Superstructure vs. The Loved Brown Owl

Thumbing through Schoenbaum's "compact documentary life" of Shakespeare I come upon a description quoted from another book: "Because of its associations, the house has not wanted fanciful appreciation. 'Shadows and weird noises are in the rafters, the wind is in the chimneys, crickets are on the hearth, fairies glisten in the light of the dying fire, through leaded windows shines the moon, without is the to-wit to-whoo of the loved brown owl.'" Schoenbaum makes me laugh by drily adding "However this may be" - ha ha ha! - "the dwelling consists of a stone groundsill, or low foundation wall, upon which rests a sturdy oak superstructure." Though I have ceased "blogging" I still have to tell you every time I read a book with an owl in it, and every book I read has an owl in it so we'll be seeing each other a lot, I guess.

Roth's Owl

Some of you may think I'm "blogging" again. Well, I'm not! But can I help it if every book I read has an owl in it? It's my curse! This Philip Roth book has a collegiate coffee shop called "The Owl." (It is also the eighth book I have read with Jell-O in it, including another one by Roth.)

Drunk Smurf Ox

Even though I have stopped "blogging" there are some things that must be "blogged" because there is no place else to put them. Here we see the foam letters from Jon Host's shower, for example. They have been there since time immemorial. "The challenge is to use ALL 24 letters," Jon writes. "Consonant blends are a must. Shrek is a popular subject, as are hex and jab. Abbreviations are discouraged. I wish I had been cataloging them all these years." I count just 23 letters in this one, I am sad to report.

Pepper, Montana and Rio

You know I'm not "blogging" anymore, but I do have to "blog" about McNeil at least once a month so I'll have something to fill out his yearly birthday tribute. Well, McNeil alerted me to the fact that Dean Martin's son just died. I read in the obituary that Dean Martin's granddaughters are named Pepper, Montana and Rio!

If You Get a Chance

"If you get a chance, you ought to look for the owls." Thus do the owls first appear in this Stephen King novel BAG OF BONES I'm reading. You know me! I'm the fella who finds owls in every book he reads, so it's like the character was talking straight to me. The owls in question are plastic owls, just like the one in GRINGOS by Charles Portis, and in conclusion I will remind you that I have read every book by Charles Portis and every book by Charles Portis has an owl in it.