chocolate anyone??? breakfast of underdogs!

from willy wonka, of course. as behenji waits for hari puttar to come flying through her door (the ups owl seems quite busy today), she is taking delight in those authors who cater to little bohemians. just read a wonderful piece on roald dahl, of charlie and the chocolate factory fame, in the new yorker (click on title). the author of the article went to visit dahl's house in england and describes dahl's writing place or writing hut rather:

'The walls, lined with Styrofoam, were stained sepia from all the cigarettes Dahl smoked; there was a grotty wing chair; and wires for a jury-rigged heating system dangled from the ceiling. “You’d expect it to be grander,” one woman said. But the kids saw more possibilities in a musty old hut of one’s own. They liked the fact that Dahl, unsatisfied with desks, had designed a baize-covered writing board, to balance on his lap just so. And they loved that he kept, on a side table, a jar containing gristly bits of his own spine, which had been removed during an operation on his lower back. Next to the jar was a waxy-looking knob that turned out to be Dahl’s hip bone, along with a titanium replacement.'

if you haven't read charlie and the chocolate factory, behenji highly recommends it. the language, the imagery, the plot, the triumph of the underdog...dare behenji say better than a 70's hindi movie;)

waiting for harry, reading about lemony

like millions of others, behenji has ordered the latest harry potter book, harry potter and the half-blood prince, to be delivered at her doorstep on saturday. if you call before monday, behenji will tell you who died, who didn't. yes, behenji can be a spoiler.

it is so fascinating to see how children's authors like j.k. rowling and lemony snicket (aka daniel handler) manage to sweep both children and adults alike with their prose. came across a profile on lemony snicket (click on the title), who lives not too far away from behenji, and enjoyed (as i always do) learning about how an author's life and likes/hates come into play in their work. in the case of handler, it's the darkness and humor of authors such as roald dahl, judaism, and the opera among other things. what a wonderful, heady combination.

so, my pretties, what have you been reading this summer??? behenji wants to know (before saturday and after monday).

so you think you're a poet...which one???

behenji took this quiz, courtesy of about.com :


You are Adrienne Rich, feminist poet who explores
the depths of the lesbian female soul. You
believe real poetry delves into the real self.


Which 20th Century Poet Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

this quiz is so dead on...not. although i do admire rich. behenji, however, lives in a different closet;)