How many of you remember Ichabod Crane?

We had to read this in English class in high school.  Somehow this stuck with me all these years.  I think it’s the name, which is unforgettable.  So what does that tell you?  If you’re ever writing a story, come up with an unforgettable name for your protagonist.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was first published in 1820. 

 Ichabod Crane

The real Ichabod Crane was a career military officer for 48 years and is likely the namesake for this novel by Washington Irving.  Ichabod lived from July 18, 1787 to October 5 1857.  He served as commander of many combat missions during his career.  He moved up in rank during his service and was transferred all over the country to lead troops.  He died while in service in October of 1857 and is buried in Asbury Methodist Cemetery in New Springville Staten Island, not far from his home, along with his wife and an Umpqua Indian, named Juan, who served as his personal valet.

 Ichabod's gravestone.  Don't you wish they had nice ones like this today?

 

We aren’t sure that Ichabod was the inspiration for the character in Sleepy Hollow but the two (Crane and Washington) did meet in 1814 at Fort Pike in Sackets Harbor, New York.

The story of the headless horseman was popular in American literature, especially around Halloween.  The headless horseman was believed to be the soldier who lost his head in a cannonball battle during some unnamed skirmish in the Revolutionary War.

The book depicts Ichabod as a superstitious schoolmaster from Connecticut who wants to marry the only daughter of a wealthy farmer.  However, he has competition because the town rowdy also wants the hand of the only daughter.  Bones, the local man wanting to marry her, learns of Crane’s fright of ghosts and plays on that to frighten him with scary stories at the harvest party that both the men attend.

Later that night, on the way home to Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod’s imagination runs wild.  He encounters the headless horseman at the intersection of a menacing swamp.  The cloaked rider holds his head on his saddle.  Ichabod is terrified and desperately rides for his life over the bridge where the headless horseman throws his head in Ichabod’s face. 

The next morning, Ichabod has disappeared and the farmer’s daughter marries the other man.  No one knows what really happens to Ichabod so it’s open to each person’s interpretation. 

I even love the name Sleepy Hollow.  Somehow that evokes a mystery for me.  Do you remember reading this book?  I have it on my bookshelf, along with a few of the classic tales from long ago.  Wouldn’t it be nice to write a book like this that would live on years after you’re gone?

Wouldn’t it be nice if…?

Clip art

I got to thinking about this Thursday as I scrambled around trying to get everything done before I had to leave for my citizens’ police academy.  Sometimes I wonder if my life will ever slow down.  I can think of several things it would be nice to do if I wasn’t always on the go.

Thursday I was trying to set up the printer replacement I received a month ago.  That still isn’t done, by the way.  I think I need to change the black ink cartridge and try again.  There’s plenty of black ink in the cartridge but it seems to have the same problem as the printer I sent back.  I was trying to catch up on bank statements at the same time because I got tired of waiting for things to load for the new printer.  Naturally, all the menu items for set up are in a different place too.  I don’t have the time to spare for all this stuff right now, even if it does need doing.

I finally gave up on that and the bank statements and got ready to leave for class.  As I ate a quick microwave cup of soup for dinner I texted with my sister to catch up on her news.

Then a sergeant from the police department called me to set up a time for my ride-along.  Yeah.  I can’t wait.  He told me I could do it on a Friday or Saturday evening as those days were the busiest ones.  I had written a note on my request form that I wanted action.  Now I have to work that out with work.  I don’t imagine they’ll let me take notes and I bet it’ll be too dark anyway, so I hope I can muster up a photographic memory to take everything in.

As soon as I walked into class, a fellow citizen in the class asked me to help him with his book.  Good grief!  I have no extra time for that and don’t really want to get involved in his survival book.  It sounds like he’s not computer literate, so he had someone type a handwritten manuscript he wrote ten years ago.  Now he tells me he has that on a flash drive but it needs editing and formatting and pictures inserted that he hasn’t even taken yet. Yikes!  What?  I gave him the address of a website that could help him.  I hope I encouraged him to go that route, although I doubt it.  When this academy first started we had to introduce ourselves and tell the reason we wanted to take the class.  I guess I’ll never know when to keep my mouth shut.  He says he’ll pay me, but I didn’t even go there.  Something tells me I haven’t heard the last about this.

I still have to gather all my stuff for taxes too.  Don’t you ever wish you just had a day to do nothing at all?  That thought has crossed my mind a few times lately.  Why can’t I just sit with my cats in a sunny window and read a book half the day?  

Review for The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

A sad tale with a bit of redemption in the end

3 stars

I read this book because it was a novel written in first person.  The story is narrated by three women, each with a past and something to hide.  The main narrator is Rachel, an alcoholic who is barren, fat, and feels very insecure and worthless.  Her husband divorces her and she loses her job, but keeps this job loss a secret for half of the novel. She’s too ashamed to admit that she was fired for consistently being drunk on the job, so she takes the train to work everyday as she lives in her dream world.

A lot of “in your head” talking goes on in this story and especially on the train.  Rachel can view her old house and neighborhood from the window and watch her husband and his new wife and child on the balcony.  She’s upset that they live in her house and have the family she always wanted.  She also watches another house a few doors away and imagines the happy life that couple have.

Rachel becomes obsessed with a pile of discarded clothes next to the railroad tracks and then reads in the paper about a girl who goes missing off the street of her old neighborhood.  She’s lonely and has no life of her own.  She drowns all her pain through various alcoholic beverages daily.  But Rachel’s interest is perked when she reads about the disappearance.  She emerges herself in this unfolding story as the police investigate the vanishing of the girl from the happy couple who live a few doors from her old house. 

Rachel so desperately wants to fit in and feel needed that she lies to get close to the husband of the missing girl.  As we all know lies eventually catch up with us.  But Rachel isn’t the only one lying throughout this book.

There are lots of underlying factors in this story of love, lies, divorce, jealousy, lust, betrayal and fear.  At first I found it a bit hard to get into this book because of all the internal narration going on in the heads of Rachel, Anna and Megan.  There’s very little dialogue.

Rachel finds herself in many wrong places at the wrong time.  The fact she doesn’t remember a lot of things because she was drunk eats away at her as she tries to figure out what really happened.

In the last seventy five pages, the story really starts coming together with a lot of the blanks filled in.  I enjoyed this part the best.  I know this book was made into a movie.  Perhaps the movie will be better than the book this time.  Usually books are always better, but I guess I got the message that Rachel was a lonely drunk trying to find a way to fit in and be happy early on in the story.  

Do you think time travel is possible?

Image from Wikipedia

The last couple of weeks I’ve been engrossed in the TV series Outlander, adapted from the book series of the same name.  I don’t know if any of you have read the books, or have seen this TV series, but I’ve watched sixteen episodes in a short length of time.  (This encompasses the first book in the series of eight very thick books.)

My hubby added Starz to the TV lineup as part of my birthday gift back in June and somehow I’ve been so busy that I didn’t get to start the series until lately.  Of course I set them to record right away.  The books are fabulous.  I read them several years ago and couldn’t put the books down, even taking them to the kitchen with me so I could read while I was cooking dinner at night.

The TV series won’t disappoint you either.  It’s way better than I expected it to be.  As we all know, usually there’s so much to be desired after reading the book first.  But Diana Gabaldan, author of the series, is a producer for this TV adaptation, so I imagine it has to meet her high standards.

Anyway, to boil it down to a few lines, this is a time travel, historical romance.  A woman, Claire, finds herself on holiday with her husband in Scotland after World War II.  They were both busy in the war so this is a second honeymoon because they’ve been away from each other for five years. 

They’re visiting the countryside and going to places that his ancestors lived when she touches the center stone in a stone circle and is transported back to 1743.  (Note she’s alone when this happens, as she goes back to the stone to gather an unusual flower she spotted there the day before.)

Of course she finds herself in a different world from there on, one that’s action packed with war, brawls, sicknesses we have cures for today, etc.  And a woman had a different place in society back in those times.  This causes a bit of a problem for Claire at times, but she eventually builds up a reputation as a healer among the people because of all the experience she has from being a war nurse.  Most of the people are suspicious of her for knowing all she knows and also from the fact she’s English and Scotland is at war with the English.  She’s mistaken for a spy, a witch and other things.  It’s a good thing Claire’s rescued by Jamie, a young Highlander, who will later become the love of her life.

Her husband in the twentieth century, Frank, has a relative who is “black hearted” and has horrible things in mind for Claire when she meets him fact-to-face upon her arrival.  Later she finds out what awful things this English officer is capable of as their paths cross from time-to-time.

If you haven’t read the books, or seen this series, it’s highly recommended.  I now want to read the books again.

Non-fiction is sometimes an unforgettable story

Like most of you, I prefer fiction books for my reading pleasure, but I’ve read some non-fiction books that have left a lasting impression on me.  Sometimes a true story can be unimaginable and chilling.  I want to tell you about three such books here.

Tales from a Mountain City by Quynh Dao

            The book is about growing up in Vietnam during the war when a change of government turns the life of one family upside down.  Soldiers move into their home burn their books and take over the neighborhood.  This story is about a young girl growing up under the communist regime.  The family tries to hang on to their traditions, their hometowns and provinces, but the pervasiveness of the communist value system eventually drives them to suicide or exile.

The Black Wall by Jiazhen Qi

            This story is a full account of a family in China during the rise of communism.  This powerful story is told by one of the daughters in the family who is imprisoned at the age of twenty under a charge of being a counterrevolutionary.  Her father is already serving a sentence for the same crime.  The remaining family must scrape by selling what they can to buy food to survive.  They under constant surveillance and not allowed to leave the house unless it is to go to the communist school or to buy food.  As you can imagine, prison life is no better.  Conditions are deplorable there.  At times, this book is graphic and the things these people endured are beyond imagination.  This story is one you won’t forget.

Far Outside the Ordinary by Prissy Elrod

            The book is about a family living in FL.  The father discovers he has a brain tumor at age 50.  Glioblastoma gives no warning until it’s too late.  The diagnosis leaves his wife and two daughters stunned, but they don’t let go of hope as they struggle for a cure and survival against all odds.  Southern black caregivers move into the home to aid the family around the clock.  After all avenues are exhausted, they must accept what’s coming.

            The second half of the book is about how the family copes with his loss and shows them that sometimes there are second chances at happiness.  Love can come disguised and when least expected.

Have you read any memorable books?

The A to Z Blog Challenge

Hello everyone.  This is my fourth year doing the challenge.  I always think the same thing – how will I ever be able to accomplish this?  Somehow, I’ve managed every year and I hope to this year. 

My posts during April won’t have a theme, as usual.  I want to be able to blog about what feels right at the time.  I guess I’m the type of person who doesn’t like to tie myself down to any one subject all month.  Variety is the spice of life, so there will be a variety of subjects this year.

I’ll probably post some cat stories along the way because my fur babies are my kids.  I may also post about experiences in my life, great products I’ve tried, worthy books I’ve read, places and things I’ve seen, maybe even some recipes.  So I hope you’ll check back to read some of my ramblings.  I look forward to reading some of yours and to making some new friends by the end of April.

If any of you still want to participate in this challenge, you still have a few days to sign up here: A to Z blog Challenge

You also need to disable the CAPTCHA on your blog if you haven’t done so.  You want to make it easy for people to leave comments.  I wrote a post about this a couple of years ago.  If you don’t know how, please go here.

Let’s go forth and learn some new things from each other.

Raining in the Desert

A storm is afoot

It’s dreary and cold today.  We don’t get much rain in the desert.  The cats are curled up in warm places, no sun spots streaming through the windows to lie out in today.  It is 50 degrees, so not terrible compared to other parts of the country, but I’m cold and have on thermals again today.  As you can see by some of these pictures, everything is misty out and shrouded in fog.  The bright side is we’re saving on the water bill.  There always has to be a bright side to everything if you look around enough to find it.

Tootie and Raven huddled in a chair

Koki on top of the modem - her favorite place when it's cold

I should be writing on my novel today, but instead I’ve been reading the news pages on the internet.  Slap my hands!  I’ll never get this mystery finished at this rate.  It’s one of those days to grab a good book, curl up in a chair with a blanket and a cat in your lap.

Mountains behind the house shrouded in fog and mists

My intention was to go to a good-bye party for our newspaper editor this afternoon, but I didn’t want to get out in this rain with all the slick roads and the nuts out there.  Our editor has been with the paper here for twelve years.  He writes a weekly column about life that’s interesting.  I hate to see him leave because now we’ll probably get a Mormon replacement, which is the dominate faith here.  I’m really surprised that he was able to secure the job for that long.  It’s a wonderful thing he did and he’ll be missed.  As far as I can see there is no upside to this story, but I shouldn’t be so quick to make a judgment until I see what’s coming next.  To be continued…

Raindrops on the window

I’m leaving the state anyway, as soon as my house sells, so what do I really care?  And the editor is leaving the state to pursue other interests in Nebraska of all places.  I could have picked a better destination than that, but I know he has his reasons and I wish him well.

 The red mountain Ivins is famous for

 

I don’t know many people in the minority that can stay here very long.  I talked to a girl last fall that was leaving before her first year was up.  Life is different in Utah.  No bars, no dancing, discrimination against people in the minority religion, and animal neglect are the first things that come to mind.  There are many others.  Maybe someday I’ll write more about my experiences living here.

On a high note, Raven’s one-year anniversary of living with me is coming up in a week.  He’s such a good boy and so happy.  Look for stories and more pictures.

Signing off from the soggy desert…

Q is for Quotes

I thought I’d share a few favorites with you. This is probably too many, and it’s an edited list.

You’ve only got three choices in life: Give up, give in, or give it all you’ve got
....Unknown

Dreams have no Boundaries... Unknown

Expecting too much too soon is always going to disappoint. Celebrate your daily progress towards the goal, not just the goal. .... Unknown

Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So do it today. Explore. Dream. Discover. Just do it....H Jackson Brown Jr.

There is no failure, only feedback. I encourage myself with that knowledge.....Unknown

Painful and unfair things happen to everyone. Losers brood on it. Winners use it to learn and grow. ....Unknown

Starting is the hard bit, after that everything is easy. ...Unknown

This print can be puchased here: www.minted.com/art-prints

Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same. Harry F. Banks

Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears. ...Gillian Anderson

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.... Dale Carnegie

Use what talents you possess, the woods will be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.... Henry van Dyke

Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance towards the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vintage point.... Harold B Melchart

I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.... Marilyn Monroe

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.... John Lennon

“The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.... Mark Twain

“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world... Albert Einstein

It is never too late to be what you might have been.... George Eliot

I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library... Jorge Luis Borges

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you... Maya Angelou

People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be.... Abraham Lincoln

Reality continues to ruin my life.... Bill Watterson

Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure... Oprah Winfrey

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies,” said Jojen. “The man who never reads lives only one.

You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write....
Saul Bellow

If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster.... Isaac Asimov

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass....
Anton Chekhov

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.... Sylvia Plath

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.... Ray Bradbury

Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.... E. L. Doctorow

A writer never has a vacation. For a writer life consists of either writing or thinking about writing.... Eugene Ionesco

All writers are vain, selfish, and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives lies a mystery. Writing a book is a long, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.... George Orwell

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot...reading is the creative center of a writer’s life...you cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.... Sir Stanley Unwin

A writer is working when he's staring out of the window.... Burton Rascoe

A writer lives, at best, in a state of astonishment.... William Sansom

The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write; a man will turn over half a library to make one book.... Samuel Johnson

Happy Writing all!

Relaxing time in front of the TV

Sunni's Artwork



Okay, I never get much time to do this, so I watch TV selectively.


Has anyone seen The Firm? I’m talking about the “made for TV series” out of John Grisham’s book by the same name. If so, what did you think of it?

Yes, I realize this was on a few months ago, but I’m not much of a TV watcher so I recorded it thanks to the DVR. What would we do without this device?

The last couple of weeks I’ve been watching it, one episode at a time, mainly just to relax and clear my head. It gets me away from the computer screen and my writing. I don’t have this book and I enjoy mysteries anyway so that prompted me to record this in the first place. Now I’m glad I did. I’m wondering if the TV series is anything at all like the book. Many times when they make things for TV from a book they change it up, but then I’ve only seen movies made for TV from books, so I’m sure there is the element of time there.

Anyway, I find most of Mr. Grisham’s books move slowly, but this TV show is very intense and full of intrigue. Did the producers pick this book for the series for this reason, or is this book suspenseful? I find it hard to turn the TV off and that is so unlike me. One thing is for sure, now, I have to buy this book and read it. When I do, I’ll post a review here later.