Summer Rain

There is nothing quite like a summer rain.  I cannot recall the last time it was this cold or this rainy so close to the season.  Usually by this time of year its terribly, unbearably hot.  Many would point to global warming for the unseasonable changes.  Me?  If this is global warming, bring it on.  I hate hot weather.  Hot weather you can only take so much off to get relief and being without air conditioning is really hard.  Give me storms, give me rain on the windows and a warm fire in my hearth.

Rainy, stormy weather is the best kind for writing, at least for me.  For my work, not so much.  Dodging showers with a cart of perishable supplies and cleaning classrooms that don't have rain cover is not ideal.  I used to judge potential job sites I wanted to go to by the amount of rain cover because, believe me it matters.  Too often schools aren't built with rain in mind, which is odd considering these are children we are allowing to get wet.  Of course, kids love to do so.  They step in puddles simply because they are there.  Any other time I would laugh and watch, but when I am at work I cringe because I know I have to clean up the mess later.

I am not saying I want rain every day.  I could never live in Seattle per-say.  We need some sun for plants to grow and things to be healthy.  But that's

Close to Completion

Book one of my new series is finally, finally closing in on completion.  I am about to begin editing on the some 200 page manuscript and I'm terribly excited, but also very cautious at the same time.  I've always been cautious about hyping my own work, but I truly think this book is something special.  Phantom Express spoke to one part of me, the part that had to deal with death when I was a child.  This series of books however, is more fantastical and based on my lifelong love of all things Japan.

Despite this, I've hit a snag in my second book.  I know its strange to start writing a second book before I publish the first, but I've always been that way.  I have a clear story...and I want it done and on the page.  Still, I've hit major writer's block, I just find myself with little time or desire to write of late.  Work exhausts me, and I come home too weary to think.  All I want to do is curl up and go to bed.  Its not conducive to writing.  I suppose I just need to make time, because this series is going to be worth it.

What I need most, is someone with better knowledge of Japan and Japanese culture than me.  I took classes on the subject years ago, and I am rusty at best.  I am hoping among my friends or those who follow me that I might gain some suggestions.  Where should I go?  What should I do?  Japan itself is out of the question at the moment.  What else is there?

A Essay Poem out of Nowhere

I have no idea where this came from but here goes.

There is, in all life and love, a story to be told, a dream known only to ourselves.  Within us is the power to interweave it into the tales of others.  We are, all of us, fragments of imagination, dreams brought to life in words, thoughts and deeds. Within each moment and each life we touch, there is an eternity to touch, see and explore.  In the waning hours of existence, it plays back before us, and we see it all: the good, the bad, the indiscriminate decisions and the endless possibilities. Our memory beyond death is in the story of our life.  Those who remember us, remember what we did and who we are carry on our story.  In that telling, our life goes on, we live on, and the story of our dreams interweaves ever more.

Deathly Hallows

It is rare when I have to eat my words.  Not two posts ago, I railed Harry Potter and JK Rowling.  But tonight, I gave in.  I went out and saw the conclusion of this series.  I loved it.  In the end, I was wrong.  I fully admit I was wrong.  Harry Potter is not about death, it is ultimately about life, hope, perseverance.  This series of books, this writer, I can only hope to emulate what she has done.  I am just a piddly little writer.  I write because I enjoy writing.  I have ideas, thoughts, inspirations.  Here I sit however, utterly stunned.

I have to admit, I cried like a little girl when certain main characters are killed.  I cheered when villains got what they deserved, and I left the theater satisfied.  Sure, the movie takes liberties with the book, they always do, but ultimately, the spirit of this series has been kept wonderfully in tact.  This truly was a great revelation, not only to me, but to my writing.  I work very hard at what I do.  Its hard because I often don't see any ground gained.  I have two followers, I doubt very much anyone really reads what I have to say.  But I hold the same hope I believe is in those works of fiction that I can make something of myself.

This truly hit home towards the end.  I will not spoil it, but there are allusions to the ghost train, a train which when boarded carries the dead to the other side.  When I saw this, I had to congratulate Rowling.  She's remarkable.  I still don't want to read the books, I just can't get into them, but through these movies I've seen the work come alive, and I appreciate what she has contributed to literature.  Maybe, someday, when and if I find myself in her situation, I can meet her and tell her how I felt tonight.  Who knows, maybe she will read this, maybe not.

I have no illusions of that grandeur.  No, star studded ideals that may come true.  Chances are I'll be dead before any of my work sees fruition.  But I like so many people, can take hope an inspiration from Harry Potter, a boy who truly lives within all of us.

Fourth of July

A day late and a dollar short, but here is my blog for the fourth.  It's become a tradition in my family to go to Lake Tahoe for Fourth of July.   The fireworks are spectacular, even if the crowds and the drive are horrible.I haven't gone back in a year because of the drive, but really its worth the effort. This year was no exception in the regard to crowds.  There were a group of young Liberians who insisted on showering the entire south shore with loud, obnoxious music and rude behavior. They smoked my family off our own porch.

There was another family right next to us who's kid climbed a small structure that held a fire extinguisher.  Of course, the thing broke under his weight and they were very rude about what happened, blaming the structure and not the child or their own lack of supervision.   Unfortunate circumstances.

Despite these things, however, everything was still enjoyable.  The fireworks are always the highlight and afterwards I can sit and watch all the boats on the lake make their way back in the dark.  There is the sound of many roaring engines, the lapping of the waves, the distant rumble of the echoing fireworks.  Then, everything becomes quiet and still.  It stays that way after, and Lake Tahoe becomes the tranquil place I truly love.

My grandfather came here when he was a child with his father.  Together with his brothers they piled into a car and worked the lake over at Meek's Bay.  My great grandpa single-handedly built a lot of the benches and the pier there, supposedly.  The story goes that the heir to Meek's bay offered the bay and their house to my great grandpa for a hundred thousand dollars.  Of course, this was the depression and my great grandpa didn't have that kind of money as a teacher.  It is the thought that counts though.

The tradition continues on in me, and I hope it will continue in my children and grandchildren.  There is a sense of peace that I find going up there.  It's a thing I cannot accurately capture in words.  I promised I would go back sooner than I had last time, and its a promise I hope to keep.