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Thought maybe I'd update today with what I've been reading lately. Now, I don't expect anybody to use this as a suggestion list for something they should read. My choices sometimes aren't everybody's taste. Just thought I'd update with a post about my recent books.

A couple that I recently finished:






"The Mermaid Chair" was an ok book. Not one of my favorites though. I did really like "My Sister's Keeper", although this book made me bawl long after I closed it for the last time. I totally didn't see the ending coming, sad as it was.

Right now, on loan from my sister, I have the first book in the "Vampire Academy" series. Also, I purchased "Dead Until Dark", the first in the Sookie Stackhouse series. Basically, I wanted to read this series because I'm interested in watching the "True Blood" series and wanted to read the books first.





So, that's it in a nutshell. As you can see, I have a bit of a penchant for vampire tales, which you already know because of my obsession with "Twilight". I've also read all the "House of Night" books that are currently out. Love them too! I must just be addicted to tales of the undead. Is that wrong? No... Ok didn't think so. :)

Introducing Minnesota Viking...#4 Brett Favre

As I said on my Facebook profile after posting this pic: It's like bizarro world seeing this. It's just weird.



It will take some getting used to.

Favre?

Well, after months of debate, speculation, and denials from Brett Favre himself, it seems he is now poised to become the (a?) QB for the Minnesota Vikings. As a Vikings fan, right now, I'm apathetic. I think he was a talented quarterback in his prime and will probably make the hall of fame someday. But, why can't the Vikings spend the money to find a good, young, quarterback? Why must they take every potential retiree QB into their fold? I just don't get it. But, then again, where the Vikings are concerned, they always leave me a bit confused. I guess that's the charm (annoyance) of being a Vikings fan. And, as for Brett Favre, if he can take this team somewhere worthwhile (the playoffs/Superbowl - ha!), then I've got his back. I guess we'll wait and see...


Brett Favre and Coach Childress

New Moon

Yesterday I received a link via Facebook for the new New Moon preview. After viewing that and again watching the one they put out around the time of the MTV VMA's, my love for Twilight is totally renewed. I cannot wait until that movie drops in theaters. I didn't get to see Twilight on the big screen, but wild horses couldn't keep me from New Moon. I am super stoked!!!

Wish You Were Here

I know I haven't written in a while. It seems to me that I generally feel inspired when I'm angry or sad about something. Which is kind of sad in itself. So, although I would give just about anything in the world to not be writing right now, I feel I must. This is an outlet for my thoughts and feelings, so here goes.

I recently lost a cousin. We just got back from his funeral in Laramie, Wyoming. Now, as you all know, I'm not a huge fan of death. Ha! That's the understatement of the year. But, his death was by his own hand, so I'm really having a tough time dealing with it. I know he'd been depressed for quite some time, but I never truly believed it would ever come to this. Jim always had a smile on his face, always acted like he was having the time of his life, and always treated everyone as his friend. To know that he was battling demons inside himself that whole time makes me incredibly sad. It's heartbreaking.

Losing a family member or friend is always a difficult thing to deal with. Immeasurably so. But, when it's so unexpected, you have no time to prepare for the aftermath. The grief and anger can be palpable. You don't have an answer to the riddle, and you can go mad trying to figure it out. What could have been said or done? In the end, probably nothing. And, that's what hurts the worst, I think. Knowing that somebody felt so badly and then felt this was the only way to ease the pain makes it almost unbearable. Knowing that somebody I love felt this way and there was nothing to help them breaks my heart. I hate knowing that somebody I love is in pain, so knowing that Jim was in so much pain that he felt the need to leave this world tears me apart.

I feel that a family is a giant jigsaw puzzle. All the pieces come together to make a beautiful picture. You can always add more family members to the puzzle, they just create a larger landscape. But, if you lose a family member, you lose a piece of the puzzle. And, the picture will never be whole again. You can see the picture without that piece, but your eyes are always drawn to the empty space. Losing Jim is that way to me. He was a piece of my family's puzzle, but his loss has left an empty space that can never be filled again. I so want that piece of the puzzle back. My family doesn't feel whole anymore. And although I hadn't seen him much in my lifetime because he lived so far away, knowing that I'll never see him again makes my heart ache.

Jim was one-of-a-kind. He viewed the world a little differently than everyone else, but that's what made him a beautiful human being. He could make you laugh with his stories or comments, or sometimes just a look he'd have on his face. I wish he hadn't felt the need to leave us so soon, but I know he's truly at peace now. And, looking down on us with a smile on his face. Just like he did in life.

I miss you Jim, and I'll love you forever. Like my brother said, I'll see you on the other side. Can't wait to hear the stories you have to tell. I'm sure they'll be some good ones.

You Were Meant For Me (And I Was Meant For You)

As I was driving to work today I saw something that made me smile: A pair of ducks on the water. Now, you may ask why something like this would put a smile upon my face. I'm not a duck enthusiast or anything of the sort. I can take them or leave them as far as the animal world goes. But, a duck pairing is truly something special. Something to be emulated.

Did you know that when ducks mate, they mate for life?

It's such a simple concept, yet the depth of it is astounding to me. One partner. For life. Wouldn't the human race benefit from something like that? Which lead to a different question for me: Why weren't all animals created equal?

It's a question I can't answer, nor do I think I want to try. But, what if people were like that, though? What if humans had the ability to fall in love only one time and were able to spend the rest of their life with just one person without ever knowing the want or need of looking for love elsewhere. That you were mated for life. Hmmm.

Anyone who has ever been in love or, if not, seen love in a movie or heard about it in a song can tell you how powerful a force it truly is. It can render all your senses useless in a good way. You eat, drink, and sleep the other person. It's a heady experience, to put it lightly. Why, then, is it so easy to fall out of love? It happens every day with breakups, divorces, court proceedings. Why is love so fickle? Why can't people want to be with the their first love for life?

I suppose it's just the nature of the beast. Humans are ruled by their emotions. Ducks, I'm guessing, are probably not emotional creatures, save Daffy and Donald. They mate to perpetuate the species. Humans let their feelings guide their way, and sometimes they stumble and fall. And sometimes they breezily finish the marathon, though rarely. Love is not a static thing. It ebbs and flows, the same as all other human emotions.

Sometimes love is permanent, sometimes it lasts a week. No one can define for another person the love they should and should not feel. It's different for every person. But, I still think the duck concept is a nice one. One couple together, forever, with death being the only thing eventually tearing them apart.

On that cheery note, I'll leave you with something that made me cry the first time I heard about it. Not only do ducks mate for life, but something happens when one in the pair disappears. If one in the duck pair dies or is killed, the other will swim around and around searching for their lost mate. It's as if the whole course of their existence has been thrown off, and they cannot function as a singular being. They are lost. It's tragic and beautiful all at the same time.

Musings

After my daughter, the most beautiful thing I've ever seen is Jimmy Page playing guitar at Madison Square Garden in 1973. I wish I could have seen it in person.

Watching an eagle fly purely for its own enjoyment is truly magnificent and awe-inspiring.

Seeing the Eagles perform "Hotel California" in person was almost a religious experience for me.

True happiness is getting a hug and a kiss from my daughter.

People who are judgmental of others should take a close look in a mirror. Then, take a second look.

You can call Mother Nature all kinds of names with all kinds of threats, but she'll still best you in the end.

And, she has a sadistic sense of humor at times.

The more anxious you are for something to happen, the longer it takes to actually happen.

I could and probably will read "Twilight" over and over and never tire of it. Nor will I ever tire of Edward Cullen. Vampire or not, he's still the finest and most romantic hero of any story I've ever read.

On that same note, I think it would be cool to be a vampire. I'm not interested in drinking blood, but immortality would suit me just fine. I fear death. The kick-ass strength and speed would be pretty awesome too.

Again on that same note, I believe I'm finally going through a teenage girl obsession with "Twilight" and everything to do with it. I was never a normal teenage girl. Just like I'm not a normal adult female.

If you ever want to witness pure stupidity, drive on the highway after it's been covered with frozen rain and snow. There will always be some idiot in a 4-wheel drive vehicle driving along like it's the middle of summer. That is a North Dakota guarantee.

Many people lament the failings of small town businesses due to larger retail stores in larger towns. These same people rarely shop at the small town businesses.

If you ever want to see humanity at its best and an example of steadfast resolve, give the people of North Dakota a disaster to get through. They prove me right time and time again.

Watching the F-M Acro Team perform to the theme from "Rocky" makes me cry every time.

I feel sorry for people with no sense of humor. A life without silly joy has to be a miserable existence.

I also feel sorry for people without music in their life. Few things in life give me pure joy, but music is one of the few.

When I listen to Jim Morrison sing, I wish I could take his voice and wrap it around me like a blanket.

I'll stop with these for now, there will always be more odd thoughts that flit through my mind.