Books!

Stagnation!

I feel like my life is one big mudhole, and I am trying to walk through it but no matter how many steps I take I am just not moving forward much at all. I have been working more hours, but that job makes me feel like a loser. I read books, and right now I am wrestling Les Miserables into submission. I seem to be drawn lately to books that feature some sort of redemption for a character.

I hate writing posts like this. Too much of a downer. Don't read this one.

Irony!

Friendly Neighborhood Armed Robbery

A few nights ago I was up late reading a graphic novel-- The Gunslinger Born -- adapted from the book Wizard and Glass from Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. Around midnight I heard the unmistakable sound of gunshots. There were five or six shots in all and they sounded close by. I jumped up and ran to look out my back door and I saw a young man running across yards and I could hear people shouting. I told Dora to sit on the floor and I went out, baseball bat in hand, to "investigate". We live right beside the Sheriff's Department and I heard sirens literally within two minutes at most. I did not see anyone whom appeared hurt so I just watched the situation progress from my backyard. In no time at all there were eight or nine police cars, an ambulance, and a fire engine at the scene and the police started putting up the yellow "crime scene" tape. So I walked down to the street to get some photos and I found out that a man had been shot five times. A few minutes later, right after the ambulance left, I saw the LifeFlight helicopter fly overhead on its way to pick up the victim and take him to Vanderbilt. The next day we found out that the man who was shot is a guy that Dora knew from childhood. He had been approached by five teenagers, refused to give them his wallet, and was shot five times in the back and arm in his own driveway. All of this happened within 200 feet of where I was sitting. I took the photo you see above from my backyard and the trailer in the photo is the victim's. Most of the police were to the left of the fire engine, but by this time they were just standing around talking to each other so I took a picture of the cop that was taking statements from witnesses.

I had thought that we got away from this sort of thing when we moved here. Ever since this happened I find myself looking over my shoulder and peeking around corners when I am outside. I hope this was an isolated, random event but I am going to be paranoid for a while.