Gag Me with the Proverbial Spoon

Hello, sports fans. It's been quite a week and I'm sorry there's been no time for updates. Mom and Dad have moved in quite well now. They came back to Risinger Drive yesterday for things they didn't know how to tell me to find! So the apartment kitchen is functional, the media room is coming along (even though they're still having problems getting a good cable signal--Comcast is working on it) and the bathrooms are becoming more convenient as they organize things better. My job as gofer has been fun and I've been to Target, Wal-Mart, Brookshire's as well as many runs back and forth between their two homes. We ate lunch in the dining room yesterday and I feel that Mom and Dad were kindly and warmly received and it didn't surprise me that both men Dad talked to were able to connect with him professionally. So why gag me with a spoon?

Sorry if you like the book, but I must comment on The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. I picked up a copy at Mom's house just to see how Nicholas Sparks is making so much money. I have to admit I skimmed quite a few pages but I did read all the way to the end to see how the plot worked out. My opinion? I'd rather be poor than have to write a book like that. Not only is the writing really bad, but the ending is predictable and the plot depends on not one but a couple of medical miracles. And a really racy scene hidden in a schlocky romantic novel never hurts. As far as the bad writing, here are quotes from the book. I found representative bad sentences by just opening the book to three different pages randomly (and I didn't cheat--truly random): page 166 "We could not foresee the future, but then who can?" There are a lot of cult leaders who will be disappointed by that one. page 58 "It satisfies my creative urges." A male character said that one. Good grief. page 72 "The sky grew darker and the moon rose higher as the evening wore on." Ya think? Alert NASA. They'll be thrilled with that info. I am reminded of an interview I heard with Truman Capote a long time ago. It's been so long ago, my memory of the context isn't clear. It may have been someone quoting him. So this isn't reliable info. But as I remember it, he was commenting about a national arts grant program. He said in that drawling voice,"Who are these awful people they keep giving money to?" I feel that way about Mr. Sparks. If you're a fan, again I'm sorry. You can always say to me as Katharine Hepburn says in "The Philadelphia Story" "You're the worst kind of snob, an intellectual snob." De gustibus non est disputandem.