EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE

Stop what you're doing right now and buy this book.


Foer, without a doubt, belongs in the Best Authors of Our Generation conversation.
Without a doubt.
I've been thinking for hours how to describe Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and not sell it short in any way, and I don't think I can. All I know is that I was an incredibly awkward middle schooler (I listened to A Brief History of Time on cassette tape each night as I went to sleep) and am emotionally shaken when it comes to thinking about certain aspects of things like family, 9/11, Humility, and, in general, ideas that are bigger than me.
The book is a beautiful, touching story.
Foer's site.Page on Foer's site about Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.Buy the paperback from amazon.com.Buy the hardcover from amazon.com.Buy the paperback from barnesandnoble.com.Buy the hardcover from barnesandnoble.com.
LA kids, can I suggest Book Soup or Skylight? It's worth the trip.
My apologies to all who are a year ahead of me.
Have a wonderful weekend.

MEET KENT PETERSON

First, there's:

Then there's:
That said, allow me to introduce "Kay Pee" to you: legendary to all those who know him, unknown to all those who don't. You sort of know him from his penchant for water safety, but I thought everyone needed a few more doses of Kent, aka Guy in Blue, aka Ham Salesman, aka The Great Bambino.
Anyway, THE TRIP: let's take a bunch of people who love to party and love music, put them on a cruise ship, make food and drink available 24 hours/day, replace comedians and tap dance shows with rock bands, and throw in a casino and maybe a waterslide. And let's take it to the Caribbean in January. Sound like a decent time?
Benz paid for, friends they roll...private jets down to Turks and Caicos...



Oh yeah, the music:
TRB Veteran David Ryan Harris played a pair of sets with the band on the ship, a solo set for the VIKs, and sat in on a handful of others. My favorite:


DRH, Marc Broussard, and Joe Stark (Sons of William) playing on a beach deck 20 feet from crystal blue water.
A couple shots from DRH's shows aboard the Carnival Legend:




Yes, that's THE Matty Mangano on bass. He's just a flat out joy to be around. Why?
He knows when you "knead a hand":



He keeps oranges with his apple in his Incase Ripstock Backpack:


Last, but definitely not least, my two favorite recommendations on the ship:
Sons of WilliamZac Brown Band

Try them, you'll like them. Guaranteed. Good music, great guys. I had an absolute blast watching these guys kill it. So fun and so badass at the same time. Kind of like this:


One of the best trips ever.
-Scotty
P.S.: Guys, a valuable fact: girls love speedos. I was told the following:
"You must work out 8 days a week." (I don't)"You shouldn't ever wear clothes." (Yes I should)"I could kiss your mother and father for making such a beautiful creation." (open mouth?)"It was so funny...and so sexy at the same time. You guys are amazing." (can't really argue with that)
So, just a word from Uncle Scotty and Aunt Kent - if you're Single Wanna Mingle, throw on some spandex and hit the streets.

THE ROCK BOAT

Just a reminder to exercise the buddy system:


In a time of emergency, please retrieve your life preserver and report to your Muster Station.

HALF-ASIAN, HALF-DIDDY: HALF-MARATHON

I went ahead and knocked out my athletic accomplishment of the year yesterday by running the half portion of the OC Marathon. Mostly because I didn't want to feel like I needed to hold back on any of the hundreds of rum punches, slices of pizza, or scoops of ice cream I plan to enjoy this weekend on The Rock Boat.
It was pretty fun until the 12th mile, when I redefined the word "wheezing". I somehow made it to the end (and a little faster than I had planned), but as I sit here with my face sunburned and my legs so sore they can hardly move, I hate myself.
Anyway, here's a photo of Andy (aka I Drafted LT And Never Needed A Full Team To Make The Playoffs) and I shortly after the finish:
[Photo coming. And say what you will about my outffit, but I was easily one of the most normal-dressed people running.]
We're gonna try to do it again on March 4 - LA Marathon style (the only date that tells you what to do: "march forth!"). This will be after several other marathons:
The Rocky Marathon (I-V, ending with a late showing of Rocky Balboa)The Power Hour or Case Race (both marathons in their own right)The Saved By The Bell Marathon (Ms. Bliss to The College Years all in one night)The Fyodor Dostoevesky Complete Works Marathon (most likely happening in conjunction with Case Race)
-"Hbl Crowe"
P.S.: Bye, Calvin...thanks for er'rethang.

WHAT IS THE WHAT

Over the past month, I've had 4 cross-country flights. Lucky for me, there were crying babies in adjacent rows on approximately 75% of those flights, preventing me from making the mistake of sleeping on a redeye. So, I read.

I finally finished Dave Eggers' latest gem, WHAT IS THE WHAT, this morning. It was truly astounding. I find Eggers' voice to be the perfect narrator...reading his work feels like I'm hanging out with one of the older, cooler kids from high school. Only this time, they were witty and liked Huey Lewis.

I'm sure you know about some of his other really really really really really really great work as well as McSweeney's (and like me, wish you had more time to read everything they had anything to do with - have books ever been so much of an art form, from cover to cover?? They're so creative that God even feels like he's slacking).  If not, in the immortal words of Ty Pennington, "do me a favor and check out your new room." And by "room" I mean "books".

WHAT IS THE WHAT is the autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the thousands of Lost Boys from civil-war-torn Sudan, written as a novel by Eggers. His story is shocking, unbelievable, educational, and inspiring. You will experience a gamut of emotions from page to page, paragraph to paragraph.

So buy it (or check it out - librarians need love too) and support one of the greatest authors of our generation.
And read it (we're still in the 2007 Resolution-Creating Grace Period) - not only is it compelling, but it might just inspire some good in the way of compassion to the causes working to help so many who have suffered and are suffering from civil conflict across Sudan and across Africa (like I said, we're still in the 2007RCGP).

At the age we were learning the difference between long and short vowels, Valentino walked with thousands of others hundreds of miles across a desert.  From what I can deduce, he basically walked from New York to Florida, dodging a war as a child.

At the VERY least, it'll help everyone whose school decided to lose it's last three (and most important) games of the season by 3 points each think about something else for a few minutes.

-Scotty

P.S.: If I recently asked you for your mailing address, please don't buy, check out, or read the book. No reason, just don't.