The Weird Little Kid from Bowen Elementary

This scrawny kid seemed to always be reading, and while I have been a reader for as long as I can possibly remember, his nose always seemed to be in stories far outside my usual realm of comfort. In sixth grade, I still found myself on a steady diet of The Three Investigators, but this guy feasted in a different world, one populated by monsters and demons, killers and ghosts.

Oh, sure, I knew about monsters – I was a huge fan of the classic Universal movies like Frankenstein, The Wolf Man and Creature from the Black Lagoon. His tastes, though, ran a bit bloodier.

So when I saw Aaron Saylor flipping through Fangoria, a magazine devoted to the scariest and, well, goriest, movies and entertainment of that era (the mid-1980s), I instantly knew two things: 1) This was one weird little dude; and 2) we needed to be friends.

Almost 30 years later, both are still true.

Proudly presenting ‘Lost Change and Loose Cousins’

This is a blog that’s been a long time coming.

Pretty much all my life, actually. Or, at the very least, since I could write, and since that was at age 4, we’re looking at something almost 34 years in the making.

And now, thanks to the support and help from co-author Aaron Saylor, it’s here: Lost Change and Loose Cousins.

The very best in music, movies, books, TV, concerts and more of 2012

UPDATED: Dec. 28, 2012
A long time ago (or, actually, two years ago), I would make annual Best Of lists, usually for movies and music, and I loved doing it. I always wanted to include TV shows and books, but I often found myself unable to list 10, and since all good lists come in groups of 10, I would leave them off and be done with it.

Last year, though, I opted for an overarching list that included all things I loved about the year, so I’m now thinking that’s the way to go. Oddly enough, this year, I had a hard time narrowing my TV shows down to 10 – we really are in an amazing era of quality TV. Note: These aren’t necessarily listed in order of favorites or quality.

So, I give you The 2012 List of So … There I Was’ Favorite Things

The very best in music, movies, books, TV, concerts and more of 2011

UPDATED Jan. 4
In sitting down to pick my top movies/albums/etc. of the past year, I realized I would have a difficult time picking 10 in any particular category, which is kind of a key component in any top 10 list.

So, instead of the usual “best of” format, I’m going to borrow from Stephen King (who happens to be on this list) and include the things I loved in 2011. Other than being grouped by category with a No. 1 leading the way for each, they’ll be in no particular order.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you …

The 2011 List of So … There I Was’ Favorite Things

Four movies in one day? That’s sooooooo 2010

I don’t like lists of New Year’s resolutions. They’re inevitably the same thing across the board for everyone, with a few minor alterations to make them, as possible, slightly more personal. The lists are familiar: lose weight, become a better person, donate more time/money to charity, blah blah blah.

The Lost boy

I spent the better part of the weekend plowing through Dan Brown’s latest book, The Lost Symbol.

Snow, Chia Obama, 24 and UNC, aka things that are baffling me

It is snowing.

In April.

In Kentucky.

This Wizard will no doubt be wonderful

Cheryl Connelly needs the Wickedest Florist of the West.

Standing over a group of kids in a make-believe field of flowers, Connelly, as a geographically specific Wicked Witch, seeks to conjure up a spell, desperately searching for something to use against that pesky Dorothy Gale. Something “with poison in it but attractive to the eye and soothing to the smell,” she says, her voice rising and falling with enough inflections of malicious intent to make lesser witches green with envy.

The End

I finally finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Initial reaction?

Best. Book. Ever.

24 hours of Harry Potter? Um, not for me …

I organized the official line, which, of course, helped secure my spot at the front of it. Photo courstesy Georgetown News-Graphic.

Today I learned I’m no Jack Bauer.

Unlike TV’s 24 hero, I can’t function without resting, even if I’m just reading a book and he’s off saving the world.

I really wish I coul have stayed up late reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but instead, sleep beckoned and off I drifted. Today, when not buying a new car and having the stereo removed from my old one, I read as much as possible, bringing me up to 300-plus pages as of 5 p.m. I hope to be at the halfway point later tonight, which might prove impossible because of a trip to Lexington in just a few minutes.

I wish I could point out that I’m cool, but you really would know better.