28. Brokeback Mountain

Book 28: Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx (A-)

This short story has become one of the most talked about movies of my time. Brokeback Mountain, starring the late Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, became the film that was Oscar buzz, critically acclaimed, and a huge debate for moviegoers because of the raw flaunting of homosexuality between two men that refused to be defined as gay.
The book moves quickly. How they made a standard theatrical film out of this little book, I can't imagine! Turning the pages means turning over a few years in the characters' life. It's written strangely, lots of phrases marked by commas and unfinished sentences. Yet, somehow it flows.
It is an amazing but quick journey through the lives of two men who desperately want to be together but know they can't. Maybe they don't want to really be together because that would be acknowledging what's going on between them. And, that's just not acceptable for cowboys.

Gyllenhaal and Ledger in Brokeback Mountain from Alberta Film Entertainment and Focus Features

27. Marley and Me

Book 27: Marley & Me by John Grogan (A)

Grogan and Marley

This is the second time I've read this delightful book, but this time I read its pages out loud to Stuart before we went to sleep nearly every night. Stuart and I desperately want a dog! However, a dog is a huge responsibility compared to a small hamster that lives in a cage and an independent cat. Add to the fact that Stuart's apartment doesn't allow pets and we soon won't be living in the same city again... getting a dog wouldn't be enjoyable or a shared experience.So, I decided to read this book about a loveable, wild, catastrophic, unpredictable Labrador retriever named Marley to let us know what we'll be getting into in the future.
The last three chapters were heartbreaking. Just like Enzo in The Art of Racing in the Rain, Marley passes away to doggy heaven. It is a long drawn out process from the common lab trait of hip dysplasia and the inability to let go for the family. Stuart and/or I cried every night until the end of the book when Marley has been put to rest between two cherry trees in Pennsylvania and the family moves on to a life without the dog. The most heartbreaking of all is when the three Grogan kids say their goodbye with letters and pictures to put into Marley's grave. I had trouble reading through that part!

Christmas morning 2008

It makes me think of all the time, effort, money, and love I have put in and given to Sparta. My mom found him under a car at a gas station late one night with the intention of giving him a warm place to sleep for the night. Instead, he became the newest and craziest pet of the family. As Piddy Paws continued to not use the litter box, I decided Sparta was the pet take with me to Cullowhee. Since then, he has been my constant companion. Though not nearly as loyal or as dependable as a dog, Sparta is one of a kind and I know he loves me as much as I love him. I hope at the end of his life I get a moment like this with him so I can say good bye:
"Tomorrow the house would be loud and boisterous and full of life again. For tonight, it was just us two, Marley and me. Lying there with him, his smelly breath in my face, I couldn't help thinking of our first night together all those years ago after I brought him home from the breeder, a tiny puppy whimpering for his mother. I remembered how I dragged his box into the bedroom and the way we had fallen asleep together, my arm dangling over the side of the bed to comfort him. Thirteen years later, here we were, still inseparable" (256).
A book that will move you, make you cry, make you laugh, and remember the little things in life. But most of all, Marley & Me will make you cherish and think of your pets in a whole new light!

Works Cited:

Grogan, John. Marley and Me. New York: HarperCollins 

Publishers, 2005. Print.

26. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Book 26: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Great Illustrated Classics Edition (B+)

Ok, the reason that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is such a classic, like Planet of the Apes and 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, is because it's an unexplored concept. No one had ever heard of that before! It was science blasphemy. Especially in the mid-1800's. According to the preface, the story actually came from a nightmare that Stevenson had, and upon awakening, he wrote down the story.
Stevenson was ridiculously original. In the novel based off his nightmare, Stevenson explores man's multiple personality, particularly the two most starkly different sides: good and evil. This isn't another book about a team of good people battling a team of bad people. It's the battle inside one's own self. Which side would win? In case of Dr. Jekyll, Hyde won out... mostly because while Hyde was purely evil, Jekyll was still your normal human, overall good with a tinge of bad. Dr. Jekyll was unable to separate a purely good and purely evil side. Perhaps if Jekyll had been a purely, stain free "good" side the battle would have been fairer.
It all goes back to the old question of are humans good or evil? Or is it based off their actions and not their "internal nature?"
Once again, Stevenson takes the reader on a wild ride while making them think, question, and wonder. It's a tale beyond imagining with essence of dreams, nightmares, and reality.

Lex's Secret Camping Trip Part 3

Our first day went well. We swam in the Atlantic, that was at a nice temperature and had a ridiculous current pulling to the left. For dinner, I took Stuart to my favorite Outer Banks restaurant The New York Pizza Pub and Italian Grill. We shared a pizza and garlic knots!! It was DELICIOUS! If you're ever in the Outer Banks, that's my recommend. Afterwards, Stuart stopped at Logan's Ice Cream Parlor for some ridiculous flavor. The parlor is famous for their "Titanic" ice cream which is six scoops of whatever flavor with four toppings! If you eat it in one sitting, you get your picture on the wall!

Roanoke Island

Back at the tent, I was exhausted beyond belief! The majority of the day was a long drive, putting up the tent under the blazing sun, struggling with the rain cover (which turned out to be a privacy canvas and wasn't used for the rain at all!), and frolicking in the waves! By the time I had returned from the communal bath house, I collapsed on my mattress pad with my head nearly sticking out the tent door for just a breath of a breeze and immediately fell asleep. I only woke a few times during the night to see flashes of lightning streak across a cloudy night sky.
Poor Stuart, on the other hand, slept little. He tossed and turned all night. The tent was so stuffy he felt like was being suffocated. The next morning, he was miserable and grumpy from lack of sleep.
On the morning of our second and final day, the sky was filled with flat gray clouds. I awoke when the blinding sun, uncovered by clouds as luck would have it, crested the dunes and flooded our tent with God's Almighty blazing light. Less than two hours later, the sun's rays were gone and were replaced with a straight downpour of heavy rain.

At first, it was sweet. Stuart and I huddled together eating raw blueberry bagels and a plastic tub of pre-cut watermelon slices from Food Lion. Then, the tent started leaking!! At first it was just a small drip from the roof. Then, it was second drip. Then, it was a large puddle coming from the side seam near my suitcase. And then, it was Stuart, myself, and all of our belongings piled on top of the narrow mattress pads with the sheets draped across our laps to keep from getting wet!! If the rain had been much harder, our tent floor would have been a shallow lake or a deep puddle.
When a break in the clouds arrived, Stuart made a break for it in his yellow slicker and scurried about the car tossing our stuff in the trunk. He jumped back into the tent before the next onslaught of rain leaving my car door wide open........!!!!!

25. Water for Elephants

Book 25: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (A)

What a beautiful, romantic story filled with vivid detail, crazy action, laughs, and a plot you fall in love with.
When Morgan and I went to see the recently released movie starring Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon, I was in tears at the end. The movie was fantastic, and I knew I had to read the book! It wasn't an disappointment.

Jacob and Rosie

Jacob Jankowski looks back on his life as he daydreams in his nursing home to the most exciting part of his life: working for the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth circus. After the unexpected death of his Polish parents, Jacob leaves Cornell on the day of his final exams and wanders down to the railroad where he hops on the train of the traveling circus. What he doesn't realize is that he joins the show during its final year, the year that made it famous for all the wrong reasons!
Jacob becomes the circus vet and bull man when Benzini Brothers pick up Rosie, the at-first-glance stupid elephant. Jacob is the key to bringing money back to the circus when he discovers that Rosie isn't stupid; she only understands Polish! Scandals arise as men continuously disappear from town to town from being "redlighted" or thrown off the train, and Jacob falls in love with the wife of a dangerous man. From town to town, the circus arrives to bring joy to families suffering from The Great Depression. But back stage, the circus is dark, scandalous, and dangerous!
What a read! Readers fall in love with Jacob, the love of his life Marlena, the performing midget with a bad attitude Walter/Kinko and his Jack Russel, and the sweetest Polish elephant in the world Rosie. It is a brilliant summer read, over 400 pages of having a day at the circus with popcorn, cotton candy, wild animals, and outrageous tricks!
If you don't want to ruin the movie for yourself, I suggest seeing the movie first then reading the book. The book's prologue practically tells the end of the story and what happens to one of the major characters. See the movie first for the surprise ending then read the story to get all the details the 2-hour movie had to leave out!

Miss Nutmeg

I didn't think I could care for and love another creature like I do my kitties, Sparta and Piddy Paws. But then Stuart and I got this little hamster! She's just the cutest and happiest thing in the world, and I love her to death! I want to squeeze her, but that would be literally loving her to death!

Sparta planning his move

The noticeable change since we first got her at the end of April is astounding. When she first arrived in our little apartment, Nutmeg was just a little bit of a hamster who needed to be chased around her cage before you could hold her. She didn't like to be held, didn't want to be touched, and ate only what Stuart calls "her Cheerios" food. Now, she's a chunky girl that has grown nearly twice her original size and eats anything we put in front of her... including Cheez-Its.

The best change has been now when you open her cage lid, she usually runs to her igloo house and perches on the roof in a perfect manner to be swooped up so she can play in her ball. She knows that if the lid comes off, she's either getting food or going for a run, and she loves it!! I had my doubts at first as to whether the websites were right in saying hamsters could be tamed. But, her memory and intelligence are remarkable, something I never suspected from a small rodent. Believe me, I was happy to be proved wrong because it's a delight to see her so ready and eager to interact with Stuart and myself.

Out of her new foods of fresh fruits and veggies, her favorite is blueberries. Morgan recently picked five pounds of fresh blueberries, and Nutmeg has been in Hammy Heaven! There is no greater joy in my day than watching this little creature nibble and consume an entire blueberry that's nearly as big as her head in one sitting. Immediately after, her blue paws and face get a good  scrub down then she's back on her wheel running like mad.

I wonder how she does that! If I were to eat a blueberry-to-hamster-scale equivalent meal then go running on a large wheel for five minutes straight, I'd get the worst stomach cramps in the world! It doesn't even phase her! She could gobble down a kernel of corn, two sunflower seeds, and a chunk of fresh broccoli stem and still run without flagging for five to ten minutes. She's incredibly athletic and really puts away the food.
Her favorite toy is, of course, her wheel. If Morgan or I ever have to remove it momentarily to oil the spoke, Nutmeg throws a fit! She runs up and down her cage and about in circles where the wheel used to be in a complete tizzy. Morgan's first suggestion when we first got her was to remove the wheel if it got too squeaky and kept us up at night.
"But what is she going to do for fun?" I had asked.
"She'll be fine," Morgan assured me.
But as soon as I saw how she reacted, I put my foot down! It was downright cruel to take her wheel away.

Later, we decided to fix the squeaky wheel problem by getting the new Silent Spinner (If you click on the link, do you see how the rat seems to be coming off the side??). It's a giant bowl turned sideways and while it really is silent, it wasn't to Nutmeg's liking. Since Morgan was I work, I was the one who introduced the new wheel. My heart broke! First, Nutmeg explored the cage looking for her old and favored toy. Then, she tested the new wheel and promptly fell off. The size of wheel we purchased was too thin for her long and chunky frame. There was also a knob in the center that she was too tall for and the side of the bowl rubbed against her fur in an annoying manner. One of the saddest things I've ever seen was when she went to the opposite corner of her cage and just huddled down to do nothing. 
"She doesn't like it," I texted Morgan that night. "She's getting her old wheel back. She's clearly upset!"
She's running on that wheel, now warped and squeaky, right now! These days, hamster and cage get placed underneath the dining room table when we can't take the squeaks anymore!

The horrible Silent Spinner

Squeaks aside, Nutmeg has been the perfect pet for Morgan and I to further our relationship by sharing the responsibilities of caring for a living animal. Both of us adore her and her silly antics of making the perfect nest inside her igloo, charging down the hallway in her Run-About ball, and stuffing food as big as her head into her cheek pouches. When I leave in August, Nutmeg will be staying here in Raleigh with Morgan. I will miss her dearly! But... as she loves riding in the car, Morgan will be able to bring her down every time he visits!!

With Sparta and Nutmeg

Lex's Secret Camping Trip Part 2

Right from the start, the trip started out wild. After loading up the car with a tent, tent stakes, boogie boards, inflating mattress pads, and various other instruments and tools I had never before taken on a trip, we set off in Little Honda across the Coastal Plains of North Carolina.
The night before, the surprise was ruined for Morgan by a third party when he found out we were going to the beach. I was devastated. I had worked so hard at trying to keep it a secret that I sobbed hysterically for quite some time before trying to put on a happy face. Thankfully, Morgan had no idea which beach we were going to. He was quite thrilled to find out halfway to the Outer Banks that that was our actual destination. We stopped at a small gas station/restaurant where we ate a cheap lunch then crossed several large bridges to the Outer Banks.
I momentarily got us lost in Nags Head then turned back around to head down the long stretch of solitary highway through the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. During some spots, you can clearly see the Atlantic Ocean on one side and some sound or the Oregon Inlet on the other as the spit of land is so narrow.
We weren't barely past Bodie Island Lighthouse when things got spooky! I knew it was going to rain as Weather.com had been reporting isolated thunderstorms for the entire length of our stay. What we saw though neither of us were prepared for!
As we headed down the highway, the sky blackened. It was like a thunderstorm brewing over the plains of Africa. Clouds as dark and sinister-looking as Satan's own cape of evil began churning overhead. Suddenly, a deluge of water came sloshing down from the sky. Morgan looked out the window on his side and pointed.
"What the hell is that?" I cried when I saw what had caught his eye. "My gosh, that's a funnel cloud."

It was like I was watching my television screen tuned in to the Weather Channel. About 20 to 30 yards away, the perfectly shaped funnel cloud was slowly drifting down to land. It was your stereotypical image from a Storm Watchers program. Simultaneously, I was scared out of my mind and amazed! If we weren't about to die from being unable to see five feet in front of us from the rain, I would have watched its continued descent, mesmorized.
However, I was driving and had to focus on the road.
"Find a radio station," I told Morgan. If there was actually about to be a tornado, I wanted someone who knew what they were talking about to tell me where it was going to land and what I needed to do.
Then without warning, the funnel cloud disappeared. It was as if Morgan and I had dreamed the same dream.
It was then I realized that the crazy happenstances that followed my mother around wherever she went weren't just hers. It was a gene thing. It had been passed on to me!

24. The Music Teacher

Book 24: The Music Teacher by Barbara Hall (C+)

Um yeah, not that great. The story begins in the first person with a violin teacher living in the Los Angeles area describing how she promised never to be "that cranky woman you remember from your youth, the one whose face you dreaded seeing, whose breath you dreaded smelling..." (1). When a talented beyond her years student enters the picture, the teacher tries to force the girl to have the same go-for-the-gold dreams as the teacher had before she resigned to teaching. Then, the girl's family life isn't all it's cracked up to be and the teacher "cares too much" or something like it and involves Social Services to which the girl lies and says that the teacher went too far psychologically with her. It was just plain strange.

I guess a couple of lines from Chapter 9 explain it better: "The bottom line is this: life is about people interacting with one another. When people resist doing that, they go a little crazy" (143). This teacher completely ignores society. And, she does go a bit nuts.
I couldn't identify with any of the characters, not even the student whose attitude about life was just dumb. I don't know how this author writes young adult novels when she clearly doesn't understand young adults. At least not young adults on my side of the country. Maybe there are 14-year-olds like that in LA... In that case, I'm most certainly afraid!
Perhaps it is a better book for the reader who can play an instrument and understands that need to make sound. For me, who has failed at piano and the clarinet, I was completely bored from the beginning to the end. The only thing interesting about this story is that the actual book was published in Chapel Hill, North Carolina!

Works Cited:

Hall, Barbara. The Music Teacher. Chapel Hill: Algonquion Books of Chapel Hill, 

2009. Print.

Lex's Secret Camping Trip Part 1

I think it's a big thing to make it to 9 months in a relationship. That seems like a ridiculous long bit of time to stay with one person at the young adult stage of life. And, Morgan and I have been through it, man! Long distance for 4 months, family issues, financial trials, past experiences, and the personal journey of being together with someone of dealing with the good, the bad, and the impatient frustrations of little crap. Tell you what, I'd have thrown in the towel a long time ago if it were with anyone but Morgan. And, that's how I know I love him and he's right for me. Because based on past experiences, I have thrown in the towel with people and didn't give them second chances. Morgan doesn't make me want to do that. Instead, I want to work out the problems and have a better relationship.

So, I wanted to do something really special that both of us would readily enjoy for our anniversary on July 7th. My favorite place in the whole world is the small chain of islands off the coast of North Carolina known as the Outer Banks. I have the happiest and best memories there. My favorite restaurants are down there, and I am a deep lover of the beach! I wanted to add to my memories a trip with my boyfriend on our anniversary at my favorite place; I wanted to show him around the place that made me so happy.
At first, I searched for hotels for a one night stay. Well, beach real estate, even hotel real estate, is not cheap! Currently jobless as I am, I decided to take the brave route and planned for a night's stay at the Ocean Waves Campground in Waves, North Carolina.

With Morgan clueless as the entire trip was a surprise, I packed my mother's two-person tent in the back of Little Honda along with a vast array of beach supplies, including the family's magic Barney bag of beach toys. I gathered beach chairs, a colorful umbrella, and sand stakes from Morgan's mother and made a reservation at the campground. Thankfully, Morgan has and enjoys camping as that's what he grew up with. I knew that, as I've never camped anyone except five feet from my house in the backyard, Morgan would be able to handle any situations that arose during our camping trip.
When visiting Ma and gathering the tent, I allowed Morgan a detail of my secret trip: "Baby, we're going camping."
He was like a little boy again, perfectly elated!

Barney's magic bag of beach stuff

Camping in the Rain Part 2

Here is part two of the camping in the rain. The leaks begin to get worse and life as we know is about to get wet!!

Photo of the Day July 9

This was right after we finished putting up the tent. Both of us were exhausted and disgustingly hot! It was at least 80 degrees with very little wind as any air from the beach was blocked by high dunes. We practically ran to the bath house then to the beach right after this picture!!!

Camping in the Rain Part 1

This evening, Morgan and I returned from our camping trip in the Outer Banks, the chain of islands off the coast of North Carolina. They make up my favorite place in the world! I love the touristy essence of Nags Head, the history of Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills, the spookiness of Hatteras, the wilderness of Waves and Rodanthe, and the classiness of Duck!
It was an amazing, unbelievable trip! Morgan and I, celebrating our 9-month anniversary, enjoyed a relaxing though at times exciting trip. We spent the night in a two-person tent on the coast of Waves inside the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
The weather was nice...ish! Thankfully, it didn't thunderstorm all night like it was supposed to. But the next morning, we did see some rain. Here's part one of what happened:

Kodak Moment: Kayaking

This morning, Morgan and I kayaked around Lake Johnson, a large park that consists of hiking trails, classes offered to the masses, a gigantic lake, and several water fowl who constantly want bread. This is our second time kayaking, and we enjoyed the quieter, wilder side of the lake accessed by paddling under the two bridges - one for pedestrians and one for vehicles.
The fish were vicious! I screamed multiple times as fish either knocked the underside of my orange kayak, nearly flipped into my boat, and startled me with loud slaps against the water before shooting under me. To me, it was terrifying! ...Morgan was laughing hysterically.
There are two weedy streams on this side of the lake. In one, we found a large snapping turtle - bigger than a dinner plate!! It was Morgan's find, and boy, was he proud!

Exploring a little stream

Snapping turtle!

Our kayaks

23. Furious Love

Book 23: Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century by Sam Kashner & Nancy Schoenberger (A+)

Wow! What a book!!

Cleopatra

I actually read this biography of the great marriages of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton as research. I'm writing my second fiction novel and as I've always been captivated by the Taylor/Burton romance as seen in Cleopatra, I am basing the two main characters' love affair off events and circumstances from the "Liz-n-Dick Show." Theirs (Taylor and Burton's) is a duo romance, a real love between Elizabeth and Richard and the public persona and dog-and-pony show of Liz and Dick. It is a beautiful, raw, but tragic heartbreaking romance that would have survived except for fame, paparazzi, and booze!
Written because of Taylor's worry "that Richard Burton's name and legacy were in danger of being forgotten..." after a theatre major told the authors she was shocked to know that Elizabeth Taylor had been married to the eccentric director Tim Burton (439)! ...Um, no dear! Go back to school!

The beginning of "Le Scandale"

The story begins with the 1960's classic epic Cleopatra, a film that was doomed from the moment Elizabeth Taylor signed on to the picture. Taylor's never-ending health issues halted production, causing the her two main co-stars playing Cesaer and Mark Antony to be recast due to scheduling conflicts.
In came Richard Burton, the Welsh man who drank like his own soul was dying of thirst yet who could recite Shakespeare in his epic voice even though he was completely sloshed. Who could have known that by the newcomer Burton signing onto the motion picture would change celebrity and fame forever?! Their love affair shocked the world, had fans clawing for them in surging mobs, and was even condemned by the Vatican!
The sadness of it all is Burton's constant downfall. His battle with alcohol never ended no matter how many doctors told him he'd kill himself with the drinking he was doing every day starting after breakfast. Taylor's constant ailing health was such a strain on their marriages and his heart because, as you read, he truly loved her. Then, he held himself responsible for his favored brother's accident that left the older brother-turned-father-role-model paralyzed and eventually led to his death. Add on top of all that the constant hounding of fans, paparazzi, and shutterbugs who couldn't get enough of the couple. Arguably one of the greatest actors, particularly because of his resounding Welsh voice, drank himself to death because of personal guilt and an overwhelming lifestyle that eventually even he couldn't top.
The book is a sincere and truthful account from various sources, including the late Dame Elizabeth Taylor herself, about the affair, the marriage, the divorce, the second marriage, and the second divorce. It is filled with much detail and interesting facts that never leave the reader bored... but how could one be reading about the never not exciting Taylor/Burton romance??
If you enjoy biographies, check out Furious Love. It is an eye-opening account of Hollywood's first mega couple!

Works Cited:

Kasner, Sam & Schoenberger, Nancy. Furious Love: 

Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century. 

New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010. Print

Photo of the Day July 4

Happy 4th of July, everyone! Here's a snap of our hamster Nutmeg. She has gotten so big!! With Sparta and Nutmeg, Morgan and I have the two of the most entertaining pets in the world. We love them so much because they bring so much laughter to our lives. The other day I stuck Nutmeg into my hoody pocket where she rummaged around as I toted her about the apartment.
Here she is stuffing her cheek pouches with food. She's gotten a bit chunky as we've been giving her fresh fruits and veggies nearly every day. She's had purple grapes, carrots, broccoli, watermelon, and watching her eat a whole blueberry is something to behold!!
She seems to be unfazed by the fireworks tonight... but Sparta is hidden away under the coffee table!

Bath Tub Thought

Recently, I watched the latest installment of the Chronicles of Narnia film series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. And, it was ok... I haven't been a huge fan of any of the CON films. I think it's mostly because when I first saw Aslan... he was a CGI character. MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT! I wanted Aslan to be a real lion with CGI modifications. Nothing disappointed me more than seeing the great lion - that is supposed to be Jesus in the fantasy novel series that depicts a make believe world meant to represent Christianity - as a CGI creation!!

He even looks sad that he's CGI

Anyway... I was thinking about the final scene (SPOILERS AHEAD) and have put two and two together:
Lucy and Edmund are the only of the original four children together. They are joined by Eustace, their obnoxious, bratty cousin. At the end of the movie, Eustace has been returned to his original form after being transformed into a dragon. Now, the three are in Aslan's country with the great CGI lion who reveals to Lucy and Edmund this is their last trip to Narnia. It's a little heartbreaking scene as the two come to say good bye to the world they love.
Then Eustace asks, "What about me?"
To which Aslan responds something along the lines of he may one day be called back to Narnia.

And this is why you can't get rid of Barnes.
Look at him!!

...Now, I don't know if this line is in the book, but I figured that even if it was, this line is an "out" for the producers, directors, and studio heads. In case, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader didn't do too well at the box office, well then the capitalized, collective They could say that Eustace wasn't called back to Narnia and there won't be any more CON films. Aslan has always been a cryptic character. Why not give him a line that hints but doesn't promise another sequel? Face saved! And of course since it seems that the characters Lucy and Edmund won't be returning then it also means we're having a sequel because audiences actually liked Eustace and only if we can get Liam Neeson and Ben Barnes back because the story just ousted the cute mouse!!
In case you're wondering, it seems that Eustace is returning... or at least the CON series is with The Silver Chair being released in 2014 and The Magician's Nephew hopefully hitting theaters in 2015. Of course, it has yet to be announced which actors will star in the films. Will the original four return? Will Eustace? Personally, I never got further through the books than the first one. And that was forced upon me by 9th grade English. There's something about the most popular magical fantasy books that I just can't get into. I think it's because there's too much magical detail. I just like the movies better! This includes: The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and all the Marvel stories (the ones that I liked). Passed over the books and I don't like comic books! Go figure!.
And all of this occurred while taking a bath!