So, as I write this, my Dad is in the hospital again, and I'm so upset, I can hardly think. I just came home from visiting him yesterday, and I can scarcely process the news.

It's weird; he's so excited about the new Star Wars movie, it's like he's... well, me, some 28 years ago. In fact, he had such a burning desire to find out what happens in the next movie, he bought the novelization and read it, weeks before the movie is due to come out. (It comes out on my birthday, by the way, and I've already bought my ticket.) He tried so hard to keep from giving any of the story away, but he's so excited and enjoyed it so much, he couldn't help himself. And now I'm excited about it in a way I hadn't been before, because now it's something we can share. (He even joined the Star Wars Fan Club so he could access the Hyperspace parts of the Star Wars web site, and hearing him talk about that, it made me want to do the same thing.)

When I went out, I brought the DVD and videotape of Cartoon Network's Clone Wars cartoon, which he hadn't seen. I wasn't sure if he'd like it; he's not a big cartoon fan, and he's not particularly interested in Star Wars stories beyond what's actually in the movies. But he really seemed to like these ones, and I'm glad we got to watch them together.

He gave me his copy of the novelization to read, after I've seen the movie, but in a strange way, that ended up prompting me to read another Star Wars novel myself, Labyrinth of Evil by James Luceno. I had stopped at Dark Carnival, the sci-fi/fantasy bookstore I worked at in high school, and saw the book there. It's a prequel novel, set right before the new movie, and I thought he might get a kick out of reading it. He hadn't been feeling so good that day, and I thought he might appreciate a get-well present. And it was a book club edition that they were selling for only $12, which was a good price. However, once I got it back to the house and started reading it, I decided I wanted to finish it myself first, before I passed it on to him.

Now, it should be no secret to folks who know me that I don't mind reading books based on TV shows and movies and stuff. However, I've never been particularly interested in the books based on the various Star Wars movies. To me, the original three movies tell a nice, rounded-off story, and I'm not particularly interested in what happened next to Han Solo or Luke Skywalker or Princess Leia. (This, from someone who used to make up Star Wars stories all the time with his action figures. But that was between the movies.) And I'm not too interested in reading the Clone Wars novels that tell the wartime adventures of the characters between the current movies, either. At least, my interest isn't particularly piqued by the descriptions of the novels I've seen. But this one... I think it's because I saw how excited Dad had gotten by reading his new Star Wars book, and I wanted to feel some of the same thing. Only I didn't want to read the story of the new movie, so this was as close as I could get, reading this prelude. And, you know, it wasn't half bad. I'm still not overly interested in reading any of the other books--although maybe slightly more than I had been before--but I had fun with this one.

So, you know, thanks, Dad. Get well soon, okay?

And, to change the subject slightly, I also read this new graphic novel called Four Letter Worlds from Image Comics, an anthology based around four themes: Love, Hate, Fear, and Fate, done by all sorts of my favorite creators. (Folks like Joe Casey, Steve Lieber, Jeff Parker, Scott Morse, Chynna Clugston, Jamie Rich, Andi Watson, J. Torres... Can't be bothered to look up the links, but feel free to Google them if you like.) Not every story was a winner, but enough of them were to justify the purchase. Oh, and Jay Faerber and Steve Rolston's one about noisy neighbors... Complete slice of my life.

Not sure if I'm going to go see Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy tomorrow or not. May need the excuse to get out and be distracted. We'll see.