Inside the Brain of E.C. Henry

Mr. Industructable--at least for a Day or Two!

Okay, so E.C. Henry IS my writing pseudonym. But after this last weekend I think another nicname may be in order: Mr. Indestructible!

You see it was nephew's 3rd birthday on Saturday, and my brother hosted a gathering of little Riley's cousins: two girls and one boy. Riley is Obo's younger brother. Riley just turned three,Brycen/Obo is now six. Anywho, I had a car accident a couple weeks ago where a girl with no insurance t-boned by Toyota Corolla, putting a serious dent in the passenger side door (she tried to cut across two lanes of traffic, and thought that because a truck stopped to let her do so that she could cut across the other lane too--at which she plowed into me!)

Anywho, the repair place had my car done on Saturday, but then I found a new dent and scratch in it that wasn't their previously. I conclude the collision center rolled a cart or something on my car dunning the fix of the door and was tryig to get away with not making the repair for damage they causes. So I drove the car back, at which time the collision center rep. okayed for a NEW repair, only two weeks from now! Thinking dude may have just been trying to get me out there once I got home, I reported this to the insurance company, and sent the rep some pictures of the new damage next to my passenger's side tail light: a big dent and as series of scratches.

Moral of that collision repair shop story: be very leery of collision centers and anytime you bring your car in for repair. These SCUMBAGS were trying to pawn off repairs for damage that they themselves caused. The never admitted to anything, but I highly suspect that these scrupulous people were trying to get away with things.

Okay, so ONCE I finally got all the repair shop shenanigans out of the way, I was reminded that it was Rilye's birthday. And guess what, the worst uncle ever forgot to buy Riley a presents. So off I went to "do the right thing" and get two year old Riley some presents. While getting Riley some presents I also picked up a 18 pack of Budweiser. Thinking being: that I'd be able to party with the adults at Riley's party.

Once back home, as all the guests started to arrive, I quickly lost my nerve. Realizing that with all these little kids running around, it probably wasn't a good idea to be seen drinking
around--so I hid out in my bedroom, and drank some of that beer while the little kids played and the adults talked about their families.  

Later that night, just before it got dark, the little kids found me.  Everyone was approved for a "sleepover" and they came down to my room, as I was to be tasked with starting a fire so they could all have smores.  But this quickly changed into a chase of the 45-year-old social retard.  All the little kids had plastic swords in their hands which that had NO RESERVATION about hitting me with.  This lead to an impromptu Frankenstein-esque, crazed chase of me across our vast lawn.  Now to defend myslef I armed myself with the top like of a grill.  

One of the craziest realities of getting beat on with swords by a pack of kids is the fact that you have more to fear from the littler ones, as they get sweept into the moment, and will litterally whack at you with unrestrained force.  

So was I drunk around these little kids?  No, I had stopped drinking earlier and had my full facilities when being chased like the Frankenstein monster.  

Later, after I had totally winded myself from the chase I recovered and made the fire so the kids could have their smores.  Thumbs up, good uncle, right?

Well, after the little kids left I proceeded to continue to drink beer and practice my bottle rocket aiming skills, as I took left over fireworks from the 4th of July and occupied myself with the task of getting bottle-rocket to explode over the top of my house.  

Drinking and fireworks is NEVER a good combo.  Thankfully I had no incident that night.  Later, I continued to drink, until the season premire of Saturday Night Live went on.  Was VERY DISAPPOINTED by how unfunnny  the first 1/2 hour of skits was, so I turned it off and went to bed when the bizarre musical guest performed.

The next morning the villagers re-appeared, crazied liuttle kids ready for a second terrorizing session of the social retarded 45-year-old.  I skipped out on church, (bad me, I know) and I proceeded to play legos with the kids then take them out into the old Warehouser clear-cut to climb slash piles of logs.  Now about 2 months ago I had Obo out with me and THOUGHT that a 2nd climbing of the slash pile would have the affect of little Obo leading the charge to climb the slash pile.  

I was VERY WRONG about that.  My 6-year-old nephew acted THE SAME.  Now the oldest girl in our group, Lilly, a Tom-girl in the 6th grade, went up and down the slash pile like it was nothing, but the other 3 little kids in our group: 4 year old Connor, 9 nine old Ashley and Obo; I ended up having to help up and back down.  

My plan was that ALL the kids would enjoy climbing the slash piles.  But to my chargin, it was too much for three of the kids, and not enough of a challenge for the rest.

To my credit, I am VERY GOOD with rolling with little kids and making things fun for them.  With the failure of the slash pile climb, I audiblized and decided to take the kids on a walk to the overpass, a spot overlooking the Orting valley where I joked we'd start landslide and destroy homeowners houses below.  Obo really like this idea, the rest of the kids were non-committal.  But along the way, to make things interesting I had the kids work on super kicks and ninja jumps.  This is a fancy was of saying that I became their amusement park ride and ached the little kids about where in the midst of a spinning they would kick out at targets of leaves, tree branches, and unsuspecting creatures crawling on the branches.  

Later we found a bicyle tire and had fun tryg to roll that around.  

Along the way the oldest girl in this group, the 6th grade Lilly, started acting very bizarre.  She wiped her fingers in the mud and proceeded to smear both me and Obo with it.  I did not encourage this out of Lilly, she did this on her own.  Later, more bizarre Tom boy behavior came out, when Lilly literally laid in the dirt road and flapped her arms like she was making snow angels-only in the dirt!  Again, this came out of this little girl's heart without any provocations from me.  

At the overpass we got met by some strange me.  I kept the kids close and got out of there as quickly as possible.  You just never know.  Thankfully there he had no incidents there.  

Suddenly, with it not 12:30, and I had previously agreed to have the kids back my 1 p.m., where the girls and Connor's mother would be arriving to pick up her kids.  I came up with the genius idea of speeding the little kids up--by racing!  In oder to spice things up, I joined the race, but always raced with one of the kids on my shoulders.  We would then race to stumps and various bends in the road.  O yeah, this is where I defiantly earned the nicname, Mr. Indestructible!  Race in about 10-12 sprints each time with a living person weighing anywhere from 40 pounds to about 95, which was case with the older Lilly, and you, my friend, have EARNED the handle, Mr. Indestructible.

But after about 5 races the kids interests began to ebb in the races.  Basically they were all whining about not being on my shoulders.  That's right, Mr. Outright-Social-Retard, now had the hottest property--piggyback rides on his shoulders!

After about 10-12 race, Obo just sat down and stopped at which time the two older girls left on their own.  This freaked the shit out of me, as not only was I responsible for getting these kids back safely, there were strange men lurking out in the woods in a jeep!

Thank you Jesus, my worst fears never materialized.  Try as I may, with Obo on Connor weighing me down I was never able to catch up to Lilly and Ashley untill were were about at the end of the trail.  But the girl's chose the right route home, and I was very happy when I knew they were safe.  

I turned the kids back over to Brenda, my brother's wife about 1:20.  She wasn't happy, but didn't take it out me too much.  Knowing how filthy these little kids had allowed themselves to get--especially that Tom girl, Lilly.  I reminded them all to wash their hands.

Later before they left.  All the little kids came up to the loft, where I was picking up the Lego mess they'd left behind.  Got hugs from them all.  Then they left, and I spent the next two football games: San Francisco v.s. Philadelphia, and then Dallas vs. New Orleans, polishing off all remaining beers...

Even Mr. Indestructible needs time to recharge!

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

P.S.  In between my car accident and being Mr. Indestructible I've also been hard at work editing the epic fantasy novel.  Got some GREAT work in lately on chapter 2.  Felt I really needed to get this chapter right as it's a very important one...  More to come on that soon!

Darrell Bevell: Best Mad Scientist in the NFL Right Now

 
Anyone who has the balls to split Marshawn Lynch wide, lining up as a wide receiver deserves to get some pub.  And that's just what m' man Bevell did this last weekend--in the biggest game of the year no less, the Superbowl rematch against the Denver Bronkos (which the Seahawks won in dramatic fashion scoring a touchdown in overtime AFTER Payton Manning had JUST directed a drive down the the filed to tie up the score and force overtime).

The Seattle Seahawk offence has the potential to be the most exciting offence in football, and we got just the right "mad scientist" to pull it off: Darrell Bevell.  And splitting Marshawn Lynch wide wasn't the only razzle dazzle play the mad scientist had up his sleeve that day at the 'Link (short hand for Century Link field where the Seattle Seahawks play their home games), we also had the Jermane Kearse pass to quarterback Russell Wilson.  And just so show that he can throw too, Russell threw a perfect pass to Riccardo Lockette for long touchdown pass.  And get this, before the preseason I didn't even think Riccardo Lockette was going to make the team!

Percy Harvin, Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, Riccardo Lockette, Paul Richardson.  Baby we the guns on the outside to make some serious noise!  You may think of the Seattle Seahawks as a defense first team, OR maybe a power running team, but I think one of the unsung stregths of this team is their wide receiving core.  

Don't believe me?  Watch the way Doug Baldwin works the sidelines. I swear the dude is the second coming of Lynn Swann.  Sooo graceful.   Sooo good!  And not everybody has a knack for working the toe tappers on the sidelines.  Would love to know how Doug Baldwin does it.  

Okay, so my Seahawks love is showing.  It's just this team is sooo fun to watch right now.  And the cool part of it all is that as this season plays out I think your going to see that transition from the Seahawks being known as deffence first team to an offence first teams--and it all revolves around Darrell Bevell; the magnificent "mad scientist" offensive coordinator.

Play I want to see the most?  That easy.  It's a play called, "track meet".  What's track meet?  Track meet is Percy Harvin on one side, Paul Richardson on the other; then at snap both run "go" routes and Russel throws it to one who runs the fastest.  

I can't wait to see what Paul Richardson can do.  Watching the 'Hawks the past two years, I've seen SOME of what Percy can do, but what about the Seahawks top draft pick of last year?  Yeah, what's he got in the tank?  

Can't wait to see what Seattle's mad scientist has in store for those two fun-to-watch players.

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

The UA Rom-com; Exploring Issues in Rom-Com Movies: Volume 47

The movies: "Ted" (2012: Mark Wahlberg, Seth McFarlane, Mila Kunis), "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" (2006: Luke Wilson, Uma Thurman), "Weekend at Bernie's" (1989: Andrew McCarthy, Jonathan Silverman) and "Bewitched" (2005: Nicole Kidman, Will Farrell); what do they all have in common?  

They are what I would call, Unique Abilities Romantic Comedies.  Yes!  Another sub-genre under the master, romantic comedy umbrella.  

So what is a UA rom-com? It's a romantic comedy which has someone with a unique or speccial power that affects the romance in a story.

In "Ted" it's the the teddy bear that has come to life who is the unique accent, and has becomes the male protagonist's best friend, who adds a new dynamic to a maturing boy/girl coupling.  In "Weekend at Bernie's" it's the dead boss, Bernie, who the male protagonists feel it's in their best interest to try make everyone believe is still alive so it doesn't crimp their chances with some emerging, potential romances.  In "My Super-ex Girlfriend" it's Uma Thurman's character's super powers which threaten the romance between her and Luke Wilson's character.  Finally in "Bewitched" it is Niccole Kidman's supernatural powers which are the unique ablility that add a whole new dynamic of obstacles for the romance between Niccole Kidman and Will Farrell's character.  

When trying to delineate whether or not a given rom-com is a ua rom-com or not, look for someone or something with special powers that affects the central romance in the story.  

And yes, I've written a couple UA rom-coms.  Both "Give It up for Chimpy" and "Love, Music, and Monkeys: Give It Up for Chimpy II" are both UA rom-coms, with the Monkey Man / Chimpy character being the unique accent which directly affects the central romance between Brandon Little and Stacy Dutchmen.  

And hey, if you like "Ted" you'll be happy to know that "Ted 2" is the works.  Mark Wahlberg and Seth McFarlene are back, but no Mila Kunis this time.  Should be interesting to see how Seth McFarlene writes his way around that.  Amanda Seyfried is listed as one of this moive's stars, so I'm assuming she's going to be John Bennett's (Mark Wahlberg's character) love interest.  Anywho.  I LA-OVED "Ted" and can't wait to see "Ted 2".

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA 

Teenage Romance--Without the Vampires!!

Lemme just state right off the bat that I don't think Hollywood produces enough teenage romance movies.  And a lot of the time when they do, they muck it up with stuff like vampires, werewolf and zombies: "Twilight" (4 movies 2008-2012, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattenson), "Jennifer's Body" (2009: staring Megan Fox written by Diablo Cody), "Warm Bodies" (2013: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer).

Don't get me wrong, sometimes Hollywood does get it right, like with "The Spectacular Now" (2013: Shalene Woodly, Miles Teller), and recenlty (though I haven't seen it yet, though I know it was a big hit) "The Fault in Our Stars" (2014). 

But what am getting at is that more of these movies need to be made, movies with teenagers in it taking forays into romance.  Why?  Because romance and going after members of the opposite sex is a leaned thing.  And movies provide fodder for kids to kick around their own ideas then go after romances of their own.  

Does this post have anything to do with the fact that in the epic fantasy novel I'm writing, I have a teen romance in it?!  Damn straight, Skippy it does!  So how am I approaching it? Well, I'm a author so I feel the need to express a greater universal story that I hope other people can relate to.  YES, it is set in Middle Earth kind of place.  But it's grounded.  Grounded in the realities that generations of kids have experienced.  Which leads me to my first point concerning teen romances:

Don't make the one quadrant only movies.  Broaded their appeal by appealing to universal truth that be shared by different generations of movie goers.  Music comes to mind here.  Choosing the latest, most trendy pop is a bad idea, it alienates others and limits your quadrant appeal.

Appeal to universal cliques that have stood the test of time: the most beautiful girl as school type, the jocks type, the nerds type, the slacker type, the stoner type, the slut, the goofball, the fat kids.  What you want to do as a writer or movie-maker is have a broad appeal.  We all have shared experiences with given types of people.  Draw on that.  It's important.  

So how do you make realistic teen characters?  First off, smart is ALWAYS better.  Make the teens involved in romance have a brain.  

I like to do character bios on all my main characters.  What are they like.  Shy, reserved, flamboyant, strong-willed, daring, hiding a secret, lonely, horny, frisky.  That kind of stuff.  I alson think you need to be aware of the character arc for that teenager going through the romance.  Character arc is way of saying what kind of lesson they learn as a result of going through the romance.  They start as one kind of person, then change (hopefully) into a more well-rounded person as a result of their foray into romance.

Tap into the common, universal aspects of being a teenager: dealing with peer pressure, carving out one's own identity as they phscially mature through puberty, dealing with insecurity, the building up and tearing down of ideals.  This is a big one for me, as teens can think in ways going into romance in grandioso fashion.  

Don't dumb-down your characters simply because they're not fully formed adults yet.  One of the best movies I ever saw which handled that was "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" (2012: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson) which dealt with a high school outsider brought in to a mishmash clique of strange folks, where he finds his true love and stumbles about as he attempt to find himself.  But all the characters in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" were smart, and felt like real people you could actually meet in real life, and I appreciated that.  

I love teenage romance.  Teenage life is a GREAT place to dive in and check romance out.  It's my favorite place of all for a good romance.  Why?  Because you have such strong dynamics in play: idealism vs. reality, peer presure and its affect on romance.  But most of all, it's the trophy girl.  Yeah, it's always about her.  Did you have a trophy girl in mind when you went through high school?  Me, I had several, and if you pay close attention in what's referenced in the epic fantasy novel I've written you'll see who two of mine were--not the only two mind, but these were defiantly some heavy hitter girls that every time I was around them I acted askew.  As I've mentioned before for the longest time I viewed many of the girls of my high school experience as angels.  Now with SOME degree of maturation, I view them slightly differently.  But their are certain girls from my high school experience that will always have a special place in my heart.  They were where romantic inkling began, even for a social retard dipshit that I turned out to be and for the most part still am.  

My point is EVERYONE who went through high school can relate to teen romance.  The key to writing one that blows the top is writing one with a wide net, universal appeal that people of all ages can relate to.  

That's my goal.  I wanna be the best teen writer I can be.  Inspire the current generation of teenagers in their romantic endeavors, and at the same time appeal to the memories of the older generation and give them a movie that they too can relate to and enjoy.

Just because you're watching a teen romance doesn't mean the movie is only for teenagers.  Older adults need to be reminded what it's like to have those powerful feelings of love.  That over exuberance of emotion is not exclusive to teens alone.  No, I believe the power of the teen romance transcends the age of the teenager and should be made to inspire people of all generations.  

Shake It Off by Taylor Swift: Best Music Video Ever Made

I actually went into my first viewing of Taylor Swift's video for "Shake It Off" with much trepidation, thinking to myself, what if this girl is a bore and proves me wrong that I recently lauded such high acclaim in in once saying that I could see Taylor Swift becoming the next rom-com queen.  I was so happy that after finally getting arround to watching her music video that Taylor totally silence any critic within me.  This is one powerhouse actress--and this video proves it!

Watch this video and see if you see what I see, which is an actress's audition tape to prove she can be a comedic heroine worthy of headling a romantic comedy feature film:

 

And just to set the stage, I grew up in an era when music videos where king, back in the ealy 80s when the medium was taking off.  I grew up LA-OVING Deff Leopard videos from their "Pyromania" release.  Now, in retrospect I now view those songs "Rock of Ages" and "Foolin'" much differently than did back when I was an impressionable 13/14 year old.  "Rock of Ages" is a term used to describe God I think, as He is our rock, so whatever Deff Leopard was doing in that videos wasn't good, and may have been mocking Christian symbolism, which is something those British rockers should have had the brains to steer clear of.  Point: NEVER mock God.  But the old Deff Leopard videos told dark stories set to heavy metal music, and for a while in my youth I was quite blinded by them as I even confessed to in one of my most popular and visted posts.  

Anywho, Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" is NOTHING like any of that, thankfully.  Rather this "Shake It Off" video is a classic for totally different reasons so let's shift gears and really get into to this so you can see where I'm coming from.  As for the song itself, it's kinda catchy, but it's not a classic--the video for it, however, is.

It all starts with the courage of the artist to be willing to be seen as playing a fool.  Taylor's willingness to show herself being clumsy and out of sorts amidst the other great dancers in this video servers her brilliantly.  Study the video and the facial expressions Taylor REPEATEDLY delivers I think you'll see what I see, and that's an acting dynamo in the making.

The video starts with Taylor warming up with a ballerina troupe.  Then as the first verse goes she sings about her negative public perception:

• "I stay out to late"
• "Got nothing in my brain"
• "Go out on too many dates" / "But I can't make them say"
• "That's what people say, mmm-hmmm, that's what people say"

Okay, so this the clearly the set-up for rebuttal right?  Yeah, well Taylor gives it in her own, unique style--and I loved it!  Reminded me of Avril Levine's "Girlfriend", Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" or Allanis Morrisette's "You Aught to Know".  Only Taylor's subtle rant is told via happy-go-lucky beat--for the most part.

I loved the many faces, costumes and characters Taylor played in this action-packed video.

• First, you have her a ballerina
• Then you have her as a wrapper
• Techno Talyor
• 
  Taylor as a back-up dancer vs. Beyonce
• Expressioninst dancer Taylor
• Cheerleader feme fetal Taylor
• And finally there is normal Taylor: the one who dance with normal looking people at the end of the video

And through most of these quick cut scenes you see Taylor dancing, but the other dancers generally doing a more polished, professional dancing.  

What I love about Taylor Swift is that she is genius enough to know that she doesn't hafta be the star dancer in all of this.  Rather, she's more of the comic relief.  

Comedy in music videos, surely you jest!  Well, if you're as creative as Taylor Swift and the GENIUSES who conceptualized and cut this video, YES, you can have comedy in your music video.  Comedy in the form of:

• Taylor mocking Beyonce and flaunting her butt.  This is done in two spots with Taylor making a shocked face followed by a cut to a Beyonce lookalike who shaking her butt like a sex pot temptress would do.  Then later you have Talyor crawing through the legs of lined up Beyonce like back-up dancers with a look of wonder on her face 
• 
  Taylor suddenly sporting a off look on her face like she's wondering what she's doing amidst the expressionist dance troupe.
• 
  Ballerina Taylor playing an air flute during a musical interlude.
• Ballerina Taylor tiptoeing through the middle of two rows of ballerinas holding their poses, then shaking her hands in mock celebration of her accomplishment.
• 
  At the end of the video Taylor falls while trying to settle in a capstone graceful pose infront of her fellow ballerinas ending the video with a "so there" nod of her head.

I also like a lot of the acting Taylor did in this video.  Like her facial expression at the beginning, when she's laying out what she sees as her negative, public perception.  I liked the nerdy Taylor doing the reel in, fishing pole gesture too.

And just so you know I'm NOT a Beyonce basher.  Sure I did a post on her occultic stuff that she's allowing attached herselft to, a.k.a. the whole Sasha Fiece alter ego.  Every time I see Beyonce now, my heart just aches.  I sooo wish she'd make bet er choices, get right with God, and be the "good" role model.  But what I saw Taylor poking fun at here was the sexual flaunting stuff that is very prevalent in many of Beyonce's performances.

This music video is the best I've ever seen--for what it is: a funny take, a performing willing to laugh at herself and try to express a truth she's leaned with has universal appeal, which is that no matter how you're precieved you need to able to shake of the negative perspective and enjoy life on your own terms.

My precept ion of Taylor Swift has changed.  It all stared with her interview and skit she did on "The Tonight Show" back in August.  True, I did go out on limb and say that I think Taylor Swift could be the genre's next rom-com queen--if she so pursues such a righteous endeavor.  But irregardless of where Taylor so chooses to go, she's won me over, and I wish her well.  Taylor Swift gets comedy.  Her willingness to be comfortable in her own skin, clumsy, vunderable and silly at times serves her well.  What a refreshing trait to see: someone who is willing to be the butt of the joke.

Trust me, Taylor, you're far from the butt of the joke.  Your video of "Shake It Off" is awesome, best music video I've ever seen, and reminds me of a time and place when interesting music videos were still being made.  

 

P.S. Still hard at work on editing the epic fantasy novel and subsequent script adaptations.  The current adage I would use to describe what I'm doing is: tossed salad paragraphs.  What mean by that is I'm finding I'm doing a lot of editing, and hopefully making my writing better, by rearranging the placement of words and ideas in already existing sentence.  It's like have all these ingredients already existing in the paragraphs which comprise this story, it's just for maximum impact, me as the writer must play with each paragraph and rearrange things accordingly for maximum impact and the smoothest, most satisfying read possible.  Make sense?

I feel like Larry Bird in his heyday, at the height of his time as an NBA star, where he'd be down on hands and knees looking for the soft spots on the parquet floor of the Boston Gardens, where the Celtics' played.  

Their is a pursuit of perfection that I feel I MUST strive for in my writing.  Someday I wanna be the best, just like Taylor Swift was in this video, "Shake It Off", just like Larry legend was back in the early 80s when he was leading his Boston Celtics deep into the playoffs year after year.  

Best or Worst Uncle?

Ever I wonder how my 6-year-old nephew, whom I gave the nic-name "Obo" to, would grade me?  Does my good outweigh my bad? 

Let's take a look...

Good: I took Obo to Wild Waves.

Even better: I took Obo to Wild Waves a second time, this time with sandals so my "soft feet" didn't get excessively cut up and I cried like a little baby.

Cool, just startin' off here and I'm already up 2 to 0, my good outweighing my bad.  Hehe, let's see if that trend continues...

Bad: I lied to one of the ride operators and let Obo, who can't swim go down the cannonball ride, where he had to rescued by one of the Wild Waves operators.  Okay, I STILL feel bad about this. But I did it with the idea that I'd do first then help Obo get out of the deep water.  But how it played out, was after I did the cannonball ride, which is short water slide followed by about a six foot drop, they you land in a pool about 10' deep; I waited for Obo to come down, but when he did splash down a Wild Waves guide waved me off and went in after Obo himself, getting Obo out of the deep water with a red floatation device.

This was a major bad on my part, lapse of judgement.  So why'd I'd do it?  I was trying to have fun with Obo, challenge the boy a little.  

Good: Took Obo for a walk today out in the woods outside our property.

Bad: The path we went on was overgrown and Obo started crying when he got scratched by the blackberry thorns and other nasty overgrowth.  Had to abort the walk vowing NEVER to take Obo on another walk, as I wanted him to tough it out and use a stick to push the brush out of the way.

Point of clarification: This 6 year old nephew of mine spends WAAAY to much time inside playing video games.  Remembering how when I was kid I used to do all kinds of whack-o shit: exploring the sides of hills, the Carbon river, and any local attraction he had; I feel I need to get this little kid outside and doing things.  Times have truly changed.  Kids are different.  They're not as adventurous as I remember myself being when I was young.  

Good: On Labor Day I raced Obo ten times.  I had just bought a brand new, # 11 Percy Harvin, Seattle Seahawk jersey and I rigged most of the races we had so which ever one of us was wearing the Percy Harvin jersey won the race.  Thus I was trying to sow the seed in this little boy's mind that NOBODY is faster than Percy Harvin, and that even a replica jersey of his can MAKE a person faster than he would be without the jersey.   So there's some good and bad in play here.  But when you pay $150 for a jersey you should get as much mileage out of a jersey as possible, which leads me to...

Bad: ol' E.C. would manipulate a 6-year-old child JUST so he could feel like he was getting his money's worth out of a clothing purchase.

Bad: Last Christmass while at the Tacoma Mall I told Obo to pull on Santa's beard to see if it was real.  THIS was one of those in-mall Santa's, and to preface the event Obo was accompanying me with the intent of helping me shop for Christmas presents.  At first he was all crazy about seeing Santa, but alas Obo lost his nerve when push came to shove and he saw the in-mall Santa Claus and the other kids who were waiting.

Bad: Sometimes when I'm writing and Obo comes in my room wanting to play, I try to discourage him so I can get back to the task at hand.  Writing over family: bad E.C. Henry.

Bad: Getting Obo to laugh over the fact that a dwarf: the now 80 year old, Kenny Baker, is inside R2D2 in all the "Star Wars" movies.  He's even part of the cast in J.J. Abrams "Star Wars: Episode VII".  All these years I NEVER thought there was an actor inside the barrel of R2D2--but there was!  I even joked to Obo how funny it would be if in the middle of a scene Kenny Baker popped out of the top, and waved to everybody and said with a smile, "Hello everybody, I'm a midget!"  Later, Obo and I actually did watch the first "Star Wars" movie and retroactively Obo acted on my joke and started making cracks about the dwarf inside R2D2 popping out and doing just I said.  He was laughing too.   E.C. Henry having fun a dwarf's expense, BAD.

Good: E.C. Henry constantly re-enforcing Obo to be a good guy when playing "Star Wars" as he's always carrying around a toy light-sabre or sword.  One minute he's Luke, then next he's General Grievous.  But on this issue I remain steadfast; I want Obo to identify as himself being one of the "good guys" and not re-enforce any curiosity over evil things.

So when it's all tallied up, weiging the good against the bad.  Is E.C. Henry the best uncle or the worst?  Well, I did ask Obo that before I started this post and he said I was good without hesitation.  So there.  Best uncle ever!  That's how I'm rollin' with it!

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

P.S. Still working on the epic fantasy novel.  Spent a bunch of hours this weekend re-writing a key character introduction.  La-oving writing in 3rd person omniscient, it's so much fun jumping arround from character to character.