The Perfect Storm

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have read chapter 44 in AN ECHO IN THE BONE. 

I've GOT to go read. But I just HAD to point this out: William is wearing not only the bear claw... but ALSO Jamie's rosary. Are ya KIDDING??  Wow.  That's awesome. He is the son of JAMIE FRASER and by GOD he will be what he is - no matter how much the world lies to him about his parentage - A FRASER. 

I am going to repost my comment from yesterday's post here because I think it's worth mentioning:

Lassies - I am of the firm belief that Swiftest of Lizards is not Ian's biological child. Ian would have done the math and you couldn't have dragged him away if that were the case. However - I think it is VERRA important that his ex mother in law (who, oddly enough, I don't have a problem with) said the boy had Ian's spirit. As far as I know, the spirit is extremely important in the Native American world. I plan to research this as I find it fascinating. 

And Tracey wants me to mention that she referred to Sun Elk (was that his name?) as "F*cks with Your Wife" before I referred to him as "Ass Who Steals Wife of Odd Scottish Indian".

ALSO - holy hell - chapter 44. With the stinky foot and Mr. Dick - "Her Do It".  I had to stop myself from giggling profusely in the Ophthalmologist's office this morning. SO FRIGGIN FUNNY. There was only one person missing from that scene who would have brought even MORE hilarity to it: Jamie. Seriously - I was dying.

And I'm also dying over the fact that this book is finally starting to come together. And I'm scared. Not only because it's over soon - but also because I can now see how all of these storylines are going to intersect. And for the first time since Drums of Autumn, I'm starting to wonder if Bree will once again go through the stones to try to save Claire and Jamie. It's all going to hinge on the letters. If she reads them all - and they're still not out of Fort Ticonderoga, I'm thinking she'll go back. And holy hell - the Hunters are now with Jamie and Claire. And I have said from before I ever opened this book - William and Jamie are going to find themselves on opposite sides of each other on the battlefield. And Jamie said he would not fight his son. So I canna IMAGINE how this is going to go down.

OK that's enough for now - MUST go read. I'll keep you posted!

Something Wicked This Way Comes

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have read Chapter 41 in AN ECHO IN THE BONE.

"It's not hell after all, then-only purgatory. What's another thousand years?" 
How much do I LOVE when DG talks purgatory?? (Or Stephenie Meyer, for that matter, but that's a comment for another blog.) I don't know why I love the concept of purgatory. God - that sounds terrible. It's not that I love the concept.. it's that I'm intrigued by the concept. I always wonder if maybe this is purgatory... if life is purgatory. And when it's all said and done - we either go up - or down.

How much do I love William and Ian hanging out together (I say "hanging out" as if William wasn't on his deathbed the entire time)... Ian calling William "Cousin"... kindof rolls off the tongue like Henry Ian Cusick saying "Brotha" in that sexy way (LOST was a repeat the other night and I was NOT happy).  And how much did the bear claw necklace make me go :O  <---- That's a shocked face for those of you who haven't been schooled in dorky emoticons like myself. And he put it right on. Because he is the son of the Bear Killer and will most likely/hopefully kill his own bear one day.

I'm wondering lately if Lord John will make it through this series. I have to wonder if Jamie will some day take ownership of William and get to be more than "my dad's bud who is tall and lives on the Ridge". NOT that I want to see Lord John meet his demise... but... I dunno... it could be kindof a cool storyline. Let's be honest.

OK so I'll admit it. I was more than thrilled to hear Ian tell Em - Em -  Satin's spawn - that he was going to Scotland. Here's what I have to say to her at this point in the series, if I may quote Billy Bragg:

Goodbye and good luck to all the promises you've broken
Goodbye and good luck to all the rubbish that you've spoken
Your life has lost its dignity, its beauty and its passion
You're an accident waiting to happen. 

She doesna have one ounce of my sympathy for her sad little life. She made her bed when she married "Ass Who Steals Wife of Odd Scottish Indian" and now she has to lie in it, doesn't she? In the words of Tony Soprano's mom, "POOR YOU".  And when she asked Ian to name her daughter? OCH! That took all the MMMPPPHHHHMMMM I could muster not to jump into the damned Kindle and punch her in the nose. Ian took the high road on that one, too. Although I must admit -  I do think I dig her son - what's his name - Fast As Shit Lizard or something like that (forgive me but I'm too afraid to search "Lizard" on the Kindle for fear it will come up a zillion times and then I'll know he's in further chapters. I didna come this far - 53% of Echo - to get spoilers now!!) I think he and Ian would have a relationship like Jamie and Fergus (sighhhhh Fergus... havena thought of him in a while) and I wonder if we'll see him again. Hopefully only if there is a tornado and a longhouse lands on Em - Em - oh forget it.

OK so how about the 2nd coming of the Beardsleys - aka The Johnsons!!! WHAT NUTJOBS!! Mr. Johnson was a burrito short of a fiesta platter, to be sure! That was one of those scenes I would just LOVE to see on the big screen... kindof like the mother in law's funeral in - oh god, was it The Fiery Cross? And what was her name? Yikes lassies - I am tired. At any rate - it would just be so incredible to see that axe coming down and William rolling out of the way... very spooky like Jack Nicholson in The Shining.

Lastly - did I not LOVE when William head-butted Mr. Johnson INSTINCTIVELY??? Hey William... you can run... but you can't hide with your big ol' Glasgow kiss! You're as Scottish as a lovely HAGGIS, my friend... you just don't know it yet.

JAMIE FRASER REPRESENT!!!

Dances with Wolves - Part Deux

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have read chapter 38 in AN ECHO IN THE BONE. 

OK so I know where Ian went. Well - sortof. I know he is in Virginia... in a swamp....

...with the Mohawk.

Oh excuse me - I just threw up in my mouth a little. OK now I'm back.

So I now have to assume he's headed straight into the monster... aka to Em...Em... ugh. I canna even say her name. That woman loved him and then kicked him out and left him with a terrible thought that there is something wrong with him. And yet he scurries back. Like my DOG. Ian is now a dog. I may call him Rollo 2.

I will share what I shared on the chat last night. Here is the bottom line, lassies.  Ian needs to go HOME to see his poor MOTHER who has been WORRIED SICK about him for 10 FRIGGIN YEARS. He OWES that to her. That woman didn't know where her baby was. She suffered. Then she finds out he's become an Indian (and not the nice kind.)  For god's SAKE Ian, give her some closure. Get your ass BACK to Scotland. HUG YOUR MOTHER. Spend some time with your family. And then - if you still feel the need to skin animals and live in the longhouse, fine. It's all good. At THAT point, you can say a PROPER goodbye - and get on a boat back to the backwoods of North Carolina. Even though Claire has TOLD you that doing that will get your ass killed... or wrongfully shoved onto a rez in Montana... But that's a blog for another day, I suppose.

PS - Look at me trying to be all cool and call the reservation the "rez" like Jacob in Twilight. I am laughing at myself right now.

Great Chat Last Night!

Thanks to everyone who came out for the chat last night! Wow, the group is getting big! I love it!  So sorry I was late... I go to Town Council meetings two Mondays a month and sometimes they run over. If you're wondering why I go, I really have no defined reason. I used to liken myself to Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Club. I just went because I had nothing better to do. BUT NOW I DO!  Outlander chat!!

PS - It's Tuesday, lassies. Dinna forget Scottish hotness on LOST tonight, Brotha!  Desmond's in the houseeeee!

Outlander Chat Tonight!

Outlander Chat tonight! 9PM Eastern!

PS - SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have read chapter 38 in AN ECHO IN THE BONE.

CHAT UPDATE: Tracey and I might be a few minutes late. She's got a dinner and I have a town Council meeting. PLEASE go ahead without us if we're not there right at 9:00! All I ask is no discussion of anything past William getting a shave after going through the swamp incident (he's digging this girl Rachel Hunter but just met her and she's seems to be uber-religious.)  THANK YOU!!

New "An Echo in the Bone" Discussion Video!

Dances With Wolves

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have finished Chapter 35 in AN ECHO IN THE BONE.

The following is said in my best crazy lady voice:  WHERE THE EFF IS IAN?!?

What the hell do you mean "The next day, he was gone." What is THAT supposed to mean?!? OK Diana - talk to me like I'm a 2 year old - because I dinna understand this one i-OTA.  My first thought was "OH NO - he went back to the SUCUBUS" (aka Emily. Ew. I feel dirty even saying her name). But they're at Ticonderoga - and that's in New York. It would take him months to get back down to the meanie's neck of the woods on horseback - and he doesna even have a horse! So what - did he meet some new chick with the Huron?!? UGH!!!  IAN! Have I not FORBID further cavorting and canoodling with the Indians?!? And behind my BACK he just goes and disappears! Where the hell else could he have gone? The SPERM BANK OF HUDSON COUNTY for god's sake?!? And he doesna tell ANYONE. That is inexcusable. It was understandable back when he first came back from the Mohawk and he was all messed up in the head and fully submersed in delving-out-in-the-woods mode. But now? No way. GET UP. DUST YOURSELF OFF. And be a man. Like your uncle. No more of this baby-making obsession. Just get your ASS to Scotland with Jamie and Claire and marry someone. ANYONE. (Anyone whose mother's name isn't Laoghaire, that is.) STOP acting like a child. We've ALL suffered loss. We've ALL worried about our past and future. But that doesna mean we just DISAPPEAR. His ass had better be off in the woods widdling Claire a thank you gift out of birchwood is ALL I've got to say.

Oh this weekend's video is going to be good, y'all. I can see THAT already. I am FIRED up.

Post Script:  LOVED the mention of General Anthony Wayne. Let m'tell you a little something; I have a lot of odd little connexions to Anthony Wayne. As you may know, I grew up in a (not so) little town in Pennsylvania called Paoli... which borders Valley Forge.  They're big on the American Revolution in those parts. And just a few train stops away lies a little town called Wayne - named after "his truly". (Tracey was actually an extra in the movie TAPS, which was filmed at the Valley Forge Military Academy - and various parts of Wayne.) Now... what I'm finding verra interesting is that I'm pretty familiar with what's coming after Ticonderoga as far as Anthony Wayne goes. He ends up at the Paoli Massacre...and then winters at Valley Forge....and then ends up at the Battle of Monmouth. Guess where I live now?  Monmouth County, New Jersey. Yeah. The same Monmouth. And if THAT weren't enough, Anthony Wayne is buried in Erie, PA, where my cousin Jenn D (a My Outlander Purgatory lurker) lives.

OK I am so rambling right now... but you get my drift. I love the American Revolution because I've been surrounded by its memory my entire life. And I canna WAIT to see where we're going next! Valley Forge? Scotland? IT'S ALL GOOD!

Post Scriptum Scriptum: "Nothing hurts when ye love me"??? JAMIE FRASER you MELT MY BUTTER!

***Thanks to Dan Smith for the beautiful photo of the Anthony Wayne statue taken in Valley Forge park.

God Bless Scottish Accents

Never Assume for it Makes an Ass out of U and Me.

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have finished Chapter 31/Part 3 in AN ECHO IN THE BONE. 

Please forgive me for being sparse this week. My daughter turned 8 yesterday and I have five 2nd graders coming over on Friday night. She's also making her 1st Communion on Sunday and I have my family and the hub's family coming on Sunday. Throw in a school visit, a haircut appointment, planting, sprucing and shopping and well... I am not able to blog too much. THAT SAID - let me say this:

Lordddddd I have GOTTEN OFF THE BOAT(S)!!! The only problem? I turned the page and found myself reading about LORD JOHN! I'll admit it; it was a let-down. As I told Tracey - it was like coming out of an extra grueling trip to the Shoprite - only to find out your car has been hit in the parking lot. Dinna get me wrong, I love myself some Lord John in the right circumstances (can we say "girltalk with Bree"?). But I just wasn't expecting him so soon after the BTF (Boat Trifecta Fiasco). I thought we'd see a little Roger....or a new-and-improved Jamie whose feet were solidly planted on shore (and on Claire, wishfully thinking)... but no... Just Lord John... who will be inquiring something -  of someone - of relative importance... and not a whole lotsa Jamie Fraser.

OK so THAT said - I will go read now. Wish me luck!

Special "Entire Series" Outlander Chat Tonight!

OK lassies (and lairds!) - here's your chance to discuss anything and everything about the Outlander series! Tracey finished ECHO last night - so she is going to host a special Entire Outlander Series Chat tonight at 9PM Eastern. I will sit out for this one since I'm still on the boat(s). (LORDDDDD am I still on the boats. It's like the Gathering on the water! Lorddddd the Gathering!!!)

It's time we had a no holds barred chat for you sassenachs where anything is fair game!

Enjoy - and I'll see you next week!