All posts by Deana

Just Frustrated

Rant: Why has no one done anything with this Nov. 20, 2002 George W. Bush quotation? Bob Woodward used it in his book and the Washington Post, and I heard Bush saying it on 60 Minutes (It was what turned my lifelong Republican mom against Bush!). I think someone like MoveOn needs to just run an ad with a photo of Bush and his following statement: “I’m the commander, I do not need to explain why I say things. That’s the interesting thing about being the President. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don’t feel like I owe anybody an explanation….” Any idea how to get this idea to the right organization?

Love in the Time of Bloodsuckers

While roaming a mall-based Waldenbooks yesterday, I happened upon a display of books promoted as “paranormal romance.” The great majority of them in the store were vampire romances, which really caught my attention since I’m teaching “Death, Burial and Culture” this fall and want my students to do projects on folklore surrounding the dead (or undead, as the case may be). So I, uh, bought one… For research purposes only, of course (Oh, like I’m supposed to pass up something titled, “A Girl’s Guide to Vampires”).

To restore my now-tattered academic credentials, here’s a fairly serious literary analysis of this subgenre by Lee McClain.