Remembering Poe

I think a lot of writers can recall their first exposure to Edgar Allen Poe. For most of us it was required reading in high school. I remember sitting in my English class in the dark -- the teacher would turn the lights off for effect -- listening to audio cassettes of The Raven, Telltale Heart and others. I distinctly remember the narrator moaning about the "cask of Amontiago" as if a ghost himself.

I always enjoyed the short stories the best, I never did fully appreciate his poetry. The Fall of the House of Usher is one that I like to read every now and again, though it tends to stick in my mind and haunt me for days if not weeks after.

Michael Connelly -- my husband enjoys his books, though I admittedly have not read any of them yet -- edited a compilation of Poe's works called In the Shadow of the Master. It also includes essays and commentary from famous authors like Sue Grafton and Stphen King. The book publishing coincides with the author's 200th birthday (good PR tie-in).

I haven't gotten my hands on book yet, but look forward to picking it up soon.

Do Something

"I'm creative. I should create at least as much as I consume."

Love, love this quote from a blog entry on Speak Up. We really are a society of consumption.

Read it, it makes you want to go out and do something.

Here's to a weekend of doing something...

Warning: Soap Box Rant

I live in a fairly small town and my reporting duties cover fairly local issues. As the larger economy has oh, let's call them "issues," it has an inevitable trickle-down down effect (the opposite one Reagan touted) on local economies.

Our local city budget is expecting to be short about $4 million for the fiscal year.

Okay, here is my rant in two parts:

A) What gets cut is always the things that make a city a community. Libraries, park maintenance, city events and the like are always first on the chopping block. I'm not saying we should cut police or fire officers, it just bums me out that the first items to go are always those things that I think make it great to live in a community.

B) People complain about these kinds of cuts but don't do anything about it. Local council members tend to make most of these kinds of decisions in a small town and they are very, very reachable people for the most part. I mean, it's not like you're trying to reach Governor Arnold on the phone or anything. I often find myself in conversation with people who have a defeatist attitude "well, there's nothing I can do about it -- those politicians are in charge." Maybe in D.C., (and some would argue that) but in a small town you do have a say, and more often than not, they will listen to you.

Whew, okay. Sorry about that. I'm writing stories on local crime rates, a local library being cut and one on a federal mandate that will make all manufacturers of children's items be tested for lead and other contaminants possibly putting smaller manufacturers (mom & pops) out of business.

I've got to start working on some more of those magazine article queries so my newspaper writing doesn't get the better of me...