02.19.07

The Once and Future King

Posted in Books at 11:02 pm by nickeve

If you like stories about King Arthur, you must read The Once and Future King by T.H. White.  It is an utterly charming version of the legend that makes Merlyn into at once a much more entertaining, endearing, and interesting wizard than in other versions of the tales.  White’s book takes metaphors and details from tons of anachronistic periods and treats the legends more like a springboard for thought in the contemporary world than as a stuffy retelling of old lore.  Much like the book Grendel which retells the classic epic Beowulf from a new perspective, The Once and Future King gives an entirely new perspective on all the characters you think you know as well as the general mythos of the knight.  I love, love, love this book, and would recommend it to anyone, especially those that are still quite childish at heart.

Reunited

Posted in Friends at 9:56 pm by nickeve

The theme of the last year has definitely been reunion.  I keep running into people from the past. 

First it was stumbling upon Krista Carothers in Union Station in NYC.  She lives only 15 minutes away from where I’m at in Connecticut.  It seems bizarre that after living down the street from each other in South Texas and following totally different life paths we should end up so close in coastal Connecticut.  Krista knew Andee Kinzee, who lives in NYC, so I saw her as well.  About the same time, I got an email from Randi Glenn and a phone call from Chainsaw (Jenifer Lourens).  Sadly I lost Chansaw’s number so I couldn’t call her back.  If anyone knows how to reach Jenifer (she should be in ohio somewhere), please let me know.

There was a break of about 8 months, and then people started appearing again.  In the last 7 days, I have heard from Kelly Staples and Patrick McCormick!  This is phenomenal as both of these folks are awesome and I never expected to hear from either of them again.  Then today, I was browsing around MySpace and found Chadley Johnson, my best friend from elementary school.  Thankfully in all the recent reunions it seems as if my old friends are doing well, and happily making their way through the world.     

They say it is a small world after all.  I used to take that to mean that sadly no matter how hard you rage against the machine, around every corner is basically the same set of dull choices in sligtly different colors.  However, these days smallness has taken on a much more comforting meaning.  No matter how far you drift your connections are still there, nearby.  And hopefully, like me, your roots have found happy ground to lay themselves down.