Breeding better bookends    (still under construction) 3

I once heard that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it, although I suspect it could all just be a bad case of deja-vu. Hmmmm......kind of looks familiar.

Terry Pratchet       I love Terry Pratchet, and his discworld books, and currently I am very addicted to a MUD game of the same theme. When ever there is any new snippets from the Pratchet direction, my friends and I go into a flurry of activity, each trying to read, discuss and quote as quickly as possible. We could be very sick people.

I love the humour and the twisted tales that lead off into new realms and often very old ones too.

One of my favorite quotes is "...Everyone knows that million-to-one chances pop up nine times out of ten..."

If you grew up on Douglas Adams' Hitchiker series, this will be almost like seeing an old friend. Okay the slightly senile old friend. Alright, alright -  the slightly senile no-hold-on-realistic-reality friend who wet your bed when you were five, and then proceeded to go back to theirs.

So go and visit. Have a cuppa (tea or coffee). Be amazed, delighted, and perhaps even amused by the friend who created these characters in order to wet your bed again (this time through you laughing).

Anne Rice

Another author I never miss, is Anne Rice. She brings out the inner goth in me, and whenever a new work is released (released - sounds like it was chained up in the dungeon, "Igor release the novels....."), I start looking at my wardrobe, wondering how to dress for the occaision. I recently aquired a new black cloak with a huge hood trimmed with fake ermine fur - just for the effect.

After the descision of what to wear, (black), comes the great task of mood atmospere. One bright light, to read by, a big comfy chair, and as many "antiques" and old stuff you can find to surround yourself with (Barney is not allowed here). The must have nibbles follow (cookies, rice cakes, and when all else fails, barley sugars).

Anne Rice weaves beautiful tales of far off and very close lands, combining both the deep history of the location with the irresistable yet flawed (almost human) characters.

The results are like being transported to a new level of awareness of the world around you. I can tell you I have never looked at the locals the same way since - and I always knew that one of them had a deep dark family secret that would risk the whole suburb in a disaster of  huge proportions, leaving only a few bewildered souls to contemplate the sins of the past.

Trashy Others

Occaisionally I wander into paperback/airport-can't-find-anything-else book to read, in other words the trashy others.

I don't admit to reading them - straight into the oh-this-is-just-to-hold-up-my-sofa pile. When no-one is around, or I am on a plane (in Australia if you want to "pop" around to anywhere it takes hours, even to go downstairs on bad days), and everyone else is in my predicament too.

Airplane trips of  six hours or more tend to get you to the point of reading matchbooks, and wondering if there is a guy to whittle these little sticks, and another to dunk them in the pot of match-lighting stuff. That is when you are tempted to read a trashy other book.       This leads to the demand and unfortunate supply of disposables. These can usually be easily spotted. The danger signs include titles such as "How to...", "Why am I here...",  "All you needed to know...", and last but not least the "Big man and smutty grin, a love story..." books.

Some people really enjoy these books. They are called bookstore owners or publishers. No, I understand each to their own. This is after all, just my opinion (IMHO).

There really is not much to say about these books or self-help books or how-to-diy books, almost all of them will make you feel inadequete, imcompetent, and beyond hope. Especially when the tradesperson asks if they can take notes on what you did, as they haven't heard anything this funny since Jack was a lad (who is jack anyway?).

How can I poke fun at something that does it so well itself? This is where I give up, and go to find something else to prop up my sofa (it's leaning again......)

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