Archive for September 2006
Four Past Midnight
I have a theory that every bookstore in the world sells at least one book by Stephen King. On the Greek island of Sifnos, the little bookstore in Kameres sold three in English. I had not read this 900-page collection of novellas— I had read the other two choices. I am very glad I picked […]
Greece 2006 - Day Seven
The previous day, while waiting for the bus from Appolonia to Kameres, Sean and I ran into two fellow travelers with whom we had a passing acquaintance. The two ladies, probably in their late 40’s, hailed from Paris. They’d come in on the same ferry as us and were staying in Kameres for […]
Greece 2006 - Day Six
We woke with the rooster at 7am, which I still found charming, but Sean was finding less so as time wore on. Our rooster friend didn’t just crow once at dawn, he crowed constantly from about 6:30am to 10:30am, so I could sort of see Sean’s point. At any rate, I love roosters, […]
Smoke & Mirrors
More Neil Gaiman for reading while on vacation in Greece. This time I have chosen his collection of short stories and prose poetry. “We Can Get Them for You Wholesale,” “Murder Mysteries” and “The Price” are three of my favorite selections from this rich body of work.
Greece 2006 - Day Five
Ah, another hard day in Sifnos.
We rose with the rooster at 7am. What to do today? First, breakfast with Spiros! Down to town we went. I was saddened when Spiros told me there was no baklava, but tried another recommended treat called ekmek kataifi, a baklava-type sauce over […]Greece 2006 - Day Four
We awoke the next morning at 7am to the dulcet tones of a rooster crowing. By “dulcet tones”, I mean that I leapt from our bed to see if the animal had somehow become entangled in vines and was strangling itself.
Welfare check: Rooster, okay.
I returned to bed where Sean lay grinning. […]Greece 2006 - Day Three
After four hours of sleep, we hustled down to our hotel lobby to find that they had kindly prepared a small meal for us, since we were leaving too early to enjoy the breakfast buffet. Thank you, Gentlemen! At 6:30am on the button, our cab pulled up and whisked us off to the port of […]
Greece 2006 - Day Two
We landed at Heathrow at 6:35am and dragged ass off the plane. Unfortunately, I’d saved about $700.00 on our plane tickets (through Orbitz) by agreeing to a 10-hour layover. Due to the insane security issues of the day, we couldn’t leave, so we had to spend the whole time in the airport. […]
The Black Dahlia
James Ellroy bases this classic crime-noir novel on a notorious, unsolved murder case. Passion, obsession, insanity and deceipt erupt in this the hard-boiled mystery. Ellroy breathes an uncanny life into the Los Angeles police department of the 1940s. I will catch the movie later; the power of Ellroy’s writing cannot be understated.
Greece 2006 - Day One
The wait for our vacation to commence has been utterly excruciating, but finally the day has arrived! Our flight, American Airlines #86, leaves O’hare at 4:45pm, bound for London. I’m excited. I’ve never been on a trans-Atlantic flight and I love to fly. I mean, I love to fly and it […]
