Joel Arnold's Blog, page 19

The Shriner Circus

I went with my family to the Zurah Shrine Circus yesterday at the Target Center. Kind of a strange experience. Expensive as hell, even with our 'buy an adult ticket and the kids get in free' deal. With all the Ticket Master fees added on, and parking, it came to almost a hundred bucks. There were protesters outside, protesting the way the animals in the circus are treated, and they certainly have a point. But Paige took one of their fliers and didn't really look at it, thinking it was just a flier about the animals in general - not about them leading such dismal lives.  But as we were going in to the circus past the protesters, I couldn't help but think, geez, what buzzkills. Do they really need to be in our faces, the faces of our kids, as we go into this supposedly fun event? But I'll get back to that in a bit...

But so Paige really did enjoy the circus, and I thought it was okay, if a bit long. The concession folks who kept going up and down the auditorium steps were annoying, since they kept blocking our views, and then the intermission was a total 'bend over and open up you wallet' kind-of-a-thing, offering one-minute rides on elephants and ponies in tight, crowded circles for $10 bucks a pop. There were some neat acts, and the MC looked and sounded a lot like Fran Drescher (still not sure whether or not that's a good thing) and there was a tiger-tamer dude who came straight out of an '80's hair band (and was a lot more active than the tigers) and there were the sexy hula-hoop women and rope climber/danglers and motorcyclists-on-high-wires-with-more-women-dangling-from-below.

Zach was okay with the whole deal, and I think he liked some of it. He had a communication device with him that he's trying out - one that he can type onto, or touch pictures, and a voice says the words out loud, and as the circus was going on, he was writing things like 'grrrrrrr....' when the tigers were on stage.

Anyway, circuses have always seemed a little...off...to me. Great fodder for spooky stories, at least. And look, I know that the Shriners do a lot of great charity work, and this is a way to raise funds for that work, so I'm not trying to be an a-hole about the whole deal. But the more I thought about it and watched the elephants and the tigers and the ponies, and the more I thought about the protesters outside, the more I guess I appreciated the protesters. And as we drove home afterward, Paige and Melissa and I talked about the protesters and why they were there, and we decided that the animals in the circus, while they may be well-loved by the trainers, have a kind of shitty life, having to travel from city to city in trucks and then staying for the long weekends in whatever venue they're at for the weekend - in this case the Target Center, which is certainly not full of wind-swept savannahs and trees and ponds of lush water surrounded by quivering game to stalk.

So maybe, in a strange way, the circus with the protesters was better for my kids than a circus without the protesters. I guess that's all I'm really trying to say.

Ugh - Dreaming of the Macarena

Had a rough night sleeping last night. Zach woke up at 2am, upset about our ceiling fan not being on a high enough setting. Then he wanted to watch a Pokemon video, and since he was practically bouncing off the walls, and I wanted to go back to sleep, I stuck it in the DVD player. But so then I had this dream of being in either a mall or a high school with really wide halls, and suddenly everyone starts dancing the Macarena, only it's a really f'd up version, and I'm wondering, When did that change? Yet, I refrained from dancing to it, as I've always done even in real life, so that I'll still be able to hold my head up high and someday tell my grand-kids, "I scaled the walls of Kilimanjaro, made love on a hillside of Monarch butterflies, took a bullet out of my femur with my own teeth. But not once - not once, I tell ya - did I ever succumb to that goddamn Macarena."

Autism Walk

Just got back from the Autism Speaks walk at Canterbury Downs in Shakopee MN today. Paige's Brownie troop went as a team, and Zach and I tagged along. It was a nice turnout, and the weather, though it looked like it could rain, actually turned out to be pretty darn nice. Canterbury Downs, for those who don't know, is a race track for horses. Zach kept bending over and scooping up dirt and sifting it through his fingers. At one point, he bolted under the fence around the inside of the track, p...

Death

Haven't been Live Journaling lately - things have been busy, and aside from that, my father-in-law Joe Smith, Jr. died last week. He was an incredible man. He was the epitome of integrity and kindness and, well - just overall goodness.

His death didn't come as a suprise. He'd been in poor health for a long time. In fact, about seven/eight years ago we thought we were going to lose him when he had to go on a ventilator. But he survived that, got off the ventilator and had a number of mostly goo...

Snow Burn - a young adult suspense novel

My newest baby:



It's available in ebook format on Amazon and Smashwords.

A brief description:

17-yr old Tommy Connell knows he’s in trouble when he goes winter camping with his friend Vince Nguyen without telling his folks. But when they’re caught in a sudden blizzard, and the man they rescue from freezing to death turns out to be an escaped convict, Tommy’s troubles are only beginning. Now Tommy and Vince must not only survive the blizzard, but also find a way to keep Quinn – who’ll stop at...

The Diary

I've been transcribing my mother-in-law's diaries lately, so haven't taken the time to post on this here blog.

Judy's diaries were written when she was a teenager in the mid to late 1950's in Watertown, South Dakota. It involves teenage love and heartbreak, high school dances, going to the 'big city' (Sioux Falls) and the death of a sister. It's very fascinating, and I'm thankful she's given me permission to read them and put them in a word file. She has neat handwriting, so it's pretty easy t...

An Interview - short and sweet.

I was interviewed for the Kindle Author Blog by author David Wisehart about Northwoods Deep and a little about writing in general, as well.

The Indie Spotlight

Hey, my novel Death Rhythm is featured today on The Indie Spotlight blog!

Now back to your regularly scheduled deprogramming...

Operation E-Book Drop

I joined up with a great organization called  Operation E-Book Drop  that allows members of the Armed Forces to download free copies of participating authors' ebooks. Since I'm hardly military material, I hope I can at least give a few service members the opportunity of a mental vacation every once in a while.

If you or anyone you know is interested in participating, you can contact Edward Patterson and let him know of your interest.
edwpat (at) att (dot)

(Logo From the Imagination and Graphic...

Paint Under My Fingernails

Melissa likes to change things up every once in a while, and this past week it's been the walls of our kitchen and living room. We took down the wallpaper border, and sanded and primered the previous wallpapered areas, and now we're painting the kitchen and part of the living room red. A fresh blood red. Although I believe it's actually called 'Cherry Tart.' The rest of the living room will get a sort of latte color. There are lots of edges to paint. Lots of cabinets and counters and refriger...