SUMMER UPDATE

You must have noticed the changes here at AKJN...let's just chalk it up to a couple of very late nights in the treehouse. After some final tweaking today, I am finally pleased with the results, although I might have damaged my eyesight after poring over html color charts.

I'll start with a syllabus of my summer reading. First, a little background on my books and I-I keep and reread anything that I enjoy, so considering I started reading in kindergarten, my library is considerable. Anyhoo, I've been mainly revisiting Stephen King, which has been fantastic. I have each of his books in both hardack and soft cover, and some of the paperbacks are falling apart on me. Most of the world considers him the "horror" dude, but he is actually a master crafstman of the word and the way people really are. I forgot how much I loved his writing...I am almost through his work, and am currently reading the unabridged version of The Stand, coming in at 1152 pages-YUM! Also, for any of you interested, he writes a column/editorial once or twice a month in Entertainment Weekly, titled The Pop of King. It's very witty, touching on the current topics with a refreshing bluntness...check it out while your standing in line at the grocery store-its the last page of the magazine and a quick read so you can finish and not have to buy!

I always have a few books going at one time, and some summer standouts are: Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin; Postcards by E. Annie Proulx; A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick; and A Death in Belmont by Sebastian Junger. Tales was especially good, originally published in 1978, and about the intermingling lives of the tenants in a San Fran apt. building. The amazing descriptions of the city made me miss it so much...looking forward to getting back there someday soon.

Hey-I saw the Delco Idol winner on the 10! show this morning. The winner was Samantha Eisenman of Glenside, PA. She sang "Someone to Watch Over Me", and I think I remember her from the first round, but she wasn't one of our favorites. She did alright, but her pianist hit some bad notes. It was cool to follow the contest this summer...thanks to Sophia again for getting us to the very first show!

Here are my summer movie highlights: Superman A+, Failure to Launch A+ (hilarious, and you get to see Terry Bradshaw's old naked azz), Pirates II A+, XMen III A+, Clerks II A+++ (must see for Kevin Smith fans), and finally MI III with a D-just bad.

I'll wrap up with a recommendation to read an ironic essay in the 8/14 TIME magazine regarding the recent Mell Gibson debaucle, written by Joel Stein titled "Maybe We Should Just Make Mel Happy". Check it out.

Later, peeps.