Ghost stories

This week was the perfect time to spend a lot longer than I'd intended on reading random web pages. One day during a couple of Halloween shows and later over the course of a fairly dull 1940s movie I managed to read a few “top 15” type lists with descriptions of the best family Halloween movies followed by a long collection of ghost stories. The lists I found while searching for ideas for movies to project on the side of the house for Halloween and most of them mentioned movies I thought we had, “Coraline” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, as well as the Sponge Bob and Peanuts specials. While we were watching the black and white movie that was on after a decent but forgettable ghost story movie, I looked up some ghost stories that had to be better than the one on TV. Some of the more interesting things I read were about haunted sites in Kansas such as Atchinson and Stull. I read more about the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park Colorado that “The Shining” was written about and wish I'd known about that when I was in Estes Park; now I want to go back there for a weekend trip. One website was having a contest for true ghost stories, and I noticed that 16 of the 23 entries were stories either people remembered from childhood or experienced with their kids or grandkids. A few of the stories even described the same type of red-eyed shadow figure as had been on an episode of “Ghost Hunters” this week. I didn't think about it at the time, but after writing about how so many children were the focus of these ghost stories, it made me wonder what would happen if these children happened to mention their experiences at school. How would the teacher react to a child's unwavering belief that he or she had experienced something supernatural?

"Cow and Boy" is no "Calvin and Hobbes"

That's a good thing though. I finally finished this book on today's "regularly scheduled reading break," just in time to post about it before I lose internet access again. Apparently Centurytel losing service here is just as regular. Anyway, to change the subject away from regularity back to this week's book, I'd expected it to be so much like Calvin and Hobbes that I almost didn't buy it at the library book sale. (Yet another plug for library book sales: for just over a week now my local library has been selling books for $1 a bag, so it's good time to stock up on things one might not otherwise read.)
Obviously I don't much care for Calvin and Hobbes. I did like this book though because it managed to stay funny even in predictable storylines. For example, it was obvious how the boy's wondering why he always has a cowlick would turn out, yet the ending was still funny because of how he said it explains why he had grass in his hair. All of the storylines are short enough that this type of book is even more ideal than Archie comics for very short reading breaks. Most of the jokes are subtle enough that I doubt many people would laugh out loud at them, but they're entertaining. The drawings are fairly simplistic but not at the expense of expressions or important details. It also should appeal to a large age range because the jokes won't go over most people's heads yet they still sometimes have intellectual or popular culture references hidden among them. There are even characters and conflicts people can relate to, such as when the boy's father tells him to quit playing with the cow and go make some non-bovine friends. All in all, "Cow and Boy" was a good example of why one literally shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

Alternate reading materials for short breaks

In situations where one doesn't want to have expensive electronics subjected to excessively damp atmosphere, Archie Comics are a surprisingly good choice. I've been reading the most recent two issues for 15-20 minutes a day for a little over a week now. The first thing I noticed about these comics is how they're a relaxing retro diversion with an art style that hasn't changed much since the early years of the comic. It's a comforting way to take one's mind off the day and spend some time in a small town that's perpetually stuck in the 50s despite a few silly efforts at modernization. A couple of these really take the reader out of the story; for example, Reggie says he has as many MP3s as "a record store" and Archie says he will go to the Katy Perry concert if he can "put the touch on" his dad. The weird juxtaposition of dated phrases with modern terms seemingly added to old comics is the only real problem I have with them reusing old comics as part of new issues. Even with the few problems of trying to match the old with the new I still think these are great additions to the household reading library.

An unexpected source of free reading material

One of the classes I substitute taught for two days was performing "The Monsters are Due  on Maple Street" so I did a search for more information about it (after hearing it was a Twilight Zone episode). I found a pdf file of the script and emailed it as an attachment to my "@free.kindle.com" address while the Kinmdle was on wifi. Although the pdf wasn't as clear and easy to read as actual Kindle format books, it was a good way to have a copy of the script to read without killing a small tree to print it.
As for the script itself, it was interesting, especially to follow the stage direction of the original script. If one had never seen the show,one could still get a very good idea of the timing and feel of each scene and be able to visualize what it would be like enacted. I also knew exactly what to expect at the next class presentation.

Getting started

The first thing I bought for any of my classes this semester was a Kindle e-reader. I assumed I'd be able to get my textbooks on it since the college website showed they were available as ebooks, but the bookstore site neglected to mention that the books were only able to be downloaded onto the computer. Even a laptop isn't portable enough to take advantage of every available spare time moment of reading.
This brings up my next point: there are some situations where you might have several minutes to read but just don't want to use an electronic device to do so. To put it mildly, one wouldn't want liquids near one's electronics if, say, one liked to read in the bathtub for instance. This calls for alternate reading materials of little monetary or personal value, preferably ones made up of short stories.
A final thought: Reading library books in the bathroom is just wrong. Altough I suppose it'd be a good idea if one had purchased the books from a library sale where they often cost between $1 apiece and $5 a bag.