Enter if You Dare!

How do I describe this? Morbid fascination and summertime fun/curiosity.

For some reason, I've always been intrigued by Ripley's Believe it or Not. I can remember, back when I was younger, wondering what it would be like to go through one of their famous museums. I remember the first (and so far the only!) Ripley's I was able to go to - the one in San Fransisco. (Somehow, I find that strangely fitting.)

Whenever a new Ripley's book comes out, I'm always curious. So in the spirit of summer fun and craziness - (fyi - this might be as crazy as I actually get) - I give you Ripley's Believe It or Not! Enter If You Dare!

There should probably be no reason for me to want to gross myself out by looking at a picture of a disfigured cat (who has now become a "therapy cat" to help people with disfigurements improve their confidence.) I most certainly don't want to know about pythons discovered in toilet bowls. (I've had a long term fear of sitting down unawares and there being a snake in the pot anyway. TMI? Perhaps. But this is a Ripley's review, after all!) But it is kinda cool to hear about the cat who catches the same bus and rides the same route every single day. (That would be Casper - the friendly cat? - in England.)

There's a funny horse who got her head stuck in a tree trunk. (She was freed with a chainsaw and is alive and healthy today, in case you were wondering.) And it's also cool to see the "tiny teen" - a 16 year old girl who is only 23.5 inches tall! Her actual size is included as a full-page fold out inside the book so you can see how far up your leg she actually comes in height. (She is about halfway up my thigh.)

I don't know why I like Ripley's really. There is no justifiable explanation. It's just the curiosity of the thing. DOES the turtle really have two heads?! DOES the kitten really have two faces?! DID American Airlines really save an estimated $40,000 in 1987 by removing one olive from each salad served to first-class passengers?! DID the first class passengers notice and did they suffer because of it!? Questions to ponder, my friends. Questions to ponder.

Ripley's Believe It or Not! Enter If You Dare! is a little more tame than the last Ripley's book I perused. Fascinating still. Especially since in this edition, I finally found out how Siamese twins Chang and Eng Bunker died. (So bizarre to think about!) Maybe that's why I like it. It's just bizarre. It's less serious than the news and more interesting than who Jennifer Anniston is currently with. You see strange and miraculous things from all over the globe. Interesting. It's just interesting.

And I suppose that's all I have to say. If you like Ripley's, then you'll be excited to know that the newest edition of oddities is out.

I will also tell you that although Ripley's had a booth at the Book Expo that featured the most tatooed woman in the world, and although Jennifer offered to go with me to meet her, I took a pass. (Looking at pictures in books is one thing . . .)

Thanks, Ripley's, for entertaining, grossing me out, and making me wonder yet again.