Instant gratification

I did it. I splurged and bought the remaining three books of the Twilight Saga at Barnes & Noble. I tried to buy them cheaper online, but with shipping added, there isn't much of a price difference... AND I have to wait at least 3 days!! So I'd rather pay a few dollars more and be able to read them right away (which is what I started doing).

But oh it was so hard to make up my mind. There were so many other books I wanted to buy! I will have to make a wishlist for Christmas/Hanukkah. Books books books!

I find, however, that I tend to spend my money on books I consider somewhat frivolous... the "cheap thrills." Though I have Fitzgerald and Nabokov and Asimov on my list, I never actually buy them. It's like a fear of commitment or something... Or maybe I would just feel too guilty asking other people to buy the "cheap thrills" books for me. ;-)

Okay, story time!

Books!

I just love having time to read!

Last week I finished Arthur C. Clarke's "2001: A Space Odyssey," which was fantastically captivating. I took it to work with me and read a little during downtime. Unfortunately, every time I had to put it down, I was somewhat dazed and befuddled, like I had just woken up. That says something. (I felt that way while reading Haruki Murakami's "Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" also.)

I took "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" on the plane with me on Thursday. Such a quick read, but really powerful. There's a magic to writing plays that I just can't comprehend. Anyway it was funny also because the copy I had was a very old copy of B's sister's that she written and drawn all over with marker. Very insightful. ;-)

Then, since I finished the play in Cleveland, I bought "Twilight" by Stephanie Meyers in the airport. B's sister has been reading these books, and I am hooked on HBO's "True Blood" series (based on the Southern Vampire Chronicles), and I had read "Vamped" earlier this summer, so I thought I'd try another vampire story. This is a young adult series or something, so the style is somewhat juvenile, not as mature or intense as "Vamped," but it's a lot of fun. It's a big book, but I expect I'll finish it today.

I just love having time to read!

Innocence can be lost

A not-so-serious post and yet serious.

While B was making dinner, I happened to catch the end of The Cure on tv. And I remembered what a crush I had on Brad Renfro when I was 12 years old. So, wondering, "Where is he now?" I googled him and discovered that he had died earlier this year.

And I realized that, while I was not one of those oft lovestruck teenagers, of the few celebrity crushes I did have in my adolescent years,

all are dead.
Jonathan Brandis - b. 04/13/1976 d. 11/12/2003 (hanging)
Brad Renfro - b. 07/25/1982 d. 01/15/2008 (heroin)
Heath Ledger - b. 04/04/1979 d. 01/22/2008 ("abuse of prescription medications")

It seems notable, for me anyway, that Renfro and Ledger died just a week apart. Seems a rather morbid way of driving the fact that my childhood innocence is gone for good.

(Note: I don't include Nathan Chasing Horse among my celebrity crushes because he is far from a celebrity. Good thing too, apparently. And as far as I know, he is alive and well and an anti-drugs/alcohol role model.)