new book "Water for Elephants"

Hello again. This is a re-post. I tried to delete one picture and deleted the whole blog. Thats whats so good about growing old..even though I've deleted a single picture in the past..it doesn't mean I'll remember how to do it in the future! Yikes! Larry has a new hobby. He started with the intention putting a train set he has had for some time around the ceiling of his newly refinished office. Now he has "Lionel Fever". I remember him telling me that Crowley was incouraging him to add details to the setup, but he said he didn't have the time or inkling to go further. Yeah right! He now has added authentic built train tressles, water tower, station with lights, snow tunnel, outhouse and more. Bill Crowley assembled the rock formation that looks real. Is there a "Lionel Doctor" in town. I've added some pictures I enjoy. Lastly, the book I have chosen I read this summer. It's a winner..I know you will enjoy it. I am here and now inviting all of the family who has not read with us to join in...this is a good one. Craig.

Cjt's crib

January 29th... the very first annual Cjts birthday cribbage tournament was held. Originally, the tournament was seeded for 12 players. Kerri and Anthony had to cancel because Eric was extremely sick. We ended up with 8 and had a lot of fun. The cast of characters included: Larry, Sam, Erin and Tyler, Craig, Sean Tate, Dennis Hart(a golfing friend) and Dottie. She played some good cribbage and added a lot of humor to the evening. The tournament started with singles..Larry blew thru the competition and claimed the title. Erin had a lot of early success in the singles, slowed at the end. We played two doubles sectionals. Larry and Sam drew the number cubes to become partners. I had a sinking feeling when that occured. Yet, the
doubles competitors rose to the occasion. Lots of competitive crib. Larry and Sam won the round. After redrawing partners..yuk..yuk.. and much more competitive games Erin and Sean won. NOW..the winners of rounds 1 and 2 played for the championship. Sam/Larry vs Erin/Sean. It didn't last long. The game lasted four hands and Larry/Sam pegged out without counting there hands. The first deal L/S pegged early on pairs and15's...when the count got to 25 Sean played an ace...26,..Sam and ace..27 for two...Erin an ace.28 for six...Larry and ace..29 for twelve...go,go,go, Larry a deuce ..31 for two. They counted and pegged almost 50 points in the first hand. It didn't let up.. they ended up DOUBLE skunking Wee and Sean. Bragging rights have been established. Next year I will try to include more family. Family..friends..good food..and spirited crib...a great night.Craig

Blood Meridian finale...whoo hoo

Never read a Cormac McCarthy book or saw one of his films. Tyler T. was adamant..this is a great book. Well..it is written with a style that is engaging, and different than Ive ever read. Mc book is a wealth of dictionary lookups..so many that if you wrote down every word you didn't understand .then most of your time would have been spent on looking up words. Mc combined Texas history with fiction. This was interesting. I guess there really was a judge with the Glanton gang in Texas history. Most of the historical lookups I found were in the Spanish conversion of English. As far as the plot ...I was struct...no I was stuck in the old story mantra..good versus evil. I expected the Kid to eventually show some sort of moral value that most of the human race buys in to. I was waiting for the kid" to come thru for me...he almost did in one scene...but he didn't. The Judge was true to his character, he was evil til the end..and beyond. The Kid is following him to Hell. True descriptive evil. I followed this book by watching,"No country for old men", yikes this author truly knows how to describe evil. His character Anton Chigurh was a convincing character. Like the Judge in the Glanton gang, he epitomizes (sp) evil. Chigurh has the moral universe his own...and he's convinced and convincing it is right. A sociopath probably. I'm sure he will be heading very very very south in the end. Woody Harrelsons acting is some of best since Brando. A five minute seen where he is sitting in a chair facing Chigurh should have won him an Oscar!!..in my opinion. I have a new poem I'd like to share. Can't find an attachment function...won't cut and paste..I"m.....see ya.Craig

Let's Move On to Another Book

The first book I read of Cormac McCarthy's was "All the Pretty Horses," years before it was made into a movie, and I loved his writing. So, when Tyler suggested "Blood Meridian," I was all for it. I should have been more wary, though, since after my first taste of McCarthy's writing, I went on to explore more of his books. And, the underlying theme in his writing seems to be "there is evil in this world." He explores that theme with uniquely lyrical and beautiful images, and some really horrible ones too. It would be an understatement to say that "Blood Meridian" is extremely violent. And even though I recognize that this is a brilliantly written book, I am simply weary of the "man is evil" theme. We get that message in a mind-numbing continuous onslaught from a myriad of media sources. With that said, there is no doubt that this is an incredibly well-written, complex book. Let's lighten up a bit next time though! How about "Bambi"?--Jennifer

Hol-pics

hP

Holiday pics

Hello everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed the Holidays. I was invited to Cal and Erins beautiful new home. They were gracious host and hostess. ssss...Erin's Christmas decor was impressive. I believe ...she enjoys decorating. Meeting her side of the family was great. I'm sorry I missed Kara and Jeff and the kids. I did get to see Anthony and Kerri and the two muchkins...Eric and Marshall..it was fun to be with family. The camera is always on!...