My Date with Stephen King

The Stand Graphic 2

One of King’s best books to date is (in my opinion), The Stand. In my college days, I read them all. Some were more readable, but The Stand is the one that stayed with me all these years. After reading The Passage, which arguably was very similiar in theme, I just found myself wanting to read The Stand again, so I am kicking off the start of summer by re-reading this epic novel and today is the day!

I’m not alone. Two other bloggers are doing it with me (Jill and Michele). This isn’t a formal read-along because sometimes with a book of this size, a formal read-along just seems like too much work. I just want to have fun re-living the world that King created. I will blog about my thoughts here and there but what I’m hoping, is that the book is just as wonderful as it was when I read it in my much younger days.

There probably won’t be too many nights where I stay up all night to read it because let’s face it, those days are gone, but I look forward to getting to know King again. So pardon me if I spout off about King for the next month or so. For those that have never read King before, perhaps you’ll want to, after our little, summer rendezvous. You think?

The Sunday Salon: Beach Day!

The Spot Restaurant

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. We decided to head to Carpinteria for a day of fun in the sun. Carpinteria is a little beach town, very close to Santa Barbara. I love it for three reasons:

  • It’s a family beach with good parking options. Waves aren’t bad either.
  • It’s CLEAN.
  • It reminds me very much of the town of Amity. Do you remember Amity? Well, it was home to a very large shark with a bad attitude. But, sharks are not a problem in Carpinteria. Jellies, yes. Sharks, no.

Oh, and there is a pretty neat little burger shack that we like to hit when we are there. The Spot has been around for fifty-two years. It’s very close to the water which makes it really nice and they make a tasty burger.

The Spot

Here are the guys, waiting for the grub.

E1 and E2 at the Beach

The kids. A rare moment of togetherness, although he looks about ready to strangle her.

The Situation

The Situation, er..I mean my son. Remember how he calls himself a man? Yep, all 98 lbs of him.

The Girl at the Beach

The Girl. Happy as a clam.

Book in Hand

Me. Happy as a clam.

Ti

This is why there are never any pics of me. Because when they take them, my head is either cut off, or there is something behind me that isn’t picture worthy, Take this large dumpster for instance. Did the person taking the photo stop to think, “Perhaps I shouldn’t take a photo with a trash can in it?” Nope.

After the beach, we came home to BBQ and I almost burned the house down. Well, the BBQ caught on fire. It looked a lot worse than it was. I was two steps away from getting the fire-extinguisher but I managed to put it out AND save dinner! Father’s Day is saved!

On to reading…

As you may, or may not be able to see  from the photo above, I am reading Tinkers right now. It’s a short book so I should be done with it soon. Good thing too because I am starting a re-read of The Stand on Monday. This isn’t a formal read-along since there was little interest but let me tell you, the three of us (Myself, Jill and Michele) are going to have a rip-roaring time.

Now, I am off to get stuff ready for another week of fun (work and more work). Here’s to a quick work week!

Chatting with friends about books and life…