2. Finished "Fortress of Solitude" yesterday; it was nearly a perfect book.
jongre was right, though, the end seemed a bit forced. For those of you who haven't read it yet, .... and for those of you who have, let me ask... why did the magic ring suddenly have to dominate the story? The book was about these two kids, and the bit about the flying man added a bit of magic and whimsy, but I never actually thought it was a real magic ring. Even the scene where Dylan is wearing the ring and making those spectacular Spaldeen patches... shit, even the scene after he reveals his Aeroman identity to the girl in Vermont and she leaves and he flies around the lake - I didn't think that to be literal, I understood it to be his imagination, which for me was just as powerful an image. When Mingus takes the ring and actually starts attempting to fight crime with it, I guess I kinda went with it, although both Mingus and Dylan are pretty high throughout that section... But then, suddenly, in the 2nd half, the ring becomes more and more a major character, and it just totally threw me off. He actually becomes invisible? He actually goes to a crack deal? What the fuck? He breaks into prison to help Mingus escape?!! I dunno. I was with it right up until my disbelief was stretched beyond its limits. Now I'm on to JSF's "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"; started it last night and it seemed kinda "Look how brilliant I am!" in a Dave Eggers sort of way. 3. Tomorrow morning I've got a barium xray appointment... super early, around 8:15 or so. Ugh. That reminds me, I should call my doctor and get my bloodtest results back...
4. This weekend we fly out to Utah for my cousin's wedding. I've gotten really good with the whole flying thing; the secret is booze. We fly again in October for Kath's sister's weddding, although that's just a one-hour jaunt to Syracuse.
5. World of Warcraft and FullTiltPoker.net aside, I've actually been pretty productive as far as music is concerned. David and I had a fantastic writing session over the weekend and I've been buzzing with ideas ever since. The new material is shaping up quite nicely, and hopefully we'll be able to get 2 or 3 new songs ready in time for our October gig at Pianos with Other Passengers.
