The Darkness

I had gotten a call at around 1-ish on Saturday to meet up at the Grove for a 3:20pm showing of The Dark Knight. I didn't think it was possible but by the power vested in online movie ticket purchasing I was able to score one! Being the conscious traveler that I am (and because we would be heading over to the Cemetery Screenings right afterwards - and who needs 2 cars) I opted to bus it. I gave myself an hour cushion so that I could arrive a bit early. But the mis-adventures-in-public-transportation-when-I'm-trying-to-make-it-on-time-to-a-movie just had to rear it's ugly head in...naturally. Despite faulty wheelchair ramps, buses ending their routes early, traffic, and missing the trailers and first scene, le mec's ol' blackberry-glow-turned-lighthouse-beacon led me to my saved seat.

Waiting and hoping that bus #3 wouldn't let me down like the first 2 I spot Pamela to my left on the bus bench. She's reading a book called Los Angeles Noir. (The picture on the cover is amazing - Griffith Observatory view = yumz). It's an anthology of noir short stories that take place in Los Angeles, edited by Denise Hamilton. I need to recommend this to my buddy, Daniel, since he's been dying to read more of it! Pamela loves the noir genre. She actually came across this book in the library and the title piqued her interest.




Pamela usually reads classic literature. Her favourite book is The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I totally gave her the biggest smile at this moment because it is one of my favourites, too. Another fave of hers is the The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. She loves books that are dark and romantic, with a good touch of harsh reality.

The last book she read was Sit Down and Shut Up: Punk Rock Commentaries on Buddha, God, Truth, Sex, Death, and Dogen's Treasury of the Right Dharma by Brad Warner (and exhale). Pamela describes it as a punk rock zen book and she loved it! A friend had recommended it to her.

Growing up Pamela read alot of Dickens and Poe. She was the 3rd grader who read at an adult level. Once she got ahold of an anthology of Poe's writings she was hooked! We were talking about book tastes as children and she says that she did try to explore other genres as she got older but she always seemed to come back home to her beloved Poe. And her tastes in books have still carried over and stayed fairly consistent since her early reading days.


Pamela writes her own stuff, as well, and was involved in music journalism once upon a time. When asked what kind of book she'd write she wasn't really sure. We talked a bit more once we got on the bus and got into this conversation about graphic novels. I think it stemmed from me admiring her tattoos and someone spiraled into graphic novels, mayhaps? She recommended a graphic novel based on Kafka's stories which I'm actually really interested in checking out now. All this talk about graphic novels got her to tell me that it is something she'd like to do one day. She's thought of storylines and written a bit here and there but is looking for an artist to collaborate with and bring the graphic novel to life. Maybe her tattoo artist could do it! Turns out that Pamela draws a bit and I encouraged her to take it up again - maybe the artist she is looking for is actually herself.


What is your favourite graphic novel (series)?

Has anyone heard of/read the collection of Kafka stories in graphic novel form? If so, who's it by? I gotta get my hands on it!