Jun 27, 2025
The courtyard of the Caretakers Cottage at The Stanley Hotel. Such an amazing place to visit!
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The courtyard of the Caretakers Cottage at The Stanley Hotel. Such an amazing place to visit!
Happy Birthday Stephen King!
Stephen King, the king of horror and suspense, turns 70 today! Thanks for the thrills and chills!
Art by Cristiano Siqueira
In honor of Sai King's birthday today (as you may know, one of my biggest idols) I am revealing just why Stephen King is not just important to me, but to my entire family...
It was about six or seven years ago when Fox acquired his father's massive collection of books. Koontz, Barker, Bradbury, many of these he had already read. Then there was all the Stephen King books (no King fan has ever had just one or two King books). Fox had read many of those as well. Was, like myself, a big fan of them in fact. But one series stood out above all others...
The Dark Tower. Stephen King's magnum opus.
Fox's father started reading the series and, like most "Tower Junkies", couldn't wait to get his hands on the next part of the adventure... except, he would never get to finish that journey.
His father passed away before getting to finish those stories. Before our hero, Roland Deschain, finished his quest to the Dark Tower. A quest that Fox himself had never read about. It was when these books were uncovered in his father's collection that he immediately began reading.
Fox sped through those books like they were his only ticket out of hell. It was obvious he was getting his fix and not long before he joined the "Tower Junkies." It warmed my heart seeing him so excited to read through these.
Then came the time all readers, who find a story that set their souls into a blissful euphoria, fear most: The Final Chapter. It was hard on Fox. He had completed a journey his father never could. He had gotten to The Tower and, in Roland Deschain's words, "never forgotten the face of his father."
It was touching, sad, and above all else, inspiring. It was then that he put the book down.. and I picked it up.
It was my turn of the wheel so to speak. Where his journey ended, mine began. It wouldn't take long before I learned just how meaningful that little gesture would be.
I'm not gonna lie, I didn't want the journey to end. I couldn't bare parting with this adventure I had embarked upon for the past three years. I was hooked. I went from "Tower Junkie" to complete "Tower Overdose". It was heartbreaking knowing that I will never get to experience it for the first time ever again.
Recently I finished that last chapter. I had held it off for so long. I sat on the stoop of my stairs outside and let myself just accept that the journey was coming to an end (although you other Junkies know the real truth behind that statement). Tears were shed, breaths were held, and a lot of smiles were expressed over those words.
I will always be thankful for that story coming into our lives. It changes you. Its the kind of story that becomes almost sentient after a while. Like an old friend that's been with you all your life somehow. I'm already planning on getting a Dark Tower themed tattoo on my arm next month in fact. Its the kind of story you never really can, or want, to let go of. Because of this, we recently set the books aside and decided to keep them for our son to read when he is older.
Then it dawned on us... "Ka-tet" (a term similar to "Family" in the Dark Tower series). These books belong to our "Ka-Tet". Our Family. This story is what we plan to pass down from generation to generation. These stories that were, unknowingly, passed down from Fox's father to him, then from Fox to me. Now from us to our Son and maybe one day from him to his children. Turning the wheel of Ka over and over again...
This story.
It is this reason why Stephen King is an important figure in our household. Why I scream like a child whenever I see one of his tattered old books at a thrift store or at a garage sale. This is why I love reading everything he has to write. Hell, why I love reading, period.
This man. I have so many words I'd love to say to this man, but I am not a writer. I could never get across how much he's changed my life or my family's. All I can say is this...
We haven't forgotten. Long Days and Pleasant Nights, Friend. Thankee Sai and Happy Birthday.
#Inktober 26.I love Sai King and Carrie is one of the best novels/movies in my opinion.
Sai Kung rock may hold key to To Kwa Wan relics’ history
While the archaeological finds along the new Sha Tin-Central link have caused a stir, a rock that may shed light on the discoveries stands largely unnoticed in a quiet corner of Sai Kung.
It bears a 740-year-old inscription that documents salt production in Hong Kong back in the Southern Song dynasty (AD1127 to AD1279). It is the oldest-dated inscription known in Hong Kong.
The rock, on a slope above the 748-year-old Tin Hau Temple at Joss House Bay, is a declared monument under legal protection. The text – still mostly legible – states that the inscription was carved on July 20, 1274, upon the request of resident Lin Daoyi. Read more.