Graduation Excitement

Graduation went really well. North Carolina is such a pretty place. And as always, Duke is soooo organized. We left last Thursday and spent several days with the kids before the big day. We drove to the coast, visited the historic district of Raleigh and ate at the Angus Barn, which is apparently the Big Texan of North Carolina - sort of. The decor is similar, large barn-like structure with antler chandeliers and primitive type wood tables. But everyone is very dressed up - and so is the menu. It was great for a graduation celebration. Graduation itself was a great experience and I can hardly believe that I have a kid that is a college graduate. I should feel old, but I don't for some reason. I'm really proud of her. I have pictures to follow as soon as I figure out how to get them on here.

I also read two books while I was enroute (well I actually read four, but didn't like two of them so we won't talk about those). One of the good ones was the new one by Mary Kay Andrews, Savanna Breezes. Its struck me as really ironic. I am working on a book that is in two first person points of view, but I hadn't seen it done well by anyone currently out there. But this book was a perfect example of two first person points of view done very well. And it worked.


The other one I read was a book called 'The Book of Joe'. This was a really interesting read. It is about a writer who wrote a scathing book about his home town that was made into a big movie and then, when his father has a stroke, this writer has to return to face a whole town full of very angry people. It's funny(especially the part where the reading club drives by his family's house and flings copies of the book on the lawn) but also delves into the idea of how to resolve old hurts and heartaches and still come out not seriously screwed up. For any of you women who are writing from a male point of view for some of your scenes, I highly recommend this as a study in what guys think and how they relate to each other.