Oh so Ready for a Change...

It's really difficult for me to pinpoint my favorite season. When people ask, I usually say "fall" because it's pretty and the weather is mild. As I get older though, I've come to appreciate seasonal change. Lately, in this awful heat, I've been longing for winter, which rarely happens because I'm not a fan of the extreme cold and I like snow, but it scares the crap out of me to drive in it (and yes, I have done so when I lived for two years in a place that does get a moderate amount of snow). When I can find the good in something that I usually don't like so much, (excellent reading weather and warm socks) I know that I must just like change.

While fall hits Georgia much later than many places, I find myself daydreaming about the oh so wonderful things that happen in the cooler weather:

-Foliage: I think the colors of autumn are the best of any season.

-Good reading weather: Fall is the perfect time for Gothic novels, mysteries, scary reading challenges, which are rapidly becoming my favorites (or is it the approaching season change).

-Football: Okay, I am not a sports fan, (and luckily, I don't go to a huge football school anymore) but it's kind of fun to watch other people get really worked up (and drunk) over a stupid game (and occasionally keep up with the scores and rankings for the sake of my family). I just can't bring myself to get emotional about it all like everybody else does, but when I look at it's bare bones, it's kind of fun.

-Spices: pumpkin cookies, bread, pie, cup cakes, ginger snaps, spice drop cookies, gum drops, etc. I love (not as much as Jon though) all things pumpkin (excepting my allergy to the seeds) and fall is the perfect time for all things baking oriented.

-Bubble baths and candles: It's kind of hard to take a hot bath in the summer because, well, it's so hot outside. But during fall, I can kick back with my "Autumn Leaves" scented candle, turn off the lights, and relax in the bathtub after a stressful 12 hour work day.

-Fall clothes: I love wearing textured tights, nice closed-toe heels, layers, long-sleeves, bold colors, anything J. Crew in the fall.

I have spent a good portion of my recent days pondering these awesome aspects of the approaching season. Then reality hits and I realize that it's still 100+ degrees outside, my car is a furnace even when driving home from work at 7pm, kids aren't allowed to play outside at the elementary schools, my friend can't rehearse her color guard outside without getting a million parent complaints, and I can't walk outside without my hair becoming a poofy mess.

I heart Georgia! I'll probably be longing for this hotness come January and February, but what can I say? I like change.

Just a side note... thanks to all of the R.I.P. Challenge folks for the encouragement. I'm looking forward to reading all of the fantastic reviews about your reads. I will begin The Woman in White come Saturday, September 1st on my 2.5 hour flight to Denver.

BEHOLD!

As our rare books cataloger was cataloging a book tonight, he called me into his office to decipher some weird handwriting and a picture on the back of the cover. Turns out, this 1930s copy of The Shape of Things to Come was not only signed by H. G. Wells himself on the title page, but the book was also owned by a lady named Hazel Lavery who was an Anglo-Irish artist and second wife of Irish painter Sir John Lavrey. I emailed Amanda right away about this and her response was as follows:

"bookgasm*bookgasm*bookgasm*bookgasm*"

My thoughts exactly.

I'm not a nerd... or AM I???

My First Challenge

I've decided to participate in my first reading challenge. I'm somewhat scared to do this because while I read habitually, I'm not exactly up to the standards of my friends with their English degrees. After all, this is NOT a book blog, nor do I plan on starting one because I would just appear to be an idiot! The theme of this challenge though, is particularly alluring, so if I was ever going to get the nerves too participate, now is the time.

This is the second year for Readers Imbibing Peril, R.I.P. for short, which will take place from September 1st through October 31st. There are many different options for this challenge, but I'm going to opt for the "vanilla" peril and read 4 books of any length. Each book should be creepy, scary, eerie, Gothic, you name it... basically, perfect Fall reading.

The following are the 4 that I plan to read (in no particular order):

-Dracula, by Bram Stoker
-The Fall of the House of Usher and other Writings, by Edgar Allan Poe (I'm actually going to read something other than a novel for once)
-The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins
-Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klaus

I'm really happy that he included the YA genre in the challenge, because it comprises the majority of my reading piles. Excepting some Poe short stories, I picked books that I have never read before (Yes, I've never read Dracula nor The Woman in White).

If I have time, I might add in a couple more like:

-Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
-The Thirteenth Tale (a reread, but I like it still) by Diane Setterfield

Sadly, my current books are paling in comparison to my September and October TBR pile.

Join if you like to read!

I'm a Sucker for the Blood Sucker

What can I say? I LOVE Vampires. Okay, if I encountered a particularly thirsty one, I don't think I'd venture to say that I'd love them so much, but they make great creepy/hot characters in books.

My very first vivid nightmare as a kid involved a vampire (à la Bela Lugosi style). The dream was in black and white and this freaky undead one (who lived in a coffin standing on end like a fantasized mummy would) was after my dad. The vampire was trying to lure my dad with an apple, like the serpent in the Book of Genesis or something. I remember waking up frightened out of my mind at the scene and wondering if my father was okay.

Luckily, my dad survived the ordeal and here I am today, completing what feels like my 17th vampire novel since August 2006 (Eclipse, part of the Twilight series). I think I've gotten to the point where I'm no longer creeped out by the nightmare itself and can "research" vampires with interest. I started reading the first two books in the aforementioned YA series, then read some of Scott Westerfeld's vampire novels (not as good as his Uglies trilogy, but alright), then read the book that sealed the deal, The Historian (yes, a best seller I actually loved for once). I've never been so thoroughly scared in my life as I was reading this book. The connection for me felt real as well, since a good chunk of my heritage is based in that part of the world. Plus, Vlad Ţepeş was a real person, and his history alone is enough to make any sort of vampire lore seem a bit pale in comparison. While I was reading the book, it got to the point that I was thinking about vampires so much that I freaked myself out and couldn't read at night, nor alone in the house.

I always wonder why I like reading about something that scares me so much, when I'm the biggest scaredy cat when it comes to watching horror movies, and I'm not interested in reading about zombies or other creepy beasts/undeads of legend. It's probably the nightmare from my childhood and wanting to kick my dream vampire's ass for going after my father, or the fact that they seem to be so suave and hot in literature and movies (thanks to Gary Oldman and Stephenie Meyer) but can suck the life out of you.

Ah well, I suppose confronting my own fears is a good thing. :)

Reality leaves a lot to the imagination

-John Lennon

Why is it that vacations always go by so fast? My 10 day vacation went by like a blur and now I'm back to work work work. School starts up next week (I think) and suddenly I realize that I've been at Brenau for a year this coming Wednesday. Wow. I'm just thankful that the faculty retreat won't be half as overwhelming as it was last year. Although a day at Lake Lanier trying to be professional is going to be pretty difficult, considering the 100+ degree heat currently taking over Georgia. WHY?? I hate winter, but I'm psyched about fall clothes, as they are my favorite. It can't come soon enough. Plus, the cold is such good reading weather (I can finally read Dracula).

My vacation was fun. I spent part of it in Keystone, Colorado for Jon's family reunion. I spent a good portion of it being shy around his family, but it was easier to communicate with them once card games were involved. I'm a card and board game fanatic. I also went white water rafting for the first time. We went on an intermediate course, but in level 4 rapids (or whatever you call it) because the season is about to end. Our guide tipped us over once going down a waterfall. Once I was able to breathe from the shock of hitting 40 degree water and having said water fill up my nose and mouth, I had a lot of fun and was a bit less nervous about never having rafted before. I also got on a bike for the first time in something like 15 years (I was awful for about half of the ride) and rode down the continental divide area in Vail, in the freezing rain.

The second half was spent in the Black Hills in South Dakota. This was my second time to the area (Badlands, Custer State Park area) but my first time in both Wind Cave and Jewel Cave. Jon and I had a lot of fun everywhere we went, and even got to ride a gigantic jakalope at Wall Drug. There is something very calming about the prairie and I think summer is the best time to visit the area... especially to see the prairie dogs!

Now I'm attempting to get back to normal. Indeed, it leaves a lot to the imagination...