November 5, 2017 CHAPEL OF LOVE

Engagements. Different strokes for different folks. The romanticists find the perfect place--get down on one knee--and pop the question. Everyone is happy--as long as she says YES. Creative fellows hide the ring in sandwiches-- milkshakes--bags of chips--which is totally cool--I guess--unless it gets swallowed by the PROPOSEE--which has actually happened--SERIOUS MOOD KILLER.  The realists-propose while doing mundane things--washing dishes--raking the yard--or even using the bathroom. Hey--can you get me a roll of toilet paper--by the way--wanta get hitched?? HHUUMM.  There are also the efficient proposers --no sense wasting time--the clock's a ticking.  I actually read about a  gynecologist who proposed to his girlfriend during her exam. He pretended to pull the ring out of her vagina. A dream come true for EVERY woman--CLUELESS. He probably thought it would be a great story to tell at cocktail parties too??  What about the BLOCKHEADS who tattoo their proposals??? Now that's intelligent??  What if she says NO?  Last but certainly not least--the PATHETIC LOSERS. Believe it or not some are proposing VIA text--must have to send some cute emojis to soften that blow right?? Feel sorry for the women who actually accept that proposal.

Newlyweds,  Lilian and Leonard Barber, seem like just the sort of lodgers Mrs. Wray and her daughter need in Sarah Water's The Paying Guests. Set in 1922 in Southern London, Mrs. Wray, once well-to-do, has come upon hard times. The Great War is over, debts have piled up and she is  forced to convert part of her villa into an apartment to make ends meet. Her daughter, Francis, is practically a spinster at age 26. She feels it's her duty to live with mother and take care of the house.  Lilian and Len move in and immediately change the atmosphere. They listen to music, dance, and smoke--all the things Francis longs to do. As Len spends his days working for an insurance company,  Lilian stays behind to keep house. Soon after, Francis and Lilian's friendship turns into a love affair and Lilian a finds out she's pregnant.  What will happen between Lilian and Len?? Lilian and Francis? Will Len find out about her affair? Does Lilian even want the baby? Who will be murdered?  Find out the answer to these and many other questions when you read this book for yourself. It's about 550 pages--or a 6 mile run--that will blow your mind.