Boris Karloff and Jim Dale

(From a newsday.com blog) Will anyone ever forget this green color of the Grinch, it's perfect!

Two amazing storytellers. Last night I had the distinct privilege of hearing both of these men narrate two shows. The first was a classic, it was Boris Karloff in none other than Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas and the second was Jim Dale in a new one which I thoroughly enjoyed, it was called Pushing Daisies. Meg and I of course love Jim Dale because he told the Harry Potter stories to us in on our car trips. If anyone hasn't read Harry Potter yet please listen to it from Jim Dale on CD, you can get it from any half way decent library system.

Let me just say that there is really something to be said about skillful story-telling. It is definitely a lost art these days. All the movies, TV shows, and various forms of entertainment have stamped out our ability to tell good stories to each other. My dad is a really good joke-teller and I think if he tried he'd be really good at stories too. In my opinion, the key to doing it well is knowing what to emphasize. The Grinch, first of all is an amazingly illustrated story of redemption without the movie, but think of how much Boris Karloff adds to that little 26 minute movie. As Meg and I were watching it last night we couldn't help but revel and laugh in how good the narration was.

And Pushing Daisies was a quirking, fast-moving, artsy sitcom that is about this guy who can resurrect the dead with one touch, but kill them with two. It sounds weird and it is, but I really liked it. It's kind of a love story, detective show, comedy, and intelligent take on the world all rolled into one. My favorite line of the show last night was when the blunt detective was about to arrest a suspected murderer and he and his sidekicks were debating how this guy might have interpreted what he did, and the detective said, "The truth isn't like a bunch of little puppies that all look the same and you pick your favorite one. There's one truth and it's knocking at the door."

Anyway, I just thought I'd put these modern day bards out there for y'all to know about. Have a good day.

Just Checking In

(One of the two turkeys we cooked, this one was fried. I actually got this picture from cookingamerica.com, but you get the idea.)

When I was in high school, my mom used to make me call her once or twice a night "just to check in". However, painful this was for me at the time, I now realize the purpose. She just wanted to know what I was doing and that I wasn't being arrested. Likewise, I for all five of you who care, I'm just checking in.

Thanksgiving was really good. Ashley, my big sis, is an awesome hostess. It's funny to see how we all grow up. When you're learning life lessons at the same rate as the people around you, you tend not to notice the changes. But after this weekend, I have to say that Ashley is not longer the sorority girl I remember from our last year in the same town. She is a bonafide adult. She cooked tons of good meals, treated all her guests with grace and dignity, she had fun, watched football, cleaned up after the "dirty Dalgos" (Megan excluded from the dirty part), and she was grateful to God for us the whole time. That's freakin' awesome. I really admire her, she's got so many virtues that are foreign to me. So thanks Ash.

School is back in high gear and I'm still trying to stay on the surface and not breathe in the water hovering close to my nose. But, here's one comfort: when I apply for residency I probably won't have to do too much explaining for not making A's. Why is that? I'm probably going into primary care and not many people want to go into that (low pay, long hours) so I don't have to kill myself trying to outdo my classmates. Another comfort: life is so much bigger than climbing the ladder. What? I mean that there always seems to be something better just over the horizon, but in the end that search is a mirage so I'm going to be content where I am, whether it's an A, B, or C in Fundamentals II I don't care.

OK, so I'm going to have to blog about more random things that I like and what I think about life because I need a break from medical stuff. So anyway, just thought I'd check in.