OMG, Kate Middleton stepped out in her first maternity outfit. A royal pregnancy! Is there anything more exciting? 

Um yes, there actually is. 

Two years ago, I wrote a blog entry titled “Things More Interesting Than the Royal Wedding” and it was probably one of my highest viewed blogs. Which surprised me, really, since it was nothing more than a rambling of things I found more interesting than royal nuptials. Still, I suppose it speaks to the point that we all have our opinions on what we deem as “interesting.” Well, now they’re expecting a baby and it’s all over the grocery store newsstands. So here I am again, this time with an entry of things more interesting than the royal pregnancy. Because I’m not a royal watcher myself, but I do have my eye on:

1.     Iron Man 3. Come on, you know you want to see it after the breathtaking spectacle that was The Avengers last summer. We all want to know what’s up in the superhero world a year after we were saved from Loki’s shenanagins with the tesseract. We also want to know what was up with that last scene. It hinted at something unpleasant coming to Earth. What was it? 

2.      Star Trek – Into Darkness. It’s not just for Trekkie nerds anymore. J.J. Abrams elevated the Star Trek franchise to new heights – and popularity – with his magnificent rendition of the original crew in 2009’s Star Trek, and the previews alone make it clear that the bar has been raised. It will be a special effects extravanganza to say the least, and since Abrams rewrote the history of the Trek universe with the destruction of Vulcan in the last movie, who knows what adventures they’ll find next?

3.      Fast and Furious 6. There's nothing quite like it. The characters. The cars. The driving scenes. Wow! I wonder what the gang is up to now? 

4.      Breaking Bad, Season 5. It kicks off August 11th. Can you believe it? After 4 seasons of chasing, Hank is onto Walter White being the elusive Heisenburg he’s been searching for! And this is the final season for the series, so there are no limits to where this could go by the big finale.  

5.      The College World Series. It might surprise you to know that I do like college baseball, but I usually don’t start following it until we get to the regionals and super-regionals. The big questions is, how far will the University of South Carolina go under a new coach? Ray Tanner left last season to take over as Athletic Director, but the team is still going strong. The won  2 college world series in a row and came so close to a 3-peat last year. It’ll be interesting to see how they do with a new leader this year. 

6.     Thor 2 - The Dark World. I loved the first Thor movie and this one looks like it’s bigger, better, and more of, well, everything. Plus, I must admit that Thor is my favorite Avenger and Loki is my favorite villain. I mean folks, watch that trailer. Is that not awesome?

7.      The end of the world is just the beginning. My sci-fi novel, Splinter, is scheduled for release through Whiskey Creek Press in November. Keep an eye on this website for information this fall.

8.  The Hobbit – The Desolation of Smaug. I love fantasy. I love J.R.R. Tolkein. I love The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. And I love dragons. I think you see how this equation works for me. 

So sorry folks, but I just don’t have time to track the royal pregnancy. I wish them the best, but I’m far removed from that and have a life of my own to attend to. Plus, there are so many other interesting things going on and I simply have to focus my attention on what matters. In my corner of the world, anyway. 

That’s all today. Take care and have a good week. 

Bye!

A fall beach trip! I wondered if I'd be up to it after going to San Francisco a month ago, but it's been nice. I have to tell you, too, that it's nice to be free of a schedule. Too much of my week happens in regimented blocks of time where things are "allowed" to happen. It's nice to break free of that every now and then. 

We're at Ocean Lakes Family Campground in Surfside Beach, SC (south of Myrtle Beach) with my folks. It is nice, although we're having a rain shower right now, but that should pass soon. Seems a cold front is coming through, but that would be welcome, as it's been a bit warm for fall here. 

And how about those Gamecocks? Not only did they make sure that Georgia would have nightmares of Clowney tackling them for a long time, but I hear they're #3. Wow guys, great job. Don't screw it up, please! 

And today would have been my Granddaddy's birthday, had he lived. He'd have been 98. Of course, the chances of him making it to 98, well, not good. But I am remembering him. And ironically, I also chose this as the birthday for Jana Lanning, the protagonist in Anywhere But Here. Heh heh. No coiencidence there. I planned that on purpose. 

That's all for now. We're heading home tomorrow (ugh, back to reality that soon? Oh well). 

I hope you have a great start to the week. Take care and I'll see you later. 

Bye!

Rick told me today that he misses going to football games sometimes. We used to go to the University of South Carolina football games "back in the day," but quit years ago. It got too cost prohibitive, the tickets were too hard to get (and too expensive when you could get them) and frankly, we don't care for crowds any more. We decided years ago that it was much more pleasant to watch the games on TV from the comfort of our home, where we can sit in comfort and simply turn off the TV when the game is over without battling crowds and traffic getting out of there. But still, that twinge of missing it hits from time to time.

Such is the nature of life, I suppose. I once read that you can have it all, but you can't have it all at the same time. I believe this is true. Things come and go out of life everyday. Change is the name of the game, and while it usually leads to progress you sometimes lose things dear to you. And sometimes, you don't realize how much you appreciate those things until they're gone.

One good example in my life is the job transfer I went through a couple of years ago. Things are much better, and I'll be the first to say that I (and my programs) are better off where we're at. This was definitely progress, and my learning and growth through that process was so exponential that it was unbelievable. Not only has my job grown and progressed, but I took what I learned to my writing and it helped me get established and moving in the area of getting published as well. It was a lot of hard work, but I can't even begin to count the blessings that came out of that move. My commute is shorter, I'm happier, and I've met a lot of great people and made new friends. But still, there are days when I miss things from the old job. Conversations with old friends, and the walks on the grounds during lunch breaks. The subs in the canteen on Tuesdays and Fridays that I still haven't been able to find anything close to. How easy it was to run by Zesto (a favorite chicken and burger place) on the way home from work on Fridays. A bigger cubical (or having my own office, if I care to go WAY back to the building we were in before that one!). It seems it's the little things that get to me. Oh, it's been 2 years and it doesn't happen as often as it used to, but that wistfulness for those little things still happen from time to time.

I could go on about dozens of other things that have gone by: Family members and friends that have passed on or moved on, stores and resturants that have closed, exciting times and seasons that came and went, the great schedule I had my senior year in college, working part-time, hobbies and activities I used to enjoy that are no longer available or that I gave up due to life constraints. I think the point is that the changing nature of life means that nothing last forever. It's natural for things to pass out of our lives and to miss them from time to time. Letting go is one of those hard life lessons that we all must face.

And I'm not sure why, but it seems that the change from summer to fall is when missing those little things gets to me. I guess it's that approach of the final months of the year that makes you notice the passage of time and take stock of what was, what is, and what might come.

Yes, I understand what Rick means when he says he misses going to football games. It happens to us all. I have those days when I say "wow, I'm so happy with life, but it's a shame that this person or that place isn't still around." It's ok to miss those things, as long as we give thanks that they were here for a season to enrich our lives and remember to be greatful for the blessings we have right now.

That's all today. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Bye!