The Pillowman Part Deux

I finally was able to finish The Pillowman. I have to admit it had one of the best endings ever, totally unexpected. The pillowman is filled with the tales written by Katurian. My favorite had to be the pillowman, even though that might be a little predictable.

The pillowman is a story of a man completely made of pillows, with a round pillow for a head and a big smiley face. He finds adults who are deeply depressed and contemplating taking their life. The pillowman is able to go back in time to when these adults were children. He tries to convince these children that they will lead horrible, depressing lives and that they should kill themselves to avoid the pain that they will endure. Now, the children do not commit suicide in the way that you might think; they die from "accidents." The pillowman will show them just where to enter traffic after a ball or where the ice is thinnest in a lake. With the death of the children, they were never able to suffer as adults. This tale has meaning behind it and perhaps this is the reason it is used as the namesake.

To read more tales like this get The Pillowman. Do what you must, whether it be borrow, buy, or steal, although I don't recommend larceny.

Library Labyrinth

On yet another quest for books. For our writing class we needed to collect books for our topics. Now getting books from a library may sound like a simple, asinine task but you would be wrong. Well in most cases it is a rather simple task, but this library is EVIL!!! It wants to trap people inside and never free them!! They should turn this into a horror flick.

We found the engineering library, the only problem was we weren't looking for the engineering library. After enterring the library we discovered that the two libraries were interconnected. Evil I say!!! Evil!!!

Miss Moon noticed that her book was on the sixth floor. One would think that a set of stairs would lead to a higher floor, but yet again you'd be wrong. Miss Moon lead the way up a flight of stairs, the only problem; they lead to nowhere. The stairs lead to a balcony, not another floor. Why do I keep following her? Good question!! you'll never learn Mary Jane!!! At least it was a nice view!!

We had to go back down the stairs as if that was what we planned to do the whole time. Eventually we found the smallest elevator in the world. We found the sixth floor and wound our way through a maze of halls. Finally we found the book Miss Moon had been looking for. All we had to do now was find the books I needed. lol that elevator was scary. I wanted to turn off the light in there as we rode it, but she wouldn't let me. T_T

I found another elevator. This one was huge but it had a horrible smell in it. I needed the third floor, the only problem; there were two third floor buttons. I picked a random one and we got off of the elevator. Somehow we ended up in a periodical section. Miss Moon thought that there must be another section. We went through a door and ended up back where we started. I decided that we should go back and find the small elevator. Finally we ended up on the correct third floor and I found my two books. I swear that I was going to die in this elevator. The smell could probably had knocked a person unconcious if you stayed in there long enough. Well it gave me a headache anyway. I got to use my cell as a light to find the books. It was fun!!!

We took the elevator to get to the circulation but Miss Moon pressed the wrong button and we ended up in the basement. The basement was labeled 1. It's not my fault!! We took the stairs to the next floor up and checked the books out.

Now all we had to do was wait for the bus back to campus. The bus took over half an hour to get there. Boy what people will do when they are bored and waiting for a bus. We began to contemplate grand theft auto and breaking and enterring( joke from Dane Cook). Miss Moon even yelled at a cop car. The bus finally arrived and we got back to campus. Should finding books be that hard? Oh I had fun. That cop was after me for sure so I yelled you missed me at two cop cars passing by and made a new arm out of an umbrella. I also went so far as to decide in detail how we would swipe a car and to leave a note saying guess what we took in someone's house if we broke in. Boredom cure is totally randomness!!

The Pillowman and Wise Blood

Southern Gothic Productions, a production company set in North Carolina, has started a book club; entitiled SoGoPro's book club.

The latest recommendation is The Pillowman, a play written by Martin McDonagh. The play details the interrogation of Katurian K. Katurian (yes the K stands for Katurian as well). Katurian is a writer, telling "fictional" tales of child murders. The murders are very gruesome. There had been several murders committed in the play and the details of the crimes bear a striking resemblance to Katurian's stories. The police believe that Katurian has committed the crimes.

So far I have only read two acts, but the play is captivating, a new twist on every page. I suggest you get yourself a copy.

A call back to a previous post: I talked about a book I had read; Wise Blood. The book was fantastic and now I have discovered that a movie was made in 1979 and they are releasing it on DVD in May. Here's the trailer:

Are We Lost . . . Again?

On another adventure again. Due to the lack of wildlife on our last adventure we decided to go to a wildlife sanctaury.

Some of the dialogue is a bit inaudible so I'll tell you what we're saying.

MJ: Do you know where we are?

MM: Nope, that's what makes it fun.

MJ: I think you're leading us backwards.

MM: Maybe we should continue this way then?

MJ: Yeah

MJ: Look at that, beavers! We're near beavers! Look!

MM: Yeah


Lesson for the day: I'm not following Miss Moon anymore on trails. We always tend to get off the trail and get lost. Although it does make it more interesting and we always find our way back. Mary Jane said this last time and guess what.... she followed me yet again. lol I think she has a fondness for getting lost and taking Miss Moon's marvelous trails full of excitement, danger, and small little friends. . .

At the beginning of the hike Miss Moon was upset that we were not seeing any wildlife. She jokingly stated "at this point I would be happy just seeing a snake." Guess who saw the actual snake . . . Me, Mary Jane. I looked down and there was a little garter snake between my feet. I screamed, yes I screamed, and jumped away. I probably scared him more than he scared me. Her own fault for looking down. I walked right over it and only realized it once she screamed. Don't you love how I got blamed for jinxing her. lol we got some good laughs out of this trip!!!

We both had our own little stunts that caused laughter. Miss Moon got caught in a tree branch and nearly tripped and fell. She's ok but it was funny. I just wanted to visit the tree and the ground. I thought I was being nice. I fell going down a steep, muddy ravine. Must admit she totally couldn't reach for the tree before she fell. I tell her to grab the tree so she kisses the ground. lol not really on the kissing part, but it sounded like a funny scenario. There was a small stream and I cleared the water to the other side. Miss Moon jumped, but missed and soaked her entire shoe. The double jump failed me! I must admit that the practice of jumping over the obstacle course of stuff in our room really paid off! I lead us into a pricker patch and Miss Moon got caught in it. I love the prickers!! we're new best friends!! As a joke, we both straddled a tree. We have a weird sense of humor.

She is still trying to learn how to drive her new car. I know what you are thinking. . . why would she waste any money on this piece of junk?

She can't even figure out how to operate hers. You can't drive while standing!

Miss Moon was trying to do the YMCA but couldn't remember how, lol.

We were lost for a good while. Just look at what happens when Mary Jane gets hungry!! She goes right for the trees!!

Swinging Away

Ever want to reminisce about childhood? It might be a good idea sometimes. One of our favorite things about childhood was traveling to playgrounds with our dads.

There is a playground near campus that has a set of swings. The children had all gone home and the weather was perfect. We picked the swings that were the newest. We are no longer the size of small children. Just picture two almost 20-year-olds swinging on children's swings.

On the way there we saw a group of frat boys playing frisbee. Normally this is not an interesting game; it was the way they were playing. One stood on the ground while the others stood on the roof attemptimg to catch the frisbee.

Don't recommend this but it did look like fun.

New England vs. The South

Miss Moon is back in action after being MIA. Yes I talk about myself in the third person. What have we done lately that is remotely exciting? . . . Absolutely nothing. After all that is the reason to post!!!

I, Mary Jane, am from Indiana, holla. Miss Moon is from Massachusetts. Miss Moon considers southern Indiana "the south." Lol so true!!! It feels that way to me anyway. who would blame me for thinking that? It may be close to Kentucky but it is not the South. This difference in origin makes us argue over dialect and the names of objects.

She constantly makes fun of me when I say y'all. This word makes perfect sense to me, taking two words and combining them into one. To Miss Moon its just weird. Not really!! I hear it TOO MUCH to be weird. She isn't the only Southerner I know.

Our biggest arguement is "drinking fountain" vs. "bubbler." In New England they call an apparatus for drinking a bubbler. This makes no sense, it doesn't even bubble. Yes, but it is more fun to not make sense!!! It makes things more interesting!!Drinking fountain makes total sense; it's a fountain and you drink from it. Just once I want to take her to Indiana with me and watch her ask where the bubbler is. They wouldn't have a clue what she was talking about. That would just improve the fun!!! Everyone knows Miss Moon likes to make a fool out of herself and she is challenge happy!! Yes miss Moon is talking in the third person yet again!!

Other words that are different:

carriage vs. cart

lollipop vs. sucker (I like sucker!! It can have multiple meanings ^_-)

soda vs. pop (sodapop why not just combine them?)

One pet peeve of mine is when Miss Moon says the word "drawer." Being from New England she disregards the r and simply says "dra." I constantly say "no its drawer, Miss Moon." Lol not going to change on saying that or eitha!!

Arguing is fun. I bet it is since you do it all the time!!!

Parking Mishap

So today I go out to my car and what do ya know there is a parking ticket on my car.

When I traded in my old car I asked them to take off the old parking permit. The permit was in peices but I taped it into the new car as proof.

In order to get a new permit I need the registration, but it hasn't come in yet. It's like a catch-22. I got a ticket for having an "improperly displayed permit." Hopefully I can appeal it.

Officer 941 I'm lookin' out for ya.

White Lies

Ok every day I go on iTunes to check out the latest music or releases.

The other day I dowloaded a couple songs by this band White Lies. If you haven't heard of them you need to check them out. They are quickly becoming an obsession of mine.

If I had to label their music I would classify them somewhere between classic 80's and the killers. Seriously check them out.

P.S. listen to From the Stars

Kinearing

So I was just watching The Graham Norton Show. One of his guests tonight was Greg Kinear.

I was made aware of a new word; kinearing.

Apparently when you take a picture of a celebrity without them knowing it is called kinearing. The New York Times even did an article on it.

A woman in Canada came up with this on her knitting site.

Driving Antics

Today I went on a quest with my mother to find Lucille Ball memoribilia. There were I Love Lucy collectible dolls on sale at a store call Big Lots!.

I discovered that my mother did not know how to drive today. She has her driving quirks but today she was on a roll. First she completely ran a stop sign, as I was saying "stop sign, stop sign!"

As we were searching for the store I saw the sign for it on the sign of the road. I pointed and said "it's right there." She looked around wondering where I was pointing and proceeded to run a red light. We had to turn around. I laughed as I wondered out loud, "why do I bother?"

We parked the car and went into what we thought was the Big Lots! We were sadly mistaken. The store was filled with home improvement items, it felt like a Home Depot. As we left we realized we were in the wrong store.

Could This Day Get Any Better?

After two and a half years my braces have finally come off. The teeth aren't perfect but I'll take what I can get.

Yesterday I got a new car, or certified pre-owned as they call it. It's a silver Pontiac G6. My old car was a bronze (yuck) Pontiac Grandam. I loved that car but it had over 114,000 miles on it and was starting to need serious repairs.

I do miss my old car but looking at the new one makes me forget, haha.

Are We Lost?

Are we lost? was a phrase that enterred both of our minds today. We decided to try another local state park, perhaps one without a mountain this time.

Lesson: If a sign says the trail is closed due to hazardous conditions, don't disregard the sign.

Trees and limbs lined the trail and eventually the trail disappeared. We decided to blaze our own trail. Eventually we came to a rock wall. We assumed we had found the way out to the road. Boy were we wrong. We had actually left the park and were traveling along a public road.

We did find another trail along the road. This trail led to an old mill, with free-flowing water. It was a very picturesque spot.

I, Mary Jane, have learned a lesson today. I do not know how to make a kite. There is a "hill" (more like a mountain) in the park. It's perfect for flying a kite, plenty of open space and wind.

We had found the kite recently. It was one of those dollar store kites and was just sitting in our common room at college. I attempted to craft the kite but was not very successful. I give the kite and A for effort in the flying department. It just didn't work out.

The only wildlife we saw during the trip was a small caterpillar.

Miss Moon found a rocking chair to relax in.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

Happy Saint Patrick's Day Everyone!!

Don't forget to wear green.

Flying Solo!

It's me Mary Jane. Went to New York City for the weekend. Miss Moon did not accompany me on this one. Just me and my mom.

Nothing that funny happened on this trip, unfortunately.

Saw Avenue Q. Highly recommend it. There is only one way to describe it: Sesame Street for adults. Some of the popular songs include; The Internet is for Porn, Everyone's a Little Bit Racist, and If You Were Gay.










*from shadowurahara16*



My personal favorites were the bad idea bears. Cute and hilarious.

Went to Dylan's Candy Store. This place was a candy lover's heaven. Literally three floors of nothing but candy. Miss Moon and I tried to find this place before but we got tired of walking to find it. In reality we were only one block away. Oh well live and learn.

Here's the theater that Avenue Q played at; the Golden Theater on 45th St. Also saw a black squirrel in central park. I've only seen those on campus at UMASS.

This one's for you Miss Moon. There is this pretty globe sculpture in Columbus Circle. Miss Moon loved it but we never got a chance to take a picture of it. Now we have one.

Literary Faves

Mary Jane here! Just wanted to let you guys know some of my favorite literary works (in no particular order). Maybe then you can get a feel for who I really am.

1. Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea by Chelsea Handler





If you haven't heard of Chelsea Handler then you must be hiding under a rock. Chelsea has recently become more mainstream with her late night talk show, Chelsea Lately. She is hilarious. The book is a continuation of her first book, My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One Night Stands. The book truely captures Chelsea with all her sarcasm and wit. It is definitely an entertaining read.


2. Another recent find is Wise Blood, by Flannery O'Connor.








This book was recommended by the team of Southern Gothic Productions. Truely a great read. I went into the book expecting it to be much more serious, not as entertaining as it was. Hazel Motes is an interesting character, intense in his demeanor, yet quiet. Enoch Emery is what makes the tale fascinating. I finished the book wanting to hear more about Enoch. Read the book and maybe you'll see what I mean.



3. My ultimate favorite book is Wicked, by Gregory Maguire






This book recounts the popular tale of the Wizard of Oz and the Wicked Witch of the West. The story is from her point of view. The witch begins to have actual character and motives behind her actions. Once you read the story you will never watch the Wizard of Oz the same way again.



4. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd







This book truely captures the south in the time of the civil rights movement. Lily, a fourteen-year-old girl travels to South Carolina in search for information about her late mother. She lives with a family of African American women. Each individual woman has their own character and purpose to the story. You find yourself falling in love with these women right alongside Lily.

Part 2

This guy was nice and all, but we couldn't easily understand him for he was Italian and it was his first night on the job. He didn't know where the fuse box was and of course, we didn't either!! We tried 3 locked areas until we found the right on on the other side of the hall. He didn't have the key so he asked for a bobbypin to pick the lock. We got one and he couldn't pick the lock. In the end, we went to bed early that night since there was nothing else to do. Project fuse ended in failure until the next morning.

5. Be prepared to swim. There may be "slight" flooding in your bathroom, causing you to tip-toe throught the small lake. Just when you think its fixed the water returns. My advice; build a canoe.

6. Don't fall alseep in class!! The teacher may have a voice like a lullaby but avoid sleeping.

7. You may think you know how to write an essay but you would be incorrect in that assumption. Throw out everything you learned in high school about writing. Those techniques are no longer applied.

Be prepared for a week of Murphy's Law. Bad things happen but your week is coming. Now don't think we don't like college, we do. Just some helpful hints to get you through.

College Chaos!!

For all you whipersnappers out there excited about your first semester in college, you might want to think twice. Oh sure, college is fun but stuff can always go wrong. As your college experience creeps closer and excitement peaks you might want to keep these lessons in mind.

1. Move-in day is hectic to say the least. When you're packing at home you may think you need those 50 dvds, hundreds of books, or those stuffed animals you thought you couldn't live without, but in actuality you will have no time to watch those movies. The only way you'll find the time to read those books is during that boring and un-needed first semester requirement class.

2. DON'T BRING OCTOPUS LAMPS! Apparently they can be used as a deadly weapon for taking over your suite. I swear I never took the ILLEGAL lamp and chased my suite mates around the building, but if you read the letter it may seem that way. Well we learned this the hard way. We received very official looking letters that made us feel like convict crimminals. Just imagine having to tell your mother that you got in trouble for a lamp that your RA saw you bring in. Supposedly it is a fire hazard so don't bring it unless you want to see your mother make a fool of herself in a store asking if a lamp is illegal.

3. Get over your fear of mice. Even if you live on the seventh floor those craftly little devils know how to use the elevator. Miss Moon is what I like to call a heavy sleeper. I screamed when I saw the mouse and literally had to drag her out of bed. I said "I really don't want to find this mouse." She simply replied "Well I don't either" and went back to sleep. We proceeded to catch seven mice over the next two weeks until we figured out that we were actually attracting them with the food in the trap.

4. Now you would think that things would get better after all that fun, but you'd be wrong. I brought back the new lamp and I thought that the problem was solved, but then Mary Jane plugged it in and then we left in the dark literally. The lamp blew a fuse at night. We went to our RA for help and he proceded to ask us "what is a fuse?" He was of absolutely of no help!!! We went downstairs to the help desk and asked them how to solve the problem. The lady at the desk told us to call the emergency maintanence with a number of four or five digits. We were like this is not a real number, but realized that she was no help. Fortunately for us, we leave our laptops plugged in at all times so Mary Jane found the number for them and called.

Then we met Luigi. . .

NYC the Place to Be!

Mary Jane=black
Miss Moon=purple

Miss Moon has lead a sheltered life and I, being the good friend that I am took it upon myself to introduce Miss Moon to life. For her birthday, recently, we went on a trip to New York City. I bought her tickets to Mamma Mia (which was awesome!). There she goes again. Just because I don't go out a lot, she goes so far as to say I'm sheltered. Believe me I'm not as bad as she says.





As we got of the train we left the station to explore. Miss Moon noticed a sign that said "subway." She says "I've never seen them have a sign like that." I asked her if she thought that was the sign for the restaurant, she replied yes. I was like no no no, that's the sign for the actual subway haha. So mean bringing that up. T_T *goes and cries in corner* I was very good at doing silly things on this trip. I guess I may be alittle sheltered after all.

(Notice the subway sign in the background)





(This is the picture Miss Moon took of me on the subway. Good photographer huh?!) Yes while the subway (not the restaurant) was MOVING!!! Moving subway = shaky hands. Not my fault!!

We felt like grown ups, although the people around us seemed to think we were still in middle school. Yes my fault. I'm the one who really doesn't look my age. On the trip, we were joking about how Miss Moon made Mary Jane look younger by association. Yes Miss moon talks in the third person so get use to it now. i'll look good when I'm older though. ^_-With our angelic faces random people kept talking to us and asking what we were doing there, all alone. I just have a cute face. i just draw people to me. ^_^ Several people began to talk to us on the street, they must've know we were tourists. Yes they did. It was so weird. How they knew that I'll never know.

(notice the shirt)

We had to find our hotel eventually. We got to where we needed to be and checked in. The lady behind the counter was like "you've been upgraded and need to go to our sister hotel down the block." I looked at Miss Moon and was like "what the hell is going on?" I was there wondering what was going on until I realized that we were being kicked out of our hotel. Believe me, we are loved.We left the hotel to follow the manager to our next destination. We had to pass through a revolving door in order to get to the outside. Miss Moon thought it would be a bright idea to follow directly behind me and we got stuck. She had to drop her bag to let us out. She had to go back through the door to retrieve her belongings. Not my best moment by any means. Remember no day dreaming when walking. I never really got that one straight. I like to play follow the leader.

Fortunately for us the new hotel was way better, high class. We were amazed by the upgrade and we were way way too enthusiastic like two idiots. That's true!! I jumped on the bed as soon as I entered the room. It was heaven and I didn't want to leave.We had to leave that amazing hotel in order to continue on our adventure. We left to head for Times Square. They have two candy stores in Times Square and of course we had to go inside. (chocolate is a girl's best friend) So true!!! who could ever live without chocolate? not me or Mary Jane. We both bought two interesting items in the M&M's store. Miss Moon bought blue, turquoise, and light blue m&m's in a champagne bottle. Those candies have infamously become known as the sexy m&m's. Trust me you'd understand if you saw them. Ya they are. It's become a joke between so many people that it isn't funny. SEXY M&MS FTW!!!(for the win). Now I, Mary Jane, am known for loving all things mini. They had a candy dish with a miniature scoop. Of course I had to have it. Small things amuse small minds!! Love ya Mary Jane.

That night we went to a broadway show, Mamma Mia. I had seen it before but Miss Moon had never been to a show like that. The show was incredible, way better than the last time I saw it. The crowd was way more into it which made the show more fun. At one point in the show one of the character's throws her back out. Now that is all she is supposed to do. She chose, that night, to yell "f**k!" at the top of her lungs. So funny. The actors chose to do a lot of improv which was hilarious. Yes that was amusing, but I preferred when the character unbuckled his pants at the end of the number. He was horny! At the end the characters come out and join the audience in song. Miss Moon and I were singing and dancing right along with them. Yes being an idiot is my specialty or at least doing silly things. It makes life more fun.

There was one other unique point to the trip. On the train ride down we were surrounded by young out of control dancers. They were loud and irritating as all hell. They were accompanied by Miss Janet. Yes she was also quite annoying. She kept saying that we were not with her group and looked at us as being younger. I was about ready to say I'M TOO OLD TO BE PART OF YOUR GROUP whether I look it or not. We came to know Miss Janet very well, not by choice. We began to see them everywhere: Planet Hollywood, Mamma Mia, on the street. We couldn't escape them. So true!! Mary Jane went so far as to dare me to yell out to Miss Janet when we passed them leaving their hotel. When we first saw them on the train, I said " I bet we will be seeing them everywhere." Unfortunately for me, I was right. T_T

This was our trip!! It was fun, funny, amusing, and by some miracle we didn't get lost. I usually follow Mary Jane into disaster. lol. Don't tell her i said that. It was a safe and fun trip. We'll be going back for January first of next year. Well until our next adventure or maybe a bit more.....

Tripping Up and Sliding Down

(All Lies!) [for picture]

My friend and I decided to create a blog on some "adventures" we have gone on. Today was definitely an adventure. Ever heard of Mount Holyoke in Western Mass? No, well we hadn't either. Now we do. Its this huge mountain that's like 1,000 feet up. We climbed the whole way. Along the way we learned some interesting and valuable lessons:

1. Never go hiking in the winter. Unless you and the ground feel like visiting one another. Ice and slush lined the entire trail.

2. Always come prepared. Flat sneakers and ice do not mix.

3. Get a walking stick. You may not be old but it can actually help save you during a slight step miscalculation.

4. There's no crying in climbing!. . but there is singing. Always come prepared with a list of showtunes. Singing passes the time.

5. The sign may say that you're halfway there but in reality you've got two-thirds to go.

6. After the long painful walk up to the summit don't be afraid to kiss the ground and yell "thank god I made it" People may stare but just remember they secretly want to do it too.

7. Going up the mountain you may have thought it was straight up but you were wrong. There were short periods of descent that you don't recall from the trek up.

8. Singing may have saved you from the slow progression of time but it will not save you from the embarrassing looks from passersby.

Overall fun day. Will we do it again? . . . Probably.