My New Competition

I love it!!!

http://www.glasgowdailytimes.com/schools/local_story_303211742.html

Vie Haf Vays Off Makingk You Talk, Herr Ed.

The following post is not for the faint of heart:

Okay. You folks know I love horses. All horses--scruffy, pretty, gentle, rotten--any horse, right? I also love horse books (in pretty much all of the above conditions).

I picked up this book at the Texas Book and Paper show from a booth full of antiquarian and fine binding lovelies. Eye candy, all of it, but this one caught my eye and wouldn't let me leave without it. Here's the cover:



Pretty, ja? It is an 19th century gothic-script German book on horsemanship, directed primarily to cavalry officers but also for general equestrians.

Pretty, that is, until you open the cover. Great Scot! What masquerades as an innocent horse-training manual is actually the here-to-for top-secret Equine Prisoner of War Interrogation Manual!!! Those kooky pre-war Germans! Further research into the origins of this book has lead me to discover the true history of America's Beloved Mr. Ed...

I can't talk about it, or They'll get me, too, but suffice it to say that Mr. Ed single-hoofedly saved the free world as we know it at great sacrifice of his personal safety, creature comforts, and original identity as a rising-star pinto polo pony (And you thought having your hair bleached blond was time-consuming as a human.). We salute you, our palomino friend. We salute you.

Before They find out about this site, take a gander at the following images I've recovered from this Super-Secret document:

The capturing of Mr. Ed using a Taser disguised as a grooming tool.

Mr. Ed is transported to an undisclosed location.

Mr. Ed is threatened with devices too horrific to describe here.

Further instruments of terror.

Brave Mr. Ed refuses to talk.

Will the nightmare ever end?


In a brilliant surge of derring-do, Mr. Ed escapes from his captors.

...chilling. Who knew?

Donut Fest Head Count

Okay, folks: I'm taking a final head count for the nanowrimo kickoff party donut fest. All are welcome--just shoot me an email if you are planning on attending and haven't yet touched base with me.

Kickoff Donut Fest at The Literary Lion
7am until 10am November 1st, 2007

Bygone Days on the Bosque

I much prefer my cowgirl hat to a sun bonnet, blue jeans to petticoats. Still, a good time was had by all, and we got to show off some of the Lone Star Library's Texana collection. (photo sent by D. Wilson--thanky much!).

Big Country Book Tour

These two folks came into the store on one of the craziest, messiest days we've had at the Lion (and that takes some doing!). I didn't realize they were reporters on a mission until toward the end of their visit...I guess we didn't scare them off too badly (Even after J. dropped in carrying several pounds of frozen water buffalo steaks for my freezer.).

Anyway, here's the link:

Big Country Book Tour

Ironically, we also have a book-related goat story, or goat-related book story, depending on your perspective. Stay tuned.

By the way, the name of the restaurant is actually Santa Fe County Taco Company, not to nit-pick or anything.

NaNoWriMo 2007

Greetings and Salutations! Sorry that it's taken me so long to post here--I'll catch you guys up in a later post (maybe!). First, business:

National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo (pronounced na-no-wry-mo) for short, is November, and we're hosting Stephenville's participants. If you're interested in becoming part of this insane writing phenomenon, go for it. In addition to signing up with the official site, please drop me a line or drop by the store on or before Oct 31st, and you'll become eligible for the "WriMos only" in-store perks and events. Come on...you've always said you wanted to write a book, right? Here's your chance to ride a wave of intense literary momentum to help you achieve that goal.

Again, if you plan on participating, you must sign up at http://www.nanowrimo.org/. Writers, rejoice.

We are hosting a kickoff donut fest from 7am until 10am on November 1st. Bring your special pens and writer's caps! Please shoot me an email if you plan on dropping by so I can buy enough donuts.

Rowling in a Row with India

Here's some weird book news for you:

J.K. Rowling, creator of Harry Potter, has lost a copyright suit filed against members of the Indian city Kolkata for creating a giant papier mache replica of Hogwarts Castle. Read on...

http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hB0Se_SFVl8Fz4LDWg0uMCBhEMqw

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-10-12-voa27.cfm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7041863.stm

...and so on.

The Spinster's Scrip

Well. This is not your average Victorian book of love poems and domestic bliss. Edited by Cecil Raynor and published in 1896, The Spinster's Scrip is a compilation of quips and quotes about the horrors of married life, one for each day of the year (much like a daily devotional to bitterness). Here are a couple:

January Second:

"Is Courtship bliss? Marriage is blister."

-unknown.

May Twenty-Ninth:

"A second marriage is the triumph of hope over experience."

-Dr. Johnson

and, last but not least, October Thirty-First:

(regarding the fate of the married)

"They die so slowly that none call it murder."

-unknown.

My favorite thing about this particular book is the inscription on the front end page:

Who was Billy? Who was Fraggy? Best wishes...do I detect just the faintest hint of sarcasm in Fraggy's penmanship, a touch of anger in the underlinings? Perhaps she was Billy's jilted bride-to-be and this book her answer to his finding someone else. If so, I hope she kept the ring. Good riddance, Girl. Better to learn the truth now before you've been hitched to his unfaithful sorry--

...not that I'm bitter.