Swamp Ghosts

Late at night, walking down the road past houses that we’re looking to buy (one I like is in Tupelo next door to Molly, but it’s downtown – near Wendy’s – I think of getting a loan and buying it myself as it’s only $65,000). I wind up on a stretch of rural road alongside the woods which are rising with swamp water. A large crowd is walking behind me, but I keep losing sight of them and have to wait for them to catch up. I’m singing a song under my breath from a children’s movie and twice I step on the DVD in the flooded road (it has a blue baby monster on the cover). Some girls from school in the crowd catch up to me and are having a conversation, oblivious that I’m there. Everyone’s muddy and scratched up. For the duration of the walk, a light shines in my immediate front for about five feet like a headlight or flashlight, though I don’t carry one, and whenever I look over my shoulder for the group they are always surrounded by fading light.

- December 23, 2009

© Rachel Sapp

Your face is as a book, where men may read strange matters.

• New Orleans! I spent two days there with my dad last month. Hit up the French Quarter, fell in love, then overheated and almost passed out at Jazz Fest. Big crowds and pot haze don’t agree with me. But the next morning I felt much better and now I’m dying to go back. A more detailed post about our trip is forthcoming.
• Hawk Cam. Really, who isn’t watching this?
• The Single Most Ridiculous Movie Premise Ever Made via Cracked.
• The Book of Mormon soundtrack gets more amazing the more I listen to it.
• For fans of Sailor Moon, particularly the horrid English dub, the abridged series is a riot.
• I’m the proud owner of a shiny new Kindle. I can never part with my beloved books but this really is the next best thing. E-book recs, anyone?
• Go the F**k to Sleep, a bedtime story for exhausted parents. I’m tempted to buy a copy.
• The Shakespearean Insulter is fast becoming my go-to source for random exclamations of disgust and disapproval.
• Interested in self-publishing? You should check out this blog by Lindsay Buroker.
• Requires Only That You Hate – specfic geekrage!
• Looking for something new to read? Try What Should I Read Next? and BookLamp. A shame the latter seems stuck in beta.
• 10 things we want to see in the Dark Tower adaptation. With one exception (leave the ending as is), I disagree with everything on this list.
• MYTHPUNK! It’s exactly what it sounds like. Here, have a few more links.
• Read this: The Rumpelstiltskin Retellings: A Series of Poetic Blogs by Keyan Bowes, Choose Your Own Adventure by Kat Howard, The King of Cats, the Queen of Wolves by Mike Allen, Nicole Kornher-Stace, and Sonya Taaffe, & Fox Fire and Gold Coins (Disney smut with Flynn Rider and human!Robin Hood? Count me in!).
• Etsy finds: Corina Dross (beautiful “protective playing cards”), Dame Darcy, Latherati Soup Foundry (scents based on books), BellaLili.

Chutes and Spirals

Outside, telling stories and fairy tales when the story of Robin Hood comes up and a couple of child-sized bunnies introduce themselves. A kid runs by screaming that we missed the first bell. Everyone runs for school, but the bell rings for homeroom and most of us aren’t even inside yet. Inside, there’s a meeting of some sort being held in the auditorium and they’re playing NIN over the loudspeakers. A bunch of us wind up on the stairs (which spiral, with a set above and below where you’re standing) and Katherine Heigl is above me and a young black girl is below me. Katherine is crying. Apparently, we’re being stalked by someone who wants us dead, and to avoid them we keep dropping from the ledge and onto the landing below, all together so that we’re swapping places. At one point, a door behind Heigl opens but no one’s there, and a door at the end of one landing slams shut. The girl below me has a gray-haired Kathy Bates suddenly appear behind her and Heigl shoots Bates in the head . . .

- December 29, 2008

© p-damp

I’ll Leave Flying to the Birds

On an airplane, missed a flight to Paris which [Liz] already boarded. At different points during the dream (mostly in order): I’m being chased and I escape through the doors from one plane to the next (they appear to be stacked); in a gift store when a riot breaks out and everyone grabs whatever they can to use as a weapon – I grab a belt – jewelry, clothing stands, hats are thrown to impale or injure; a family gathering or party is thrown and Ben is there – doesn’t vaguely look like him except for the red hair, and he remains throughout the rest of the dream including the shopping riot; Sarah appears briefly when I’m attempting to call [Liz], who keeps calling Kourtney Kardashian’s cell phone; Sarah and I make plans to catch another flight. In hindsight, I can’t imagine why I didn’t think to do it sooner.

- August 15, 2009

© Leah Johnston

Send In the Clowns

© Chango Blanco

• In honor of National Clown Week (and nobody told me?!), here’s a slideshow of historic clown photos courtesy of Slate.
• Check out the smashing new Dr. Sketchy’s site, complete with branch profiles and full search capability.
• Support budding young writers, support the Desert Island Supply Co. in Birmingham, Alabama.
• The Uniform Project is in its second year with a new “Pilots” series. Funds raised for this month’s project will benefit Blair Grocery, a school in New Orleans’s Lower 9th Ward.
• Jenny of Fashion for Writers rants about the blatant Orientalism in Dior’s new ad campaign, “Shanghai Dreamers.”
• Beth Hommel, personal assistant to Amanda Palmer and all around superstar, has written about her battle with depression. For anyone who’s been there or feels they’re on the brink, read the comments. They’re inspiring.
• The Cassini probe captures Alpha Centauri, the sun’s nearest star system, while photographing Saturn. From 80 million x 330,000 miles away!
• These tiny sculptures carved into pencil tips by Dalton Ghetti are astounding.
• Prop 8 overturned!
• Etsy recs: Ugly Art Dolls by Ugly Shyla, Rustic Goth, tracemyface design, and Midnight Zodiac Leather Works.

Swelter

Never give up and good luck will find you.

• Gala Darling poses in Hopeless Lingerie despite hotel screw-ups, blown circuits, and nerves. And the results are breathtaking!
• Design a cover for Borowski’s This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen and win $1,000. (Venus febriculosa)
• Check out these galleries of Lolita and The Name of the Rose covers for inspiration.
• Fantasy Magazine reviews The Neverending Story. I knew I wasn’t the only one who thought it stood the test of time. I’ll take skilled puppetry over CGI any day.
• BOOKSHELF PORN!

To: AFA Action Alert
From: PZB

Thank you for alerting me to Home Depot’s admirable policies and respect for other people. I’ll be sure to shop there more often than I already do, and I spent $500 there last week. I’ll also post this information on my blog, which has several thousand readers. You’ve just gained Home Depot a great deal of business.

Very sincerely yours,

P.Z. Brite

• Read what prompted the e-mail above, Sometimes You Love Your Spam Box, and consider making a purchase at your local Home Depot.
• I want my own fairy tale cottage.
• Aromaleigh is closing its doors so everything’s 35% off. I’m sad to see them go. I recently started playing with mineral makeup again and their Glissade formula in 1CL was a perfect match. I’m thinking of sampling some Meow Cosmetics. Has anyone had any luck there?
• BPAL has announced that they are releasing a line inspired by The Last Unicorn. Then I found this thread discussing hypothetical scents for Labyrinth and Legend. Can I say right here that I would buy a bottle of every fragrance from both? A girl can dream.
• And this week’s Etsy finds: The Starshine Company (mineral makeup and perfume oils), Tea For All Reasons, and Sea Unicorn (lockets and jewelry).