Bearshorty's musings

I finished “Neverwhere” this morning and I finished watching the TV show too. The book is much better, after reading it the tv show just seems very abbreviated. I really liked that the story was just about Richard and his ideas about life and what he wants his life to be were not based on any romantic decisions. He was friends with Door, he and Jessica were over for other reasons and he wanted to go back not because of a relationship but for his own personal character growth reasons. I read too many fairy tales and fantasy stories to be surprised by any plot points; I figured out the villain much earlier than the characters did. But I really enjoyed the story and the ride and the characters. Definitely fun to read.

I do like coming to Bear’s house and spending time here since it always feels like a vacation. However, I really hate allergies in this house. Something in this house is out to get me and my nose always, always gets stuffy and I never bring Claritin with me like I should. This is the only part of holidays I really dislike.

This afternoon, Bear and I finally went to visit Walt Whitman’s Birthplace. We’ve been meaning to go there since last Thanksgiving and somehow we usually ended up doing something else. I love visiting historic houses and seeing how people used to live and old furniture and decoration and combining that with important people is always fun. (The only part of the Louvre I really liked were rooms with furniture). This house was built around 1819 by Walt Whitman’s father. Walt Whitman was born in it and lived here for the first four years of his life. It was part of a farmhouse. Furniture was period pieces with only one chair really belonging to the family. We got an almost private tour since it was us and one other couple. My favorite parts were the ropes on the bed (that one had to tighten – hence ‘sleep tight’ phrase) and the footwarmer box where you put coals inside and put under your feet. We also watched a little video about Whitman in the little museum there and I actually bought a poetry book in the gift store. I don’t read poetry often, but I still remember memorizing Whitman’s “Miracles” poem for twelfth grade English presentation. I also got one of those leather bookmarks one finds in poet’s houses gift shops – I have Keats’ somewhere.

( pictures of Walt Whitman's Birthplace )

After the museum we went to visit one of Bear’s friends at her new condo. We were her first guests actually and we had a nice late afternoon/evening with salad, sandwiches and desert. She has a two-bedroom with a really huge kitchen. We actually stayed later than we thought we would so it was a good visit.

I didn’t realize that “Neverwhere” was a TV show first and the book is an adaptation of the TV show. I thought it was the other way around. Now that I’m making my way through the book, I figure I can watch some episodes once I finish reading about them. (When I read I inevitable skim ahead a bit and then read more slowly, I don’t know when that habit has started. But with this book I actually don’t want to spoil myself). Since the show is available on Netflix InstantPlay I watched the first two episodes. On a random note, I liked that Jessica has a picture of herself on her desk. I found that I like the book much better maybe because we get more into the character’s heads. It was interesting to see what the characters look like.

Burn Notice Bingo . Hee. Totally true, too. I’ll actually catch the new episode this weekend but this is fun.

( Bones S6E6 )