Glowing crystal buildings that spike to the highest reaches of the sky. Tennis played in the clouds. Glass domed buildings submerged under shark-filled water. It sounds like a place that sprouted from a fiction writer's head. But it's no fantasy and I'm heading to this real-life wonderland.
There is very little "Renaissance" in a Renaissance Festival. A better description is Middle Ages meets Middle Earth with a lot more retail stores and a lot fewer boils and sores. That's not to say I don't love a good Renn Fest!
I wore a red shirt, khaki shorts and hoop earrings, tame for a girl who went through an extended suspenders phase and coveted her best friend's red, ruffled Spanish dancing dress. But this was 7th grade and I wanted to fit in...
If someone called me a "feminist" or a "bleeding heart liberal" or even a "libtard" my first response would be, "Well, thanks!" And then I'd say, "And nice to see you matured past the name-calling of 7th grade." (I wouldn't be able to help myself. I mean really, "libtard," come on.)
It started in early fall 2001, on September 8, just before the numbers 9-11 would become burned into US history. But on that sunny Saturday, tragedy had not yet struck and the bookish excitement of the very first National Book Festival swallowed up the Library of Congress and stretched out onto the National Mall.
It's Friday Five time again. Time to review my five favorite bookish articles or stories floating around in the last week or so. This week includes a sampling of stories both serious and fun, ranging from racism in books to book festival mania.
Like the Highlander, sometimes there really should only be one. If you're unfamiliar with my arcane reference to the 1980s cult film, it's about a bunch of immortal highlanders who battle each other until only one is left. That's not really why I'm using this example.
Some people read only fiction. Some people read only nonfiction. I read both. But if you asked me for my top 10 favorite books, there would not be a nonfiction book in the list.
