Spirit by JP Hightman

Spirit by JP Hightman

Honestly, I was prepared to like this. I heard it was scary-I like scary.

50 pages in (there are 212) and I found the young couple, Tess and Tobias lively and endearing, but the only way I could believe in them as characters was to pretend they were 25 rather than 17. This is a book aimed at teens, so apparently teens will only read about characters who are teens? I have no experience in this . The few books I read as a teen were for classes, but yes, most of the time they featured teens. I’m sure there’s research out there to support this? Right? But what I don’t get is this: why are teens more than willing to watch TV shows and movies that have characters who aren’t their age, but won’t read books that don’t feature their peers…..oh, IDK!

Anyway, back to the story of Tess and Tobias (who have really cool names). This young married couple live on some inheritance during the 1890’s, you remember, the age of repression and manners and more repression and high collars and corsets, yeh, that era! But heck, no problem for T2, nope, that’s coz Tobias is a modern sort of man who doesn’t hold his woman on a leash. Bully for you, Toby! And bully to the couple for telling everyone on the train that they were ghost hunters! That’s mighty hard work that usually never gets the recognition it deserves.

The actual conflict of the story is that the couple and a bunch of other freaks are headed to a winter carnival near Salem Massachusetts. The carnival is the premise, but most of the passengers are more intrigued by the ghost story about three witches who were hung there 200 years before, seems these spirits aren’t at rest and that they haunt the area.

The main baddie is Malgore, some immortal nasty black magic practicing witch. She has tons of power at her disposal and uses it to derail the train, murder the passengers and torment T2 through most of the book. This action wasn’t filled with tension and I just wanted to see what T2 would do to end this mess. Finally, Tess, like all good hunters, figures out a way to kill her (from an older, but now dead hunter’s journal). In the end, it’s all ding dong the witch is dead-but there’s a twist. Seems that the other two spirits, who we’ve accepted as benevolent victims throughout, have their own agenda-possessing T2. This possession happens at the end of the book, but I don’t think I’ll be picking up a sequel any time soon.

I’m torn on the age appropriateness of this one. I’m thinking grade 6 up because there is killing, but it’s not described in detail. The bodies aren’t described with the exception of it saying Malgore ripped out the man’s skeleton and his empty skin sagged to the ground. The images of Coraline by Gaiman (think of the other!father) seem just as graphic.

Early Spring Gardening

I’m sitting here inside drinking coffee trying to think what constitutes “early” spring. Somehow, I think rather than trying to pinpoint an exact date for this event, I should be OUTSIDE just enjoying whatever season it is. Not that I haven’t gotten a chance to be one with nature (edit: oh, stupid cliché, my brain seems to be thinking in cliché this morning…please see me after another cup of coffee), but I know I could be outside more.

I actually started what I call garden prep in early March. There really was only one slight snow fall then and no more snow the rest of the month. In fact it was warm and pretty dry. It did wonders for the lawn, drying it up quickly. It was then that I cleaned up the front bank and trimmed the roses. I got the raking done at that time also. A few weeks later and I’d started the lawn mower…honest! No, the grass wasn’t long enough, but it was a quick way to clean up the lawn. Work smarter not harder! (Cliché number two if you’re keeping track).

Now, it’s April. The pansies are in pots, I actually did mow the front lawn and now need to weed whack it! I planted peas, lettuce and spinach. I’m worried the garden is too dry! I had to water it yesterday. Now it’s time to move to new tasks, like working on the Japanese garden, removing turf from it and preparing it for more perennials. I have to get the sweet potato garden set too, tear down the old fence and build a new one. This year I’ll have time to do it right. Last year I set to the task in a panic that I’d wake one morning and they’d be all gone, eaten by crazed rabbits in the night.


It’s looking like it’ll be a good year again for the roses. They have all sorts of crazy green life spurting forth on them! Everything will be making its appearance in May. So I guess I’d call May full on Spring. And I guess it doesn’t matter the name of the season, just enjoy it!

This was from some old quiz.....

But every time I read it I think: "Yep, this is me!" So I decided to put it on here.You are the Justice card.

Justice preserves the harmony of the world.
Working with opposite forces, Justice does not seek to criticize or condemn,
but rather to accept. The idea behind the card justice is that opposite forces are complementary; you could not have good without evil or light without darkness.
Justice’s position is to make sure that if a thing is out of balance,
the weight of its energy is realigned with its opposite force.
This card is also a card of humour, for it is in pointing out contrary positions
that humour is often found. The attitude that is found in the humourous person,
being able to shift perspective and flow with an instinct,
is important in the maintenance of good balance.

I am very into yin and yang and the idea that there has to be balance no matter how we feel about it. I like the idea that you shouldn't judge, just accept and that there is humor in this world, found in odd places, but there to remind us to laugh.

Addendum to why shopping is evil....

Someone want to tell me "how" to wear this top and tell me how it feels!

Here is some strong pictoral proof that shoppping can indeed be evil:

This brought out a very strong WTF reaction followed by a deep and stress relieving belly laugh while we were shopping today. I mean, why? Just why? LOL!

It amazes me that NYS thinks students will read 25 books in the course of the school year. With all the demands on their time and demands on their own personal interests and attention how is that humanly possible. Of course there's a small percentage of students who have no difficulty meeting this goal, but remember we are assuming 25 books (at their reading level) in 40 weeks.

I'm not whining as much as I am trying to point out that in reality, this is a fairly lofty goal. Even a good reader who enjoys reading on their own will probably do 8-10 books at school, maybe 6 for book reports and then maybe 5 on their own. Let's see, that's still only 21! And my numbers are optimistic estimations!

This is possible if you like to read, find joy in books, read fluently and not laboriously and aren't into excessive TV. 40 weeks is basically the end of the year. Now I could easily reach this goal since all the factors above apply and I have summer vacation in the middle of this span of time.

So my reading goal for 2009 will be double the goal and read 50 during the course of 2009. (So I will backtrack and count those I completed between January and now). Let's see if I can do it! Last years 50 book project gave me less time and I did acheive 41 out of 50!

So, what have I read so far (notice I'm only averaging 2 a month):

January

Savvy by Ingrid Law
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

February

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

March

Deathwish by Rob Thurman

April

Spirit by JP Hightman

Why Shopping is Evil and has Ruined Me!

I went for many years convinced I didn’t like shopping and didn’t consider it a recreational sport. Oh, denial, you are strong! Please! For 14 years I have lived practically in walking distance of major malls and shopping centers and even as I write this I’m thinking about heading to somewhere to shop [for what you might ask? That’s the point of this post].

So last weekend started out innocently. I wanted a new pair of jeans. So I headed to Kohl’s. Big mistake. Didn’t I tell myself that Kohl’s never has pants that fit right? That I have never ever bought a pair of pants there because they never fit right? Hello! Listen to myself often? Uh, no! So I wasted time trying on two pairs of jeans in my size that were no where large enough to accommodate me. [And yes, I’ve gained weight, and no, I wasn’t trying on the size 6…it was a 10 thank you very much and it was two sizes to small and no I am not a 14 cos I have several size 10 items that fit…end of explanation]!

So I’m wondering this store infamous for it’s “70% off” racks. I found a $12 blouse in some silvery color and nabbed it along with a $7 plum hoodie. Both said size medium. The blouse fit easily, the hoodie was 3 inches from meeting across my chest. Looks like my mom’s getting herself a little plum colored Easter present.

What Kohl’s has always done right by me is in the shoe department. So that’s where big money got shed. I found this perfect pair of white sketchers.
Did I NEED them? No, but they will be well used as they are a practical style and color that will go with everything from Capri’s (which my philosophy is Capri’s require skinny shoes) to casual skirts. In fact, the day I wore them I got all sorts of compliments. However, they were $44! So….my no more than $30 trip to buy jeans turned out to be a $65 experience and no jeans!

It all adds up over time. And even though I had good intentions to focus my shopping I still failed! This is just one of the many ways we put ourselves into debt and fail to get out. And I've been doing this for YEARS! It's nickel and diming death. It's the $2 coffee at DD when you have a portable mug in the cupboard, it's the $4 magazine with all ads that you go through in less than an hour! It's drinking premium beers cos you're in your 30's but you really only have the budget to buy cheap!

There is no entitlement. My father always said: "Budget, the numbers never lie." If we are honest to ourselves, then we will see where the money goes and how if we just exercise some self restraint there could be a light at the end of the tunnel. But it takes mega honesty and restraint, it's really not any more different than a diet or exercise regime. Life isn't always about instant gratification. But it takes a change in mindset to make the change lasting.

So I offer no real plan, just some thoughts to chew on!