Playing Hooky

This past Thursday as I was getting dressed for work I looked over at my wife who hadn’t been feeling well all day. Besides me going to work it was also time for her to go pick our son up from school. She had been laying down and sat up and at that moment I knew what needed to happen. Still, I asked her if she was going to be okay and she merely shook her head no. Next I asked the all important question concerning my job, “Do I need to call in?” This time she nodded her head in the affirmative and asked “Can you?” It was now my turn to nod in the affirmative and I did call right after changing my clothes again. No sense in walking around in work clothes when I don’t have to. Then I was off to pick our son up.

Naturally he was surprised to see me but very happy as well. I informed him what was going on and we traveled back home so that he could change his clothes and get a snack. After checking his school work we left the house (my wife was soundly sleeping at this point and I didn’t want to wake her) and I treated him to a long overdue visit to our comic book store. Yes I did indulge him (and myself) before we blasted off for the library where I again indulged him and let him play on the computer there for over an hour. Oh yeah, we got some books too, that’s always important. We tried going to a park (okay two parks) so he could play for a few minutes before it got dark but it was no good, both were deserted, so instead we monkeyed around for as long as we could.

Returning home once again this time for some dinner we found my wife awake and feeling much better. Before getting ready for bed I went over my son’s spelling words with him so that he would be ready for his test the next day. It turned out to be a very relaxing and very different kind of night for me. I got to do things with my son that I normally don’t get to do on a weeknight because I’m always working. My wife usually helps him with his schoolwork and takes him places. I normally take him on the weekends to do stuff or we do it as a family. That made it all foreign territory for me but in a good way.

It almost felt like I was playing hooky from work even though I wasn’t. I was just taking care of my son and letting my wife rest. As a matter of fact it did remind of those times in high school when I did cut school for a day. Don't worry, it's not as if I was a horrible delinquent or anything. It's just that once or twice a year the pressure of dealing with everything that was high school and life would build up until I felt like I needed a break. So I’d stay home and my older sister Teresa would write me a note and forge our mother’s name on it and all would be well with the world. That’s what Thursday night felt like for me, a nice break where I was able to relax and enjoy my family and life.

It also served to underscore for me how fleeting these times are and if I go around putting things off or waiting for a better time I’ll miss a lot of things. I need to schedule a day off here and there occasionally so that our family can get together and enjoy our time together. Work can wait but doing things together that only helps to strengthen us as a family cannot wait. All you have to do is blink and time will pass you by and you’ll never get the chance to do it again. Thursday was my reminder, let’s hope I keep remembering and doing it. I owe it to them.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Creative Burst Thursday

So I've had a bit of a creative burst today. I'm not complaining mind you, just stating a fact. Before I wrote this one I wrote another piece but it's very personal and I think it's best to keep it to myself for now. Plus there's something more coming and even another after that if I can get the time to work on it. Going to see Alejandro Escovedo and Betty Soo last week must have triggered something in me. I'm a writing fool so I'll take it while I can.

Reader Mind

I’ve been a reader ever since I can remember

Always walking with a book in my hand

Unless of course it was a magazine

Head down but alert to my surroundings

There’s something about the printed form

That draws me in and seals me off from the world

The smell of a bookstore or a library

When you first go in the door

I can and have spent hours looking through the racks

What can I say my preferred vice has a hold on me

Now of course it’s all available electronically

Access to hundreds of books on a thin little tablet

Ready to use at a moment’s notice

Never a fear about finding something interesting

But also never the thrill of waiting for something to arrive

The truth is that I am a slave to technology

In my family boys do love their toys so

What’s a youngish old guy to do

Move forward with the future or stay in the past

I’ll keep both forms and use them as needed

But if I have to make a choice………..you know where I stand

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Father And Son Comic Book Day

My son turns seven at the end of the month so I thought it was about time to introduce him to the time honored tradition known as the comic book shop. He loves to read (takes after me) and he loves superhero movies like The Avengers and Spiderman so it seemed like a foregone conclusion that I should help to facilitate the connection for him. So off we went to The Comic Empire located here in Tulsa. We found a few cheap Marvel ones and a Sonic The Hedgehog and another whose name escapes me at the moment. We were just looking for something to get him started. I got The Walking Dead volume 19 as well as a few Judge Dredd issues from the 80s.

Truthfully I am out of my depth with comics. I read them a lot when I was a kid but that was a long time ago. A really long time ago. In the last five years or so I have gone to the library and read The Walking Dead volumes 1-18 and whatever they have by Kevin Smith. Tulsa County has a really good library system. I'll have to take my time getting back into this because I need to educate myself. Collecting comics isn't really something I'm interested in doing. I only want to acquire stuff that I'll  to read multiple times, basically I'll just like I do with books.

I did also have an ulterior motive to going to the comic book store. I've had a story idea running around in my head for a while now and at first I thought of writing it as a movie script but lately I've been entertaining the idea of making it a comic book. Problem is, I don't know any artists that have experience and/or interest in doing something like this. I had a good conversation with the owner of the store and found out from him that while there seems to be a lot of writers in this area there is also a dearth of artists. Still, I think it's a good idea and I'm going to try and see where it can take me. At the very least I can gain some knowledge about the whole process. Maybe the next time I get to go to Peru I can find some artists there because that's where this story will take place.

Afterwards we ended up going to the movie theater to see what was showing. As it turns out Captain America: The Winter Soldier just came out yesterday so we ended up spending way too much money to see it in 3D. I will say however that the seats at the AMC theater were pretty awesome even though we were in the front row. Basically it's rows of recliners attached to each other so it's like watching the movie with the comforts of home (and a lot more people). We had a pretty good time to say the least. Then it was off to get something to eat where my son could play and I could use free wi-fi to write this. All in all it was a pretty good time for a father/son hang out day. Every time we have one I try to do something different, the last time was laser tag and with summer coming I foresee more outdoor types of things.

However I also get the idea that going to the comic book store will be something that we'll be sharing fairly regularly. Some of my fondest memories from childhood were walking from the 9th street projects in Ironton, Ohio to the downtown bookstore where I could buy and trade comics. It was a more innocent (some might say ignorant) period in my life. Those days can never come back but I can take every opportunity to make this time in my sons life as good as it can get. Making these trips to the hallowed ground of the local comic book store is one of the best ways to do that that I can think of. Who knows, maybe later in the summer I'll also actually be able to make the pilgrimage to Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Red Bank, NJ. A boy can dream can't he?

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ken Bruen And My Reading Obsession

My writing hasn't been as consistent as I would like it to be as far as production goes and I think two reasons are clear. Ever since I came back from my Peruvian vacation last year I've been reading a great deal and watching movies. Now you could make the case that I've always read a lot and that would be true but lately I've been reading the books from three specific writers and one in particular, that being Irish author Ken Bruen. While in Peru my brother-in-law Gary got my wife and I hooked on Game Of Thrones and after I returned I found that one of the actors in that series (Iain Glen) was in five television movies based on the Jack Taylor series of books by Bruen.

After watching the movies I started reading the books and then an almost obsession was born for his crime noir style. To date there have been ten Jack Taylor books published and I have read them in order rather quickly. Afterwards I started on the Tom Brant series and finished all seven of them as well. Interestingly I found the that fourth book (Blitz) had been made into a movie starring Jason Statham that I had already seen. After that I started on the Max Fisher and Angela Petrakos series and have finished two of the three books. Why not the third you may ask? My library doesn't have it, that's why.

Now I am devouring his other one off books as well as some of his novellas and short stories. His writing style features a lot of short chapters which draws me in and makes me want to read more, I have a hard time putting the books down. His style just meshes with me, I like the stories he tells of extremely flawed human beings who don't quit no matter what they come up against. Clearly they are not good people but most of them end up doing good things in a bad way if that makes any kind of sense. Probably not, I tend to have a hard time putting into words why I like things.

Keep in mind Bruen's books are not the only ones I've been reading in all this time. I also am reading the Walt Longmire series by Craig Johnson, almost everything written by Jonathan Maberry as well as other individual writers as they pop up. Bruen gives me the crime noir I like so much, with Johnson I get the western police chief and with Maberry I get all kinds of zombie stories and more bizarre things, all told in a manner that makes me think "Yeah, that could happen in real life." Plus Scott Sigler just had his new book Pandemic come out that I've got to get. He's another favorite of mine.

One thing all of these authors have in common is that I have a hard time putting down their books. They are written in a style that makes me want to read just a few pages more. I know I need to get control of my reading habit and get busy writing my own stories and ideas but they make it so easy for the procrastinator in me to put it off. All I can say is if they keep writing them I'll keep reading them and that's the highest praise I can offer. Later I'll write more about how my movie watching habits have changed so that I can bore you with that stunning information.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Busy Day

Yesterday was a busy day in our household. My four year old son started school for the first time (Pre-K) which involved getting up at 7AM to get ready and get there on time. Afterwards a had a far too brief nap and my wife and I went to do the signing for the refinancing of our house. It's a much lower interest rate and will save us over $160 dollars a month in our mortgage payments. Best of all we get to skip the payment for month of September and we start anew in October. This way maybe we can catch up on some bills that are too far behind.

Afterwards we went to the library to take back books and dvds and pick up new ones and then to the tag agency to pay for the tags on my truck. Afterwards it was home and lunch and then off to work for the evening where I had to play catch up since I was off sick on Tuesday with unknown illness (I think it was from our lunch when we ate out). Needless to say I could not catch up on everything (not even close) but I did what I was able to accomplish so that's that. Now hopefully I'll have time to write something more on my break. The way things goes though, who can say?

Published by Don Leach