IF…

If we were having coffee…. I’d be asking about your day, week, job, family. I’d be listening, except when I first took that sip of coffee, and then I’d pretend I’d heard what you said. I would joke with you, laugh with you, and look out the window. I’d mention the weather. If we were having coffee I would often not know what to say and hold back the words I mean to speak. I’d be unsure, anxious, and I would sip my coffee to hide these things. I would listen. I would take it in. And I would tell you it’s been a wonderful time and that we should do it again. I would leave and go to my car and sing on the way home and get lost in my own world and replay the conversation. This is what i would do if we were having coffee.

The Friday Find: Ride The Lightning

You pretty much know by now that I am a (super) King fan. I also happen to be a Metallica fan. And I love, love, LOVE, when worlds collide.

Kirk Hammett wrote a nifty little blog peice about his affinity for the great Stephen King and you can read it here.

I don’t regularly read Kirk’s blog, but I saw his post on Instagram (where I do follow him) and had to check it out. Since it was such an enjoyable read, I’m going to check out the rest of his stuff. I think the thing I appreciate most about his post is his genuine love of the horror genre, King, and the act of being a fan. Moreover, his tone is totally natural and he doesn’t speak down to the reader in any way. And then he spends some time connecting with his fans and answering questions. I appreciate that. I appreciate his genuiness and hope that I can be equally as genuine here.

So enjoy the article! And if I find more, I shall share!

A Tour of Books

So, you may or may not know that I’m a bit of a Stephen King fan. If you’re a fan as well, then you will be happy to know that he’s doing a little tour to promote his next book. You can find out more information about the tour here.

This tour seems to be bringing him out to the midwest quite a bit. I’m sure the folks out there will be fairly pleased since he doesn’t often do appearances out that way. I know there were some happy folks on the FB groups I’m a part of.

If you get to go, let me know how it was! I may be able to attend one and If I do I’ll post some photos and share the experience.

Happy trails, King fans.

He rubbed one hand over the expensive waterproof frabric of the coat, liking the feel. An elegant item. He tried again to think of how he’d come by it and couldn’t. Had he killed someone else? MIGHT have, friends and neighbors, might have; anything was possible when you were on vacation.

-Rose Madder by Stephen King

Here We Go Again

So, I guess I took a little unscheduled break. Basically, I got overwhelmed with life and forgot to just do the things I want to do.

So I’m back! And ready and to write about the things I like to write about in the style I like to write. F*ck the rest. No rules. No mercy. Well…. a little mercy. And some rules.

What I’m trying to say is… I just want to talk about the things I want to talk abut without telling myself I have to do any differently. And I’m going to write in the style I like to write in without telling myself that there’s some script I have to conform to.

I want to learn more about the world and the people around me. I want to watch ghost videos and homemade book trailers and see what kind of creativity the world has to offer.

I want to look outward instead of inward for a change. I want to see. I want to see.

And I’m here. And I’m ready. So lets explore!

Media Monday: Aliums In Connecticut

I think I’ve talked before about the need to understand something outside of myself and the desire to experience the other worldly. It’s why I’m so interested in the paranormal and the spooky. There’s a sense of another world and the temptation of touching it, if only for a brief moment, leaves me greedy.

So with that is the curiosity of life on other planets. Do I believe that there is life on other plants? Absolutely. The probability, while not overwhelming, does exist. The first Earth-sized planets were discovered back in 2011 and that was just the beginning. Now, do I believe that intelligent beings have traveled across the universe to visit us? A much harder question to answer. If I can quote Mulder for a moment “I want to believe.” Without true evidence though, I am torn. I accept the possibility and I enjoy reading about different theories but it is always with a huge slice of skepticism. I’m open to the possibility but question the lack of real evidence. however, that doesn’t stop me from enjoying all that the world has to offer, both obviously faked and others…. others leaving you saying “What if…..”

So first, I spent some time on youtube. You can find just a TON of crazy videos claiming to give the best evidence of alien encounters. So I looked up UFO’s in Connecticut and found this and this. “That’s a f@#ckin’ freakin’ UFO.” What I love about these is that the reaction is spot on. It makes me think that the video is real. Are the lights a UFO? Probably not. But I enjoy hearing people with that mixed reaction of laughter and trepidation. Like I said, it’s that elusive “What if?”

So, as with any youtube adventure, you start with one and jump to the next until you are thoroughly down the rabbit hole. I found this video where a guy has recorded his mother detailing an encounter their family had in 1969 in New Cannan, CT. In the video he is displaying a photograph taken by a Connecticut State Trooper in 1987. He also mentions the event in the interview with his mother. I looked up the picture and event and it’s actually a pretty amazing story that involves multiple witnesses across multiple towns.

I think that it’s always interesting how we view UFO sightings by police officers, members of the military, and pilots and sometimes more believable. I’m sure it’s because we hold these individuals in a position of authority and assume that they have more objective viewpoints. Police officers in particular are trained in that Joe Friday style of “Just the facts, ma’am.” So we look at their stories with a greater degree of believability, even if only subconsciously.

Now, I also found this video with visible lights and some very dramatic music. I’d prefer the video without the music. Visitations by extraterrestrial life is dramatic enough on it’s own.

And then we have this gem. A found-footage style film that could actually be quite a bit of fun if not for…. well.. you’ll see in segment 2 should you decide to watch.

I’ll end the journey there for now because youtube is full of twists and turns and there’s plenty more to be found and share with you all. No mater what you call them, aliens, the greys, EBEs, or encounters of the third kind, it’s a fun idea to explore and converse about. I haven’t ventured into blog land to see what others think on this topic, but I think that might be interesting. The sharing of ideas is why we’re hear, after all, isn’t it?

Stephen King Book Club: Lisey’s Story

“Lisey’s Story” by Stephen King

What’s it about? You can read the full synopsis here. This is the story of Lisey Landon (obviously, right?). We start in the present day, where Lisey is cleaning out the work-space of her writer husband, Scott, and then travel through time to learn the tale of their love and how Lisey saved Scott (on more than one occasion.) It’s a beautiful and honest story about love and marriage. But even more so, it’s an exploration of the things we share with others and the secrets we keep within ourselves. Also, there may be a little bit of travel to an alternate dimension. I mean, nothing adds spice to marriage quite like inter-dimensional travel, wouldn’t yous say?

Why choose this book? King himself has called this one of his most well written books. And it really is. The play on language creates lovely texture to this woven tale. That sounds cliche. however, I say “woven” because this story truly feels like picking up a thread and following it to the end, wherever that may be. It’s a personal favorite of mine. But beyond that, the many layers and relationships in this book provide a solid discussion for a book club and this unique tale will be yet another side of King for the avid fan to discover.

What to discuss/questions: For a book that is so critically acclaimed, I had a terrible time finding any questions on any sites. It’s what made me want to post possible discussion questions on this blog for others to hopefully find helpful in their own book club discussion. As always, though, Hodder & Stoughton did not let me down. Here’s a few of mine:

• In the very beginning of the book, King says “This is for your first good book… the one that got under you like a magic carpet and lifted you right off the ground.” What was the first book that did that for you?
• What were your thoughts on Booya Moon?
• This story is as much about marriage as it about other family relationships. What were your thoughts about the sibling relationships that existed between Lisey and her sisters and between Scott and his bother?
• As is typical in King novels, Scott Landon is a famous writer. How does he compare to other author characters in other King books?
• This story is also about language. In what ways does King talk about language? (Phrases, old sayings, the secret language within a marriage)
• Music is also a powerful element in this book. What were your thoughts on Scott’s taste and Kings inclusion of the different songs? In what ways does music play a part in your own life?

Constant discussion questions:

• Who was your favorite character and why?
• What was your favorite part?
• What were some of your favorite quotes?
• On a scale from 1-5, how did you rate this book? (This is always the opening question)

Make it fun! I had an absolute blast with this discussion. Firstly, we had a Hank Williams station on Pandora playing in the background. I’m all about ambiance. And we also had a fairly small group for this meeting. Which allowed me to create a bool hunt for each participant. I know, awesome, right? (If you’re unsure what a bool hunt is, the book will explain it for ya.) I was nervous that people might find it cheesy, but it ended up being a ton of fun. The book club discussions are held in a local bookstore and so I was able to use clues that were tailored to each person (and I even created a few generic ones just in case someone new decided to show up.) They were small bools with just 3 stations. I bought old timey glass Coca-Cola soda bottles for the prizes. There’s no RC cola anymore, so instead, I had Moxie in addition to the Coca-Cola. If you’ve never been to Maine and never had Moxie, I suggest you treat yourself. It tastes a little bit like NyQuil mixed with battery acid at first, but you’ll grow to love it as I have.

Our discussion:

We had 4 individuals in the discussion (including myself) with an overall book rating of 4.5 out of 5. Yeah, people loved this book. Due to the group being small, we really delved into our favorite scenes and our favorite moments. I shared my favorite quote (of any King book) which is “Darkness loves him. He dances with it like a lover and the moon comes up over the purple hills and what was sweet, smells sour. Smells like poison.” We all loved the imagery of Booya Moon and talked at length about how it must look. I hadn’t discussed this book with many people prior to this and I was excited that the others loved Booya Moon as much as I did. Even the scary parts. I almost gave away a Dark Tower spoiler to one of the members that’s currently following the path of the beam, but caught myself just in time. Thank goodness, too! I wouldn’t forgive myself for spoiling the road to the tower for anyone! This book can be intimidating in size (few King books aren’t) but I do highly recommend it as a read for you and for your group. Until next time!

The Satisfaction of a List

It’s Media Monday here on WeWoHa and so I thought I would share some media finds in the form of a list. I’m using the prompts over at The Daily Post to help inspire the posts here and “The Satisfaction of a List” jumped out at me. It’s sort of low-key and no pressure. On a Monday, no pressure is the best kind of pressure. So here goes.

A list. Easy enough, but how to relate it to our purpose here? How about a list of books I’m working my way through?

Here goes:

1. Haunted Connecticut: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Constitution State by Cheri Revai

I’ve had this one sitting in my bookshelf for a while and have just recently started to flip through its pages. The book takes common lore throughout Connecticut and breaks up the stories based on region. It’s a mixture of myths and legends, UFO sightings, and ghostly haunts. The stories are short and sweet and to the point, just the way I like ‘em. It makes it nice to just flip through and find a tale. No need to read from cover to cover, it’s a go as you please kind of style that I can dig. Recommended for you Nutmeggers out there.

2. Weird New England by Joseph A. Citro

So this is a part of the Weird U.S. phenomenon created by Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman. I had that big book o’ weird but have since misplaced it. Perhaps I lent it to someone and now it’s gone forever. That’s ok though, because my current focus is on New England and lo and behold we have an equally weird book to guide us through the…well…weirdness. Again, it’s a go-as-you-please type of style that I find so appealing. This one just has more pictures and is for a much larger region. I also like that they give a little credit to the people that took time to submit their local history to the author. It lets me know that someone who grew up with the phenomenon right in their backyard is giving the best dirt available to dish.

3. Old Ghosts of New England by C. J. Fusco

This is a recent addition to my collection and one, I have to admit, I haven’t much read yet. It seems to have a collection of haunted sites throughout the region. What I really like though, is that not only does it give the site and the history behind it, but it also tells you exactly how to find the place it just described. I mean, it gives you literal directions. It also gives you contact information in case you want to know more. Very helpful and I look forward to using this resource as I check out various sites over the summer.

4. Legends, Lore and Secrets of New England by Thomas D’Agotino and Arlene Nicholson

I had the pleasure of meeting the authors at Terror-Con (or it might’ve been Comic-Con) in Rhode Island last year. They were both a pleasure to speak with (if briefly) and had a collection of books. This wasn’t one of ‘em. I did get a different one though and will maybe talk about that another day. Legends and Lore is a bit more in depth than the books I’ve mentioned already on this list. So while you can pick or choose, the 10 minute read will likely be more like 15-20 depending on your pace. The details add depth, and in some cases, a real sense of tangible reality, to the legends that create intrigue for each site described.

5. Connecticut Curiosities by Susan Campbell and Bill Heald, Revised and updated by Ray Benedict

Another book that I only just recently purchased. This is isn’t just the haunted sites or your paranormal excursion. This is everything from bookstores to burgers with burnt cheese and from carousel museums to dinosaurs. It’s the wonderful side of WeWoHa and all the curious sites you’ll find all throughout the state. I appreciate the fact that nearly every town/region is represented, including my home town. (We have a trolley museum) So if you’re looking for sites of the non-haunted variety, this is the book for you. And just like in “Old Ghosts…” they give directions and contact information to help you plan your trip.

Well I hope this format worked for ya and that you got a little bit more information than you had before you came. I look forward to using more of the Daily Prompts because I feel like it will create a little bit of variety to the posts. Keep being Weird and Wonderful! And maybe even haunted?

-Red

Stephen King Book Club: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

“The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon” by Stephen King

What’s it about? You can read the full synopsis here. Basically it’s about a 9 year old girl’s struggle to survive in the wilderness after becoming lost in the woods along the Maine-New Hampshire border. Her only tie to the world is her discman and ability to listen to Boston Red Sox games. She’s is a huge Red Sox fan and is wearing the jersey of her favorite player, Tom Gordon.

Why choose this book? This is a relatively short novel for King, so it provides a nice relief from some of his more mammoth novels. It’s also a great tale for readers that have never read Stephen King and are hesitant to do so because of his horror reputation. While The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon still has paranormal elements, they are malleable to interpretation and therefor this isn’t a typical “horror” novel that non-King readers expect from him. There’s also a pop-up version of the book can be great for younger readers. Adding diversity to the group (avid King fans versus non-King readers, multiple age groups) can make for a lively discussion.

What to discuss/questions: So much to consider in this book! I was able to find a few discussion questions here that we used in the group.

• How does this novel compare to earlier King novels? (This question can work especially well if you go from an older work, such as ‘Salem’s Lot, to this one) What changes in writing style did you notice? What do you think of these changes?
• What part does God/spirituality play in this novel?
• What symbolism exists in this novel? What is the importance of the number 3?
• How would this novel of a child lost in the woods compare to an adult lost in the woods? How would the story differ/remain the same?
• Is this story believable? (This can relate directly to Trisha’s actions as a 9 year old or other elements of the story)
• Pop culture is found in many of King’s novels. How was it used in this novel and did it have any significance?
• Why Tom Gordon? (There were quite a few stellar players that season. I printed out the roster and we looked over the list. While it’s beneficial to have at least a few baseball fans in the discussion, simply acknowledging that Tom Gordon isn’t exactly Nomar Garciaparra is enough to get the point across.)
• In this novel, Trish uses her love of baseball and her hero, Tom Gordon, to motivate herself to live. Why are sports important to people? (We also discussed if anyone in the group was a big sports fan and what it means to them.)
• What did you think about the repetition of the commercial?
• “I point because it’s God’s nature to come on in the bottom of the 9th.” What did Tom Gordon mean by this? What are your thoughts on this being God’s nature?
• Have you ever been lost? How did your experience compare to Trish’s?

Constant discussion questions:

• What was your favorite part?
• What were some of your favorite quotes?
• On a scale from 1-5, how did you rate this book? (This is always the opening question)

Make it fun! I always try to have a fun element that ties into the book at our discussion, whether it be food, imagery, or something totally outlandish. For this discussion we encouraged Red Sox fans to wear their paraphernalia. I had my sweatshirt and hat on. For food, we had Twinkies, as Trisha has this in her bagged lunch in the novel. I did not squish the Twinkies though. Little details like this add to the general feel of the event and makes each meeting a unique experience. And it’s just plain fun to see what you can bring out of the story and into real life. We also brought the pop up book for display.

Our discussion:

We had 10 individuals in the discussion (including myself) with an overall book rating of 4 out of 5. We had a nice mix of diehard King fans and those that had never read more than 1 King novel previously. People seemed to enjoy the story and were appreciative of it’s length. Most felt that this book would be appropriate for a younger audience, especially the pop-up version.

Stephen King Book Club: ‘Salem’s Lot

“‘Salem’s Lot” by Stephen King

What’s it about? You can read the full synopsis here. A small town in Maine is overcome by a dark force. Yes folks, vampires in New England.

Why choose this book? An absolute classic. King’s ability to create an entire town’s worth of characters is outshone only by his seamless transition from scene to scene. This was King’s second novel to be published and it showcases much of what will be seen from year in the proceeding years.

What to discuss/questions: I was able to find a few discussion questions here that we used in the group.

• How does this vampire tale compare to others that you’ve read (Dracula, Interview With A Vampire, Etc)?
• Why is this story set in a small town in Maine? Would the story be effected if it took place elsewhere?
• How did the book compare to the movies that were made? (There were 2 movies, one in 1979 and another in 2004)
• What are the themes in this book?
• What does it tell us about small town life? Are people basically good or basically bad?
• King talks about Evil (with a capital E). What are your thoughts on evil and it’s existence? Can people be evil?
• How would this story be different if it took place today? (Consider the effects of social media.)

Constant discussion questions:

• Who was your favorite character and why?
• What was your favorite part?
• What were some of your favorite quotes?
• On a scale from 1-5, how did you rate this book? (This is always the opening question)

Make it fun! I really like each book discussion to be an experience. But since this was my first time running a book discussion, I was slightly nervous. Therefor, I wasn’t as creative as I could’ve been. I did make some great cupcakes that I found on Pinterest. They were a big hit.I also let the folks know about the short story Jerusalem’s Lot in Night Shift and the illustrated version with extra material.

Our discussion:

We had 8 individuals in the discussion (including myself) with an overall book rating of 3.7 out of 5. Two in the group had never read a Stephen King book previously, so this was their first foray into his world. Some of the folks found the overabundance of information bogged the story down. On the other hand, I (and a few others) LOVE the little details and crazy factoids. So it’s always great to hear that different point of view and it really makes the discussion more fun when you get opposing opinions. Through the discussion we were even able to get a 2.5 rating up to a 3. The individual said that the discussion changed his perspective on some of the aspects of the book. Overall, even though I was a little nervous, no one seemed to notice and the group melded wonderfully. Looking forward to more discussions!