Tales from the Raven

1 – Get a bucket of scalding water.  Get a bucket of cold.  Put one foot in each. 2 – Start at the beginning of Moby Dick (unabridged) and start reading.  It won’t take long.  3 – Get in your car and drive until you find a stop sign.  Turn left.  Repeat until you’re tired. 4 [...]

Our first snow fall in North Carolina.  It’s only a skiff (you can see the grass through it in most places) but schools were all closed so we bundled up and did our best to slide and build snow men.  By gathering all the snow from 2-3 yards the neighborhood kids were able to build [...]

The polished wood of the desk gleamed in the afternoon light.  A dust mote floated down to rest on a shiny black plaque which read “John Bishop, Principal of Yardly Elementary”.   Samuel could see the plaque from where he crouched in the custodial closet.  He watched the hall for another count to ten.  When no one came [...]

One thing I love about ferrets, they always believe there’s something fascinating about to happen; always know they can do it, know matter how suicidal the leap may look; eternal optimists. They’d probably make exceptional writers. 

In a study done by professors of psychology at Catholic Universtity of the Sacred Heart (Milan, Itally) individuals who were true night owls were found to be more creative than their counterparts. The reason was not known, but the researchers guessed that non-conformity in waking hours might lead to an adaption of increased creativity because the [...]

I’ve unearthed another conspiracy–only it’s not being hidden, it’s advertised on mile-high flashing billboards. “We have rebates!  $XXX.00 off!” What they neglect to mention is that the rebate is offered only becuase it requires you to first wrangle the salesman in the store into honoring the rebate on the item in question, then become an expert [...]

I just finished the final for my Christian Fantasy class, which was split about 70/30 Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.  I found the class highly enjoyable–after all, a large portion of the homework was re-reading the Rings books–but I also found that taking the class bolstered my confidence in the worth of fantasy as a genre. [...]

Why do shortcuts never work out?  I don’t normally even attempt them–my track record is so bad. But this morning I caved to temptation. I was running a minute or two late in dropping my daughter off at preschool and hitting all the lights red.  I came to another red light, from which my usual route went straight.  To my right [...]

I’ve discovered a new love. No, not that kind!  The mystery genre caught my attention for a few years in my tweens but I have’t visited it since.  Then over the holidays I was desperate for a book and feeling like something different, so when I dug through my book stack and found Dead Cert, a [...]

buckboard n. A four-wheeled open carriage with the seat or seats attached to a flexible board running between the front and rear axles. inominate adj. 1. Having no name.  2. Anonymous.  parang n. A short, heavy, straight-edged knife used in Malaysia and Indonesia as a tool and weapon.  sennight n. Archaic. A week [Middle English senight, [...]