Last Post...of 2009

Dear Kinky Water Buffaloes,

I greet you from my mound of wrapped presents.

So what's new? Well, I couldn't help myself and when I bought a few children's books as gifts for some youngsters, and couldn't help adding one that I wanted even though I have a long queue of them waiting to be read. I picked up Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. It's a zombie steampunk novel, which can only lead to bouts of awesomeness.

Watched two movies recently: Funny People and Avatar.

Both were good, although Avatar was excellent. Funny People features Adam Sandler in a dramedy role, with significant focus on the drama. This isn't the first time he's done drama. He had a very good turn in Reign on Me, which was very good but a little maudlin for me. Avatar is what it is. It's a blockbuster. The world realized by James Cameron is lush and beautiful and more than makes up for the average plot. If you go, go see it in 3D.

Some other books I read lately: Salem's Lot, Rage, The Long Walk.

They're all Stephen King books (I'm on a roll with them and reading somewhat chronologically), the latter two under the Bachman pseudonym. Salem's Lot, which is fairly slowly developed story about a vampire infestation, was easily the best out of those three. I've noticed his books have a lot in common, mainly tragedy. The writing is great, but at the end of the stories, I am always disappointed because no one has a happy ending. I'm not saying EVERYONE should live happily ever after, but maybe just one person...just one. The two Bachman books were only so-so. The writing is still there, but the stories don't draw you in as much. In Rage, the ending didn't make sense, and The Long Walk just doesn't have much plot to it. They both felt more like short stories than novels.

All in all, I've really enjoyed King's writing lately even though it's not generally what I like to read, which is anything with a dose of humor. What IS up my alley is another book I'm reading currently called An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. It's pretty funny so far. It features a new HS graduate who, while on a road trip with his best friend, ponders his breakups with his last 19 girlfriends, all of whom are named Katherine. He's a prodigy of sorts and tries to express his analysis in the form of a mathematical equation. Along the way, they meet some interesting people. Sounds like a good formula (*wink*) for success. I'm almost done with it, so maybe I'll talk more about it next time.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and stay out of trouble (but not too much).

Matt