wicked

Finished reading Gregory McGuire's Wicked yesterday, the Wizard of Oz story from the Wicked Witch of the West's point of view. Funny, sad, intriguing. I'll never be able to watch the movie the same way again. :-)

I've never read the Oz books. Tried (as both a child and an adult), but could never get into them. Also never read Winnie the Pooh, Wind in the Willows, the Dark Is Rising series until I was an adult. On the other hand, I hoovered down E. Nesbitt, C.S. Lewis, Edward Eager, Madeleine L'Engle. I tended to be drawn to stories about ordinary (or apparently ordinary) children who stumbled across a magic item or closet, or were otherwise pulled into magical adventures almost by surprise.

I loved (and still love) books which could absorb me into the story and characters, sucking me in so completely that I forget about the passage of time and am oblivious to everything going on around me. For me, that's magic. Movies can do the same thing, but it's a much more passive process...everything's handed to you on the plate, your imagination doesn't have to do any conjuring on its own. As much as I enjoyed the Harry Potter movies (four times so far!), they will never be as good as the books.

When I worked as a programmer for Toronto-Dominion Bank, a co-worker once told me he "wasn't into books". I thought he was joking at first. When I found out he wasn't, my opinion of him (especially as a potential friend) drastically altered. It floored me that anyone could NOT enjoy reading; it seemed like such an essential part of life for me, like walking and breathing.



Going to Virginia tomorrow to visit Moira Allen (who was Managing Editor of Inkspot until it was shut down); I'm VERY excited about meeting Moira for the first time!

Looks like I'm going to have a daily column on WritersMarket.com, by the way (F&W Publications). It'll be starting in January; I'll post more details as I know them.

In case I don't get a chance to post tomorrow morning before I leave, have a great weekend, everyone!



Links:

Segway: So what's your opinion of this new product? Do you think it will live up to its hype? Post your opinion here.

(BBC) More developments in e-paper. (More...)



Today's pics:

- Dung beetle cross-stitch designed and executed by Helen. Here's how she did it.

- Amanda invited Jeff and me over for dinner last night along with Sandra, her fianc|AMP|eacute; Brett, and Helen. Helen flies to Paris today to hang out with her fianc|AMP|eacute;.

- Amanda's cat Buster.

- Amanda's collection of Trixie Belden books.

Today's Poll: (Courtesy Lissa Allcock)

OK, so you own a bicycle - have you ridden it in the last 6 months??? (if you don't own a bicycle, please refrain from answering today's poll question, thanks)