Well it's about time...

WOW! I forgot I even had this blog. Since I am the sole writer, editor, publisher and reader - it wasn't too hard to forget. I am going to start keeping it up again and share it with a few friends. Maybe something interesting will find its way here in the not too distant future, Stay tuned!

Secret Life of Bees

Just finished it. Pretty good book. Definitely recommended for women - guys may not dig it so much. There is some good drama and lessons to be learned from it. I thought it got a little slow in the middle, but it still will keep you interested. It's got "screenplay" written all over it. I'm sure this will be a movie within a couple years. Good writing and gripping story - I give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

Learning Shakuhachi

So I decided to add another instrument to my stable, a shakuhachi flute. These came to Japan by way of China around 700 A.D. and were used by Zen monks as meditation devices. There are a ton of great references out there - just Google it and see what you get. The best place to begin the journey is probably Shakuhachi.com. Well let me tell you that it is one of the most difficult instruments to just make a sound on that I've ever tried. I can get damn near anybody to make a sound on a brass instrument within a couple minutes. Reeds are a little tougher because they "tickle". Obviously anybody can bang a piano or strum a guitar (badly) just to get a sound. I've been at this thing a couple days and only "luck" into getting a sound out of it every once in a while.

Luckily, there is supposed to be a really good teacher here in Cleveland. I've already sent him an email. Hey...maybe we can trade. I'm sure he's just dying to learn tuba!

My Friend Leonard

So I finished the sequel to A Million Little Pieces. I am unsure as to how much of it is fiction versus reality since all of the controversy was about the first book. Regardless, it is a great read and I liked it even better. Leonard is quite the character and James owes him his life for many reasons. The fact that he turned out to be a gay mobster (like Vito Spatafore in The Sopranos) didn't suprise me. After all, if you read the credits at the end of AMLP, you already know that Lilly commits suicide and that Leonard dies of AIDS. I don't get the impression that Frey thought he would be writing another book. Well things are different in MFL, as not much info is given at the end in terms of his wife Maya and their child. Perhaps a third book is in the making? We shall see.

Monet in Normandy

Went to see the Monet in Normandy exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Art on Saturday. Absolutely fantastic and mind-blowing stuff. I have always liked the Impressionists...Monet being my favorite. To see these in person rather than from a book or print is like the difference between HDTV 1080p and a B&W 9" TV. This exhibit is apparently traveling around the country, save for the Water Lillies which is part of CMA's permanent collection and is "too fragile to travel" along with the rest. Get out there and see it if you can!

Osho: Tao, The Pathless Path

Back to reading about the Tao. Osho has some unique perspectives on things. There really are very few people who understood Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen, etc. and all their idiosyncrasies like Osho Rajneesh. This book focuses on 5 parables from the Lieh Tzu . He was a Taoist sage living circa 400 - 350 B.C.

More later.

The Kite Runner

Recently read The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseini. This book is a few years old now but escaped me. It was on the NYT Bestseller list for over two years. Quite a feat for a first time writer. He has another book coming out, A Thousand Splendid Suns. It isn't a sequel but is also about Afghanistan.

Great book, but in a way a little predictable towards the end. Also, why does there always have to be a male rape thrown in somewhere? It's what 24 would do if they were on HBO instead of Fox (so now they just do a lot of torture since that's apparently more socially acceptable on network TV.)

Next up: Something classical. Hmm. How 'bout some Tolstoy. Death of Ivan Ilyich oughtta do it.