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Moving

I haven't been updating the blog as much as I have been planning. That is something I am hoping to change shortly. Something else I'm going to be changing is that I'm going to move my blog to Wordpress. Blogger has been fine and is probably the simplest way to do a blog, but Wordpress seems to offer a much richer feature set.

So from now on Stuff About Things can be found at its' new home here.

Ava-hontas

**SPOILER ALERT**
If you haven't seen Avatar yet, and you don't want the plot to potentially be ruined for you, stop reading now.
Still here?
OK, great.  Now we can point and laugh at the people who left.

So I went with my friend to see Avatar the other night. I really hadn't been dying to see it, but I decided to go see what all the fuss was about. After seeing it I decided all the fuss was about the special effects, which should surprise no one. It was one of the most visually stunning movies I have ever seen. The 3D was pretty cool, but I have to say after 2 1/2 hours of it I kind of had a headache and my eyes felt like they were trying to cross. I think it would have been equally cool without the 3D. It just felt gimmicky to me.  Also, the "Na'vi" looked a little like the illegitimate children of the Smurfs and Thundercats.

Now for the plot. Oh, the plot...where do I even start. It was very obvious that they blew all their money on effects and didn't have any left over for a script. I had the feeling I had watched this movie before. Apparently I am not the only one. I kept waiting for somebody to break into "Colors of the Wind". In all seriousness, if James Cameron doesn't get sued by Disney over this I will be a little surprised. Obviously they were just using the script to give them an excuse to show off their shiny new effects. Honestly, I would have preferred they just left the script off. It would have been better if they had just said, "Here's an hour of some cool looking stuff we came up with after we smoked some opium." No plot, just an hour flying around on the dragon things. Whatever they were called.  Don't even get me started on the tree-hugging, hippie crap.

A couple of other things that bugged me about the movie. First, why did "Pandora" look like a black-light putt-putt course at night? That was just ridiculous. Second, whoever the designer was that decided the subtitles should have been in "Papyrus" font should be drug out in the middle of the road and shot. I mean seriously, "Papyrus"? The only font that could have possibly been any worse would have been "Comic Sans". Or "Wingdings". Well, maybe "Wingdings" would have actually been better, because then I wouldn't have been able to read all the stupid, predictable crap they were saying.

Bottom line:
Visual effects- *****
Everything else- *

To Brantley

Hey Son,

    I know you won’t be able to read this for a long time, and this blog may have gone to the land of wind and ghosts before then, but I just felt like I needed to tell you some things.  Right now this is the best way I have to do it.

    I have never been as excited about anything as I am about you.  You are supposed to get here on May 1st, and it cannot get here soon enough.  At the same time I am so nervous, because I feel completely unqualified to raise a child.  I guess everyone feels like that when they have their first kid, and I just have to keep telling myself that people do this all the time.  There is so much I don’t know yet.  Guess I better learn quick.  Sorry you are going to be the guinea pig.
   
    I pray I can do as good a job raising you as your grandparents did raising me.  I pray I can give you everything you need, and that I don’t give you everything you want (just almost everything).  I pray that you will be healthy and happy and that you will always think I am the best Dad in the world.  I can’t wait to teach you how to ride a bike, how to throw a football, how to swim, and so many other things.  I can’t wait to read my favorite books with you.  I can’t wait to take you camping, to the zoo, and especially to take you to your first Alabama game.  I can’t wait to see you experience everything for the first time.

But mostly, I cannot wait to see you with my own eyes.

I love you,
Daddy

Indulge me once again

Here is another short story. This is a tangential sequel to my earlier story Habit. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think, or if you see an grammatical errors. I'll use all of you as my proof-readers.

Visit

The two-toned pickup bounced and rattled down the gravel drive.  The sun was just a sliver of molten gold on the horizon, casting its glow on the edges of the approaching storm clouds.  Ted parked his truck and got out.  As he headed towards the old farmhouse he looked through the kitchen window at his wife cooking supper.  He didn't know why she still bothered cooking every night.  It was just the two of them at home now.  As he walked through the door the smell of the frying chicken greeted him, followed shortly by Sally's voice.
    "You're late."
He grinned.
    "Make sure you take those filthy boots off."  She called, "I just cleaned the floors."
Ted hollered back, "Sorry I'm late Sally.  I stopped to give a kid a ride into town."
    "I wish you wouldn't do that.  It worries me."
    "Ah, he was OK Sal, just a little lost."
    "All the same you don't need to go pickin' up people like that.  The world ain't what it used to be."
    "You're right about that."
    "Hurry and get changed this chicken is just about ready."

Ted headed upstairs, thinking about just how much the world had changed in his lifetime.  He remembered growing up farming the 200 acres surrounding the house.  Land that had been in his family for four generations.  It had mostly been sold off when his old man had died.  All that was left was the house Ted and Sally lived in and the acre plot it sat on.  Ted had found a job in the steel mill in the next town over.  He liked working maintenance just fine, he guessed, but it wasn't the same as getting to spend every day outside, even if the work was easier.  He changed out of his dark blue coveralls and got washed up.  He walked back down and sat in his usual seat at the small table in the kitchen.  As he began filling his plate Sally said,
    "I went by and saw Sam today."
    "Yeah?  How was everything?"
    "Just fine."
    "I was planning on riding out that way tomorrow."
    "That would be nice."

There was silence for a while as they both focused on their eating.  Ted thought back to when their only son was young.  How much he used to love "exploring" the land around the house.  Ted wished he had taken more time to go with him.  He guessed one good thing about Sam leaving was that he and Sally had been spending a lot more time together.  Ted relished that time.  Just then Sally broke in on his thoughts.
    "You're never this quiet at supper.  Is it that bad?", she said with a grin.
    "You know it's not.  I've just got a lot on my mind."
    "Well just try not to look so unhappy."
Ted grins, but Sally can see it's a little forced.

Silence falls in the kitchen as they turn back to supper.  The silence was coming more often here lately.  It always did this time of year.  Ted thought back to all those years when there was never a quiet moment in the house, unless it was when Sam was asleep.  At that time he would have given anything for a moments peace.  Now, the house seemed empty without the racket.  Almost as if on cue the summer squall let go its downpour on the old tin roof.  The silence was suddenly filled with a dull roar, but it was a comforting noise to both of them.

The meal finished, Sally begins to clean up the dishes.  Ted starts to help, but Sally tells him,
    "Get out of here and go relax.  I know you've been on your feet all day."
    "You just want me out of the kitchen so I won't be in your way.", Ted fires back, a true grin on his face now. 
He took his coffee, sat in his chair and turned on the TV.  As usual nothing was on.  Mostly, he just liked the noise.  It was a soundtrack to the thoughts flickering through his mind as he channel surfed his memories.  Most of them featuring Sam when he was still here at home.  Ted sat there, his coffee forgotten and cold, vaguely hearing Sally say she was going up to bed.  His head drooped.  The memories continued in his dreams.

Sally walking down the aisle towards him.
Standing beside the bed and hearing his son's first cry.
Smiling through the tears as Sam went to his first day of school.
Sam, walking out the front door...

With a start Ted jerked awake, momentarily lost.  As he shook off the fog of the dream he realized where he was.  Today was more tiring than he thought, he hadn't fallen asleep in his chair in a long time.  He picked up his untouched coffee, took it to the kitchen and poured it down the drain.  Then he made his way upstairs, hoping his memories wouldn't keep him awake.  At least tomorrow was Saturday.

Ted awoke after a fitful night's sleep and tried to get dressed without waking Sally.  She loved sleeping in on Saturdays.  Ted stepped carefully around the mud puddles in the front yard as he made his way to his truck.  It looked like the storms from last night had blown through and today was going to be gorgeous. 

Ted pulled up at Sam's place and saw Sam, right where he had been last time.  Ted shut off his truck and sat there for a minute staring out the windshield.  As if making up his mind he got out and walked slowly up to the gate.  As he stepped through the gate and onto the cool grass, he felt all the old emotion coming back.  Ted walked up to his son and looked down at the granite stone.

Samuel Theodore Tennent
1981-2001
Loving Son

Visit by Andrew Gatlin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.