I have a rather wonderful picture of Albert Einstein in fuzzy slippers. It’s black and white in the way that old photographs are black and white: gray. And he sits on a porch with his legs casually crossed, with his fingers knitted, with a sweater and corduroys and that excellent lion’s mane of hair, that excellent walrus mustache. He was an animal-fur man. This is definitely Albert Einstein doing a very good job at being Albert Einstein. In fuzzy slippers.
Because why not.
I wear herringbone moccasins, although I am no genius.
The allure of the Mad Scientist being mad. Suddenly fuzzy slippers become super human, become atomic and brilliantly-on-feet in a way that implies a buzzing mind that thinks in a channel alien to our own. How wonderful that a Mad Scientist could be so mad on this here porch! Wearing slippers! What a lark! I have seen this in real life, too. Mad Scientists are capable of all kinds of eccentric normalcy. They drink cheap wine and eat weird Mexican cheese. They are allergic to rabbits. They are – unbelievably – just as strange as every other human on the planet. Only – Strange On The Planet in a way that seems to harmonize with nothing and everything at the same time.
Perhaps this is why they make such lovely characters: they can do anything for you at all, sane or no, and everyone understands because they are simply Mad.
Thus, I bring to you the first book by children’s novelist Chad Morris: Cragbridge Hall: The Inventor’s Secret, a time-travelling escapade released earlier this month and filled with all kinds of adventure, fantasy and, but of course, plenty of mad science. Join Morris tomorrow night, Tuesday, March 26th at the The Summit area Barnes & Noble for a special signing starting at 7pm.
The first volume in a planned series, The Inventor’s Secret tells the story of Abby and Derick – two children pursuing an education at the prestigious Cragbridge Hall, a fantastical schooling experience filled with the outrageous inventions of their grandfather, Oscar Cragbridge. But the pair must put their smarts and skills to the test when their family suddenly goes missing and the course of history hangs in a delicate balance as a crazed scientist (ah ha) seeks to alter the past. Morris is currently living in Utah and works as a teacher and a curriculum writer – whilst probably turning cogs over the next installment in his debut series.
I wrote a book once. I accidently destroyed it on Frank Sinatra’s birthday (remember that story?). It actually was about a scientist. Sort of.
Someday I would like to be a Mad Scientist with language. And then all other human beings on earth will moon over the fact that I ever did anything as outrageously mundane as crochet into the night over a bottle of Merlot. In herringbone moccasins. Take a picture.
The Summit area Barnes & Noble is located at 4100 Summit Plaza Drive.
Images: Courtesy of Amazon www.amazon.com and Photobucket www.photobucket.com, respectively.
