Mr. Rickman

Tears dropped onto my desk at work today. I, like much of the world, received horrible news. Actor and wonderful man, Alan Rickman, passed away.

This is not to be a happy one, dear readers. This writer is quite devastated by this news. Though I only met him once on the streets of New York city, Mr. Rickman was like a very dear friend. From the moment I first saw Galaxy Quest in 1998 as an eight year old kid, I knew that this actor was something special. The more I learned about him, the more he proved that.

As a writer, I occasionally base characters off of actors, for appearance or characteristic. Because Mr. Rickman was so good at becoming whatever character the screen required, he was an easy one for me to derive inspiration. Being that I've been writing for thirteen years, he was a familiar figure, to say the least, in my head and very much so in my writing. Made a list of how many characters in my books I would have liked him to portray on screen - seven. Seven separate stories that I have had with him in my heart for thirteen years. I consider each one of my characters as my children or dear friends. I know every one of their histories, their stories, their personalities. I know that it is merely fantasy and I know that my grief is silly, but it feels like all of those characters and Alan Rickman have died. It is not going to be easy to pick up the pen for a while without tears staining the pages.

My sincerest condolences to Rima - his lifelong love, and to his family, his friends. I cannot begin to imagine the grief that they are feeling.

I am sorry too my dear readers that this is not much of escape for you. Just needed one myself today.

Life is strange. One moment, you are riding high in a cloud of happiness and everything is right. The next minute, your face is in the gravel and digging in. It's in those times that we must cling close to the memories of goodness and of light. Those images may fade at times, but it's in our moments that we are down that we learn to appreciate the little things and the memories of what is right.

Your grieving author,
S. Faxon

A Wild One

Good day, dear readers! Are you ready for a wild one? An adventure with the wild ones that is.

My mom and I took a visit to the zoo this past weekend and though it was a drizzly, grey day, the animals were collectively more active than I have seen in a long time. Allow me to tell you about it.

Mama and me at the world famous San Diego Zoo

We made it to the zoo and it was quite grey and misty out, but there were a surprising amount of people in Balboa Park. Probably all assuming like we had that San Diegans seek shelter whenever the blue in the sky is absent. 

There is a LOT of construction and remodeling happening around the zoo. The entrance is being changed and is currently in a temporary structure that I'm pretty sure was a trailer painted an extraordinarily bright green. 

We entered the zoo and made our way to the Koala area. We ooed and awed at the little grey fluffs hanging out in the trees by their little heaters, of which we were jealous!

We saw a baby wallaby be groomed by mama wallaby and then the little tyke hopped right up into mama's pouch and disappeared! It was so precious!

From there we walked over to the giraffes and apparently, you can feed the giraffes now on Saturdays and Sundays. It was amazing to watch people feed these gentle giants. Their big ol' heads and necks reached over a gate so that they could extend their long, grey tongues to take biscuits out of the hands of tourists. And yes, people were selfie-ing with the giraffes as they plucked food from their hands. That part tarnished the moment a bit, but then there was a baby giraffe that was just barely taller than me. So cute! He was born in May and he was his mama's eleventh baby! Did you know that when giraffes are born they are technically dead? It's the kaboom with the ground dropping from mama's elevated backside that starts their hearts! What amazing animals!

After the giraffes we crept by a sleeping rhino (would not want to accidentally wake a breathing tank!) We started to head over to the center of the park to try to find a place for coffee. It was freezing! En route, we passed some awake grizzly bears! They were ENORMOUS! One was napping, but simultaneously digging with her long clawed paw. The other was crunching on a delicious looking salad. Eventually he finished his greens and moved on to dessert - grubs from a tree stump that he ripped apart. I've never seen the bears that active. It was incredible.

We hiked down the trail, admiring the incredible plants and trees on the way to the bottom of the hill. Eventually we took the Aviary Trail and looked at the colorful birds. When we reached the top of the hill we found what we desired - coffee. Although, there was a moment of fright when we found this sign:

We hung out with the baby orangutan and her family. We watched little otters swim to their hearts content. We were right at the window when the male tiger prowled by - I loved that. We also saw a snow leopard leap from the top of his enclosure to prowl right beside us. I could have pet a snow leopard if I had been so inclined to reach my hand through the fence we were so close, but it is never wise to pet something with the word leopard in its name. (Hey, that's a reference!) The day of animal activity was just spectacular. The last really cool thing we saw was a young male jaguar. He was enjoying lunch, but when he was through he started to cry out for his mama. It was soooooo heart breaking. The keeper kept telling us that he was like a kindergartner who wasn't quite used to being away from mama yet. This didn't make any of us feel better. Rest assured that mama was reintroduced to him, but we all still felt for the little guy.

Looking for the smallerish human

There was one part of the park that was really interesting. The zoo has an animal ambassador program where they have cheetahs and Labradors, wolves and labs, and a few other buddies together in a long pen. We had a lovely lady cheetah out and about with her friend. They were running around together and playing. We were able to see the cheetah bolt, and I mean BOLT through the exhibit, probably a 100 foot dash when she locked onto something, which I'm pretty sure was a small human. If you're curious about the Ambassador program at the zoo, Nicole Payer did an interesting article explaining the program, which you can read "Dogs and Cheetas Living Together." 

We eventually made our way to the front of the park. We bought souvenir tumblers so that we could have another cup of coffee. The nice thing about these tumblers is that we'll get 99 cent refills on all beverages (except beer) on all future visits. And it's a nice tumbler, so I'm excited to use it. I also bought a pin and a fleece - did you know that this is a special year for the zoo? This year marks the centennial of our town's zoo, which originally composed of a bear, a lion, a few flamingos, some borrowed ostriches from the ostrich farm, and a cigarette smoking chimp. Ah, the early 20th century. Actually, I can't remember if the chimp was a part of the zoo during the Panama Exhibition or if he came later with the World's Fair in the 30s. I'll let you know once I remember.

Until then, though, I wish you a happy week and that you enjoyed this wild escape.

Your humble author,
S. Faxon

Celebrations

Good evening, Dear Readers! (Or whatever time it is that you read this blog!)

Huzzah for the first post of this New Year! It is customary for us to celebrate the New Year in the middle of the night. We celebrate with bursts of light in the sky and raise our glasses to the hopes for renewal. Well, in a similar albeit micro way, that's how I think of sunrises. The bursts in the sky are not from fireworks, but from the awawkening sun. The  glasses that we raise are coffees, teas, waters, celebrating the fast of the night. I'm an early morning person, does it show?

Whether we anticipate doing so or not, the New Year marks a reawakening, a new beginning. A fresh start. I was resolute not to make resolutions, but of course I did join a gym as the membership prices are affordable thanks to the "New Years Resolution" folks being sucked in like metal to magnets. Now please do not think that I frown upon making resolutions in the New Year. I think it is a delightful way to set goals for ourselves that we may otherwise let slip by. I do have hopes and aspirations for the New Year. Most of my goals are personal, but the ones that I will share include my writing. There is a sequel that I have been penning for some time that I hope to see through within the next few months. There's the blog, which I hope continues to bring delightful, short distractions to my dear readers. Other than that, I'm more curious about you - what are your goals or resolutions for 2016? If you're up for sharing, leave a comment below. Who knows, maybe you're looking to start a blog yourself but don't know where to start - why not try it out here?

If one of your resolutions was to increase your reading, I may have a suggestion or two for you:

The Feasts and Follies of the Animal Court by Me - On Barnes & Noble's Nook and on Amazon's Kindle

Already ripping through that one? Well, it's only the beginning.
Foreign and Domestic Affairs - Exclusively on Amazon's Kindle

If you only have a Nook and want to read the sequel, let me know! I'll see what I can do. After all, I'm here for you.

I pray that you all have a wonderful, beautiful, prosperous New Year! Now go out and celebrate life. 

Until next time, dear readers.

Your humble author,

S. Faxon

"Tidings of Comfort And Joy"

May merry days be behind and ahead of you, dear Readers! I hope that your Christmas' were filled with family, love, and peace. If you do not celebrate Christmas, the message to you is of course the same, that you are blessed with happiness and love. 

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, we've all been assailed these last few weeks with Christmas music, for better or worse (I'm a traditonalist - I tend to like non-pop holiday songs, but to each his own). There are many carols that I find moving ("Little Drummer boy", "Oh Come All Ye Faithful", and "Oh Holy Night" come to mind), but it is the lyrics of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlement" that I found particularly striking this Christmas season.

Not familiar with it? Nat King Cole did a wonderful rendition of the song: http://youtu.be/_TkXHCWGxQg

The first stanza (I think that's what it is called) goes a bit like this:

"God rest ye merry, gentlemen

Let nothing you dismay

Remember, Christ, our Saviour

Was born on Christmas day

To save us all from Satan's power

When we were gone astray

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy

O tidings of comfort and joy."

The song goes on to describe the miracle of Christs' birth and the celebration of his life, then the song ends with:

"Now to the Lord sing praises,

All you within this place,

And with true love and brotherhood

Each other now embrace;

This holy tide of Christmas

All other doth deface.

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy

O tidings of comfort and joy."

As a peacebuilder, these words of comfort and of a guardian who has come to guide us from fear, hatred and darkness is quite lovely. I particularly love the line: "And with true love and brotherhood each other now embrace." Indeed. Whether you believe in Christ or not, is it such a bad thing for us to celebrate our differences and come together in peace inspired at the very least by the beating of a drumb? Remember all the year round that the same heart beats within all of us, regardless the color of your skin, the flag above your head, the accent you sing, or the God you believe in. We all sleep, eat, breathe and most importantly, we all laugh. Let these humble words be reminders of our brother and sisterhoods. Let that be for you "tidings of comfort and joy" in this new year.

Until next time, 

Your humble author,

S. Faxon

Christmas on the Prado

We're full steam into the Christmas Season. The trees are up, the lights are lit, and there's a magical crispness to the air. The tree I call my own has a "Star" theme. but not the stars you see in the sky. The 152 year old sailing bark, Star of India is the theme of my tree. She is one of the iconic pieces of the San Diego community and has played as a major role in global history, so she gets to be the theme of my mini tree. If you're interested in learning more about our Star, I recommend reading the most recent letter from the Maritime Museum's President/CEO: Year End Letter.

Every city has fun Christmas and Holiday traditions. In my home town, we have a few. One in particular is fairly well known. Well, it's more than a tradition. It's a part of life. A part of our home, memories, history. This isn't so much a ritual, it's a place. A place that you've likely heard about, and it is called Balboa Park.

Every year, Balboa Park hosts Christmas on the Prado, although it is known now as December Nights.....I'll let you decide which one you prefer. Christmas on the Prado is a magical celebration where all of the almost thirty museums are open for free to the public. The park is decorated beautifully with every Christmas wonder imaginable. There is a decorated tree display room, the Youth Ballet puts on abbreviated free performances of The Nutcracker. There is food gallor! (I enjoyed a lobster roll this year - yum!). There's carolers and musical performances at the soon to be 101 year old Spreckles' Organ Pavilion. "Magical" truly does not quite begin to cover how wonderful the festivities are.

This year, I attended with my bestie Victoria, her sisters, brother-in-law, and one very un-chihuahua chihuahua. We had a blast! From enjoying the music in the Prado, to possibly smuggling in a Chihuahua into a venue or two, it was a great night. Yes, the crowds were a tad overwhelming, but even that was something spectacular to be seen. With all of the crazy happenings in the world, it was a joy to see so many splendor-filled faces in a great big public place. Troubles of the world dissipated the second we crossed the Cabrillo Bridge and entered the land made famous by the 1915 World's Fair. I could go on and on about that and perhaps someday I will, you'll just have to keep tuning in to see if it becomes a Weekly Read.

Your Christmas'd out Author,
S. Faxon

"Right Here and Now"

I found this photo and quote of our Mr. Rogers a few days ago on Facebook. My last post was about not judging a book by its cover, metaphorically speaking. Mr. Rogers was a man whose cover was his life. He was a man who sought to make the world a better place by reaching out through innocence to children. He started the program every time by putting on a sweaters hand made by his mama.  A good friend of mine reintroduced me to this well known character Mr. Rodgers, and this quote, is one of my favorites.

Here in the States we just celebrated Thanksgiving. It is a time of family, friends, tradition, and the review of our blessings. Quite a few people lose sight of those blessings and run to the stores to buy things, quite possibly that they did not need. Now, I will admit that I took advantage of the holiday sales on the Saturday before Thanksgiving: I bought a new iPad case, one that is much better for my tool of trade and for my hands (typing novels on these tiny keyboards isn't easy); I also purchased a few pairs of shoes - I wear mine down to the ground, literally, so it was time to bite the bullet and buy new shoes. That being said, I was not seen rushing like madmen into the nearest department store to elbow and punch my way to the "sales". I did not stand in line for hours and hours to save my sacred 40%. No. Do you know what I did on everyone else's black Friday instead? 

I found my peace. I went out on the water and breathed freely. Pearched proudly on my vessel in the cool breeze, I felt the wind in my face and the movement of the water beneath my boat. It was beautiful. Aside from the constant hum of the engine and the whistle of the apparent wind, all was

quiet and still. I wispered into the wind my many thanks for the countless blessings in my life; for wind, for the water, for sunshine. It's the small, ever present wonders in life that I admire and am grateful for the most. Well, for that, and the people in my life that make me laugh. There are so many times when I find I get caught up in this or that. But it's thanks to the people in my life who make me smile that everything seems right once more, no matter how blue or grey the day. One word or one quirky expression from them and I know it's all going to be alright. Do you have those people in your lifes? Or at least one person who makes you laugh? Let them know how much that means to you, even if you've told them a thousand times before. Let them know that they are blessings in your heart and that you will be forever grateful for the laughter no matter the tears in your here and now.

Hopefully this wasn't too philosophical for you all. More shorts are of course to come. I hope that you all enjoyed wonderful Thanksgivings and that you remembered to find your peace.

Like what you've read here? Have I got a treat for you: The Animal Court awaits. 

Until next week.

Your humble author,

S. Faxon

"They Might Have Guns, But We Have Flowers"

For those of you who may be new to my blog, you may not be familiar with my peace-building background. To say the least, I've invested some time in trying to make the world a better place even though it is ever an uphill struggle. The current events that have been all over the news have been rather grim, but it is  videos and messages like the one below that we must turn to to keep us strong: 

The way we, the general public, can help fight cowards like ISIS is this: we must stand strong against hatred and fear and stand strong together in love and peace. Remember always, "they may have guns, but we have flowers." 

Which brings us to this week's edition of your reading escape. Enjoy!

A Book's Cover

The bell above the door rang, singing the entrance of a new potential customer. The thin, late middle-aged keeper of the corner bookshop waved her heavily ringed hand over a stack of her wares to greet the incomer.

"Hi there!" her voice rang in welcome to the person that at first she could not see. The delightful clutter of numerous books on shelves and tables obstructed her view of the door. "Let me know if I can help you find..." her moment of warmth turned tepid once her eyes saw the character that entered her world. 

Mom and pop book shops had the tendency of attracting colorful folks, but this young man took the cake. The two tattooes of hands latched on the skin of his throat were the first detail that she noticed. The silver ring in his nose like one would see on a bull was the second. His long blond hair pulled back in a pony tale, his strong build, and his blue eyes may have made him the hunk in a harlequin romance, but for the worn leather jacket and tattoos on his fingers that read: "Blood First." He was, to say the least, an intimidating figure to have enter a white walled book shop in a small, tight community.

The book keep with the glasses perched at the end of her nose figured that this man may have had more than books on his mind. 

The young man did not notice any greeting or cut-off-thereof from the book keeper behind the counter. He appeared to be on a mission of some sort and with that, he looked relieved to see that no one else was in the bookstore. The same fact left the shop keep unnerved. 

From behind her post, she watched him slowly circle the bookshelves and disappear behind the tall walls filled with colorful spines. She did everything to keep an eye out for him while keeping her cell phone's screen lit. So that she could quickly dial those extra ones and send out a message to save her shop, she pre-dialed a nine to give herself an advantage if he came at her with a knife or a gun. Anything could have been concealed in that lumpy jacket, after all. 

The book keeper cringed with every sound that was made beyond her eyesight. She cursed herself for not installing a monitor with the security camera in the back of the store. He had been back there an awful long time. The cat shaped clock on the wall behind her clicked so loudly as every second passed, that it sounded more like the sharp beat of a drum. 

The bell over the door rang again and the poor shop keep nearly jumped out of her skin from fright. 

"Hi, Sally!" a long time regular with a smile as wide as the canvas bag he carried greeted loudly. "Did you get a chance to see the most recent Weekly Read?"

Just at that moment the young man reappeared with a small stack of books tucked under his arm. 

The smile of greeting was swiped right from Mr. Drat's face as the pierced and tattooed man emerged. It was the scowl on the man's face and the mean look in his eyes that strung fear throughout the knitted-sweater-wearing regular. 

With bold, strong strides the man approached the counter. 

Sally was frozen with fear. 'Great,' she thought heavily, 'Now he has two hostages."

The man plopped the books on the counter and quickly reached inside his jacket.

Sally and Mr. Drat's faces went pallid, but before they could scream, the scowl on the young man's face turned into a light, pleasant smile.

"Afternoon," he pleasantly greeted. "This is a great little shop you've got here, ma'am." He pulled out from his jacket a humble, black pocket book.

Sally and Mr. Drat sighed dramatically. Neither had been so relieved in their lives.

"Thanks," Sally answered mechanically, "Did you find everything okay?" She reached for the books. She was so drained by this experience that she almost missed the titles of the book the man had picked up. There were three: two were about organic diets for breast-feeding mothers and the other two contained advice for parents that had children with Down Syndrome.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered. A proud, bright expression erupted on his face. "I've been looking all over town for these and you had them. My wife and I are new parents and she just gave birth to the most beautiful boy." 

The man with the tattoos and gruff exterior proceeded to show Sally and Mr. Drat the hundreds of photos of his wife and new son. He explained that they had known for sometime that their boy would have challenges and that reading these types of books provided great comfort. 

"You just be sure to bring that boy in here as often as you can, Nick," Sally invited as she walked the young man to his Prius. "After all, it takes a village." She smiled motherly and patted him on the shoulder.

"That's a promise, Sally," Nick assured. With a handshake to his new friend, Nick jumped in his white Prius and was off. 

Standing out in front of her shop. Sally was glad for the cool November breeze. It helped to clear her head. With a sigh, she kicked herself. 'I'm perpetually surrounded by book covers,' she thought. 'I of all people should have known better than to judge.'

FIN

Hope you all didn't find the blog plug too hokey. And I also hope/wish you all a very wonderful, family filled Thanksgiving. Take the time to remember all of the small beautiful things in your life without which the days would be a little less bright. Take time to remember the great blessings in your life and, after the friends and the family have cleared out, the dishes cleaned, and the leftovers neatly packed away, remember to take time to yourself to find a little peace. Who knows, maybe you can find that peace by curling up with a good read.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Your humble author,

S. Faxon

PS - A GREAT big thanks thanks is owed to Gwen who gave me a lovely lined notebook. That was very sweet! I can assure you, the pages will be filled. THANK YOU, GWEN!!!