carefree on venice beach

I guess this says it all! Every time I'm in LA, I have to stop by Venice Beach. There's so much "life" in that corner of the world ... and I love it!

what Stephen King reads

Have you ever wondered what some of your favorite authors are reading?! I do all the time! I recently just rented "The Shining" to watch again since The Shining was one of those page-turner books that kept me up at night when I first read it in the 80s.

So why not check on Mr. King's most recent favorite books then, I thought.

And here they are ... Stephen King's favorite reads in 2006 ... written by none other than the amazing Stephen King himself (as published on ew.com). Coincidentally, the #1 spot belongs to a book that's currently also on Oprah's Book Club's list ... The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I haven't read it yet, but I'm working on getting there. Just like I'm working on building up enough gumption to read (and watch) Schindler's List.
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The Pop of King
2006: My Top 10 Books

The Pop of King on his favorite reads for the past year

By Stephen King

Have I told you about the Columnist's Credo I had to sign — in blood, at midnight — in the offices of ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY when I started writing these columns? Well, Uncle Stevie had to make lots of promises, and one was that I would never, ever promote my own stuff. So I'm forbidden to say that I have a new book out (Lisey's Story), or that copies make wonderful presents this holiday season. And I absolutely can't say that some people might even like to receive two (even three). I can tell you that I just got back from a tour where I flogged this wonderful book endlessly and shamelessly, and where one question cropped up again and again: Do I believe books have any real future as entertainment in a world stuffed with so much good TV, so many loaded DVDs, and such a bumper crop of big-budget movies?

The answer is you bet. Books are still very much a part of the total entertainment picture. They're portable, commercial-free, recyclable, and use no batteries. Also — unlike your Nintendo Game Boy — a book will rarely be taken away if you're discovered with one in study hall or even in the back row of math class. You can always claim it was for an assignment. Try getting away with that if discovered playing Grand Theft Auto. And finally, as Anthony Powell pointed out in 1971 (and the observation was not new with him), books do furnish a room.

Here are the best ones I read in 2006...and as always, please keep in mind that doesn't mean they were published in 2006. This is just my list of the ones that best furnished my interior room this past year.

10. Dispatch, Bentley Little
Little is the horror poet of ordinary things. In this surreal novel, a lonely young man discovers his letters to the editor — and to the famous — bring actual results. Of course he eventually finds out he's working in Satan's own office pool, but that's the fun of the damned thing.

9. The Egyptologist, Arthur Phillips
Pathological liar of dubious identity goes bonkers while looking for a hidden tomb in the Egyptian desert after World War I. Tragic, pathetic, blackly funny...and with a strange, growing undercurrent of horror. You have never read a novel like it.

8. Night Mowing, Chard deNiord
This is a slim book of poems, mostly pastoral. There's little narrative clarity, but deNiord evokes rural scenes with undertones of violence and a breathless, calm clarity that's close to déjà vu.

7. The People's Act of Love, James Meek
Samarin is an escaped Russian political prisoner who turns up in the village of Yazyk during the Russian Revolution, only to discover he's fallen into a deadly struggle between religious fanatics (the men have all castrated themselves), a lost troop of Czech legionnaires, and an officer descending into homicidal mania. The narrative drive is amazing. So is the cold clarity of Meek's imagination.

6. Crooked River Burning, Mark Winegardner
A great American novel about...Cleveland? Yes, children, this is the real deal — by the man who has revived Mario Puzo's Godfather characters with such wit and élan.

5. The Ruins, Scott Smith
Americans caught in an escalating nightmare on a Mexican hilltop in the best horror novel of the new century.

4. The Night Gardener, George Pelecanos
Pelecanos, best known for his work on HBO's The Wire, is perhaps the greatest living American crime writer. He proves it again in this story of how 20 years changes three cops when an old serial killer of teens seems to become active again. The ending is guaranteed to tear your heart out.

3. One Mississippi, Mark Childress
Great novels of adolescence should provide belly laughs and tragedy. This story, in which young Daniel Musgrove moves to Mississippi from Indiana in 1973 (his salesman father is transferred), delivers both. It also provides a priceless picture of the '70s and why we must never go there again. Suffice it to say that the high school's first black prom queen is hit by a car and wakes up thinking she's white, and the local church puts on a play called Christ! The Musical!

2. American Pastoral, Philip Roth
I keep thinking I must have seen all of Roth's talent, and I keep being wrong. This 1997 novel of an essentially simple, good-hearted man (Swede Levov) and his desperate attempt to understand how the radical movement of the late 1960s has seduced his daughter into madness and murder is probably Roth's finest book. There are no answers here, only a great story winding its way into the heart of American darkness.

1. The Road, Cormac McCarthy
Simple, stripped to the bare bones, this story of a man's effort to keep his son alive and to find any place of refuge in the wake of a great disaster is the finest achievement of McCarthy's career. I thought it was almost the perfect narrative — spare in its beauty and constantly driven forward by its own interior urgency. Impossible to put down, in other words.

These are only the best ones. As always, I'm haunted by the thought of the ones that got away. I tell myself there's always next year for them, but the older I get, the less consolation that seems to be. But it will have to do. And in the meantime, even unread books furnish a room.

JPG magazine

My first submission to JPG Magazine and ... holy canoly(!) ... my photo was selected for publication. Many thanks to Derek & Heather Powazek and all the cool folks at JPG! They had me dancing around the house for weeks on end! "Dreaming of Spring" was published in JPG Issue 8 for the "Embraced the Blur" theme sponsored by the one and only Lensbabies. And so lucky me, a beautiful, futuristic looking Lensbaby 3G arrived in a cute little box last month!

If you love photography, then a subscription to JPG Magazine is a must-have. It's "brave new photography" in its best forms!

a lens to love

My 100mm f/2.8 macro lens arrived a few days ago! I ordered this lens to take pictures of my sister's beads. Haven't tried it yet, but I'm hoping it'll work out splendidly. One thing for sure, it's not just a macro lens. It's an excellent portrait lens also. Just look at little Poco here! :) I was playing around with the lens and she just happened to walk right into the viewfinder and decided to pose for me for 2 seconds. Then she's off again doing what she does best ... giving herself a manicure and pedicure! :)

Btw, I got the lens from B&H. I love their service, fast & reliable!

BetterPhoto.com

One weekend last month we celebrated my dad's birthday and hosted a fun baby ("girl") shower for my cousins. The best thing about these gatherings is ... they bring the whole family together. A rare treat!

Talk about treats, another treat I love is ... BetterPhoto.com. It has a host of great photography articles (packed full with tips and advice) and useful online courses, the short 4-week courses are more economical if you're worried about costs. Talk about online classes, I'm thinking of signing up for Camera RAW Processing. It just started yesterday so there's still time to enroll. :)

The best thing about BetterPhoto.com is that we can will learn so much from all the talented photographers out there, including from the pros.

Oh, and don't forget to visit their blog also.

And that's all I have to say about this ... for now. :)

simply good

Everyone is amazed to hear we've been finding strawberries on sale so often lately at the market. After all, we're right smack in the middle of a mild winter. But I'm far from complaining since I have a huge fondness for strawberries of all forms ... strawberry jam, strawberry fruit drinks, strawberry romanoff, strawberries with cereal, strawberry crepes, etc. The best things in life are the simplest things, don't you think?

Strawberry talk aside, you must check out these 2 very talented photographers ... Rochelle Haisley and Simply Photo. Here's a picture by Simply Photo:


Stay warm!

Jewelboxing & Gilmore Girls

I heard so much about Jewelboxing ... it's definitely a must-try! So really this is a reminder blog for me to try Jewelboxing ... soon!

And last but not least, tonight the fun shall begin at 8:00PM with a much-awaited fresh episode of Gilmore Girls! It's been way too long and we're tired of reruns.

Happy 2007

Life has been so busy that I haven't had a chance to keep up with blogging, but today ... Poco gave me a nudge because she wanted to pop in and say "Meow meow!" (that's "hi there!" in case you're not familiar with Poco's language. And she also wanted to tell you that it snowed here yesterday for the first time this winter!

Lots to celebrate, isn't it?!