Early June in Oklahoma. Hot. The evening light slants through the stain glass windows and heats up the church. Guests arrive. The mothers are seated. The wedding memories start. Actually, wedding memories started the night before. There had been the rehearsal and its dinner. Wade, being best man, crashed out for the weekend with me […]
A TV series has a potential advantage over a movie in that a series affords the chance to follow a story over an extended time. Events are able to unfold into broad plots and themes. Characters can be developed in depth. This is a potential but not an inevitable advantage. Problems happen when a series […]
Seven months is a good amount to be engaged. Not too long for the groom and just long enough to get a wedding planned. Dona and I began with Doris, the church’s wedding planner. Doris had the scoop on protocol. She procured the wedding décor from the church. She knew where to go for flowers […]
Fantasy and science fiction fans are accustomed to extraordinary beings. We expect such things. Star Trek introduced an alien race of blue bipeds. Farscape one upped them with a sentient species of blue plants. How’s that for fantastic? Creatures with tentacles, tails, and antennae have parade by. The general human body is boring. Or not? […]
Summer is the time for blockbusters. I remember the summer the quintessential blockbuster opened in theaters. This movie spawned five sequels, an animated series, millions of product tie-ins, and a Christmas special. (The producers would like to forget the Christmas special.) Of course, I’m talking of Star Wars. Why, even minor characters, like Boba Fett, […]
Rules of engagement for impending marriage that is, not rules of war. Marriage isn’t supposed to be a battlefield. Life is the battlefield. You’re both in the foxhole together; don’t turn your rifles on each other. I last wrote in this series about falling in love, leaving my past self ready to propose to Dona. […]
I started “Guys Trying to Survive” because I was (am) trying to survive a loss. So, man, you may find yourself struggling, too. Your lady is gone. Death, divorce, disability, and on and on. Much in life takes away. That’s the way it is, and there’s no profit in being bitter about it. Now your […]
While Dona and I were at college, we knew some guys who felt it ‘unspiritual’ to date. I wondered if they expected a lady dressed in white to show up at the door and say, “I’m God’s will for your life.” But I do understand their trepidation. It’s a scary thing to be young and […]
A fantasy and/or science fiction fan doesn’t have to be bound to watching movies only in the fantasy and science fiction realm. Outside the genre are excellent examples of what story can do. Stretch your horizons and take in these five movies exemplifying story. Doctor Zhivago – Epic Scale Most fantasy and science fiction films […]
Before I leave dating lessons learned from Dona, I’ll give a few dating rules: Three lighthearted rules from Dona and three heavy rules from me. Scoff if you want, but they worked toward our relationship. Dona’s Dating Rule #1: Never Date a Guy Who Owns a Van A van could mean… If you can’t figure […]
