--CONGRATULATIONS.  GOOD LUCK

…Well, I had my reading and book signing Tuesday night at Uppercase Books here in Snohomish.  It was a small crowd, as I had expected.  I read for an hour and a half and took questions.  People were very engaged.  I could have done a lot better.  Still need to work on inflection and enunciation.  Next time will be the best.

…Have you ever watched “The Walking Dead”?  You should.  I was very reluctant to watch a show featuring zombies but the zombies are secondary to the story line which is, holy shit, intense and dark and clever and surprising.  I’ve never seen a show where they’re less afraid to kill of main characters, and when they do you’re stunned, thinking, Who would do that?  I’ve got one episode left of last season then the premier of the new season.  Last week I literally had to pause the TV to catch my breath because so much was happening and it was that intense.  Great stuff.  I’d put in easily in the top 10 best shows ever, up there with Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Wire and True Detective.

..Listening to the fear-mongers on TV going on and on about Ebola and how we’re doomed reminds me of hearing the same thing a few years back when people in Asia were coming down with, and dying from, Bird Flu.  I haven’t heard anyone contracting Bird Flu in years.  I think the same will be true of Ebola once they get a handle on it.  I’m not making light of the illness, but rather I’m just pointing out how the media uses certain things to create hysteria and higher ratings.  If they can make their audience paranoid enough, that audience will keep tuning into to learn more details, thereby getting even more paranoid.

…So about enough gloom and doom.  Here are some good things to dwell on instead:

“Paddle, paddle - sometime big wave come.”  Taro, Japanese surfer

 “I have enjoyed life a lot more by saying "yes" than by sayings ‘no.”  Richard Branson

 “If successful people have one common trait, it's an utter lack of cynicism. The world owes them nothing. They go out and find what they need without asking for permission; they're driven, talented, and work through negatives by focusing on the positives.”  Mike Zimmerman

 “The greatest gift you will ever receive is the gift of loving and believing in yourself. Guard this gift with your life. It is the only thing that will ever truly be yours.”  Tiffany Loren Rowe

 “Do what you love to do, and do it so well that those who come to see you do it will bring others to watch you do it again and again.” Mark Victor Hansen

 “I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to live the width of it as well.”  Diane Ackerman

“We must find time to stop and thank the people who have made a difference in our lives.”  Dan Zadra