October Dust Jackets In February

"Two guys, a goat and a ghost: A love story based on true events that may or may not be false.

 Who doesn't love a good goat story?"

~Jarod Kintz

This Book Is Not FOR SALE

I went out the other night to do an errand, and happened upon this scene. It's the wall of a store I frequent, that also happens to be covered in a vine, which is bright colored with autumn leaves, when it is autumn, but when it's winter, takes on a dull, deep brown/green deathly color. The tree to the right is a Liquid Amber, but under the street lamp, it appears to have a rather ghostly look and presence. It's so pale that one would expect to see a ghost sitting in it, if your imagination is anything like mine. But really, I ask you, how many ghosts sit in trees? That's not very likely is it? No, probably not. But when I finished editing this photo, I thought maybe I would see what it would look like if a ghost were to sit on one of the pale branches. I mean, maybe that is a whole untapped area of ghost fiction. Tree sitting ghosts! Just imagine. You move into a dream home, which you purchase off the Internet, of course, and everything is fine, except for the fact that the Liquid Amber tree in the front yard is HAUNTED!

Here is how the dust jacket might look...

Now, if I could just figure out why the ghost is sitting in the tree!

1. Does the ghost have a better view of something?

2. Does the ghost long for October as much as I do?

3. Does the ghost miss the color of autumn leaves, 

when all the trees look so pale?

4. Is the ghost an actual haunting, or is she a residual haunting?

5. Is it really a ghost? Or is it just a bit of wispy fog that got stuck between some branches?

6. Does the tree sitting specter scream or moan?

7. Does the ghost ever venture forth into the house?

8. Does the ghost ever stare, with it's spooky dead eyes, into the windows of the Internet house?

 

 Am I really the ghost, because of my haunting

 of my favorite trees?

As with most ghost stories, there are more questions than answers. 

 

 One more, just for fun, for the sequel.

Care to share? If you were to write a ghost story,

 based on these two dust jackets, what would the story be?

 Why is there a ghost in the trees?

 Please feel free to share your thoughts on this.

Mood: Happy But Curious

~Me :)

 

Reading Wicked...

"A good book should leave you... slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it."

-William Styron, interview, Writer's At Work, 1958

The play "Wicked" is once again in San Francisco, at the Orpheum theater, and I would love to see it, but with the two furloughed days being taken out of Alan's check twice a month, it means that we are losing about $400 monthly. It's really not a good time to spend money on the theater, which is sad not just for us, but for the performers who are facing this recession right along with the rest of us. But just for the sake of argument, I took a look at the schedule to see if maybe we could go in a few months, and it turns out that if we went in June, a couple days before my birthday, to a matinee, it would be about $200 for two tickets, plus a convenience fee! We might be able to swing it, if we plan, but it doesn't seem like it is the most practical thing to do with our money, given the present circumstance.

Sigh.

Governor Schwarzenegger is planning on keeping the furlough days on the schedule until June of 2010! That's going to be hard on everyone. It will have the ripple effect of 238,000 state workers having even less to spend, but it's this or face the layoff notices of some 20,000 state employees. Alan has been in his job long enough that it is unlikely that he would be one of those facing a pink slip, but we know folks it could happen to, so everyone is just holding their breath and hoping for the best. Whatever that is. One thing is for sure, no one we know is spending money on trips to movies, let alone trips to broadway shows.

Sigh.

Oh well, I might not be able to see the play "Wicked" but I can read the book... right? I was just mentioning the other day it had been about 2 years since I had visited my favorite little book store, so I decided to drop in there and pick it up. I have always identified with the characters from the Wizard of Oz, particularly Dorothy, so why not jump back into the fantasy, this time as told from a different perspective, so I bought "Wicked, The Life And Times Of The Wicked Witch Of The West" by Gregory Maguire, the book on which the play "Wicked" is based.

My reading usually consists of biographies, and non-fiction, the last book I read was Valerie Plame Wilson's book, Fair Game, I also enjoy reading mysteries, especially Mary Higgins Clark, and on occasion I read books with a humorous take on things such as "Bridget Jones' Diary" but fantasy isn't really a genre I have been too interested in. I read "The Hobbit" series when I was in high school, but that's been about it, well except for a few books by Alice Hoffman. "Practical Magic" remains on my desk as one of my favorite books of all time, but I think it will be having a little company with the book I am reading right now... I can't put it down.

"Wicked..." is a dark read. I will just say that. It turns out that the wicked witch of the west, and I, have a lot in common. I won't say what exactly, but I can identify... we'll leave it at that. What I will say is that she is a strong woman, who doesn't sit around waiting to be led... she makes decisions. She knows who she is, and makes no apologies. I admire that. :) I am about 2/3 of the way through, and I bought it a little over a week ago. I can't wait to buy more books in the series, because I want to find out what comes next. I always knew there just had to be more to the story. This book has been out for quite a while, and because of my reading snobbery I am only just now discovering it. MY BAD. Take it from me, if there is a genre of book you have been avoiding for whatever reason, take a step out of the norm and buy a book you might have never considered before, you never know what gem you might find!

If you haven't read it yet... go read it! If you have read it, tell me what you think! What was the last book you read? Do you have a favorite genre of book? If you have to choose one book to have the rest of your life, which book would it be?

Tell me everything! Let's talk books!

Wicked, The Life And Times Of The Wicked Witch Of The West.

-Carly