A Snippet of Truth from Dean Koontz
If you haven't noticed already, I like to write. I also love to read and one of my all-time favorite authors is Dean Koontz. I have read everything that he has written and I am ecstatic that he puts out a new novel about every 6 months. Last year he started his own version of Frankenstein.
Koontz's Frankenstein is alive today and is 200+ years old. His body has been kept alive by his many advances in scientific medicine and he is creating a society of superhumans that have two hearts and extraorinary healing powers. One day Dr. Frankenstein plans to take over the world. This new book is actually a series of books he is wriging all entitled "Dean Koontz's Frankenstein" and I am currently reading book two - City of Night.
What I love about Koontz is that each of his books have a brilliant underlying message. In this current book, City of Night, Frankenstein's creation's are starting to fall apart. He has created them without the capacity to love or to hope. They have no free will, they only have one purpose and that is to carry out the will of their creator. They have been implanted into society and they sit around envious of the human race because they have the ability to have children, to hope, and to love. They desire to kill or to commit suicide to give them some release from the horror that is their lives, but they have been programmed and so suicide and murder are forbidden.
Here is a brilliantly written excerpt that even out of context I think you will still grasp its enormity...
"Emotions are funny things, Mrs. Helios. Maybe it's better, after all, to be
limited to only envy and anger and fear and hate - because those feelings are
circular. They turn endlessly back on themselves, like a snake swallowing its
tail. They lead to nothing else, and they keep the mind from hope, which is
essential when hope will never be fulfilled."
A good novel will keep you entertained, a great novel will teach you something new and teach you something about yourself.
I don't know if Koontz is a christian, but I know he knows of God. You cannot write the way he does without the knowledge that we are not alone in this world. If you don't already read Koontz, then start today!
And since I am speaking of books today, Nikki Johnson a dear friend of mine, sent me this link -
http://www.libraryhotel.com/index.shtml
It is a very cool concept. It is a hotel that is themed after a library and you can actually request to stay in a particular room filled with the literature that you like! Awesome! Go check it out! (thanks Snik!)
6/23/2005: Started
06/24/2005: Added Kanakuk K-7 & teepees. A beige border has appeared on the south side, and a small dust storm has attacked the black border to the west, about ˝" below the top border.
6/27/2005: Added Big Foot Park with large foot print as well as animal footprints between "Posted" and "Note", deleted the person walking along Crazy Deer Pass
6/28/2005: Trampled Man Gorge appeared, along with a trampled man laying along the path. ALSO, for good measure, a tiny black dot in the lower left corner between the tree and bush randomly appeared.
7/1/2005: Eddo, you've been at work! The tiny black dot in the lower left corner is gone, as well as the small bush (or was that a fire?) that was southeast of the dot. Also, thirteen pine trees appeared! What growth! A rabbit sits above the animal tracks, a Marijauna Farm has been planted, and to the east, a Gold Mine! I'm not sure yet what it is, but there's some alien-like creature (or maybe a small snake and a rock) near the Blog Cabin. Get it out of there! Yucky aliens and snakes. Blech.
7/6/2005: Oh, how the scenery is changing. 10 changes! 1) the border is smaller. You must have cropped it. It is all black, with no beige exterior lines. Nice. 2) Two eagles have flown in to the southwest corner (they flew southwest, like the airline!), and Posted Note found it necessary to establish the Eagles Nest Park in their honor for their stay. I wish that every park I visited established a memorial in honor of ME. ;) 3) the Trampled Man Gorge disappeared, though the trampled man is still there! The gorge was replaced by Missing in Minnestota, complete with –ha! – a maple leaf, like the one on the CANADIAN flag! Ahahaahahaahahaahaaa!!!! 4) Oh, no! The rabbit above the animal tracks ran away! 5) A Bike Trail and 2 bicycles appeared in the upper right corner. 6) The tree to the left of Blog Cabin was replaced by a pine tree. 7) Blog Cabin was demolished, and Moose Lodge built on the same grounds. 8) Two pines grew overnight to the east of the Moose Lodge. 9) The deer, frightened by all the new construction, ran away. 10) However, a moose has meandered to the front of the Moose Lodge. How appropriate!
07/08/2005: MiM is gone, and you changed the map! How snarky of you! I like counting the changes with numbers, so I will from now on: 1) Storm Mountain was added to the northeast, along Crazy Deer Pass. 2) The couple walking along the pass were confused by the new terrain, apparently entering it without a GPS. They're lost, dude. 3) This is interesting. All major black areas (Storm Mtn, Snake Lake, the bear, the teepees, and some of the tree trunks) have been antiqued/weathered. I'll tell you what: that storm mountain sure is wreaking havoc. 4) Is it possible? The east and west borders are now even narrower!
7/12/2005: Storm Mountain! It's a'brewin! A lightening bolt has struck, and its mark next to the signage. When the lightening struck, it also burned down the gold mine, which no longer appears on the map. And, there must have been heavy rains, because a small pool ("Devil's Pool") has formed east of Snake Lake. Watch out – snakes and devils are a BAD combo, even at the Posted Note Resort and Spa. Hey, will you be offering massage services soon? With all this hiking and hunting, I could use one!
7/20/2005: Did it rain? Purple? Purple Rain? Like, that movie with Oprah? ;) Apparently so, because a new creek has formed: King's Crossing. Or maybe that's a road? Whatever it is, it is new – a jagged little line just east of the title of the map. And with the symbolic crown! Purple, of course. The rain didn't just turn the crown purple – it affected other areas too: the deer near Missing in Minnesota, but not their antlers; the teepees over by Kanakuk; the body of water at Snake Lake; the body of the bear at Bear River; Storm Mountain; the moose, but again not the antlers, near Moose Lodge, and even the cross-mark of the North-South-East-West-thing. I'm sure I learned the name for that object in 9th grade Geography. But that was, like, too many years ago and do you REALLY expect me to remember?!?
07/21/2005: Oh, The Color Purple. It is gone. As well as King's Crossing. Perhaps it WAS rain, afterall, and now everything has dried up with this 100+ degree weather we're having. All's black and back to normal.
07/24/2005: Forestry! Since there were so many changes, let me be very straightforward:
Removed: 1) three deer and the trampled man; 2) Missing in Minnesota and the appropriate Canadian maple leaf; 3) Kanakuk K-7; 4) two teepees; 5) Eagles Nest Park; 6) two flying birds; 7) Crazy Deer Pass; 8) the animal tracks between “Posted” and “Note”, although there is still one track left between the two pine trees directly above this space; 9) Marijuana Farm (darn!); 10) Storm Mountain, and its lightening; 11) Bike Trail; 12) Compass (I finally figure out the name for this contraption!); 13) Big Foot Park. Added: 1) Trees (48 pines); 2) different style of compass; 3) Mystery Marsh
07/28/2005: Wow – the rains a week ago really did this map wonders! So many new trees – 26 new pines all over the map! Great growth! The Posted Note Lodge must really be feeling the benefits of the growing forest, because there is a new floral/scripty logo added beneath the “Resort & Spa.” AND, as if THAT weren’t enough, the Posted Note paid to have the Snake Lake filled in with dirt, where new trees are now found. Good for you, Posted Note!
07/29/2005: Holy Smokes! Eddo, only YOU can prevent forest fires! The map! It is ON FIRE! Strangely, its new shape resembles a buffalo. A male buffalo. Multiple pillars of smoke are rising from the ashes at the bottom of the map. The “Established” date is barely legible, and the compass has been completely wiped out. The bear at Bear’s River and the moose at Moose Lodge were either charred or feasted upon, or else they fled the forest at the sight and scent of the oncoming fires. I wonder…was this arson?
12:01 AM