Now, for something completely different

A few weeks ago, I was out shopping with Sarah. We were strolling through the book section of this particular retail store and as usual I lingered in the Stephen King section, wondering if there would be a story I've missed or one that grabs at me. I really should read more authors and I should read more often, however; I tend to gravitate towards SK. He was the first author I liked growing up and that's stuck with me.

As we were standing there, I noticed, "Eyes of the Dragon," on the shelf. This is one of my favorite stories of all time. SK wrote it for his daughter when she was younger - it is not graphic or scary. Amazingly enough, it is a fantasy story and I usually don't like sci-fi or fantasy.

When I was little, my mom used to read this story to me. It was published in 1988, so I must have been 9 or 10 when she read it aloud to me. I remember curling up on the couch, wrapped up in this soft, lime green blanket and just getting lost in the story. Prince Peter, the main character, was most likely the first fictional character I fell in love with. Flagg, that evil magician (and DM's fake boyfriend - long story and I'll find the link someday), was the first real "good" bad guy that I judge all future villians against.

The story is about two princes, one meant to be king who is wrongfully imprisoned and one who is weak that ends up ruling. The evil magician is behind the plot and it is a story of amazing escape.

The plot is actually very simple. It is an easy read, nothing that you're going to get tripped up reading and stuck for months on end. What I love about the book, and the author's style, is that whether reading or being read the story, I feel like I'm being told a story. It's not work trying to determine the hidden message behind the words. There's no assignment behind the plot (I hated that about English classes). It grabs at me and I've been listening to Sarah tell me about her reactions every few days and remembering what it felt like to hear the story for the first time.

I think I'm going to take a bit of time to lose myself in the story again.

Stream of Consciousness (Did you know that Blogger actually limits how long your title can be?)

I don't want to call this post "Life Update" so I think I'm going to go with Stream of Consciousness induced by two days of being sick and couped up in my apartment

The past two days I have called in sick to work. Don't be alarmed, it's nothing major but still, work was not the place for me to be. I've slept badly the past three nights and I'm hoping I get a better set of winks tonight. I have to work tomorrow, my team has a meeting. I'm also sure the emails have flooded my inbox and that my desk is buried in paperwork. A project that I want rolled out by October 1 is on the list of priorities. Steve's back from vacation and I've spoken to him twice on the phone, telling him I wouldn't be there, but I haven't got to ask him how his trip was. Yuck.

Besides the bad sleep, I've felt yuck around my abdomen, which is why I haven't slept well. I'm going no farther to explain.

Sitting at home, staring at walls, drives be absolutely crazy. Once in awhile, I'll get a boost of energy and at least have been fairly productive during those bursts. I've reorganized one of my hall closets (things actually fit now - no more spilling out into the hallway!), emptied some boxes for DM to use in moving (read as cleared up my living room quite a bit), and organized my scrapping area. Besides DM's piles of stickers and paper set haphazardly, it looks pretty good. When DM comes over this weekend, she'll be pleasantly surprised at the room in that area.

I have been in the process of getting rid of piles and piles of excess scrapbooking magazines (parts without layout ideas) and hauled quite a few bags of garbage to the dumpster. There was a bad moment when one of the bags ripped open in the lobby and I had to run back upstairs to get more bags and then pick up random bits of paper. It's all that odd cardstock/shiny stuff and I don't have a place to recylce it here. Bah! At least when the bag ripped it wasn't full of rotten food and liquid.

About the only interesting (and that's debatable) part of these past two days was when my cell phone started beeping to tell me someone text messaged me. It was not a person I expected. Although, I should have because it's been a few months since he called. I only know one person who would ever send a message stating, "Yo yo how are you? doing" It's just great being in someone's little black book phone. Give it 6 more months and I'll hear from him again. He's in that stage of his life that I would refer to as the "job hopping stage." Former banker he now boasts working in sales for a construction company. A year ago, he was closing on mortgages for meth addicts. I think this new job is a step up. Maybe. The conversation over text message was kept rather short and he pretty much caught me up on his life. I didn't offer any info on mine.

I found an Amazon.com gift certificate that I had and used it. To accidentally purchase a DVD set I already own. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I think the stress finally got to me. In my defense, I had originally planned on purchasing the item from Amazon with this certificate and then bought it in a store because I didn't have it. When I checked out online, I forgot to remove it from my cart. Damn.

I'm thinking about doing another post tonight for thirteen Thursday. I'm thinking. If you see it, I did it. How's that for a deal?

What does one do with 300+ floppy disks for an "A" drive when the last four computers that person has owned has not been compatible? I suppose I could purchase an external "A" drive and see what is actually on these disks, but I doubt the files are not even compatible to my system. Well, I suppose I can do the same thing with the disks that I've done for the last 8 years: put them back in a box at the bottom of the closet.

At one point in time, I thought that saving every single plastic bag that scrapping supplies came in would prove useful. What was useful was the actual mass organization system that I bought. Say goodbye to little plastic bags. I did.

I have no idea My father is a pack rat. That's where I got this problem I seem to have. Going through things the past two days, I have found more stuff that I thought I might need someday, you know, if the world was destroyed and I'd be forced to live in my apartment with no option to leave for thirteen years. Besides only having about a month's worth of toilet paper, I have enough supplies to entertain myself and keep myself smelling nice and fresh for years. The closet seemed to have 5 bottles of lotion (which I can't stand to put on), 3 bottles of body spray, 22 bottles of nail polish, 15 eye liner pencils, four boxes of bandages, 3 boxes of jewelry, over 100 scrunchies, and at least 7 bottles of hair goo. Now, I use the same three scrunchies over and over, rarely wear jewelry, and wear make up about once a year. The bandages seem to be the most useful things in the closet. ARGH! Don't get me started on my kitchen cupboards. No one ever needs 8 cans of creamed corn.

At my dad's on Monday, I found a box from my college days. In it was a 3-ring binder containing EVERY SINGLE report I wrote during my grade school years. Just in case I ever need to show someone the report I wrote on a Mary Higgins Clark book in the 7th grade.

I am pretty sure this is a disease people. And it is genetic. Because I do have in my possession a report my dad wrote in the 4th grade about outer space. Before men walked on the moon. Yep, that's my family.

Speaking of my family, I got a bit of news recently. My grandfather (I've known about this for awhile actually but haven't mentioned it) has some form of cancer and has been going in for chemo. 99.9% of cases like his, caught when his was caught, are cured. So, besides his boredom of being hooked up to a machine for a few hours and having his already thin hair fall out, not much is different. Except the fact that my grandmother now drives him to and from the hospital. That's where my whole family is worried. This woman got stuck on a cloverleaf for over 20 minutes one time because she doesn't know how to merge. I hope she's taking side streets.

My cousin, Chris, has been going in for dialysis for a few years now. He's decided it is time to go back on the list for a kidney donor. I got an email that said something about a bovine implant for a stint? I think that's right. Interesting. I like Chris. He really is a good guy.

His brother, and also my cousin, Matt sold his house and made quite a bit of profit on it. Good for him I guess. He needs something happy. I say this because his wife left him for another man, twenty years her senior. He's got two kids and I've met one of them. I happened to be in Waterloo the day that kid was born. I tend to forget their names. This is absolutely terrible! I was going through pictures and remembering what it was like to actually spend time with this side of my family. They were cool when I was little. Now I like my aunt, Diane, and my cousin, Chris.

Months ago, I purchased, "The Colorado Kid," an audio book written by Stephen King. I bought it because I love Stephen King and hadn't seen the book in stores. I listened to it today. It's a mystery, no horror, from the master of storytelling. It was pretty good and I could definitely tell it was a King story.

My next class has started. Finance Part Deux. This one will actually get into present value tables and I'm not looking forward to it. Final grades for the first torture session class have not been distributed yet, but unless I got marked down during the last week, I should come away with an "A". I was at 100% at the end of week 4. I slammed the slackers idiots my former group members in the evaluation. I only consider that fair since I pretty much wrote all the papers and had to edit them too. I hate them all. I still hate them all. (By the way, this is meant to be funny. While they did nothing, I am done with the class and ready to let it go. Unlike the grudge I still hold over my cousin James for his provoking me when I was 8 or 9, causing me to lose patience with him after 20 minutes, hitting him with the heel of a stilleto in his arm, which my mom made me apologize for and make him a sandwich. He deserved it! Ellen even said so. Bah! See, the group members are getting off easy. They're just getting a grade higher than that of what they deserve.)

Well, that's enough rambling for tonight. I have decided not to complete a Thirteen Thursday post. Call it laziness, call it deciding that I am going to have something of content on this site again soon. One of these days. Maybe in 2008.

It's over

I just finished the book, put the lumbersome thing on the shelf and I'm thinking about going to bed. This seems a little odd, since I've done pretty much nothing but read all day (and night) long.

To the person out there in the void where I heard, "Unlikely ally" from, MY ASS! Sorry. I don't usually swear, but I disagree with this statement.

I broke into uncontrollable sobs (which tends to delay the reading, it's hard to keep turning pages when you can't actually read the words) 7 times in this book. I wept slightly at the end but my mind is such a jumbled mess right now, I'm not really sure if I actually read the afterword. I think I did. I really need to go to bed.

My opinion on the book is still undetermined. Let's see what my dreams tell me of Roland's grand quest.

And make no doubt about it, it's all about the quest.

To quote Roland Deschain: Ka is a wheel.

And to quote Eddie Dean: Ka? Ka? Ka-ka.

Book Update

I'm not really writing about what the book is about here, just what I'm feeling. I got 300 pages into it and had to go to bed. I just did.

My dreams were quite strange, I'll tell you that. Not scary, just odd. I kept dreaming about reading the book and I was getting really annoyed with the parts my dreams came up with. I think I'm afraid Stephen King is going to play a joke on his readers and my dreams captured this.

One thing I did notice about King's writing in this book. There are no qualms about killing off major characters. I'm shocked at how quickly some characters can die (good and bad characters, although I'm referring here to a bad character). I have to say, I excepted a whole lot more to one character's story.

I've broken into tears three times so far. I'm keeping note of this for my big brother (I won't say when until he's done reading). I've found a couple of the connections to other stories.

It probably won't happen, but I'm waiting, hoping for connection to IT, the first Stephen King book I read on my own (my mom read Eyes of the Dragon to me many times as a child, wonderful story). Most people love The Stand, and I will say it's a great story, but IT touched my heart. I think I like it most when King writes about children. Maybe it was because I was a child when I read IT. IT is the book I've read the most often and cried every time I put it down, because the story was over, because the characters I'd grown to love would no more "speak" to me a new tale.

I slept for about 7 hours and now I'm refreshed and ready to pick the book back up. I put it down last night because I was getting a little annoyed with it. The story moves fast and King uses the "there's not enough time for us to explain right now" a little too much. It's a good trick for him to use to keep secrets about the ending though.

To Matt, the illustration with the plates, I definitely had the wrong person. And I can't believe how wrong that I was. I smacked myself in the forehead when I realized who it was. Duh!

1 Hour 31 minutes to go...

I wrote this earlier this evening. Please forgive my constant thoughts regarding the Dark Tower series. I am obsessed. I am taking a slight break from my reading to post:

I am sitting at the all-night diner awaiting my big brother to show up and play cards with me. The anticipation of holding THE BOOK in my hands is growing. Tonight has been spent doing anything I could to kill time. Spider solitaire seems to have been the primary focus to distract my tormented mind.

I know someone (a main character) will find their path in the clearing, early in this final book. I have my theories of who this will be. I know Roland will have an "unlikely ally" help him in his quest for the Tower. I also have theories about who this is. Yet I sit and await the moment I have the book in my hands. Note: I have gotten through the first part, I know which character found their path in the clearing. I have not found the unlikely ally yet, or at least I don't think so.

God, I'm obsessed!

As much as I want the book, I feel sad. Have you ever read a story with a happy ending and cried just because it's over? Have characters ever felt so real to you that putting the book down feels like saying that final goodbye? I feel this will be the case when I finish this book. I want more STORY.

I think this is why I love blogging. You can find someone whose story moves you. Then they have more posts. Every blogger is a storyteller. It may not be fiction, it may not be fact, but it is what a person felt important enough to share. There are stories that must be told. There are stories one must hear. The Dark Tower is one of those stories to me. The links on this page are also stories I must hear. I feel that.

I guess this post is also a Thank You to all those who share their stories with me (and the world). I laugh, I cry, and I enjoy. So I say "thankya big-big!"

Yes, I'll probably talk as if I'm in Roland's world for awhile. Forgive me.

I WANT THE BOOK NOW!

The tower grows closer still.

The illustrations are amazing in this book. I can just say, "WOW!" I've finished the first part of the book and I have let a few tears trickle down my face. I won't say if they are tears of sadness or of tenderness. I must read on.

2 Comments:

At 10:44 AM, Matt said...

Lil Sister,

I started to read the book, I'm sorry, THE BOOK last night and I ma currently close to 60 pages into it, I wish I could be as afr as you are right now so we can discuss and whatnot more than just, have you made it this far? Have you read this yet? So far, it is one of his books that actually grabbed right from the first page, and did not let go. I loved the way that it began so quick, and in the middle of the action that way, it did not take so much time to build everything up. Can't wait to get home and read some more tonight.

Me

At 12:06 PM, CarpeDM said...

I don't ever want to hear another word when I want to stop in the book section again. And I seem to remember jeering when I mentioned how excited I was to read Remember When because JD Robb and Nora Roberts wrote the book together.

What was it you said? Hmm? I think it was "They're the same person!"

Yeah. They are. But I am as addicted to their work as you are to Stephen King's.

I agree with you about the whole blogging is reading stories that grab you. It's a cool analogy and I'm going to steal it...I mean borrow.

7 days to go...

I'm obsessed. I'll admit it. I'm a Tower Junkie. This post is for those interested in picking up the Dark Tower series or are already gripped by it. Just a warning.

Stephen King's Dark Tower series has gripped me in a way I could never have imagined. I've written about the obsession before (Obsession, yes, that's what it is and An update to my obsession). I dream about the series of books.

Stephen King started this story in 1970. I have been worried about the final part of the epic quest, my main worries have involved certain characters ending their journey with Roland (the main character) and also that I would be disappointed with the last book because it would be too short.

I'm going to discuss my worry about the story being too short first. That's right. I said too short. Does this seem too short to you?

The Gunslinger, The Dark Tower I: Labeled Resumption in the revised and expanded throughout version: 231 pages. The first tale introduces us to Roland Deschain, the gunslinger, on his quest for the Dark Tower and trying to catch up to the man in black. Roland meets Jake Chambers during this book, the boy who in a later story becomes part of his ka-tet (his group of gunslingers, friends, etc.)

The Drawing of the Three, The Dark Tower II: Labeled Renewal: 406 pages. The second installment of the tale involves Roland falling ill to a poison in his body and his "drawing" of additional members of his quest. It's in this story that Roland meets Eddie Dean, a heroin junkie from New York, and Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker (later named Susannah), a woman whose multiple personalities make up for the fact of her lost legs. This is the story I finally started to like Roland as a character. He finally made some friends. This hit a spot in my heart.

The Waste Land, The Dark Tower III: Labeled Redemption: 420 pages. The third book in the series starts with Roland training Eddie and Susannah how to be gunslingers while he starts to lose his mind. While the three are following the Path of the Beam (the beams hold the Tower together and the Tower is the center of all existence and all worlds), they are able to pull Jake Chambers back into their world. The group travels towards the Tower and Jake finds a friend in a billy-bumbler, Oy. A billy-bumbler is like a dog, a raccoon, and some other small animals. The book ended on a big cliffhanger, leaving the ka-tet on board a psychotic train (yes, the machine has emotion, a personality, and independent thought) headed for disaster. Stephen King fans were livid for the break in the story and the gap between book 3 and book 4 was too long for most.

Wizard and Glass, The Dark Tower IV: Labeled Regard: 668 pages. This book recounts the tale of Roland's youth and his first love. Since Roland started in his quest for the Tower in his teenage years, it is important to show the beginning. He shares his failures with his ka-tet and the book helps define his character. Some Constant Readers (what King uses to refer to his fans) were not pleased with this story. It is set in the past and does not move the story forward much. It was a long book and for the record, my absolute favorite. This book made me see Roland for the character he is. I became drawn to his feelings, seeing how his life was given for the quest, and how he may have had choices, but he could never give up the ultimate destination. I enjoyed seeing Roland fall in love and feel the heartache of young love.

Wolves of the Calla, The Dark Tower V: Labeled Resistance: 709 pages. The ka-tet continues on their journey and end up in a town unable to fight for itself. Gunslingers, by definition, are supposed to assess situations and provide help in the name of good when they can. The group prepares for the upcoming battle and add another member to their group along the way. Father Callahan (from 'Salem's Lot) joins the ka-tet. The battle itself is somewhat anti-climatic, but then the epic is about the Tower, not the battles in between. This is the longest book in the series published as of today. It's an enjoyable read and King starts alluding to the events of the last two books.

Song of Susannah, The Dark Tower VI: Labeled Reproduction: 411 pages. I went to an all-night retail store when this was released. The story is good, it follows the gunslingers as their ka-tet is split across time and worlds. The final battle is drawing near and much is left to be accomplished. Susannah is pregnant and close to giving birth to a child that may or may not be a demon. I enjoyed the story but was disappointed in the length of it. I was hoping for around 800 or 900 pages. I finished it in two nights and have been waiting patiently for book seven to arrive.

This brings me to the point. I want the story to go on forever and I think it's too short. It's told beautifully, at least I think so. I wouldn't be addicted to old Sergio Leone westerns, buying each book in hardcover (and paperback), and reading all of the related stories if I didn't enjoy the story.

Let's add up the pages:
231 + 406 + 420 + 668 + 709 + 411 = 2845 That's right. I seem to be insane. I think 2,845 pages is too few.

And is that all? No. There are so many other Stephen King stories that tie into the Dark Tower and I have the desire to read them all. The stories related to the Dark Tower (according to King on the list of his stories in Song of Susannah) are: 'Salem's Lot 656, The Stand 1168, The Talisman (with Peter Straub) 768, It 1104, The Eyes of the Dragon 380, Insomnia 663, Rose Madder 479, Desperation 547, Bag of Bones 752, Black House (with Peter Straub) 658, From a Buick 8 752, The Regulators (written as Richard Bachman) 512, Skeleton Crew (collection) 576, Hearts in Atlantis (collection) 688, and Everything's Eventual (collection) 608. *Page count in paperback editions

I can't believe the pull this story has on my life. When I'm reading the stories, I drive my friends crazy by quoting the characters. That's right. I'm a nerd. But I haven't purchased Dark Tower thong underwear and I won't.

So I've explained how long the story has been and that I really want a complete story in the end. I looked at Amazon.com tonight about the last book coming out next Tuesday. Since I took a day off of work to read a book (yes, I did use the word obsession), I didn't want to be disappointed when I bought the book at 12:01 AM Tuesday morning. Amazon listed the number of pages.

The Dark Tower, The Dark Tower VII: 864 pages. Yes!!!! It's the longest story directly about the Dark Tower yet. I may not finish it on the one day off, but I'm sure I'll get at least halfway done that first day.

So, I'm stating this right now. I may not be blogging much the beginning of next week. This is why.

My concerns about characters and what will happen to them is something I may write about after I read the story, but I may not. I'll post what I thought of the book and let anyone interested know if I felt the wait was worth it. For those who made it through my lame post about my obsession, I hope you have a desire to read the books. You might enjoy them.

2 Comments:

At 7:11 AM, The Lioness said...

When "The Order of the Phoenix" came out I went to the store early in the morning, bought the book, got back home at 10 am, started reading, fell asleep at around 11.30 pm after long struggle to stay awake (I only had a little bit to go), woke up with a start at around 1am, finished it by 3. I had an exam 2 days later, a huge one, but nothing stands between my books and I. Nothing! There are only 3 more of the series coming out. I know EXACTLY what you feel. Hope you enjoy all 864 pp. (So I'm a book nerd too. Nu, what's wrong with that? Pity on those who aren't!)

At 12:10 PM, CarpeDM said...

I do understand this. I am not so much a Tower Junkie but I am a book junkie. I would rather read than do anything. What drives me crazy is when people insist on sitting with me while I'm on a lunch break and talking to me. If I would have wanted to have a conversation, I would have found someone I like (such as one of my friends) to go to lunch with me. Go away.

Knowing you, Beth, has made me more of a social person but there are still times when I want to tell me to shut up and let me read. I think that's why I like blogging so much. When you're on the computer, people seem to leave you alone.

Since I'm trying to increase my randomness

After taking the test to see how random I was, I determined myself to expressing myself in a more random way. In the past, I've discussed with my former roommate about how things I say can sometimes sound random, it's just that there is an entire train of thought reaching up to this. Like last night. I had a conversation with Michael at karaoke about that signifies my seemingly random thoughts, that aren't random at all. Here is that conversation:

M: You like this song.
B: Yeah, Dean's great. (Wow, I'm quite the conversationalist! Yeah, right. Dean was rapping Ice, Ice Baby. I don't like rap, but Dean is an amazing person and fun to listen to.)
There is a pause in the conversation.
B: Bryan did a terrific job at Getting Jiggy Wit It. He made it his own song.

Michael stares at me blankly. Yes, we had been talking about rap, but not Bryan, or that specific song. And the comment I made was to justify people trying rap songs at karaoke.

I look at Michael and explain.
B: I just left out something. What I meant to say before that was, 'I have trouble enjoying rap. Dean is the only person I can listen to at karaoke because he adds his own words to the songs during the musical breaks and he can speed up the songs and still sound clear. I don't like to listen to anyone else. Except Bryan. [Insert what I actually said here.] He sang it like Frank Sinatra would and added class.'

No wonder Michael looked so confused. It seemed random, but I did not randomly make it to that thought.

In other words, I'm trying to either improve what I explain or try to be truly random. Like Dana. Dana is a random person. Or seemingly random. What scares us is when I can understand her train of thought and associations bringing her to the words she just said. (Oh, I like Paul Simon, who's that guy I don't like?)

What brought me to discussing my randomness (or lack thereof)? I was blog surfing again. I love this Next Blog link at the top. It's so much better than having advertisements for pens at the top of my blog. (Matt gave me new pens! Hurrah!)

I find many blogs I have no interest in reading. It's usually because I don't have the skills in certain foreign languages to read them. There are some that bother me grammatically. Here's my vant about the grammar.

The word 'peoples'. As in "Hey peoples!" This just irks me. If you're going to be seriously writing, be serious about what image you are portraying through your words. When someone is reading your works, they are getting a picture of who you are. Presenting yourself as an uneducated individual does not make others want to read your expressions.

Using the font/program (I don't know how people do this) that capitalizes every other letter. Such as, "wE wEnT tO tHe StOrE." Again, this shows no grasp on the English language. I can handle some grammar issues. Just not blatant disregard for the language.

My last vant about grammar. If you are going to bother with punctuation, bother to capitalize I. Examples are: "i went to the store. i stayed home. i went to work." All this does is show how lazy someone is. Pressing the shift key is not difficult people. Unless you only have one digit total on both hands, there is no excuse for this. Our language has capital letters and punctuation for a reason. It helps designate importance, breaks in trains of thought, context, etc. Grammar includes the tools we use to communicate. If I said to you, "sToRe went me," you may understand that I went to the store, but you're going to think less of me. Grammar makes it easy for others to understand you. Please use it!

Okay, back to my normal state of bliss. I'm not just trying to express my displeasure in the writing skills of the general public. I found a site today which I loved. It may be one of the best written sites I've had the pleasure of finding. This man is well-written, he is descriptive and still grasps the concept of expressing action. His posts are interesting, creating a picture in my mind. The technique does not hinder the story he is weaving. The site is The Cyberdeck Dialogue. If you are interested in good writing, check it out. I recommend it highly.

I guess I'm not that random, am I?

To be completely random:

An update to my undying desire to possess the next Dark Tower book by Stephen King. The dreams have started up since the release date (and my next day off of work - I can't believe I took a day of vacation to read a book) is only 23 days away.

I had a dream last night where I held the new book in my hands. It was the day it came out. The book was thick, as I wish it will be. It boasted over 900 pages. The epic adventure concluded with an epic itself. I check the back page to see the actual page content (not to read the last sentence). I notice it looks like an index. This seems odd for fiction. Puzzled, I ponder why an index would be in a fictional story. Thinking it may be the concordance for the stories (which the second concordance of the Dark Tower series, assembled by Robin Furth, covering the last three books, will also be released with the final book), I try to determine how many of the pages this index covers. This is where the dream becomes a nightmare. I see that the index covers over 680 pages! Ahhhh! The story itself only covers 219 pages. (Yes, the number 19. My desire to see the significance of this is growing.) I am so disturbed by the lack of story, I wake up.

I am officially a tower junkie.

1 Comments:

At 9:02 AM, CarpeDM said...

I am so confused. I try to follow what you are saying but your use of logic to explain randomness makes my head hurt. Ow.

Okay, actually, I took my break early because I had a headache already.

You scare me with this whole tower thing. I don't get the 19 reference. Tell me what it means! Tell me! Okay, head hurts more because of furrowing of brow.

An update to my obsession

I've written before about the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. I thought I was obsessed. I just needed to share the fact that I have not gone too far.

The other day I was looking for a certain piece of artwork from one of the books and came across the official fan site for these books. Being curious on how crazy people were, I looked at the merchandise for sale. Now, I admit, I love these books. I'm anxiously awaiting the final chapter in the story to see if Roland makes it to the tower. I have never, I repeat, NEVER, thought about owning Dark Tower underwear.

Nothing says sexy like a pair of Stephen King thong underwear. And the best part of this insane idea is the fact Roland sayings are available on the underwear. Does this seem appropriate? "First comes smiles. Then lies. Then gunfire." What!?! Why??? Needless to say, I'm not going to purchase these. Just thought I should share this fact.

Obsession, yes, that's what it is

Alright, I held out for years. I love to read but I tend to stick to one author. I do occassionaly pick up works by authors other than Stephen King (The Da Vinci Code was good - if you want to try Dan Brown, read Angels and Demons first. It's better and you can catch the formula for The Da Vinci Code quickly. If you're looking for a light read with funny situations, I do recommend Mil Millington. He's hilarious!) but I'm obsessed with Stephen King's works, especially The Dark Tower series. (Like to the fact I'm thinking of taking a day off of work on September 21st just to read the last book of the series.)

Maybe my obsession for a good story began as a kid, the only story I remember clearly being read to me by my mother is Eyes of the Dragon. Great story. Absolutely wonderful. My reading material in middle school consisted of such wonderful stories as It and The Talisman. I held off from The Dark Tower. I resisted it's pull. Maybe because I was chicken and worried that the story would never be finished and I'd be stuck in limbo. I'm not so sure that's the case. I did read The Gunslinger pretty early in my life, but the story didn't grab me at that time. I think it's because I didn't like the main character. He was cold-hearted and dangerous.

So, last year I heard Stephen King was going to finish the series. It was time. I picked up the first book and plugged through it (which, by the way, is the shortest of all the books and took me the longest to read). The second book, The Drawing of the Three, called to me. I picked it up and fell in love. Completely. Ever since, I couldn't get enough. (To the point that I've started watching old Westerns just to see gunslingers.)

All of this is just to bring me to why I started this post. Last I had heard, the sixth book would come out sometime in August. I, being the obsessed person I am, went online on June 1st just to see which day in August. To my surprise, the release date had been pushed forward and I found that I only had to wait a week. Excitement came over me!

On June 7th, 2004, just three days ago, the sixth book of the series came out. It is called Song of Susannah. In my obsession, I went to Wal-Mart on Monday night to be there at midnight. The books weren't out yet so I patiently waited (inside screaming, "GIVE ME THE BOOK!") while a very nice worker went into the back and got me a copy of the book. I made it quickly to the check-out and back to my car. I had enough sense to not read and drive at least.

Now here's where there is my first problem. (I'm calling it a problem, others would just call me insane.) When I was handed the book, I became immediately disappointed. Why, you ask? Because it's only 413 pages long! I was expecting something around the 900 pages mark.

I have other things to do (with moving in two and a half weeks I should be packing) but no, I get home and decide it is time to start reading. I read half the book the first night and finished it the next.

Still on the edge of my seat waiting for book seven and the end to Roland's quest, I have some issues with the last couple of books. I know that Stephen King likes to leave these stories with cliffhangers and that does not worry me. What worries me is that this series, his epic story, may turn out to be a joke. Here's the problems I am having with the last few books:

MINOR SPOILER ALERT
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1. Stephen King wrote himself into the story. I hate when authors do that. It's like they're trying to say they're God and that they control the story. Yes, Mr. King does try to steer clear of this a little by stating he's just the writer telling the story that needs to be told (like a scribe or something), but he's still influencing it and showing that in the work. It's annoying.

2. He keeps trying to freak me out by almost killing the cute little billy-bumbler Oy in the story. Oy is like a dog but also like a raccoon. He can talk (a little) and it seems he can cry. Don't kill him. He's cute. You can't kill the cute little furry creature. That's just my opinion.

3. It's too short! (I think I said that above, didn't I? You would think that a story over 3,000 pages wouldn't be too short, but it is.)

4. Roland has gone through life being cold-hearted. He's finally made friends and understands that friends make up life. I know that some of them might die and that's part of the story, but if Roland ends up sacrifing them, he's never been redeemed. Book three was Redemption. You can't go back. (Again, my opinion.)

Okay, so maybe I don't have that many problems with the story and you could say that my getting so involved shows how much the story means to me. I'm just hoping that the end result doesn't make a mockery of the trials to get there. It's a great story, keep it that way. I'm not saying it has to have a happy ending, just an ending that fits the work before it.