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We begin with a murder. A triple murder, in fact. The man Jack was trying for a fourth, but the little baby had a habit of wandering, and he had left his crib, bumped down the stairs, and gone out into the night.

Jack wasn't worried, however. He knew that his keen sense of smell would lead him to the child. He ends up at the graveyard, and he knows that the child is there. What he doesn't know is that after a visit from his newly dead mother, the baby has been taken in by some "residents" of the graveyard, and that he is being protected by a "man" named Silas. Jack is sent off.

The child, named Nobody Owens, exists in the graveyard with ghostly teachers and friends, exploring and learning while knowing that Jack is out there, and is still out for him.

Gaiman has brought a wonderful story in the vein of Coraline. Superbly creepy, outright scary, yet sweet and filled with melancholy. I simply cannot wait to see Dave McKean's art added to the mix for the final copy. Also head on over here for additional information and some incredible illustrations.

Today was an interesting day in the newsroom — or rather, out of the newsroom.

Yesterday, one of the photographers I work with told me about the owner of an auto repair/oil change shop in town who heats his garage with a used oil burner. (Note: the link will take you to a site that sells used oil burners. I’ve provided the link so you can learn more about these products. The link is not an endorsement of the seller.)

I love it when I discover little tidbits of information I didn’t know before. When this happens, I think, “If I didn’t know it, I’ll bet there are others who aren’t aware of it, either.” The waste oil burner was about the coolest thing I’d heard all day. Consider it — an oil change shop collects all that used oil, then what are they going to do with it? It’s got to be recycled in some way. Why not put it to good use?

I contacted the owner of the shop, and he agreed to talk to me. The other newsroom photographer went with me today to pay the owner a visit. I learned this shop owner heats his almost 5,000-square foot garage with that heater. His shop does enough oil changes per day to heat his shop for one day. And as long as there is nothing mixed in with the oil and it’s transferred to the heater properly, this type of use has the state’s stamp of approval. The shop owner saves money, the oil gets re-used in a useful way, his employees stay warm, and everyone is happy.

What I like about this story is that the owner is doing something positive — and by sharing his story it might influence other people to try recycling, whether it be used oil or other materials. Awesome!