The Reading Rainbow

One of my favorite pastimes is reading. I grew up with The Reading Rainbow. Loved that show. And yes, I still read from books. I have a Kindle but I derive more pleasure in actually feeling the pages between my fingers. The smell of the paper. The weight in my hands. The tangible characteristics of the book. I really tried to go the Kindle route. I probably need to. Eventually I’m going to run out of space. I currently could use a new book shelf. But I keep finding myself buying more. I have piles of books I have not even read yet and still I buy. I love getting lost in the worlds within the pages. Why else did I study literature! I love all forms of writing. Biographies, history, poetry, thrillers, etc. My favorite, surprise surprise, is undoubtedly horror.

I thought I might share with you some of my favorites. Notice none are real “horror”.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

This book was pretty much a prerequisite in the physics department. You were not a cool nerd unless you had read this book. Lucky for me, I had. Now if you know nothing about this book, do yourself a favor. It’s just good goofy fun, but with a leaning toward science. I can’t think of many books that have me laughing as much as this one did. And I don’t read much science fiction but this pulled me right on in. To make it even more memorable is that it was a surprise gift from my father. He just brought it home one day. If he hadn’t I would never have been able to fit in with the cool nerd in my Physics department. Thank you dad! Without this book I would never have known the importance of a towel when it comes to intergalactic travels.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

One of my all-time favorites. I still have fond memories of reading through The Fellowship of the Ring when I was in 4^th grade. It brings be back to that sense of wonder that only a child has. Over the years I have read the book more than I can recall. The character’s all mean something to me. I was right alongside Frodo when he was burdened with the Ring. I was overwhelmed with Aragon at the odds of surviving Helm’s Deep. When I first saw the trailer for the Fellowship I got goosebumps. It was exhilarating. And that they knocked the adaptation out the park still warms my soul. To see these characters that I had grown up with brought to the full screen was something of amazement. Now I think I might need to sit down with the book again and see what my old friends are up too.

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

A totally different kind of beast. One that was not easy to read. Terrifying grotesque imagery. A protagonist so vile you fear getting into his head. A book not for the light and faint of hearts. But this book did reward. I have since never read anything like it. I don’t think I would want to read another book of its kind. I would finish chapters shaken from what I had read. Nightmare inducing text. But the thing about the book. It digs its nails into you and you can’t put it down. Patrick Bateman has you no matter how badly you want to run away. You are along for the terrible, horrifying ride. When you reach the end, it almost feels as if your reality has been altered. I probably won’t ever read this again. Its effect on me. It changed my ideas on what literature could be. Although the material might be disagreeable, the language used was oddly beautiful. At times, even quite humorous. And when you find yourself laughing you almost feel guilty for doing so. That’s what good writing is meant to do. Bring upon a multitude of emotions. Make you feel something.

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

Cormac McCarthy has a style to his writing that is almost poetic. His use of words almost hypnotizing. His prose stick with you long after reading. I had a bit of a struggle deciding which of his books to write about here. They are all very good. He is one of the greatest living writers of our time. I almost picked The Road, but that book offers not even a glimpse of hope for humanity while this one does. Also because this novel takes place in Texas, towns & counties that I know, the familiarity of the landscape is close to my heart. It deals with the violence of the drug trade along the Texas/Mexican border. Themes of evil being derived from Satan or from humanity itself. The differences between generations and how they view society. At its simplest it’s about the corruption brought on by money. The movie is a pretty fantastic adaptation

The Dark Tower I-VIII by Stephen King

Yeah. I have a thing for long fantasy series. And this one is long. Not counting the 8 books of the main series, it also has connections to 32 other novels and short stories by King. This is his magnum opus. When I started this series I was 13. I was 23 when I finished the final book. 10 years I lived with these characters waiting for King to wrap it all up. And let me say that it was an emotional ending. Since then I’ve read the work in its entirety. All 40 stories. Really immersed myself. The story at heart is one of good versus evil. It really toys with the idea of multiple realities layers upon one another. A friend of mine is thinking about starting this series. She had no idea the scope. The movie was horrible. Total garbage. Don’t ever watch it.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

I have not read this since I was probably 13 or so. It had a big impact on me when I was young. I had always been all about Dinosaurs. Most boys are, I suppose. This was about as good as it gets. How it holds up, I don’t know. I keep meaning to go back and reread it but I’m kind of afraid some of the allure might have faded. My vivid imagination just relished this material. I still get that tickle in my stomach thinking about it. I wanted to grow up and be Dr. Grant. He was a literary hero to the little boy I was. Clearly I took my life in a different direction. The movie is fantastic, but a lot of very great material was left absent. But I didn’t care because they did such a fantastic job bringing dinosaurs to life on the big screen. Any one read this as an adult? Does it hold up?

Big Sur by Jack Kerouac

This is nonfiction depicting mental and physical deterioration of Jack Kerouac from drugs and alcohol abuse set in the beautiful Bixby Canyon, Big Sur, California. This is near the end of his line. It’s a hard read because the man himself is falling apart. Eventually has a nervous breakdown. Kerouac writes it as all fiction, but it is actually just a fictionalized retelling of a time in his life. Being the poet that he is, the writing is simply amazing. The words he uses to describe the beauty which surrounds him paints such glorious pictures in the mind. I read this poolside the summer before my final two semesters. My “last” summer before graduation. I was enjoying myself too much. I think this book helped me realize that. It was a good time though. And the book brings back memories of the lifestyle I was living when I read it.

I am currently reading The Shawshank Redemptions. I don’t know why I’m only reading this now. It’s always been one of my favorite movies. So far, I am enjoying it. What are you reading?

Jalapeño!!!!

Beef ribs w/ some typical BBQ sides. This was my first try and doing beef ribs. I’m more of a pork ribs kind of guy. I like beef ribs, but if I’m going to slow cook beef I’ll stick to brisket. It was good but just not what I wanted.

And as you can see from the next nights we had plenty of leftover. Basically just a slop of chopped brisket and BBQ sauce. Appetizing to the eye, I know.

I guess we were on a BBQ kick because here is some BBQ pork tenderloin. After 2 BBQ flops we finally had something worthy. The pork was perfectly tender & the corn on the cob was fantastic.

To break away from the BBQ we made some cilantro lime chicken. Great simple ingredients with great flavors. The sides, on the other hand, were boring as hell.

This was an experiment that worked. Green chili bun less burger. Made a sea of green sauce, roasted pablano pepper, green chili white queso and whala!! A great meal!!