Yes, I knew that my favorite author, Kurt Vonnegut died yesterday. I was actually pretty bummed when I heard it on the morning news. Really, I was. Kazak, on the other hand, appears unfazed. Even when I told him that the creator of his namesake died. He just looked at me and shoved his snout into my hand so that I'd pet him. Otherwise, no reaction.

I'm always "embarrassed" that I don't read books much anymore. I used to read and read and read when I was younger, prior to hitting high school and college, and now my life's work. I guess, you know, it's a little tougher to read a book when I've been reading all day long. But boy, I used to read and read and read. That's what happens when your protective parents don't let you leave the house at all hours of the day or every evening.

Anyway...I got sidetracked. It's pretty amazing, because I remember the first Vonnegut book I read was "Slapstick," and I really wasn't that much a fan of it. But I guess somewhere between the "Why don't you take a flying fuck at a rolling donut; why don't you take a flying fuck to the moooooooon!" quote and the absurd and weird science fiction imagination of Vonnegut, I retained a desire to read more of his work. Especially after we had to read "The Sirens of Titan." That book sold me, and then some. It still remains my all-time favorite book. Bar none--granted, it's a smaller pool than many, but still.

Now, I've not read everything Vonnegut has written, but I've read a decent portion. None (except Cat's Cradle and Timequake come close) approach Sirens of Titan. All three of which I'm a big fan of because of the unbridled, unexplained imagination that Vonnegut shows in these books...I read the books and think to myself, "That's a cool concept/being/possibility...why didn't I think of imagining that first?" Which, that in and of itself, is a very Vonnegut thing to say. Really, Vonnegut has philosophically altered some parts of the way I think, in my humble opinion. I'm not some Vonnegut-crazed nut who lives by his humanist ideals or anything like that. But, I will say that I can say that his writings have really kind of philosophically impacted me, my way of thinking, and probably parts of my personality too.

Stephen King, though I read a LOT of his stuff, never did that to me. Dean Koontz, another author I really liked for a while, never did that. In fact, no other author has had that effect.

So, Vonnegut will be missed, surely. I'm glad I got to see him speak in person at NU that one time...I remember him being pretty hilarious. But I do have some reading to catch up on, and at least now I know that I have a limited library to work through over time. There will be no further additions to that collection.

So it goes.

Back to the grind...
Rented a tent, a tent, a tent.
Rented a tent, a tent, a tent.
Rented a tent, rented a tent.
Rented a rented a tent.