Shape Sorter

So, through 80's music, I have discovered that my soul is a shape sorter.

Picture this. On the way to Conway, from Little Rock, my mom and I are in the gold Oldsmobile Silhouette, with Before X playing. Before X is an amazing compilation of 80's alternative music. :D As we are having a casual conversation, "Rough Night In Jericho" comes on.

We've kept the music turned down so we could talk, but I randomly stop talking in order to sing the intro to one of the verses, "There were four little girls with foreign names!". Mom looked at me and laughed. Naturally, I apologized for my spazzy interruption of our conversation. My apology was somewhat like "I'm sorry, sometimes part of a song reaches out and steals my soul, and I have to sing part of it. I can't help it!"

After that, "Missionary Man" by the Eurythmics comes on. As the opening beats play, I make a spazz noise, and go "This just fills a happy hole in my heart!!" Mom was surprised to know I have a happy hole. :P

My explanation is a comparison of my soul to a shape sorter. You remember the red and blue balls that had yellow shapes that you put in the similarly shaped spots? Well with emotions, happy things fill the happy hole, sad things fill the sad hole. Everything to its proper place. Randomly, at some time later, I was wondering which part of the shape sorter each of my emotions would be. Squares have corners, but circles never end. So does happiness never end? Or is sadness neverending? Which shape do I like more?? How can I ascribe geometric meaning to emotions? What does each shape symbolize? My silly metaphors can be astonishingly complicated!

Dawn of the Dreadfuls

The new Quirk Classics publication Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith is marketed as a "prequel" to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which, I will admit, concerned me at first (I am a die-hard Austen fan).

-As a side note, I purchased Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith this past summer and really enjoyed reading it. I thought it transitioned particularly well between the original text and the zombie plot.-

Dawn of the Dreadfuls was a pleasant surprise. It was a witty take on Meryton and Longburn as well as the entire Bennet family. It places the original story as well as the recent adaptation in clever context and I felt like it added to the experience and gave the characters even more depth.



Aside from it's Austenian plot origins, its just a good book. In my opinion, its suitable for either gender due to it's clever balance of "zombie mayhem" and romantic intrigue. Its well written and engaging and definitely unpredictable! (I'm not even a "zombie fan". My books are just as good without brains, except in this cases!) I would say that much of the humor runs more to the... unladylike. ;) but I hang with guys, so its not as bad as what I hear at the lunch table. All in all, good stuff and a fun read.

To learn more about Dawn of the Dreadfuls, go to http://quirkclassics.com/index.php?q=dawnofthedreadfuls

I should also mention that there is a contest for readers going on. All you have to do is go to http://quirkclassics.com/index.php?q=QuirkClassicsContest_DOD_Reviews and leave a comment about this review and you'll be entered to win one of 50 prize packs including a Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Journal, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Postcards, Audio Books of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, An advance copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, a password redeemable online for sample audio chapters of Dawn of the Dreadfuls, and a Dawn of the Dreadfuls Poster.

An upcoming Quirk Classic to be watching for is Android Karenina. I'll hopefully be posting a review for that soon as well! At this time, I do, however, have the cover art!

PPZ

I haven't posted in a while. I've been too busy reading and listening to indie music to post. Well, that and stressing about life. But really, I've been spending a lot of time with my Paste subscription. :D oh happy day. the Paste samplers improve my life, and their pop culture reviews are amazing. (my bro says the same thing about Maxim, but really???)

It was actually because of Paste that I made the leap and bought Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I'm a bit of a purist as far as Jane Austen is concerned, and wasn't sure that I could enjoy a mock up complete with ninjas and zombies!! However, I definitely did. It was masterfully written, with all of the parts blended so well and it was just hysterically funny!

So I decided to follow it on Facebook, which was cool. Especially today, where they said that they were looking for new reviewers for the prequel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dead. Yeah, that sounds awesome. So I sent the email application and we'll see what happens!!! Either way, check my blog, and others on March 3 to find reviews!