Cormac McCarthy is...different.

Today I finished my latest fiction read: "The Road", by Cormac McCarthy. This is the same gentleman who wrote "No Country for Old Men", and about ten other books. I've only read the two mentioned here. If nothing else, he's different.

I don't want to go too much into the plot in case either of the people who read my blog want to read it for themselves. I would like to point out two characteristics of "The Road" that are unusual, though: as in "No Country", and I suspect all of his novels, McCarthy doesn't use much punctuation besides paragraph breaks and periods. No quotation marks, inconsistent use of apostrophes and commas, and not much in the way of avoiding choppy sentence structure. Its all very unusual. The other factor I will comment on shortly.

At first, I wondered if there was something wrong with him, and I wondered if perhaps he was...how shall I put it...kind of trendy as the new author to read. But then I'd come across a passage that was so brilliantly, beautifully written that I knew he was not a fool, but instead was writing exactly how he wished it to be read. "The Road" is the tale of a father and son who have no one else in the world besides each other. Of this, McCarthy writes "They were each other's world entire". The elegant simplicity of that passage is striking to me. While McCarthy does create uneven and perhaps even rough passages, I've come to realize what it is he's sculpting with them; it is both the simple and literal, and the expansive and complex. Therein lies the genius.

I was most of the way through this book before I realized that I had been given neither of the main character's names. They are both the everyman of the story, and yet, they're both completely developed, totally realized personifications. As I read, the pictures I imagined were of very definite individuals. And yet, they were referred to only as the man, the boy, the father, the son. The same method is described in the handful of other characters in the book.

While I have no doubt that some will abhor this book, and McCarthy's other writings, for its unique, quirky constitution, those that can grasp the larger significance will find his peculiar method of word-smithing refreshing, powerful, and thought provoking. For a writer, no larger praise can be given.

Google Chrome is cool!

My brother turned me on to the Google Chrome browser when I was staying at his place on my recent trip to Cali. I've been a dyed in the wool fan of Firefox for several years now, but Chrome is faster. Its also really easy to use; perhaps even moreso than Firefox is.

I just installed it a very short while ago, and I'm wondering what took me so long to do it. Check it out; it may very well be the best browser available.

The grind

Well, I'm back to work again, and already missing Messican food. The trip home was quite valuable. I got to spend a lot of time with family and friends, and had a blast meeting some more members of the LF forum at The Yard House in Costa Mesa. Expensive food, and a decent beer list...although what they had listed as Bass Ale was in fact Bass Pale Ale, which is most definitely not the same thing. Luckily, they had Harp, which is a good substitute. I even got a chance to go to lunch with a local LF'er, which was very cool. Not all that pleased to be back to work, but what ya gonna do?

so far so good

I haven't done much since being here in San Diego, other than relaxing as hard as I possibly can and eating Messican food. I've been here about six days so far, and I've been to Buenos Dias Taco Shop (Jackson Drive in La Mesa) almost every day. In fact, that was the first stop on the way to my brother's place from the airport.

I've successfully watched MNF with Josh and Matty, and talked to a goodly number of old and new friends. I'm off to meet Battle Monkey, one of the LF brotherhood, for lunch at Casa De Bandini's in Old Towne, another favorite haunt from the 25 years that I lived here.

I'm gonna be gettin' together tomorrow night with some old friends, and then heading up to Orange County (the real OC, not the one where OCC is from) for another LF meet-and-greet. They're always fun. Somewhere in there I gotta try to get together with a couple more friends; with jobs and families and bills it can be tough to do, but I'll see what I can make happen, amidst relaxing the hell out of this place. lol!

I'm not at all looking forward to going back to work on Monday.

Wednesday isn't comin' fast enough!

I should be asleep right now, but MNF just ended, with the Vikes squeaking one out against Nawlins. All I'm thinking about right now is getting out of here for a while. I'm off to San Diego-the mostly sane part of California, being a military town-to visit friends and family. This is my holiday visit, since airfare in December is ridiculous, and I gotta squirrel away pennies for SHOT in January.

I'm gonna be hangin' out with my bro Josh, and I'll be gettin' together with my brothers from Lightfighter. I'm very much looking forward to this, even though it means not going to the range for a couple Saturdays. It'll be worth it to get some real Messican taco shop grub, and real, fresh seafood.

And, in case you're considering stealing my guns while I'm away, they'll be staying with friends who also have guns...and know how to use 'em, big time. :)