Living Above the Fold

When I was a kid, my grandmother delighted in telling us about the ghost that haunted her childhood home back in Germany. Every night, she said, the family heard mysterious rattling on the staircase from dusk to dawn. I never really believed her—and, from the way she told it, she didn’t really believe in that ghost, either—but it made a great spooky story. And ever since then, in the back of my mind, I always hoped that someday I’d meet a ghost for myself. Because, well, you never know.

You Never Know (The East Bay Monthly, January 1 2010)

In a Concord backyard, Sandy (no last name) lugs an animal carrier into a small wire pen. She opens the door and four long, skinny animals slink out—Sandy identifies them as Puff, Hawley, Boo, and Walter Frederick “Fred” Ferretude. Puff, Boo, and Fred waddle around exploring, sniffing the ground, but Hawley doesn’t want to stay put. She scratches at the dirt with her long claws, hoping to dig her way out of the pen to explore the rest of the yard. These are ferrets: cute, clumsy—and illegal. California is one of only two states where it is against the law to own a pet ferret.

“Not everyone knows about ferrets,” Sandy says. Sandy can’t give her full name, because she’s harboring wanted fugitives. “But everyone in the ferret underground knows.”

Furry Fugitives (The East Bay Monthly, January 1 2010)

Well, since it’s now the beginning of 2010, why don’t we look ahead…no, I mean back?  Here’s a short vignette from last year’s Synthesis when I looked forward at some of the nifty things expected to happen in 2009. I was excited about the release of the “Red Sonja” remake.  Who doesn’t love a good barbarian flick?

Looking Forward (January 2009)

And why not take a look EVEN FURTHER back, where I fondly remembered the great overlooked films of 2008?

Year in Review (December 2008)

For Cedric Edwards, the best and worst days of his life were only one day apart.

In September 2005, Edwards became the first U.S. citizen to graduate from the Latin American School of Medicine, or ELAM, in Cuba. But on the Monday after graduation, Hurricane Katrina tore through Edwards’ hometown of Slidell, La., leaving his house under water and his family homeless.

The School of Life (Sacramento News and Review, October 27, 2005)