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by Richard Timothy | Apr 3, 2010 | Gratefully Grateful, Nearly News, Non-Fiction, Observationally Speaking, Pratchett Perspective, Reviewed and Recommended
Friday morning was a good morning. Not because it was Friday, although it did help, but because of a fabulous little message that a new, yet dear, friend from Australia posted on my Facebook page. One of my Terry Pratchett inspired Smirks was posted in the April issue of Discworld Monthly, a free monthly on-line newsletter about Terry and his novels. It’s a very groovy yet surreal moment to discover you’ve had something published, but more than that is not to know you’ve been published until one of your friends has read the piece that was published in the work that published your piece and then tells you about it. I hope that made sense.
The article was made up of excerpts from the Smirk I wrote back in January entitled The Disc… A World of Literary Cameos (click here to read the original Smirk). I sent a copy of it to the editor a few days after I posted it, you know, just in case, and that was that. A few months later… hey! That’s me!
The Discworld Monthly has been around since 1997. In fact next month will be its 13th anniversary. A big, yet early, congrats and well done to them. It was created with the goal of keeping fans informed about the latest happenings in the Discworld and Terry Pratchett Fan Communities. I happened across it about a year ago. Then about five to six months ago I took the plunge and just subscribed to have the newsletter e-mailed to me every month instead of having to remind myself to check out the site each month or so.
My recommendation… if you are a Pratchett fan, and I know a number of you are, definitely check out the Discworld Monthly, and sign up for the newsletter. It’s a great treat for me each month receive an e-mail newsletter devoted to all things Pratchett.
There is also a Discworld Monthly Facebook group. So by all means check it out and join the group. And for those thinking about checking it out, there’s even a link to the new Going Postal trailer, which looks grand.
Thanks again to Heather for letting me know I was in this month’s issue. It’s a lovely way to start one’s day.
To those that checked out the newsletter, what did you think?
Image Sources:
Google Images, key word: Discworld.
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by Richard Timothy | Mar 30, 2010 | Gratefully Grateful, I Think There's a Point, It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time, Lightbulbs and Soapboxes, Non-Fiction, Observationally Speaking, Something to Wine About
Saturday proved to be a rather delightful day dedicated to catching up with old friends. Some dear friends from my coffee shop past just so happened to be in town this weekend celebrating their birthday. Only one of them was having their birthday, but since they were married, it made sense that they should celebrate it together. They wanted to get together and catch up, and they wanted to eat some really good Mexican food. So we killed two stones with one bird and Angela and I met Jules and Brandon and their ridiculously adorable kids at one of the best, if not the best, Mexican Restaurants in Salt Lake, The Red Iguana.
It had only been about 12 or 13 years since I had last seen Jules and Brandon, but I can always count on a clever and well written Christmas letter from them when the holiday comes along. Now there are a few things that happen when you first learn that you will be having lunch with your old friend’s kids. I mean your friends will be there too, obviously, but it’s the unknown element that kids seem to always be bring into any equation that gets you initially a little unnerved. When it comes to old friend’s kids there are really only two possible outcomes, well behaved fabulous children, or misbehaved complete and total bastards. There is also that inner little person filter that you need to remember to pay attention to. I did a fairly good job keeping my language at least at a PG-13 level through the entire meal.
As for the kids, they were grand. There are a lot of little people (I mean children for those of you that don’t know I call all children little people) in Utah. Making babies is kind of a… a hobby for a fair portion of the inhabitants of this state. In my experience I see a lot more ill behaved kids than well behaved kids. So anytime I run into well behaved kids, I always feel like I’m in a Ripley’s Believe It or Not episode. It’s just commonly so uncommon that I’m usually befuddled for the first 5 to 10 minutes. It was unbelievable. The kids just sat in their chairs, eating their food, and giving the adults a chance to catch up. Well done Jules and Brandon… well done Jules and Brandon’s little people.
After lunch and a huggy farewell, it was back to the house to get things ready for the wine party that was to start at 7PM. Oddly enough, to keep in tune with the reunion motif that was lunch, I had two old friends that I had not seen since 2002, at my ten year high school reunion, show up at the wine party. They live in the area and ever since we agreed to be friends on Facebook I have invited them to a number of wine parties, but it just never worked out.
So yeah, the wine party had its own reunion element with these old high school friends showing up for the first time. It’s always nice to catch up with old friends and realize that you have more in common with them that you thought you might have. Conversation definitely evolves to new levels of sharing when you hit that point. I did hear some stories about other people in high school that I never really cared to know, but alcohol has a way of enabling people to share stories that you normally wouldn’t. Still, all in all, it was a lot of fun reminiscing and being reminded of things I had completely forgotten about… such as the Samantha Fox lip syncing video that I shot at my with all the girls at the 8th grade graduation party while all of the boys sat in the next room watching Aliens or some Arnie movie. I have no idea where it is and for the sake of all of us, let’s hope I never find it.
There were a few other first time wine party friends there as well, plus the always reliable wine party regulars that are truly the friends I refer to as my other family. We did have plans to have a Earth Day moment. For some reason that seemed like a good idea at some point in the party planning, but it sort of got lost in the evenings consumption. I think the forgetfulness could be connected to the 15 empty wine bottles that covered the table be the end of the night. That doesn’t include any of the mixed drinks that were being enjoyed throughout the night as well.
I think for the Earth Day thing we were going to turn off all the lights in the house for a moment a darkened Earth appreciation and meditation for those that were coherent enough to meditate. When we finally remembered that we had forgotten we decided that since so many people were at the house that meant their houses had all the lights turned out, thus conserving a lot more energy than if we had simple turned out our lights for a few minutes. I believe it’s called proxy energy conservation. It’s a new theory. I mean brand new… as of Saturday night at 11:37PM, but I think it’s going to catch on.
I do have two favorite lines of the night that I wrote down so that I would remember to share them with all of you. They consist of:
- One friend arriving late so there are only a few bottles left that have any wine in them. Once he helped finish the last of the bottled reds, he notices a box of Sangria, pours a glass. He takes one sip and replies, “Ew, if I’m willing to drink that, it’s time for me to stop drinking.” That about an expected profoundity, profan… talk about a profound moment.
- The other was mostly an observation said with the desire to get a friends to smile who was going through a spell of drunken melancholy. The line was, “You know, if urine smelled more like lemons, bathrooms would get cleaned a lot less.”
Yes, I know boys and their toilet humor, but hey after 15 bottles of wine there’s a good chance that even you would be giggling at either one of those lines. Well if you hadn’t already passed out that is.
As for the party’s wine winner, I give you the 2005 Castello di Gabbiano Chianti Classico Riserva. It was a bit of a fixed win though. I hold a very special place in my heart for this wine. It was the wine Angela and I had at our wedding. Regardless of that little fact, the wine is still an amazing wine. I was first introduced to it when we first started the wine tasting group all those years ago. They were 2003 bottles at the time though. Still, the 2005 release has kept the flavor and depth that caused me to fall in love with the 2003 release in the first place.
It is one of those wines that after I take my first sip, my eyelids automatically shut as my eyes roll to back. Then, ss the wine hits the back of my throat I unconsciously begin smiling. And as I let it roll down my throat a small, “Mmm.” involuntarily escapes signifying to everyone in the room that yes, the wine is that good.
The key thing to remember is that it is the Gabbiano Chianti Classico Riserva, which is the bottle with the black label. The regular Gabbiano Chianti is ok, but pales in comparison to the Riserva. It’s a $20 bottle of wine, but is definitely worth it, unless you are a fruity wine person. The thing I like about a $20 bottle of wine is that if you are a posh wine consumer, sure it might be a little low end for you, but it’s still in the high low end range instead of low or medium low end range. And even if you are a two buck chuck drinker $20 is something you could do and be ok with once a year, like on your birthday when someone is buying a bottle for you and you want to try something that is an experience to remember.
It was a good Saturday all the way around, and on a groovy note, the next wine party is in two weeks. I have one of my best friends visiting and if there is one thing I know for sure its when a friend is visiting from out of town, you definitely have a party.
Any good wines that you’ve tried lately? I’d love to hear about them and add them to my list of friend recommended wines.
Images Sources:
Google Images, key words: red iguana, 2005 Castello di Gabbiano Chianti Riserva, good kids, friends laughing, and lemons.
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by Richard Timothy | Mar 4, 2010 | Confessed Confidentially, Gratefully Grateful, Lightbulbs and Soapboxes, My Cutie Baby Sweetie Pie, My List of Things that Don't Suck, Non-Fiction, Observationally Speaking
So to assist my cutie-baby-sweetie-pie with her Ignite Your Spark Conference I ended up taking last Thursday and Friday off from work. Yeah, I’m a pretty kick ass husband. Hmm, maybe I should start teaching a class. I could call it, um, ohhh, I know! KAHN… Kick Ass Husbands National. That way when people look into the sky and yell KAAAAAAAAHHHHN! It could actually be considered a good thing. I’d like to say I’m taking the whole “KAAAAAAHN!” thing back, but I can’t really. That’s because I think the Kirk approach to Kahn was the original take on it. There’s nothing to take back. If anything I’d be completely reconstructing it. I guess you could say I’m just taking it.
I think this would be the first KAHN lesson:
Chapter 1 – Get Married.
It seems to me that in order to become a kick ass husband the first thing that would need to happen is for you, in fact, to become one. Sure if I really wanted to I could change it to KAPN, Kick Ass Partners National, but frankly I don’t appreciate the lack of pun and I’m not especially keen on accessorizing with eye patches and birds sitting on your shoulder.
Side Note: I will concede that if you choose to acquire the status of husband via some other means not limited to the concept of traditional, or nontraditional, union ceremonies involving rings, flowers, and/or shotguns, then I will ask that you submit your process for how you acquired such status. It will be reviewed and voted on by me and a bottle of Chianti. For the record, the bottle always votes yes and your chances of getting in do increase as the evening progresses.
The conference was a fabulous time for both me and my ego. Everyone was so kind and friendly and happy. There were a few things that I consistently heard from women while at the conference.
- “You’re Angela’s husband? Oh! It’s so nice to meet you.”
- “I love your wife.”
- “I’ll bet you can’t wait for this to be over.”
- “All the support you’ve given her is just amazing. You’re amazing.”
I always responded to the second statement with an ecstatic and resounding, “Me too!” because it was both clever, cute, and true. Hmm, that seems to exceed the both identifier. Let’s just go with clever and true then. It was the third statement that always left me a little confused. I mean I understood what they meant, but with all the hours, tears, joy, worry, excitement, and other roller coaster of emotions that you embrace throughout a year of putting a conference like this together, I could wait. I wanted to savor every moment I could of those two days. It had earned that from me, and I deserved experience all I could before it ended.
I wish that theme was able to stay concrete throughout the event, but here’s one of the things I learned… hauling hundreds of books up and down stairs and trying to clam presenters down when they mailed something and UPS had not delivered it on time, and having an endless stream of questions directed to me that I just couldn’t answer to help assist those asking the questions, does have a tendency to wear on ones bubbly exterior. It left me a little like a helium balloon that has exhausted most of its supply of pixie dust. It’s not popped or deflated, it’s just lost its soaring ability. It mostly just hovers and begins moving a lot slower than it did before.
I think I may have managed to leave the conference a bit stronger than when I started it. Again, this is solely due to the hours of lifting and hauling heavy boxes up and down flights of stairs. Let’s just say that when I got out of bed Saturday morning my legs, especially my calves, started a revolt. Much like the towns people carrying torches on the way to ol’ Doc Frank’s place. My legs and feet felt like they were burning. Every step hurt and I didn’t even wear heels! Next time I’m getting those gel shoe inlay things.
Emotionally, sure it was exhausting, but there were those moments that picked you up, dusted you off, and got you ready to start all over again. One moment that just killed me, and not in a “oh no zombies, run for your life or they’ll ea…AHhhhh!” kind of way, but in the “I’m not going to cry, I’m not going to cry, I’m not going to cry, ok I’m going to cry” kind of way. It was a special break out session all the VIP guests got to experience with Lisa Nichols.
The thing about Lisa is that you either know who she is, which will cause you to get excited about this next bit. Or, is some lady you have never heard of her before, which probably won’t mean as much, but still worth reading about.
So Lisa is giving her presentation. Chatting with everyone in the room, making everyone laugh, and most cry. Encouraging everyone and letting them know that now matters, and so do they. As the end of her talk drew near, she decided to give away a few items to some people in the audience that she felt could use them. Out of the 70+ people in the room, guess who she calls up? No… it wasn’t me, but it was my little sister. This got her all emotional, which got my parents, who were sitting next to me, all emotional, which got me all emotional. Hey, hit my thumb with a hammer and swear for a good ten minutes and eventually I’ll be fine. But put my little sister in the front of a room crying tears of joy, transition and hope, and you better just pass me the tissues as soon as you finish grabbing some for yourself.
Lisa was emotional, amazing, and healing, so in a word… um… let’s go with emazaling. Yes… YES! I do believe that covers it nicely. It was two days of people coming together to encourage each other, listen to each other, help each other, and empower each other. When you are surrounded by that much love and support, it doesn’t matter if you arrived under dark clouds. You become the sun that dissipates those clouds, and you shine. More than that though, you know it’s ok for you to shine. I saw that a lot at the conference… it was beautiful.
Only a year to go until we get to do it all over again!
To those of you who made it to the event, and/or helped us out with the event, thank you, thank you thank you. I love you all. Feel free to share some of your thoughts on event.
Image Sources:
Google Images, key words: yelling Kahn, shotgun wedding, carrying boxes, happy woman, and box of tissues.
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by Richard Timothy | Jan 18, 2010 | Gratefully Grateful, I Think There's a Point, My List of Things that Don't Suck, Non-Fiction, Observationally Speaking, Pratchett Perspective
I have much love, adoration, reverence, befuddlement (mainly because I don’t think that word is used enough these days) and gratitude for the writings of one Mr. Terry Pratchett, of the Sir variety. I remember when I was first introduced to his work. I was sitting in my college dorm room reading along and the next thing I knew I was laughing out loud, so much so that I began a bit of literary rewinding. Once I got done laughing, I’d turn back a page, began rereading the section, and then start laughing all over again.
I’m certain that my appreciation of this man’s writing will be addressed on more than one occasion, but today I wanted to talk about one of the things I love most about the Discword series, and that is all the literary cameos you get from book to book. There are over 30 books in this series now, and that’s just it, the core of all these books is the Discworld. Then you have all these stories about the people that live there.
There are books about the reluctant and cowardly hero Rincewind. There are books about Death and his granddaughter. There’s Sam Vimes and his band of misfit coppers, The City Watch. There are books about the Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax and the other witches on the Disc. There are so many more characters too. They are personalities that you either partially, mostly, or completely identify with, because they either remind you of yourself, or someone you know… or someone you hope to someday know… or in some cases hope to never know.
Regardless, you find yourself connecting with these people, and because there is more than one story about them, usually, you get to know them better and better. Cheering them on every step of the way. Even if what they are attempting something that is one chance is a million… but it just might work.
So in getting back to my main point, one of the things I love about reading the Discworld books are all the cameo appearances from characters you’ve met in other books. There you are, reading along about something happening in Ankh-Morpork and all of a sudden there’s a member of the City Watch chatting with the hero of the book. And there you are, giving a mental nod or wave to Nobby Nobbs, because, Hey! You know him.
And how could we forget the eclectic collection of cameo appearances by the one and only Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, and all the Dibbler egos, or cultural counterparts, found on each Discworld continent. There is Cut-Me-Own-Hand-Off Dhblah from Small Gods, and Al-Jiblah from Jingo. Also, Disembowel-Meself-Honourably Dibhala of Interesting Times fame. I’m sure there’s more, I still have a few more books to get through, and I am looking forward to finding out. It’s like running into an old high school friend while you are visiting some random city. Sure it’s a bit of a surprise and the conversation is usually short and in passing, but you are genuinely pleased to have seen them.
Such is the case with these literary cameos. The appearance may not last that long, often it’s a sort of hi, hello, how are you, and then back to things as normal. That part of its magic and appeal thought. The Disc is a whole world of characters and personalities that keep popping in every now and again for a short visit just because they happen to be in the area, and most of the time you’re not even expecting them. Well, at least initially that’s the case.
Now, it’s just part of the process. Part of the experience that is reading a Discworld novel. I might occasionally ask, “I wonder who it will be this time?” when I start reading a book I haven’t read before… or haven’t read for a few years, but it doesn’t late long. They show up when they do, whoever they may be.
So, to all you readers that have read one, some, most, or all the Discworld novels, I’d like to think that you, like me, take comfort in the knowledge that someone you know will be dropping by to say hi. It’s a thought that always brings a smile to my face every time I crack open a Discworld book. Well done and thank you sir, er, I guess Sir Terry… Pratchett. It’s always a pleasure.
What are some of your favorite Discworld cameos?
Image Source:
Google Images, key words: Terry Pratchett, Discworld, and Disworld Death.
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by Richard Timothy | Jan 4, 2010 | Gratefully Grateful, My List of Things that Don't Suck, Observationally Speaking
One of the perks about having a birthday on New Years Day is that everyone comes over the night before and stays up until it’s actually your birthday. Now I’ve heard that New Years in Times Square is one of those, well for some it’s a life defining event. You are one of two types of people in this world, you are either someone who has spent New Years Eve in Times Square or you’re not.
Problem with this logic is that that applies to everything. There are always two types of people in this world. There those that drink beer and those that don’t, or those that eat Jell-o and those that don’t. Although, there are 10 kind of people in this world, those that can read binary and those that can’t. (That one always makes me smile.)
Still, I’ve always preferred the smaller kind of New Years gathering. Bringing in the New Year with a bunch of close drunk friends indoors makes a lot more sense to me than spending the evening outside with a few friends who are surrounded by a street full of drunken strangers. It’s warmer, more comfortable, and the drinks are a lot cheaper. I will say this though, the evening held a number of party firsts for me.
One of them was… ok first off, is it wrong to say I got syphilis from my friend Debbie as one of my birthday presents? It’s true… it also makes a fabulous little finger warmer. It was a little pink stuffed animal, actually make that a stuffed microbe. They are called Giantmicrobes, and there’s a whole gaggle of them. Some of my personal favorites are: rabies, anthrax, the clap, e. coli, typhoid fever and black death. Still how can you go wrong with giving syphilis to a friend for their birthday?
We giggled about that all night. Every time I handed it to someone new they’d yell out, “Hey look, Rich just gave me syphilis.” In fact I think I gave everyone at the party syphilis. You know, if you read that out of context it gives an entirely different image of what was really happening at my New Years/birthday party.
There was also the count down and birthday song. Usually this happens chronologically. We all count down to midnight, yell Happy New Year, and then people start singing happy birthday. Well, we sort of missed the count down this year, err last year… at the party. We were all engaged in conversations and laughing and drinking, and just enjoying the time together that we just sort of missed it. Only by a few minutes mind you.
Once we realized the fact we just went ahead and sang the birthday and blew out the candles on a big ass half eaten cinnamon roll pull apart pastry thing that my mom had made for the party, which was mostly eaten. Hey it was something to put candles while people sang. After the singing we opened the champagne, poured everyone a glass and did the count down… three times. What? It’s like singing karaoke. You always get at least one mulligan before the real one counts.
I think what I enjoyed most about the evening was the after. Normally there is a point in the evening where after the party peeks people decide call it a night and start heading home. For my friends and I it’s usually around 11 to midnight… cause, well, we’re old, oldish… let’s just say we’re not in our twenties anymore, and staying up past midnight doesn’t hold the same level of accomplishment as it use to.
When you have your own bed only a few miles away it’s more appealing to be sober up by 11 so you can be asleep, in your own bed, by midnight, or 1 at the latest. But after the countdown there was no mass exodus or migration. No, we just kept going on with the evening as normal. Midnight held no sleepy time power over us. In fact most people didn’t start leaving until about 2. The last people called it a night a little after 4. It might not seem like anything big or major or life altering, and you’re right it wasn’t. It was just a really subtle observation for the evening, which I thought was delightful.
The only grumble I had was that some of my closest friends couldn’t make it. But then again I was able to make a few toasts in their absence, so to those of you that weren’t there know that were was more than one time that a glass was filled, raised, and emptied just for you. Still, it was a grand way to finish 2009 and begin 2010.
I did get a call from one of my best friends shortly after midnight to wish me a happy birthday. It’s a bit of a tradition. In the event that he can’t make it I always get a call shortly after ball drops and everyone finishes singing. He did ask me two questions while we were talking. The first was, “What was the best thing about 2009?” I told him it was rekindling my joy and passion in creating through my writing. He then asked, “What is one of the main things you want to accomplish in this new year?” I said it was to become a published author. I guess you could call it my 2010 goal, resolution, motivational speech topic thingy… it’s my dream.
So there you have it. My exit from 2009 and my entrance into 2010. I’m looking forward to the upcoming year and hope you continue to join me while I continue to smirk about it. Thanks for reading. Now please excuse me… I’ve got some left over birthday wine, and I don’t want it to go bad (/wink).
So how was your New Years celebration? What are your answers to the questions my friend asked?
Image Sources:
Google Images, key words: new years party, giantmicrobe syphilis, singing happy birthday, asleep in bed, and toasting friends.
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by Richard Timothy | Jan 2, 2010 | Gratefully Grateful, Public Service Announcement, Shamless Self Plug
Today is more of a shameless self plug… at least I think it is. I’ll let you know once I get done writing it. Still, if it does turn out to be the case, at least it wasn’t a shameful plug… or a shaming plug… or a hair plug… or plugged toilet for that matter.
With the season of giving now coming to a close accompanied by the fact that my birthday was yesterday, and having been asked from a number of people, “Rich, what do you want for your birthday?” I though I might as well address that question in today’s post.
I have been smirking most of my life, yet I have only been Smirking (capital S there) a few months now. I suppose if I were to create a mission statement for what I hope to accomplish with my writing it would be, “Making the world a better place one smile at a time.” Granted, now having said that let’s just say I won’t be surprised to see it become a song in some upcoming direct to DVD Disney release. HAVE YOU NO SHAME! To which I think we all know the answer to that… no, they don’t.
Actually I take it back, that mission statement is a touch too fru-fru, although I’m not exactly what fru-fru means. No I think a better mission statement would be, “Making strangers laugh because I’m funny damn it.” Hmm, no that one isn’t working either. I could try, “Creating smiles about the everyday…” nope not feeling that one either. How about, “Smirk me? Smirk YOU!” … God I suck at this. Bugger it, let’s call this whole mission statement thing off.
So about this gift request thing, here is what I would truly like for my birthday… give me (my writing that is) to others. To those of you that are reading and enjoying my clever antidotes, satire, observations, babblings, and wit please send a link of my writing to 5 of your friends that you think would enjoy reading it and/or friends who, quite possibly, could use a smirk from time to time. Think about it, it’s like sharing the gift of laughter with those you love… eww, that did come off rather excessively Hallmarkian didn’t it? Sorry about that. The request still stands though, for those of you that are up for the task.
And to all of you that are reading my smirks, thank you. I do greatly appreciate the comments, messages and emails that you send in. It’s always encouraging to hear new and old friends alike are finding smiles and laughs from reading my work. A big hug to you all (yes, I am a hugger). Let’s all have ourselves a brilliant 2010!
Side note: Ok, so I think it was more of a thankful self plug with a hint of self pimpage and just a dash of happy birthday to me. Point being, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a shameless self plug. Whew, I’m glad we got that sorted out.
Image Source:
Google Image, key words: happy new year and sharing.
Friday morning was a good morning. Not because it was Friday, although it did help, but because of a fabulous little message that a new, yet dear, friend from Australia posted on my Facebook page. One of my Terry Pratchett inspired Smirks was posted in the April issue of Discworld Monthly, a free monthly on-line newsletter about Terry and his novels. It’s a very groovy yet surreal moment to discover you’ve had something published, but more than that is not to know you’ve been published until one of your friends has read the piece that was published in the work that published your piece and then tells you about it. I hope that made sense.
