Quote of the Week #32 - I Am Eleanor Roscuro

Reader, you must know that an interesting fate (sometimes involving rats, sometimes not) awaits almost everyone, mouse or man, who does not conform.

Roscuro, however, stared directly into the light.
Reader, this is important. The rat called Chiaroscuro did not look away. He let the light from the upstairs world enter him and fill him. He gasped aloud with the wonder of it.
'Give him small comforts!' shouted a voice at the top of the stairs, and a red cloth was thrown into the light. The cloth hung suspended for a moment, bright red and glowing, and then the door was slammed shut again and the light disappeared and the cloth fell to the floor.


Roscuro sat on the dungeon floor. The whiskers on the left side of his face were gone. His heart was beating hard, and though the light from the match had disappeared, it danced, still, before the rat’s eyes, even when he closed them.

'Light,' he said aloud. And then he whispered the word again. 'Light.'

From that moment forward, Roscuro showed an abnormal, inordinate interest in illumination of all sorts. He was always, in the darkness of the dungeon, on the lookout for light, the smallest glimmer, the tiniest shimmer. His rat soul longed inexplicably for it; he began to think light was the only thing that gave life meaning, and he despaired that there was so little of it to be had.


There are those hearts, reader, that never mend again once they are broken. Or if they do mend, they heal themselves in a crooked and lopsided way, as if sewn together by a careless craftsman. Such was the fate of Chiaroscuro. His heart was broken. Picking up the spoon and placing it on his head, speaking of revenge, these things helped him to put his heart together again. But it was, alas, put together wrong.

Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell Gregory a story. Make some light.

Kate DiCamillo - The Tale of Despereaux

Quote Of The Week #31

I've been watching a lot of vampire films - Oh, you know, just thought I'd try and get to know you better. They say some great stuff. I mean, once you get past the cape era you start wondering what it's all a metaphor for - AIDS, heroin, anorexia, the spiralling chaos of western society, and not knowing the difference between good and evil - I mean not being able to define the terms. And they're sexy and heartbroken and mostly Californian, and they keep coming up with amazing cliches like 'It's easier to succumb to the darkness within than to fight the darkness without' and you think if it weren't for their nihilistic disregard for human life, they'd be the nearest thing we've got these days to gods!

Frank - A Vampire Story by Moira Buffini, Scene V

WTF - Because I'm Irish...

My friends have a running argument whether my hair is russet or ruby red.

I have never used curling irons, because my hair already has bouncy curls, all the time.

My favourite artists include Westlife, The Dubliners, The Saw Doctors, and the Clancy brothers, God rest their souls.

People know I'm Irish because I say things like 'riddle me this'.

My liver lost its virginity at the age of seven, when my grandfather gave me a pint of Guinness and forced it down my throat. I drank the next five on my own and have three a day since. I'm an Irish abstainer.

I have a soft, lilting Irish accent that makes boys all over the world swoon.

I can say 'Irish wristwatch' without twisting my tongue.

Dancing Riverdance is my party trick.

When I'm bored, I count the freckles on my face. So far I have one hundred and thirty seven. That's as far as I've gotten before I lose count.

I knit all my own clothes. Did you know denim can be knitted?

I have emerald green eyes.

All my clothes are in varying shades of green. My favourite colours are jade and olive.

What the hell are Lucky Charms?

Quote Of The Week #30

The destinies of wizards and princes might seem more certain than those carved out for the rest of us, yet we all have to choose the manner in which we meet life: whether to live up (or down) to the expectations placed upon us; whether to act selfishly, or for the common good; whether to steer the course of our lives ourselves, or to allow ourselves to be buffeted around by chance and circumstance.  Birthdays are often moments for reflection, moments when we pause, look around, and take stock of where we are; children gleefully contemplate how far they have come, whereas adults look forwards into the trees, wondering how much further they have to go. This extract from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is my favourite part of the seventh book; it might even be my favourite part of the entire series, and in it, Harry demonstrates his truly heroic nature, because he overcomes his own terror to protect the people he loves from death, and the whole of his society from tyranny.


J.K. Rowling - The Birthday Book (in aid of the Prince's Foundation for Children & the Arts)

Quote Of The Week #17

Amortentia, supposedly the strongest love potion in the world, cannot create real love, only a sort of powerful obsession or infatuation. True love is a magic beyond spellbooks and ingredients, something that can change the course of the world. Love cannot be bottled or canned - in order for the magic to work; for the sparks to fly, the love must be real in nature and true on both sides. Love is not only the most powerful form of magic, but the greatest form of power.


Magic in Harry Potter - Wikipedia

Do You Know This Woman?

Last Sunday, I was up in Galway for the opening of the Galway Arts Festival! It took the form of a huge parade called the Macnas, which was the best parade I have ever seen. Forget St Patrick's Day, you need to see the Macnas. I have videos of it if anyone wants me to post them? Anyway, after the Macnas was over the various street performers that Galway is famous for came back on to the street and started performing again. One of the street performers was this woman:



She's quite clever, playing on people's curiosities! Isn't her costume and her manner beautiful? Anyway, I went up to get my slip of paper, and she took a long time deciding mine, but she eventually gave me this:

Cool or what?! Can you see the handwriting? I wonder what she wrote it with... Nice, isn't it?

High-Fives,

Eleanor Roscuro

Quote Of The Week #11

Sam takes the bike and starts to wheel it towards the narrowbotat, and I have no choice but to follow along. 'People do hassle you when you don't fit in,' he says. 'It doesn't really bother me, and once they suss that they usually leave me alone.' I frown. 'Don't you want to fit in, though?'
Sam considers. 'Not especially. Why would I? I don't want to follow their rules and regulations, I just want to be me.'

Gingersnaps, Cathy Cassidy

This Really Cheered Me Up.

Quote Of The Week #8

Mystery dunked her thumb into her drink again and licked it off. 'What's your favourite verb?'

...'Dying, I guess,' Dan answered, finishing his drink and setting the empty glass down on the floor. 'The verb to die.' He knew it must have sounded like he was trying to impress her. After all, she was writing a book about premature death and cremation. But it was the truth. Almost all of his poems were about dying. Dying of love, dying of anger, dying of boredom, of anxiety; falling asleep and never waking up.

Cecily von Ziegesar - Because I'm Worth It

Quote Of The Week #3

For beautiful eyes look for the good in others, for beautiful lips speak only words of kindness, and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone

Audrey Hepburn