The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
What amazing storytelling! The author doesn't spending anytime analyzing situations; he just lets events speak for themselves. The whole effect is as if looking through stained glass at a beautifully told story. The book is so devastating; at several points I gasped out loud at things I didn't see coming. The ending is poignant and hopeful. Throughout the book I appreciated the personal point of view brought to events in the middle east. At about 2/3rds through I just stayed up all night and read through the next day. I've got A Thousand Splendid Suns but I'm reading other books in between until I'm ready for another rollercoaster. A beautiful book.


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Momma Mia!

It was 2 or 3 weeks ago on a Friday; I’d just gotten home from work and stretched out on the couch for a nap only to get a phone call from Skip wanting to know if I’d like to go see Momma Mia! He was being super nice because, as I found out later, he knew nothing about the film, only that it was currently the only movie on my A list. No longer in need of a nap I quickly fired up the laptop and found a place and time that we liked. Since I’m currently using a bus/trolley pass to get to work I decided to do something different and hurried out the door to catch the bus a block a way for a short ride down the hill to the trolley stop and a fast, fun ride to Mission Valley.

The movie, Momma Mia!, is like a Shakespeare play. And I mean that in a good way. If you’ve only been bored by Shakespeare, then you haven’t seen it done well. I’ve been lucky enough to see it performed by masterful actors who made the language seem everyday natural and were able to convey the meaning until we were rolling in the aisles at the comedy, crying at the tragedy, and wondering at the poignancy and the beauty of it all. And besides, Shakespeare’s plays are more like musicals than plays; the language is so gorgeous and the moments so crazy, or crazy beautiful, they’re more like musical numbers than spoken word in anyone else’s hands.

And Momma Mia! has all the bawdy, slapstick, ridiculous comedy and poignant illustration of the human condition found in Shakespeare’s best. The writers took songs by ABBA and tweaked the lyrics just enough so the characters can tell their story organically through the songs. For their part the actors treat the material as if it were Shakespeare, which it deserves, just instead of iambic pentameter or a Danish accent, they sing.

If you’re a Serious Music Queen with a Well Trained Ear you might catch a few jarring notes; the singing is really good, not flawless, but who cares when they’re having this much fun. Meryl Streep is just fabulous, totally committed to the role, hysterical (“I haven’t slept with hundreds of men”) with a nice, lilting voice she uses well, especially in The Winner Takes It All where she gets the screen to herself backlit by the sun setting over the Mediteranean. Pierce Brosnan, it turns out, has a nice rock voice, kind of like Kris Kristofferson. And it’s terrific to finally see Christine Baranski in a role that allows her to show everything she has; eating up the screen and the song and the moves in Does Your Mother Know on the beach with a chorus of male dancers.

All those georgeous guys dancing on the beach with their shirts off and the Mediteranean sun glistening off their muscles; I just got depressed.

While watching the movie it occurred to me that it’s the quintessential Baby Boomer musical; middle aged people who, after 20 years of just trying to make it through the day, look back at their youth and mistakes and take a chance to reclaim their passion, their sexuality, their dreams, and their loves. It gives us hope once again that anything is possible.

The plot is taken from the 1968 film Buono Sera, Mrs. Campbell starring Gina Lollobrigida as an Italian lady who entertained 3 American GIs in quick succession during WWII. Now, 20 years later they; Phil Silvers, Peter Lawford, and Telly Savalas are coming back for a reunion, bringing their wives: Janet Margolin, Lee Grant, and Shelley Winters. In this case the men each know about the daughter but not about each other and the daughter is clueless. Mrs. Campbell tries to keep everyone from knowing the whole story. And, by the way, she has quite the handsome Italian boyfriend in the movie, but I couldn't find out who the actor was. It’s a very fun comedy worth searching for on Netflix or TCM.

I had dinner with my dear friends Dan and Peter last weekend. We saw the stage production of Momma Mia! together a couple of years ago when it was here in San Diego. We’ve each seen the movie, but we’d all like to see it again. Hopefully, a group of us are going to get together next weekend. I can’t wait.

The Dark Knight

About a month ago (I’m behind on my blogging) my roommate, Keith, and I went to see the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight. While researching tickets online I found out that some of the movie was shot in IMAX, which lead me to look for tickets at an IMAX theater. There’s only one in San Diego and only the very early and the very late showings had tickets available: this was the 2nd weekend the movie was out. Then I checked for tickets at the Irvine Spectrum, a very nice out-door mall up in Orange County. It’s a much larger theater and I was able to get tickets for the next day.

So on a Sunday afternoon we piled into my car for the trip up to Orange County. It was overcast, but otherwise pleasant, so naturally I wanted to drive with the top down. Being a nice guy, Keith consented, but I felt bad when we got there because after and hour and a half in the car with the top down, he was quite sunburnt. I was spared because I wore a visor I keep stowed under my seat. I’d offered Keith a hat I keep handy for passengers, but he doesn’t like to wear them.

When we got there the mall was crowded, but not jammed packed. And I felt liked we’d arrived there for a special event because everyone was dressed really well. No one was in formal clothes, but if they wore a t-shirt or a sleeveless shirt it was clean, pressed, and looked new. The women all had cute tops or skirts and the cutest open-toed sandals and pedicures imaginable. I wouldn’t comment on it, except that in a large, crowded mall it was the case for every last person, except maybe the two interlopers from San Diego. I know Orange County has gained a reputation for pretentiousness and maybe they are, but in an age where no one dresses up to get on an airplane anymore, it was nice to be in a place where everyone was dressed well and looking their best.

The movie was really good, not great, and somewhat uneven. There were several scenes where they’re jumping off buildings that were shot in IMAX. They were fun scenes where the floor seemed to fall out from under you and suddenly you’re flying hundreds of feet above the ground. But not so fun for Keith who gets vertigo easily and had to turn away. The plot seems to bump along from one crisis to another without very good explanations as to what’s happening. While Christian Bale is handsome and every scene of the movie is gorgeous, the only thing really interesting to watch is The Joker. Heath Ledger is mesmorizing. To my mind he can act better strung up by his heels than anyone else standing up. Maggie Gyllenhaal added a nice spark and Michael Caine was terrific, but it was Heath Ledger who pored so much life into his character that he clearly stole the show.

Worth the price of the show: Heath Ledger as The Joker in bad nurse drag. Hilarious.

In Search of Balance and My Lost Waistline

Monday I emailed the administrator of my class that I needed time to take care of some personal business, but that I hoped to rejoin the class when they start the 3rd module in November. She was nice and sympathetic but couldn't promise anything. They have a long waiting list.

The truth is I couldn't force myself to do it any more. The late hours 3 nights a week followed by getting up early for work everyday left me jet-lagged; all I accomplished on the weekends was to catch up on sleep. And I'd developed a phobia to the projects we had to present to the class. I told myself many times to just concentrate on doing my best and to enjoy learning all this cool stuff, but to show my poor work to a large group of artists and graphic designers proved too daunting. When I couldn't make any progress on a project this weekend, I decided to face the truth and give up my seat to someone who could devote more to it.

Thinking of the terrific friends I'd made and miss, I could cry.

Step 1 to find a new equilibrium is to concentrate on the basics; eat well, sleep well, and exercise. About two years ago I had a nice start on wash-board abs; now I'm wearing pants 2 inches larger and some days those are snug. Monday I rode my bicycle again around Fiesta Island and along the San Diego River to where it joins the Pacific Ocean. Tonight I threw my Rollerblades in the car and drove to the same area.

For me, rollerblading is a meditation and best done alone. Friends have suggested it as a fun activity to do together, but I've never encouraged it. I don't want to cause someone to feel bad if my long legs get me going pretty fast, nor do I like to stop and rest: I'm built for endurance. And I don't want to embarrass myself by falling flat on my face when crossing rough pavement, due to my high center of gravity.

Tonight I explored the wide, paved path along the east side of Mission Bay. It's a beautiful, slightly winding path with the shore and beaches on one side and playgrounds and picnic areas on the other. Lots of other folks were out enjoying the evening as well.

As I went along I loved watching how they interacted with each other. One older gentleman put his arm protectively around his wife as I passed. A teenage boy watched the activity on the sidewalk as two younger girls got a drink from the fountain behind him. He seemed all relaxed and at ease but those 2 girls were totally protected: what a good older brother.

And I love the racial diversity that makes it necessary to print ballots in 129 different languages in San Diego. I saw Latin, Asian, Indian, African-American, white, and combinations I couldn't identify; all beautiful.

The only person I had a problem with was a middle-aged white guy, also on Rollerblades; obviously out trying to re-claim his lost youth from some mid-life crises. Give it up dude, I thought. But then I thought again and realized I'm probably the same age, if not older.

Skate on, my brother!

Where is an Island not an Island ?

. . . in San Diego.

When I first moved to San Diego in 2001 I quickly learned that Coronado Island, on which sits the lovely town of Coronado and is home to the Hotel Del Coronado, is not really an island but is connected to the mainland by a thin, lovely ribbon of sand called the Silver Strand. Likewise Harbor Island and Shelter Island are man made peninsulas almost surrounded by water with just enough land for a multi-lane road to connect them to the mainland. Despite knowing this, whenever someone mentioned Fiesta Island in Mission Bay I always pictured an actual island requiring a boat to access. Silly me.

Driving home from work today, with the top down and enjoying the nice afternoon, I felt energetic enough for something active and fun, but what to do? I finally decided to get out on my bicycle, which I haven't done for quite a long time. I used to do lots of cycling and I have all the stuff; helmet, gloves, padded shorts, shoes, and a really nice Trek road bike that I haven't been on much since last summer.

The challenge about where I live is that any bicycle ride from home must either go east—which is a horrible ride through lots of traffic and not scenic neighborhoods—or down: I'm surrounded by steep descents. Going out is fun, but the return trip is a challenge. They'd be hard enough starting fresh but are just mean after a long ride when you’re tired; although the scenery is nice (kind of like a couple of ex-boyfriends; gorgeous, but requiring lots of effort).

I decided to follow the main bike route through Mission Hills down into Mission Valley and resign myself to walking part way back. At the bottom of Presidio Hill I turned left towards Point Loma, to follow some roads I'd explored earlier this year in the car going towards Mission Bay Park, to connect up to some bike paths I found last summer. I turned right on Pacific Coast Highway, which had a nice designated bike path on it. Approaching the bridge over the San Diego River I noticed signs pointing to a bike path going towards Ocean Beach: note to self for further exploration another day. At the entrance to the park I wanted to go left to get to a bike path I knew, but instead of turning across a whole lot of traffic I followed a couple of other cyclist straight across, intending to double back.

Once out of traffic, however, I saw signs and a short, narrow road with water on each side going towards—Fiesta Island. Who knew! My nose led me to a 1-lane, one-way road going around an approximately 2-square mile “island” dedicated to summer fun: on the right sandy parking/boat-access/beach sloped directly to the water; on the left, between breaks in a high, man made dune, a wide, flat area that looked like a big beach volleyball court. Along one side a large RV park was full of folks starting their weekend; out in the water die-hards were playing on their wave runners in the fading light. So this is Fiesta Island. I'm so coming back here.

Coming off the Island, turning right, still feeling good, still some energy in the legs, still following my nose, I turned right again onto a bike path that paralleled a newly landscaped, paved walk along the bay: note to self, come back with the Rollerblades. I followed this path almost to Sea World, then crossed over to a path I'm familiar with and headed back towards home.

The only way to get from Old Town to Mission Hills is up. And even though the hill probably wouldn't raise the pulse of Lance Armstrong, I got off the bike and walked. But it's a lovely walk by nice homes with a terrific view halfway up across the 5 to Point Loma, Mission Bay, and on to the ocean. When I got home I had to pee like a race horse.

What a great ride! I had such a nice time. I went 12 miles. Along the way I saw some great scenery, found more places to explore, saw a Hunk, got a wave and a big smile from a Pretty Girl, saw Spiderman, and made it back home feeling like I could have gone a couple more miles.

I'm kicking myself for not taking my small camera with me. I'm sorry I have no pictures to share. Anyone know of a good, small video camera that can be strapped to a helmet?

Swift 3-D

In the Interactive

Media Class I'm taking we've started to learn a 3-D imaging program and we created this easy animation of objects flying around each other. It's a long way from Pixar, but it's very fun to do.

New Blog

Over to the right, in the Links section, there's a new link to a new blog I started for the company I work for; AVRP’s Blog. It'll be an online newsletter for us to highlight new people coming in, long time members of the firm that are going on to new things, and some of the amazing buildings and interiors that the talented members of the firm create.

A few weeks ago I did a 6 page newsletter for the firm and everyone seemed to like it, but we needed some way to get the word out faster and to more people. This will give the marketing department a place to refer people and it'll save paper and money over a printed newsletter. Our ultimate goal is to get the actual website updated so we can do this as part of AVRP.com, but until then a blog is a good alternative.

So for more information on who I work with and what we do, check it out and let me know what you think.

Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

My review

This was the 2nd time I read this book. I'd woken from a nap and needed something light and easy to read. This is a very fun and funny book with charming characters you'll enjoy getting to know. And along the way it asks some good questions about love and friendship and success. The author doesn't take herself or her characthers too seriously, she just keeps it light and fun.

Heroine Lexi Smart has a loser boyfriend and not a great job, but she loves her tiny flat and going out with her three best friends; until one night she slips and falls, hitting her head. She wakes up in the hospital 3 years later and everything's changed: she's a successfule business woman with an incredibly rich, handsome husband. As she tries to fit into her Cinderella life, she learns that happily every after ain't necessarily so. This book is a well written, entertaining read; especially for those times when you need a little something, but not too much.

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Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell

My review

I haven't seen the movie yet, but it's on my A list. I had the First Season on DVD in my hands at the store, but decided to put it back and be a smarter consumer and watch in on Netflix. I've seen many of the episodes, but not all.

The book that inspired it all is not fabulous the way the TV series is fabulously written, acted, and produced. I thought the TV series was way better than almost any other series out there, but the book, compared to other books, not so much. The book is good, but the material probably worked better as a series of columns.

While the TV series is driven by an ensemble group of characters that you get to know and care about; the book talks about various situations people find themselves in. Candace Bushnell takes the topic and puts it in a room on a stool with one light overhead exposing it for your review. She doesn't making any judgements: she just reports the situation, brings it to light, and lets you make up your mind about it yourself.

This is a great book for a light summer read at the beach or the park; perfect for a plane. But be warned: if you're a stickler for good sentence structure and well used colons and semi-colons; there's one each in the whole book. She tries to create a conversational tone using only commas and periods, leaving sentence fragments scattered about like so many cigarette butts.

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Fatherly Advice

This is a picture of my father at about 12 or 13 years old with his brothers, baby sister, mother, and, we think, his maternal grandfather. My Dad is second oldest and second from the right. The husband of one of my cousins had this photo and gave copies to everyone at my father's funeral 2 years ago. I love old photos and we all enjoyed marveling at how easy it was to tell which boy had turned into which uncle.

This morning I was thinking about the only real advice about growing up he gave me. We'd been on some outing together and were back at his house. Before I got out of his car to get into my own car to drive home he said, “You know, you're getting to the age where you need to start trimming your nose hairs.”

I said, “Thanks Dad” and got out of the car.

While driving home I remebered that my father gave my older brothers fairly nice electric shavers when they were old enough to need them. I taught myself to shave using my mother's shaver. At Boy Scout Camp that summer one of the Scoutmasters loaned me a disposable razor and encouraged me to use it. And it was my mother, not my father, who told me about love and sex.

When I got home I looked in the mirror and thought; no tips on sex, no advice about love, didn't even teach me how to shave, the man may be largely inadequate as a father, but he's right about one thing. So I looked for the smallest pair of scissors I could find.

A Classic of a CLassic

Click to enlarge

Wisdom

"You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions." - Naguib Mahfouz

Memorial Day Movie

Yesterday afternoon Skip and I went to see "Ironman" at the Fashion Valley Mall movieplex. We both liked it a lot; well written, really well acted. Not only were Robert Downey Jr. and Gyweneth Paltrow great, but a bald Jeff Bridges was a nice suprise.

Also Currently Reading...

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. His last novel; I didn't know it existed until a few weeks ago.

"Externally, it was a narrow lopsided wooden jumble of corpulent windows heaped one upon another as you might heap as many toppling oranges, with a crazy wooden verandah impending over the water; indeed the whole house, inclusive of the complaining flag-staff on the roof, impended over the water, but seemed to have got into the condition of a faint-hearted diver who has paused so long on the brink that he will never go in at all."

Now that's a sentence!

Iron Mountain 04.26.08

Even though my alarms went off dutifully at 5:30 and 5:45, I didn't actually wake up until 6:10, which was bad because I was supposed to be out the door at 6:15 to pick up Skip, stop at Starbuck's and make it to the trail head by 7:00.

Fortunately Skip's friend, Alice, and her friends Mark(green t-shirt) and Szymon(big smile), waited patiently and we got under way shortly after 7:30.

Iron Mountain is a great hike; not far out of town, short & long options, amazing 360 degree views at the top. What a great way to start the weekend!
(Double click on any image to enlarge it)

Currently Reading ...

I'm not going through it very quickly because the class I'm taking is kicking my butt, but what I have read has given me much to think about. And that's a good thing. Deepak Chopra makes it an easy read but gives you a lot to contemplate.

Favorite quote so far:

"You must find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible."

I looked and looked and for the life of me I could never find that place. So I decided to build it from scratch.

Second favorite quote:

"'In everything do to others as you would have them do to you.' (Matthew 7:9-12)
If you contemplate the Golden Rule, it turns out to be an injunction to live by grace rather than by what you think other people deserve."

Usually, when we think of the Golden Rule, we think in terms of a proactive situation; we treat someone nice so they'll be nice to us in return. But Deepak Chopra is looking at it from a reactive situation; someone has just been thoughtless/rude/mean to us and in our anger we want to give them what they deserve, or at the very least turn away, but Grace requires us to be nice, as if they'd been nice. This goes back to treating people as they ought to be, rather than as they are.

I apologize to my non-Christian friends for quoting scripture at you. I'm trying to be more spiritual than religious. Despite the fact that many have used Scripture to beat us up and leave us to die tied to a fence, there is some spiritual wisdom in scripture. And that's Deepak Chopra's intent in writing this book; to look beyond Jesus "the man" whose factual history has been all but lost and to bypass Jesus "the arbitrator of rules" who has been kidnapped by the conservative false prophets, and look at the spriritual, mystical leader he was trying to be all along.

New Blog Feature: Call Me for Free !

Over to the right you'll notice a blue button that says "Call Me". Just double click on it, enter your name and phone number, click the "call me" button, and pick up your phone. The computer will put a call through from your phone to my phone at no charge. No long distance fees!

And I'll be able to post voice mails to my blog, so if you've got some news to share or want to leave me a festive message on; say, oh I don't know, My Birthday in 30 days (3/27); go for it!

"He who gives when he is asked has waited too long." - Seneca

Truth

For an example of some amazing writing check out: http://www.bigassbelle.blogspot.com/. Her most recent entry "kayla" just wrecked me. Her previous post "roe, wade and me" is a valid view point worth considering. And she won an award for a post in April called "piano music". She tells the truth like we all should but none of us do.

Happy Valentine's Day

"Love is often nothing but a favorable exchange between two people who get the most of what they can expect, considering their value on the personality market." - Erich Fromm

Fun with PhotoShop

I've started an Interactive Media class through the San Diego Community College Continuing Education program. And first thing we're diving into PhotoShop in great detail. During class last week we took the top 4 images and manipulated them every which way but loose until we have something completely new. Our instructor really knows her stuff, which is good, although she's often challenging to keep up with. She likes to add many layers to create an image with lots of depth. But she's very encouraging and the other 60+ students are all amazing, bright, talented, super nice people to share 3 evenings a week with.

Wild Animal Park 01.13.08

Early Sunday morning Eddie swung by my house, then we picked up Skip. After an obligatory stop at Starbucks we headed to the Wild Animal Park just outside of Escondido; Eddie and I to take pictures, Skip to see it for the first time. I snapped pictures of everything in sight, filling up my 2GB memory card before lunch. Eddie was much wiser with his shot selection. Skip was very patient with both of us. For more, better, pictures check out Eddie's blog at: http://www.mrmagdaleno.com/WildAnimalPark.htm

Today was a sad day at work. Dave passed away Saturday morning at home surrounded by his family.

Safe journey my friend.

Vespa Vespa

Vespa, the maker of the motor scooters, held a contest to see who could create the best video about them. I just found out that the Grand Prize, and a brand new scooter, went to Rex, a friend who, with his boyfriend Dan, I frequently hang out with at Kicker's, the country western dance club. Rex wrote and performed the song and made the video. Vespa liked his song so much they've flown him all over the country to perform it at their entry in the motorcycle shows. Who knew this otherwise quiet little guy had all this talent?

I think Vespa should spend the money to run the video during the Superbowl.

Secrect Indulgence

A few days ago I was at the gym. As I got off the treadmill I saw my friend Wayne coming up the stairs. While I waited at the top to say "hello" I took off my headphones and reached down to pause my Zune.

When Wayne walked up to me he asked, "What is that you're listening to? Is that ABBA"?

I was so busted. Pressing "pause" had caused the oversized screen to light up and display my taste in oldies for all to see.

After he headed off to workout and I went the other way to stretch out I turned my music back on. A minute later I was suddenly grateful for getting off easy. After ABBA the next song to come on was by Doris Day.

Laugh Often...

... At yourself;

Rarely at others.

New Year's Day

New Year's Day we all woke at different times and got out of bed slowly. Randall had coffee and orange juice and a wonderful egg casserole for brunch. When everyone was ready we headed out for a walk on the beach. Their place is close to a beach where dogs are allowed and it's great fun watching dogs and people play in the surf and sand.

New Year's Eve with Randall and Andreas

I had to work New Year's Eve. But Keith called as I was leaving the building to see what was my ETA. We were both invited to Randall's and Andrea's house for a New Year's Eve Party and sleep over to New Year's Day. Keith waited while I got home, packed an overnight bag, and threw the Aero Bed in the car. Then we headed to Solano Beach.

There were 8-10 of us and enough food for an army. Keith reprised his Cranberry Bliss, modeled after a Starbuck's dessert of the same name; and I provided champagne. Randall made a Mexican soup; which I should remember the name of, but don't; and someone brought some fabulous meatballs. We watched a couple of DVDs and started falling asleep about 1:30.

Thanks to Randall and Andreas for putting the party together rather quickly. We all had a real nice time. It doesn't top the time I rang in the new year at a lesbian bar in Chicago, but that's a whole 'nother story.

Cruisin' Christmas Lights

The Saturday before Christmas Victoria (on the right) braved the cold ( 50 degrees) and joined me to go looking at Christmas lights with the top down. Since we can't enjoy the sight of 4 inches of snow over all the lights, we went cruisin' in the convertible taking in all the sights unincumbered by windows or roof. We set the heated seats on high and turned up the hot air, doing our best to warm the globe directly.

First we headed over the bridge to Coronado, admired the view of downtown from across the bay, then drove down the main boulevard where they had lit every evergreen down the middle. We drove past the Hotel Del, all decked out for the season, and cruised down the Silver Strand to Imperial Beach.

From there we headed towards Chula Vista in search of Lauryn's (on the left) house. Her street traditionally is always well decorated for the Holidays. And just a few blocks away we found a regular Candlestick Lane. We joined a line of cars driving slowly through a neighborhood where nearly every house was all lit up. Some of them had music going. Many of them had firepits in their driveways and where out enjoying the night. From there we headed to my neighborhood of Mission Hills before taking Victoria back to her home in Pacific Beach.

Thank you, Victoria, for braving the cold with me. Next year I promise we'll put up the top before going 80 mph on the freeway.

Best Wishes for Health and Happiness in 2008

Since I'm feeling out-of-shape and un-photogenic I'll post pictures of my handsome friends. Besides being incredibly good-looking, Dan and RC are also very smart and successful and have 5 beautiful children.

And they're truly nice guys.

I hate them.

I first met them 1 1/2 years ago playing volleyball on the beach Saturday mornings. They had recently started dating and were being all cute and cuddly with each other; it was obvious they were completely into each other. But one of the girls who hadn't seen them recently had to ask: "Are you two going out, because you're being way more affectionate with each other than you used to."