Time for a coffin break (posty part.2)

I promise, nice links (more or less) from now on.

First, Ben & Jerry's presents sweet Halloween games like Whack-A-Ghoul.

I love scary movies. Check out some of these free, low-budget, Halloween films and toons at Atomfilms.

So, if you saw a zombie would you ask it play? (this is just, uber weird)

Which reminds me.....I haven't checked in on Vendetta recently.

Go on, explore Bitey Castle, you'll be glad you did.

I will have you know - in my own defence - that prank flash movies have a well-established history on the net (and in my use). (No the link is not a prank, but takes you to a Wiki entry)

What would Halloween be without some good ghost stories?

The Raven - E.A. Poe - say no more?

Play the Ghost Motel

Type the words to make the ghosts go away in The Typing of the Ghosts.

trick or treat, smell my feet...

All this discussion of Fruits Basket this weekened, in my off time while not reading Son of a Witch, inspired a watching of the first 3 volumes of Fruits Basket with Allegra. I just love this series...and, personally, I'm on the Kyo side of the whole Yuki/Torhu/Kyo thing. But it's ok....I'm quite comfortable with the rest of you Yuki fans being just wrong. ;-P

Yay, Monday!!

Happy Halloween!!

I had a very nice, relaxing weekend - a nice change. So, now I'm in my costume again for a fun day of Halloween-ness. Although, I'm wearing the contacts again (it's rather pointless to make the effort of wearing all the makeup when I wear the glasses on top of it), and my eyes are feeling itchy - so I might put the glasses on in a while. But I pulled out the big wool, swooshy cape and will be wearing that today as well. I love the cape! Mary also enjoyed the cape, on Friday night at the library while we were waiting for everyone to arrive so that we could leave for the Halloween thing at RiverMist, she had it on and was swishing about the library.

So, now linkies of Halloween goodness:

First, an old favorite: XOMBIE, the animated series.

I absolutely loved H.P. Lovecraft as a teenager. I made it a point, along with the other black-clad malcontents to seek out all of his works, no matter how obscure, and enjoy the fact that very few others "got it". Here is a little game I found based on the "De-animator".

Prefer something a little lighter? Garfield's Scary Scavenger Hunt is perfect.

This little thing for Scary Monsters Mag is so....very.....cute!!! I mean, it's adorable, and the song that goes with it is just so cute!! There's even a "Sam Scare"!

Seven days....

And for giggles, here is a copy of the story that I performed at the Halloween thing on Friday. I adapted it, which is to say, that I made the language accessible to a modern-day audience. I also schmoobled with the pacing a bit, and well, made the story my own. (Hmm, perhaps I should post my adaptation), nah, effort involved that I don't feel like making. So, enjoy The Ghost of a Hand, the actual narrative.

Too much scary? How about a game of Where's Waldo?

Of course, now I need to go to work...I'm afraid this post will require a part two later today as this is just too much fun.

I'm also thinking of putting together a BF blog-ring...seeing as how many other kids have blogs now (hah! Sneaking writing into their fun!!), probably nothing more elaborate than putting their links on my page. Anyway, things to ponder.

the sun'll come out

Relief! Deep breaths! Sleep in (kind of)!

All the Halloween commitments are over and went ever so well.

So, I decided to see if I can exceed my photobucket bandwidth limit. :)

Last night's event was excellent! It was a more staid Halloween treat - instead of walking down a creepy hallway where things jumped out at you, this was more of a story-based haunt - more culture than the typical Halloween program.

When one walked up and purchased their ticket, they would go up onto the porch of the house where Jeanie as Madame Rosa would tell their fortune (hilarious!!!), then they would come inside where they would be told a ghostly story about the house from Tara:

Tara, the tour guide:

After that they would be ushered into a room where Steve (no picture available) would tell them a story of Salem, witchcraft, voodoo, and threats.

After that they would be ushered into the front parlor where I would regail them with a classic gothic tale (which goes to show you how few people really know the classic gothic pieces!). I adapted the narrative "A Ghost of a Hand" by J.S. Le Fanu, and performed it - quite well, I think. My first group included a cute little boy dressed up as a mouse, and, well, I cut out some sections of the story as his eyes were huge and round, and I was rather afraid I was scaring him too much. I had a great time though, scaring people the rest of the night. It's a great story, and after about the 3rd retelling I had it down so well that I was able to really start embellishing and playing with the story depending on audience reactions.

Anyway, me, the storyteller:

Then, once they were done with the in-house activities they coul go through the garden where poetry was being recited by spooks in hats:


And around the back where they could get a snack from the anime food troop. The group did pretty well, for basically a bake sale, they snagged a good $50.
Sara and Megan were excellent witches walking around being all "witchy". To prove her essential witchiness, Sara did take care to wear mis-matched socks, of which she was quite proud.


All in all, it was quite a bit of fun. But I think I'll wait another year to do that again!

and now for something completely different

I'm sure this won't come as a surprise to the rest of you, but I just read about it in the paper yesterday (heavily paraphrased):

Six students at BFUHS have earned the designation of AP scholar by the College Board in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the college-level AP exams.

[Brief description of what the AP program is]

At BFUHS one student qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction award - Laurel!

Three qualified for AP Scholar with Honors: Jessica, Myles, and Leah!

Two qualified for AP Scholar: Jenna and Michael!

Well, one party is out of the way. I spent an enormous amount of time getting ready for the library Halloween party yesterday, all the while, in the back of my head is the thought: no one is going to come....the publicity wasn't that great....it's on a new night...nobody goes to Halloween parties anymore....

At 4:00 I locked the library door and the volunteers and I got to work getting the room ready for the party. Meanwhile thinking: what do I tell them when in an hour we've had more volunteers than guests.....

While I realize that it's normal to have the "what if no one comes" response to that parties that one throws, it's still not a comfortable feeling.

However, the party time came and people started pouring in...I stopped counting after 225. Bloody hell it was packed in there! Like last year people would do the activities, have a bit of food, and then leave - and that was good, because as soon as someone left someone else was waiting to come inside. I had planned a bunch of large group games (a la musical chairs, pass the pumpkin, pin the tail on the cat) that didn't happen - couldn't happen because the room was so full of people. I count on people signing up to bring food, and sure, lots of people did sign up, but there just wasn't enough food for everyone (one very kind person went and bought some pizzas and brought them over to the party). The stories also didn't happen - too many people, too much noise, so I just turned the music up. I did get a great Halloween party CD for this one - it had the favorite Halloween monster songs (Monster Mash, Time Warp, etc.) sandwiched between upbeat, sort-of-in-the-same-theme disco songs. It was perfect - nothing like watching these little kids start boogying to "brick house" - and it was lively so the atmosphere was up.

Still, what a relief to have that one done and out of the way. And it was kind of nice to not be answering questions or helping out with books - and people that wanted books could still take them upstairs and check them out, but I was freed up from being concerned for an evening. I've always been an information junkie, and I'm compelled to answer any question put my way - the process of finding the answer is actually quite a lot of fun for me. But, still, it was really nice to have so many patrons that I usually help in that way just hanging out and having a good time.

AND THE COSTUMES!!! Some years we've had nothing but princesses and vampires, but this year the costumes were all over the place! One of my favorites was this little boy in a duck costume, it was sooo cute!!! The costume was just too big, and pinned in to fit, so he couldn't really walk and actually had to waddle in it. There were lots of Fantastic 4 costumes, and sure enough several witches and vampires (one young with had adorable hot pink platform sandals with a little spider perched over the toe). There were the standard Disney Princesses, but the costumes for them were so much better this year - from an adorable tinker bell, to a simply fabulous Ariel. to a grand Snow White and a traditional Mulan (why haven't boys ever figured out to dress as "Prince Charming".....). And there some cute cows, frogs, fairies, and some kids even came dressed as "middle school students", one mom said "I dressed up as an angry mom - how's that for scary?"

Now, I have the party tonight. I need to practice my story a lot more. Luckily my whole day has opened up. See, the ceiling upstairs in the library is being painted and, not wanting to be around paint fumes, the upstairs closed and no one is coming in, and well, if the upstairs is closed, the downstairs has to be as well. But, there WILL be D&D tonight (lest panic ensue), except for the kids coming with me to do the Halloween party. So, since I don't have to work, there is no good excuse for me not to practice my story over and over and over and over and over and.....yeah, that's why I'm blogging now.

What I'm reading: I'm still reading Son of a Witch and loving it! But, another book caught my attention and so I read that one really quickly and it's EXCELLENT! Great fun - How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship, and Musical Theater. This is not a teen book - but rather an adult novel for that age that has just grown out of teen books - or adults like me that would be about the same age as the protagonist (although he's about 5-6 years older then me - it's set in 1984) that experienced arrested development around 25. It's also very clearly for a gay audience, and omgs it's got it's "naughty bits" in it, but around all of that it's a really funny, rather sweet, coming of age novel (kind of like Sweet Valley High with a lot more homoerotica), about having the courage to see who you really are.

errata

Well, now that my initial reaction to the snow is over, winter can come and I promise less kicking and screaming as long as I'm allowed the occasional grumble. I think it's a good compromise.

With that out of the way, I'm all set for my mini-freak-out about Thursday and Friday. Actually, I'm pretty good for both. See, Thursday is my big Annual Family Halloween party at the library, and aside from needing to make 6 dozen cupcakes tonight (yay, warm oven and delicious cupcake smell in the house!), I'm pretty much all set. Allegra's entire Junior Girl Scout troop signed up as helpers, so I think it's going to go pretty smoothly this year. It's just daunting - last year we had about 150 over the course of the night and we'll see how it goes tomorrow. On Friday though is my Theater Company's "House of Spirits and Whispers" with Rivermist B&B. It's not a typical haunted house with lots of booing and cheap thrills. Instead it's a more staid, literary event, with two storytellers (I'm one, part of the stress, I need to practice my story!!), poetry recitations in the garden, a witch scene, a gypsy fortune teller, and a concession stand - where most of my stress is located. It's the anime group. They're raising funds for the next TAC trip, which is to go to AnimeBoston in May (a comparitively less expensive trip coming in at a mere $2500) - and I'm a bit stressed that a they will be able to focus long enough, no scratch that, most of them will be able to focus and do just fine, it's one girl who not only can't focus, can't bear to let anybody else focus (unless it's on her), who I'm worried is going to purposely sabotage the thing just so she can have the attention. But it should be ok....I've got a parent volunteer signed up for each hour of the thing to oversee the group (never had to do that with the Broadway trip, but this is a different group, and I recognize that it's not fair to them to compare....still....).

I found this bit of information that I thought was pretty neat. Blogshares, how much might your blog be worth? (I know, I know, it's priceless)

Have you ever heard anyone say about watching television talk shows "I like watching the idiots on the Jerry Springer show because then my life seems pretty good", well, this confessional site is like that. Choose a sin, read the confession, and be glad it isn't you.

It's no secret that I can appreciate a good prank (especially if it's not against me), and this site cataloging prank websites is just excellent. All the classics are here from Chrissy Caviar to Manbeef, Freck's New Feet, "Our first time", Bonsai Kitten, and Dog Island. These just crack me up.

This little game starring a cute puppy is a bit too addictive. While this game features all the joy of bubble wrap and pool.

Remember the Kitty Cat Dance? Magical Trevor? Badger Badger? Kenya Lions? They're taking the hobbits to Isengaard? All internet songs that got stuck in your head until you were afraid you're head might pop. At least this one is honest.

Clearly some people cannot be left alone with MS Paint.

So, let's say you're a LARPer out doing your foam-rubber-sword thing, when all of a sudden you see a group of hipster geeks coming at you, no not walking, more like lurching. What the hell!? It's Hipster Zombie Nerds vs. D&D Nerds (no, I'm not making this up).

Why, no, it's not the Simpsons, it's another clever spoof. While we're looking at spoofs, how about some false advertising.

I admit, this is a little cruel, but still....how much would Star Jones charge to participate in an eating contest?

It's kind of cute, and kind of weird - no, really, really weird. It's Looking for my Leopard.

What I'm reading: Son of a Witch - the new book "companion" (Maguire's words not mine!) to Wicked!! I just started it, so I'll have to write more later.

What I'm watching: Gilgamesh Volume 2 - funny, funny stuff.

AAARGH!!!

It's snowing!!! This just sucks - it's been sleeting all morning and now there's big, fluffy, GIANT, freezing snowflakes coming down.

Anyway, just a mini-post because I had to share.

I'm gonna go make some soup. And hot chocolate. And put on a giant sweater. .....grumble....

Because I said so. That's why.

So my birthday falls on the exact cusp between Libra and Scorpio (either one is used for October 22nd depending on which paper you read).

I say I came into this world knowing I needed to keep my options open.

While I've always tended to lean towards the "Libra" (how abitrary...), I like the Scorpio tendencies as well...I've decided my ranting has to do with the Scorpio side. Because I didn't realize I ranted regularly. I've often thought of it as just verbalizing my thought process. However, a certain young gentleman that hangs out around my desk at the library whose name rhymes with "Moss" pointed out that I rant on a regular basis. I said that I'm just doing lots of thinking.

Anyway, fun times ahead. Jay and Ali got me a whole new sushi set (which is fun AND needed!), I'm going out for dinner tonight, and yarn shopping first (Jay suggested no less!). I do actually *need* to go yarn shopping. Since I made those "wizard" scarves that were auctioned off with the Harry Potter Basket for the Friends of the Library, I've gotten several commissions to make more that people are planning on giving as Christmas gifts (according to Devik, because I wasn't there during the auction, my basket and D. Saaf's were the only two that auctioned for over $100 - not bad!). So, I figure, at cost for materials and how long it takes me to make one, each wizard scarf costs $60 (a steal!). And an interesting point: no one wants a Gryffindor scarf - they all want the Slytherin-style.

So, fun things I've discovered and feel like sharing:

I love the Magic Eye books. Of course, I love them because I can do them. I'm not sure if it's because of my poor eyesight/astigmatism that enables this particular talent or something else. Regardless, I realize this may not be a nice statement BUT, I love that it takes me seconds to see them while other people around me have to strain for hours. I know, that wasn't very nice, and I shouldn't enjoy feeling superior over something so stupid, but who cares. I can. I do. Sue me.

Magazine quizzes, chain letter quizzes, internet quizzes - what a joke! This one gets it right.

Mondo Mini Shows: Showing bad animated taste at an internet near you.

There is no shame in saying that, in its time, I was something of a Breakout champion. It was either that or computer chess. *sheesh*

I love word games. This little definition game was fun until it became clear it didn't pose much of a challenge, but still - worth trying out.

I would love to put my cats in any of these costumes. Except for fear of the pain I would suffer during the costuming and after as they made their personal humiliation known. Looking at this page is kind of like a story in itself. You start off with the disturbed, not-yet-read to retailiate costume, and partway down you see psycho-cat. I imagine the well-bandaged hands of the kitty costumers that made this possible. (warning: traumatized felines)

Another addictive game.

What I'm reading: I love good first lines. Mary Roach's book "Stiff" starts with a great one.

I imagine being dead is a lot like being on a cruise ship. Most of your time is spent lying on your back. The flesh begins to soften. And no one really expects anything of you. (or something very much like that, because I'm typing from memory).

And Christopher Moore's book "The Stupidest Little Angel" starts off with:

Christmas crept into Pine Cover like a creeping Christmas thing: dragging garland ribbon and sleighbells, oozing eggnog, reeking of pine, and threatening festive doom like a cold sore under the mistletoe.

And my new read has another great first line:

On Career Day Lily visted her dad's wrk with him and discovered he worked for a made scientist who wanted to rule the earth through destruction and desolation

And another great line:

While the three kids met at the Aero-Bistro, Larry, hidden away in his secret laboratory, was lowering himself into a salt bath. He pulled off his mask, muttering, "And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for those meddling kids and their mule."

The book: Whales on Stilts by M.T. Anderson (also wrote Feed - another excellent book). This book is for people who enjoy their fiction wildly silly, adventurous, and riddled with pop references and clever language; i.e., me.

What I'm watching: Fruits Basket disc 3 - I just LOVE this funny, sweet, shojo series.

Super Happy Fun-Time!

The Amityville Horror.

It must be Halloween (almost!) because once again I’ve had to prove to some younger, impressionable library patrons that this is a hoax, a well-known urban legend, that in fact, this is an admitted hoax. So, since I can easily direct kids to my blog, I’m just going to outline the whole argument here.

First off, there were some real victims that the book starts with. The DeFeo family was a real family that was slaughtered. The only living member of the family, the eldest son, was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to prison, where he sits to this day. The house is also a real house. Having spent my summers in Long Island at my grandmothers house as a teenager, I’ve been there. There are people living there now. A quiet family for whom life is undisturbed by paranormal thumpings, bumpings, and demonic pigs. The house looks different now, the “eye windows” are gone, replaced with very attractive shuttered square windows. And you should realize that the lots are not widely spaced. Sure, the house is quite nice, but it’s also very close to the neighbors’. You can’t look at the house and imagine all the screaming and terror going on without the neighbors seeing/hearing something.

A year after the murders the Lutz family moved in to the house and claimed that they suffered from a house possessed. But really, have you read the book? Because there are some major facts and events presented there that are so easy to refute. At the time a television crew did a piece on the house with "ghost hunters" and “psychics”. They all decided that there was a demonic spirit in the house and that it had to be exorcised. The Lutzs collaborated with the author Jay Anson on the book. And, as William Peter Blatty did when he promoted The Exorcist, Anson vouched for the truthfulness of his fantastic tale: "There is simply too much independent corroboration of their narrative to support the speculation that [the Lutzes] either imagined or fabricated these events." Now, really, The Exorcist a true story? Speaking of The Exorcist, it’s no stretch of the imagination to think that perhaps Blatty’s book served as inspiration – keep in mind that it was published very shortly before all of this supposedly happened. Anson did manage to squeeze in several quasi-factoids into the book like the “vengeful native American spirits” that unfortunately didn’t actually live in that area. But you know, maybe they were visiting?

So, just a few points of the many that I choose to dispute:

First off, you need to know that William Weber, lawyer for Ronald DeFeo, Jr., admitted in 1979 that he and the Lutzes had concocted the whole story of the haunting. The story was related to Weber's defense in court. Can you believe it didn’t work? What do you have to do to get a guy off on a murder charge? (I re-read that line and thought perhaps I should make it clear that it’s sarcastic, but then realized that many of you know me and can probably imagine all the eye-rolling I’m doing as I’m typing this) Btw, he was again denied parole in 1999.

Original doors and windows that were supposedly blown out and destroyed were in surprisingly good condition. In fact, they looked completely untouched – as documented in several pictures. Maybe there’s a ghost carpenter on the premises?

In the book the Lutzs claimed to have called the police. Yet, police records show that they were never called – those ghosts, who knew they had a knack for paperwork?

Descriptions of alleged psychic events did not match either the method or details of the actual murders. And all the red-faced psychics and ghost hunters involved that didn’t have an answer when it was pointed out to them that one of the orchestrators of the hoax admitted it was made up. Ooops! And the hoofprints that surrounded the house in the snow were impossible, since weather records show that there was no snow at the time. And you know those weather geeks…what an anal bunch.

Remember the priest that was swarmed with flies and heard the disembodied voice telling him to get out? That very Father Pecoraro later stated that he never saw anything in the house.

And now, I know there are a few of you that will say, “Wait a minute! What about the fact that everyone involved in the house has died of the Amityville curse?” Well, ok, let’s examine that then (I love these imagined conversations), because you know, people die. It happens. I fail to see the significance in heart attacks, stroke, and death from old age that spans over 20 years as a curse. And you know, isn’t funny that it’s always the people who were kind of associated that died under “mysterious circumstances”? That the “Lutzs” themselves are still walking around with warm bodies kind of argues against a curse.

Really, there is far more reliable evidence that this story is complete fiction. Read the book and come to your own conclusion (HAH! Managed to get a reading plug in there!!). The fact that this alleged mystery is untrue shouldn’t allow you to get upset, just frees you up to direct your energies elsewhere.

Let the arguments begin.

Because you know, I bet the furniture was just as haunted, and the appliances as well; imagine, the Amityville Toaster! Btw, the only reason I'm able to sit at home and type all of this out is because I've taken the day off!! YAAYAAY!!! See, I and two friends have our birthdays right around the same time (September and October) and so rather than get stuff for each other we just go out and do something together and enjoy our time together. So, today we're doing a birthday lunch at Burdick's. It will be nice! And then tonight I have a Girl Scout thing so I'm going out to dinner with someone from Girl Scouts and that will be fun. So for my birthday (Saturday) I'm starting a few days early and completely screwing off.

I love this place: The Institute of Official Cheer

Did you know that a Candian Warship seized a tanker in....wait, Candada has a warship? (btw, I love Canada - it knows I'm just teasing)

Anyway, I'm off to get ready to leave the house. Tchuss!

a waffle is like a pancake with syrup traps

I had this emailed to me today from the New Yorker: Some critic who doesn't read (like) graphic novels reviewing them.

He jumps back and forth between stereotyping the medium he's "reviewing" and himself, all the while clearly demonstrating his elitist snobbery - choosing to focus on the one graphic novel that someone like him would focus on, and, well shows how best to not review graphic novels. Or, my favorite quote so far from the Bookslut:

"Please, New Yorker. I know you think it's cute and all to hire a critic who has never read comic books to review some comics for you, but you know you would never do that with any other medium. I'd like to see you hire an opera reviewer to write, 'The sets were lovely, but what the f*ck was with all of that singing?'"

Okay, minor ranting over. It's articles like this that remind me why I stopped subscribing to The New Yorker.

Did you hear about the fire at Aardman studios? Sad, sad stuff.

Scary squirrel world....I don't think there is much I can add to this.

What I'm Reading: Out Standing in my Field no, wait....

I FINALLY finished "Valley of Secrets", well, I can think of some readers that will truly love this mystery and rain forest statement. I'm not one of them. I mean, I read it, it wasn't the end of the world, it wasn't completely disastrous, but it barely wandered away from boring, yet pretty prose, into the realm of 'holds my interest'.

Anyway, Out Standing in My Field is a funny, endearing sports book. It would be untrue to say that sports books don't interest me - closer to the point to say that it's very few that I find worthwhile reading. "Travel Team", "Summerland", "Skinnybones" - all sports books I enjoyed. And now I can add this one to my list of enjoyable books that feature sports as a theme.

What I'm watching: Well I started watching the remake of The Amytiville Horror (I'll go into length on this one at a later time), but I have to say, the remake absolutely sucks.

Undead, well I thought perhaps this would be an Australian zombie spoof on par with Shaun of the Dead or Dead and Breakfast, which is just excellently horrible - so funny, and the music is catchy (not to mention when the zombies are shuffling up to the house and break into the Thriller zombie dance routine - Jay and I were in stitches). I was wrong, Undead is no where near as funny or as good as those two.

Woot

I'm in a good mood - so here is a picture of happy deskfulness (that fuzziness on the bottom is Jay's thumb *sigh*).

The car is fixed - YAY!! It turns out that one of Jay's friends actually does know something!!

Anyway, this is just a mini, taking-a-break-at-work-and-school-lets-out-in-10-minutes kind of entry and I don't have much to share other than a few stumbles, like Sam's Archive which starts with the line:

Destroying the Earth is harder than you may have been led to believe.

I'm going to have to spend some more time reading this one....

Mostly, I just wanted to post the good news about the car working and not costing us anything.

And, hi!

Tchuss!

About time

I woke up this morning to hear a swishing and rustling outside and groaned thinking it was more rain, but it isn't! Instead it was a very forceful gust of wind blowing leaves around outside. Alright! Right now there is sunlight coming through the window - weak, and barely there, but certainly brighter than its been for about a week.

Yesterday was interesting. Jake (from D&D) is a new intern, so yesterday was his first day of Saturday training (poor thing, I had massive shelving all week, and unfortunately, having kept on top of it all week, had no time to do it on Friday, so he was left with a full cart and stacks underneath). Afterwards Jay, Ali, and I went to Joy Wah with Joe, Sam, and Grace - and all was good. Then we decided to stop at home, pick up some massively late movies and drive them back to Real to Reel (I do believe that we are subsidizing a part time position at Reel to Real with our late fees - I can also never remember which "Real/Reel" comes first, so I often switch the two figuring that I'm at least right half the time). On the way home Jay drove through a giant, well, "puddle" doesn't work, because it was a few inches deep and several feet wide and all the way across the road, anyway, Jay drove through it (because missing it would have meant driving on the sidewalk and I don't think the walkers would have appreciated it). And we pulled up in front of the house, turned off the car while he ran in, and then when we came out with the movies, tried to start the car that now won't start. Jay's theory is that it was that last lake we drove through leaving everything inside wet and the engine didn't stay hot long enough to dry everything. If his theory is correct, opening the hood and letting everything air out should fix the problem. We'll see.

In the meantime, I've discovered what, for me anyway, has turned into a fun little amusement. ESP - a picture game that you play with another person. You'll need to create a screen name (free) and then you start the game, you and another person will look at the same picture and you start typing in what you might use to describe it (black, hair, glasses, nose, small, photo, etc) and when you and the other person choose the same label you get on to the next one. The game is funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and is being presented by the Carnegie Mellon University. The idea is that the game will allow users to have a hand in creating proper labels for images. Having those labels associated to each image on the Internet would allow for very accurate image search, would improve the accessibility of the Web (by providing word descriptions of all images to visually impaired individuals), and would help users block inappropriate (e.g., pornographic) images from their computers. Anyway, I spent a ridiculous amount of time having fun with this little game. Enjoy.

And in my various internet ramblings I decided to check up on my friends at Jib Jab and look what they've got for us: Big Box Mart. I'm sure this is no surprise, but I avoid "Big Box Mart" for these very reasons and more.

Halloween is coming!! I've been sending out great, spooky books all week and one of my favorites: Coraline! (This is a great website, the music is fun - for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of listening to the audio recording and the mouse circus, well, it's a treat)

And why not do something completely useless and play Mash?

It seems there's a niche thing for just about everything. So, let me share one of my favorites: Unshelved a comic strip about a library.

What I'm reading: STILL, working my way through The Valley of Secrets. I know exactly to whom I'm going to recommend this book. I feel like I need to finish it simply because I've been at it for so very long. It's just not my kind of book. I rather like a good mystery, but I like the suspense of danger being involved, instead this book taps into the "curiouser and curiouser" type of mystery - sure there's a fuzzy yellow and black striped thing that resembles a caterpillar but acts like a cat that this kid is taking care of in his shirt, but despite the strangeness of that, we're never under the impression that anything bad could possibly happen. Still, the language is beautiful and I like the message of conservation and all that, but the book is not a "hot read" as it were.

The Nodwick Chronicles - remember Friday nights? When we sat around a table and goofed off in a D&D-like setting? Remember the perfect willingness to sacrifice someone or something else for the sake of the funny? The Nodwick Chronicles are like that.

What I'm watching: The 10th Kingdom maybe.....well, it's on....I'm kind of knitting.....and I'm avoiding Jay while he huffs and puffs about the house glowering out the window at the car. So, yeah, I'm kind of watching that too.

HEY - AND DON'T FORGET: November is National Novel Writing Month, so come on - sign up - have fun writing something.

safe to come out now

There's this little program that I've been meaning to point out if you haven't already seen it. Skype - all the benefits of using the phone over the computer without the bills. You need speakers and a microphone and you can talk over the internet. It's pretty cool - and the sound quality (free) is not that bad - it even lets you get voicemail.

So, yeah.....Friday!

Last night my theater company teamed up with the Great Falls Peace and Justice to show the documentary V-Day...Until the Violence Stops. This is one of those documentaries that I can't watch without crying every_single_time. The video last night was the kick-off for our Vagina Monologues benefit project to raise money for and to address the issue of violence against women and girls in Rockingham. (It burns me up that I have people more worried about the fiction on my shelves than on what is actually being done to the 16 year old girl that lives next door to them). Last night's showing was both really amazing and not so great; the turn-out was smaller than we had hoped and even realistically expected (I think that "V" word scared 'em). But afterwards we had a conversation that made up for it, among much other discussion was the agreement that we need to show this documentary to more people in our community; it's an important message and one that needs to be heard and discussed locally.

Remember the "I Like you" guy? He's back with a new message.

I like some of the things that I do here on this blog everytime like "What I'm reading" and "What I'm watching" - gimmicks I can live with. I recently discovered The Sneeze (Half Blog. Half Zine. Half not good with fractions) that has a gimmick, that, well....I guess this is when a gimmick goes bad. Luckily for us, he's willing to extend himself to such lengths for our amusement.

And finally November is "National Novel Writing Month"! So, come'on who out there is with me on this? I'm going to go for it and see if I can do it - it will be fun anyway. Perhaps I'll post some excerpts. I've already signed up for it, guess I should do some thinking now before November.

What I'm Reading: (Yay! Harmless gimmick!) The Valley of Secrets is a dense, lyric, cozy English mystery set in Cornwall and preaching about the evils of deforestation and proclaiming the need for conservation; I'm only about a quarter of the way in to it, but I can say that the language is beautiful, if a bit much for the average young reader. This book really, really wants to be a classic. It's also not an easy read...there is a matter, for me anyway, of having to make myself continue reading; this is a book that requires perseverance. And the mystery, well, as I said, I haven't gotten very far, but I've seen hints of a greater mystery and I'm hoping it picks up soon.

What I'm Watching: Last night. Great Falls Peace and Justice. V-Day...Until the Violence Stops.

i'd like a little more cowbell

Happy Wednesday!

You know, when I read back the "Happy Wednesday" line I'm hearing it like the voice that does Frosty the Snowman in that silly little holiday show. A kind of nasal, high-pitched, sincerely faked "Happy Wednesday!"

Because Wednesdays are like that.

I realize that I'm tired today. I was out late last night - but the new Brownie troop leader is TRAINED!! Which means that they're about ready to move on without needing me at their meetings; not quite yet, I'll help her transition, but she's getting there. The training went till 9:30 in Charlestown last night.

Anyway, one of the little signs of Sam-Fatigue: I have pulled several dozen commas out of everything I just typed. I don't know why I'm so attached to the comma, but there it is. I also have to take out lots of paranthesis. to quote Sarah Vowell:

so as not to call glaring attention to the fact that I cannot think in complete sentances and can only think in short fragments or long run-on sentances that the literati call Stream of Consciousness, but I like to think of as disdain for the finality of the period.

I'm amazed I was able to type that quote from memory because I couldn't find the book when I was looking for it just now. I love, love, love her book Take the Cannolli and whenever I find it I'm so happy and I read a few essays right there, or leave it on my pillow to read later. But I'm always losing the darn book! It's somewhere near where my current book stack is waiting for me. It's always somewhere around there. Why it never stays there is a mystery. I HIGHLY recommend this book; Vowell is an incredible storyteller with a gift for humor and spot-on insights. Not to mention, there is something similar in her background and mine - from the beginnings in a fundamentalist family to a liberal adulthood, studies in arts, and just the conclusions she's come to, I read these essays and often think "I could've written that." Of course, I didn't. But I should. I could write that.

In the meantime, someone sent me a link to one of my favorite SNL skits of all time: The Cowbell Skit

The blog thing is working out in a rather interesting, new way. I've begun getting helpful emails from other people that are now popping in with links that I might enjoy. Stumble is great, but this is pretty cool too.

Including things like this online webcomic of sardonic doom.

And this absolutely gorgeous webcomic that I will read more of (so I'm posting the link here so I can find it later): Nowhere Girl.

This is rather cool, too: a collection of the Best of Lists for books, movies, and music.

And here is a funny little game with a warning: Don't catch the grenade.

A parent yesterday called me a "hipster geek". I think I'd resent that if it weren't a wee bit true.

What I'm reading: I'm finishing up a new book for the youth department that I really like on a couple of different levels. Project Mulberry, a story about two kids, a FFA-type club, silkworms, tolerance, and the state fair. As just the story, it works - it's a nice tale - especially for the readers that like "realistic" fiction with nice characters and light humor - not all the tragedy. But what makes it really interesting for me is the between-chapters part. You see, between each chapter the author Linda Sue Park has a discussion with the protagonist, sometimes an argument, when the girl tells her that she doesn't like where the story is going and that the author shouldn't "boss her around", and the author counters with "this is your story", sometimes they talk about the points that are in the story. It's these middle sections that give an insight into the writing of the story, the thought process behind what is going on and how the story is developing. The pieces are small, and if you just wanted to read the story you could ignore them completely, but as an aspiring writer I recommend picking up this quick read and following the author's journey.

What I'm watching: Roofers. On our roof. Fixing a leak that all this rain has made much, much worse. I'm expecting a huge crowd of New Hampshire kids that don't have school again today at the library, so I'll be watching them later. Perhaps I'll just bring some games and plan on hanging out and playing. Regardless, they will be there.

Drinking in of this wonderful life - la la la la la la laaaaaa la

Yay, Sunday! I actually have nothing scheduled, nothing that needs to be done (ok, well, actually, that's not quite right - but I'm not doing it damnit!), nowhere to go, nothing to be responsible for, we went grocery shopping and cleaned the house yesterday.......bloody hell! A whole, unblemished Sunday just for me! ::happiness::

Actually, I'm taking a whole week off from the library on the second week of November. I'm not planning anything except to not be available - no programs, no meetings, I have some Under MilkWood rehearsals, but those will be fun, and a whole week to refresh.

Well, thanks to the convenience of modern technology, and a nearby video store, Jay and I went on a bit of a Lost bender last night. Watching the last 2 discs, and at 4 episodes per disc, you do the math - I'll help and point out that we finished the *last*episode*of*season*1* at 3:30-ish. So, here it is now 9:45 in the am, I'm something resembling awake, while Jay isn't. I actually woke up because of strange bumpings and thumpings in Allegra's room (Allegra was wearing her new Halloween costume and practicing her nefarious looks and swishing about the room in her long cape - that's my girl!). Anyway, OMFG!!!!!!! This series is just, *gasp*, *twitch* too flippin' amazin'!! (Don't you just love the use of the gangsta disdain for the 'g'?) For those of you who haven't seen it yet, I won't say anything except, I have not been as engrossed in a television show's characters, story, etc., since the first few seasons of The Sopranos. The acting is superb. The story is incredible - and the fact that a network is taking the time to tell the story correctly and not selling it out immediately is amazing - although I haven't seen the second season to know much about that, but we'll see. I think that this is a series that Jay and I will have to own.

My point: I'm going to have to go back to sleep at some point today.

I'm still working on knitting up the fun, humongous blanket in the white grey and black variegated boucle, but....the library got a new scarf book and so I'm using the rest of the yarn from the Harry Potter scarves to make this really cool turtleneck shrug/scarf, it will be awesome! And then Allegra picked up this nifty black with pick metallic shot through it eyelash yarn that I made into a long scarf for her yesterday in the car ride back from shopping and while watching the first disc of Lost.

The Dancing Spidey on Jess's blog reminds me for no real reason other than it's a bizarre dancing piece of pop culture, the Breakdancing Transformers.

This was too cute, I stumbled on a Google joke.

Leah stopped by the library during D&D. I finally just gave up on the new group for the evening, and had them pick up (I have got to talk to them at the next game because it's not much fun for me having to continue rallying them just to sit down - I'm good with the talking, it's all the other stuff I don't want to put up with for the games - if it's not fun for me, I'm not going to DM a game and with the random running and climbing on each other and just ARGH!! I'm going to talk to them at the next game and see if we can reach an arrangement). The energy on Friday - for everyone at the games - was really, really weird. And Leah is joining us for Wicked!!!! It was so nice to see her and hang out for a bit. And she showed me around Facebook - what a blast! Anyway, that was really cool, seeing Leah (Hi, Leah!).

I also found this little piece of calming wisdom floating about on the net.

I'm suddenly feeling sleepy.

What I'm reading: Oh, I'm on a bit of a Neil Gaiman kick this weekend, I stopped reading Anansi Boys because I realized that I should re-read American Gods first. So, I'm reading Good Omens. Yeah, I know, doesn't fit, but I don't care - I love this book!! A light-hearted fantasy about Armageddon - and oh, does it make me laugh.

What I'm watching: Well, now that we've finished the series, there is actually one disc left - and the last disc is all the special feaures, outtakes, behind-the-scenes, etc. So, yeah, I'll be watching that.

Thursday thursday

It's so nice not being sick.

I am so tired of being out every night! Between Girl Scouts, Theater Company, and library stuff I only get to go home on time next Wednesday for the next 2 weeks - otherwise it's late meetings!! Too. Much. Waaaaaay too much stuff going on at once. I'm definitely feeling ready to scale back.

I saw that I may be seeing some of you at D&D - excellent! I'll have to prepare ahead of time, the new group is still beginning with me and has a lot more hand-holding going on right now.

The Onion has an excellent interview with Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean

So, since I'm still sipping my first cup of coffee, I only really have patience for the fun stuff:

So, first {insert trumpets here} War of the Worlds in 30 seconds re-enacted by bunnies!

I made up a great avatar - looked just like me, but I can't get the email thingie to work for this avatar creator.

The Goo Does Flow

Remember how weird How to Kill a Mockingbird is? I think this little farm thing is far weirder.

iiiiiiiiiiii (be sure your speakers are on)

This bodyless dancer is fascinating - I found it best to just leave the "eye" on the chair and watch the dancer. But when it turned into butterflies I so wanted to Loop it (heads up: Loop is a game that, at one point, I found myself playing a lot of - it's that kind of game.)

I've had a couple of games shared with me lately that are worth noting:

First, I got to level 6 on this one before I decided I needed to do something else.

Finally, this game is a blast, I got to level nine before I had to do something else.

I love this little toon - good things can happen when giant bugs squish on car windows in Bumble Being - The Butterfly Effect.

What I'm Reading: The Kingdom Keepers - fun little juvenile action/suspense piece - a bit too squeaky to really be popular, although it will be enjoyed by many. Until I started reading it I didn't bother looking at the CIP info to see that this book was published by Disney; no question, this book has something of an agenda in it.

What I'm watching: Since the other discs for Lost are out (but are being held for us when they come in) we decided to check out some older flicks that I'd been meaning to get to. First, Pi: Faith in Chaos - a jarring black and white brain bender of a flick.

Which we then followed up with Terry Gilliam's Brazil. An Orwellian film that follows the character of Sam Lowry, a clerk in the records department of a huge government bureaucracy, the Ministry of Information. Sam's perception of the world alternates between being trapped as a mere "cog in the machine" in a grim world of paperwork and escaping from his grim existence by becoming a hero in his own elaborate dreams. His life and these dreams begin to merge together... his dreams become more realized as his life tears apart. Eventually, the government imprisons him, finding him guilty of none other than "wasting the Ministry's time and paper" after Sam embarks on a messy pursuit of the girl he sees in both his dreams and in real life - who was unrightly wanted by the Ministry as a suspected terrorist.

out of control

That nasty sore throat from last week? Strep throat. Man, it sucked. But, 48 hours and an apothecary of antibiotics later and Jay and I are feeling much, much better. So, I'm going into work this morning. I even have my voice back....kind of. And I'm no longer contagious. (And I couldn't stand to spend another day stuck in the house!)

I did absolutely nothing yesterday outside of a medical check-up but watch movies, knit, email, and then read with Allegra afterwards.

I've figured out what I'm going to see on Broadway.

OCTOBER IS HERE!! As much as I dread the snow that is in our nearing future, I love the fall. I actually really love it when it starts getting chilly at night (but still warm in the day), so that a bulky sweater wrapped around is perfect comfort. I love it when the leaves change. Fall just makes me comfy and sentimental. The fact that Halloween is in October is also a big plus. I love when I can be home in the evenings and snuggle up on the couch with a great book or a good movie.

Speaking of movies, check out IMDBs list of top 10 horror flicks. Not sure if I'm with them on all 10 - after all one of my favorite spooky flicks isn't on it. I love horror flicks; not the asinine slasher flicks, or the movies based on a really flashy special effect, I mean a really good scary movie, one with a great story, developed characters, good acting - the kind of movie where the special effects are part of the movie not the entire movie.

The one that I wish they'd included on the list: The Changeling (be warned this link has MAJOR spoilers - you can read a review without all the spoilers here) I love this movie; always up for a really good ghost story this one ranks right up there with Ghost Story, Poltergeist, and the more recent tv miniseries of The Shining. Watching The Changeling has to be done in just the right way or else the movie comes off as really slow and pedantic, which is how I thought of it for the longest time until I actually really watched it. You can't have more than 2 or 3 people in the room with you - it's even better if you're by yourself. The lights must be off and the house must be quiet. This movie is so atmospheric and the story is well-paced - 1979 is not actually all that long ago, but in terms of film-making this movie is very different from what you will see today. I have read that the original director is threatening a remake of the movie. I just hope he does it right.

Speaking of ghosts......I don't know if I've shared with all of you the haunted room.... The story is this, the house was used by the Confederate army (after disposing of the family that lived there) during the civil war. And since then, the family that lives there now has at times seen confederate ghosts in rather specific areas. They managed to set up a camera in one room where a ghost has often been spotted - with sound no less. And now it's on the internet. It's kind of like a Where's Waldo picture spotting the ghost, once you see it, it just pops out, but it takes about 5 minutes to really spot it. Don't forget to turn the sound up really loud as this video does have some really interesting sounds to go with it. Now when I look, I can see the ghost clearly, so a small hint: focus on the area between the windows - about where the picture is in The Haunted Room.

Btw, did I mention: I love Halloween.

This little bear short reminds me of why I don't like to visit circuses - not necessarily the larger ones where you know that they're treating their animals humanely, but the small ones, with tiny cages, people who aren't necessarily well trained... It's just wrong. (Warning: this toon is sad)

I love this game: Curve ball.

What I'm reading: Well, stuck at home yesterday I read with Allegra last night the latest Junie B. Jones book: Junie B. First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells (P.S. so does May). Cute.

What I'm watching: Well, Jay and I just watched the first two discs of the television series Lost season 1 and (to quote Junie B. Jones) WOWIE! WOW! WOW! I really like this series!! So, Jay, who is staying home one day more, will be running to Reel to Real to get the next several discs in the series.

yesterday

Yesterday. I am so glad to be past yesterday.

It started pleasantly enough with a breakfast meeting at The Golden Egg in Saxtons River - and the meeting was great - I like the people that I met with and although Jay and Allegra came along, they were both well-behaved.

Actually, no, it didn't quite start there. It started back at home when I finally opened the box of scripts for the two upcoming projects (one that has auditions starting tomorrow!) to find that I only had scripts for one of the projects and a "backorder notice" for the other set of scripts.

Guess which ones I needed. I problably should have just opened the box when it came in a few weeks ago, but no, I knew what was supposed to be in the box and figured that keeping the box sealed and the scripts in one place was safer than opening them up and risking spreading them throughout the house (between Jay, Ali, the cats - not out of the question).

My plan had been to get the scripts, go to the meeting, then drop them off where they needed to be afterwards thereby ending my expected duties for the weekend outside of doing some library printer purchases at Best Buy. Time for a plan rewrite!

So, I needed to find copies of Under Milkwood by Dylan Thomas. I had two scripts of my own at home, I needed at least 7 more by Monday night so Amazon was out of the question; besides on their website it says that they only have 3 copies in stock. Since we had to stop at the house anyway I talked Jay into going to Keene (and a small side trip to the yarn store was completely accidental...). First, Borders - they had one copy. Then to the Toadstool where they informed us that not only did they not have a copy, it looked like they could only order it on CD or DVD - they said that it would be be impossible for them to even order the book!!

Disturbed and slightly panicked I found some really cool gray, black, and white variagated boucle yarn clearanced (think huge comfy, blanket fall project), while Jay grabbed a StarSchmucks Chai Latte and got Ali a Caramel Frap.

Everyone else being happy now Jay and I talked about our next move. I still needed more scripts and I was becoming worried that I would even be able to find them. Jay suggested we cruise over to Brattleboro, they have the three independant bookstores, perhaps I could find more copies there. So, off we went.

First to Michael and Ellen's bookstore, where they too had one copy (are you counting with me?). They called over to one other bookstore to learn that this other bookstore had no copies available. Then we went over to the book store and cafe place over by the Indian restaurant to find that they too had one copy.

Next plan.....I still had to stop at Best Buy over the weekend and get the wireless printer setup for the library (print server and printer to attach to it), and the Best Buy that we usually went to was in West Lebanon. So, stopping by the Co-op first and picking up a light lunch to take along we decided instead to go to Holyoke where there was a Best Buy, the huge Barnes & Noble, and Northampton and Hadley along the way just in case and besides driving from BF to West Leb isn't as outrageous from driving from Brattleboro to West Leb., so the mall trip made sense. I'm sure between here and there we could've found many, many other little independant used and new booksellers, but you have to understand that Jay and I get lost. Easily. And it really is in our best interest to stick to places that one of us knows. And despite being the non-driver, somehow I know the most places. Besides, I needed to get the printer set-up and it looked like we could tie the whole trip up with a fun mall romp.

And keep in mind, it was still before 11:00 am.

So, to Holysmoke we went! Ali and Jay are usually indulgent with me in the car as I run something of a musical show, choosing which cds we listen to (mostly so I can sing along) and on long trips multi-tasking by singing and knitting. However, I have a nasty cold (I feel much better now) and my voice sounds screechy and grating, so I played fun listening music and knit. We got to Barnes & Noble in Holyoke without incident. They didn't have any copies, but they did call over to Hadley where once again they had *just*one*copy.

Ok. Well. We decided that we knew there was one copy in Hadley and, well, I know where three bookstores are in Northampton, so instead of the mall, let's just go to Northampton and we'll walk around there for fun while we check out the book shops for Under Milkwood. To hell with the mall, let's keep moving closer to home. We got to Northampton without any hitch, parked and began walking.

(Leah, I told Allegra that you went to school at Smith and she spent our entire time in Northampton on "Leah Watch" as if you were certain to pop out from behind any corner we passed.) First we went to Half Moon - and they had TWO copies (one of them is a rather nice leather bound edition from 1954 that is about to become my personal copy). Then we went to the place in the little indoor mall (can't think of the name), where she told us that she didn't have any but remarked on Allegra's shirt (she was wearing the Labyrinth t-shirt that I had found for her at Hot Topic), so then I had to tell her all about Mirrormask and converted her to the Neil Gaiman fan club. Then we went to the bookstore just past Starschmucks (can't remember the name), and then to Raven Books, where they had one copy.

Counting still? I now have 8 copies in my hand and one more waiting for me in Hadley - and six of them were from the same edition. YAY!!! Success!

So, we had fun walking around Northampton. I took them to the Mercantile, which was fun, and to Faces, which I love (Allegra covets the red wings hanging behind the counter), then to the Ice Cream place - and that was nice. Plus we stopped at the bead place - which I love. Jay looked at me sternly when I tried to walk into a yarn shop, so I decided not to push him too much. We just poked around a bunch of stores for a while, then Jay and Ali, fed up with my poking, said that we should get headed. Fine.

I direct us to Hadley. Now, up until this point we have gotten everywhere because I knew the way and we have gotten there without any problems. When we get to Hadley we pick up the final copy!!!! Elated we head over to Best Buy where they were complete jerks (except for one guy that was really nice about making sure we had help) and the one guy we forced to help us clearly knew significantly less about computers than even Jay. Not that I expect them to be experts, but would like for them to be so. After he fumblingly read me his professional advice on a card I proceeded to ignore him completely and do what I thought I should anyway. And I got what I needed and we left.

It was at this point, as I'm directing Jay back to 91 that he uttered words which he should never, ever say when he's more than 50 miles from home. "I know another way."

ARGHGHGHGH!!!!!!!!!

Because when we hit Shutesbury what felt like hours later, and the car shuddered to a complete, overheated stop at a red light and wouldn't start up right away, I was ready to hurt him. Ali was ready to hurt him. Getting Jay to stop for directions is not always easy. I think he feels that asking for directions is pretty much the same as walking up to a complete stranger and saying "You may not know this, but I'm a moron." However, the car forced a stop at a neaby gas station where Jay checked the oil (low), coolant (low), and filled the gas (lowish).

And then the gas attendant said that if he stays on the road he was on it runs right into 91 in about 5 miles. So, Jay felt that his little alternate route had worked though I argued it a miserable failure since it added an extra couple of hours!! He countered with something to the effect of "sure, but wasn't it a pretty drive." Something was flung in his direction from the backseat. Finally we hit Brattleboro, it was now about 7:00 at night, I was hungry and tired, Allegra was hungry and tired. And feeling like I wanted a treat, I recommended a stop at Panda North for dinner. The idea was met with applause from the backseat where Allegra began the chant of "SUSHI! SUSHI! SUSHI!" (not that she will eat anything other than California rolls). So we went. Dinner was wonderful. And we got home.

And next time we go somewhere if Jay utters those words again I am going to make him turn around immediately! Sure, we could have called around first, but other than Jay's little sidetrip it was a fun day.

Creep de Radiohead - YAY!

Make a snowflake - I know it's early, but this one is rather cool. Be sure to do the 3-D rotate.

This little catapult game is rather entertaining for a little bit.

I find this little piece fascinating.

I, too, finally beat that little game from a few posts ago. I know there are other games, but my throat is still wicked sore and my nose is stuffed, so my computer time is over. So, I'll post another game later.

What I'm Reading: Haven't had much time to read, but this morning I did read The Changeover - another contender for discard. I had forgotten completely about this book. But I read it as a teenager when it first came out (1984-ish) and, despite the fact that it's a romance with some fantasy - normally a genre I have little patience for - I absolutely loved it. It also still reads rather well - with a new cover you'd never know it came out in the '80s, the language is still current. And I can think of some patrons that I expect will also like it, so I think it is saved from the booksale pile.