Memory, Ear, and the Governator Returns

Everything I Hoped For - Awesome Read!

Yesterday I had the snow blower all prepared to attack the massive snow built up from the storm we drove through the night before.  I opened the garage door to find just a little over an inch of the white stuff.  I was a little PO’ed because something always bad seems to happen when I use the snow blower on such small amounts but I sure as hell wasn’t going to leave it on the hill to create a skating rink with the extreme cold weather descending.  

Sure enough at the end of my first pass down to the street one of the tire chains  got caught up on something inside.  I literally had to lift the entire tractor by hand off the street.  I had to also lift in onto a pile of my wife’s flower pots to elevate it enough to work on the chain.  I think the slow recovery of the right elbow pain suffered a severe set back with these gyrations.

There was no way I was getting the tractor back up the hill without the chains so I had the fun task of re-attaching the chain in 6 degree cold while laying in some snow.  I eventually got everything working and finished up the driveway although the auger belt fell off again as I headed up the hill for the final time. Fun times!

My ear finally was unveiled yesterday for public viewing.  It finally healed completely over from the December 17^th operation and I no longer have to cover it with a new bandage every day.  I think my anticipated career as an ear model is definitely in jeopardy but at least it is cancer free.

Yesterday I also finished the opus that was Memory of Light.  It was everything I hoped it would be and more.  I salute Mr. Sanderson for taking the amazing world and legions of characters created by Robert Jordan and tying everything together in this epic conclusion.  While he obviously didn’t know the characters as intimately as Jordan did he was able to bring them to the finish line with a flourish. 

This book was over 900 pages long and most of it was spent on the wide ranging battles of the climatic war between the forces of light and darkness.  This book was everything that was missing from the middle books of this fourteen book series.  The action is non-stop and breathless as the three central characters, who started out as boyhood friends from the same small town, struggle against impossible odds to save the world.

My favorite dude, Al'Lan Mandragoran, Dai Shan, Diademed Battle Lord of the Malkieri, makes an awesomely depicted final charge at the critical point of the biggest battle.  He more than lives up to the ancient oath of Malkieri kings "To stand against the Shadow so long as iron is hard and stone abides. To defend the Malkieri while one drop of blood remains. To avenge what cannot be defended." (Yeah, I’m a huge geek)

I really loved this series of books and as I finished I sent a quiet thank you to Robert Jordan for sharing his powerful imagination with me.  I will miss spending time in the world of the Wheel of Time but this is as satisfying a conclusion as a dedicated fan could have hoped for.  I loved it.

In a continuation of reuniting with old friends, the movie the wife and I saw yesterday for date night was Arnold’s return as the lead actor in The Last Stand.  It was typical mindless fun with Arnold actually poking fun at himself and his age a couple of times.  This was a good thing because he definitely isn’t what he used to be although he does show flashes; especially when he isn’t speaking or running (painful to watch).  This wasn’t so much a movie as a collection of scenes where some really cool gun fights take place.

The extraordinarily beautiful Pana-Gals remained home to prepare for their own epic undertaking – the storming of New York City which is underway as I write this.  My wife tried to muster every piece of cold weather gear she could lay her hands on for the frigid temps expected in the Big Apple.  My daughter and son in law are waiting for their train.  I hope they have as much fun with this bunch as I’ve had.  Look out New York!

Cartoon Returns

My New Ear