guise of PsyChick™,haphazardly using her abilities to fight crime. But she's in over her head and only her sister has what it takes to rescue the hero.

Indeed, powers or not, only by acting together can Jana and Jeni become the hero that neither could have been as long as they both emained merely one of the girls.

If you order the book from paulcarhart.com, I’ll sign it and personalize it for anyone you want (it doesn't have to be for you). The ordering process is through PayPal and there is a personalization field in the ordering process (so please use it). The price ($12.50) includes U.S. shipping.

So check out my latest novel before it goes into wide release and get it signed and personalized while you’re at it.

As always, thanks for your support!

What I’m Reading 2

2005-08-04T15:48:00.000-07:00

Moved on from “Faith, Form, And Time,” which made some pretty good points about why the theory of evolution is actually not the way the earth was created. When it’s all said and done, I'm not sure it really matters a whole lot but it was interesting nevertheless. And I do have an idea for a story in which the Young Age Creationism theories from that book could come into play... but that’ll have to wait until I finish the current novel I’m writing.

In the meantime, I’ve moved on to "The Search For Significance" by Robert S. McGee. I read it once about ten years ago (it was recommended by my pastor at the time) and found it to be great. But I’m in a different place now (married with child) so I thought I’d approach it again and see if I've grown any.

The tagline to the title is "We can build our self-worth on our ability to please others, or on the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ." It’s a pretty brisk read and it makes a lot of sense. The copy I'm reading has a 1990 copyright on it but I know a new edition was put out in 2003. If you’re self-worth is defined by a combination of your performance and other people’s opinions (and let’s face it, most of us have fallen into this trap at some point), I encourage you to give the book a read.

Of course all this nonfiction I’ve been reading has been taking a toll on my fiction reading.

But more on that another time.

Venting

2005-08-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

What better need for a vent than excessive amounts of smoke?

Okay. So we went to the drive-in on Friday night. Both films were good in different ways and we enjoyed the family time together.

But…

You knew there was a “but” in there, didn’t you?

What’s up with these people who must smoke in public? And I’m not just talking about one cigarette. I’m talking about the constant chain of multiple people lighting up.

Last week I was all excited to go to the drive-in and I encouraged the rest of you to join me. Now I suggest, if you go, you may want to bring a gas mask.

To our right was pick-up truck backed in for optimal viewing from the truck bed. There were probably eight people in this truck and at least three of them were lit up at any given time. Despite the fact that it was an extremely hot night in Pueblo, I spent most of both films with my window up. And it was a good thing too because, for some reason, whoever the driver was had decided to go to the movies but spend the entire time in the front seat on the cellphone with the window down. And he was even in a bigger cloud of smoke. He was like Pig-Pen from the Peanuts cartoons. I wish I were exagerating.

When I made a comment about it between films, Lori tells me that it’s been the same way on her side. To punctuate her remark, the guy in the car over there starts coughing up a lung. And the amazing thing is that he continued to take long drags from his cigarette… the only time, I might add , that he wasn’t coughing.

And his wife, in complete solidarity with him, was toking out too. Now that's love! I guess she didn’t like the idea of him dying first so she’s just going to “stand by her man” and they’ll go out together like one big Viking funeral pyre. Wait 'til the gas tank ignites!

Anyway, this coupled with how beat we were all day on the Saturday following will probably contribute to this being our last drive-in trip. It was fun while it lasted but I don’t smoke. Lori doesn’t smoke. We don’t want to smoke. And we don’t want Melody to have to breathe it either.

Guess it’s time to join Netflix.

An Old-Fashioned Family Tradition

2005-07-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

When is the last time you’ve been to the drive-in theater?

For me it’s been only a month or so. And we’re going again tonight.

You see, in Colorado, there are still a few drive-ins. If you’re in Colorado, you can check out what you’re missing by visiting Carload.com. The site lists the drive-ins in Colorado that remain open and what’s playing.

So tonight we’re driving to the Mesa Drive-In in Pueblo where we’re gonna check out a chick movie for Lori ("Must Love Dogs") as well as a little something for me ("Charlie and the Chocolate Factory") all for pretty much the price of one movie.

Just like when I was a kid and my family would pile into our car, we’re gonna pop up popcorn ahead of time and bring a cooler of drinks (and maybe some candy bars) and, between 8:45 and 9:00 (when the first movie starts), we’re gonna watch the a couple movies through our windshield and forget about the outside world... at least until I have to drive us all home (around 2:00 am).

Truth be told, this is pretty much the only way we’ve been able to go to the movies since we’ve had Melody. It works out well too. Melody will watch the first movie from the car seat in the back seat (we reposition her in the center so she can see) and Lori and I can hold hands during the show. We get out of the house and have a little fun too. And Melody is usually asleep before the second movie starts.

And in case you were wondering, the days of the tinny old speakers with the crackling sound are gone. Now you tune your car stereo into an FM radio frequency for probably better sound than I get in my living room. Pretty cool!

You should try it sometime. Maybe these icons of American culture will make a nostalgic comeback someday.

Anyway, that’s what we’re doing tonight and I’m looking forward to it.

Have a great weekend!

Exploring The Realm

2005-07-25T14:25:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I took Lori and Melody to the Colorado Renaissance Festival in Larkspur (next weekend is the last for the year). It’s pretty cool (if not historically accurate). The buildings are permanent, unlike many of the tent encampments I’ve visited at California fairs. There’s also a lot of stuff for kids to do. It’s not Disneyland, but it’s maybe the closest thing to Fantasyland I’ll find in Colorado.

This weekend featured the Scottish and Irish theme so, with Irish on Lori’s side of the family (Lori’s mother’s maiden name is Sloan) and Scottish on my side (my dad’s mother’s maiden name is Gadd which supposedly came through Scotland at some point, probably on its way to somewhere else), we thought it would be a great opportunity for a little fun.

First off, it was very hot on Saturday. We realized this as we stepped out of the Escape into the dusty parking lot. Still, there was a little bit of a breeze so we piled a couple sodas and a water bottle into Melody’s stroller and trudged down the road to the two spires sticking above the distant tree line.

Now, they’ve got a couple of free shuttles that guests can use to make the trek to the front gates a little easier but, with Melody, the stroller and various other paraphernalia related to our daughter and/or our own comfort, I opted to forgo the sardine experience and just walk.

By the time we got the gates, we were famished. But we had bought the tickets ahead of time so we didn’t have to stand in that line. We handed our tickets to the costumed girl with the really fake British accent and went straight on through… to the food court.

Where we could have had turkey legs or a variety of other sundry culinary delights. But those lines were too long. If we didn’t purchase and consume food immediately, I think Lori and I would have eaten each other.

Which is a story for another time.

After scarfing down a couple pieces of pizza and some bread sticks, we hit the shops, stopping for awhile at the heraldry shop. I’ve always wanted to pick up the Carhart coat of arms to display in our house so I stopped and chatted with a lady about it. Seems they can produce a Carhart history on parchment for a mere $20 ($45 framed). Pretty cool. My funds were short though so I held off (besides, if I was going to spend any more money, I would have rather picked up one of the really cool Pirate Pub T-shirts). Still, I asked about the coat of arms only to be told that we Carharts didn’t take one. She said she could do it with the coat of arms for England on it if I’d like. Why would I like that? After all, I’m pretty sure my Thomas Carhart genealogy book at home has a rough drawing if not a written description of the Carhart coat of arms. So I took their card. Perhaps I’ll write them with that description and see what it would cost to have one put together. I’d do it myself but I don’t know anything about heraldry and it would likely be an inaccurate representation of it.

So, a little disappointed, we moved on and stopped at the Globe Theatre (basically a few benches in front of a small stage) where we were treated to “A Celtic Duo.” These two were pretty funny. One guy played a variety of percussion instruments and spoke with a Scottish accent. He did most of the talking. Although his partner was an excellent bagpipe player, he had the weakest Scottish accent I’ve ever heard. It was like Kevin Costner’s British accent in Robin Hood. But they were good and they were entertaining, especially when hawking their CDs. Melody cracked up at them and danced in her stroller to their jigs so it was certainly worthwhile.

After that, we went down to the jousting arena but they were done for a while. Instead, the highland athletes were competing. How do I know they were athletes? Because they were sporting brand new Nike tennis shoes along with their kilts as they threw their stones as far as they could. If they weren’t athletes, why would they be wearing Nikes?

After browsing a few more shops and a stop at the eternally grimy “privies,” we were ready to head home.

But that was before we spied the “Children’s Realm.” Little more than a glorified petting zoo, there were llamas, cows, ponies, pigs, rabbits and even a rooster to pet. There were also animals to ride. Melody is only fifteen months old though so we just pushed her through to take a look at these strange beasts. She was quite interested.

But we were all tired.

So we made our way back to the front gates and took a pass through “Ye Olde Mister” to cool off. The walk back to the car was all uphill so I left Lori and Melody in the shade and went to get the Escape.

Once safe and sound in our climate controlled vehicle, we made for the nearest Dairy Queen where I treated myself to a Blizzard (naturally Lori got whatever she wanted too... but Melody was asleep... finally).

Supernatural Interference

2005-07-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

So Lori and I were set to lead worship at church on Sunday. We were doing a couple new songs that we needed to go over with the drummer.

But Melody decided she was going to climb everywhere and then fall from everywhere. She was crying. She was hungry. She was tired. She wouldn’t stay put in the Sunday School class.

And it was frustrating the heck out of me. After all, how could I go over the new songs with the drummer in half-chorus chunks?

Naturally, the fact that I was getting frustrated over it just made Lori frustrated with me.

Needless to say, my heart wasn’t in the right place about fifteen minutes before the service started.

So we had two choices. We could just forge ahead and try to do the best we could or we could take it to God and give it to Him. We chose the second option. We gathered the band together and prayed. I confessed my jerkiness and we sorta folded up the rehearsal.

Despite the fact that we were only two voices (Lori and me), keyboards, bass and Melvin on drums, the band seemed extremely full during the worship part of the service. It was almost as if we were getting supernatural help.

After the service, Lori remarked to me on the way home, “That was probably the worst rehearsal we’ve ever had… and maybe the best worship we’ve ever lead.”

Funny thing about how God can work.

Now let’s see how God's going to use us tonight at the Springs Rescue Mission.

Adventures At Lunchtime

2005-07-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went home for lunch like I do almost every day. I get to see Lori (we’ve only been married for just shy of two years) and Melody (if she isn’t asleep) on these occasions and it helps breathe some real life into the otherwise hectic day that characterizes life in any art department.

I should preface this little story by stating that things have been a little tight this summer for the Carhart clan. Lori’s a teacher and the summer just isn’t the time for a teacher to bring in any additional income. The good news? Lori gets to spend a lot of time with Melody. The bad news is that we’re pretty much relying on my income and whatever I can bring in freelancing for at least three months a year.

So, due to the thinning of the Carhart wallet and the increase in gas prices, I decided to consolidate our gas funds into what has become known as Lori’s car. Actually, both the Escape and the Mustang are both of our cars but Lori primarily drives the Escape because it’s easier to get Melody in and out of it.

So the Mustang was on empty and I started driving the Escape to work... just until payday.

But, you see, we were also running low on groceries. So yesterday we decided that Lori would go to the grocery store after I returned to work from lunch.

I got in the mustang, started it and headed off down the street. About four houses away, the car chugged to a stop.

Out of gas!

It’s only happened to me maybe twice in my life (including yesterday). I couldn’t believe it. After all, I only work three minutes from the house.

I swiped the garage remote control and dragged my weary behind back to the house where I picked up the lawn mower gas can and trudged it back to the car. Did I mention it was probably a hundred degrees yesterday? Anyway, I emptied the can into the Mustang and turned the key.

No luck. Not enough gas (it was probably only an eight of a tank).

So I put the car in neutral and pushed it backwards back to the house. Just as it crested the slight hill, the car started rolling on its own. I was grateful because I was by myself and pushing the car alone wasn’t exactly easy. But then it started going faster. I had the top down so I could sorta steer it, but I was in front of the door and I couldn’t get a hold of it.

The car picked up speed and I started to panic. I cried out for help but there was no one around (I found out later that Lori had gone inside to secure Melody and put on a pair of tennis shoes to help me… I guess I should be more patient).

Finally I was able to grasp the handle on the door and swing myself into the driver’s seat where I quickly put on the breaks. The car stopped right in front of my garage.

With that fiasco over, the lawn mower can and I took the Escape to the nearest gas station where we filled up. I emptied the can into the Mustang and it started right back up like nothing had ever been wrong.

I ended up with a little longer lunch than usual, but at least I wound up with something interesting to post here.

Which is, of course, the important thing.

Rest assured both the Mustang and the Escape now have gas in them.

Have a happy and safe weekend!

What I’m Reading

2005-07-22T11:44:00.000-07:00

As a writer, I’m sometimes asked what I’m reading.

Well, other than the predictably fun and satisfying in a “get-what-you-want” sorta way Star Wars novel, “Shatterpoint” (I’m always reading two books at a time, one a sci-fi or fantasy novel, the other something nonfiction), I’m reading “Faith, Form, And Time: What the Bible Teaches and Science Confirms About Creation and the Age of the Universe” by Kurt P. Wise.

I know. It’s a mouthful (not to mention a very long sentence). While not as spiritually deep as my previous nonfiction read (which was “Waking the Dead” by John Eldredge), It actually is an interesting, if overly analytical, read.

Wise makes a lot of good points in his book. Although I’m not certain I agree with 100% of his claims, I am interested to see where he’s going with it all.

Testing For Princes

2005-07-21T09:02:00.000-07:00

The other night Lori and I were being affectionate.

And who do you think witnessed it?

Princess Melody.

The next thing we know, she's leaning into our faces and kissing us. These kisses mostly amount to her biting my bottom lip. Occasionally she'll stick out her tongue too, which is hilarious. And, of course, because we're laughing so hard about it, she keeps doing it.

Proof positive that we need to watch what we do and say around Melody. While this instance is certainly cute, I don't need her exhibiting adult behavior any sooner than she normally would. Kids grow up too fast as it is.

I can see it now: My little princess getting in trouble at school for kissing boys. I don't think I want to have to deal with that.

And I don't think I want her kissing frogs either.

My Mom

2005-07-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the shortage of posts recently. Life’s been moving quite quickly.

Yesterday was mom’s birthday. I called and left a message. I can assume that she was out to dinner with my siblings or else she was visiting my dad.

Speaking of my dad, he’s no longer in ICU. He was moved to the heart center early this week and on the 19th he was moved to a nursing facility where he will hopefully regain his strength only to go back to chemo next week.

But word is he’s looking better. Just a little weak. So thanks for all your prayers.

Mom’s been taking care of dad for just about a year now and I can tell it’s taking a toll on her. Last time I talked to her, I told her to use the time that dad’s in the hospital/nursing center to rest up so she’ll be ready when he comes home. I hope she’s taking my advice.

I’d say that both of them could use continued prayers.

Thanks!

My Dad

2005-07-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

I'm a lot like my dad, I've discovered.

It's not really something I ever wanted to be but sometimes there are just things that you don't have any control over.

When I was a kid, my dad would draw Disney characters for me. He was good. He could just look at a character and recreate it on paper. Of all the talents that my parents have passed down to me (and there are many), the ability to draw has probably served me best. It forged my identity in school. After all, I was the kid who could draw Mickey Mouse. And, without it, I wouldn't have the career I have now.

There's an old saying that goes something like this: "It's funny how much my dad has learned over the years." The irony, of course, being that Dad had known plenty all along, if only I would have listened to him. Now that I'm a father myself, it all becomes oh so clear. Truly youth is wasted on the young.

Of course, as with everyone in my family, my dad is a character. He lives in Southern California but, with his cowboy hat and boots, he looks like he ought to be living in Texas. Or else he's in the right place but in the wrong time. He's a big John Wayne fan and we grew up with such Dadisms as "Never start a fight but if you end up in one, you'd better finish it" and "Never say you're sorry. It's a sign of weakness." Such things make my wife shudder. What am I going to teach our kids? But that's Dad. And there's at least a shadow of truth in those statements.

Of course, I don't know how anyone can stay married very long without ever apologizing.

And I'm not about to find out.

I suspect Dad doesn't know either.

But back in my youth, Dad was an innovator. In fact, he invented the television remote control. It was me! He'd tell me to get up off the couch and change the channel. When it wasn't a western, he'd have me up again changing it to another channel. When we finally got a TV that came with it's own remote, I thought I was off the hook. Unfortunately, it became my job to locate the remote control on a nightly basis. Either that, or I'd have to go back to my old job.

I know Dad loves his kids. He had transparent ways of showing it. Indeed, the fact that he was such a good artist, probably a better one than I am, and he gave up following any artistic endeavors so he could work in a factory to provide for his wife and family now speaks volumes to me.

My thoughts turn to my dad now. You see, he's in the hospital. He's been fighting cancer and, for the most part winning. Yesterday he was weak -- unable to stand -- and his heart was racing. So my mom called 911 and they rushed him to the hospital.

I have faith that it's just a bump in the road and he'll be back home shortly, continuing the fight as only John Wayne could.

But today I'm thinking about him.

And I'm praying for him.

I'd appreciate it if you would too.

Whose Genes Are Those?

2005-07-13T15:56:00.000-07:00

Melody has this habit of not sleeping.

I'm not talking about waking up when she should be sleeping. I'm also not only referring to her penchant for getting up at the break of day, although both aspects are part of the problem.

What, I believe, it boils down to is that Melody does not want to sleep. Ever.

I don't know if she just doesn't want to miss out on what’s going on in her absence or what the problem is.

But she doesn't want to sleep.

She gets so tired that she’s falling over and hitting her head on things. She wants to be held but doesn't want to be held. She cries for no reason other than that she's plum tuckered out. And still, she will not go to sleep.

Lori will hold her. Sing to her. Caress her.

And still, she doesn't want to sleep.

Well fed. Clean diaper. It doesn't matter.

So I'm left wondering whose genes are in there. Because I would sleep until noon every day if I could and Lori would go until at least ten in the morning. Not only do we like to sleep in, but we don't have a problem dropping off at night either.

The biggest problem is that when she doesn't sleep, no one else sleeps.

I wonder if she’ll ever come around and realize the joy of a well-slept-in bed.