This is one of my all time favorite books. “The Giver” is a book geared for older children. When I first read it, I just loved knowing that kids in the world reading stuff like this. I couldn’t convince Aubree to read it, so we read it together and it instantly became one of her favorites. We have both now read it 6 or more times.

I spent a good deal of my life running from various emotions and fears. I think to some degree we teach each other to avoid certain thoughts and feelings. Whether its death, religion, fears, dreams, or whatever….there are places we just don’t let our mind go…and that’s too bad. This is a great book that encourages us to think openly, question, and stand up for what we believe in.

I have to bite my tongue and not say a few things that I’d love to say…but it might throw off the ending for you if you haven’t read the book yet. The ending really brings up a good question though…and I think I agree with Pi and I was touched by how the investigator wrote his report of the story. You know…well, dang. I guess I can’t say that….I really enjoyed a lot of the thoughts Pi shared with throughout the story. I was especially found of his amusing theory on zoo’s….how the ideal zoo makes the fence the exact point where the animals territory ends and the human’s territory beings.

I love animals, religion, philosophy, fiction, and adventure….so I loved this book. My only regret is finishing it. My daughter Aubree goes through the same sort of remorse when she finishes a book, sad we can’t keep reading. I loved spending time with Pi floating out on the ocean.

In the summer of 2004, I read a review of the Broadway play “Wicked” and thought it sounded like a cool story. I was excited to see the old story of Oz from the eyes of the Wicked Witch of the West. I’ve always felt that if I could really see life from even a “bad” persons perspective, I would understand why they made their choices. I may not agree with what they have done, but I would at least understand. I was in Toronto during the last three days of the musical “Wicked” and although I tried, couldn’t get tickets. I went four times to the drawing an hour before curtian call for the final 20 tickets available. They were given away lottery style. My name wasn’t drawn, darnit. I’m generally a lucky person and I was sure I’d get in…hehe. Wishful thing. So I bought the book and the soundtrack and fell in love with both. My kids and I can now sing along with every song on the CD.

The book and musical are very different. The book a dark tale meant for adults and the musical fairy tale that is fun for the whole family. The story lines are different so you won’t ruin one by seeing/reading the other.

PosteNote: We went to the musical in Seattle and it was incredible!  Oh my gosh, if you have a chance make sure you see it! It was fabulous!

Make sure you see them all…series 1, 2, and the Christmas Special. I loved “Office Space,” but this even topped that one. I’ve had a boss kind of like David Brent…and that made it even more funny (and painful at times). The things he says…it’s so sad and pathetic it’s funny. My guess is that if you liked “Office Space,” enjoy Dilbert, and you laugh at dry British humor…you’ll love this one.

Note: Now they have an American version of the Office, which is also funny. But the British one is classic. Well worth watching.

I love photography and enjoyed the passion Busca-Pe has for taking pictures. This show, however, wouldn’t have needed the photography angle that to keep my attention. It is inspiring to hear stories of people who beat the odds and overcome the difficult situations that life has given them. (Especially for me…I have so much yet still find life to be tough.) I forget, all too often, how good I really have it…and every once in a while I need a movie like this to slap me in the face.

Mark Hadden does a fantastic job of writing from the perspective of a fifteen year old autistic boy. I spent several years of my life working with the mentally challenged and regularly felt inspired by some of the very perceptive remarks they made. I noticed Mark (the author) also worked with autistic children and he does a good job of capturing some of the sweet insights and unique perspectives they have on life.The story is both touching and humorous. There are moments when I felt heartbroken for the characters in the story. I found Christopher to be a very believable character and, in fact, at times forgot I was reading fiction.

Wow, Ryan Gosling gives an amazing performance. This was an intense show which made me think of a bunch of different things; prejudice, cruelty, fear, Speaking out, fighting for your rights, and being assertive. On the outside, this show looks addresses these issues. But I thought the show was more about …beliefs. Specifically, in this case, beliefs about God. Do we question or don’t we? Do we hold on or let go? Do we sit passive or fight? Do we believe…or not? Maybe we just wish we didn’t believe….or maybe we hate ourselves because we do. Or, maybe we turn that hate towards the people who tried to convince us to believe in the first place? Now we hate them because we don’t want to believe…but we can’t help it.Along these lines, the show gave me some good food for thought. I feel pretty clean about growing up and changing my beliefs. I don’t feel anger or hatred, but watching this show made me look at it a bit and at least ask some questions of myself…I know it did make me upset about always being so passive in so many areas of my life.

I have to confess, I had never read a Stephen King book before this one. But now he has become an inspiration and an “unauthorized” mentor for me. This book was a joy to read. I couldn’t put it down.One of my dreams has always been to be a writer. I’m still not published, other than technical stuff. But what is worse, is as until a few years ago, I hadn’t even written a complete story since High School! Damn! And I want to be a writer? What is that all about?

That’s where Stephen King’s book came into play. Originally I got the book because I thought it was more about technique and style. That’s me, I’d rather analyze, think about, and study something rather than actually do it. Well, in the book he gives an assignment to write a story. I did the exercise, in fact, you can read it here. My first completed story since High School and I felt awesome after! I never could finish my stories (novels mostly). I would start them or just think about them, but never finish them. So this was a cool exercise for me.

From his book, I got a message that said stop trying. Forget about the syntax, forget about learning how to write, forget about all the rules and procedures…just do a lot of reading and a lot of writing. Simple as that. Well, I tried it. I sat down and just started a story.

There are two sections to the book. The first section is basically a mini auto-biography. Originally, this part didn’t interest me. I had purchased the book for the second section, his tips on style and technique. However, two pages into the book I was hooked. I loved reading the first section. His frank, open, vulnerable, and revealing stories were entertaining, touching, and encouraging. Stephen King sounds like a cool person. I appreciate his book. As a writer who only dreamed about writing, it pushed me in the right direction.

Wow. This show was harrowing. It’s not for the squeamish or easily offended. It’s a frank look at a group of kids in Harlem and well beyond anything I saw or experienced in my sheltered life. I found myself thinking, this doesn’t really happen does it? It’s hard to admit that kids actually live in this type of an environment.It was depressing, sad, and eye-opening. I can get quite comfortable in my safe little corner of the world and forget about some of the rough things that happen on this planet. Sometimes it takes a movie like this to remind me that not only do I have a good life, but I have a responsibility to help those searching for something better. If you get this show, which I suggest, it’s contains mature themes and images.

This is a powerful show. It grabbed my heart, and shook it like a put bull. I’ve seen Temuera Morrison (Jake the Snake) in other movies (like Attack of the Clones), and it’s hard not to hate him because of his incredible performance in this movie. I have to remember, he was just acting. He did an excellent job at playing the type of person that I don’t think should allowed to be a father or even be around kids at all for that matter.Knowing that stuff like this happens makes it even more difficult to watch. It’s part of the dark side of humanity. This is a sad show but good to see because its reality for some people. We need to admit it’s there, look for it, and try to change it.