postbear's photostream  

these are shoots that have erupted from the soil in my garden in january. another mild winter with minimal snowfall, of course, but these things still should not be. added context: this is soil in a pot that sits in front of my patio, exposed to the elements.

cover, text and drawings by edward gorey. the neglected murderesses were originally published in dilys winn's murderess ink. i don't much like the lack of effort workman puts into publishing books (terrible layout and minimal attention to detail), but this was used and cheap.

a book for children by j. david townsend, with drawings by edward gorey. the cover price is 95¢, but since i bought it second-hand (at the goodwill store at the corner of king william and ferguson in hamilton, source of many treasures), the price i paid, marked inside the front cover, is 25¢.

fun fact: goodwill stores in canada began as an entity known in the 1930s as the crippled civilians society in toronto, and their stores were nicknamed "crips" by the general population. it wasn't until the late 1970s that they dropped the considerably more inflammatory term and the nickname for the stores began to disappear from use.

i like the word cripple. it evokes a certain amount of menace and nefarious intent and is quite satisfying to speak aloud. differently-abled and all the rest of the more inclusive terms that have sprung up to replace it don't suit me at all, and i prefer using terms that people wish to identify with, provided they allow me the same courtesy.

another anthology with cover illustrations by edward gorey. the authors here are vastly superior to the uneven mess in the last book (ie no stephen king), and the first story is by buckminster fuller (who wrote a couple of non-fiction books near the end of his life).

i bought this despite the terrible condition (no jacket, spilled and written on, torn pages). on the left is the front cover (autographed by clay), and on the right the last page of the book (obviously the same image, but easier to see).

text by john ciardi, drawings by edward gorey. this one is also difficult to find, and though some online retailers claim to have available copies of first editions, the fact that reputable shops (online and the brick and mortar types i favour) sell damaged copies for $100.00 - $250.00 makes me suspicious of giant conglomerates named for rivers full of killer fish.