autumn

autumn is officially here (i prefer to call it “autumn” and not “fall,” “fall” being entirely too inelegant a word for this most regal of seasons – spring is too adolescent, summer too self-assured and cocky, and winter is like the incontinent older relative, who shits himself embarrassingly, all white, powdery profusion).




october means halloween, which i love and which the rest of my family hates. i grew up reading all the books that eventually became horror movies, letting the genre play tricks with my already overactive imagination in ways that the movies never could (though a viewing of “pet sematary” at the tender age of 8 freaked me out for years…i saw it again this past weekend, and it was just ridiculous). novels of choice during the adolescent years were christopher pikes and r.l. stine’s “fear street” series. in high school, i graduated to stephen king, and classic gothic novels like “jane eyre” and “rebecca.” my favorite halloween book (and subsequent animated movie) is ray bradbury’s “the halloween tree.”

so the theme for this month’s reading was horror. i read stephen king’s “the shining” and "salem's lot" (and couldn't sleep for two nights straight afterwards because i kept hearing scratching at my window). i reread bradbury’s “halloween tree” and “from the dust returned” and “something wicked this way comes” (funny, most people see him as only a sci fi novelist – read the sentimentality of “dandelion wine” and you’ll see much more). i've still to read henry james’ “the turn of the screw," neil gaiman’s new book “the graveyard book,” the unfiltered “grimm’s fairy tales” (which are horrific in their pure form), and john connolly’s “the book of lost things.”

autumn also means i need to change my phone again (my plan always comes due in september), which is depressing to the extreme. there's a blog post on cell phone systems in america vs. germany in my brain somewhere, i just have to shake it out. also need to write about tv (which i've been watching way too much of recently...well, more than usual).

also need to catch up on my 30-day timeline for NaNoWriMo (november 1st!).