Anya's Ghost (Vera Brosgol)

I'm actually reading at a pretty steady clip right now.  I'm happy to report that Summer Reading 2015 is off to a good start.  At least until classes get underway.  Then we'll see how I'm doing, I suppose.

But, for right now, let's talk about my next read: Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol.  This is a graphic novel story of a high school girl (Anya) who is struggling to fit in with her classmates because her Russian immigrant mother keeps pulling her back into her heritage, encouraging her to attend Russian Orthodox mass and become friends with nerdy little Dima, who is also from Russia.  But, instead, she's something of a loner, smoking cigarettes behind the principal's back with her friend Siobhan, and wishing the cute guy in her class would notice her.  All this changes when she finds herself taking an alternate route home from school and ends up tumbling into a well.  She's not the only one there, either.  There are the skeletal remains of a young girl, about her age.  And the ghost of that girl is still down there.  Ninety years is a long time to be alone, and she's eager to

have found a new friend, although Anya's not so keen on being pals.  Still, when Anya leaves the well, she finds that this ghost is going to be a bit harder to lose.  But, that might not be a bad thing...or is it?

This is a sort of spooky tale.  It's a ghost story, after all.  And of course, this is one of those stories that I really can't say much about for fear of spoilers, so I ask that you bear with my vague descriptions.  But, if you're interested in paranormal stories, ghosts, mysteries, or comics, this is something you might enjoy.  Also, I recommend this to anyone who has ever felt like the outsider or been unlucky in love.

Since this was a graphic novel, I did want to comment on the art style.  I really liked the character design, and I thought the art was wonderful!  The characters were emotional and expressive and popped off the page.  The art actually reminded me somewhat of the art of Bryan Lee O'Malley, who writes the Scott Pilgrim books.  Obviously not the same, but it made me think of it.

Well, I have a whole stack of books lined up for continued reading.  I hope you'll stop in again to see what else I'm reading this summer.  In the meantime, I'm reading about management for a Library Science class....Bleah.

But, still, there is a lot of good stuff out there.  I'm looking forward to sharing my samplings of it with all of you.  And tell me what you're reading to!  As always, Happy Reading! ~em

31 Days of Halloween #5

Okay, so I've been pretty bad about updating these...School has been keeping me busy, along with some other things in my personal life that have come up.  The funny thing is, I know this blog is a much bigger deal to me than it is to all of you, and yet here I am fretting that everyone is going to be disappointed if I don't post 31 posts in the month of October, haha.  Still, I'm going to try and double up my posts until I get caught up on them.  I am going to do my utmost to get you 31 posts about spooks, costumes, and candy.  Just give me some time! ;)

Do you believe in ghosts?  To be honest, I don't.  But, once, when I was on a ghost tour around the city, I had a strange experience that I can't entirely explain.  We were down in a series of tunnels deep underground. It was said that sailors used to use this place at one time.  The tunnels we were in were supposed to be the most haunted.  The tour guide gave us a quick warning, before turning off the lights, plunging us into complete darkness.  It was so dark I could not see my hand in front of my face.  As soon as the lights went out, I felt an arm reach around my waist, with a hand resting on my hip.  And it remained there for a tense 30 seconds or so before the lights came on.  And it disappeared as the lights came on, so by the time I could see again, there was nothing to look for.  There was a wall to my right, and a female classmate to my left.  Behind me was a small table backed into a corner.  There was nothing under it, and a few books on top.  I wasn't backed up enough to hit the table, but even so, I feel as though a table in my back wouldn't feel the same as an arm around my waist.

Like I said, I don't believe in ghosts, but I'm not sure what happened down there.  Perhaps I had an encounter with some lusty sailor in the damp tunnels under the city.  Or, perhaps my mind was just playing tricks on me.  You can decide for yourselves, but as for me, I enjoy the ambiguity of not knowing.

A ghost with its stupid ghost face

Day 5: The Ghost House

FilmCow used to be one of my favorite YouTubers (along with VSauce, Rhett & Link, and Epic Rap Battles of History).  You might know of him from videos like Charlie the Unicorn, Marshmallow People, or Llamas with Hats.  However, his sense of humor is pretty bizarre and sometimes genuinely boarders on "messed up," making his videos something of the kind you discover when you find yourself on the "weird part of YouTube."

This video documents a day by day experience of one man (whose head looks like the top of a sesame seed hamburger bun, if you ask me!) in the Ghost House....

There are three other Ghost House videos The Reckoning, Reloaded, and The Return of Jafar) but honestly, they're not that great.  I've included them here, in case you were interested, but I think this one, like probably most of FilmCow's videos, was a one-trick pony.