Tuesday, 16 October 2012

"October, October - the summer is over!"

There's a tree across the street from our apartment that's caught my eye today.  The leaves have turned a brilliant gold, and every gust of wind sends them bursting up into the sky like a shower of sparks.   In a neighboring yard an apple tree's branches are bowed with heavy fruit.  Occasionally an apple will fall and bounce onto the sidewalk, to be squabbled over by the large black squirrels that occupy our neighborhood.

Halloween decorations are also starting to occupy the neighborhood.  The old Victorian houses on our street don't need much decoration to make them seem ominous at twilight, but a few of the owners are throwing themselves into the spirit of the season.  Yesterday I walked past a cherubic little girl in a bright pink jacket running around her yard, stabbing shrunken heads on pikes into the ground.  She seemed to be having a marvelous time.

Speaking of ominous, I went to a couple Word Fest events on Friday.  One was called 'International Intrigue' and featured F.G. Haghenbeck, Steven Heighton, and the "Queen of Victorian mysteries", Anne Perry.  Haghenbeck writes Mexican private eye novels that sound very fun and entertaining, written with the dry observational humor that characterizes many Mexican novels (he comes from a country with a stagering murder rate, he said, and you have to laugh or you go crazy).  Heighton read part of a short story from his book The Dead Are More Visible, and I think I may need to find a copy for myself.  It was the story of a Canadian in Japan, learning the language through a used Japanese/English primer.  It did a remarkable job of slowly building suspense until you come to realize, with rising horror, what actually happened.

Then there was Anne Perry.  The moderator of the evening was a huge fan, and didn't do as good a job at keeping her comments on point.  That was a bit unfortunate, but it was clear that Perry enjoys researching her topics, and feels strongly about the societal issues in each of her novels.  And then she read aloud from her latest William Monk mystery, A Sunless Sea.

I haven't read as much of her latest work because I do find them a little formulaic, but when she read aloud - wow!  It was as if all the air left the room. I don't think anyone even breathed.  She didn't speak loudly, but it carried.  Her characters, even Monk, had slightly different intonations and accents, and lent new weight to the words on the page.  I was impressed.  I still don't know if I want to read the latest Monk, but I have a new respect for her and her methods.

So that was Word Fest.  On Saturday Collin and I went to the wedding of friends of his.  It was at a church.

It's been years since I went to a wedding at a church.  My friends all tend to get married in the woods.  Collin and I were both confudled about the level of formality required (tie? Pantyhose?), but eventually managed to get ourselves there on time.  Actually, due to a calendar error (my bad) we arrived an hour and a half early.

The ceremony was short but lovely.  The bride was beautiful (and brave - she sang an impressive solo at her own wedding!), the groom was...himself.  After the bride shakily read the vows she'd written herself, he responded by saying, "Awesome!  Well!  That segueways well into what I wanted to say..."

I shouldn't give him too hard of a time, because I'm sure he was nervous.  Still, it was kind of funny.

Alas, Collin and I did not get a picture to prove how well we both clean up (I'm sure there are parties interested in seeing him in a tie, heh), but maybe we'll have to go out someplace fancy in the future to give those clothes an outing.  

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