Good Guy

What does it mean to be a good guy?  Some definitions are:

• Someone who has a good heart and good intentions, who cares about what he says and does and takes responsibility for his actions.
• In classic movies he will tend to wear a white hat, be nice looking, and usually wins the heart of a girl.
• Someone who will do anything for you.
• Someone who is reliable, intelligent; just a really decent individual.
• Someone who is on your side.

In literature, I have found most of the good guys have certain qualities: a strong since of loyalty; a strong moral code; a sense of fair play; an understanding of what is right and wrong; a strong commitment to stand by their convictions with honor and integrity.  The good guy is not always perfect, usually has some flaws, however, their flaws are never fatal.

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Today’s Quote:

‘Classic.’   A book which people praise and don’t read.

– Mark Twain

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A Great Poem For Our Snowy February

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there’s some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

 ♦  My Random Thoughts on this Poem:

There is nothing quite like being in the woods on a snowy evening…especially a moonlit evening.  The beauty is breath-taking and the solitude is unforgettable.

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Today’s Quote:

Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.

– Ronald Reagan

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The Death of Friend

Robert B. Parker, the bestselling, award-wining author of more than 60 books, died suddenly of a heart attack, sitting at his desk in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on January 18, he was seventy-seven.  He was long acknowledged as the dean of American crime fiction, and was named Grand Master of the Edgar Awards in 2002 by the Mystery Writers of America, an honor shared with earlier masters such as Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen. He was renowned for his Spenser novels, featuring the wise-cracking, street-smart Boston private-eye, which earned him a devoted following and reams of critical acclaim. The New York Times Book Review said of the Spenser books: “We are witnessing one of the great series in the history of the American detective story.”

 The world lost a great author, and I lost a series of friends:  Spenser, Hawk, and Susan Silverman; Jesse Stone and Suitcase Simpson; and Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole; and Sunny Randall as well as many others.  As Hawk might say,” No sense cryin’, you done us well Mr. Parker, you done us well.”

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Today’s Quotes:

“Books change lives. They are the repository of culture. They teach. They entertain. They are scholarship. They are art. They’re portable. You can pay twice as much for a sweater and the only thing that you will have is warmth and maybe good looks, but your life will not be changed and, once the sleeves wear thin, or the neckline frays, you will have nothing. But a book, even if the binding cracks, and the pages come loose, will stay with you, in your heart and mind, until you go to the grave.” –  John Ruskin

“When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes” – Desiderius Erasmus

 

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