Asymptomatic

When I was younger, I received a book of fairy tales. Think Brothers Grimm. I don't remember that the stories were particularly horrifying; on the contrary, they were probably dulled at the edges like most Grimm books for children are. But the book did eat at my psyche for a very specific reason.

Somewhere near the back of the book was the story of Pandora and her box of evils. I recall being a fan of Greek myth in my youth, and I don't really thing that the story itself had anything to do with the misgivings I had for the book, but you never know.

No, what had me truly spooked was the woodcarving image that was printed on the page near the pandora story. It depicted a little girl opening a box, from which many dark evils fled....

I am stinking hot here, but I'm going to try to concentrate on writing about Peter and the Starcatchers, the book that I read while on vacation. more

The Muslim month of Ramadan begins today, as many Muslims start their month-long fast of religious introspection. Ramadan undoubtably has to be the coolest name for a religious holiday. Ramadan is also the title of one of the best Sandman issues, #50.

In the Ramadan comic, the ruler of Baghdad views his kingdom as having reached perfection, and its only future is one where it is less great than it currently is. To save his city, he entreats Morpheus (the "main character" of the Sandman comics, who is often inferred and not physically present) to buy the kingdom from him so that it may live on forever in its current state in the land of dreams. It's really an awesome story - if you can find a copy, I highly recommend it.

If you have read it, there are good Ramadan Annotations online, showing how well Gaiman researches his work even for mere comics.

After months of it sitting in the CD player at home, I finally finished the audio version of Joseph Finder's Paranoia. It's a story about a guy who uses company funds for a lavish party, gets caught, and then is forced by his boss into industrial espionage to keep himself out of federal prison. more

Last night, in the middle of watching Amish in the City, I read the last of Stardust, by Neil Gaiman. I had started this book a long time ago, but at the time I was so stinking sick of fairies and the fae that I couldn't get past the second chapter. Honestly, the word "fae" invokes such distaste for me and yet does not jibe with how I feel about the actual topic. It's absurd.

Anyway, the book is not about the guy that you meet in the first chapter, but rather about his son, who was born to a cat-person (another thing I find distastefully commonly desirable - plushie folk) and promised that he would fetch a fallen star for the woman that he loves.

Well, things go awry. I shouldn't ruin the story if you've not read it. What I can say is that Gaiman (of Sandman fame) is in typical form, and I think I might actually like this book better than American Gods. American Gods was ok, but just lacked something. Stardust migh be good, but it's not as good as Neverwhere, still Gaiman's best book, in my opinion....