So yes. Vacations. Which were brilliant. I might share pictures. Later.
Then life. Issues. Some of them nice. Most not. But now I am back, for now.
Also, I decided to enter a Worth challenge of
30 DAYS OF TEXT
There will be a different word or topic given each day, and I and the other participants will write about it.
What does that mean for you, oh well-disposed reader of my blog? It means that there will be an entry every day. At least I hope so. 
Starting August 1st. Topic: Multifaceted.
I wrote this a while ago and thought it promising. But then, I read The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and found it to have a similar plot like the one I had in mind, so I dropped the idea. I still like the beginning, though, so I thought I’d share it.
“Sometimes, light is more than just light”. My father had said that. We had been hiking through the woods, just he and I. “Look”, he said, pointing. Between the dark pine trees, some rays of light were shining, visible beams of sunlight transforming the creeping mist into flowing, golden threads of enchantment. “Light”, my father said, “is all around us, all the time. If there were no light, we could not see each other, not a tiny little bit, no matter how good our eyes are.”
“But sometimes, there is light like this… light you can see, enchanted light. If you let the rays touch you, it will be like a kiss of God. It will fill you with goodness and grace”.
He scooped me up in his arms then, and carried me, giggling, to the small clearing, and sat me down in the soft evening light. I sat motionless, letting the sunlight tickle my nose, feeling full of goodness and grace, and Godkissed.
This is my best memory.
My worst is how I died.
Today, one of the heroes of my youth (and of my whole life) would have been 100, had she lived to see the day.
Astrid Lindgren.
The woman who invented Pippi Longstocking and Emil, Lotta, Mardie, the Tomten and the children of the noisy village. She won the German Publishing Peace Prize for her creation and engagement, and even that was, imho, not enough honor.
She was an exceptional writer who chose to dedicate all her talent to children. She wrote about a little anarchical rebel girl at a time where children were still beaten at schools. She wrote a whole book about the long voyage after death – a book so revolutionary that the Swedish parliament discussed censoring it. She wrote for children, but she touched all of us to an extent that changed her time, her world, her century.
I read everything she wrote, every single line, and I still do. Her books accompanied me through my childhood, and she has influenced my life almost as much as my parents did. I still read and re-read what she wrote, and some of her books grow with time, and open to a depth of wisdom few people ever achieve.
I won’t recount you her life here, or list the books she wrote, this information can be found everywhere. I cannot find words enough to say how much I loved her, and still love her.
Thank you, thank you so much, Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren.
I knew something was wrong the moment Claude walked into the room. Something MUST be wrong, because I knew Claude was dead. I had sliced the extremities from his dead body yesterday, there was not much room for doubt.
Despite my notoriously bad habit of regaling myself with killing, none of my victims had ever walked in on me in the middle of the night. It added a nippy spice to the late hour, and tangible arousal stirred in the air.
The sallow light of the moon illuminated Claude’s slender form. I smiled. He had been worthy. His exsanguination had been a true masterpiece. Of all the lives I had quelled, none had been more delicious and inspiring. (more…)
“Mrs Spears will be ready in two minutes.” I re-checked my catalogue of questions. I knew I’d have exactly seven minutes to conduct the interview.
“You have exactly seven minutes,” a suave, monotonic voice echoed my thoughts. “You are to ask questions about the movie only. No questions about maidenhood, plastic surgery or Mr. Timberlake. If any of those topics are broached, the interview will be ended immediately.”
I was ushered into the room, brushing my predecessor’s shoulders as he left. The concept of an assembly line came to my mind.
The room was lit by spotlights, the camera was already buzzing.
“Hi, nice to meet you,” I said. The perfectly rouged and illuminated girl switched on her smile, but said nothing. No time for niceties. I pushed the lights, the camera, the cinematographer, sound assistants, bodyguards and personal gofers from my mind.
“Miss Spears, your debut on the silver screen tells the charming story about an innocent young girl breaking away to seek adventure on the road. How much of the young Britney went into the role of Lucy Wagner?”
Yeah, charming story, sure. Her flick is incredibly boring crap, I thought while pretending to listen to the girl’s well-rehearsed and recited answer. (more…)
This Quadrology by the Fantasy-Allstar Tad Williams is like “Lord of the Rings” goes “Matrix”. Cyberpunk meets Sword and Sorcery. Horror meets Fairytale. It is impossible to describe the content in a few sentences. There is such a multitude of characters and storylines that it takes a genius to keep a hold on them. Tad Williams is the man.
There are four books:
Otherland 1: City of Golden Shadow.
Otherland 2: River of Blue Fire.
Otherland 3: Mountain of Black Glass.
Otherland 4: Sea of Silver Light.
And now go. Shut down the computer and read!
A brilliant idea, vivid characters.
Chrome, read it or you’re doomed.
All others, read it if you’re open minded enough. 
ISBN: 0765342987
(more…)
