At the bookstore this past weekend I bought a book of writing prompts to keep me writing while I'm between books. Here's one I whipped up tonight to the prompt: "Write a story that starts with a ransom note." 

                                                     Who Is At the Yellow Tomb?     

                                              Carol has been taken.

                                              Her home was broken into

                                              And she is being held for

                                              Ransom.

                                              Leave

                                              One hundred

                                              Thousand dollars at

                                              The Yellow Tomb at midnight tomorrow in 
                                              Englewood Park. Come alone.

                                              Do not call the police or

                                              I will be forced to take actions I

                                              Do not wish to take.

                                              If you do not do this

                                              Then I will kill Carol.

                The note was one of those pasted together jobs with magazine headlines clipped out letter by letter and attached to a piece of notebook paper. I held the paper in my trembling hand and read it again.

“What is it?” Sarah asked.

I handed the paper to her. I knew my face was ashen and my hand was shaking. She read it to herself and covered her mouth in horror.

“Carol?” Sarah said. “She’s in her room. Carol! Carol!” She called to our daughter, her hand on the bannister, the red of her nails contrasting sharply against the mahogany railing.

Of course she didn’t come.

“Who could have done this? Who could have taken her?”

“I don’t know,” I said. I rubbed a hand through my beard. My hand would not stop shaking.

“I have to see,” Sarah said, climbing the stairs.

“See?”

“Her room. Maybe…maybe she’s just upstairs asleep and it’s all a joke.”

“Sick joke,” I muttered, but I followed behind her half-hoping it was true. I knew when we reached the door it wouldn’t be. Carol was seven years old. She loved the blue dress her mother had bought for her last year, and she had worn it every day for the past two weeks.

The dress lay on the bed, clean from the last time Sarah had had it washed. Charlotte, our maid, was dusting the shelves. “Hello, sir. Ma’am. Where’s Carol today?”

Sarah handed the note to Charlotte, shaking her head, unable to speak. Charlotte threw her hand to her mouth in the exact way Sarah had. “Oh no! Who could have done this?”

“We don’t know.”

“What are you going to do?” she asked, her dusting duties forgotten for the moment.

“Pay, I guess. What else can we do?” I felt like such a wimp. But it was Carol.

Charlotte nodded sadly. “Have you told the rest of the staff?”

Sarah shook her head. “No, not yet. Could you?”

We had seven people on staff. It was something of a shock that the kidnapper had asked for only a hundred thousand dollars. That was a drop in the bucket. I would have paid millions and been hardly the worse for it.

Charlotte nodded. “Of course, ma’am.” She curtsied and hurried out of the room.

Sarah sat on Carol’s bed and buried her face in her hands. I put a hand on her back between her shoulder blades. “We’ll get her back, Sarah.”

“You don’t know that.”

“We’ll get her back.”

#

                We sat in the car, Sarah beside me. “I’ll give the kidnapper the money and Carol will be returned to us. It will be okay,” I said.

                “You don’t know,” she answered.

                “No, I don’t.”

                “We’re going to make him pay,” Sarah said.

                “Make who pay?”

                “The kidnapper, of course.”

                “How?”

                “I don’t know. We will. That’s all.”

#

                Eleven fifty, Englewood Park.

                The Yellow Tomb was not a grave as the name indicated, but a statue representing some general or other from the Civil War. I stood with a bag in my hand, scared, praying that Carol would be returned to me. Sarah waited in the car, watching me, I’m sure nervous as hell.

                The park was empty. I had followed the kidnappers instructors. I didn’t want to risk Carol’s life, and I was already terrified.

                In the distance, I saw two figures approaching. One wore a cloak with a raised hood. Whoever it was looked small. It was a woman. The other was my little girl.

                They approached me. The figure in the cloak held Carol’s hand. I could see a white mask on the woman in the cloak.

                “Are you all right?” I asked her.

                “Yes, Daddy.”

                “Good.” I turned to face the figure. “Here’s the money,” I said.

                A hand reached out and took the bag. The figure didn’t say a word. She opened the bag singlehandedly and looked down. She nodded, and let go of Carol’s hand.

                My little girl ran into my open arms. Before I could even look up to attempt to see who had taken Carol, the woman had vanished.

#

                The next day, as we sat and ate breakfast, Sarah rang a bell to call for Charlotte.

                No one answered.

                She rang again. Jim, our butler, came into the kitchen. “Sir, madam.”

                “Where is Charlotte?” Sarah asked.

                “I do not know, ma’am. I will check her quarters to see if she is there.”

                She did have a tendency to oversleep.

                A few moments later, Jim returned to the kitchen with a note. “This was on her bed, sir.”

                I took the note, read it, and nearly fell out of my chair. "I know who did it."

                “Shawn, what is it?” Sarah asked.

                I handed the note to Sarah. As she read out loud, I went to the stationary drawer and removed the kidnapper’s letter. “Sir, Madam. I have enough to send my daughter to Downside Academy. I quit. Charlotte. Shawn, I don’t understand. What does it mean?”

                I gave Sarah the kidnapper’s ransom note. “It's so obvious, Sarah. Downside Academy. It was right there in front of us the whole time.  It was right there.”

Master Class

Last night, Caitie and I went to see a production of Master Class at the Kelsey. I had never seen the show before (in fact knew little about it beyond that it was about Maria Callas teaching a, well, master class), but knew I liked the playwright, Terrence Mcnally.

Both of us were surprised by how much we enjoyed the show. The lead actress, Laurie Hardy, who played Callas was absolutely incredible. If nothing else, the sheer amount of lines the actress needs to learn, both in English and Italian, is astounding. More than that, though, Hardy truly embodied the great opera singer - every motion and every line was in character and very specific. It tied in well to her declaration that art is about the specifics - the wigs, the costumes, the stage dust. This line reminded both of us of Sunday in the Park with George, which the show's theme had more than a little in common with. The idea of dedication to one's art, completely, is similar in both shows. The destructive force of these creative types resonates through both shows in fairly similar ways.

The three students who sang during the show had fantastic voices. I've never been a huge opera fan, though I have been known to enjoy a few productions here and there. Generally, I do love the music, but not understanding the language is a turn off for me (and English operas tend to not be very good). Still, with "Callas" guiding us and the students, I was able to enjoy the feelings from the singers and appreciate the difficulty of what they do.

The show was definitely another success for the Kelsey. Despite a couple of duds earlier this year, most of the productions in the subscription so far have made it well worth the cost of the program. Here's hoping the coming musicals are as good!

Lego Movie

This is a tough movie to review. The reason for that is I really don't want to give anything away about the movie, though I fear that even that is saying too much.  I'm going to stick with what I can say, and sort of forget about that which I can't.

The movie follows Emmett, an average construction worker Lego, when he discovers that he has found the "piece of resistance" (yes, it's a clever joke that made me chuckle) that will stop the evil Lord Business (bluntness smash!) from using the Kragle on the people of Brickville. What is the Kragle? Well, you'll have to see for yourself, but suffice it to say that the line "Release the Kragle" is uttered very satisfactorily.

Suffice it to say, I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. The multiple references to various "types" of Legos (Batman, Star Wars, Harry Potter etc.) were hugely entertaining for me since I love that type of humor. Green Lantern man-crushing on Superman who wants nothing to do with him absolutely cracked me up.

The jokes came quickly, which in hindsight was a double edged sword. It was wonderful because, hey, it's funny and it makes me want to see the movie again, but it is also a drawback in that I feel like I most likely missed several jokes.

The story was fairly standard action movie fare through the bulk of the film. Ironically, we had just been listening to a podcast about just this topic, and I couldn't help but notice the tropes coming up as we watched the movie. It wasn't until about 2/3 of the way through the movie that it deviated from those tropes, and it when it does, boy is it a doozy. I'm not going to say any more about that - you'll just have to see it for yourself.

The voice talent was top notch - Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell, Jonah Hill (hey, he's a two time Oscar nominated actor now!), Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Charlie Day, Allison Brie...the list goes on and on of the stars who voiced characters in this.

My one real criticism was that some of the action scenes were too fast, too blurry, too chaotic to really tell what was going on. It's a criticism I've had of many action movies and this was no different. I feel action scenes should be crisp - the audience should never lose focus or not understand what they're seeing. There were times during the action scenes that I literally felt like I was just watching a streak of color with no real focus to it.

That said, the movie is very entertaining. The story gets better as it goes, and the theme song ("Everything is Awesome") is a damned catchy tune. It's certainly worth seeing, probably more than once, and I know we'll be there for the inevitable sequel.

8/10

Matilda

Last night, we went to see Matilda on Broadway as my birthday gift from my wonderful wife.

Now, I haven't seen a show in New York since March 2012 when we saw Book of Mormon. The price of tickets and the train has gone up astronomically, and we decided instead of seeing Broadway shows that we should become members of our local regional theater which tends to be very high quality (okay, Chess sucked a couple of years ago, but most of the shows are very good).

Matilda proved to me that, as good as regional theater can be, nothing is as good as a Broadway show.

I'd first heard the score a couple of years ago from the London cast album and was immediately taken with it. Songs like When I Grow Up, Naughty, and My House instantly latched onto my subconscience.  We've wanted to see the show since then, and it certainly did not disappoint.

To begin, full props to the girl who played Matilda. Caitie did a little research and found out she's actually relatively new to the show, only having been in for a couple of weeks. The girl, who couldn't be more than nine or ten at most, has a HUGE part - in fact, probably the largest part I've ever seen for a child actor. In her show, Annie has a fairly large part, but the adults are truly the focus. She only has two songs (Tomorrow - which isn't even fully hers - and Maybe) and small parts in a couple of other songs. In Oliver, he's more a passive tool of the adults than a real lead. Matilda is a fully developed role. She has two full solo numbers (including the traditional "I Want" song in Naughty) as well as parts and choreography in several other numbers. She has large selections of dialogue to memorize and recite. She has to speak nearly fluent Russian. Ripley Sobo, our Matilda, did it all with no hint of nerves and a professionalism that aboslutely floored me.

I believe most of the cast that we saw were replacements at this point in the show's run, but that hardly mattered.  After some less than wonderful experiences at shows like Phantom of the Opera and Chicago, it was so nice to NOT see the cast phoning it in. Everyone, from the leads to the small part of the doctor at the beginning of the show, gave their all to their performances. (And holy cow, the doctor - two minutes of singing but why is he not the lead somewhere?).

The staging was impressive also. Set pieces rose out of the floor in a variety of ways. Letter blocks spelled out words all around the proscenium and often in the set itself ("shush" and "quiet" in the library; "soot" in the fire place).  The show has a few really cool special effects - the chalk and writing on the board were especially impressive, moreso than the blatantly unnecessary (if cool) use of lasers and strobes.

The staging of some numbers was especially impressive. "School" is a song that always frustrates me because I never pick up on the gimmick the first time it's done, but with the really clever staging it becomes clear on the second run-through. "Revolting Children" is Spring Awakening lite, and extraordinarily enjoyable as a rousing final number.

The story stretches belief a bit, but that hardly matters. The show is about the characters, and that's what really makes the show successful.  The emphasis on reading, especially by showing the opposite in the form of the cartoonish Harry Wormword and his one-word-at-a-time speaking son, was welcome in a show so clearly aimed at kids. I, of course, loved the digs at education (as Miss Honey said, "No, we don't make a lot of money.").

And given that, that going to Broadway is a rare thing for us these days, it was a wonderful night at the theater. I had a fantastic time and will highly recommend it the next time I'm asked for a suggestion for a show to see.

Christie-gate

I don't actually have that much to say on this topic, but since it's in my home state and I've been a fairly vocal opponent of Christie since he took office, I figured I should chime in briefly.

1) DID CHRISTIE KNOW WHAT HAPPENED?  Does it matter? If he knew, clearly he's going to be in trouble. If he didn't know, it seems almost just as bad. His top advisers were involved in this - there's clear evidence pointing to that. No one is denying that. If his top advisers did this and he didn't know about it, what kind of an operation is Christie running? How could the boss NOT know that his staff was doing these things? At best, he comes off as completely incompetent.

2) WAS THE BRIDGE CLOSED AS RETRIBUTION TO THE MAYOR OF FORT LEE?
I'm not so sure. On Thursday, Rachel Maddow ran a theory that seemed far more plausible which I'll get to in a moment. The media has hooked into the idea that the lanes were closed because the mayor refused to endorse Christie and has been running with it. Not only does that seem ridiculously petty, but it doesn't even really make sense given that Christie was already ahead in the polls and other Democrats didn't give their endorsement either. What makes more sense? The day before was the whole debacle about the tenure of judges. Christie was petty about the whole thing - I'm not going into the whole details of it, but the head Senate Democrat who he would want to punish?  She represents Fort Lee. The timing was perfect for that to be the case, and I tend to fall on that side of it whether it's true or not.

3) WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? Personally, I think Christie should resign. The pundits who say he's coming out of this clean are delusional. This is haunting him, regardless of if he knew or not, the rest of his governership and onward. I think it's only a matter of time before he leaves office anyway as a result of this.

Either way, this is a fascinating story. I know I'll be tuned in to see what happens...

My Top Ten New Years Resolutions

1. Spend as much time with Caitie as I possibly can.

2. Spend as much time with people who I like and who like me as I can (not wasting time with "friends" who don't really want to be friends.

3. Spend quality time with family - see my nieces more often, spend time in Ohio etc.

4. Play more games.

5. Finish editing my Midsummer update.

6. Finish Seeing Nothing and get to writing my sequel to Before White. *

7. Be in a position financially to be able to change my job by next year at this time.

8. Be able to go on at least one vacation this year.

9. Read more books - I'm aiming at 25 for the year (which I know is significantly higher than what I hit last year!)

10. See at least three Broadway shows.

* Since I have no control over it, as a subset, I resolve to get a publishing deal this year. I can't control that, however, so can't put that as a resolution.

This Year

We've had some positive moments this year, to be sure, but we've also had several disappointments.

Perhaps the biggest change for me this year was that I was moved from teaching seventh and eighth grade to teaching sixth grade. I had never considered teaching younger than I was before, but I went into it with an open mind. Turns out, I love sixth grade. The kids are so enthusiastic and they're much more accommodating than the older kids are. With a new supervisor at school as well, I haven't been "targeted" as badly as I was last year, so school has definitely been easier this year (despite my numerous problems with other aspects of the place).

Writing has been a source of a lot of frustration for me this year, unfortunately. I finished another book, got it to my agent, and she returned a boatload of edits for me to work on. We've switched from shopping Connie around to shopping Before White, but we seem to be heading dead end after dead end. It's made me question myself a lot more than I expected I would. Still, with Caitie's support, I'm continuing on, always hoping a new day will finally bring the email I've been waiting and waiting and waiting to arrive.

Caitie's job has been pretty stagnant. She's still working at Direct Brands publishing. She's been moved around several times and job security is as mythological as a phoenix. Hopefully her situation will change sooner rather than later.

In July, Caitie had us go to the doctor for a checkup. Turned out I was pre-diabetic. He told me to get a Fitbit or Jawbone Up bracelet, diet and lose weight. I did this, started walking 10,000 steps a day and counting my calories. By November I had lost about 25 pounds and gotten rid of the diabetic diagnosis. I need to continue - I have a ways to go of course, but I do feel better. Of course, December is a TOUGH time for keeping up with this!

On the plus side, Caitie and I did get to go on a WONDERFUL vacation this year - our first in four years. We went on a cruise to the Caribbean and had a fantastic time. Memory has sharpened that week now to make it perhaps even better than it actually was, but we can't wait to go on another cruise as soon as possible.

In February of this year, my sister gave birth to my second niece, Lindsey Helen Hafner. She's adorable and has the biggest smile I've seen on a baby. We went to visit them yesterday and she loved playing with the strings on my sweatshirt, laughing gleefully for a good twenty minutes as she batted them about, pulled on them, and tried to stick them in her mouth in what I can only consider to be one of the first games she's ever played.

My other niece, Lily, is turning three next week. She's amazing - she can carry on an actual conversation with you, and she has a bright and cheery personality.


This has been a slow year for reading for me. I think I've been reading the same book for the past four months. It's not that it's a bad book, it's actually quite good, I just have a tough time getting motivated to read while school is in session. (To be fair, I have also read three other books in the interim). I wish I had kept track of the books I read this year so I could name a favorite, but alas, my memory simply isn't that good.

We have gone to several movies this year and seen some really good stuff - Star Trek, Catching Fire, Frozen, This is the End. We have several big ones coming out in the next couple of weeks (American Hustle, Anchorman 2, August Osage County), so hoping they're as good as we expect.

This year we also joined the Kelsey theater as subscribers. We've seen some great shows there so far - Forum, Spamalot, Carrie - and a couple of duds - Big River (unfortunate because I love the score - just not a good cast), A Flea In Her Ear (a farce that was performed well but just wasn't very funny). Hope the rest of the season is solid!

During the summer we went to Ohio for a long weekend. We saw a Marroon 5/Kelly Clarkson concert (very fun) and went to a friend of Caitie's wedding. I love going to Ohio - I always get the feeling that I'm really ON BREAK when I'm there.

Every summer we watch the show Big Brother. This year I participated in an online version of the game. Thirteen of us were put into a virtual house and we played challenges just like on the show. I sent literally thousands of emails playing the game, and as of right now I'm going into the final three this week. I have a pretty decent shot at winning this. It makes me wonder how I'd do at the actual game!

At Thanksgiving we went to Georgia to see my cousins. It was a LONG drive, but it was great getting to see them. We haven't seen them in four years, so it was wonderful getting to spend some time with them.

We've had the chance to spend many evenings with friends, playing games, eating, drinking, laughing and sharing with them, and we're beyond grateful for that.

That's our year in a nutshell. Nothing earthshaking, nothing that really altered our lives all that much for the good or the bad. Hopefully next year will bring publication for me (finally), a job switch for Caitie, more vacation time for us, and new adventures together.

Have a happy holiday and a very happy New Year!