And then JK Rowling punched me in the face

Aaaaaaaand now for another update on this year’s Project 365….


Day 261 (2012-09-17) ~  So, the teachers in Wednesday's school district went on strike for seven days after the start of the school year.  They picketed, marched, handed out pamphlets, and tied red ribbons all over the trees at the local schools.  This was one of the ribbons they wrapped around a tree at the local elementary school which I snapped with a partial color setting.  Fortunately, everyone is back in school now, but Wednesday will have a shortened Christmas break this December/January because of it.





Day 262 (2012-09-18) ~  Yeah.  *sigh*  It's a straw.  In a glass.  And it’s purple.  Uh-huh.  I've got nothing else for the day.  Sorry.





Day 263 (2012-09-19) ~  I kind of like this one.  It's the blinds in our living room.  Kind of cool, huh?





Day 264 (2012-09-20) ~  Ooooooooooooooooh!  Halloween is on its way!  Looky what I found outside the grocery store!  Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!





Day 265 (2012-09-21) ~  We planted roughly a trillion carrots on our deck this spring, hoping for a big ol' harvest in the fall.  Weirdly, they suddenly died all at once over the summer.  All except this itty bitty runty little one, our sole survivor. 





Day 266 (2012-09-22) ~  A bucket of ghostly pumpkins we saw on the sidewalk.





Day 267 (2012-09-23) ~  A wise old owl that watches over Lincoln Avenue in Chicago.  (Whoopsie.  This was taken on Sept 22, not the 23rd.  Sometimes life gets in the way of all this picture taking and posting.)





Day 268 (2012-09-24) ~  Yummy!





Day 269 (2012-09-25) ~  One very colorful sunset as seen from our deck.





Day 270 (2012-09-26) ~  Out of ideas for the day, I took a quick close-up shot of my favorite Harajuku Lovers backpack.





Day 271 (2012-09-27) ~  I was sooooooooo excited the morning of Sept. 27th.  I woke up with butterflies in my stomach and happy-danced my way out the door at 7am with my mind full of fond, old memories of Harry Potter midnight parties that I spent with Wednesday in our Hogwarts robes at Barnes and Noble several years ago. 


*le sigh* 


I literally ran (RAN!) (and there may also have been some skipping involved too!) down the street to get to Target before it opened so I could be first in line to get my copy of JK Rowling's new book, The Casual Vacancy.  Only.... the excitement was very short lived.  The Casual Vacancy was NOTHING like Harry Potter.


Oh.


SPOILER ALERT!  IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW THE DETAILS OF THE CASUAL VACANCY, SKIP TO THE NEXT PICTURE:  I…. I hardly know what to say, except, holy f*ck, do NOT read this book aloud to your kids!!!!  The story follows a slew of very messed up characters through an election in a small town, the result of which will determine what becomes of the ugly slum side of that town and the desperate and hopeless people who linger there.  Some want to give the residents a hand in bettering their lives so they can escape the slums; others would prefer to turn their backs and alter the town’s boundaries to make the slum and its residents someone else’s problem.  And throughout it all, the various characters (and there are many!) lead the most dark, disturbing, unhappy, and over-the-top soap opera-like lives.


There’s a toothless heroine addict prostitute who shoots up in front of her kids.  There’s an abusive dad who beats the sh*t out of his wife and sons.  There’s a rapist who attacks a teenage girl and a three year old boy.  There’s ANOTHER rapist who attacks his own daughter. There’s a suicidal girl who cuts herself with a razor blade because of bullies at school.  There’s a series of hackers posting the town folk’s secrets online on the town council’s website.  There’s a teenage girl who is desperate to get pregnant because she thinks it’s her only way out of the slums.  There are teenagers having sex in a graveyard.  There’s a thief.  There’s an egomaniacal kid who spreads misery wherever he goes.  There’s a drowning, a suicide, an attempted murder, a fatal medical malpractice case, AND a fatal brain aneurism.  There is more profanity than in a million public bathroom stalls combined.  There are two (TWO!) funerals at which Rihanna’s “Umbrella” song is played (????).  And, at the end of it all, there’s really no closure or answers to any questions in any way whatsoever and I was just left sitting there, blinking, and thinking what a sad and pointless book that was.  I mean, I feel like I was punched in the face by JK Rowling! 


(JK, what the hell did I ever do to YOU?!)


That morning in Target on the 27th, I had actually purchased two copies of The Casual Vacancy; one for me and one for Wednesday, but I promptly returned Wednesday’s copy before she could even crack it open because there’s NO WAY my kid needs to be reading twisted misery like that before she’s 18.  Or 30.  Or 102.


But anyway….


This is what Target’s shelf looked like first thing in the morning before I grabbed two books and ran for the cashier, squealing in glee, completely unaware of what a non-Harry Potter-y adventure I was embarking on.





Day 272 (2012-09-28) ~  The leaves started to fall in Chicago.





Day 273 (2012-09-29) ~  Scope and I saw this car while we were out driving and we couldn't resist stopping for a quick picture of it.  There were post it notes everywhere! 





Day 274 (2012-09-30) ~  Nom nom nom.  Wednesday was feeding some fish at a little pond, and this big fella was so excited about it that he came out of the water to try and get a bite.  Hee hee hee.





Day 275 (2012-10-01) ~  While taking pictures of some bright orange leaves, I noticed a ladybug lurking around.  Cute!  (Whoopsie.  This was taken on Sept 30, not Oct.1.  Sometimes life gets busy and you miss a day or two, y'know? Sorry.)






Almost all caught up now!  I’m so excited!







© Coracabana