Bottled Coke Revenge

Come check out my short story on Amazon entitled Bottled Coke Revenge. It will be released on 8/30/2015 for $0.99. It is a Southern noir tale that proves some of the most twisted moral compasses can point to true north.

Toddler Meltdowns

Before I had my daughter I was never really a little kid person. Toddlers to me were so annoying and the meltdowns were unbearable. I was that childless person that would look at a screaming toddler and then at the parents and mentally say, "can't you control that kid?" I gave this lookon a regular basis.

When I was pregnant and working at a library, I encountered many toddler meltdowns and I kept saying to myself, not my child, not my child. My daughter was born with the sweetest personality and indeed I patted myself on the back for making all the right descisions. At a year, she was walking, could drink from a regular straw cup, and had an amazing outgoing personality. Her meltdowns were few and far between, in fact she really only had them when she was tired. That changed when she turned 19 months old. Now she is highly independant, she knows exactly what she wants, and she screams at the drop of a hat. The best part is she seems to only do this when we are out in public. Lucky me. At times I find myself asking God, why? Then I realize that watching your child have a massive meltdown and then having to deal with it as best you can is a right of passage for any mom. Now when I see a toddler have a meltdown, instead of turning my nose up at the parents I smile and think at least I'm not alone.

A Big Fish in a Little Pond

About two weeks ago, my wife and I watched The Judge, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Robert Duvall. Downey’s character is a high-profile criminal defense lawyer. Duvall plays Downey’s father, a small-town judge. The two men are estranged. Duvall is a pillar of the community who dispenses rough justice from the bench. Downey is an almost amorally slick big-city attorney.

            A family tragedy brings Downey back home and forces him to ply his trade on behalf of an unexpected client.

            The Judge convincingly depicts the out-sized status of a leader of a close-knit community without resorting to stereotypes. While the film is set in rural Indiana, a few changes accent, scenery, and climate could place it in south Georgia.

            Duvall and Downey’s performances are delicious. Fans of Big Love will find Grace Zabriskie’s ornery performance a treat. The Judge is a solid film and well worth watching.

            The Judge is available on Blue-Ray and DVD.

- Klaus Buck

Library Programs

I'd like to start off by saying that I am a former librarian who used to put on adult programs at the library, so I have a real gung-ho spirit when it comes to any library program. That being stated I was thrilled when I learned that Forsyth county libraries had programs starting at birth. I was hoping that my daughter would enjoy them and that I would find a few mommy friends in the process. Of course that did not happen. Carter seemed to be okay with it from the age of three months to eight months and then she was done. Why? Perhaps it is the timing. She takes long morning naps. Maybe it is because she has a mind of her own and has no desire to do what people ask of her during play time. A week ago I met a friend at a library program for little ones. It was a puppet show and since we play with puppets at home I thought she would love it. Well she did not pay attention at all to the puppets, in fact she ran out several times to the main library. When it was time to get up and start dancing, she sat down and laughed. I might want to add that she was the only child doing this. The puppet program was adorable, I just hope that Carter will get into them in the near future. As a mom I have to remind myself that she is only 18 months old and that these programs may just be too much for her to handle.