Gypsy Poetry

So, for the past three weeks, I’ve been doing jack-all. And it’s been killing me. I love relaxing and doing my own thing, but MAN, I can only take it for so long before I start to go batshit insane.

But it’s June 5th, which means I’m working again. Thank god for work study jobs over the summer semesters, because there’s absolutely nothing else in this crappy little town. Unless you count fast food, and that’s one thing I refuse to do. I worked in a deli/snack bar for a few months, and I will never work near a deep fryer again. UGH.

However, my work computer does not have Firefox, and I am forced to use Internet Explorer. The WordPress write post page doesn’t like IE very much, I think, because I have no keyboard shortcuts, and the text looks goofy when I type it. Alas! My kingdom for Firefox!

Sooo… random pop culture stuff. I re-read Neil Gaiman’s Stardust last night (curse you, insomnia!), and it’s battling to be my favorite Gaiman book again.

It’s a fairy tale, but it’s not the cutesy kind of fairy tale you get in Disney movies. The story follows the adventures of young Tristran Thorn, a young man from the unassuming English village of Wall who goes through the wall and enters Faerie in search of a fallen star for his true love. It’s beautifully written, as is everything by Gaiman I’ve ever laid eyes on, and it artfully adapts old nursery rhymes, wives’ tales, and folklore into a wonderfully original story.

The book also carries a touch of Gaiman’s signature dark whimsy, which blends beautifully into the format of a fairy tale. I love reading the older versions of fairy tales: the unsanitized Grimm, stories told by adults to adults, the ones that were around before parents began telling them at their children’s bedside. Stardust reminds me of those old stories.

It has everything from romance to adventure, sorcery, sailing, and shapeshifting. The story is engrossing, twisting and turning enough so that it surprises you but doesn’t leave you scratching your head and wondering where the hell that came from.

So, if you’ve been wanting to get into Gaiman’s novels, but didn’t know where to start, I’d suggest going with Stardust. It was my first, and it’s a wonderful way to be introduced to his work.

And for something completely different, does anyone want to see pics of my Sims? I’m like a grandmother with a photo album with these guys, I swear. And… they’re X-Men Sims. [blush]