tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145729532011-11-27T17:34:11.371-06:00Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.comBlogger581100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-78632792803606280922010-08-18T20:45:00.002-05:002010-08-18T20:54:51.716-05:00

QUATRAIN By Sharon Shinn This volume contains four novellas, each one revisiting one of the worlds Shinn has created for other tales. "Flight" is set in Samaria, roughly in the same time period as "Archangel," the first of the series of novels set in the world where Angels rule. Salome is a former angel-seeker who wants nothing more to do with them, and tries to keep her niece from making the

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-32779946047850361482010-06-21T11:14:00.001-05:002010-06-21T11:14:17.680-05:00

I first encountered Gene Yang's "American Born Chinese" as a webcomic several years ago on Modern Tales -- although even then it was clear that he was posting pages of a specific project that would be a book, not just doing a comic for the web that might or might not be collected. Since then, it has not only been published in book form but has received much acclaim, including being a finalist for

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-61698642969203947622010-06-04T18:00:00.000-05:002010-06-04T18:00:04.847-05:00

The story begins at the end - or after the end, actually. Three friends, one of whom is our narrator, are eating sushi. A woman they call Miss Finch - though that is *not* her name - has disappeared. They all agree that the circumstances of her disappearance make it unlikely that anyone would believe them if they reported it, so they decide they have not choice but to let it go.Anyone familiar

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-87392965296433304692010-05-28T21:11:00.000-05:002010-05-28T21:14:39.016-05:00

I have a shameful secret to confess: until a few weeks ago, I had never read anything by Jane Austen. This wouldn't be a shameful secret for everyone, but I was an Honors English major at Kenyon College thirty years ago or so, which meant, among other things, that I had to pass a six-hour comprehensive examination on all of English literature. Plus, I do in fact regularly read 18th and 19th

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-17866390102831379052010-05-21T18:00:00.000-05:002010-05-21T18:00:02.826-05:00

I don't usually "give away the ending" of a book I'm reviewing. However, it's very hard to review this book sensibly without touching on things that come up near the end, including some things that might be thought of as "spoilers" in a more conventional book. I honestly don't think they would spoil your enjoyment of the book. The plot is hardly the main point here, although it is in fact a

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-51154781530153630532010-05-14T18:00:00.000-05:002010-05-14T18:00:02.059-05:00

Evelyn is a ten-year-old girl with an active imagination and an artistic flair who is staying with her aunt in New York City in the summer of 1942. She spends much of her time writing and drawing in her notebook. She writes comic book stories about Zirconium Man and his sidekick Scooter. They always manage to save the day, even while being threatened by black tendrils that seem to grow out of

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-7126839388247074912010-04-27T21:35:00.002-05:002010-04-27T22:02:38.126-05:00

Women Are Crazy, Men Are StupidBy Howard J. Morris & Jenny Lee246 pp., Simon Spotlight Entertainment, $22.99 (hardback)At first glace, this book seems like a hipper, wittier version of "Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus." And indeed, that's basically what it is. But despite its slim size, it manages to be quite a bit more than just that.First, the fact that the book is co-authored by an

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-13535037061503717922010-03-31T07:50:00.004-05:002010-05-06T12:02:10.939-05:00

The Impostor's DaughterBy Laurie SandellLittle, Brown & Co., 247 pages, $24.99Laurie Sandell's father was a former Green Beret who'd served in Vietnam. He had a law degree and a Ph.D. Although in her earliest memories he was teaching at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, he had once taught at Stanford, and while there had become an adviser to President Richard and a friend of

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-9030660640268397602010-02-08T21:19:00.002-06:002010-02-08T21:25:51.823-06:00

Before Age of Bronze or Sandman or even Cerebus, before anyone else (in North America, at least) even conceived of the possibility of a long-running comic that would tell a single story and be collected in bound volumes to be read as literature for years to come, Jack Kirby created the Fourth World. It was an ambitious plan, spread over three bi-monthly comic book series plus one monthly,

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-12921482166187465612010-02-07T21:43:00.000-06:002010-02-07T21:54:13.384-06:00

I'm trying something new here - starting this blog over again and posting this new start from my new iPhone.I will probably get around to doing more on religion and Cerebus one of these days, but for the nest few weeks I'm planning to concentrate on doing some reviews, which is going to be the main purpose for the site, I think.

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-11858544218781455492007-10-05T11:07:00.000-05:002007-10-05T16:16:55.902-05:00

There's not as much directly about religion in Women as one would suspect. Oh, certainly, there are the facing pages from extracts of the writings of Cirin and Astoria, and one would assume they are there to exhibit some of the fundamental principles of Cirinism and Kevillism, respectively. And of course they are, in a way. But they are not spiritually oriented, really. There's little talk about

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-92222490816405426042007-10-02T10:35:00.000-05:002007-10-02T10:52:51.089-05:00

We were supposed to discuss Alexx Kay's Cerebus Timeline some months ago, but somehow it never happened. I am very sympatico with Alexx, having created my own timeline not unlike his a long, long time ago. Mine was not nearly as complete -- for one thing, the comic wasn't halfway finished yet at the time. I was thinking of pulling it out and working on updating it when I first ran into

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-38898493035853701692007-08-25T23:00:00.000-05:002007-08-25T23:12:35.971-05:00

Last time, we stopped where Po was instructing Cerebus on the lesson Bishop Posey represents for him. After that, Po goes on to describe his second life, and this is the one with the analogy to Christ's passion and the echo of the Trial we saw in "Church & State" (all quotes below are from pp. 194-196 of "Flight," and I'm quoting the entire text): At a very early age, I evinced interest in the

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-44551568079763737852007-08-23T21:10:00.000-05:002007-08-23T21:27:37.634-05:00

OK, where was I? Oh, yeah: Po. Po tells Cerebus that as Suenteus Po the First he was a reformer, and accuses the Judge of lying about him. He also mentions that "Suenteus Po the First" had taken that name in honor of a great historian from several hundred years before. When did all this happen, by the way? Alexx thinks it was long, long, LOOOONG ago (he puts it before year zero in his

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-19557121653521327422007-08-22T22:32:00.000-05:002007-08-22T22:44:11.786-05:00

Taking a short break from the "Religion in Cerebus" series, I recently read my first Thursday Next book by Jasper Fforde -- who I had never heard of until recently. I wrote a review, but found that the book editor of the Post-Dispatch isn't interested. So I thought I'd post it here.This is either the fifth, the sixth, or the first book to feature Thursday Next, depending on how you're counting.

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-17083819517718602122007-08-12T10:49:00.000-05:002007-08-23T21:27:37.634-05:00

I'm going to go through each book in M&D one at a time, but I'm not going to restrict myself to things in that book. I may speak of something Po tells Cerebus, for instance, and then compare it to similar or contradictory bits from the other books, and when I get to Reads and Minds I'll be hearkening back to the first two books. So although I'll be using the structure of M&D itself to some extent

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-54420359579756702602007-07-30T15:54:00.000-05:002007-08-23T21:27:37.634-05:00

Let's start with the obvious: Mothers and Daughters consists of four volumes, each with its own title.Each of these volumes presents a voice engaging in philosophical discourse that goes beyond commenting on the action at hand into analyzing life, the universe, and everything, as Douglas Adams put it.In the first volume, Flight, the voice is that of Suenteus Po, speaking to Cerebus, although as

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-37964495994402787032007-07-28T22:15:00.001-05:002007-08-23T21:27:37.635-05:00

(I've decided to start over with the numbering instead of numbering this part Nine because this is going to be quite long and be transmitted in several parts, and I didn't feel like going up into the teens. Hopefully, I'll eventually tie it all together into a seamless whole and whatever parts or chapters it breaks into will be structural rather than chronologically convenient.)In this work, Dave

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-29746352668723163132007-03-04T20:20:00.000-06:002007-08-23T21:27:37.635-05:00

Before moving on to Melmoth, I want to say one more thing about Jaka's Story, and that is to remark on the morally ambiguous character of Jaka herself. She is the agent of redemption for Pud, and the murderer of her own child. She is the sensible provider who loves and takes care of a man-child who seemingly would be lost in the real world without her, and she deprives him of the one thing he

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-89587939451174389872007-03-01T07:54:00.000-06:002007-08-23T21:27:37.635-05:00

You may remember that the multi-part essay "Religion in Cerebus" began as a digression from a discussion of the Concept of Redemption in Cerebus, and extended because it ended up sparking yet another reread of the whole saga through the lens of a topic that became, for me at least, more interesting than my original one.However, with "Jaka's Story" I find I must return to the original theme, at

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-48505809972072675122007-02-26T16:35:00.000-06:002007-08-23T21:27:37.636-05:00

After being in the forefront for the massive length of "Church & State," religion retreats into the background in "Jaka's Story," although it's not completely missing. We have Oscar's arch comments in the "Jaka's Story" within "Jaka's Story" (aka "Daughter of Palnu"), and of course we have some pro forma Cirinist dogma from Mrs. Thatcher at the end -- although Cirinism is present in the story

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1169396507507135882007-01-21T10:17:00.000-06:002007-08-23T21:27:37.636-05:00

Religion comes to the forefront of the Cerebus storyline in “Church & State,” when Cerebus becomes Pope again. Again? Cerebus was actually the acting pontiff during part of “High Society,” I refer the reader to pp. 427-428, when Cerebus has his conversation with the two drunken Bishops, where he learns the importance of the Albatross. On p. 428, we find the following exchange:BISHOP: You were

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1167322161211199972006-12-28T09:58:00.000-06:002007-08-23T21:27:37.636-05:00

In 1983, in the introduction to #19 written for Swords of Cerebus Volume 5, Dave Sim came up with an analogy to explain the intricacies of the secret societies and intrigues and power struggles he was dealing with: I tried to explain the problem a while ago by explaining that most of the factors involved are secret societies -- to put it in a more modern context, it is like a secret cell of

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1166976969494727452006-12-24T10:13:00.000-06:002007-08-23T21:27:37.636-05:00

Since I'm also posting these to the Cerebus mailing list, most of the comments and responses I'm getting are over there. This one provoked enough of a response from me that I decided to post it here as well.--- In cerebus@yahoogroups.com, "Jeff Tundis" wrote:>> When was the first mention of Tarim as the minter of> coins? That, to me, really solidifies the whole "Tarim as Christ"> idea. The coin

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1166641119610317602006-12-20T12:51:00.000-06:002007-08-23T21:27:37.637-05:00

By the time he started "High Society," Dave Sim had a pretty good idea of what the major religious movements were that he wanted to use in his tale, how they did and didn't match up against the real religions in our real world (although he had some blind spots there because of his upbringing and ideas -- the doctrines of his analog to the medieval Roman Catholic Church is based more on the

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1166472584032397822006-12-18T14:09:00.000-06:002007-08-23T21:27:37.637-05:00

So to quickly sum up parts one and two, Cerebus began essentially without religion, with polytheistic gods mentioned primarily as oaths of surprise, then we discovered that some people had been worshipping since ancient times a god that looked like Cerebus, then "Tarim" became an analog for Christ as Dave Sim decided to turn his book into a forum for wider examination of political, social and

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1165867945325822072006-12-11T13:31:00.000-06:002007-08-23T21:27:37.637-05:00

In "Minds," Dave tells Cerebus that he once went through something like what he's putting his character through. It wasn't a voice in his head, though but something more like -- and then he makes a bright light not only blind Cerebus, but seem at one point to be *inside* his head, so that light comes *out* of his eyes, then grow to envelop his whole head before fading.It's an interesting moment.

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1165408071621012312006-12-06T06:27:00.000-06:002007-08-23T21:27:37.637-05:00

In the beginning, Cerebus was conceived by Dave Sim as taking place in roughly the same world where the Conan comic books by Roy Thomas and Barry Smith, based on Robert E. Howard's famous barbarian, took place: a lost ancient world where magic worked and multiple gods were not only believed in but actually existed. Gods mentioned in the first six issues, that is the first year of bi-monthly

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1165344052614882052006-12-05T12:21:00.000-06:002007-08-23T21:27:02.547-05:00

I'm postponing part 3 of "Redemption in Cerebus" indefinitely, because I decided to start rereading parts of it in preparation for that, and before long I found myself rereading the whole first book and now I'm well into "High Society," so I've apparently embarked on yet another reread. So I'm going to use this space to share my thoughts on that reread. Much of what I have to say will at least

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1164422444988180032006-11-24T20:40:00.000-06:002007-08-23T21:27:37.638-05:00

"What would have constituted Cerebus (the character) *redeeming* humanity?"I said that I find the question irrelevant, but that's probably an exaggeration. While not an important buried theme underlying the entire work or anything like that, one can look at the overall plot structure as an answer to this question, as we shall see. Besides, when Larry said that "yes, he really did" want to get me

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1164421361316540272006-11-24T20:22:00.000-06:002007-08-23T21:27:37.638-05:00

First off, since Larry first brought this up, and since he originally posed it in terms of "what would have constituted Cerebus (the character) *redeeming* humanity," I want to deal with the Christian notion of redemption and why it's largely irrelevant to redemption stories even within a Christian culture. Most of this early stuff isn't going to be directly relevant to Cerebus, so please bear

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1133151049918113772005-11-27T22:06:00.000-06:002005-11-27T22:10:49.940-06:00

Jeremy woke up with a crick in his neck. Sleeping in his car was even less comfortable than sleeping in the park, but it was beginning to get cold enough that he was glad he hadn't lost his car just yet. The car contained everything he owned. Well, technically he still owned the stuff in the storage locker, but the owner had put his own lock on the door since Jeremy quit paying the rent in August

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1133063168563225462005-11-26T21:43:00.000-06:002005-11-26T21:46:08.586-06:00

Ashley Cooper didn't understand what the black-haired woman was trying to tell her."Wait. You say this guy Jeremy is the guy at the library who helped me with my history paper and my biology presentation?""Yes, and you found him attractive, yes?""What? Who told you that?""No one told me. I saw it.""You must be crazy. He's old. He must be thirty.""He's twenty-seven.""And I'm sixteen. Is he some

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1132974512797825072005-11-25T21:07:00.000-06:002005-11-26T20:01:40.486-06:00

Tianalamara, who was known to all but a select few as Liliana, leaned over the scrying pool and breathed on its tranquil surface. Her breath rippled the water ever so slightly, and when the tiny wavelets died the clear surface of the water dissolved into a vision of the fountain pond at Tower Grove Park, and Jeremy seated on the bench-like stone just "inside" the door to the nonexistent building

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1132891234409983342005-11-24T21:58:00.000-06:002005-11-24T22:00:34.430-06:00

Jeremy went home and slept all day, got up and forced himself to pop something in the microwave and eat it. He tried to write, but the only thing he could think of to write about was a sonnet to Liliana -- Tianalamara -- and he just dissolved into tears when he tried, so he went back to bed.The next day was a bit better, but after spending the whole day writing, with only a short break for lunch,

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1132886306729536792005-11-24T20:35:00.000-06:002005-11-24T20:38:26.750-06:00

He landed hard on the earth. It was dark, too dark to see. He was lying on the ground somewhere. One hand was on bare earth the other in grass, so where he was, it wasn't the other side of the stone doorway by the pond. Even if he hand't made it to the pond, he would have landed on the concrete walkway that went around it and filled the space between the steps on the other side of the door and

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1132802598409348102005-11-23T21:20:00.000-06:002005-11-23T21:23:18.426-06:00

The month of February went by quickly. It seemed it had barely started when Jeremy turned around and it was almost time to worry about coming up with rent for March.He wasn't doing too badly. He'd sold three more stories, one of them for over $600. He'd also had two poems accepted for publication, but one paid ten copies of the magazine and the other paid $25.The big plus was getting $750 back on

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1132711240693481082005-11-22T19:58:00.000-06:002005-11-22T20:00:40.713-06:00

Jeremy had $2,000 in the bank. That was enough for four months' rent -- assuming he had other money coming in for food and gas and utilities. He hadn't cashed the second story check yet, but it was only $200. He had two more paychecks coming from the library, but one of them would be for only two days.He had to find another job. Quickly.Or did he? Maybe he should just trust that his writing would

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1132629497863621782005-11-21T21:16:00.000-06:002005-11-21T21:18:17.873-06:00

A few days after the new year, Jeremy received his first-ever check for a piece of fiction he'd written. He'd had stories published before in small magazines -- fanzines, really -- which paid in copies of the magazine to show off and distribute to friends. But this was real money.And it was real money, a check for $480 - almost as much money as Jeremy made in a week. More money than he'd ever

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1132629367135488322005-11-21T21:14:00.000-06:002005-11-21T21:16:07.150-06:00

What Jeremy saw the next morning was Liliana, lying in bed next to him. She had never spent the night before, and he had just about convinced himself that she couldn't exist in his world during the daylight. But there she was, sleeping peacefully. He leaned over and kissed her cheek, and she woke up and smiled at him. "Good morning," she said."I'm full of questions," he said. "But I won't ask any

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1132461752243812892005-11-19T22:39:00.000-06:002005-11-19T22:42:32.260-06:00

The party was already well under way when Jeremy and Liliana walked in. There had been no one to greet them in the entryway, and Liliana had led him away from the front desk to the door to the common room, from which the sounds of merriment were coming. The room was filled with the most outlandish collection of folk Jeremy had ever seen, sitting, standing, dancing, talking, laughing, eating,

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1132373275303580092005-11-18T22:05:00.000-06:002005-11-18T22:07:55.316-06:00

December 21st was a cold and blustery day. Jeremy almost got in trouble at work, not because he was tired -- he went to bed early the night before, and took a pill to make sure he'd sleep, because he knew he might not get much sleep tonight. But he was so wound up and anxious, not unlike a child on Christmas Eve, that he couldn't pay much attention to his job. Cecilia glanced at him sharply once,

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1132328831494026972005-11-18T09:41:00.001-06:002005-11-19T14:51:49.926-06:00

The next morning Jeremy was not late, but it was a near thing. He remembered again his promise to himself to go in early, and cursed himself for coming so close to getting in trouble just the day after being warned by Cecilia. He yawned as he sat down at his desk with two minutes to spare. He remembered she also said something about falling asleep at his desk. He didn't think he was in bad enough

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1132201289640538002005-11-16T22:11:00.000-06:002005-11-18T13:50:19.783-06:00

That night, Liliana was waiting for him at the park. It was cold. His face was windburned and he wished he had something heavier than the down jacket he was wearing. He did have his gloves on, and even so he could feel cold in his fingers.And there she was, still wearing the same dress she'd worn every night they were together, the same open-toed sandals, and the necklace he had given her. And

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1132200707157951452005-11-16T22:09:00.000-06:002005-11-16T22:11:47.173-06:00

"Jeremy, I'm concerned." "Concerned?""About you. What's going on?""Nothing. Why?"She didn't say anything for a while. It seemed almost like she was giving him time to change his answer. Finally, she sighed. "Jeremy, there's obviously something going on in your life. If you want to tell me it's none of my business, that's fine, because it's not, except that you make it my business by allowing it

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1132028901633126782005-11-14T22:26:00.000-06:002005-11-14T22:28:21.646-06:00

The day after Thanksgiving, Jeremy didn't eat.It wasn't that he didn't have any food. His refrigerator groaned with leftovers his mother had practically forced on him. It wasn't even that he wasn't hungry, although certainly his hunger hadn't risen to the level of demanding attention that hunger always had in the past if he was so remiss in his obligation to his stomach as to require reminding.

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1132022550224293572005-11-14T20:40:00.000-06:002005-11-14T20:42:30.230-06:00

"So, Jeremy, are you seeing anyone?"Jeremy had known his mother would ask that question. He'd been dreading it all day, because he didn't want to lie to her but also couldn't imagine how he could possibly begin to explain about Liliana. "Well, I -- ""Leave the boy alone, momma. He's a grown man, now, it's his own business who he sleeps with. Or doesn't."Jeremy blushed. His father laughed. "You

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1132022381830225692005-11-14T20:33:00.000-06:002005-11-14T20:39:41.856-06:00

Monday night Jeremy walked to the park after dinner. She wasn't there, but instead of waiting around hoping she'd show up, he went home. He finished revising the ghost story (among other things, he revised the description of the ghost to make it still scary and horrible but less disgusting).He took it to work the next morning and looked up "Horror" in the latest Writers Digest, which the library

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1131676791610038282005-11-10T20:37:00.000-06:002005-11-10T20:39:51.630-06:00

Allison looked down the long, dark corridor and trembled. She knew that he might come back any minute. She reached up to her neck and touched the crucifix, reassuring herself that it was still there. He seemed to be afraid of it, although she wasn't sure whether his fear was real or just a way to lure her into a false sense of security. She knew she couldn't count on the things she'd seen in

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1131592652575358452005-11-09T21:15:00.000-06:002005-11-09T21:17:32.590-06:00

When Jeremy woke up the next morning, she was gone, nothing but the empty foil condom packets on his bedside indicating she had ever been there.That, and the fact that his apartment was clean.But it wasn't, exactly, he realized as he moved about after showering and getting dressed. She had taken all the trash and dirty dishes off the coffee table, had washed the dishes and glasses and cups and

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1131509952165201152005-11-08T22:18:00.000-06:002005-11-08T22:19:12.183-06:00

Jeremy went back to the park every night, sometimes just for a walk around the pond, sometimes to stay and wait to see if she would show up. Sometimes he knew she wouldn't be there. Sometimes he thought maybe she would be. He got stopped once for loitering after curfew, but he was just given a warning. Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night.Friday night he thought about the fact that last

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1131507565054040562005-11-08T21:37:00.000-06:002005-11-08T21:40:27.016-06:00

When he went back to the park to retrieve his car, Jeremy discovered a parking ticket. $20.00 for "illegal overnight parking." Well, it made sense if the park closed at 10:00 p.m. you weren't supposed to leave your car there overnight. He sighed and put it in his pocket.He walked around the fountain pond. He'd become so familiar with it by moonlight this last week that it looked unfamiliar and

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1131426849788879782005-11-07T23:12:00.000-06:002005-11-07T23:14:09.800-06:00

Forever after, Jeremy had a hard time being able to give a detailed account of that night, although he would tell you that every moment was indelibly seared into his memory. Everything around him seemed in sharp focus, yet at the same time far away, as if he were looking at it through a camera lens sharpened to crystal clarity, rather than being present himself. The smallest detail would impose

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1131415271176583502005-11-07T19:58:00.000-06:002005-11-07T20:03:36.980-06:00

Jeremy's usual method of dealing with hangovers was to avoid them by sleeping in the next day after a drunk. It didn't always work. This particular morning, even a throbbing headache and mouth full of cotton couldn't bring down his mood. He was going to see Liliana tonight!He decided that he wanted to give her something. Just a little something to let her know how special she was to him. It

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1131342118518177972005-11-06T23:39:00.000-06:002005-11-07T16:42:38.706-06:00

Jeremy went to the ruins by the fountain pond and waited for her for two hours, until after midnight, but she didn’t show up. She didn’t show up the next night, either. Thursday night he waited even longer, past 2:00 a.m., walking around and around the pond when he got cold. At one point he thought he saw her on the rock by the doorway, the same place he’d first seen her, and he hurried his steps

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1131254761061515712005-11-05T23:20:00.000-06:002005-11-05T23:26:01.080-06:00

"Excuse me."Jeremy jumped, abruptly jarred out of his dream of the night before. He realized with a sudden onrush of guilt that while he'd been dazing off into the distance thinking about Liliana's lips, the young lady standing at the counter had said "Excuse me" at least one previous time, and was getting rather impatient."Sorry, sorry. I'm . . . a little under the weather today." That, actually

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1130990537302261392005-11-02T22:02:00.000-06:002005-11-05T11:06:37.073-06:00

Technically, Jeremy shouldn't have been in the park at all.Officially, Tower Grove Park is closed from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Jeremy often walked there late at night, however, and he'd never gotten stopped yet.He liked to walk in the park at night, alone. It felt safer than walking the streets. He knew he wasn't really any safer in the park, but being surrounded by trees reminded him of his

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14572953.post-1130901632726405172005-11-01T21:18:00.000-06:002005-11-03T16:42:33.303-06:00

This is not a fairy tale. Well, all right, technically it is a fairy tale, I suppose, but it isn't one of those stories that you tell the kiddies just before you tuck them beddy-bye about a beautiful princess locked in a tower and the handsome prince who comes to rescue her.For one thing, nobody would have mistaken Jeremy Morrison for a handsome prince. Not that he was ugly, mind you. It's true

Steve B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09770611418164713806noreply@blogger.com0