Bob Ross, the drug-free way to relax and fall asleep

Earlier this week I was lying in bed, looking through Netflix to find something to watch. Then I saw "Bob Ross: Beauty is Everywhere". I think the series is made up of select episodes from his old  "Joy of Painting" Series.

Right, that's him. The guy who paints Happy Trees and says there are no mistakes, only happy accidents. I told my wife that we should watch Bob Ross because nothing is more relaxing than watching him paint. It had been over 20 years since I'd watched him on PBS, but I remember falling asleep on the couch during his show. My wife wasn't interested.

Then my son Samuel came in to say goodnight. He has trouble getting to sleep and is always trying new ways to relax at bedtime - meditation, breathing exercises, listening to spa music, etc. I told him to watch this show with me, it's the most relaxing show in the world. He climbed into bed between us and loved it. Along with repeatedly saying, "Wow, he's amazing", by the end of the show Sam was almost asleep.

Now it's become his bedtime routine - he goes into our room and watches an episode of Bob Ross on Netflix. We laugh at the things he says - "Beat the devil out of it" when he cleans his brushes is Sam's favorite. My favorite is when he says "Let's get crazy" in a calm, soft tone.  By the end of an episode Sam's struggling to keep his eyes open, and then he goes to his bed. The funny thing is, my wife's been watching it with us and has fallen asleep before the episode is over a couple of times.

So for anyone having trouble getting to sleep or just wanting to relax, before reaching for that bottle of sleeping pills or any of that other harmful stuff, trying watching Bob Ross. After just one half hour episode, you'll probably be asleep and dreaming of happy trees. As Bob Ross says, there's nothing wrong with having a tree as a friend.

Bruce Robert Coffin - Adding to my signed book collection

A couple of nights ago I went to see Bruce Robert Coffin at the local library, Goodall Library. He's the author of Among The Shadows, which I read last month and really enjoyed. It's a crime/mystery story and takes place in Portland, Maine. A local setting always makes it more interesting, which is why so many Mainers love Stephen King. Well, people from everywhere love Stephen King, but still. We really love him.

The presentation was really good. I'd never actually been to see an author speak about his book. Bruce Coffin was really good, a confident, natural speaker. The type of guy that takes a question and speaks for the next 20 minutes and finishes up on a completely different topic, yet keeps it interesting. And I got a signed copy of his first book, of course.

I now have books signed by Stephen King, Richard Russo, Michael Chabon, Adam West, and Bruce Robert Coffin. Quite a varied collection, which I hopefully will continue to add to.

I've had a couple essays accepted for publication this week - one for Submittable which won't be published until June, another for Her View From Home, which will be published in May. In the meantime, I'm struggling with my next novel. I've written about 10,000 words but I may start all over. It's good, but it doesn't seem quite right yet.

And I'm thinking of writing a fifth Lettahs From Maine book, all Maine poems. Poems From Maine. Also thinking of doing a Lettahs From Maine podcast or vlog, but these are just ideas and I don't have the knowledge to do either one. I suppose I could learn. Or find someone smart to do it for me.

Writing (or not writing) when the weather is nice

It's been difficult getting anything done this week because the weather has been so nice. After a long Maine winter 50 degrees would seem tropical, but it went from the 20's to the 80's in about a week. Almost all the snow is gone, which is great. The problem is that my office is in the basement, with very little natural light and the bright fluorescent lights and cold dampness. It's nice and cool during the summer, but this week I really wanted to enjoy the sunshine and warmth. So my office didn't get much use.

I had a short story published a couple of weeks ago by Artificium, a UK publication. The story is "Tipping Headstones", about two teenagers who get drunk one night and tip over headstones in a cemetery. One of them forgets his sweatshirt and goes back for it the next day, where he is confronted by the cemetery caretaker. It's hard for me to believe but I wrote it about a year ago, and I remember thinking it was the best short story I'd written in a long time. I can't put a link to it because it is only available in print, so just take my word for it when I say it's good.

Last night I finished reading "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child", which my son Samuel really wanted me to read. It was excellent, as are all the Harry Potter books. I was hesitant to read it - I didn't like the idea of continuing the story when it had ended so perfectly - but I think it was well done.