Dracula Gardens

I started writing this entry the other day, when it was still sunny. Since then the weather has turned cool and overcast and 60 minutes just did a story on Romania's tourist industry and how they are reluctantly embracing Dracula as a way to entice visitors. In other words, this is even more timely now than it was then!

But before we get to Dracula, here's another interesting tourist destination. The Duke and Duchess of Northumberland are turning the garden to their estate into a Poison Garden. It's all very thrilling. They are planning on "evil-looking flowers," a "perpetual miasma of deliberately spooky mist", and also terraced cascades and a labyrinth. I bet it is a cool labyrinth like the one in the NIN video for The Perfect Drug, and not a lame one like some of the ones printed on canvas. CANVAS? Anyway, interesting story. I hope they do get permission to plant all the plants they want. I haven't heard of any other poison gardens open to the public (or at all, actually) that are on this scale. And if there is deliberately spooky mist, I must see it!

This next link is for Martina. She has been trying to shed herself of copies of Dracula for some time now. It doesn't help that I personally have probably given her four copies (they look cool, I can't remember if I gave her one already, etc. etc..). Anyway - now someone has done a blog where you can read Dracula according to its own internal calendar. Since almost the whole novel is in diary or letter form, this is quite doable and looks fun. I bet it rachets up the suspense, too, since you can't read ahead.

gored

gored
Originally uploaded by Sabinche.

gummi-bear on a fork. what's not to love? This photo has great composition and color.

crabby

is Mercury in retrograde or something? I have this pit of crankitude sitting in the middle of my chest. I am cranky about things that normally don't bother me, or things that I know I am wrong about (which makes me crankier yet). I just want to grouch at everyone, throw a giant temper tantrum, or cry me a river. I don't know why. I hope it goes away soon, as I can't even stand myself when I am irrationally cranky, let alone watch other people thinking "what a goddamned cranky bitch." Grrrrr. Even my usual fool-proof crank-busters are not working! (sing along tunes, diet coke, read something funny.) Everything bugs me! Example: somebody within hearing distance of my open windows is playing some godawful noodly flute music. I want to find a flute and break their stereo into little tiny pieces with it! is that rational? NO. and oh yeah - open letter to the asshats who go behind the tavern to puke and/or chat loudly with other assholes on their cellphone: I hate you. thanks to physics or some other thing I am too boneheaded to understand, this noise travels - right to my window. You better hope I don't still have the flute I (hypothetically) used to break the neighbor's stereo, or you're in for an ass-whupping.
Internet Orchid Fanciers - you don't know who you are, but I do. If you could dial back the pretension to merely 11, I would be ever so grateful. And while I'm at it - white tank top - what the hell happened to you? When did you get all baggy and stretched out? WIP? What's the matter with you? Things were going so well, and then you had to start stinking up the joint with your inconsistent characterizations and lame transitions.

Bah! Mercury better get back where it belongs. I can't stand this much longer.

The Last Temptation

by Neil Gaiman #16

I picked this up browsing the comic/graphic novel section at the library. It had Neil Gaiman's name on it, I hadn't read it, and really - that's enough for me. I'll be honest - it's been sitting around for a long time. I've renewed it over and over because I never got around to reading it. Until now. I should have known something was up when I flipped through and thought "hey, that looks like Alice Cooper." I should have further known something was up when the whole introduction was basically Neil Gaiman saying (paraphrase)...."soooo, yeah. how did this get back in print? enjoy the art, but please don't hold the story against me as I had to co-write it with Alice Cooper." And he's right. The story is slight and predictable. Like Alice Cooper was watching some Twilight Zone and said, "hey, you know what would be fiendish and awesome? if I was a demonic theater guy and hassle this kid into joining my circus of the damned! yeah!" If you are an Alice Cooper completeist, you will probably need to read this book. If you are a Neil Gaiman completist - at least it is short. Anyway - I don't resent the time it took to read this (very little), but I won't be adding it to my list of things I must own.

Assassination Vacation

by Sarah Vowell (#15)

Sarah Vowell loves American history, and for this I love Sarah Vowell. A lot of people think that history is boring; that history is what you slept through before the bell rang and you could go to lunch. BUT NO! It can be so thrilling it inspires weirdos (I say that with fellow-weirdo affection) to run all over the eastern United States visiting places and objects related to presidential assassinations. She covers the Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley assassinations in this book and takes the reader to places that they maybe never thought they would go (from the utopian free-love Oneida Community to Sandy Cohen on the O.C. for one). What I especially enjoyed is that she is able to write with great humor, but never loses sight of the tragedy of these events. The Lincoln section is the longest, but honestly - Garfield and McKinley should be glad they got as much as they did.

There are too few writers who can get at what makes history zing and whip around like the best novel ever. Sarah Vowell is one of them.

six of one/ crumbs on my brain

I have added a flickr badge to this blog. I think it is cool - they now have it set up so you can make one based on a particular keyword. Right now I have chosen "red", although "green", "happy" and "trees" are on my mind. I can't decide if the coolnes and fun of it is worth the extra load time, though. Maybe if I made it just one picture instead of three - although I suspect it isn't the quantity that makes it slow.

ION, I have words due today on my WIP and we have the nicest weather we've had all year! As complaints go, it is hardly worth mentioning since it is in the "my diamond shoes are too tight" category. But still.

I went crazy last night downloading cover songs. So far, I prefer the original El Scorcho to all pretenders, but the String Tribute to Weezer version is also pretty fun. I like covers. At first I was going to say particularly covers of songs I like but don't love, but then I remembered the crazy Pipilotti Rist version of Wicked Game - so I have decided instead to say that like any song, covers must be taken in on their own terms.

edit: I removed the flickr badge, but if they figure out a way to make it zippier I will be all over it. Maybe because it was pulling from such a huge pool? I don't know. It would be faster if it were just selecting from my own pictures, but I like the random element. Anyway. I'll just continue posting pictures in this section and pine away for speedy side-bar goodies.

PS: the Travis cover of Be My Baby is pretty dang good. I understand they've gone all hippie-jam-bandish now, which makes me sad.

up and coming- ->

I think I may have entered the next phase of project pursuit. I am never sure what brings about these periods of accomplishment (or expected accomplishment, as I haven't accomplished anything YET) - but I know I had better jump on it with both feet or it will skitter away.

Up and coming projects for me: go through and cull books and junk. The junk shouldn't be so hard, and the books not so hard as I once would have thought. At one point in my life I would have said I could never get rid of a book - but I've decided that perhaps I don't need to keep a bunch of paperbacks I bought for a quarter each 13 years ago. Just maybe I can let some of those go - at least the ones I read once and will never read again. This is all in aid of Project Bookshelf. I think I am going to put up some brackets and standards on my wall to make shelves. I will get rid of the two bookcases I have sitting in that spot currently. It will be a lot more actual shelf-room, plus it will be less stuff on the floor, which is good. I will probably paint the shelves, which leads me to project two:

Sand and paint dresser. It is currently sponge-painted different shades of blue and has white ceramic knobs. There is nothing wrong with any of this, except I am sick of looking at it and there are some chips in the paint on the corners.

That really ought to cover it for current painting/building type projects. At least for now. I still have a floor cloth in mid-stages of finishing, but my heart's just not in it at the moment. My heart and my head both want to make this bookshelf thing work so that I have room to put all of my CDs away without having to have them in 13 places. (long, boring story - not that a long boring story would normally deter me from telling it, but I am tired and want to read the last couple chapters of Assassination Vacation.)

woman

woman
Originally uploaded by sriber/ susanne.

I found this picture in the flickr group Urban Fairytales. I love the whole idea of this group and joined it in the hopes that it would remind me to look for pictures that would fit. Anyway - I love the red boots and green dress, and how it could be anything - is she setting out on an adventure? are they magic boots?

Maybe I need more caffeine. But it is still a great picture whether or not they are magic boots or whether or not I am caffeine-deprived.

things that are good

1. Marching Band season. I live near a middle school with a marching band. Last year (before I realized where the music was coming from) I thought I had lost my mind and was having auditory hallucinations of a marching band version of "We've Got The Funk". It was no hallucination! (I actually got in the car and drove around with the windows down until I found the source) I looked for them in the Rose Festival parade, but they weren't there. Maybe this year I will go to the Junior RF Parade and see if I can spot them. Another thing that makes me laugh - AC/DC was a huge favorite of high school marching bands in last year's parade. I mean Sousa is great and all, but AC/DC!!!! come on! hee hee.

2. The sun is finally out after weeks of rain. And not just regular Oregon rain - hard-falling, flower-felling, giant Florida rain sized raindrops.

3. disocovery that a size 7 in women's shoes is about the same as a 4 1/2 - 5 in girl's shoes! I now have a really cute pair of blue gingham cork platform strappy sandals! For less than 11 dollars! Now I just need to make a cute dress or skirt to wear with them.

4. Rockabilly music. It may be one of my many summer obsessions (along with crazy circus music). I like summer obsessions!

5. I have decided that I am going to work at least an hour a day on my WIP. Doing that much every two weeks is just LAME, and the only way it is going to get done is if I work on it. So, I'm going to work on it. Yay for decisions! I realize this is a diccussion I will probably have with myself again, but I've got to start somewhere.

BONUS Good things: OK Go and the Old 97's. They both trigger glee in my heart.

To Sir Phillip, With Love

by Julia Quinn (#14)

He's a noble botanist-widower with two wild children, she's a letter-writing spinster with 8 siblings... They fight crime!
OK, they don't fight crime. But they have sexy adventures! OK, they don't really have adventures. But there is a little botany.

I would read more titles by this author - as is often the case when a main character has many, many siblings who are named, there are many more matches to be made (or already made - I'm not sure where in the Bridgerton order this book comes)in this family by this author. She has fun with the titles An Offer From a Gentleman, The Vicount Who Loved Me, The Duke and I, How To Marry a Marquiss, To Catch an Heiress,etc. This was light, fast, and enjoyable reading. edit: although I was just reading something over at Smart Bitches and was reminded that this book did deal with depression and an abusive nanny (although she was dealt with pretty quickly) - so it's not all botany,crime fighting, sunshine and puppies.

Take Joy: a book for writers

by Jane Yolen (#13)

Hey! Lucky 13 on Friday the 13th! I really enjoyed this book. This is one of the few writing books (along with say, Bird by Bird and maybe the NaNoWriMo book) that I would actually like to have in my personal collection. Yolen's take on writing can pretty much be summed up by the quotation she has at the very beginning by Fra Giovanni: The gloom of the world is but a shadow, and yet within our reach is joy. Take joy! As I get to know myself better (aka get older), I have come to realize that I am essentially an optimist. It's not better or worse than being any other way, it just makes me happiest (and as an optimist, I like to be happy). So, this 'take joy' approach works for me.

Certainly she acknowledges the frustrations and difficulties of writing, but more often her focus is on how to enjoy, how to get the most out of what your brain and experience have to offer, how to take a fresh look at what you already have. But it's not all happy-feel-good stuff. She also includes the secret of writing: (BIC - for Butt In Chair), and that sometimes you have to quit fussing and just sit down and write the damn story. I would recommend this book for anyone looking for a book on writing that is not concentrating on "12 easy steps to publication" or "how to have a punctuation aneurysm." It's more about telling a story, and less about the technical aspect. Lord knows there are plenty of books out there already focusing on the latter.

You can get a taste of her style if you go to her website here, and go to the For Writers section linked to from the bottom of the page.

shame index update

I am going to try to post an update every other week, which is how often I send something (theoretically) to my critique partner.

15,353 / 60,000 (25.0%)

Red Mailbox, Red Door

Red Mailbox, Red Door
Originally uploaded by A is for Angie.

I am big into tone on tone color lately, so this makes me happy. Plus, I like the angles of it, and how the opening on the right makes it a little lopsided.

All Songs Considered

FYI: NPR's All Songs Considered has a streaming Deceberists concert available here. This is the May 6 show at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. I am about 1/2 way through listening to it now and it is a lot of fun!

What's The Matter With Kansas: how conservatives won the heart of America

by Thomas Frank (#12)
I had to check this book out three times to get through it. I don't know if that says more about my attention span, or the density of the prose. It is a LOT of information to take in. This book deals with a subject that has long confused me - when did the conservative right become the voice of the common person? How did this happen? He describes the shift away from economic populism toward this cultural backlash. How populism is being driven by this cultural commodity of so-called "authenticity," which has little to nothing to do with actual authenticity, but more the claiming of being "just a regular guy." I heard more than one people use as a reason to support GWB. Bleh. He also brings up something that I don't think enough people are talking about - what the hell is happening to the Democratic party? It has left all of its power to the people positions and now is very pro-business in a sad attempt to win. It's not working. Do they learn nothing from sit-coms? The girl who changes to be more what she thinks her boyfriend wants will not be happy. Just be your messy old self, DNC. By all means get your shit together, but don't try to make yourself over into a half-assed imitation of the republican party. But, I digress.
Frank covers this ground using his home state of Kansas as the example. Kansas has been at the forefront of political/social trends for over a century. It surprised me, too. He differentiates between the two seemingly warring factions of the Kansas Republican Party - the Mods (basic fiscal conservatives who are relatively liberal on social issues); and the Cons (culture warriors who are pro-business, and radically culturally conservative). Honestly, I think I should probably read it again.
But here are a couple of great little paragraphs to give you a taste of his style and subject matter: (From the chapter titled Con Men and Mod Squad, pp109)
And as corporate types, these Mods are the primary beneficiaries of the class war that rages against them. Although the Cons vituperate against the high and mighty, the policies they help enact -- deregulating, privatizing -- only serve to make the Mods higher and mightier still. And while it amy hurt the Mods' feelings to overhear their secretaries referring to them as RINOs (republicans in name only), the many rounds of tax cuts the Cons have accomplished have surely made the sting subside. The Mods win even when they lose.
This situation may be paradoxical, but it is also universal. For decades Americans have experienced a populist uprising that only benefits the people it is supposed to be targeting. In Kansas we merely see an extreme version of this mysterious situation. The angry workers, mighty in their numbers, are marching irresistibly against the arrogant. They are shaking their fists at the sons of privilege. They are laughing at the dainty affectations of the Leawood toffs. They are massing at the gates of Mission HIlls, hoisting the black flag, and while the millionaires tremble in their mansions, they are bellowing out their terrifying demands. "We are here," they scream, "to cut your taxes."