nonamedufus

Well, we made it through 9 books this month bringing my year-to-date total to 49. I read fewer books due to the length of some of this month's reads. For instance it took me 2 weeks to get through the 5th volume of Game of Thrones. It wasn't a tough read, just a long one at just shy of 2,000 pages on my iPad. Another "series" I caught up on was the latest from Jeffrey Archer - the 3rd volume in the 5 book series of the so-called Clifton Chronicles. I've always liked Jeffrey Archer. The problem with picking up on books that are part of a continuing series or saga, like Game of Thrones, is that one (especially old ones like me) forgets the previous storyline or main characters. Of course, that's not a problem with Game of Thrones because author George Martins keeps killing all the main characters off. Last month I read the novel Candlemoth by R.J. Ellory and really enjoyed it. So this month I read Ghost Heart by him and, believe me, wasn't disapp...

The prompt this month was nigh t. I pocketed my trusty iPhone camera and headed off into the darkness. I didn't have to go far. The first thing I came across were the lamps on our deck. Almost tripped right over them. Maybe it was the couple of pints of Corona. Next was the car in the driveway. This was too easy. A week or so later we went out for dinner to one of our favourite weekly spots, Hino's in Ottawa. Terry Hino does Japanese and when we go we sit at the bar overlooking the kitchen and chat with chef Terry. This is the view across the street from Hino's at dusk... It rained on our way home as we crossed the Champlain Bridge over the Ottawa River back to the Quebec side... I'm looking pretty calm despite the fact Mrs D was driving don't you think? Maybe it was the couple of pints of Sapporo with dinner. Make your way over to Challenge co-ordinator P.J.'s blog and see what other folks have come up with today/tonight...

Every once in awhile I'll troll the gossip and weird news sites. I find they're often good for a laugh. For instance, I see Germany won't give Justin Bieber his monkey back. Well, geez, the guy should have known enough to keep it in his pants. Yeah, okay, I made that last part up. Sorry. I didn't mean to stiff ya. They were talking about a real monkey. Speaking of which, there was a story recently about a guy from Sweden who died after he decided to stick his penis into a hornet's nest. Sad to say, it turns out the story was a hoax, though. I say "sad" because this was quite the story. The guy reportedly had 146 wasp stings on his body, 46 of which were on his manhood. The coroner speculated the guy had sex with the nest which triggered the rage of the flying, stinging pests. Now if this story were true would you stop and ask yourself, "hell, what the heck was this guy thinking?" Was he thinking "Hey, I think I'll pleasure myself...

Did you ever feel like you're living in a movie? I do. Except the character I play has no control over events. The perfect movie to describe my anxiety would be Network . And I, of course, am news anchor Howard Beale. You know the guy. He's the one in that biting Paddy Chayefsky-scribed dialogue who famously exhorts his viewers: "...I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, stick your head out, and yell, "I'M MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE..."   Oh, if only yelling this from my window would have some effect. Why, you ask, am I so possessed? You didn't ask? Never mind, I'm gonna tell you anyway. You're welcome. The Canadian government, the one I didn't vote for, has turned me over and given it to me up the whazoo. Well, figuratively speaking, of course. And not just once, but over and over again. It wasn't bad eno...

I think I'm going blind. Well, not blind exactly but with advancing age my eyesight is failing. I told my wife and she said I should go the the optometrist. She's pretty smart, eh? Like the brightest pupil in class. So before things go too far, and I make a spectacle of myself, I'd best make that appointment. I'm noticing things like seeing the television much better with my glasses off than on. That's not right. I'm sure iris-k severe eye strain. I notice, too, when I'm driving my vision is blurry. That's not good. Driving like that lense itself to having an accident. I'm fine with things close up. Like books. I have no problem at all when I'm reading or on the computer. Or clipping my nails or picking my teeth. When properly framed, things are fine. And I test myself from time just to make sure. (Boy, that's gotta be the worst one, huh? i-test? hahaha) But I'm not alone when it comes to certain concerns related to aging....