Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Christmas 2005

It has been a good holiday season so far. I’ve been spending it with Lisa and her family in Littleton Colorado. It’s been fun and relaxing. I’ve slowed down and done some things I haven’t done in awhile. I’ve read a book and am half way through another one right now. I haven't really read a lot in the last few years. I love to read but seem to put it off for other pursuits, like the XBox or wall staring. I’m glad I’ve gotten back into it. I read “The Pleasure of My Company” by Steve Martin. I’ve always loved everything Steve Martin does ever since I got “One Wild and Crazy Guy” on a vinyl disc way back in the seventies. I remember being a little too young (or naive) to stay up on Saturday Nights to see him hosting Saturday Night Live. I actually started liking him because of the song King Tut. I bought the album when I was probably around thirteen and didn’t get a lot of the humor but that didn’t stop me from stealing his routine and doing it in the caferteria during lunch. That’s right, I was the proverbial little fat boy repeating comedy bits for attention. I knew it was sad even at the time but one day I made milk fly out of Paul Clark’s nose so I didn’t care that it was wrong. I was a lunch room, well I was going to say God, and maybe in my mind I was but we know the sad truth. It was still fun though.

Anyway, you get the picture, I like Steve Martin and will see him in anything, which unfortunately means sitting through Cheaper by the Dozen. I think Bonnie Hunt is a genius too, so what went so horribly wrong?

At least his books are great. I loved "Shopgirl" and "The Pleasure of My Company" is almost as good. It’s genuis in parts. Steve Martin has a big brain (he actually had two of them once) and can really turn a phrase. The book is full of stuff like, “My plan was to walk by on my side of the street and not look over her way. This, I felt, was a very clever masculine move: to meet and ultimately seduce through no contact at all. She would be made aware of me as a mysterious figure, someone with no need of her whatsoever. This is compelling to a woman.” He has deftly captured my previous dating techniques. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, thank God for Lisa.

The story is short at 163 pages and a little uneven at times. The ending is abrupt and feels a little forced but it’s a great book that I would recommend to anyone who likes Steve Martin or character driven stories with happy endings.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.