Serena’s Neighborhood

The frightening saga of a young boy whose visit to a mysterious freak show leads him on a journey into a dark world of vampires. - From back of book

I thought I should read it before the movie comes out.  Cute, very young, a quick read.

Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare

Darren Shan

Richard Mayhew is a plain man with a good heart -- and an ordinary life that has changed forever on a day he stops to help  a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk.  From that moment forward he is propelled into a world he never dreamed exsisted -- a dark subculture flourishing in abondoned subway stations and sewer tunnels beneth the city -- a world far stranger and more dangerous then the only one he has ever known. - From back of book

 Very cool!

 I fully enjoyed and recomend this to anyone who liked Alice in Wonderland (the book, not so much the Disney movie) or the old Grimm Fairy Tales.

Neverwhere Ltd: The Author's Preferred Text

Neil Gaiman

Chennai_Weatherforecast

...is here. And how ! It seems only yesterday I was complaining about the delay.

It is never really monsoon in this part of the world unless there has been a cyclone or two, with wind uprooting trees, schools shutting down, our campus lake breaching ..so on and so forth, but the general feeling is already there, thanks to the periodic whoosh of dense precipitation as the weatherman says, and the damp and smelly clothes that won't dry.  Right now I don't have a sizable problem, as sitting in the varandah with a book, rosogolla and a comfortable chair, watching the kid dancing in the rain outside (and occasionally joining in) is soulful enough, but once all the clothes in the cupboard turn equally mouldy, and critters and worms start taking shelter in the confines of our nest, the expletives may start pouring with the rain.

That said, I never fail to feel the slight tinge of guilt in looking forward to monsoon from the safe confines of my solid roof when there are thousands on the street, homeless, huddled under jute sacks. As with all righteous guilts, I conveniently push it into the dark recesses of sub-consciousness, and gear up to enjoy the rest of the monsoon.

..until I have dry clothes to wear, that is.

Parenting

"If you don't finish up your Dosai, no karate class for you".

"If you don't clean up the room, no more books for you".

"If you don't finish up your lunch in school, no more lunch for you"

"If you don't braid your hair, it will fall off".

"If you don't drink up your milk, you are going to end up with osteoporosis like kollu paati".

All of the above within a span of 20 minutes. I am well on my way to becoming a professional blackmailer.  Anyone need my services?  Charges nominal.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Soon-to-be-six: "If you tell a lie, God will dance in your brain and you will get irritated" 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Neighbour:            What do you want to be when you grow up?
Soon-to-be-six:      A big girl.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soon-to-be-six:  "I don't like boys.  They are rash".
Mom ruminating: "I'd like to hear that in ten years.  ummm..on second thoughts, I don't think so."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soon-to-be-six: They show Tom&Jerry and Mr. Bean on TV during AV period in school. I don't like it.  I want to read my book.
Mom ruminating"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS".

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Go forth and fill your libraries with media.

Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.

~daisy

I was just told that the Amazon Conduit will be fixed by tomorrow. I will post here as soon as I get word that it's back up and running.

I know this has been frustrating and I am sorry there wasn't more I could do to make it less so. I really appreciate your patience though.

Cheers,

daisy

From Amazon-

Like the one-time bestseller Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Alchemist presents a simple fable, based on simple truths and places it in a highly unique situation. And though we may sniff a bestselling formula, it is certainly not a new one: even the ancient tribal storytellers knew that this is the most successful method of entertaining an audience while slipping in a lesson or two. Brazilian storyteller Paulo Coehlo introduces Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who one night dreams of a distant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. And so he's off: leaving Spain to literally follow his dream.

Along the way he meets many spiritual messengers, who come in unassuming forms such as a camel driver and a well-read Englishman. In one of the Englishman's books, Santiago first learns about the alchemists--men who believed that if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the "Soul of the World." Of course he does eventually meet an alchemist, and the ensuing student-teacher relationship clarifies much of the boy's misguided agenda, while also emboldening him to stay true to his dreams. "My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy confides to the alchemist one night as they look up at a moonless night.

"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself," the alchemist replies. "And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity." --Gail Hudson