Books, Books, Books

It's probably pretty telling that my idea of a fun evening out is spending three hours at the bookstore, but what the hell, I had a good time anyway. And I really needed to get off-campus for a little while.

My aunt sent me an Easter card with a check for a hundred dollars in it (thank you!), and I figured it would be remiss of me to spend it on some grown-up and practical, like groceries, so I decided to go on a minor book-and-comic buying binge. I love just the physical act of being in a bookstore - being surrounded by all those words, all those ideas, the weight and the smell of them, it's almost overwhelming. Give me a big enough bookstore, and I could spend the rest of my life there. So yeah, it was a fun three hours, camping out in different corners and reading stuff.

The Borders in Palo Alto has a pretty decent collection of comics TPBs, for being a bookstore and not a comic book store. However, I have a fairly extensive list of things I won't buy under any circumstances, which includes:

• Anything with "Crisis" in the title
• Anything with "Civil War" or "Secret Invasion" in the title
• Anything Ultimate that isn't Spiderman or Colossus
• Anything where Cap is an asshole
• Anything about Hal Jordan
• Anything about the Batfamily that isn't mostly about Dick or Tim
• Anything with Art by Liefield or Land
• Anything by Peter David
• Anything where bad or stupid things happen to Bart Allen

As may be obvious, in the current market this leaves me with a rather short list of things I can buy. I had a shortlist drawn up of titles I've really been wanting to buy lately - the new Booster Gold trades, Green Lantern Corps, the old Justice League International (ie everyone is awesome and Booster and Ted are so gay for each other), and the reboot of Legion of Superheroes (I've got a thing for Brainiac 5. I, uh, don't know how that happened). But they didn't have any of them except the GLC, and they didn't have the volumes of GLC that I wanted. So no go on that.

In the end, I bought volume 4 and 7 of Marvel Adventures: Avengers, because that book continues to be better than 95% of what Marvel's putting out right now, plus 7 is the infamous "Steve and Tony fight telemarketers and go on a date" book. So I had to have that. I also got a Juliet Marillier book, Daughter of the Forest. I read it a few years ago and really loved it - it's a reworking of the myth about the girl who has to make shirts from nettles to cure her brothers of being swans, with some pretty solid early English/Irish scholarship and some really good world-building. It should be a lot of fun to read again.

Finished the evening by treating myself to gelato: half chocolate carmello crunch, half honey lavendar. Sounds a bit odd, I know, but truly that was a match made in heaven. OMG SO GOOD OM NOM NOM.

Trust Your Story

Instructions by Neil Gaiman

Touch the wooden gate in the wall you never saw before.

Say "please" before you open the latch,

go through,

walk down the path.

A red metal imp hangs from the green-painted

front door,

as a knocker,

do not touch it; it will bite your fingers.

Walk through the house. Take nothing. Eat

nothing.

However, if any creature tells you that it hungers,

feed it.

If it tells you that it is dirty,

clean it.

If it cries to you that it hurts,

if you can,

ease its pain.

From the back garden you will be able to see the

wild wood.

The deep well you walk past leads to Winter's

realm;

there is another land at the bottom of it.

If you turn around here,

you can walk back, safely;

you will lose no face. I will think no less of you.

Once through the garden you will be in the

wood.

The trees are old. Eyes peer from the under-

growth.

Beneath a twisted oak sits an old woman. She

may ask for something;

give it to her. She

will point the way to the castle.

Inside it are three princesses.

Do not trust the youngest. Walk on.

In the clearing beyond the castle the twelve

months sit about a fire,

warming their feet, exchanging tales.

They may do favors for you, if you are polite.

You may pick strawberries in December's frost.

Trust the wolves, but do not tell them where

you are going.

The river can be crossed by the ferry. The ferry-

man will take you.

(The answer to his question is this:

If he hands the oar to his passenger, he will be free to

leave the boat.

Only tell him this from a safe distance.)

If an eagle gives you a feather, keep it safe.

Remember: that giants sleep too soundly; that

witches are often betrayed by their appetites;

dragons have one soft spot, somewhere, always;

hearts can be well-hidden,

and you betray them with your tongue.

Do not be jealous of your sister.

Know that diamonds and roses

are as uncomfortable when they tumble from

one's lips as toads and frogs:

colder, too, and sharper, and they cut.

Remember your name.

Do not lose hope — what you seek will be found.

Trust ghosts. Trust those that you have helped

to help you in their turn.

Trust dreams.

Trust your heart, and trust your story.

When you come back, return the way you came.

Favors will be returned, debts will be repaid.

Do not forget your manners.

Do not look back.

Ride the wise eagle (you shall not fall).

Ride the silver fish (you will not drown).

Ride the grey wolf (hold tightly to his fur).

There is a worm at the heart of the tower; that is

why it will not stand.

When you reach the little house, the place your

journey started,

you will recognize it, although it will seem

much smaller than you remember.

Walk up the path, and through the garden gate

you never saw before but once.

And then go home. Or make a home.

And rest.