Year: 2008

There are times that I wish I could draw, and this is one of them. If I could, I would draw a little heavenly scenario that shows Bettie Page posing for a portrait-painting Dave Stevens, captioned “Together at last.”

Hëll of a story, those two.

PAD

Caroline showed up to play. Snow was falling, as it has every year on her birthday except–for the first time–this one.

We took her to Friendly’s for her birthday dinner. Sunday will be her party.

PAD

One of the downsides of passing fifty is that medical science becomes interested in shoving all kinds of stuff up your ášš. On the other hand, I’ve had too many friends die far short of fifty to feel like anything other than an ingrate if I bìŧçh about it too much.

As I write this, I’m still slightly loopy from being rendered unconscious for my very first colonoscopy. I really should have had it two years ago, but, well…I’ve been busy.

Continue Reading “My procedure” →

Excerpted from “School Library Journal”–

SLJ Presents the Best Adult Books for High School Students 2008
By Francisca Goldsmith, Chair, Adult Books for High School Students Committee — School Library Journal, 12/1/2008

It was a banner literary year and so SLJ’s Adult Books for High School Students Committee decided on 30 titles, published between September 2007 and November 2008 (with reviews published in 2008), to recognize as the best for high school readers. The list includes realistic and historical novels as well as some genre-blending titles. Biography, history, and books about the environment are well represented. Outstanding graphic novels and nonfiction also appear. The committee members are from public and school libraries across the United States and Canada, working with teens in urban, rural, and suburban settings. We are convinced that these titles will appeal to high school readers and provide a bridge into the vast world of adult publishing.

Fiction

DAVID, Peter. Tigerheart: A Tale of the Anyplace. Del Rey. Tr. $22. ISBN 978-0-345-50159-2.

In a James Barrie-inspired world of suspense, swashbuckling adventure, tenderness, anguish, and wit and sarcasm, the appealing characters peopling Anyplace will draw in many teen readers.

The full article with the complete list can be found here:

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/ca6617202.html

PAD

I know this is the time of year when we’re supposed to be giving thanks and dwelling on the nobility of the human soul.

But as a lead-up to the holidays, a young man committed suicide on webcam while people watched, commented and lampooned him for twelve hours before someone thought to get help for him. And Black Friday kicked off at one Walmart with shoppers smashing through a door and trampling a holiday employee to death, actually stepping over his prone body to get to the bargains.

It’s as if either people don’t understand the things they’re witnessing, or simply don’t care. And I’m not sure which is worse.

PAD

A new artist for X-Factor (no, Larry’s not coming back), the Angel draws closer to what she needs to dispatch Moloch, and Apropos makes his comic debut with a nod to the Dark Tower. Whad’ja think?

PAD