Gestern habe ich ein Handy gekauft.

I bought a paygo from the Cricket place. It's like a dollar a day for the days I use. But it's also 10 cents a minute for long distance, and I phoned my grandparents in Texas today, so I should still have two dollars or so on there. I don't know how to check my balance on the stupid thing. I'll have to read the instruction manual.

You know, this really is an inane little update. Who among you cares? Why should I care? Cell phone, big whoop. Everybody has one nowadays.

Which is why Stephen King can write a book about a deadly cell phone. I haven't read the book, so I can't talk about it. But I have read "Misery" so I can talk about that.

It's one of the freakiest books I have ever read. Eee, and Kathy Bates was so insanely perfect as Annie Wilkes. I would describe some of the things she does to poor James Caan, but I don't want to give anything away. See the movie, people. It's wiggy.

I love Kathy Bates. I want her to be in one of my movies. She's so fun.

Anyway. End ramble.

This One is Actually Untitled! Bwa-ha!

Ich habe nichts zu sagen, ja?
Ja oder nein! Ich habe nichts.
Ich verstehe mich nicht.
Kennst du nie? Wissen Sie nicht?
Was denke ich? Was sage ich?
Vielleicht, wirklich,
Alles ist unglaublich!
Ich habe viele Personen gewesen.
Meine viele Leben... Ach, mich.

Ich würde auf Deutsch fluchen...
Wenn ich konnte.

You ever have one of those totally blank moments?

I'm having one right now.

I need to post something. Anything, really. I'm only at 11 and I need 20 at least before the end of this semester. I can't just leave it when I've got a wee bit of writer's block.

So! What to talk about? Hmmmmmm...

I suppose I'll talk about "Twilight." My mother and my sister are flying out today. Guess where they're going? You'll never guess. Well, I'll give you a clue. They are flying to Seattle, Washington. Take that, add it to the Meyers vampire novel, and what do you get?

My sister and mom are visiting Forks. The little nothing town in which "Twilight" is set. I refrain from passing judgement. I will say that I am jealous because I have always wanted to see the Pacific Northwest. Oregon, mostly, though I could never tell you just why. I suppose the Redwoods are a key factor. That, or the Native Americans from that area. I love the trickster Raven. And Coyote, though he's from a different area of North America. And Loki, though he's not from America at all. And Anansi... well, you get the drift. I love trickster characters.

Which is probably why I love Bruno Walton.

If you've never read the Bruno and Boots books, I would definitely suggest you do it before you get too old to appreciate the humor.

Loving Lovecraft's Craft

What a title, huh? I'm thinking about deleting it, honestly, but that probably won't happen. I have to think of something else to put in its place, and quite frankly, I'm not going to do that. Despite its innate corniness, I think it says just what I intend to say.

I have just finished reading two short stories by H.P. Lovecraft. The titles of these particular two were "Pickman's Model" and "Cool Air." You may be familiar with them (I am almost positive I've read Pickman once before, from a collection book I own, but this was my first encounter with the other). To come out and say what I'm dying to say, the man's a genius. The twists at the end of his stories are superb, even ausgezeichnet, although some of the punch was lost when I understood what had happened to Dr. Muñoz (from "Cool Air") before he got around to explaining in the letter he left for the narrator. The reason for this was probably because I had just finished reading Pickman, and just kept right on going. When you read enough of Lovecraft's works in a row, you begin to notice patterns and become able to predict the twists (rather like watching movies by M. Night Shyamalan, nicht wahr?).

I think Lovecraft's method in writing must have been to come up with the ending first. Surely it must be so. Everything leads up to that one glorious moment when everything... I can't really say that everything becomes clear, as some of them still confuse me. I can't quite come to grips with "The Music of Erich Zann." I can't explain my quiet confusion without giving away the ending. I can't even explain my theories for fear of hinting at the conclusion. Let's just say I think that "portal" as a synonym for "window" is incredibly accurate. But even then, everything rises in a crashing crescendo. Lovecraft almost delights in destruction. Though you can almost always find a theme, or an underlying metaphor, that final cataclysm that happens with the shocking revelation seems like it's the focal point of the story. Even though it can be boiled down to a simple sentence like... It's a mirror... It's a photograph... It's his father... He's been dead this whole time: a theme both Lovecraft and Shyamalan used - that's a coincidence I hadn't expected... the discovery still seems to be somehow profoundly unexpected.

The ending is the most important thing.