Reading

A couple of days ago I finished the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. It was a great series. I was quite reluctant to read it when it came out, viewing it as a teen book that probably didn't have much substance. Turns out, I was wrong in my assessment and truly appreciated the love story of it all. I also loved that I was able to read the four books in what amounted to about a week, considering I have about 3 or so hours a day to myself - usually 45 min at a time, although that has been getting longer. (My husband will account to the fact that I pretty much ignored him after dinner during this time so I could finish the books.) Also, no housework got done during this time period, but it was totally worth it. I haven't read a book like that since the last Harry Potter. The story was engrossing, the characters interesting and the writing very good. And I was careful NOT to read the last 100 pages before bed, as I made that mistake with book 7 of HP and was up all night thinking about it. This time I had all day to think about the whole series which I truly appreciated. Thanks Ms. Meyer for a nice getaway.

Wimbeldon

I just watched the end of the woman's semifinals between Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva. It was awesome, Dementieva held her own very well and even had Serena at Match Point once, but Serena came back to dominate the last two points to win. Fantastic playing.

Bye bye celebrities

OK, I realize I haven't posted in 3 months. I will try to be better about posting, but I'm not making any promises. I just wanted to comment on the recent celebrity passings. Ed McMahon will forever be remembered as the "Heeeeere's Johnny" and the Publishers Clearing House Sweeptstakes guy with that huge-ass check. He seemed to have a pretty good life so good for him. Next Farrah Fawcett. She also had an illustrious career in TV and film, most notably as one of the Charlie's Angels. She unfortunately had cancer and passed quite young. Billy Mays, the Oxy Clean guy, recently passed due to a head injury. He may have been the annoying infomercial guy, but he actually had a good product.

Finally, Michael Jackson. He was only 50 years old and I believe the official cause of death was cardiac arrest. What caused that is anyone's guess. The King of Pop had a successful, controversial and fascinating life. From the age of 5 or so he was a star with his family in the Jackson 5. Apparently the home life left a lot to be desired, but the success of that group cannot be denied. As Jackson aged, the speculation and controversy that surrounded him grew. Why was his skin changing color? What happened to his nose? Why did he name his home Neverland? What was his fascination with children? You can believe what you want, but none of the allegations were ever proven and now, in his death, those who were paid off to drop such allegations have said that they were never true. Whatever the answers to these questions, he was still the King of Pop, he was beloved all over the world and was quite talented in his music making. Although I was not a fan of his (mostly, I'm not a fan of that style of music in general) I can appreciate his contriubtion to music. Apparently, he was preparing for a final tour and had over 100 unreleased songs in his library. I wonder if those songs will be released or if his family will keep them forever. I truly hope they do release them in a final tribute to Jackson to allow him to make one final mark on the music industry. I hope wherever he is now, he is at peace and people will let their speculations dry up and let the man rest. What I want to really know, is what is going to happen to his rights of The Beatles collection?