Prisons, Pencils, Portraits and Paul Simon.

What?! Another seaside landscapey picture? What is that, Dave, about the 10,000th one you've led a blog post with?

Yes, as a matter of fact... hey, I'm nothing if not a master of the cliché... Here, let me distract you with a Funny Picture... yeah, I've never done THAT before!

Come on, admit it... that's a good one...

What can I say? It's what I do. It's what this blog is all about... purrrrty shots of nature, absurd pictures and video clips, interesting (aka "borderline-useless") tidbits scoured from the web, and occasional pieces of info from my day-to-day life. Toss it all into a blender and hit "frappe" twice a week, and there you go. Blog magic.

Or "soul-trying tedium", whichever works for you...

Remember when I used to do a Daily Spoonerism? Remember? No? Well, I guess you just had your plans for the weekend changed, then, didn't you. Now you get to go back through the archive and read every one of my posts, from the beginning. Yep, from waaaay back when only my mommy and Havah were reading it. Ah, the good old daves...

Actually, don't do it. It will make you long for a root canal procedure to distract you. Actually, reading through all those early posts will likely numb you enough to go ahead and have the root canal done, pain-free.

Oh, a spoonerism? Um, ok... lemme think... how about "Ground beef" or "bound grief", which one? I may have used that one before. If so, apologies. You'll have to scour the archive and find out... MUAHAHAHA!!!!

OK, enough of that hot air. Here's a cool video clip.

Apparently, at a recent Paul Simon concert, he announced the next song he was going to play, and a lady near the front called out that she learned to play guitar by playing that song. So he invited her up to play it!



I should have rick-rolled you there, but I'm too classy for that.

That's a cool video clip. She'll remember that forever. Have you ever seen anyone so happy? She'll be his biggest fan forever after that. Reminds me of that time Joe Abercrombie left a quick comment on my blog that time. Man, that took him from being just one of many authors I was trying out, all the way to tops on my list, just for taking 30 seconds to leave a quick comment. I'll always have a spot in my heart for that man, great writing notwithstanding. That's called "building a legion of rabid fans, one reader at a time." If I ever get published, I'll be sure to do the same.

Actually, if I ever even finish a first draft, I'll throw a party for the whole world...

Speaking of great authors, I fired up The Way of Kings (Sanderson) today, and slooowly savored the very opening prologue of that book again. I tell ya, it is such a short prologue, but I have never seen (or imagined) anything so potent in all my reading experience. In 3 short pages, in the immediate aftermath of an awesome battle, Sanderson not only conveys an incredible sense of epic centuries-spanning action, but effectively sets the stage for a gigantic series. Masterful does not begin to describe it. I really should post it here in it's entirety, but I might get in trouble for that. Instead, trust me, do yourself a favor, and go download the free sample of The Way of Kings from Amazon, and just read the opening. It is marvelous. I can't imagine another author being able to accomplish so much, so effectively in even twice the pages. It is a remarkable accomplishment. So much so that I went back and re-read it right away before moving into Chapter One.

EDIT: Here, I found the part on Sanderson's website, so you don't have to download anything. Go over and read it directly from the site. It's a bit hard on the eyes (black background, tan letters), but well worth it, and brief. Tell me it's not the most amazing fantasy-series opener ever.

And now, grown-up Calvin and Hobbes...

That's a cool piece of fan art. If you follow THIS LINK, you can go to another fan page where an artist created comic strip with a different take on a grown-up Calvin and Hobbes that is very well done (Calvin is an adult, has married Susie, and they have a daughter named Bacon, lol). I wonder if he'll be able to do many more strips before the legal powers-that-be send him cease and desist orders?

I think I'm giving up on Portrait of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde. It was very good for a few chapters, then slipped quietly into tedious. I may skim ahead a bit and see if it hooks me again, but right now, the wonderful phrasing has been replaced by lame dialog and ridiculous character choices.

Summer is almost here. Just thought I'd let you know... in case, you know, you, like, haven't looked at a calendar in a while. Ah, summer! That means working every day while my family goes to the beach without me! Ahhh!!! That means trying to remember to apply suntan lotion to my left arm so I don't burn as I drive to and from work. It means trying to resist the urge to buy myself things I don't need, with money I don't have! It means complaining on my blog like a whiny little child that I'm going to turn another year older in August! It means-- ok, now I'm depressing myself. Better change subjects...

There is an artist named Dalton Ghetti that carves pencil lead into cool little sculptures. That key is just a quick example. You really need to hop over to his website and scroll through his gallery. Some of them are amazing. Click THIS LINK to go check it out. You'll (likely) be glad you did.

Ever have one of those times when something huge happens in your life and you can't share about it on your blog, for a variety of reasons? Yeah, I hate when that happens...

OK, I suppose that's enough randomness for now. I'll round up some more and post again soon. Hope y'all have a great weekend.

Dave the Gump