timing is everything

He’s been talking to her all night. The conversation has been a spirited competition of words, funny voices, impressions and dumb jokes. He could go all night. And he would, if he thought she’d be won over.

She hasn’t let him buy her a single drink. It’s the ‘let me buy you a drink’ line that gets you in trouble, she knows. When the bartender looks her way, she is quick to signal for another. One more, for her. He can signal his own.

The birthday of a mutual friend is their cause for gathering. It’s drinks and cake all around, friends crowded around the birthday girl, batting balloons ahead their heads until someone jabs it with a cigarette. POP!

They’re sitting at the corner table, discussing in detail why these balloons won’t stick to the wall after being rubbed on another’s head. It’s probably a conspiracy, they decide.

Everyone is trickling out, complaining about early mornings at work, getting older and that smell in the bar bathroom. She’s settling her tab and chatting with the bartender. He’s lingering, bar tab already paid, purposely, not yet awkwardly, but obviously. She’s starting to get anxious, eyes avoiding his, not wanting to encourage him. She imagines him trying to walk her to her car, standing around awkwardly, trying to ask about her weekend plans while she dives into her car and escapes. The polite but unmistakable ‘no thanks’ is so difficult. There’s a fine line between being clear and being a bitch.

They sit at the bar, nursing the last beer of the evening while the jukebox rocks and rolls. TV's positioned around the bar show a variety of sports shows. Silent, glowing boxes, the men watch the captions that roll along the bottom of the screen.

As the guys begin to argue football and hockey stats, she spaces out, wondering how this will play out. . . oh god. What if he tries to kiss her? She worries and drinks.

He stands and yawns “Excuse me for a sec, hon.” He saunters into the men’s room.

Gazing at the dark amber bottle in her hand, she grins at the solution that dropped into her lap so unexpectedly. If only it was always this easy. One more swig finishes her beer and she’s on her feet.

Stop light stage

At the intersection of 29th and Fairlawn, Shalyn waits for the green arrow that allows her to turn left. Every night at this intersection, she waits, head full of the day's debris. Instead of watching the light, she watches her rearview mirror as it reveals a silver Dodge Neon. It's occupants visible in the red glow of the stoplight. Safe and sound inside their car, it never occurs to them that they are on a silent stage.

A young woman in the driver's seat. A young man at her side.

He is telling a story, talking animatedly, wild hand gestures and funny faces.
The driver is entertained, smiling broadly, shoulders rocking in laughter.
He laughs as well, pleased with her reaction.

Something changes the conversation, maybe a song on the radio, maybe a situation one of them referenced. They both begin to dance in their bucket seats. It’s purposely silly with head bopping and exaggerated movements. Pushing each other towards hysterical laughter, their dance becomes even more ridiculous.

Still waiting and watching, Shalyn laughs out loud. Having danced her fair share of stupid car dances, the simple delight is easily recalled.

When the light turns green, the audience of one and the unaware actors drive away.

hoping for more than 10%

It was the time of day that afternoon slide into evening and the restaurant was suddenly packed. The waiting area was filled with waiting families, parents with squirming children, wearing matching baseball jerseys and hats. The hostess and waiters set to work quickly, moving tables together, finding enough chairs to seat the mix of family and friends together.

“Did they call ahead?” the waiter asked under his breath.

The hostess glanced up at group, all shifting and sighing, juggling diaper bags and babies before answering, “Nope.”

“Of course we can seat 18 during rush. Why call ahead?” the waiter said softly with only a trace of sarcasm in his voice.

The place settings arranged at last, the hostess bounds back toward the waiting herd with a bright smile and friendly tone, “Thanks for waiting, your tables are ready if you’ll just follow me.”

Likewise transformed, the waiter grinned and greeted his suddenly welcome customers, hiding any irritation in hopes of a decent tip.

Fables by Bill Willingham

To be perfectly honest I don't usually read comic books, or graphic novels, as they're called now. I enjoy them, I appreciate them, I just don't go looking for them. However, a friend recently lent me a couple in a series called Fables.
The concept is that all of the characters from fairy tales, fables and nursing rhymes actually all existed in a land far far away. These characters, (who refer to themselves as Fables) lived in separate kingdoms and didn't really interact with each other. This changed when an evil presence fell into their world and began gathering an army. This army served someone they called 'the adversary' who methodically began killing them and taking their land. Through the use of magic, the remaining citizens of the fairytale world escaped to our world, leaving behind their land, fortunes, titles and way of life.

The comics are set in present day New York City, where the Fables live in a clandestine community. The Fables that can't pass as human live in on an isolated private farm in upstate New York.

It's interesting to see what our world does to fairy tale creatures. Snow White, for example is the town's mayor. A lonely, icy cold woman who rules with her mind, not her heart is many centuries divorced from Prince Charming. Charming, as we soon discover is a womanizer and con man who uses his looks and um. . .skills to live off the salary of his girlfriend of the week. Jack,(of the Beanstalk fame) is a smalltime, get rich quick con man. Beauty and the Beast are seeking marriage counseling, and Cinderella is taking fencing lessons. Meanwhile at the farm, Goldilocks is a revolutionary political activist, bossing around the three bears whose house she invaded.

The comic is beautifully drawn and skillfully written. Murder mystery, suspense thriller, and all the beautiful people and creatures you miss from your bedtime stories. . . with a little sex and violence thrown in. This is a comic for mature audiences. And it's Fun!!

Here the wikipedia entry for Fables.

I am feeling kind of nerdy. I just found out that Dark River by John Twelve Hawks was released this month. I am so excited to go buy this book! It's the sequel to The Traveller , (which has nothing to do with the TV show by that name.) that I've waited a year for. The Traveller is an amazing science fiction book and the sequel is supposed to be even better. (I really do read books that aren't sci-fi, I promise.)

Just thought everyone should know how excited and nerdy I'm feeling right now. wheeee!!!

Trader by Charles de Lint

Although Charles de Lint is a prolific fantasy and horror/thriller writer, this is the first time I've read one of his books. Even though I'm a fan of fantasy and science fiction books, I tend to read more regular novels because it seems like there a lot of BAD fantasy and sci-fi books out there. I'm all for aliens, out of body experiences, and giant insects, but it's got to be well written and justified.
De Lint achieves this ideal by balancing his fantastic story lines with pragmatic characters who are untrusting of anything unexplainable or supernatural.

In Trader, the main character, Max Trader wakes up in someone else's body, that of an unemployed conman, Johnny Delvin. Delvin, in turn, wakes up in Trader's body. Trader must figure out how to get his body and life back while dealing with the all the negative consequences that come with walking around looking like the lowlife Delvin who happens to owe three months rent and have a tribe of angry ex-girlfriends looking for him. The characters explore aspects of their lives like, restlessness, complacency and the difference between merely existing and truly living.

De Lint is an excellent author. This book is written in first and third person, with a host of lively and vivid characters. Even the women characters are believable and lifelike, which is a relief, especially in the fantasy genre of writing. The only thing I didn't enjoy was that the multiple characters sometimes slowed down the pace of the book. Sometimes I was practically skipping paragraphs to get past the internal, emotional struggle a character was experiencing and get to the action. Which is sad because De Lint is excellent at expressing those things, but sometimes enough is enough.

Anyway- it was good, but I don't know if I'll go out of my way to read his other books.

Truth and Beauty- Ann Patchett

Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett is the story of Ann’s relationship with her best friend, Lucy Grealy. When I started reading I wasn’t aware that it was nonfiction, so I was pleasantly surprised when I realized this book was actually about Ann. Lucy Grealy's life was a rollercoaster ride of friends and parties, depression and drugs. As a child Lucy had a rare form of cancer that left her scared by the unperfected early radiation and chemotherapy treatments and missing most of her jaw. Simple things like eating and drinking were nearly impossible for her as she had surgery after surgery trying to restore her jaw.
Lucy, who died in 2002 from an accidental drug overdose, was also an author. She became famous in the 90’s for her book Autobiography of a Face, which detailed her struggle to live a fulfilled life through daily pain and rejection.

Lucy was a character, as heartbreaking as this book is, it is also hilarious. Ann and Lucy’s lives were intertwined to an extent that nearly seems fictional. Truth and Beauty is a rare and honest glimpse inside a friendship that was powerful and moving.