Harold Ramis 11/21/44 - 2/24/14

In the summer of 1984, I was twelve years old. We didn't have cable television and my favorite thing to do was play Barbies with my best friend, Kris. The way our town was laid out, our neighborhood (one of the older ones) was on the northern border of the township, while the schools and most of the other neighborhoods were on the other end of town. As a result, when school let out for the summer, the other kids pretty much forgot we existed. And that was fine. I grew up in a tight-knit neighborhood - everyone knew everyone, and we knew when it was time to go home for dinner because Mrs. Tesoriero would stand on her front porch and bellow for her son Michael to come home. That was our cue. Summer afternoons meant Barbies with Kris, swimming at the local pool, and hanging out - listening to music or whatever (usually done in the house with the best AC, since none of us had central air yet.) When I look back, it's fondly, because it was a great time to be a kid.

But, it did get boring at times and one of the things we did was go to the movies. A lot. One mom would drive, another would pick up (and we saw some howlers - Xanadu and Love at First Bite are two that come to mind. :D) but it was fun. Back then, when you were old enough to go to the movies at night, sans parents, meant you were finally no longer a little kid.

I remember the first time I saw Ghostbusters. I don't think I'd ever laughed so hard as I did at that movie. To this day, if I flip on the tv, and that movie is on, I'll stop and watch. Every. Time. It's still in my top ten lists of favorites, and in the top five of favorite comedies. And this movie was where I learned something very important about writing.

Writing comedy isn't as easy as it looks.

In that movie, the laughs come so naturally. To this day, the special effects might look dated ( it was the early 80s, after all) but the movie itself is still funny. It holds up. It's just a great movie and one I always thought should have been recognized by the Academy Awards. It's a shame it wasn't because good comedy is a gift.

After we saw it that first time, we talked about it for days after, reciting line after line, and cracking up over this scene or that scene. And Dr. Egon Spengler was my favorite Ghosbuster. He was smart. He was tall, dark, and handsome. And he was funny (maybe unintentionally funny, but funny nonetheless.) What wasn't there to love? Or to crush on?

I've seen pretty much every movie Harold Ramis either wrote, directed, and/or starred in - and to this day, I still will admit to having a bit of a crush on him. He wrote comedy brilliantly, sometimes so deftly that it took me a few viewings to get it - Groundhog Day was a movie I hated the first time I saw it. I thought it was boring and redundant. But then, I happened upon it on cable about a year or so after I originally sat through it, and for some reason I decided to watch it again. And again. And again. I fell in love with it, and now it's also on my list of great comedies.

The world has lost a brilliant writer, one of the few with the true gift of writing genuinely funny funny. And it makes me sad that there will be no more Harold Ramis movies released unto an unsuspecting world.

Rest in peace, Dr. Spengler.

Taking a Break

Some of you already know that my mom was sick for a long time. In July, 2010, she was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. On Father's Day, she passed away. She was 67 years old.

I'm going to be taking a break from this blog for a while. Right now, I just don't have the energy to deal with it. I don't know when I will be back, but I will be back eventually.

For now, I'd like to share one of my most favorite memories of my mother - she was my mom, my best friend, and awesome grandmother and a kickass lady and I can't even begin to express how much I'll miss her, or how great a void her death leaves in all of our lives...

One Saturday morning, a few years ago, my mom just showed up at my house and decided I needed a day off. We left the kids with Tom and spent the day touring wineries in Hunterdon County. We tried a LOT of wine. Some was good. Some was not. We argued over who paid for what bottle of wine at each place. She usually won, but I managed to buy at least one bottle for her. When we got home, I realized Tom had gone out and I didn't have my keys. so I spent the rest of that afternoon at her house (actually right around the corner from where we live,) drinking tea and talking about everything. That is one of my favorite memories. 

I love you, Mom. I miss you. You fought long and hard and you will always be missed.

Diane C. Holk

April 27, 1946 - June 16, 2013

Steve Jobs 1955 - 2011

I don't own an Apple computer, but that's only because they are out of my price range. I keep promising myself that as soon as I can afford one, it's MINE. My next cell phone is going to be an iPhone. I would have gotten one instead of a BlackBerry, but Verizon didn't get the iPhone until three months after my contract expired and unfortunately, I needed a new phone. But when this contract is up, I will be there.

I do however, own an iPod. Two actually. Well, three if you count the original Shuffle I bought way back when (the one that looked like the pack of gum), and then promptly washed. I replaced that one with a newer generation Shuffle (don't ask me which one because it was that long ago and I don't remember.) I then saved up to buy myself a classic iPod. It will hold all of the music I could ever want. I love it.

When I heard yesterday that Steve Jobs had died, my eyes actually teared up. The world has lost an innovator, a visionary, someone who gave new meaning to thinking outside the box and selling those ideas to the public. He made our lives easier, made them more enjoyable, made them better.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

-- Steve Jobs (Stanford commencement speech, June 2005)

Thank you, Steve Jobs.

Rest in peace.

Clarence Clemons, 1/11/42 - 6/18/11

In the summer of 1984, I was twelve years old and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band released Born in the USA. Now, as a kid in New Jersey, I probably should have heard Bruce's music long before this, but in my house, my grandfather (who ruled the radio with an iron fist) was a Country & Western fan and my cousins (who lived with us) were into the Rolling Stones and Van Halen. So, 1984 would be the first time I ever heard Springsteen.

And since that summer, I've been a diehard Bruce fanatic. I've seen him live three times (which isn't NEARLY enough, but still...) There's only one song of his I really can't stand (other diehard Springsteen fans should cover their eyes right now, because what I'm about to write is probably downright sacrilegious) is Rosalita. I know... I know...

Clarence Clemons was an integral part of the E Street Band. From Born to Run to Born in the USA to Working on a Dream, his saxophone molded that sound that is distinctive to the E Street Band's music.You know a Bruce song the moment you hear it because of the sweet, soulful sound of the Big Man's sax.

But now, the Big Man is gone. And far too young

The E Street Band will never sound the same again.

Rest in peace, Big Man. Music's loss, our loss, is heaven's gain...

John Lennon 10/9/40 - 12/8/80

Imagine -

Imagine: John Lennon 10/9/40 - 12/8/80

Today would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday. I was nine years old when he was murdered and I remember when the news broke out on Monday Night Football. I love his music, love his message, and I wear black every December 8th.

Check out how Google is commemorating his birthday.

Happy Birthday, John.

Your voice is missed.

"The Boss" George Steinbrenner 1930 - 2010

NY Yankees fans loved him or hated him.

Non-NY Yankees fans loved him or hated him

Under his ownership, the Yankees won 11 American League Pennants and 7 World Championships. He built some of the best Yankees teams in the history of Major League Baseball.

He was controversial at times.

He was overbearing at times.

He will be missed.

Rest in peace, Mr. Steinbrenner.

Dennis Hopper 1936 - 2010

RIP, one of the coolest of the cool.

Captain Phil Harris

One of my favorite shows is Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch. Just watching these guys, and the conditions under which they work, gives me a whole new appreciation for how easy (and soft) my life really is.

In short, Deadliest Catch is about crab fishermen. King crab fishermen. Working the Bering Sea (which isn't exactly the most hospitable climate in the world) during the winter. It's one of - if not the - deadliest jobs in the world.

Phil Harris captained the Cornelia Marie. Over the last two seasons, he battled health problems that eventually led to him being hospitalized with blood clots that could have killed him. He was tough and gruff and funny, and one of my favorites on the show.

Last month, he had a stroke while offloading his ship. After showing some initial improvements, Captain Phil died yesterday. He was 53.


Rest in peace, Capt. Phil. You will be missed and Deadliest Catch will never be the same.

JD Salinger 1/1/1919 - 1/27/2010

 

I first read The Catcher in the Rye in high school - since then, I've read it at least once a year.

I've been a fan ever since. His books have held a place of honor on my bookshelves since I was seventeen years old.

Rest in peace, Mr. Salinger.

And thank you.

In Memoriam - Ms Kate Duffy

Kate Duffy, Senior Editor for Kensington Publishing Corp.

I didn't know her, nor was I fortunate enough to work with her, but I do know the esteem in which the romance industry held her. May she rest in peace.

Smart Bitch Sarah says it far better than I ever could.

A true loss to the romance community, indeed.