And the Mountians Echoed

I know, I haven't managed to come up with a basic topic for specific days of my blogs. I'm working on that.
Today it's a book review.  I wondered if anyone has read And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini.
I just finished it. It was quite different than anything I've read lately, but I did enjoy it. The man likes a lot of violence and kills off a lot of people, but he's a marvellous story teller. He kept me reading through the whole book. He brought in multiple individual stories, over fifty years and a managed to tie them all together. That alone is very difficult to do.
Some of his characters I loved. Some I hated and some I was disappointed in, but he gave you the insight to understand why most of them did the things they did.
It covered struggles in many countries.
It's the first book I've read by Khaled Hosseini but I'm sure I'll read another one.
If you've read And the Mountains Echoed what did you think about it?
I'd love to hear other people's reactions.

Real Life Characters or Special People

Welcome to our monthly group blog. I love this special group of people and the chance to group blog with them.

Have you ever met a real-life character? Someone who was just bigger than life, or an eccentric? When we decided to blog on this I had to stop and think. Did I know anyone like that?

I’ve known several people who were important in my life; my grandfather, my brother and a few people with whom I’ve worked, but there was someone whose lifestyle was very different and one of the nicest people I’ve known. One person who was very different and did influence my life was a friend who was a psychic, and a witch. I’d never actually known a witch before. I found her fascinating. She always knew when people had problems and sent emails, or notes or even phoned. She also used her psychic abilities professionally to help other people. I learned a lot from her and try to emulate the kindness she radiates to everyone she comes in contact with. I’m so glad we met. She influenced my thinking, my writing and in many ways how I try to lead my life. I only wish I could be as a gentle and thoughtful as she is, but I’m working on it. I have taken classes on witchcraft, not from her, but to understand more about the lifestyle. I have also studied psychic abilities.

I have never used her as a fictional character, but information drawn from her and from classes I’ve taken, have been used to craft some of my characters.  I’m not sure she’s bigger than life, but she’s definitely a fascinating person that I have been very lucky to know.

What about you? Is there someone in your life who was bigger than life, or an eccentric? Maybe someone who was special and influenced who you are today, or what you? If there is I’d love to hear about them.

Now I’m going to pass you on to Billie Williams. Enjoy her blog and please check out all the others. I know I will. http://printedwords.blogspot.com 

George Clooney

If you had a chance to see George Clooney, would you take it?

George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, (from House) and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson are all in the very small town of Enderby, British Columbia. They are there to film Walt Disney Pictures new film, Tomorrowland. Apparently this is a film similar to “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.)

I’m Canadian and live less than an hour south of Enderby. My girlfriend came to visit and I asked what she wanted to do. She didn’t have any specific requests so I said “We could drive up and  check out George Clooney.”  

She gave me one of those ‘are you nuts’ looks and said, “I don’t think so.”

She just left and I still haven’t driven up to Enderby, population of about 3000. The chances of spotting any of the actors up there are pretty good.

So, I’m curious, would you drive about an hour, to a town with a population of 3000 or less, to see George Clooney or maybe Hugh Laurie?

SUMMER VACATIONS

What Are You Doing This Summer?

Summer holidays are a tradition. When I was young, okay, a very long time ago, we went to a cabin on a lake for two weeks. Actually it was near a lake and we went with another lady and her two children. It was great fun.

With my children we went camping every summer. They were about 6 years and 4 years and we bought a bright orange Volkswagen van. Remember them? We camped for two weeks every year. And when we got the Great Pyrenees dog we still went camping. My daughter slept up top on the little canvas bed. My son slept on the canvas bed over the front seats and the dog slept on the floor in the front. There was lots of room for everyone, although people did stare at us when we piled out in the morning.

I have lots of great memories about summer vacations. How about you? What are you doing this year? What do you do with your family in the summer? Do you have traditions?

I’d love to hear what everyone else does?