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One Door Away from Heaven by Dean Koontz

I read a LOT of books. I'm always reading at least 1 book if not 2 or 3. Sometimes, I read them quickly, sometimes it takes awhile for me to get through them;but, I am always reading something. I've read a lot of really good books. Good books are the books that I enjoyed reading and also usually wished they were longer so I could remain in that world for far longer.

Every once in a while I read one that is even better than a really good book. It's a book that I feel thankful for having the opportunity to read. A book that renews my faith or gives me hope in some way. A book that taught me something (or many things...) A book that even though it may have negative elements does not in any way make you feel degraded or hurt. A book that keeps you turning the pages long after bed time because you just have to see what happens. And even if you've long since intuited the plot twists and turns and know exactly how it's going to end, you happily immerse yourself in the story anyway. But, the best way to tell that I've found a great book and not just a really good book, is that when I've put the book down after reading the last page: It stays with me. I feel uplifted and energized. The story is someplace that I can and will revisit when I need to have someplace/someone to turn to. When I'm running out of sources of joy, I will be able to bring up the story and have 1 more source. Every person finds joy and renewel in their own way, thus everyone will have a different definition for a really great book. But, this book definitly fits my personal description very well.

Dean Koontz has been one of the authors I've been reading for my whole life. He has some books that didn't quite reach the mark as really good books let alone really great books. He also has some truly, dark, terrifying stories out there. In fact, when I first started reading his books, he scared the crap out of me, even more than Stephen King. Mr Koontz incorporates the BIG picture into his books. Bringing the whole universe into his stories. And, when the universe is a scary place that is just about the scariest thing that I can imagine. Albert Einstein once said, "the single most important decision any of us will ever have to make is whether or not to believe that the universe is friendly." Experiencing the universe as an unfriendly place is terrifying. Thankfully, Mr Koontz and I have at least 1 thing in common. And I know this by reading his newer novels. Somewhere along the line we have both decided that the universe is a friendly place. There is Love and Light wherever you choose to see it, because it is EVERYWHERE. Sure he adds some darkness and negativity into his stories, it wouldn't be much of a story without them. But, it's darkness with a little d, and negativity on a human scale. Bad things happen, adversity visits us all, sometimes things don't work out like we wanted, and yes there really are much worse things than dying. C'est la vie. That's just how it is. What we do with that knowledge is the important part.

One Door Away from Heaven has it all. Suspense, fantasy, characters that you'd like to have as friends and some that you wouldn't EVER want as enemies, twists and turns, humor and intelligence. It is also educational and has a message.

This review from Amazon.com seemed to sum up the plot and action fairly well:
Dean Koontz virtually invented the cross-genre novel, and in One Door Away from Heaven he mixes an action thriller with post-X-Files alien paranoia to remarkable effect. Micky Bellsong is a young woman at a crisis point in her life, using a stay at her Aunt Geneva's to sort things out. Then the precocious and deformed Leilani Klonk walks into her life, telling stories of her stepfather and drugged-up mother, who believe aliens will beam the girl into their mothership and heal her deformities before her 10th birthday. But tales of the stepfather's vicious past, including his hand in several murders, leave Micky believing that a far more terrible fate awaits her friend. So when the parents take off with Leilani, Micky pursues.
As is typical with a Koontz novel, nothing turns out to be what it seems, and the meticulously crafted plot tightens like a noose with every turn of the page. His characters are exceptionally drawn, driving the novel forward with realism and warmth. Micky is one of his more attractive young heroines, but the real star is Leilani, a mature young girl whose plucky nature and sparkling dialogue instantly make her Koontz's most memorable creation. She embodies his belief that despite violence, pain, and suffering, there is always goodness to be found in every person and situation. Koontz has once again proven why he is one of the premier novelists of his generation. --Jonathan Weir, Amazon.co.uk

But what about the educational aspect and what is the message you may have wondered? This book is "powered by an impassioned stand against utilitarian bioethics." (Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc) Mr Koontz's afterword makes it very clear that Utilitarian bioethics is not a figment of his imagination and is in fact a real threat to all of us. He recommends reading the book Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America by Wesley J. Smith. I haven't read it yet but Mr Koontz says, "You will find it more hair-raising than any novel you've ever read." He also says, "One day our great universities will be required to redeem themselves from the shame of having honored and promulgated ethicists who would excuse and facilitate the killing of the disabled, the weak, and the elderly." I've been thinking that there is something 'wrong' with medical ethics for a long time. Now I know exactly what it is and what is driving it in the direction it has taken. Utilitarian bioethics "embodies the antihuman essence of fascism, expresses the contempt for individual freedom and for the disabled and the frail that has in the past marked every form of totalitarianism." Which unfortunately does not bring to mind this quote from Kurt Vonnegut, "History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again"; but this one by George Santayana, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

Now onward to the message. What is the message of this book? It's one that's so very simple and so very beautiful. "We are the instruments of one another's salvation and only by the hope that we give to others do we lift ourselves out of the darkness into light." And as many people have heard me say "it only takes 1 match to set the world on fire." Share your flames people! Fan those sparks! Let's get this place LIT UP!

See how beautiful that is?!

The alieN

Alice in Wonderland: This illustration is by Arthur Rackham
The Alien
by Lynn S.

Where is he from, some alien nation?
What Frankenstein designed this creation?
For the monster he is, I'd like to give credit.
I'd use other terms, but I'd have to edit.

Just who do I thank for bearing this gift?
If I could find out, the kick would be swift.
I'm not always vengeful or given to spite,
But someone should pay, because he isn't right.

Who cooked up this mess that plopped in my lap?
That's who I would like to pay for this sap.
For all that he's done, who'll pick up the tab?
A monster's not born, he's made in a lab.

So was it a chemist? A genius of sorts?
Perhaps a computer with electrical shorts?
Whatever it was, it won't stake its claim.
But I wouldn't either for something that lame.

His origin's foreign, I don't know the source.
He thinks that his blood is quite royal, of course.
If that be the case, well, then let him eat cake.
But I'm sure that someone has made a mistake.

I still think he's come from an alternate plane,
A place where it's normal to be quite insane.
I wish he'd go back and get new circuitry,
But they probably won't take him without charging...me.



© 2003

"My Oberon! what visions I have seen. Methought I was enamoured of an ass."
—Titania's first words after Oberon removes the love-charm from her eyes and she awakes.
From "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare

This illustration came from: Craik, Dinah Maria Mulock. The Fairy Book. Warwick Goble, illustrator. London: Macmillan & Co., 1913.

The Mask: Red Riding Hood

Illustration by Paul Woofroffe

The Masked Man

By Lynn S.

Who was that masked man who offered relief?
I thought him a hero. He turned out a thief.
I gave him my heart. He took so much more.
He offered me hope, and then closed the door.

He made the right moves. He said the right things.
He said I could fly, and then clipped my wings.
I gave him my trust, and thought he was true.
The mask that he wore, I couldn't see through.

One night the mask slipped. I feared what I saw.
The evil beneath was naked and raw.
His eyes became black, his countenance cold,
Consumed by a rage, unyielding and old.

His cape covered secrets, he turned from the light.
His words became weapons, his arrows of might.
I changed in that moment. I just could not see
How I'd been so blind. Was it after all, me?

Had I been so wrong? Had nothing been real?
But I couldn't have known that he couldn't feel.
Who was that masked man who played on my need?
A liar, a robber, he's Lucifer's seed.

© 2003

Not sure if this is true, but it IS funny.

Sheriff's car
The Kern County, California, Sheriff's Department orders
plain white patrol units and has the graphics applied locally.
In this case, what they ordered was not quite what they got.

This car was driven for 1 week before an officer noticed what the graphics company employee did on the passenger side of the car. The employee did this on his last day working for the graphics company before he retired.

1 of the tornados in Memphis

A certain pirate sent me this picture. "This photo was taken at the BN Railway yard.
This is a picture of the Tornado that hit the Memphis ramp Tuesday. Someone from the tower took it as it came through the yard."

3 versions... same feeling(s)

Buttons!

Many thanks to Susan for sending me the link to the coolest Button site EVER! These are just some of the awesome buttons you can find there.

Take Off Your T-Shirt (If You Can't Name A Song By The Band That's On It)

Haha I totally Agree with this.



Take Off Your T-shirt If You Can't Name A Song By The Band That's On It Lyrics


I cut class, I skipped school
I hauled ass to sleep out in the parking lot of Coconuts where they had the Ticketron
Tower 2; Obstructed View I saw the show that changed my life
But I did not see you so

TAKE OFF YOUR T-SHIRT
Miss Metallica: You were 2 years old when Ride The Lightning came out
You felt no pain when Burton died but you cried when they cancelled Baby Muppets
You're master of no puppets

TAKE OFF YOUR SHIRT
Miss AC/DC: you don't even know Hell's Bells from Hatebreed
You got that shirt cuz Urban stuff is so cool
For those about to suck we salute you

TAKE OFF YOUR T-SHIRT
TAKE OFF YOUR T-SHIRT
TAKE OFF YOUR T-SHIRT
If you can't name a song by the band that's on it

No size tag and faded
Decal disintegrated
How I suffered cash in hand while clawing to the concession stand
Like a flag my shirt has flown through countless painful nights you could have never known

TAKE OFF YOUR T-SHIRT
Mr. Misfits
You mistook Glen Danzig for Trent Reznor once you dipshit
Miss Motley Crue I mean you, no they did not sing Every Rose Has it's Thorn
The sheep must be shorn

TAKE OFF YOUR T-SHIRT
Iron Maiden¦the number of the beast was not 6-6-7
I'd like to learn about Black Sabbath from you but
They don't play then on MTV2

TAKE OFF YOUR T-SHIRT
TAKE OFF YOUR T-SHIRT
TAKE OFF YOUR T-SHIRT
Strip to the waist, take it off be honest
You can't name a song by the band that's on it NO

Still so crisp from hanging on the rack
This T-shirt stretched across your back
Says nothing of a sacrifice; through thick and thin, wind snow and ice
Did I through adolescence wield
This 100% cotton shield
Now face to face and shirt to shirt it's revealed:
Your ignorance of Queensryche!
Won't you let them be? Cuz they belong to me

TAKE OFF YOUR T-SHIRT
TAKE OFF YOUR T-SHIRT
TAKE OFF YOUR T-SHIRT
Strip to the waist, take it off be honest
You can't name a song by the band that's on it
You don't know the guys printed on your garment so
TAKE THAT SHI(r)T OFF NOW

Quotations of the day
By The Associated Press

"Tonight I think we must get used to the idea that we are the Republican Party front-runner for the nomination of president of the United States. And I don't really mind it one bit.'' -- Arizona Sen. John McCain after winning several key states during the Super Tuesday Republican primaries.

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"It ripped the warehouses apart. The best way to describe it is it looks like a bomb went off.'' -- Desoto County, Miss., Sheriff's Department Cmdr. Steve Atkinson describing damage from a tornado that hit the area.

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"I am extremely concerned about the toll the current pace of operations is taking on them and on their families, on our equipment and on our ability to respond to crises and contingencies beyond ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.'' -- Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, saying soldiers should be limited to yearlong combat tours, instead of 15-month deployments.

AP-ES-02-06-08 0450EST

Vids & Pics from other people

Horrible Horrible Sound but it covers a lot of the show.


Sound is not horrible on this one for being bootleg, phone video. And that part of the show was AMAZING! Well the whole show was amazing... Seriously it was GREAT!

So you don't REALLY think that the Foo Fighters would come to town and I'd miss the show, do you?

The US National Weather Service said dozens of tornadoes had touched down in an area overlapping three states.

Dozens of people have been killed in violent tornadoes that cut a swathe of destruction across southern states.

The roof was torn from this shop in a mall in Memphis, Tennessee.

At Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, a college dormitory was wrecked.

Students were trapped in the rubble, prompting a major rescue operation.

Storm Flips Semis, Damages Businesses in Southaven

Southaven, Miss. (WHBQ FOX13 myfoxmemphis.com) -- Police are picking up power lines and checking for gas leaks after a storm in Southaven. Police said two warehouses were severely damaged and one of them caught fire. Officials said the debris from the storm stretches about a half mile.

The schools called me yesterday afternoon and said they were closing early because of the weather and I needed to pick the boys up. Both of the schools they go to are out in the Delta which is where the tornados hit first. So I went and got them immediately. We weren't home for very long when I checked the local weather report on my computer. I put my zip code in the box to pull up the report and up it comes, with BIG RED letters that say..."THERE ARE TORNADOS SIGHTED IN YOUR VICINITY SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY". Okay, you can't get much more clear than that can you? Haha so the boys and I spent a couple hours hanging out in my bathroom with our emergency supplies.

It was pretty intense. There was quarter-sized hail, lightning, straight-line winds, tornados, raging all around us. It was as dark as midnight before the sun even set. And the clouds were bruised and purple/red/orange/green looking when it cleared up enough to see them at all. It really brought back child-hood memories from Iowa & Arkansas. But, I don't remember this sort of thing happening at the beginning of February. Yesterday was 75 degrees F and the storms happened because that air met up with some air that was 20 degrees F!

David was stuck at work for awhile. He works really close to a few places that were directly hit by tornados. He said he could hear one go over their warehouse and the whole roof lifted up for a bit and rain started coming into the building!

Yesterday's storms were scary!

We live where Arkansas, Tennessee and Missippi meet, across the river from Arkansas and 1 mile from Memphis in DeSoto County. Which was like a great big tornado bowling ally last night lol.


Death Toll Reaches 47 in Deadly Storms, 24 Across Tennessee
Rescue Workers Search Door-to-Door in Rural Areas
Last Edited: Wednesday, 06 Feb 2008, 8:35 AM CST
Created: Wednesday, 06 Feb 2008, 8:09 AM CST

This photo was taken near Brownsville at Hwy 54 and Hwy 14 at about 5:40 p.m. Tuesday. Photo courtesy of George and Christy Wren. SideBar


Related Items
Stories
Storm Kills One at Hickory Hill Warehouse
Sharp Plant Sustains Storm Damage
Storm Flips Semis, Damages Businesses in Southaven
At Least 23 People Injured After Tornadoes Hit Tenn.
Storm Rips Apart Hickory Ridge Mall


Galleries
Viewer Photos of Tuesday's Storms

By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press Writer


ATKINS, Ark. (WHBQ FOX13 myfoxmemphis.com) – -- Authorities went door-to-door early Wednesday searching for more victims of deadly tornadoes that ripped the roof off a shopping mall and blew apart warehouses as they tore across four states. At least 47 people were reported dead throughout the South.

The victims included 24 people in Tennessee, 13 in Arkansas, seven in Kentucky and three in Alabama, emergency officials said. Among those killed were Arkansas parents who died with their 11-year-old in Atkins, about 60 miles northwest of Little Rock.

The family died from trauma when the storm their home "took a direct hit" from the storm, Pope County Coroner Leonard Krout said.

"Neighbors and friends who were there said, 'There used to be a home there,"' Krout said.

In addition to the three dead at Atkins, another Pope County resident was killed, according to the state Department of Emergency Management. Three people were killed in Van Buren County, said Chad Mason, a jailer at the sheriff's department. Two deaths were reported in Conway and Izard counties and one each in Baxter and Stone counties.

Searchers in Arkansas moved out to head door-to-door in Atkins in Pope County and in Clinton in Van Buren County to look for more victims.

Mason said the damage was vast in Clinton.

"It (the tornado) took out a lot. Normally there's a tree line off (U.S. Highway) 65 in the city here in Clinton. Now, you can see all the way across the valley," Mason said. Also, a boat manufacturing plant was badly damaged, he said.

About 100 volunteers fanned out in Atkins and the surrounding area on Wednesday morning. Searchers left in pickup trucks, police cruisers and Army National Guard Humvees.

The searchers used bright orange spray paint to mark homes they'd covered. They used a system of hash marks to indicate damage, any victims found and any hazards, such as leaking natural gas.

Sleet that was falling earlier at Atkins had shifted to light snow as the sun rose.

Electricity was out Wednesday morning to 22,000 customers of Entergy Arkansas, down from 40,000 on Tuesday night. Entergy spokesman James Thompson said crews are running into more damage and the pace is slowing for getting power back to homes. He said Arkansas' largest electric utility has summoned 350 workers from other states to help.

The greatest number of remaining outages, 8,000, are in the Batesville area. Little Rock had 4,000 out. Another 2,400 were out in the Harrison area and 2,200 in and around Russellville. Thompson said there were numerous areas with "100 here, 200 there without power," areas that were taking time for crews to reach.

"We're still assessing with daylight a lot of the damage. We know the obvious places. We feel there's a lot of areas where scout teams will find more poles and lines down.

The twisters, which also slammed Mississippi, were part of a line of storms that raged across the nation's midsection at the end of the Super Tuesday primaries in several states. As the extent of the damage quickly became clear, candidates including Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee paused in their victory speeches to remember the victims.

Northeast of Nashville, Tenn., a spectacular fire erupted at a natural gas pumping station northeast of Nashville that authorities said could have been damaged by the storms. An undetermined number of people were reported dead.

Eight students were trapped in a battered dormitory at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., until they were finally freed.

Well after nightfall Tuesday, would-be rescuers went through shattered homes in Atkins, a town of 3,000 near the Arkansas River. Around them, power lines snaked along streets and a deep-orange pickup truck rested on its side. A navy blue Mustang with a demolished front end was marked with spray paint to show it had been searched.

Outside one damaged home, horses whinnied in the darkness, looking up only when a flashlight reached their eyes. A ranch home stood unscathed across the street from a concrete slab that had supported the house where the family of three died.

Gov. Mike Beebe planned to tour Atkins on Wednesday.

In Memphis, high winds collapsed the roof of a Sears store at a mall. Debris that included bricks and air conditioning units was scattered on the parking lot, where about two dozen vehicles were damaged.

A few people north of the mall took shelter under a bridge and were washed away, but they were pulled out of the Wolf River with only scrapes, said Steve Cole of the Memphis Police Department.

In Mississippi, Desoto County Sheriff's Department Cmdr. Steve Atkinson said a twister shredded warehouses in an industrial park in the city of Southaven, just south of Memphis. {This is really close to where we live}

"It ripped the warehouses apart. The best way to describe it is it looks like a bomb went off," Atkinson said.

The power was knocked out briefly at a Little Rock convention hall that hosted a watch party for Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor seeking the GOP nomination for president.

"While we hope tonight is a time for us to celebrate election results, we are reminded that nothing is as important as the lives of these fellow Arkansans, and our hearts go out to their families," Huckabee said.

Officials do not know what started a fire at the Columbia Gulf Natural Gas pumping station near Green Grove, about 40 miles from Nashville. The blaze could be seen in the night sky for miles around, with flames shooting "400, 500 feet in the air," said Tennessee Emergency Management spokesman Donnie Smith.

The couple killed with their adult daughter were in their mobile home near Greenville in western Kentucky when a tornado went through their trailer park.

On Jan. 8, tornadoes were reported in Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Two died in the Missouri storms.

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Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Ryan Lenz in Greenville, Ky., Holbrook Mohr in Jackson, Miss., and Woody Baird in Memphis, Tenn.



In addition to the three dead at Atkins, another Pope County resident was killed, according to the state Department of Emergency Management. Two deaths were reported in Conway and Izard counties and one each in Baxter, Stone and Van Buren counties.