RIP JD Salinger Jan 1, 1919-January 27, 2010

The world of phony people got hit with the news that Holden’s creator, JD Salinger, passed away at the age of 91 of natural causes in his New Hampshire home. The very reclusive writer has not been seen or interviewed in decades but his death has truly brought him out of the woods and I am sure the sales of “The Catcher in the Rye” will sky rocket this year.

I remember the first time I knew about his book was in my English AP class and I had to read it along with other works like “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley and “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding in a 3 week span since my junior English teacher failed to mention that I was accepted in the AP program and had summer reading prior to my senior year. When I read “The Catcher in the Rye” the first time, I hated it. Mainly because I had to rush through it and was filled with anger towards my dimwitted junior English teacher for not telling me to read it along with the 10 other books I needed to read by August of 2002.

However, one semester in college, I was taking literature of adolescence and one of the assigned readings was “The Catcher in the Rye” which I had to buy. This time, I had the right amount of time and fell in love with the book. It is truly one of those coming of age stories that will forever be remembered. This book is so popular on so many levels. It relates to young adolescents, angst-filled college students and has been banned in libraries all over the world. It keeps getting published and that’s a good thing.

Mark David Chapman, the man who killed John Lennon in NYC on December 8, 1980 gave a copy of “The Catcher in the Rye” as his only statement to the cops. John Hinckly, Jr, the man who made an assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981 in a strange way to impress Jodie Foster had a copy of “The Catcher in the Rye” in his hotel room prior to the shooting.

I took the photo above at the Obama Rally in Sunrise, Florida. While waiting in line to get some food for my mom and I, I was talking to this guy behind me named Jake who had this tattoo on his arm. It is the carousel from the cover of one of the publications of “The Catcher in the Rye”. Obviously Salinger influenced people on so many levels, including permanent remembrance of his only published novel.

Last night I had a very vivid dream that I was visiting some small motel up north that apparently Salinger lived in. Though we all know he lived in his own home. I asked the person in charge if I could look and she let me. It was a small place filled with odd knick-knacks, a small desk near the door and a bed. I started to tear up, though I do not know why. The room was warmly lit and it just had this cozy feeling about it as if, who would want to leave and be seen by the world?

We’ll miss you JD, even though we haven’t seen you in awhile, you still left an impression on everyone.

Dining on Lincoln Road

I went to Books and Books for dinner a few weeks ago. WIth the help of a gift certificate, I was able to enjoy a 3-course dinner on Lincoln Road without burning my credit card.

I started off with this Warm Pear and goat cheese salad. The pear was not tasty at all. However, the cheese and walnuts reminded me of a delicious Waldorf.

Next was the Seafood stew. It was hearty and a perfect warm dish since it was nearly 40 degrees outside and that was where I was sitting. Thanks to the heat lamps and this stew, I felt cozy. However, there was a lack of spice but just dipping the bread in the warm sauce was sufficient enough.

The final dish was the key lime pie with a fresh mango glaze. I swear you could smell the fresh key lime juice once the plate was placed on the table. It was an interesting combination with the key lime and mango.

I read Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" by Candlelight. But when my food arrived, I moved onto my other favorite hobby: people watching.

I think lethargic isn't a big enough word

Every day when I get home from work, I keep telling myself that I will eat dinner, read a book and go to bed prior to midnight. Instead I eat a boring dinner and sit on the couch until maybe 1-2am and then try to go to bed.

I used to finish books in under three hours and yet it's like nothing can grab my attention except a fallen DVR remote.

What the fuck happened? And of course it is nearly three in the morning and I have thoughts running through my head that do not mean anything at any hour in the day or night.

I keep telling myself so much, you would think I would have the attention span to actually hear myself every now and then.

A fresh start in 2010

I remember when blogging was just a buzz word around the Internet. There were sites like opendiary.com and live journal, where hipsters could share their thoughts and learn the wonderful world of HTML.

I always told myself I would get back to writing the way I used to in my teen years, but eventually your ideas of free thought become garbled with the thoughts of your work day, you forget when to take a break and think of just your own life and not what brings home the bacon.

My goal for this year is to take advantage of this digital age we live in beyond just random YouTube videos and funny tweets to read.

Let's see how this goes and who knows, maybe this will lead me to finally publish the great (well almost great) American novel.