CNN reporting this tonight:

Developing..

A little personal issue tonight is on my mind..

I have become aware of some troubling news tonight … a friend of mine and a fellow graduate from the class of 1999 somewhere in Pennsylvania, somewhere in time, has passed away way too early after a long battle with breast cancer. I won’t give details of her full name or location, but I decided to write something about this to share some thoughts…

Her name is Lori. And she was filled with life from the moment I met her way back in my high school years. I saw her about two years ago for the first time in ages .. she was in a darker place, battling cancer, and fighting for her life. But living each moment..

I did not speak to her for several months, but that last time I did she seemed ok. She seemed happy, and truly joyful to have moments of life to enjoy.

Today I came to understand that she passed into the next realm, whatever that realm may be..

She is gone too early.. she is gone to fast. The class of 99 is without someone –already. I pray for Lori and her family.. I cannot imagine the grief.

A few months ago I had a Facebook chat with her, in which she was asking me about my then 17-month-old and she was telling me about her 9-year-old.  It would so happen to be that last time I spoke to her, unfortunately. During our conversation she explained she just got done having chemotherapy that very day. But it is what she said about family that stuck with me.. Lori said something that now haunts me as much as it does inspire me. Talking about her own children, children she loved, she said, “I wake every morning for them.”

I don’t know what will happen tomorrow when she does not wake for them. I don’t know the rules about death. No one does.. We don’t understand life let alone death. We seldom realize that the final hours could be at our doorstep, waiting and lurking to take us.. We don’t want to come to grips with our own collective demise. And why should we!?
We have people to wake for. We have things to do. Lori did.. and she turned away from the darkness that so many would have succumbed to and embraced light instead. She embraced hope and happiness, and stopped counting down the days and instead began living each moment to the very fullest..

Life takes turns we never expect. Sometimes you meet someone who is living proof that you can live each day with joy and wonder, and live it like it’s your last..

GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,
    Old time is still a-flying :
And this same flower that smiles to-day
    To-morrow will be dying.

Then be not coy, but use your time,
    And while ye may go marry :
For having lost but once your prime
    You may for ever tarry.

It’s being called the GIF for the ages. First Lady Michelle Obama rolls her eyes at the House Speaker.. if only we could have been a fly in the food for this conversation..

This is the mid-winter slump, if you did not know that already. Today is supposedly the most depressing day of the year (bills are due, and somehow we get treated to AP and Reuters dispatches each January 20ish to stories about how we should all be sad right now, one month or so after the upbeat time of Christmas).. I am not sad, so I guess as usual I am not marching to the beat of the drum. If there is a drum I’d love to know the drummer..

Nonetheless, I just wanted to put out that every now and then on the top part of HORROR REPORT, you may see something that says “lines are open” or “call me now.”  I am being literal.  When that appears, it means I am available for phone calls if you are using Skype. You can simply click on the link and you can call me through Skype.. I will try to answer all calls I get, and it could be a great way for me to interact with readers..

Even when the lines are closed, I am always available at Bryan@horrorreport.com. Every now and then, once in a blue moon, you can find me on AOL using the name Loomicide. But I’m told AOL instant messenger is too 20th century to keep using..

Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day.
And happy Inauguration day, America. Let’s hope the next four years are a little better than the past four..

LOW BUDGET HORROR ‘MAMA’ BEATS ACTION STARS AT BOX OFFICE

It was supposed to be about hope and change. Instead it ended badly, with a rapper’s performance slamming President Obama and bringing up 9/11 conspiracies… and it all happened last night at one of President Obama’s events.

The rapper’s name: Lupe Fiasco. He’s a real person–though he isn’t as large a star as some others in his genre.. Until now: Last night, while performing, he was literally taken off the stage. The DAILY CALLER has more..

The grainy video here:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1t6PyaClBI]

The original batmobile driven by Adam West and Burt Ward in the 1960s sells at an auction for $4.6 million..

How amazing it would be to drive the interstate to work in this. Congrats to the lucky rich guy who now has a part of historic pop culture..