Happy Birthday to a very special lady that has been a third grandmother to me: Audrey Smith.

I have finally finished. I have reached the end of the journey that is The Dark Tower. I have to tell you - the ending is not the catharsis most - or even all - would expect or hope for. BUT...it IS a kickass ending, filled with more meaning and significance than I could possibly put in my blog (and that's saying something considering the how long-winded I can be on this thing).

Does Roland reach the Dark Tower? What happens? I'm not going to tell you...it's a much more satisfying experience to read it for yourself.

Speaking of things Dark Tower, I paid for and downloaded the musical score for The Gunslinger by J.R. Flynn. The website describes it thus: "Dark, rustic and dreamy, this new music is a melding of Bernard Herrmann's Twilight Zone scores and Ennio Morricone's Spaghetti Westerns, with a twist of Aaron Copland for flavor. In short, it's a dark western, rustic and lyrical." They're not far off, except the style mimics a not-as-polished Danny Elfman twinge to it. In any case, it completely fits the first Dark Tower book perfectly, especially Roland's fanfare.