Look what I found at the library!

A book by Georgia's Poet Laureate, David Bottoms. This is the dude who brought us the great poems, In a U-Haul North of Damascus, Shooting Rats at the Bibb County Dump, and (my favorite) Under the Vulture-Tree.

This is what poetry should be; accessible, relevant, and set in the South.

Rockin'.

Harry Potter

My mother-in-law came and kept the boys while we went to see the new Harry Potter film last night. While I enjoyed the movie, there was a definite lack of depth to it. I've only read the first book of the series, so I won't make any unrealistic comparisons between Half Blood Prince the movie and book, but I will say this: even to one who has not read the book, this movie felt like a stone being skipped across the surface of something vast. At about two and a half hours, it still felt rushed. Oh well.

Little thrills

We were trying to squeeze in a little fun before the school year starts up, so on Saturday we packed up and drove to Tybee island. We'd never been there so we didn't know what to expect. It was nowhere near as nice as Daytona in terms of the sand and water clarity, but the upside was that there were many more shells to be found--especially on the north end of the beach.

One thing I'd never found, though, was a shark's tooth. I was building sand castles with the boys, and I remember sort of thinking/praying at some point: Lord, it would be really cool if I could find a shark tooth today.

I'm not sure if I dug it up, or if the wave brought it in, but I was digging a hole--was about four or five inches deep--when a wave washed up far enough to sweep into my hole. As the water was receding, I felt what I thought was a shell fall into my hand. When I took my hand out of the water, what I found instead was this:



It's a fossilized Tiger Shark tooth. Now is that cool or what? God hears little prayers, and wants to give us little thrills. Cause He loves us a whole, whole bunch.

Peace.

This and that

It's been over ten days since my last post. We are busy with summer, what can I say? There was a birthday that didn't get posted, so happy birthday Caleb. He is seven now.


Here he is with the Scooby Doo giant cookie we made him. It was Scooby Doo Luau, hence the decor and Tiki cake to the side. Hey, when you let a seven-year-old choose the theme of his birthday party, you can expect this kind of craziness.

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We also attended a seminar in Colombia, SC, featuring Dr. Tony Attwood. He is an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of Autism/Asperger's. The dude knew his stuff, which became apparent to me when he began describing my childhood step by step, with uncanny accuracy. We came away with some good info that will help us to help our son.


Here's a picture of Dr. Attwood. The photo does not lie; the dude is a real character. Click on the pic to get to his site.

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I've also allowed myself to do some reading. I just finished 'In a pit with a lion on a snowy day' by Mark Batterson. Good stuff. But these inspirational/motivational books always leave me with mixed feelings. Motivated, of course, but also with a sense of ...yeah but... By which I mean I think it's great to believe God for big things, to be courageous and all that, but this is still a fallen world and sometimes the lion just eats your butt for lunch.

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I'm also reading a bit of fiction. 'Elantris' by Brandon Sanderson. A fantasy novel which happens to be the dude's first novel. By that I mean first published novel. It is actually the sixth book he wrote, before getting a book deal. Par for the course for most writers. Which means I need to crank out some more books.


That's all for now. Peace.

4th of july

This is for all the rednecks out there tonight. You know who you are.

Peace.

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Update: So it seems the embedding has been disabled for this video. Click here if you want some joy: 4th of July

Someone please help me find my niche!

My dilemma: I've written this really cool short story and can't find a market to submit it to.

It involves an aging herpetologist with regrets about her unfulfilled dreams who meets an Aztec vampire that has grown weary of immortality. There's a strong Christian element (it's basically a conversion story) which makes it too 'religious' for the pro fantasy markets. And if there were a paying market for short Christian fiction, I'm wondering if the vampire element might be a big turnoff. I'm going to check Ralan.com to see what I can find, but thought I'd ask my legions of loyal readers if they had any suggestions first.

So do ya?