King Arthur Movie Tristan

I was thinking earlier, and it just hit me that this year, 2010, will be my last full year in Ireland. Next June, I shall be pursuing the biggest adventure of my life so far - moving to the Uk. I'm exited, yet extremely nervous.
This dream began at the young age of 4, it was the first year myself and my Nana visited my Aunty Bríd in London. I fell in love with the city, my Nana said she never saw a child love her surroundings so much. The red letter boxes, all the 'different' taxis.. everything about it made me fall in love with it. I continued going to London every year with my Nana and my main loves about the city changed.
As most of you know, I have a huge interest in history. I love learning about the Tudor Era, and one of my most beloved places in the world is The Tower of London. I have visited it the last 4 times I've gone to London. I adore it. When I'm on the underground and I see 'Tower Bridge' it gives me butterflies. I love how you can see it from different areas of the city, when you're on the Thames it just looks amazing. All the history in that tower and all across London just amazes me.
Moving on, I want this final year to be my greatest. So far, 2010 has had it's ups and downs already. But from this day onward, I'm not letting anyone or anything upset/get in the way. In the past week I've learnt to spring-clean my life away of false friends and to not fall for people so easily. I want to go to as many parties as I can this year and just have fun. As I want to spend most of my time studying next year for the Leaving Cert.
Most people ask me why I don't like Ireland. It's not that I don't like it, of course I love it! This is my home and I am extremely patriotic about being Irish. It's just I feel, I have 'been there, done that' with Ireland. There's no adventure here for me anymore. And I want to work in the fashion industry, ok, it may be decent here. But let's face it, all the big names are in the big cities. London, New York, Tokyo, Milan etc. I want to travel, meet new people and I just want my life to be one big adventure.
So from this day on, every single person who has fucked me over this year so far - is gone. I don't want their bad karma surrounding me anymore. I just want to surround myself with the my amazing friends.

Turn your wounds into wisdom.

~Oprah Winfrey

Hello blog readers. I'm posting an article today by Michael Cogdill, author of the book She-Rain, which I will be reading and reviewing soon.





A Dog's Inspiration to a Writer and the World: How the Life and Death of a Golden Retriever Might Save Us From Ourselves



On the morning of May 29, 2008, I lifted Savannah from her bed, carried her to the car, and made the longest seven-mile drive of my life. At the office of a veterinarian, welcomed by that profession's unique form of love, I soon lay on a cushioned floor beside a golden retriever who showed virtually none of her age, watching both my hands stroke the face that had welcomed me home for thirteen years.
The answer to a yearning awaited us that morning. It was part of the quiet covenant I made with Savannah the day my wife, Jill, and I adopted her. When a sweet dog's bloodline comes in confluence with our own, we human animals take on a sacred devotion. As sickness comes on hard and takes down the joy of living, caring dog owners are committed to shouldering our beloved family member to a merciful death. On the floor that morning, I answered Savannah's courageous outreach for that death, allowing her to carry me. The peace that arrived in her final breath lifted the tide of my heartbreak. As I nearly drowned in sadness, Savannah showed me to the shore of a graceful goodbye.


Later that day, a prominent friend in Hollywood, fresh from the same grief in his own family, shared with us some comfort, but also a spiritual yearning of his own: Why would God measure the lifetime of dogs, and other animals we love, by a virtual hourglass when we live by a calendar? Why so little time on earth for those so good and loyal? It seems a cruelty.



After these months of healing, and the reporting of countless human tragedies on television, I've arrived at a conclusion: Savannah's too-short life, like that of all sweet dogs, calls us to a fine urgency dogs get after big living. They seem illiterate of worry, yet able to read joys that elude us. They quietly shout to us: Wag your backside to music instead of your tongue to malice. Wallow less in pity and more on the bed of the one you adore. Give yourself, extravagantly, away.
I still fail her, of course. I live too much in my worries and sorrows and too little on the joy path she wore for me. Yet in these times of media-saturated human disaster, a thought of Savannah improves me as a man, recalls me to life as a writer. Her memory sets off some musing about the hope found in the life and death of a good dog. See if these truths make the news of your times easier to bear:
Savannah feared nothing about death. She went to it with eyes full of gratitude for the way her life had been. Her eyes seemed to draw from some deep well of love, way beyond the crust of words. Even in her final hour, sick as she was, she lived as a divining rod to this love. No matter how I tried to comfort her, sheserved me -- right to her last moment. The kidney failure that was stalling her life was no match for the servant's heart within her.


The high pitch of biased media, politics, and the vitriol of social debate held no allure for Savannah. She made grace her way of life. She ran from loud voices and bounded to gentility wherever she found it. We could trust her to be tender, even with the smallest child. Savannah taught me there's nothing so powerful in this life as a truly gentle woman or man.



There is no vanity in such dogs. They split mud holes, then track adoration across the floors of the humans who forgive them. They surely wonder why we care so much for things and so little for helping one another have simple wellness and fun. Savannah never cared for the size of my car. She simply loved the ride. She measured none of my money in how she valued me. In times of my sorrow, she made certain to place her head under my hand, letting me read a sense of all-will-be-more-than-well in its Braille.




With the too-often forgotten elderly in a nursing home, Savannah visited with no consciousness of herself. The sights and smells that repulse too many humans never seem to repel a good dog. Something innate about Savannah longed to care for everyone. She never appraised anyone by their politics, religion, or race. No human bloodline or job pedigree held any sway. Savannah treated the ignorant as kings and the malicious as queens. Even avowed dog haters valued what they found in her, and she loved them without pause.




Such a dog will forgive to the point of endangering itself. Some may argue enough hatefulness will turn any dog, even the most generous and kind. Perhaps this forms a caveat to us as well. Maybe good dogs teach us we will eventually draw back what we put into the world. Or is it that forgiveness becomes a form of capital we spend to the great shock of our enemies, an investment from which we draw the interest of turning enemies into friends? After every trip to the vet, on the heels of cavity exams every sane creature loathes, Savannah forgave Jill and me. We never had to ask.
In the afterglow of thinking of her, I adore considering how living so might change humankind. What might the news look like if everyone were so devotedly kind to everyone else? My job -- as a writer of news and fiction -- would so beautifully change.




Within an hour after putting her into that permanent sleep, I sat weeping at our kitchen table and wrote an open letter to Savannah. It let my grief out to run, with the memory of her a comfort at my knee. I leave you with a passage of it here, and a wish that the news of our future days will improve, changed in some small way by the legacy of Savannah.


"You tracked to the child who lives in me always. In this man you found a boy who loves you, sweet girl. Even in death, somehow you will always lead the boy in me home. I will follow your trail. And together, in the grand wet and muddy fun places of memory, we will be glad."

© 2010 Michael Cogdill, author of She-Rain: A Story of Hope



Author Bio

Michael Cogdill is blessed as one of the most honored television storytellers in America. His cache of awards includes 24 Emmys and the National Edward R. Murrow for a broad range of achievement, from live reporting to long-form storytelling. His television credits as a journalist include CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, and The Today Show, and Michael's interview history crosses a wide horizon: The Reverend Billy Graham, Dr. Mehmet Oz of Oprah fame, Dr. Henry Kissinger, Abby Hoffman, Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator John McCain, Howard K. Smith, James Brown, Keith Lockhart of the Boston Pops and many other newsmakers. His coverage credits include Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States.

Michael spent ten years writing She-Rain, letting it evolve into a world of fiction drawn from his upbringing in Western North Carolina but reaching far beyond. His other writing credits are Cracker the Crab and the Sideways Afternoon -- a children's motivational book, and a self-help volume, Raise the Haze. Michael makes his home in South Carolina with his wife, Jill (a publishing entrepreneur), and their second-generation golden retriever, Maggie. He's currently working on his second novel.

For more information, please visit http://she-rain.blogspot.com.



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Michael Cogdill makes a good point. It's amazing the love and devotion that our pets can provide.

Savannah never cared for the size of my car. She simply loved the ride. She measured none of my money in how she valued me.

Enjoy your weekend everyone.





special thanks to Caitlin over @ FSB Associates for making this possible.

Choosing who should go here was really hard, I wanted to put two different guys at this spot...so I did

Both of these guys had very impressive combines which helped them into this #5* spot

The First player is Montario Hardesty out of Tennessee. Hardesty was floating around my top ten but after a very impressive combine I have moved him up to #5*.



Hardesty is a big dude at 6 foot 225 pounds, and ran a sub 4.5 (4.49). He also led all running backs with a 41 inch vertical and a 10-4 broad jump. Hardesty showed some good footwork in the drills and showed he can catch the ball.

Any back that can run and catch is always a plus for scouts. Collegiate success is also obviously good and last year Hardesty ran for 1,345 yards and got into the endzone 13 times. Hardesty could certainly be used right away on third downs due to his pass catching ability, and on a lower level team he could get carries right away.

The man sharing the #5 spot with Hardesty is none other than Heisman finalist Toby Gerhart, out of Stanford.

Gerhart really impressed us with his combine. He was always thought to be a big bruiser with a nose for the endzone, but he proved to be much more than that at the combine. Gerhart opened eyes with a 4.53. 40 and a 38 inch vertical. He looked cut, and moved very well through the drills. We did not expect this level of athleticism from him and it really helped his stock.


We can see both of these guys doing some good things in the league.

Highlights...


(collegefootballlive)

(jwall707)

title: A Circle of Souls


author: Preetham Grandhi


genre: mystery/thriller


published: 2009


pages: 341


first line: The slaaf stumbled along the shore of Willow Lake.


rated: 4 out of 5










In A Circle of Souls 10 year old Janet Troy disappears one day after getting off the school bus. As a short cut walking home, she takes the path along Willow Lake and is never heard from again.



Dr. Peter Gram works at the hospital and specializes in pediatric medicine. Late one night a 7 year old is brought into the ER and they page Dr. Gram to evaluate her. Naya Hastings has been having vivid nightmares and has been sleepwalking dangerously. Her parents are in fear of her hurting herself during her dream states.
Meanwhile agent Leia Bines has been called back to work from her vacation in Hawaii to investigate the dissapearance of Janet Troy in Connecticut.


The story gets very creepy once Naya's dreams become more vivid, and take a paranormal aspect. She begins to see and speak to Janet Troy in these dreams. Janet gives Naya tips and clues about her death and murderer. Naya then passes these clues on to Dr. Peter Gram through vivid drawings.






I found A Circle of Souls to be a page turner. The story took off from page one and just kept on going. It was a fast paced thriller with plenty of plot twists and turns to keep me hooked until the very end. The story had some great, well developed characters. I found myself trying to figure out who the killer was and hoping Leia Bines would finally arrest him. I liked that there was a strong, female investigator on the case. The reader also gets a look into the killers mind and finds out why this person is so sick.




This was a great book, I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys a good, suspenseful thriller with a bit of paranormal twist to it. Like I said, it got very creepy once Naya starts to talk to Janet in her dreams. I got goosebumps while reading. I felt like the author did a good job when writing about Janet and what happened to her, it wasn't overwhelming to the reader.

"I wont be scared," Naya said, trying to put on a strong facade. "Would you like to lie down next to me?" Janet asked, changing the subject.


The two girls lay down next to each other. Naya wondered why Janet only wanted Dr. Gram to help her. She was a little scared to ask.


"Why the doctor?" Naya whispered into Janet's ear.


"Because he knows what the big, bad man has done," Janet whispered back.

special thanks to Preetham Grandhi for sending me a signed copy of his book!



about the author:

Preetham Grandhi, M.D. immigrated to the United States from Bangalore, India to pursue a career in child and adolescent psychiatry. After his graduation from Yale he has been the chief of service for House 5 at Bronx Children’s Psychiatric Center. He is devoted to helping young children gain insight into their emotional and behavioral needs and empowers them to maximize their inner potential. He also has a private practice and resides in Westchester County, New York, with his family.

-quoted from the authors website: http://www.acircleofsouls.com/about.html