Month: June 2017

TSA Wants to Know What You’re Reading

John Guillen4 Comments

We’ve all been to the airport. Take off our shoes. Remove belts. All electronics removed. That funky machine that makes you put your arms in the air. Now the TSA is moving closer to requiring that books and magazines be taken out of bags too.

The TSA of course would have you blame carriers. The government would have you blame terrorists, but the question I still have is, “Really?”. Is this really going to make airports in America that much safer by forcing people to remove their books and magazines from their bags? I don’t have the answer. But we can’t deny the possibility and likelihood of discrimination. Someone with brown skin reading a book in Arabic just so happens to get screened more thoroughly. An Hispanic looking person with a book about immigration in America also undergoes additional screening.

These things already happen today. I believe this new policy only makes these instances more likely and prevalent. I always take books when flying. From now on I’ll just put them in my checked bag.

I Had Such a Good Start

John GuillenLeave a comment

And yet, here we are. In January I read 10 books. I was off and running. I was going to sprint right past my annual goal. I was devouring each book I opened. Now? Nearly five months and multiple DNFs later my total for the year is 11 books.

Now is when I make excuses. In February I started a new job. In April I went on an eight day vacation. Last month I began a new relationship with a great girl. I mean, those count for something. I’ll just pretend that relationships, jobs, and trips don’t happen for others so I can feel like I have valid reasons for not reading. 🤔

I Didn’t Die

John Guillen1 Comment

I’d been on a nice stretch of consistently posting leading up to this month. I think I’d posted everyday of the year. Then I realized I just wanted to take a break. Without having to write anything on here. So that’s what I did. I took a break. I’ll be getting back into my groove here now. But in anything you do don’t be afraid to take a step back every once in awhile.

73 Years Later, Still Can’t Forget

John Guillen1 Comment

Today is the 73rd anniversary of D-Day.

I think often of this date. Why? Because the world I have come to know could be very different had D-Day not been successful. Of course success doesn’t mean it was easy. Thousands of lives lost in a single day. Some never even reached the beaches of occupied France.

People think of World War 2 in different lights. It mostly depends on which area of the world you find yourself in. But there is no denying one thing. Hitler was a dictator. A dictator with an enormous following. A dictator with enormous resources at his disposal. A dictator with allies.

All it takes is a simple Google search to realize the immense amount of land that came under Nazi control. Just take a look at continental Europe. Now imagine it being nearly all under Nazi control.

I cannot say this enough. Hitler would have never been content with controlling continental Europe. Japan was expanding in the east and the next logical target for Germany would have been further west. After the UK, which somehow managed to remain free of occupation during the war, an invasion of the US would have been inevitable. AN INVASION OF THE US. It’s a statement you can’t help but gasp at.

But guess what? The generations before us didn’t have to endure that reality. Due in large part to the efforts of the men and women who participated in the events of D-Day.

We tend to forget things rather quickly in the era of social media. But we can’t. Not this. Not ever. We’re fast approaching the time in which we’ll have no more active participants from World War 2. Every man and woman from the war deserves our deepest gratitude for standing up for so much more than a flag or a government. They stood up for freedom. They stood up for those who had been betrayed by their own countrymen. And they stood up for what is right in a world full of evil.

Today, like all days, we should remember the immense sacrifices of those who came before us. D-Day stands out among the days we tend to forget, but I refuse to.

To Meet or Not To Meet

John GuillenLeave a comment

Michael Connelly is coming to Houston next month in support of his new book. I haven’t had the chance to meet him before. I’m thinking I might want to. But of course my schedule has to allow me to.

Meeting authors is always interesting. You gain insight and persepective you can’t obtain any other way. Social media is nice, but it just isn’t quite the same as having them right in front of you speaking about their experience and writing.

I’m thinking I’ll likely meet him. I mean, he created Harry Bosch.