Derek L. Davis's Blog

Well, this certainly did not go as I had expected.

I just finished reading the (only) four posts on a blog I told myself I was going to maintain and I am disappointed. I remember when I first wrote that first post, about what i would do with a blog.

As it turns out, if I had a blog, I would let it sit in the crevasses of Goodreads and forget it even existed.

I just finished reading William Trevor's The Story of Lucy Gault about five minutes ago and so far it has become one of the worst books I have read so far in 2021. I ended up giving this relatively short novel a two out of five, and when I was finishing up, I just couldn't help but think about how rare it is for me to actually not like a book. Most of the time, I give out three out of five books that don't vibe with me. This time, things were different.

I also told myself that when I was done reviewing Lucy Gault, I would resume reading The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne. Instead, I am here, writing a post literally nobody will care about, or even read.

Eh, I don't really care!

Instead of reading this chunk of a classic, I'm staring at my large computer screen, scrolling through news feed updates, and wondering if I should just go to bed. As this is occurring, a rather irritating Charlie Horse ends up assaulting me and I'm in pain for about five minutes.

And that is probably the best illustration for what I think a book I dislike feels like: A charlie horse assaulting your left leg and saying, "Hey, why are you trying to do anything? I know you're gonna get up soon, bench Lucy Gault and bring your computer back to your writing desk (read: The desk that everything sits on and I use it to prop the computer up while I watch the tenth episode of Sister, Sister and consume pistachios). But I don't want you to get up!"

Anyways, going back to Mr. Sterne. I have a strong feeling that one will get a three out of five (read: a Charlie Horse that only lasts about one minute, then leaves you alone, like a good, well-behaved demon) because I'm not quite sure if I like or dislike it. It has its moments of being pure genius, then it has its moments of being, "Huh? What?"

But considering the two hells I just experienced tonight, I think I'll just end it here and pray that 1) I never have to deal with another side splitting charlie horse and 2) Lucy Gault will be the only worst book of 2021.

Preface: I usually enjoy writing jovially and being somewhat silly in my blog posts, but considering I finished reading Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol and watched the 1950s film version of my favorite story, I have EVERY RIGHT TO BE ROYALLY UPSET/ANGRY WITH FX.

I had no idea that FX was going to be doing a 2010s version of this classic until about 20 minutes ago. After trying to find the Animaniacs' version of the story, I stumbled upon a two-three minute trailer for this, and I was excited. That was, until I saw the video on YouTube.

Something just felt off about the whole thing. So I did some more looking, read a couple reviews, and I was stunned to find that they have left out the main themes of the story. This is WHY I think anyone with a sane mind should avoid this rendition at all costs.

I get that FX wanted to do a rendition and all that, which I am typically fine with, but by leaving out the main point Dickens was attempting to communicate in this story, they should be ashamed with what they did. They should be ashamed of how they screwed up this story.

The more I read, the more I fumed. If you are going to do a rendition of any story, but leave out the main themes and message behind the story itself, then please stay out of it. I won't get into political ideology here, but from what I have seen, this rendition looks like leftist propaganda.

I know i can't keep people from watching this and liking it, It is your choice to watch this steaming pile of crap, but if you aren't familiar with Dicken's version, I would not watch this garbage at all. Just know that it does NOT adhere to the message originally intended and that if you really want to know what it is, I'm not going to abide by your laziness and tell you what it is. You will have to read the original material yourself.

As for FX, you have made a terrible decision for allowing this steaming pile of horsecrap on your network. And I wouldn't be surprised if you have an issue with Dickens. After all, (mockingly) he was white and because of his skin color, is a bad, bad man.

I will be the first to admit that sometimes, when I am watching a feel-good movie or reading a really gripping novel that has distressing scenes, that I will cry.

Derek, stop your lying. You always cry.

So I'm a bit over the middle of the current book I am reading, which is William Forstchen's second John Matherson novel, entitled "One Year After," and just like the first book in this series (called One Second After) I am absolutely loving the book. In fact, I may have just fallen in complete love with this trilogy. There's one more book to go, which I do have and I am prepared (not) for Niagara Falls to dampen my chubby cheeks.

So why did I start sobbing tears of sorrow tonight?

SPOILER ALERT!

It's because some hack of a government official ordered an attack on a group of bad, bad people, and his idiotic people shot down innocent children, women, and frail old people. Our main character, John Matherson, rushes these people over to their hospital, where his wife is taking the lead in triage and taking care of these close-to-death patients. At one point, she remembers what happened to John's daughter in the first book and breaks down in the same tears that emanated from my tear glands tonight. Let's not forget that earlier, John found a young boy gripping his already-dead sister and when his wife was attempting to ensure that this young boy did not see that his sister was dead, God decided to say, "Hey, let me show you what I can do," and now the boy is in tears because he sees that his sister is dead, Makala is in tears, John's in tears, I'm in tears.

So I was an emotional wreck for about five minutes as I read this disturbing scene. Yeah, that really happened.

It is PERFECTLY OKAY to let a book or a movie hit you in the feels and run away, like my dog does when I yell at her, "What the hell do you have in your mouth?" Honestly, if you were to see a really sad scene in a movie, or if you were to read a really provocative, depressing scene in a book and did not emotionally respond appropriately, I would start to ask the question if you should be taken to the local asylum over yonder. On the same vein, if something really amusing happens and you don't even crack a smile, I would also wonder if you were a sociopath.

I'm just kidding, of course. My main point in this brief blog entry is that showing emotion is human.

Thank you for wasting two minutes of your life reading my thoughts.

This is my first day/night reading Hermann Hesse's book, Siddartha. The other night, like I usually do when I finish one book and start on the next, I read the introduction and anything that precludes the story. I have always done this when reading a classic. In order to understand the story, I need to understand the world where the story came from, as well as the author.

I started taking notes the other day. When I take notes on anything, it is usually something that I found interesting and something that stuck out to me. In a nutshell, our main character is a very knowledgeable human, but he is not satisfied. He wants to know what else is out there, so he starts his spiritual journey to discover the meaning of life.

This is literally me.

After reading the introduction and reading the first two chapters of this book, I found myself relating to Siddhartha. I perceive myself to be a fairly intelligent person, and I guess other people think the same about me. I just don't take compliments all that well, especially when it comes to my intelligence. "I am just an average person," I think to myself every time someone says, "Wow, you're so smart." In my mind, I respond with a, "yeah sure okay" response, but instead, I can feel my ears go red and I tell that person, "Thanks" and then run away from them.

Because of the book's relatability to me, and the lessons I am learning from this story already, I decided maybe I should occasion myself by sharing what I am learning about this book, and inadvertantly myself, on my blog. Granted, I have ABSOLUTELY no followers and whatnot, but maintaining this blog is more so an exercise in something for me I don't know what yet. As I may have said before, I love to write, even if I know I will be the only one reading my shit.

Thanks for (not) attending my Ted Talk.

I logged into Goodreads because I noticed that a friend of mine reviewed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and I ended up commenting on his post. The time usually spent on this website is about two minutes, as I usually just share my page updates on the books I'm reading and scroll through the small cluster of updates to see what everyone else is reading. Some of those updates are intriguing, while others are the typical "I'm on page XX of some book."

I love seeing what people read.

Tonight was an interesting night, to say the least. Most evenings find me reading my current book with the diffuser on and laying in bed. I spent about two hours editing a YouTube video on my review and thoughts on Charles Maturin's "Melmoth the Wanderer" and after ripping out my hair and begging Jesus to make my computer behave, I finally uploaded the video, praised the Lord for successful uploads, and went about my life (in other words, I listened to music and played Empires on my phone).

Let's not forget I am a published (albeit an independently published) author, which is what I am getting at in my first blog post. After clicking on my profile for no apparent reason but to judge my outdated profile pic, I saw this really demeaning phrase looming on my computer monitor, practically insulting my very being: "If you had a blog..."

I stared at my laptop screen in abject horror. "What do you mean, 'If YOU had a blog?' Are you mocking me? Are you JUDGING me?" After this sober fight with Goodreads (I'm not an alcoholic, but those vodka sours at Dempsey's are freaking amazing), I decided it is time to start blogging again. While I do have a Youtube channel I irregularly post random stuff on, maybe it would be a constructive use of my time to start maintaining a blog. That way, people don't have to suffer through watching my ugly face for twenty minutes on Youtube!

I was thinking to myself that maybe this blog on Goodreads would be great for sharing my writing process, maybe additional thoughts on the books I am reading, or just shooting the breeze. So, this first post is an inquiry to the sad sap reading this nonfamous writer's blog - What would YOU like to see me write about on this blog?

Thanks for reading!