Prepare To Die!

There's this blog that has fun memes I like to participate in and for the last few weeks I've been joining in the fun of 'Rainbow Summer School.'

Red was easy, Orange not too hard, Green--just fine, Blue worked well for me... then we hit Indigo.

...

...

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Indigo!?

I have spent the last week trying to find something around my neighborhood that was almost blue and almost purple.

Then I came up with THE BEST twist on this week's meme!

Inigo.

Half of you just smiled and the other half stared blankly, I just know it.

That would be Montoya, Inigo Montoya. Wizard Swordsman and bested only once--by the Man in Black.

heh heh heh

In the book, and subsequent film, The Princess Bride--both by William Goldman, Inigo Montoya delivers (in my most humble opinion) one of the best lines ever written:

"Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

He says it about twenty times.

"Inigo began the track-down. He had it all carefully prepared in his mind. He would find the six-fingered man. He would go up to him. He would say simply, "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die," and then, oh then, the duel.

...

Inigo had only one problem: he could not find the enemy."

I grew up watching this movie, but didn't read the book until I was married. I love the book. I'd recommend it to anyone needing a good, fun read.

"This is a special book..."

"Does it got any sports in it?"

"Are you kidding!? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles."

"Doesn't sound to bad, I'll try and stay awake."

And yet, since this is The Literary Soundtrack and I just have to have a song to go with each book I started digging around on YouTube to see if anyone had any ideas. I found some interesting combinations:

Inigo Montoya/ Eye of the Tiger:

Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive

So many times, it happens too fast
You change your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive

Westley & Buttercup/Right Here Waiting (my favorite combo):

Wherever you go
Whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes
Or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you

I took for granted, all the times
That I though would last somehow
I hear the laughter, I taste the tears
But I can't get near you now

Westley & Buttercup/Love Story:

I got tired of waiting,
Wondering if you were ever coming around.
My faith in you was fading,
When I met you on the outskirts of town.

And I said,
"Romeo, save me, I've been feeling so alone.
I keep waiting for you, but you never come.
Is this in my head,
I don't know what to think,"

Now you're probably wondering--

"[Am I] trying to trick [you]? . . . Is this a kissing book?"

And all I can say is:

"Wait, just wait."

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Books: The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Music: The Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
           Love Story by Taylor Swift
           Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx

Friday Wish-List: A Girl and Five Brave Horses

When I was a child my little sister and I used to drive my brother insane watching the movie 'Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken' over and over and over again.

He still talks about it when we all get together. I don't think he's ever fully recovered from it. :)

Well, the other day I was poking around the blog of a woman who had made a comment on my personal blog and I discovered that the movie, which was based on a true story, was actually inspired by the memoir of Sonora Webster Carver.

I was so excited I could barely type an appropriate comment. What luck! What joy! It's like the day I discovered the 'The Princess Bride' was also a book.

I ran over to Amazon to poke around and add 'A Girl and Five Brave Horses' to my wishlist.

So, what's all my fuss about? Well, I do admit a childish love of all things equine, but also it is the pull of an incredible, and real, story of a young woman during the Great Depression.

"Carver answered an ad placed by "Doc" William Frank Carver in 1923 for a diving girl and soon earned a place in circus history. Her job was to mount a running horse as it reached the top of a forty-foot (sometimes sixty-foot) tower and sail down along the animal's back as it plunged into a deep pool of water directly below."

Sonora's job was immensely dangerous and equally as thrilling, and things went pretty well for her until an accident rendered her blind.

But that's the catch! You would think that being blind would end her career.... jumping onto racing horses being something easier done when you can see... it didn't. Sonora, instead learned to dive the horses by sound and feel and continued doing so for 11 years!

To me as a child this was a exhilarating story of triumphing over life's hardships and choosing to learn from your trials instead of being broken by them.

I'm moving this book to the top of my 'to read' list. I hope you do too!


Books: A Girl and Five Brave Horses by Sonora Carver
            The Princess Bride by William Goldman