tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83203206447880911192024-03-28T23:27:57.568-04:00Pagan SpiritsErin O'Riordan writes smart, whimsical erotica. Her erotic romance novel trilogy, Pagan Spirits, is now available. With her husband, she also writes crime novels. Visit her home page at <a href="https://ko-fi.com/kofisupporter86474">ko-fi.com</a>. Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.comBlogger1273125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-59880395541197547822024-03-01T00:00:00.106-05:002024-03-01T00:00:00.198-05:00More Unfortunate, Mostly Literary, Happenings of Past Marches<p><b><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/03/unfortunate-mostly-literary-happenings.html?m=0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Read last year's Bummer March post here.</a></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>March 2, 1978</b>: Two thieves steal the coffin containing the body of actor <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2014/09/currently-reading-vampyres-of-hollywood.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Charlie Chaplin</a>, which was interred in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland. They hope to gain $600,000 in ransom, but Chaplin’s widow Oona (the daughter of American playwright Eugene O’Neill) refused to pay. The two men, auto mechanisms from Poland and Bulgaria, were instead forced to show police the corn field in which they’d reburied the coffin. Chaplin’s family took the precaution of burying the coffin in concrete when it was returned to the cemetery. The English actor had died at age 88 on December 25, 1977.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHwI5T9ie0k_-g3avZju5Cu0aI6cd9fHrVUhWOGQYbrYbT1CZpQ_PAIUDtlDJKCpK4mPoChP4JC_PMdJY_APA6pHcQu-ohdwDw037KzhT8d841ogb6jz84TQC3ijLv10MQFLpsYo3Roz3nBquRyZQa-_CEo2Vuee5tGHbBqVqnT7jHpjlJzS46MT0HwEnt/s500/Lolita.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHwI5T9ie0k_-g3avZju5Cu0aI6cd9fHrVUhWOGQYbrYbT1CZpQ_PAIUDtlDJKCpK4mPoChP4JC_PMdJY_APA6pHcQu-ohdwDw037KzhT8d841ogb6jz84TQC3ijLv10MQFLpsYo3Roz3nBquRyZQa-_CEo2Vuee5tGHbBqVqnT7jHpjlJzS46MT0HwEnt/s320/Lolita.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b><p><b><br /></b></p>March 11, 1918: </b>Private Albert Gitchell, stationed in the U.S. Army at <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2012/08/i-dont-think-im-in-kansas-anymore-and.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fort Riley, Kansas,</a> is discovered to have the first-recorded case of influenza in what becomes the influenza pandemic of 1918. An estimated 50 million to 100 million people die of influenza during the pandemic worldwide.<p></p><p>In the Disaster Area Podcast episode on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/17HBYzGOrU1yDruTKoLE8b?si=0442be8b5ffe4515" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the Bazar de la Charite fire</a> of May 4, 1897 in Paris, Jennifer Matarese loosely outlines how that tragic fire that killed 126 people indirectly related to the events that started World War I and the 1918-1920 influenza pandemic. To wit:</p><p>- The fire kills Sophie Charlotte of Bavaria, Duchess of Alençon.</p><p>- Sophie's sister, Empress Elisabeth of Austria, is inconsolable at the death of her favorite sister. Empress Elisabeth was already having a pretty rough time.</p><p>- Elisabeth's only son (of her four children), Crown Prince Rudolph, had died in an apparent murder-suicide, killing his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera and himself, in 1889. Crown Prince Rudolph, who was to inherit the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, dies without leaving a legitimate male heir.</p><p>- In 1898, Empress Elisabeth is assassinated in Geneva by an Italian anarchist, who stabs her with a thin needle-file as she walks between her hotel and a steamship.</p><p>- When Empress Elisabeth is assassinated with no son or male grandson to inherit the throne, rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire passes to Elisabeth's husband's brother, Archduke Karl Ludwig.</p><p>- Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria dies of natural causes (typhoid) in 1896, passing the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to his heir, Archduke Franz Ferdinand.</p><p>- Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie are assassinated by a Serbian anarchist on June 28, 1914, leading directly to the Great War when Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.</p><p><b>- </b>Fort Riley is one of the major training grounds for the American Expeditionary Forces who will fight in the Western Front of the Great War. As American troops are moved into Europe, they are among those who spread the H1N1 influenza A virus. </p><p>- The virus kills an estimated 25 million to 50 million people worldwide between 1918 and 1920, with some estimates going as high as 100 million people.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>March 20, 1964</b>: Poet, novelist, and folk hero Brendan Behan, considered one of the all-time greatest Irish literary talents, dies at the age of 41 after collapsing into a diabetic coma in the street.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>March 22, 1950</b>: Convicted child sexual predator Frank La Salle is arrested for the kidnapping of Florence Sally Horner, whom he has abducted from her home in New Jersey 21 months earlier. Horner is ten years old at the time of the kidnapping. La Salle is sentenced to 30 to 35 years in prison.</p><p>Although he denied it during his lifetime, Vladimir Nabokov almost certainly based some of his narrative in his book <i>Lolita</i> on Horner’s story. In her 2018 book <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/11/more-november-2023-book-deals-on.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Real Lolita</i>, Sarah Weinman</a> describes how literary scholars know this.</p>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-33119318134818005332024-02-19T18:06:00.000-05:002024-02-19T18:06:18.123-05:00Lady Gaga/CJ Holland "Luv U Sum" Lyrics - Dramatic Reading - Two Edits<p>I made two more very short YouTube clips for tracks I created in <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2024/02/i-read-poetry-with-bandlab-youtube-clips.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BandLab</a>. In each, I'm reading the lyrics of "Luv U Sum," a rare track written by C.J. Holland and Lady Gaga. </p><p><br /></p><p>The lyrics are:</p><p>"Got your sugar right over here,</p><p>Not saccharin or fake my dear.</p><p>No-nonsense diet baby I’m,</p><p>Your sugarcane, on your mind.</p><p>It’s nothin’ you can’t handle babe,</p><p>Domino, not Splenda made.</p><p>So lick your lips and brace your tongue,</p><p>Get over here, you love you some."</p><p><br /></p><p>The first edit is an upbeat pop music edit, with additional vocals by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/baermusic/?hl=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BAER</a>. (You, too, can use the BAER sample pack in BandLab.) </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ataeXpewLlQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="ataeXpewLlQ"></iframe></div><br /><p>The second edit uses elements of horror movie soundtracks.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d_srMZfoBPo" width="320" youtube-src-id="d_srMZfoBPo"></iframe></div><br /><p>Which edit do you like better?</p><p><br /></p><p>If you want to collaborate in BandLab, you can find me at <a href="https://www.bandlab.com/erinrainbowlicks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.bandlab.com/erinrainbowlicks</a></p>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-83779851576826102562024-02-18T08:31:00.001-05:002024-02-18T08:31:36.538-05:00I Read Poetry With BandLab (YouTube Clips)In these three short YouTube clips, I read three poems. The first is by Sappho, the second is a found poem with text from a 1990s sociology textbook, and the third is by Aphra Behn. I recorded all of these clips in <a href="https://www.bandlab.com/erinrainbowlicks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BandLab</a>. <div><br /></div><div>I've been playing around with BandLab for the past week. I saw <a href="https://thatwritererinoriordan.tumblr.com/post/742512332783140864/by-the-way-if-you-have-access-to-linkedin" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">a post on Tumblr</a> about how anyone can make music, without knowing how to play an instrument or even owning an instrument, using some of the websites in the post. (Some of them are broken.) </div><div><br /></div><div>First, Sappho's "Now to please my little friend." This English translation is in the public domain; I found it in <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/42166/42166-h/42166-h.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Project Gutenberg</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ajwV6gxzTAM" width="320" youtube-src-id="ajwV6gxzTAM"></iframe></div><div><br /></div>Next, a found poem from an outdated sociology textbook.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JNgYUJ6dIsI" width="320" youtube-src-id="JNgYUJ6dIsI"></iframe></div><div><br /></div>Finally, a poem by Aphra Behn (1640-1689), one of the first women in English history to earn her living solely by her writing. She was a poet and playwright. In fact, she was the second-most performed playwright in her time, second only to England's poet laureate, John Dryden. John Dryden was so famous and beloved in the 17th century that he was buried in Westminster Abbey right next to <a href="https://twitter.com/LeVostreGC" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Geoffrey Chaucer</a>.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5CiqmHkS4ZM" width="320" youtube-src-id="5CiqmHkS4ZM"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">All of Aphra Behn's poems are in the public domain. She lived a really long time ago.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div><div><br /></div></div></div>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-23925053997195230652024-02-01T00:00:00.023-05:002024-02-10T13:19:05.468-05:00More Unfortunate, Mostly Literary, Happenings of Past Februaries<p><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/02/unfortunate-mostly-literary-happenings.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Read about The Day the Music Died and other February tragedies in last year's post here.</a></p><p><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;">Previous Installment in the "Bummer" Series: <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2024/01/more-unfortunate-literary-happenings-of.html?m=0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">More Unfortunate Literary Happenings of Past Januaries</a></span></p><p>A few updates:</p><p><b>February 2, 2022</b>: A pastor in Nashville, Tennessee, holds a burning of books he deems “demonic.” According to his loosely-organized, conspiratorial beliefs, a book counted as “demonic” if it was “anything tied to the Masonic Lodge.” It’s unclear whether these actions were influenced more by religious fanaticism or by mental illness.</p><p><b>February 6, 1998</b>: Austrian <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2017/09/my-favorite-songs-from-ready-player-one.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“Rock Me Amadeus” rocker Falco</a> (Johann Hölzel) dies in a traffic accident while on vacation in the Dominican Republic. He is 40 years old.</p><p><b>February 9, 1963</b>: In a racially-charged incident captured in song by <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/12/my-top-10-tumblr-posts-2023.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bob Dylan</a>, 51-year-old Hattie Carroll is working as a bar server at the Emerson Hotel in Baltimore. The hotel is hosting an event called the Spinster’s Ball. One of the guests, Billy Zantzinger, who is white, is excessively drunk and physically and verbally abusing both his wife Jane and the African-American wait staff at the event.</p><p>Zantziger hurls racial slurs and other verbal abuse at Carroll, then strikes her in the neck/upper shoulder region with his cane. Carroll immediate begins feeling numbness in her arm, and her co-workers notice her speech is slurred. She’s taken to the hospital, where Carroll dies of a brain hemorrhage. Zantziger is convicted of manslaughter for Carroll’s death, but his sentence is a paltry six months in prison and a $500 fine, plus a fine of $125 for assaulting the other wait staff.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmACHjv5AOn-pUTlGmaoBFQYscbDjSHxbcS41TnvtNceQ0V7-qzcRk-c7Jm4179MYV-jwZfBUo8eIvYTZXFUSKXA0qrjKgfFNgh5WVb9oHPycN28FUyEXiNYIah5afTxPVJKVhW0RVX-640u0O0Csqc3nPNlaQtF18zz1RWpKLUxcgrwn79HNEdEhBbiok/s600/Sheridan.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="392" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmACHjv5AOn-pUTlGmaoBFQYscbDjSHxbcS41TnvtNceQ0V7-qzcRk-c7Jm4179MYV-jwZfBUo8eIvYTZXFUSKXA0qrjKgfFNgh5WVb9oHPycN28FUyEXiNYIah5afTxPVJKVhW0RVX-640u0O0Csqc3nPNlaQtF18zz1RWpKLUxcgrwn79HNEdEhBbiok/s320/Sheridan.jpg" width="209" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portrait of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Swedish Nationalmuseum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>February 24, 1809</b>: London’s Drury Lane Theatre burns down. No one is injured, but the loss of the building is a financial disaster for its owner, Richard Brinsley Sheridan.</p><p><b>February 28, 1909</b>: Actor Irene Muza (a stage name) dies when her hairdresser accidentally sets her on fire. According to a Perth, Australia, newspaper account published March 30, 1909, “Before taking part in a charitable performance on Tuesday she sent for her hairdresser to come and dress her hair. The hairdresser had applied a petrol lotion, when a few drops of it fell upon the kitchen stove. The stuff, ignited in an instant, and the flames caught the actress's hair and her dressing-gown and the clothing of the hairdresser. [...] In a moment she was a mass of flame. A friend who was in an adjoining room tried to save her by tearing away the burning gown, but before this could be accomplished she had sustained terrible injuries. She was conveyed to the hospital, where she expired. Her hairdresser, who was also badly injured, lies in a precarious condition.”</p>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-78571486769326111202024-01-28T12:42:00.001-05:002024-01-28T12:42:23.886-05:00Audible.com Book Deals Thru January 31, 2024Get these Audible.com book deals through the end of January 2024.<div><br /></div><div>This book is an amazing primer on intersectional feminism. I'd recommend it to anybody. Tressie McMillan Cottom is brilliant. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge8QnY4XjoENU7hLmnapiXAjQ8pnKHfldoRi5mAsFpJadf1c4W23Mcu0oj5ppn76UIqR5MJlcGfq9PIycfAprxha6-8L3nRs16a4QBTyhU78Vgum-nTZhsby1OmUz2sSXKsa5eaTTovQRnyiJnz9RKWsr_0atTgpQ8cRTSg1RPjdI0KyOknH4bH6t9-Ph7/s514/Aud%201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="269" data-original-width="514" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge8QnY4XjoENU7hLmnapiXAjQ8pnKHfldoRi5mAsFpJadf1c4W23Mcu0oj5ppn76UIqR5MJlcGfq9PIycfAprxha6-8L3nRs16a4QBTyhU78Vgum-nTZhsby1OmUz2sSXKsa5eaTTovQRnyiJnz9RKWsr_0atTgpQ8cRTSg1RPjdI0KyOknH4bH6t9-Ph7/s320/Aud%201.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">46% off. Affiliate link: <a href="https://amzn.to/47VDSwy" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/47VDSwy</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>This special edition of <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2017/07/hag-seed-by-margaret-atwood.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Margaret Atwood's</a> <i>The Handmaid's Tale </i>is read by <a href="https://thatwritererinoriordan.tumblr.com/tagged/claire%20danes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Claire Danes</a>. It's disturbingly relevant now that Americans have lost our Constitutional right to privacy and states can tell us what we can and can't do with our own pregnancies. (Vote for people who will pick good Supreme Court justices, my fellow Americans. Don't stop there, but please do start there. I have no patience for non-voters in the year of our lord <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2013/04/i-need-another-book-like-i-need-hole-in.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Carly Rae Jepsen</a> 2024.)</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6nBev9En5-xd9JYu5mLYTQHmc_hd_O7fwtN6esCfd5ME2KIoTdatHdI9ldhGBTTOzQ1_VGeaTrCHkYSpjrQShRmYo-fsTqH3GaUbTqdvOw5CwVKpc40PsVfCOHBL5oAP0uMa2S63B0gcKd3maGkJXF9noioxM6oxs56Dn29Rwo7tXVWJliEHzHxup1Mgf/s652/Aud%202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="251" data-original-width="652" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6nBev9En5-xd9JYu5mLYTQHmc_hd_O7fwtN6esCfd5ME2KIoTdatHdI9ldhGBTTOzQ1_VGeaTrCHkYSpjrQShRmYo-fsTqH3GaUbTqdvOw5CwVKpc40PsVfCOHBL5oAP0uMa2S63B0gcKd3maGkJXF9noioxM6oxs56Dn29Rwo7tXVWJliEHzHxup1Mgf/s320/Aud%202.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">73% off. Affiliate link: <a href="https://amzn.to/3ucBy6F" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/3ucBy6F</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Thick and Other Essays is, of course, a wonderful choice to read during February, Black History Month. Or at any time of any other year. So is Alex Haley's <i>Autobiography of Malcolm X</i>, read here by the legendary Laurence Fishburne.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_OWIUn_9_17RcKlrtrGiWmkTXalhXoIeCBXhIoJHj5f8usKYtkM5zytW2yi3O6EhAGthkqZIfe7QV4LD_qdI2YbaShfwn31Er4NarLHa1f0bf1bsG8UYxmxvrb6hH44W8wtt4hPcuAA3zrVDiu5VE7KRHwgtLRkfIs0e3VsJOzRovX3C2RQGH9vn8ENNo/s573/Aud%203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="253" data-original-width="573" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_OWIUn_9_17RcKlrtrGiWmkTXalhXoIeCBXhIoJHj5f8usKYtkM5zytW2yi3O6EhAGthkqZIfe7QV4LD_qdI2YbaShfwn31Er4NarLHa1f0bf1bsG8UYxmxvrb6hH44W8wtt4hPcuAA3zrVDiu5VE7KRHwgtLRkfIs0e3VsJOzRovX3C2RQGH9vn8ENNo/s320/Aud%203.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">73% off. Affiliate link: <a href="https://amzn.to/3w0c2Sx" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/3w0c2Sx</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Not to turn this books post into All My Criticisms of the United States, but I'm still angry that I was taught in school that Malcolm X was some kind of "dangerous radical." That was only racism, Islamophobia, and an attempt to revisionist history. Almost all of the things Malcolm X said were factually accurate. He was right about <i>so much</i>. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm also angry that September 11, 2001 was 23 years ago and if you're a white American, you can still get away with so much public Islamophobia. It's sickening. It literally costs you zero dollars and zero cents to treat people who practice Islam as your fellow human beings who are each an individual person.</div><div><br /></div><div>I want Benjamin Netanyahu imprisoned at the Hague, next to Donald J. Trump, both of them awaiting their trials for crimes against humanity. This is a non-controversial statement: It's bad to starve your neighbors to death. That is an objectively bad thing. Every single Palestinian person is, objectively, entitled to eat food, drink water, and receive medical care. </div><div><br /></div><div>I've been told in the recent past that voting for President Joseph R. Biden is the same thing as supporting the genocide of Arabs in Gaza. I explicitly reject that notion.</div><div><br /></div><div>But that's me up on my soapbox again. Now back to books.</div><div><br /></div><div>Everybody likes <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/search/label/music" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">music</a>, right? You know her, you love her, you heard her song "All I Want for Christmas Is You" while you were shopping in December.<br /><br /><div><br /></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32LCWJh7SI-FMxiEpo1P6YsFgBplpBm3WRr-uRb7P6JMxM5pxPj5BZDAE2uoYxVlhckVN1c2g5Nk3uDaI_RSXbAp8VpNB2fM_JBkxefHQ0S0-W1rIASRi-_tGEVrXpu52QAsFfnQCuy5yvOqJlKJaquDqX4tFvDkBNhoHQuLRHHT3bupF8yrh2nSEXtsu/s535/Aud%204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="253" data-original-width="535" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32LCWJh7SI-FMxiEpo1P6YsFgBplpBm3WRr-uRb7P6JMxM5pxPj5BZDAE2uoYxVlhckVN1c2g5Nk3uDaI_RSXbAp8VpNB2fM_JBkxefHQ0S0-W1rIASRi-_tGEVrXpu52QAsFfnQCuy5yvOqJlKJaquDqX4tFvDkBNhoHQuLRHHT3bupF8yrh2nSEXtsu/s320/Aud%204.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">73% off. Affiliate link: <a href="https://amzn.to/3Szlsxc" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/3Szlsxc</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />This one looks interesting.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-W0l4EOnPs6OSzw1X7bektCTL02BsdKVa4K7SEiF3vFcDAc7R6uZYdTd6vXbLg7rstSt_923bCQyxRyJp4sJku5KsR-LECuwitbI8byNH7mlSIH05rhmLFoEv3ckKXNNN1mWpNhgomL_NObeV3hNLt97G2R66zliLEEGZyBgSCpMkTOT9tyPU2ZBV0vGQ/s659/Aud%206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="659" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-W0l4EOnPs6OSzw1X7bektCTL02BsdKVa4K7SEiF3vFcDAc7R6uZYdTd6vXbLg7rstSt_923bCQyxRyJp4sJku5KsR-LECuwitbI8byNH7mlSIH05rhmLFoEv3ckKXNNN1mWpNhgomL_NObeV3hNLt97G2R66zliLEEGZyBgSCpMkTOT9tyPU2ZBV0vGQ/s320/Aud%206.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">61% off. Affiliate link: <a href="https://amzn.to/47QVAl6" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/47QVAl6</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>I own <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/search/label/Louise%20Erdrich" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this one</a> in paperback. I haven't finished it yet, but the first chapter or so that I read seemed intriguing. I'll finish it one of these days.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO7HYTT3SRxJRPUxEIweS8Lr3m2uFMEfTl72eoc7Obqw3hiIldPY4QRNgex1KDvkvVYarMZL5-W63pWqdziSOduj9t3QFD3xF8pkyDvTiPV-M1ahdEIPCQ8I24XodKrgU8NJpu5unD8akDG-K5XV7tL9_JvCaL2GImmAHWunfsko63qTgJdfQhy8sSy1su/s440/Aud%207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="440" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO7HYTT3SRxJRPUxEIweS8Lr3m2uFMEfTl72eoc7Obqw3hiIldPY4QRNgex1KDvkvVYarMZL5-W63pWqdziSOduj9t3QFD3xF8pkyDvTiPV-M1ahdEIPCQ8I24XodKrgU8NJpu5unD8akDG-K5XV7tL9_JvCaL2GImmAHWunfsko63qTgJdfQhy8sSy1su/s320/Aud%207.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">71% off. Affiliate link: <a href="https://amzn.to/4bibIz1" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/4bibIz1</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>If <a href="https://thatwritererinoriordan.tumblr.com/tagged/mariah%20carey" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mariah Carey</a> isn't to your musical taste, maybe you're rather read about <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/search/label/Stevie%20Nicks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stevie Nicks</a>.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLIPkqOEVJByy5HlaOqD7jkDbK_0D5ZD5KEo-syfiWVSNgIKLUlEwAdE4fmmDKSxq78QM81-yIWH-DuM9LipiYnkDgaV8X9aimvKPEgjVSXXFAhz3hg2J2O26_30IbmCr5ISOWt0dVEanPOWkurRG5H2tbYY3doxCUSI_ea801VuRagMFQFXwmMAPnlC7Y/s460/Aud%208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="460" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLIPkqOEVJByy5HlaOqD7jkDbK_0D5ZD5KEo-syfiWVSNgIKLUlEwAdE4fmmDKSxq78QM81-yIWH-DuM9LipiYnkDgaV8X9aimvKPEgjVSXXFAhz3hg2J2O26_30IbmCr5ISOWt0dVEanPOWkurRG5H2tbYY3doxCUSI_ea801VuRagMFQFXwmMAPnlC7Y/s320/Aud%208.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Affiliate link: <a href="https://amzn.to/49aLk8h" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/49aLk8h</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div><div><br /></div><div>And lastly, this one is just for fun.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWXtFRXwXUy9CsUC1ywHxR-wVSPXqEV9NPxkDbA7NGuICSWL9CNce_8GY5RnBX92zIbYG1XLJc3RCBgb8uXM-QE9-uemqdMP1-8q0PhAW41-0E8rK6UAO2ULdX4TC5zpIB963VHQU_pCI2EKSotRMYcBYUgXO2xs279JlghPxF6Ow0r0IDaZV6miX2akP/s670/Aud%205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="670" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWXtFRXwXUy9CsUC1ywHxR-wVSPXqEV9NPxkDbA7NGuICSWL9CNce_8GY5RnBX92zIbYG1XLJc3RCBgb8uXM-QE9-uemqdMP1-8q0PhAW41-0E8rK6UAO2ULdX4TC5zpIB963VHQU_pCI2EKSotRMYcBYUgXO2xs279JlghPxF6Ow0r0IDaZV6miX2akP/s320/Aud%205.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">56% off. Affiliate link: <a href="https://amzn.to/3ukIui5" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/3ukIui5</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div></div></div>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-22944741425876769492024-01-27T11:50:00.003-05:002024-01-27T11:51:51.992-05:00A Spoken Word and Music Playlist for Lewis Carroll's Birthday<p>192 years ago today, on January 27, 1832, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (pen name: <a href="https://ko-fi.com/post/January-27-R6R8I76LH?justpublished=true&alias=January-27-R6R8I76LH" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lewis Carroll</a>) is born. Here's a Spotify playlist I made combining some spoken word tracks with music inspired by Carroll's best-known work, <i>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland</i> and <i>Through the Looking Glass</i>.<br /><br />Artists include <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2016/02/how-to-play-lovegame-in-5-gaga-steps.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lady Gaga</a>, Franz Ferdinand, Danny Elfman, <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-hanukkah-hotness-night-5-pnk.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">P!nk</a>, Taylor Swift, <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2020/05/a-poem-for-jewel-kilchers-birthday.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jewel</a>, and Clive Owen. Happy listening!</p><p><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/4QZO1yJy1lNVA4zpWhnVVE?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcHfWXEl3ChSPpEZdiU3jUwH81JLwPiMvlTfyIPoTcbV2xIEjWieXOJBXXYZoZNcQSXi55Fbu071TGXDMYUX8ZYgENvek08LGg77AD1TCj9cpcKOb4U3lTt6Rdl6adqlUOAmZQBOwpj_4KH6fZ-Zo39LxL_qym-WZLOq895VaHQVb8NximXE4XhCKm4Fzm/s300/Alice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcHfWXEl3ChSPpEZdiU3jUwH81JLwPiMvlTfyIPoTcbV2xIEjWieXOJBXXYZoZNcQSXi55Fbu071TGXDMYUX8ZYgENvek08LGg77AD1TCj9cpcKOb4U3lTt6Rdl6adqlUOAmZQBOwpj_4KH6fZ-Zo39LxL_qym-WZLOq895VaHQVb8NximXE4XhCKm4Fzm/s1600/Alice.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-12585400829041488442024-01-06T15:32:00.001-05:002024-01-06T15:32:28.093-05:00More Unfortunate Literary Happenings of Past Januaries<p><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/01/bummer-new-year-unfortunate-literary.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Read last year's post "Bummer New Year: Unfortunate (Mostly Literary) Happenings of Past Januaries."</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78Yz_goZS5F6gV-08uL45mhf-7Fw0IFI9ukdLC0yVFKee8jk72zKBigtNTE8SEkrbCo272q7FdcoReWOkIWmpAMmtXEJxhzZ4PZTdqi7bf0MiGjTq1Q1PubWC2ct4Dt272DG-b869pb1jvOMse__Kip_TAhEbqQHLAsCgv1zG3JDM_Jeog_4sVLbdZZJP/s700/Beloved.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="454" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78Yz_goZS5F6gV-08uL45mhf-7Fw0IFI9ukdLC0yVFKee8jk72zKBigtNTE8SEkrbCo272q7FdcoReWOkIWmpAMmtXEJxhzZ4PZTdqi7bf0MiGjTq1Q1PubWC2ct4Dt272DG-b869pb1jvOMse__Kip_TAhEbqQHLAsCgv1zG3JDM_Jeog_4sVLbdZZJP/s320/Beloved.JPG" width="208" /></a></div><p>Here are only a few more updates I've added over the past year:</p><p><br /></p><p><b>January 6, 1977</b>: Natalina Maria Vittoria “Dolly” Sinatra, age 79, the mother of singer/actor <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/11/song-ava-gardner.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Frank Sinatra</a>, dies when the private Learjet she’s taking to visit her famous son in Las Vegas crashes into the San Gorgonio Wilderness in southern California. Mrs. Sinatra’s friend Mrs. Anthony Carboni is also killed, along with the jet’s two pilots.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>January 13, 1908</b>: One hundred seventy-one people die as a result of a fire that started during the intermission of a stage play at Rhoads Opera House in Boyertown, Pennsylvania. The audience was in its seats to watch a Magic Lantern show. A Magic Lantern machine was a technology somewhat in between a slide show and a movie projector, with slide-like images that gradually faded into the next image.</p><p>The gases used to run the Magic Lantern caught fire after someone knocked over one of the kerosene lamps being used to light the stage. The dead include 170 audience members and one firefighter killed while responding. This tragedy spurs the Pennsylvania state legislature to pass a variety of safety laws governing indoor public spaces.</p><p>Incidentally, the playwright of the drama being performed was Harriet Earhart Monroe. Mrs. Monroe was not present, but her sister Della Earhart Meyers was on stage as the narrator or chorus of the drama. Della Earhart Myers was among those who perished. Harriet and Della were the sisters of Samuel Stanton Earhart, who was the father of aviator Amelia Earhart.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ed4jNb6jEas" width="320" youtube-src-id="Ed4jNb6jEas"></iframe></div><br /><p><b>January 14, 1986</b>: Actress <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2012/07/that-much-closer-to-eternity.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Donna Reed</a> dies of pancreatic cancer. She’s been diagnosed with the disease only three months earlier.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>January 15, 2018</b>: Limerick, Ireland’s alternative rock band <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2012/03/la-fheile-padraig-shona-daoibh-or-happy.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Cranberries’s lead singer Dolores O’Riordan</a> dies at age 46 after becoming intoxicated with Champagne and five small bottles of liquor and then accidentally drowning in a London hotel bathtub.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>January 26, 2010</b>: Boa Sr, an approximately 65-year-old woman of the Bo people on her mother’s side and the Jeru people on her father’s side, dies. She was the last fluent native speaker of the Aka-Bo language of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, part of India.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>January 28, 1856</b>: Robert and Margaret (called Peggy) Garner and their four children, an enslaved family running for their freedom along the Underground Railroad, shelter at the home of free person of color Joseph Kite on the west side of Cincinnati, Ohio. U.S. Marshalls, required by the cruel Fugitive Slave Act to track down escaping enslaved persons, surround Mr. Kite’s home and demand the surrender of the Garner party. </p><p>To their horror, Peggy has attempted to kill her two sons and two daughters rather than seeing them returned to slavery in Kentucky. She’s succeeded in killing her second-youngest child, her 2-year-old daughter Mary. She’d intended to kill her children and then herself; the other three children were wounded but survived. After a trial, the surviving Garners were forced back into enslavement. Peggy Garner’s story became the basis of <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/search/label/Toni%20Morrison" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Toni Morrison</a>’s novel <i>Beloved</i>.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>January 31, 1957</b>: A Douglas DC-7B aircraft takes off from Santa Monica Airport on a test flight, accompanied by two U.S. Air Force Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jets. The role of the jets is to test the DC-7B’s radar capabilities. At 11:18 a.m. local time, one of the Scorpions collides with the DC-7B. The pilot of the Scorpion is killed in the crash; the radar operator ejects from the jet, and despite severe burns and a broken leg, survives. </p><p>All four crew members aboard the DC-7B are killed when the craft crashes, partially into the grounds of Pacoima Congregational Church and partially into the grounds of Pacoima Junior High School, where a boys’ gym class is taking place outdoors. Three students are killed, and approximately 75 students are injured by falling debris. </p><p>Among the witnesses of the mid-air collision is musician <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2013/02/imbolc-buddy-holly-and-human-sacrifice.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ritchie Valens</a>, 15 years old at the time. Valens himself will die in a plane crash two years and three days later. </p>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-59213783028956972322023-12-31T09:47:00.004-05:002023-12-31T10:56:56.181-05:00My Top 10 Tumblr Posts 2023<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd22f8J0kYAD4FkIcQczM1dbus82YOc2OGM0mee7wqzKMlFM5nKVJJ8fJPZCcjEKxbI08KEfr0Xf28Ob-u-p3ahU4qrYzBPBcro5hC5tfX0ypGmwy2IaGxHHO5lzjW-zafVHLi-MpdfTCvzYLtjJUQfrh4rYpaW4xsSN965snEgkwlVtl_AEnXyHCN_HtI/s389/Tumblr%201.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="389" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd22f8J0kYAD4FkIcQczM1dbus82YOc2OGM0mee7wqzKMlFM5nKVJJ8fJPZCcjEKxbI08KEfr0Xf28Ob-u-p3ahU4qrYzBPBcro5hC5tfX0ypGmwy2IaGxHHO5lzjW-zafVHLi-MpdfTCvzYLtjJUQfrh4rYpaW4xsSN965snEgkwlVtl_AEnXyHCN_HtI/s320/Tumblr%201.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />My #1 post this year, about the end of <i><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/05/unfortunate-mostly-literary-happenings.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ted Lasso</a></i>, got 401 notes.<p></p><p>This was my #2 post.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50ib4lHwsArEgJr4zj9tk2YBwlPPZzmdDm6w5DG2mcp_IBCaiCY66ke_iEbaJR8IF_JMTrvJJqY2Kid6ZGLRloagtKATEBbD3T4kFms6F6MMI9P7GUG__T0_ga1N4i_ZhNWy-kxTENF5f3uZ6no-VQd6FhJ-8Uk-cAKQpAOznxT7l9aDmyuYDIJETgXDH/s614/Tumblr%202.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="614" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50ib4lHwsArEgJr4zj9tk2YBwlPPZzmdDm6w5DG2mcp_IBCaiCY66ke_iEbaJR8IF_JMTrvJJqY2Kid6ZGLRloagtKATEBbD3T4kFms6F6MMI9P7GUG__T0_ga1N4i_ZhNWy-kxTENF5f3uZ6no-VQd6FhJ-8Uk-cAKQpAOznxT7l9aDmyuYDIJETgXDH/w400-h136/Tumblr%202.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>The answer is, Jonathan Crane did earn his degrees at a young age, but he wasn't an M.D. He didn't go to pre-med, medical school, and a psychiatric residency. He was a Ph.D. That's still a lot of years of school, but fewer than the psychiatry track.<div><br /></div><div>My next-most-popular post was about <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/12/hanukkah-night-8.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hanukkah</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ZaA-X9OW9_c4SvpB28-Qao9jPjiHMvmI5AeLRzi5iSm1R8U7AzKxsMqh1Mqimg6aIg5nvqnqFEQoEEU09Hj7-OYi9FQHXgRptfDmdeRoKWYOU86aAOWNCnrpWltZTNwqsGK4RrpqdPuGHBSTnxAZ5aeHfS4RqobeFNzcfauztoLUa-ksbBOrcOsv0TRh/s611/Tumblr%203.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="611" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ZaA-X9OW9_c4SvpB28-Qao9jPjiHMvmI5AeLRzi5iSm1R8U7AzKxsMqh1Mqimg6aIg5nvqnqFEQoEEU09Hj7-OYi9FQHXgRptfDmdeRoKWYOU86aAOWNCnrpWltZTNwqsGK4RrpqdPuGHBSTnxAZ5aeHfS4RqobeFNzcfauztoLUa-ksbBOrcOsv0TRh/w400-h314/Tumblr%203.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>Then there were 2 posts stolen from Facebook, followed by a photo I snapped of my neighbor's Barbie-themed <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2022/10/bummer-halloween-awful-things-that.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Halloween</a> decorations.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj96g5KVhpD7aKRAfoWxrgoqnfNMGHRdT99_YH1aMyfln2OJQgSJUuzvtcmZT7SV8W5u_Gz75IEVxgTVFqXpw1_7Pis72cFFFzk186R5mb1fm2a4jZkNB4St4Sb5gu-ZP2Yc1z0pcHYFRfkO1l8fCLtPEjtFrFHPMVsU_jO7TqjkxCxAL-Pmc3RjZhp6uw3/s1153/Tumblr%204.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="1153" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj96g5KVhpD7aKRAfoWxrgoqnfNMGHRdT99_YH1aMyfln2OJQgSJUuzvtcmZT7SV8W5u_Gz75IEVxgTVFqXpw1_7Pis72cFFFzk186R5mb1fm2a4jZkNB4St4Sb5gu-ZP2Yc1z0pcHYFRfkO1l8fCLtPEjtFrFHPMVsU_jO7TqjkxCxAL-Pmc3RjZhp6uw3/w640-h234/Tumblr%204.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>My chosen <a href="https://thatwritererinoriordan.tumblr.com/tagged/Richard%20Scarry" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Richard Scarry</a> car is pickle, by the way.<br /><p>I feel very strongly about the human right to bodily autonomy.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji6163kmkBq8bt0FXUDDXFCzejQAr47lrPuV65dPL-ISebXvjLjZRfa9TJ_IgIdXLLfpEk6HsqGNZkk-E7MjSZJKxWNjzQtnJGRoFWkQjaO8gMGX_p4REoWii8NbPHRntZqTR02aatTxrwoRlB5Aj-_VCMqSWahxo2QynwjohuKt4KoleDa_9IZ18_8QpT/s612/Tumblr%205.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="253" data-original-width="612" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji6163kmkBq8bt0FXUDDXFCzejQAr47lrPuV65dPL-ISebXvjLjZRfa9TJ_IgIdXLLfpEk6HsqGNZkk-E7MjSZJKxWNjzQtnJGRoFWkQjaO8gMGX_p4REoWii8NbPHRntZqTR02aatTxrwoRlB5Aj-_VCMqSWahxo2QynwjohuKt4KoleDa_9IZ18_8QpT/w400-h165/Tumblr%205.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>And I also think about <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/11/my-spotify-wrapped-2023.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bob Dylan</a> a lot.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy6-dXmOnZ1H-k9ORwPBI8pd_RQYBS7UqwsHxltyvaEjHCbtJLNjX8t7kwD3iRD6oh1xLop3IHm4wn_MEW4SxiCFdbgfedszGyq4YdVIgkcKH4TjHUEDQKXOiVgvHoUM2Z094ahmz8dXp0R9qJKwxYo-bzc6WL45tRi9lKJfWhxe6D1MJKDD1TcVKeA3B5/s609/Tumblr%206.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="204" data-original-width="609" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy6-dXmOnZ1H-k9ORwPBI8pd_RQYBS7UqwsHxltyvaEjHCbtJLNjX8t7kwD3iRD6oh1xLop3IHm4wn_MEW4SxiCFdbgfedszGyq4YdVIgkcKH4TjHUEDQKXOiVgvHoUM2Z094ahmz8dXp0R9qJKwxYo-bzc6WL45tRi9lKJfWhxe6D1MJKDD1TcVKeA3B5/w400-h134/Tumblr%206.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Sometimes I read graphic novels.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuCcmVLQH9PzgErpwyPGPPFV9IVtK3w2HlS_U-mXRVENtnHhZZ4hXTRIsG1C4EhyHs7erSVeDOSIelRIsghWlEMQNsXzGOCYwf8I2WD1-02WUzVKXZlFrW5BgJtO25kTJARHVvyoIkncV99f0qqyFdwpFJX2wnbK3iYDvnCOvc6KAZEGDfDgH-crTh4qCX/s349/Tumblr%207.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="349" data-original-width="257" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuCcmVLQH9PzgErpwyPGPPFV9IVtK3w2HlS_U-mXRVENtnHhZZ4hXTRIsG1C4EhyHs7erSVeDOSIelRIsghWlEMQNsXzGOCYwf8I2WD1-02WUzVKXZlFrW5BgJtO25kTJARHVvyoIkncV99f0qqyFdwpFJX2wnbK3iYDvnCOvc6KAZEGDfDgH-crTh4qCX/s320/Tumblr%207.JPG" width="236" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Affiliate link: <a href="https://amzn.to/47k3K4Y" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/47k3K4Y</a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>My 10th post popular post was: <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4UWgesAGEUReCl1MK2tGoPCMLn_KnvGVBxCxNsyqMiaKRDu68SYoy-ypO_5-0iTaGw51O0T-JfxHDzM2s_UodcOY6BYnDin0ktVcZqdeh9BZIxq64QBqJf97yIQWADsOwaaT8SD_mHss541x-LFNtJv-vee6qMnklqo-LmDKVKiDCwTlcM3ZFztfY3d6/s577/Tumblr%208.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="508" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4UWgesAGEUReCl1MK2tGoPCMLn_KnvGVBxCxNsyqMiaKRDu68SYoy-ypO_5-0iTaGw51O0T-JfxHDzM2s_UodcOY6BYnDin0ktVcZqdeh9BZIxq64QBqJf97yIQWADsOwaaT8SD_mHss541x-LFNtJv-vee6qMnklqo-LmDKVKiDCwTlcM3ZFztfY3d6/s320/Tumblr%208.JPG" width="282" /></a></div><br /><div>...a comparison between this <i>M*A*S*H</i> text post meme and Audra McDonald, Anne Hathaway, and Raul Esparza starring in a production of Shakespeare’s <i><a href="https://ko-fi.com/post/January-6-On-the-12th-Day-of-Christmas-R6R6HLA7I" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twelfth Night</a> </i>that ran from June-July 2009 in Central Park, part of New York City’s annual Shakespeare in the Park tradition.</div><div><br /></div><div>Follow <a href="https://thatwritererinoriordan.tumblr.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">me on Tumblr</a> for more literary and pop culture shenanigans.</div>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-9272499081266860192023-12-19T17:50:00.002-05:002023-12-19T17:50:52.267-05:00My Goodreads 2023 Reading Challenge<p> I read 32 books this year, or at least 32 books that I remembered to enter into Goodreads. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGDxilabvSllCkAQ0NOcFLwUhk7NOWLIZn-Zni0bIbx87zH07keamSPVjvqnPBQHpcX_TjjECuruOfd-smZ79nJ9sJxFQ2FBwaVNX6_djPrjD6R3S9UBqjNbu1cXE_ioiFQHEwL2hNykg5mkCQ8wmmCKCWT3CuvrwBPqGrICGdwpTDNJlcpinNjpsDVsa/s630/Goodreads%201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="272" data-original-width="630" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGDxilabvSllCkAQ0NOcFLwUhk7NOWLIZn-Zni0bIbx87zH07keamSPVjvqnPBQHpcX_TjjECuruOfd-smZ79nJ9sJxFQ2FBwaVNX6_djPrjD6R3S9UBqjNbu1cXE_ioiFQHEwL2hNykg5mkCQ8wmmCKCWT3CuvrwBPqGrICGdwpTDNJlcpinNjpsDVsa/s320/Goodreads%201.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p>You may remember me mentioning Greg Jenner's history of celebrity, <i>Dead Famous</i>, in <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/12/four-vignettes.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this bit of fiction titled "Four Vignettes."</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMCxyDwUfGX11SdpNFXquJFHR5HfP7P2ddv7DH5jq5HHtq7zCOSfIJioMwIcMpumOb1ZORTsSYnyQC9bsfiBdEYqy7uHfCkDkAR5PanvexJUwCz41d8tylP1ug0wZxEZNgwCIy3Jh_gcWOQENOt6_T-QGrccXVAhlmC4DQQQiEJrU9MRBeNRA7lvlrId8N/s630/Goodreads%202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="630" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMCxyDwUfGX11SdpNFXquJFHR5HfP7P2ddv7DH5jq5HHtq7zCOSfIJioMwIcMpumOb1ZORTsSYnyQC9bsfiBdEYqy7uHfCkDkAR5PanvexJUwCz41d8tylP1ug0wZxEZNgwCIy3Jh_gcWOQENOt6_T-QGrccXVAhlmC4DQQQiEJrU9MRBeNRA7lvlrId8N/s320/Goodreads%202.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Full review of <i><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/09/book-review-little-crazy-children-by.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Little, Crazy Children</a></i> here. <div><br /></div><div><i>Luster</i> by Raven Leilani, which I finally got around to reading after owning a paperback copy for, oh, two years or so, was definitely one of the best books I read this year. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfB5WArhE_pSlDqGA8bymNvo8cveeE0p2agj71CTSje67LSCc4itXGJB9uJtAvUwkYp22Y3AjUkpcQrQW60Eof9atU2JrTsrowUvuCg8wE4e-SDEQqpk01V2qmCqObzUsQF05w3_Oayo16w_hi3nyRtB0U73OazpKgCYnP0lkc0S7ee4ZUKbxJIzGMtvv8/s625/Goodreads%203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="625" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfB5WArhE_pSlDqGA8bymNvo8cveeE0p2agj71CTSje67LSCc4itXGJB9uJtAvUwkYp22Y3AjUkpcQrQW60Eof9atU2JrTsrowUvuCg8wE4e-SDEQqpk01V2qmCqObzUsQF05w3_Oayo16w_hi3nyRtB0U73OazpKgCYnP0lkc0S7ee4ZUKbxJIzGMtvv8/s320/Goodreads%203.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><p>Brief review of <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/06/book-review-true-crime-addict-by-james.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>True Crime Addict</i> here</a>. </p><p>Gabriel Byrne's memoir <i>Walking With Ghosts</i> was my other favorite book I read this year. I could hardly put that thing down. If he hadn't stumbled upon acting (beginning with an Irish soap opera), he might have had a wonderful career as a novelist. <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2014/02/movie-review-vampire-academy.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">And he's still my sweet, sweet baby.</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-P9Q-G9E-5YkvMWuG78222aVbzWY-ud0tAL3jZVpPu14DONiv9XmqIjuoDPegL5hF7qtA9TaOLPWQWYp6Z1VbW54Bht5d0H0agk1cf5TumLyP-_Z1T1d-NF5tEmVs4f2tBqr_-m4btnuvL6lnzoJ-ioaAzUgHYZq0ETQ5I2ry_HZmY0UMM2CW8duPFXS/s622/Goodreads%204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="622" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-P9Q-G9E-5YkvMWuG78222aVbzWY-ud0tAL3jZVpPu14DONiv9XmqIjuoDPegL5hF7qtA9TaOLPWQWYp6Z1VbW54Bht5d0H0agk1cf5TumLyP-_Z1T1d-NF5tEmVs4f2tBqr_-m4btnuvL6lnzoJ-ioaAzUgHYZq0ETQ5I2ry_HZmY0UMM2CW8duPFXS/s320/Goodreads%204.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p>That Neil Gaiman short story anthology was really good, too. My paperback came signed by Neil Gaiman. Tit Elingtin bought it on <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2022/05/i-saw-neil-gaiman-last-night.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the day we heard Neil Gaiman in person.</a></p><p>What were your favorite reads from 2023?</p></div>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-11983596824681028562023-12-18T06:19:00.077-05:002023-12-18T06:19:00.135-05:00Four Vignettes<p><i>I don't know what this is. Maybe it was inspired by my <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/11/my-spotify-wrapped-2023.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify Wrapped</a>? I'm still not sure I'm using the word "pastiche" correctly. I pulled at a few different threads and I wove this, whatever it is.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><b>One.</b></p><p><a href="https://thatwritererinoriordan.tumblr.com/tagged/robert%20sheehan" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Robert Sheehan</a> is outside my window again. Lucky for me, I'm on the 2nd floor, in my writer's studio above the corner bodega and he's standing on the sidewalk.</p><p>The window is open.</p><p>"Eileen!" he shouts up. "Come on, Eileen."</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6BODDyZRF6A" width="320" youtube-src-id="6BODDyZRF6A"></iframe></div><p>I leave my chair, push aside the pink-and-gray buffalo check curtain and peer down at him. </p><p>Putting his Irish accent on thick, he sings, "Believe me, if all those enduring young charms..."</p><p>"I'm dreaming," I say, interrupting his croon. "This is because I said you should play Kevin Rowland in a movie about Dexys Midnight Runners."</p><p>"Not a dream," he half-says, half-sings. "Don't you want to come down and go for a walk with me, just around the neighborhood?"</p><p>"No." The smell of hot tortilla chips warming in the bodega below makes my nostrils flare. I imagine the salt crystals on their flat surfaces. Craving the warmth and salt, I feel a hunger pang.</p><p>"Why not?"</p><p>"I've got things to do."</p><p>"Like what?"</p><p>I gesture at my laptop. "I have to write things. Legitimate things, fresh things, not just this <a href="https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol/CreativeWriting/323/WhereAreYouGoing.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Joyce Carol Oates</a> pastiche."</p><p>"Eileen, you ain't telling the truth."</p><p>"Not my name," I remind him.</p><p>"Eileen, Erin, whatever. This is your day set aside for going for a walk with me and you know it."</p><p>I feel threatened. I close the window and go back to my laptop.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Two.</b></p><p>I walk into the little Historic Downtown Irvington shop on Washington Street that used to be the ice cream shop that sold bubble tea. I see the new owner has rebranded it as a 1950s-themed nostalgia diner. The bubble tea options and anime keepsakes are gone, but the ice cream counter remains, as do about a dozen shiny, chrome milkshake blenders.</p><p>The brightly lit Wurlitzer jukebox in the corner plays <a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/2CSc9piC2paA385jhFIXcR?si=YLhZjt01QVGn5H2fby38mg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“Drugstore Rock'N'Roll” by Janis Martin</a>. The cheerful song paints the perfect picture of midcentury innocence.*</p><p>At one high table sits Edgar Allan Poe. His dark brown suit fits him well, although the foot the dangles from the long-legged chair has an untied shoelace. Catching me in his blue-eyed gaze, he says, “This was her favorite place.”</p><p>I’m confused. He died in the 1840s, over a century before the trope of the ‘50s malt shop emerged.</p><p>“I’m sorry?” I say. “ 'She’ is –?”</p><p>“Was,” he corrects me. “She was my Annabel Lee.”</p><p><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/6h4Iq6nTOtJLgj7DJzObWC?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe></p><p>I shake my head as I take the seat across from him. He offers me a sip of his milkshake, turning the straw toward me. I know I shouldn’t, but I indulge myself in a sweet sip of Poe’s chocolate malt.</p><p>I then continue, “This couldn’t have been her favorite place; that’s a line from that MC Lars song, 'Annabel Lee R.I.P.’”</p><p>He shrugs. Poe looks sad and beautiful but not morose. Despite his Gothic reputation, there’s nothing gloomy or goth about him. He’s every bit the Southern gentleman, gracious and effortlessly charming. I want to touch his dark hair where it starts to curl, just behind his ear.</p><p>I excuse myself to use the restroom. In the mirror, my eyes are less green and much more hazel than usual. <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/44231536" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Am I Christian Bale? No, I’m Augustus Landor.</a> My clothes are careworn and I want to go back to my cottage.</p><p>Well, perhaps one more sip of Poe’s chocolate malt first.</p><p>*The song is about a drugstore. The former drugstore with the soda fountain, the one robbed by <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2020/10/haunted-indiana-by-james-willis.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John Dillinger</a>, is up the block a bit and on the other side of the street, across from the present-day library.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ddbL9jvg77w" width="320" youtube-src-id="ddbL9jvg77w"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><b>Three.</b></p><p>John Legend, wearing a fashionable off-white suit, sits at his white piano, playing me a Christmas song in front of a roaring fire. Actually, he’s singing me <a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/7BuWQYikBlO6q2W3I7gOfY?si=dZlBZChBQQyb8QYW99dowA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“The Christmas Song.”</a></p><p>“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…”</p><p>“Happy birthday,” I blurt out.</p><p>“My birthday isn’t until the 28th. I’m an after-Christmas baby.”</p><p>I say, “You’re the Christmas baby; you’re <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2018/06/when-bedtime-reading-enters-my-dreams.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jesus Christ Superstar</a>.”</p><p>He laughs, and I can’t tell whether he’s more surprised or amused.</p><p>Presently the fireplace-warmed air grew hotter. This was no winter wonderland. Were we in Jerusalem? Beyond John I spot a man with copious sandy-blond hair wearing black eyeliner and a keffiyeh.</p><p>“Judas,” I say upon the appearance of Tim Minchin.</p><p><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/526mDk6dMvJqgtMpsEy8PP?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe></p><p>“Jesus Christ,” he says, approaching John, seemingly moving in to kiss him. They lock eyes and I feel I’m witnessing something I’m not meant to see.</p><p>“…Superstar,” I mutter to myself as I turn away to give them their privacy. I muse aloud, “I can appreciate casting Alice Cooper as King Herod; I appreciate his showmanship. You know else might have made an interesting casting choice? Murray Head, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/0SNdbPLYfU8XtufuJj62vP?si=MGhd742HRUCvkyW9-kV-wg&context=spotify%3Aplaylist%3A37i9dQZF1Fa1IIVtEpGUcU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the original album-Judas Superstar</a>, coming back to play King Herod.”</p><p>We stand before his throne now: King Murray Head.</p><p><a href="https://ko-fi.com/post/January-25-Burns-Supper-B0B1I59EM" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Blame W. Somerset Maugham. He had a birthday (January 25)</a>, I remembered that his Oriental Hotel suite is name-checked in “One Night in Bangkok,” and soon I’m detecting something wistful in Murray Head ballads that speaks to me as something other than merely an ‘80s kid.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rgc_LRjlbTU" width="320" youtube-src-id="rgc_LRjlbTU"></iframe></div><p>“Now see what you’ve done?” Jesus Christ Superstar admonishes me. “You chose to lean fully into your 1980s nostalgia and now I’m going to be crucified.”</p><p>Is Tim Minchin Judas wearing lip gloss? And is it a bit smudged now?</p><p>“I’m not interested in matters of Jewish law tonight,” King Murray Head says in the crispest English accent you’ve heard since <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-falcon-and-winter-soldier-and-baron.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ralph Fiennes</a>. Offering me a doubtful smile, he adds, “My dear, would you care to join me in the Somerset Maugham Suite?”</p><p>“I thought you got your kicks above the waistline, sunshine,” the saucy Aussie chimes in.</p><p>King Murray Head shrugs. “I’m only human. We can’t all be Jesus Christ Superstar.”</p><p>I’m sexualizing that old man. I desire him carnally. <a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/7mA2kv8kbTZyBK83jA8TTY?si=pf1YifZVRv-do8qRtt2sfQ&context=spotify%3Aplaylist%3A37i9dQZF1Fa1IIVtEpGUcU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">But will he love me tomorrow?</a> I'm guessing no, but that's ok. Nothing lasts forever.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Four.</b></p><p>I’m tucked snugly, quite comfortably into my 4-post bed, the curtains drawn around me, blissfully asleep in the warm and the dark. The sound of my name awakens me.</p><p>“Who’s there?” I ask. It had better not be Robert Sheehan.</p><p>“Charles Dickens,” comes the reply. This is what I get for reading <a href="https://amzn.to/4acHn43" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Greg Jenner’s <i>Dead Famous</i></a> before bed.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNq37WWfGCnp_WPzeYKyovp0l0Diu0Cp1HBh6IZB4d9XpsoYIeP6nhuzQZm7IxfdknC941f7X8U_QQKg97Bf9TCUmGYqr-ib5p70g9TsD4sc-7YYiR6sn6GKTzmklYMzRdL0Oh3lz_sHJ6phKJ-aFEmBB6LIpcdGLrvIN23osECROoFp_5pcURNkGhQkHK/s391/Dead%20Famous.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="252" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNq37WWfGCnp_WPzeYKyovp0l0Diu0Cp1HBh6IZB4d9XpsoYIeP6nhuzQZm7IxfdknC941f7X8U_QQKg97Bf9TCUmGYqr-ib5p70g9TsD4sc-7YYiR6sn6GKTzmklYMzRdL0Oh3lz_sHJ6phKJ-aFEmBB6LIpcdGLrvIN23osECROoFp_5pcURNkGhQkHK/s320/Dead%20Famous.JPG" width="206" /></a></div><p>But I know that distinctive voice. I part the bed curtains. “Dan Stevens?!” I ask incredulously, laying eyes on the extremely handsome English actor in the early morning light.</p><p>“It’s Charles Dickens,” Dan Stevens insists. He’s brought a friend.</p><p>“And John Forster,” adds Justin Edwards-in-Victorian-costume.</p><p>Accepting that these British thespians are in character as their <i><a href="https://amzn.to/4ao4qcy" target="_blank">The Man Who Invented Christmas</a></i> counterparts, I ask, “Are you the Ghosts of Christmas Past? Am I dreaming?</p><p>“Neither,” says John/Justin, pulling a pie sprinkled with sugar seemingly out of nowhere.</p><p>That explained nothing. I thought back to Robert Sheehan telling me his creepy Oatesian visit wasn’t a dream. I then grew distracted by the state of my bedroom, suddenly filled with evergreen trees and boughs decorated with silver baubles, iridescent glass bubbles, and magical flickering candles. I smelled cinnamon and cloves; was someone mulling red wine in my bedroom?</p><p>It was beginning to look a lot like Victorian Christmas and smell like it too. My chamber suddenly possessed a long dining table on which there lay a roasted turkey, an enormous figgy pudding, and a rapidly-multiplying host of 19th-century holiday delicacies that would have made <a href="https://thatwritererinoriordan.tumblr.com/tagged/ichabod%20crane" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ichabod Crane’s</a> head explode.</p><p>“And you’re saying you two are not the Ghosts of Christmas Past?” I asked my guests for clarification.</p><p>Seating themselves at the table, they denied being ghosts a second time as they helped themselves to a portion of the mouth-watering feast.</p><p>“Tuck in,” said Charles/Dan.</p><p>I serve myself, but soon notice how the actors favor each other’s company, eat from each other’s plates, and feed one another. They’d constructed an elaborate ritual that allowed them to touch one another without social judgment.</p><p>“What is this?” I wonder out loud.</p><p>“You could think of it as recursion,” Charles/Dan says. “Each Christmas harks back to every other Christmas. This Christmas reminds you of childhood Christmases, which in turn retains elements of Victorian Christmas past, which in turn bears marks of earlier traditions, and so on.</p><p>“One might say,” remarks John/Justin, “that, in a sense, there has only ever been one Christmas and we return to it every year. We practice the myth of eternal return when we practice Christmas.” His thumb traces a line of cream that Charles/ Dan has smeared on his cheek, then eats the errant cream.</p><p>“I still don’t understand why I’m here,” I say. “Why was it necessary for me to be the Scrooge in this drama?”</p><p>“It isn’t,” Charles/Dan says flatly. “We merely need your bed.”</p><p>With that they abandon their feast and retire to my comfy bed, drawing the curtains behind them. I politely ignore their pleasured sighs as I slice into a steaming plum pie, but internally I wish they’d gotten a different room. I knew the Somerset Maugham Suite at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok had recently been vacated.</p><p><br /></p><p>* * *</p><p><br /></p><p>Author’s Note: <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/search/label/Oliver%20Sacks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Oliver Sacks</a> wrote that Charles Dickens had a haunted mind, but didn’t explain that statement and then very sadly passed away. I began to understand it when I read about the railway accident he was involved in. I now believe that perhaps Dr. Sacks also meant that Dickens was haunted by his childhood poverty. This is depicted in <i>The Man Who Invented Christmas</i> and discussed in <i>Dead Famous</i>.</p><p>But then <a href=" https://open.spotify.com/episode/42Lxa7D0KN8wIuYFaKwt20?si=GLdHTQOJTT6pFN4D91KNSA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">in this podcast</a>, Helena Kelly spilled the absolute tea on Dickens and found out that he might have been lying about working in a boot blacking factory?! And he probably had syphilis, which he gave to Kate and the children - some of them may have died from it! - and maybe her sister too?! I don’t want to slut shame Charles Dickens, but I do think I understand what Dr. Sacks meant a lot more deeply now.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZyNSkiPrY84e4x1Qv5yZGRvfuDUgh4w2WLOZK6YMWqFcuYwaw3ozRDHWtMy0k-Iyvf1MTPMLyLXIAjTxf1duGnJkGoRmcdCC08WBgVKifRwBOWAHLNl0d34r285WTXUrY97Eapo7r9QyVltz2l79LMxiIWj87huRKENzCqfUIRmOfAZqrydqbaJuSGDXb/s379/Helena.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="251" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZyNSkiPrY84e4x1Qv5yZGRvfuDUgh4w2WLOZK6YMWqFcuYwaw3ozRDHWtMy0k-Iyvf1MTPMLyLXIAjTxf1duGnJkGoRmcdCC08WBgVKifRwBOWAHLNl0d34r285WTXUrY97Eapo7r9QyVltz2l79LMxiIWj87huRKENzCqfUIRmOfAZqrydqbaJuSGDXb/s320/Helena.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is an affiliate link: <a href="https://amzn.to/3RdXQwk" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/3RdXQwk</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p>But I wouldn’t be sad if the ghost of Dr. Oliver Sacks wanted to visit me and talk about it. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3jTHYsu54wp7ZtHXxJzYO22W3144y9S7ZVzJ-IGbvAKgwOcxXcD9jfC49l55wDki9KN4YzF3xc3Fc2MJQyYWfoRInITr_w-EPjH4wDRYvZrUwnXFGQvc8tHTPwmrbO9EE5eMeY6s11_Afyxh726dPP8FQ-oBr6lz_L6iBazsngxwWBv8kDAgIPeiCZpzN/s412/Say%20It%20Aint%20So.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="412" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3jTHYsu54wp7ZtHXxJzYO22W3144y9S7ZVzJ-IGbvAKgwOcxXcD9jfC49l55wDki9KN4YzF3xc3Fc2MJQyYWfoRInITr_w-EPjH4wDRYvZrUwnXFGQvc8tHTPwmrbO9EE5eMeY6s11_Afyxh726dPP8FQ-oBr6lz_L6iBazsngxwWBv8kDAgIPeiCZpzN/s320/Say%20It%20Aint%20So.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-61590915613553519422023-12-15T06:30:00.036-05:002023-12-19T18:25:10.233-05:00Andre Braugher: May His Memory Be a Blessing<p>All right, 2023 and I are officially fighting now. First it had the audacity to take away <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/05/tina-turner-tribute.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tina Turner</a>. Now I find out the sublime actor <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2012/02/when-bigger-isnt-always-better.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Andre Braugher of </a><i><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2012/02/when-bigger-isnt-always-better.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Homicide: Life on the Street</a> </i>and <i>Brooklyn Nine Nine</i> has passed away at the too-young age of 61. He had <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/brooklyn-nine-nine-actor-andre-braugher-died-lung-cancer-rep-said-rcna129790" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lung cancer</a>.</p><p><a href="https://ko-fi.com/post/March-14-Pi-Day-3-14-M4M5JHOIZ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">March 14</a>, 1998: Therese and I went to Scotsdale Mall [in South Bend, Indiana]...went to the Hacienda restaurant, ate fried ice cream, then went to the movie theater, where we saw <i>The Man in the Iron Mask</i>. Set in the 1660s and based on <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/search/label/Alexandre%20Dumas" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Alexandre Dumas’s</a> 1850 novel, this is a good, old-fashioned story. Great ending, beautifully filmed, good score. My one complaint was that I had to see Gerard Depardieu’s bare ass. </p><p>One of the movie trailers I saw was for a movie with Nicholas Cage and Andre Braugher. It looked like an American version of <i><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2013/10/when-two-pieces-of-my-young-adulthood.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Faraway, So Close</a></i>. [Wikipedia calls <i>City of Angels</i> a “loose remake” of Wim Wenders’s film <i>Wings of Desire</i>, of which <i>Faraway, So Close</i> is the sequel.]</p><p><b><u>From this point on, beware of spoilers for <i>Homicide: Life on the Street</i>.</u></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_QuILX_1nIdeLwdq8dclJ-U6zpfeh3UauaWSblTDAN5paW6UVmm3YMIWepo7_M1ilkIatKkPjLmWewOhZJVRKnk5bRxF-b6nJXUethO5oW7GliKvpphqf0F9z0wiO9avk0_W8czVSD3YUgku-abfZXJ-iSKnY383rmFUQIK4jjdWyToaGmsj-PGU1KXX0/s617/Braugher%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_QuILX_1nIdeLwdq8dclJ-U6zpfeh3UauaWSblTDAN5paW6UVmm3YMIWepo7_M1ilkIatKkPjLmWewOhZJVRKnk5bRxF-b6nJXUethO5oW7GliKvpphqf0F9z0wiO9avk0_W8czVSD3YUgku-abfZXJ-iSKnY383rmFUQIK4jjdWyToaGmsj-PGU1KXX0/s320/Braugher%201.jpg" width="259" /></a></div><br /><p>April 26, 1998: I was looking at the listings from the Sunday paper and I saw this on the Friday listing for NBC: </p><p>"<i>Homicide</i>: 'Fallen Heroes:' A suspect in a judge's death sprays the squad-room with gunfire (part 1 of 2)"<br /></p><p>I heard that Andre Braugher is leaving the show, and I wonder if [Frank] Pembleton is going to be killed of. I seriously hope not. What would Bayliss be without Pembleton? Just a tall, sad queer guy.</p><p>May 1, 1998: "The Day We Prayed Would Never Come." I'll get right to the point. Ballard and Gherety got shot; they're off the show. Gang war with Georgia Rae Mahoney. Next week, part two: [Tim] Bayliss gets shot! That's not a guess; there were previews. Bayliss will get shot next week. He'll probably die too; they said something about "the final farewell." I hate season finales, I swear to God. When Kyle Secor gets written off <i>Homicide</i>, I'll cry as if someone I know died. No matter what happens next week, I'll cry. I'll especially cry if I have to wait until August to find out if he's dead.</p><p>I tell you, <i>Homicide</i> can hardly go on without the Pembleton-Bayliss partnership.</p><p>May 2, 1998: I went to my [parents'] house for awhile. I ate dinner and read next week's <i>TV Guide</i>. I've surmised this: next Friday [on the <i>Homicide</i> season finale], <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2013/10/joss-whedons-much-ado-about-nothing-non.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kellerman</a> will be fired, Pembleton will resign (thus removing Andre Braugher from the show, as I mentioned on the 26th) and Bayliss, though shot, will survive. It'll probably be like when Pembleton had a stroke--after three or four episodes, he'll be like new again. Now I just hope Ballard won't have to quit. She could be Bayliss's partner. They would have good conversations.</p><p>May 8, 1998: The event I've been waiting a week for: The 100th episode/season 6 finale of <i>Homicide</i>. As predicted, in the search for Georgia Rae Mahoney (high-ranking gang member), a Georgia Rae associate takes a shot at Frank, but Tim takes the bullet for him. G wants Frank to find someone to blame, so he chooses Kellerman (who shot Georgia Rae's brother/fellow gang member Luther Mahoney, but Lewis and other detective witnessed this and have said nothing). Kellerman gets fired but takes all the blame. </p><p>Kellerman asks Pembleton, "If it were Bayliss, wouldn't you do that same?" Which leads Pembleton to wonder if he did the right thing by Kellerman, and then to resign. <br /></p><p>Meanwhile, Bayliss will live, and Ballard will be all right too. The last shot of the episode tracked from Tim's mom to the faces of all the detectives to Mary Pembleton*, who put her arms around Frank, who leaned forward and picked up Tim's hand [while Tim Bayliss was unconscious in the hospital]. The final frame of Pembleton's hand on Bayliss's looked like the ads from <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_Fever" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jungle Fever</a></i>. </p><p>Friday, <a href="https://ko-fi.com/post/November-27-Jimi-Hendrix-K3K6QUS73" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">November 27</a>, 1998, South Bend: ...I watched the PBS show <i>Anatomy of a Homicide</i>, about the filming of an episode of <i>Homicide: Life on the Street</i> with Vincent D’Onofrio as the guest star. D’Onofrio plays a man who’s been pushed off a subway platform and suffered the kind of horrible compression injury that means he’ll die as soon as paramedics try to move him. Andre Braugher, as Detective Frank Pembleton, stays with the dying man while his colleagues attempt (unsuccessfully) to find the man’s girlfriend so she can say goodbye while he’s still conscious. I hadn’t seen the episode, which aired in December 1997, but it looked intense.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUQt2hFeJqWUGACKcuCVMD_sVJHVll9QXyHkA_rEZCs7JaARKT63DAkLRckMQ0aJdKbd8t01uHXjXpqrcfKRJImGgeF5GfR-JrVR0Y06l_jjQBPBvGYwHlr8ySVC-Pl4HEPPWIudczT7jCulyVO-AdmXkM84AlsUqG_gh6sMI3JHJzrFOho8Da5Bv7Pv1M/s750/Braugher%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="429" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUQt2hFeJqWUGACKcuCVMD_sVJHVll9QXyHkA_rEZCs7JaARKT63DAkLRckMQ0aJdKbd8t01uHXjXpqrcfKRJImGgeF5GfR-JrVR0Y06l_jjQBPBvGYwHlr8ySVC-Pl4HEPPWIudczT7jCulyVO-AdmXkM84AlsUqG_gh6sMI3JHJzrFOho8Da5Bv7Pv1M/s320/Braugher%202.jpg" width="183" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">*Mary Pembleton was played by Amy Brabson, who married Andre Braugher in real life. They have three sons.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnEHUtzw4Gq_22mlnZGWVuR3NghSn-Pra7G6-iXEaKKQhfD8m4Bq7m8dM58hRtdeJzziKv3Ba8XCC1z7tTYnJmOFlUfVUXwNC4ZkIu1qWIMCt8Si2_Kk2GU3AcUS-cpWLY4ELX7oy3YLMkP0BxfD7LSo0kvG-3r8xWSQBY64PnUWKzI0Avrq2t7Q1-qlJk/s708/Braugher%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnEHUtzw4Gq_22mlnZGWVuR3NghSn-Pra7G6-iXEaKKQhfD8m4Bq7m8dM58hRtdeJzziKv3Ba8XCC1z7tTYnJmOFlUfVUXwNC4ZkIu1qWIMCt8Si2_Kk2GU3AcUS-cpWLY4ELX7oy3YLMkP0BxfD7LSo0kvG-3r8xWSQBY64PnUWKzI0Avrq2t7Q1-qlJk/s320/Braugher%203.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxgDUq6YE1s-JMNeHyez-5wQPPKaBamhTFDwOWdWpMRTJ-mUQWUsaYcAZgNaomUWOZMGeMiVdl_IUxQLqLrIl89b2QbUkg4yNZx-XeKk9weG6VHLrlT3LKZ-nFPqiFJKCeJqiiam-chyg4G9my2oSlWhSFobtwXHjGM_M4iR9rMTg_AljkZMVdpmZ6eCz0/s750/Braugher%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="375" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxgDUq6YE1s-JMNeHyez-5wQPPKaBamhTFDwOWdWpMRTJ-mUQWUsaYcAZgNaomUWOZMGeMiVdl_IUxQLqLrIl89b2QbUkg4yNZx-XeKk9weG6VHLrlT3LKZ-nFPqiFJKCeJqiiam-chyg4G9my2oSlWhSFobtwXHjGM_M4iR9rMTg_AljkZMVdpmZ6eCz0/s320/Braugher%204.jpg" width="160" /></a></div>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-3992436356088007422023-12-14T19:00:00.024-05:002023-12-14T19:00:00.270-05:00Hanukkah, Night 8<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/4YmXLi741Z958Sr9STlwGe?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe>
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<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/6nEIE62mYJy5wVHHNV7E1E?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoakxzFjbPCy2ci9_zxX0ZLyQAV0HWTXFeFXYYMPQwf89c5EtJV0UHH31Tgw8fqnVVsPOUvpS50-9nfy_AqDWUUjtKGcKByFcUUfaxQkGXYpTNBpTaGrl3Sbr-q4ggypxYKmkJ_b6mf0qnxKHg-LKoOUHSxjDiiRWbc2WNE12LTgzg0ZKGnZWxwg5Gmpzt/s931/931px-Bowl_Fragments_with_Menorah,_Shofar,_and_Torah_Ark_MET_DP355178.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="931" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoakxzFjbPCy2ci9_zxX0ZLyQAV0HWTXFeFXYYMPQwf89c5EtJV0UHH31Tgw8fqnVVsPOUvpS50-9nfy_AqDWUUjtKGcKByFcUUfaxQkGXYpTNBpTaGrl3Sbr-q4ggypxYKmkJ_b6mf0qnxKHg-LKoOUHSxjDiiRWbc2WNE12LTgzg0ZKGnZWxwg5Gmpzt/s320/931px-Bowl_Fragments_with_Menorah,_Shofar,_and_Torah_Ark_MET_DP355178.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roman Bowl Fragments with Menorah, Shofar, and Torah Ark. Public domain.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-46399842349415697542023-12-13T19:00:00.006-05:002023-12-13T19:00:00.252-05:00Hanukkah, Night 7<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/6xdJItD6HtPioX2HulLKHr?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6stIg8GmanCHjCvJqNZBSfA7d48yA5HvYUoE2YJF3o6b3jYhPqF-vGVWoYvSwDbtrCem2A6hJWvuW0y7p2T4o3_ac5Fs1jyR-RUO98aUwwX9pMsEcwMduv9t2Q6kTmB5J5Jzeyp3sQ_I4sFgO2rpcheEW1HD12EZPmTlRddtdvm1tQfRnRSRemWyaU0J4/s640/Zeiss_Model_II_Star_Projector.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6stIg8GmanCHjCvJqNZBSfA7d48yA5HvYUoE2YJF3o6b3jYhPqF-vGVWoYvSwDbtrCem2A6hJWvuW0y7p2T4o3_ac5Fs1jyR-RUO98aUwwX9pMsEcwMduv9t2Q6kTmB5J5Jzeyp3sQ_I4sFgO2rpcheEW1HD12EZPmTlRddtdvm1tQfRnRSRemWyaU0J4/s320/Zeiss_Model_II_Star_Projector.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; text-align: start;">The Zeiss Model II Star Projector nicknamed "Jake" by staff on display at the Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh, Pa. It was employed in 1939-1991 at the Buhl Planetarium. Was built in Germany by Zeiss Optical Works. Among the features: a 1000-watt incandescent bulb; an ability to project the stars at any point in time, from any place on the Earth; more than 1000 planetarium shows were created and distributed worldwide, some of them were narrated by </span><a class="extiw" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke" style="background: none rgb(248, 249, 250); color: #3366bb; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: none;" title="en:Arthur C. Clarke">Arthur C. Clarke</a><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; text-align: start;"> and </span><a class="extiw" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Nimoy" style="background: none rgb(248, 249, 250); color: #3366bb; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: none;" title="en:Leonard Nimoy">Leonard Nimoy</a><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; text-align: start;">.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-16867469553825064632023-12-12T19:00:00.004-05:002023-12-12T19:00:00.216-05:00Hanukkah, Night 6<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/3Ia1ISYRDJUwvd4PbCEcvZ?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwhbYNCoXEl76WMajWrp82nxVneWV3SmXvFYSLM1DRlMil1ycwonjxuiSwK5sQK4W2k2Ul7huzxoFSo40Z105vG1DHui6b7_xmsyRBOoif-FluLrsNCJ3zuubMGcUJqcDEXNN2YMutXGYEfh4nK36JAaWIXl_9EjNsbCqS4XCLPf6mQ8gD6mw4bhUmycma/s640/The_Shuttle_Enterprise_-_GPN-2000-001363.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwhbYNCoXEl76WMajWrp82nxVneWV3SmXvFYSLM1DRlMil1ycwonjxuiSwK5sQK4W2k2Ul7huzxoFSo40Z105vG1DHui6b7_xmsyRBOoif-FluLrsNCJ3zuubMGcUJqcDEXNN2YMutXGYEfh4nK36JAaWIXl_9EjNsbCqS4XCLPf6mQ8gD6mw4bhUmycma/s320/The_Shuttle_Enterprise_-_GPN-2000-001363.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;">The Shuttle Enterprise rolls out of the Palmdale manufacturing facilities with Star Trek television cast members in attendance. Public domain.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-47025169264293982472023-12-11T19:00:00.006-05:002023-12-11T19:00:00.274-05:00Hanukkah, Night 5<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/7FvMbMjPeznx9hhzDLDCJR?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg039MzV6goGIRrMA2upITZ0yW-Cq6Egd65-0RrC_khCkUd9Y8KVSx3so7-2MxB1r3kyMrNUK2MQEjzEqGdTDkMYjpNOvS1yVXoY5c1UyE45PbX_Aydz-XP7UhQrsPLzz5SE8wWUOBGEdJRw1dFbhtBPaEd4yjrcfBf6e29y8Gkx4yFQLPm-UZ0MiL9Syr9/s1024/Leonard_Nimoy_(handprints_in_cement).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg039MzV6goGIRrMA2upITZ0yW-Cq6Egd65-0RrC_khCkUd9Y8KVSx3so7-2MxB1r3kyMrNUK2MQEjzEqGdTDkMYjpNOvS1yVXoY5c1UyE45PbX_Aydz-XP7UhQrsPLzz5SE8wWUOBGEdJRw1dFbhtBPaEd4yjrcfBf6e29y8Gkx4yFQLPm-UZ0MiL9Syr9/s320/Leonard_Nimoy_(handprints_in_cement).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;">Public domain. This photo depicts the handprints of Leonard Nimoy in front of The Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-86339108991835623192023-12-10T19:00:00.007-05:002023-12-10T19:00:00.207-05:00Hanukkah, Night 4<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/5aokSFrqZd3uRRFBNJ6lRz?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpKB5oVLurBXVDQ6UXSJPh0kzuywb2YNC6_uVAxDOhIm8t3xrXsutsWtPGbnwoxkSfZNMTTNnxZfUcFJbSSbay1n28BT4UnlKXxvDeiVhNwQEbbZOvpSGjy30Q27R1CWPSHBCJ0cYEPyiyKuLxakGwF4C8bCdE1um1WeLo_qqM2vuu0p7s-1HbB1M5deKJ/s640/Zeiss_Model_II_Star_Projector.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpKB5oVLurBXVDQ6UXSJPh0kzuywb2YNC6_uVAxDOhIm8t3xrXsutsWtPGbnwoxkSfZNMTTNnxZfUcFJbSSbay1n28BT4UnlKXxvDeiVhNwQEbbZOvpSGjy30Q27R1CWPSHBCJ0cYEPyiyKuLxakGwF4C8bCdE1um1WeLo_qqM2vuu0p7s-1HbB1M5deKJ/s320/Zeiss_Model_II_Star_Projector.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; text-align: start;">The Zeiss Model II Star Projector nicknamed "Jake" by staff on display at the Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh, Pa. It was employed in 1939-1991 at the Buhl Planetarium. Was built in Germany by Zeiss Optical Works. Among the features: a 1000-watt incandescent bulb; an ability to project the stars at any point in time, from any place on the Earth; more than 1000 planetarium shows were created and distributed worldwide, some of them were narrated by </span><a class="extiw" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke" style="background: none rgb(248, 249, 250); color: #3366bb; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: none;" title="en:Arthur C. Clarke">Arthur C. Clarke</a><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; text-align: start;"> and </span><a class="extiw" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Nimoy" style="background: none rgb(248, 249, 250); color: #3366bb; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: start; text-decoration-line: none;" title="en:Leonard Nimoy">Leonard Nimoy</a><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; text-align: start;">. Public domain.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-12387218337592756182023-12-09T19:00:00.011-05:002023-12-09T19:00:00.148-05:00Hanukkah, Night 3<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/7LQL7B7kU2JxISvB8ADv1N?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EaHnQSiPXQnbtB4dBOL40wLFMTrYY9Q3fKyuvkI9QspOu_DP4Qk8MQVmr2pSoKsx98sC1xxKdfQS6Iw25wWJs_rWryx27T-NYNzc2hzHwpnNognjh3QR7W-gYgA5ZnlV8g-TCzzI67i6-Bkf_zaKHn4RTrmme2w54acWn6XJizFifa8_TUgfiQ3vmcdy/s640/The_Shuttle_Enterprise_-_GPN-2000-001363.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EaHnQSiPXQnbtB4dBOL40wLFMTrYY9Q3fKyuvkI9QspOu_DP4Qk8MQVmr2pSoKsx98sC1xxKdfQS6Iw25wWJs_rWryx27T-NYNzc2hzHwpnNognjh3QR7W-gYgA5ZnlV8g-TCzzI67i6-Bkf_zaKHn4RTrmme2w54acWn6XJizFifa8_TUgfiQ3vmcdy/s320/The_Shuttle_Enterprise_-_GPN-2000-001363.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;">The Shuttle Enterprise rolls out of the Palmdale manufacturing facilities with Star Trek television cast members in attendance. Public domain.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>I unironically love Leonard's '70s outfit, with the wide, white bell bottoms and the open collar. Ms. Nichelle Nichols looks lovely. George Takei was, and is, very handsome. These are some of my favorite humans.</div>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-80344845938976256532023-12-08T19:00:00.009-05:002023-12-08T19:00:00.147-05:00Hanukkah, Night 2<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/7qkG5k14OXzH9tgzpIhNg4?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQOpxJ96vxZO1NTVKC6VkykBbv9kRUe3HJkOi8wujhcSOsyovLSJ2eJeK0uMDSwlzS32dOeaoNqJ_8jBWSWbdy1u69TIiGq0tTOaTbhWZqNQDO8SXJM42DRnCHSl70V7G3Jf3jYSROk4VibPMec7ppDixFOFIrMDJPIPEt-GptL60boTHMcSeOms4PLx5/s640/Samantha_Cristoforetti_honors_Leonard_Nimoy_on_ISS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="640" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQOpxJ96vxZO1NTVKC6VkykBbv9kRUe3HJkOi8wujhcSOsyovLSJ2eJeK0uMDSwlzS32dOeaoNqJ_8jBWSWbdy1u69TIiGq0tTOaTbhWZqNQDO8SXJM42DRnCHSl70V7G3Jf3jYSROk4VibPMec7ppDixFOFIrMDJPIPEt-GptL60boTHMcSeOms4PLx5/s320/Samantha_Cristoforetti_honors_Leonard_Nimoy_on_ISS.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.3px; text-align: start;">Samantha Cristoforetti flashes the Vulcan Salute in the cupola of the International Space Station in honor of the Leonard Nimoy. The actor, famed for his role as Mr. Spock in the <i>Star Trek </i>series, passed away on February 27, 2015 - the day prior to this photo. Public domain.</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-2511644621582322832023-12-07T19:00:00.011-05:002023-12-07T19:00:00.171-05:00Hanukkah, Night One<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/3mV5D8S8PrdXg8BzbmaSdm?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK0BETfkwh5WANbm2Pwe4HBVnsLcWPS0_RHrK-d7B0JLj7C3QPvKRGXQl1ycz_KqmUowWtqdLmR-S4pSCflAoC06XokzLnnlAIZW4TEa-_wBD0Ca_o5_F-y4PtUayPTFL6hqx2nX6fnYrizjMEXoH7Ni48mVj-8xBu9F74qgKNdhhrPesbTGMzq1s6O1oQ/s1024/Leonard_Nimoy_(handprints_in_cement).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK0BETfkwh5WANbm2Pwe4HBVnsLcWPS0_RHrK-d7B0JLj7C3QPvKRGXQl1ycz_KqmUowWtqdLmR-S4pSCflAoC06XokzLnnlAIZW4TEa-_wBD0Ca_o5_F-y4PtUayPTFL6hqx2nX6fnYrizjMEXoH7Ni48mVj-8xBu9F74qgKNdhhrPesbTGMzq1s6O1oQ/s320/Leonard_Nimoy_(handprints_in_cement).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;">Public domain. This photo depicts the handprints of Leonard Nimoy in front of The Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-2040147091166240262023-12-07T06:33:00.000-05:002023-12-07T06:33:19.178-05:00An Entire Year's Worth of Unfortunate Literary Happenings<p>Do you like bad things? Want to bum yourself out? You can now read the complete set of unfortunate, mostly literary happenings that happened in past months:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3-xP0CBh6hh1sgH2jHS7cymPj5m0lxVmZQhgM-U-p_J1GGWg_zuKmc9HRjlvfTXr2UumuM3w2oMjjwvAAD-GVRXRjhGXIgT6Elt0bu13bkfQn6PUIeJQbLzakLBi55eLytlS-fcqpzXUHZSLhijvOngs-7BIG304l6T34Xj1AXBlRsyffKMKhVaHEbdYo/s1024/Circular_solar_calendar.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3-xP0CBh6hh1sgH2jHS7cymPj5m0lxVmZQhgM-U-p_J1GGWg_zuKmc9HRjlvfTXr2UumuM3w2oMjjwvAAD-GVRXRjhGXIgT6Elt0bu13bkfQn6PUIeJQbLzakLBi55eLytlS-fcqpzXUHZSLhijvOngs-7BIG304l6T34Xj1AXBlRsyffKMKhVaHEbdYo/s320/Circular_solar_calendar.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Douginamug, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr></tbody></table><p><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/01/bummer-new-year-unfortunate-literary.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">January</a></p><p><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/02/unfortunate-mostly-literary-happenings.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">February</a></p><p><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/03/unfortunate-mostly-literary-happenings.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">March</a></p><p><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/04/unfortunate-mostly-literary-happenings.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">April</a></p><p><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/05/unfortunate-mostly-literary-happenings.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">May</a></p><p><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/06/unfortunate-mostly-literary-happenings.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">June</a></p><p><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/07/unfortunate-mostly-literary-happenings.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">July</a></p><p><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/08/bummer-august-update.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">August</a></p><p><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2022/09/bummer-summer-part-ii-awful-things-that.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">September</a></p><p><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/10/unfortunate-mostly-literary-happenings.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">October</a></p><p><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2022/10/bummer-halloween-awful-things-that.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">specifically Halloween</a><br /><br /><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/11/unfortunate-mostly-literary-happenings.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">November</a></p><p><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/12/unfortunate-mostly-literary-happenings.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">December</a></p><p>I hope your winter holiday season, or summer if you live in the Southern Hemisphere, is going better than the days any of these people had. One day I'll put these, and many, many other weird and unfortunate events, out in ebook and printed almanac form. I'll shoot for 2024 as a goal. </p>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-68569663539013478502023-12-01T00:00:00.118-05:002023-12-01T00:00:00.143-05:00Unfortunate (Mostly) Literary Happenings of Past Decembers<p><a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/11/unfortunate-mostly-literary-happenings.html?m=0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Read November's post here.</a></p><p>Content warning for mentions of suicide.</p><p><b>December 2, 1984</b>: <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2017/06/5-corporate-scandals.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Union Carbide</a>’s pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, is so poorly maintained it causes the largest industrial disaster in history. The accidental release of methyl isocyanate causes the immediate suffocation deaths of more than 2,000 people, injuries in more than 50,000 people, and an additional gas-related death toll of perhaps another 8,000 people. Although the Indian government charged Union Carbide executives with homicide, the company claimed it was not under Indian jurisdiction and these officials did not appear in court to face these charges.</p><p><b>December 4, 1987</b>: Children’s book author and illustrator Arnold Lobel dies of AIDS-related cardiac arrest. He is 54 years old.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6vkseSriCMuz5ACno9Q4QkUNJh1dkA7SnryBw6Hz3pCQE-lsvARfDObehBZvq6is-tP1XuJTC6EXDqPNCRKxx3x4nFRDGcXcUIwEyleqU7eoubomwE0T0awW_5fYAbIMWkGVyGowa-VLmxdMmSNi6Iz8zDxopVoVNoKVn6KaN34GH0m0fCRLKeGLiFOXH/s500/537296.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="323" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6vkseSriCMuz5ACno9Q4QkUNJh1dkA7SnryBw6Hz3pCQE-lsvARfDObehBZvq6is-tP1XuJTC6EXDqPNCRKxx3x4nFRDGcXcUIwEyleqU7eoubomwE0T0awW_5fYAbIMWkGVyGowa-VLmxdMmSNi6Iz8zDxopVoVNoKVn6KaN34GH0m0fCRLKeGLiFOXH/s320/537296.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><p><b>December 5, 1931</b>: Poet Vachel Lindsay dies by suicide after intentionally drinking a bottle of lye. His last words are reportedly, “They tried to get me; I got them first!”</p><p><b>December 6, 1949</b>: Folk and blues musician Huddie William Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly, dies at age 61 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).</p><p><b>December 7, 1941</b>: A surprise attack on U.S. territory by the Japanese military at 8 a.m. on this Sunday morning kills 2,403 Americans (2,335 military personnel and 68 civilians) and wounds 1,143. The attack on the U.S. naval base on the Hawaiian island of Oahu was intended to incapacitate the Pacific Fleet of the American Navy, even though the U.S. was officially neutral in World War II at this time. </p><p>Among the wounded was <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-possibly-true-hollywood-story-my-dads.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">my paternal grandfather Bill</a>, 17 years old at the time. He was blown off his ship and knocked, unconscious, into the water, awakening in the base hospital with a shoulder injury. He recovered and was reassigned from pharmacist’s assistant to EMT so he could help care for the more seriously wounded sailors.</p><p><b>December 7, 2010</b>: Kim Tinkham, age 36, dies of what was most likely metastatic breast cancer. Tinkham had appeared on <i>The Oprah Winfrey Show</i> in 2008 to talk about the then-popular book <i>The Secret</i>. Tinkham claimed her Stage 3 breast cancer had been successfully treated with alternative medicine. The doctor who appeared with Tinkham on that show and backed up her claim, Robert Oldham Young, was arrested in 2014 and convicted in 2016 for theft and practicing medicine without a license. </p><p>Young’s claim was that cancers are caused by an imbalance of the body’s pH and that an “alkaline diet” can treat and prevent cancer. Little to no scientific research supports this claim.</p><p><b>December 8, 1980</b>: John Lennon is murdered by handgun outside his apartment building in New York City.</p><p><b>December 9, 1977</b>: In the NBA, the L.A. Lakers play the Houston Rockets. At the beginning of the second half of the game, Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Rocket Kevin Kunnert scuffle over a rebound. In the scuffle, Kunnert elbows Abdul-Jabbar’s teammate <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2022/12/45-years-ago-today-punch.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kermit Washington</a>. Washington punches Kunnert in the head. </p><p>Kunnert’s teammate Rudy Tomjanovich runs over, intending to help break up the fight. Washington takes a swing at Tomjanovich, striking him in just such a way that fractures his skull. Tomjanovich falls to the court, unconscious and bleeding, although he quickly recovers and, apparently due to a rush of adrenaline, walks around the court in a seemingly aggressive manner. Tomjanovich doesn’t know it yet, but in addition to a broken jaw and nose, he has a fracture near the base of his skull leaking cerebrospinal fluid. He has to be rushed to the emergency room and given emergency surgery, since this is a life-threatening skull fracture. Tomjanovich requires five months of physical recovery before he can play again. </p><p><b>December 9, 1995</b>: American author Toni Cade Bambara dies of colorectal cancer at the age of 56.</p><p><b>December 10, 1816</b>: The body of Harriet Westbrook Shelley, the estranged wife of <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/07/unfortunate-mostly-literary-happenings.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Percy Shelley</a> and the mother of his son and daughter, is discovered in the Serpentine River. She is pregnant and has apparently died by suicide. She is only 21 years old.</p><p><b>December 10, 1929</b>: Poet, publisher, and World War I veteran Harry Crosby kills his mistress, Josephine Noyes Rotch, and himself inside a friend’s apartment. Crosby’s wife Caresse becomes worried about her husband’s whereabouts when he fails to show up for a dinner party with the poet Hart Crane. Crane will also die by suicide two years later.</p><p><b>December 11, 2021</b>: <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/search/label/Anne%20Rice" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Anne Rice</a> dies at the age of 80 of complications from a stroke.</p><p><b>December 12, 1999</b>: Satirical novelist Joseph Heller dies of a heart attack at the age of 76.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwl7HVLe3rb5xhbMqbWJbyq_bEJSZylnRtR2wQsma00M9dmLCwW6qxELLVJ_mXltjwUFZ69xVjEKPc9ioV3FoDvpZAaI93Ng-_dTsAobGGI4I_R8iqgb9wc7-ETZgVgLjI9sd1m9HDD2jeE-4j20fNBh9M4KFnqFNmzz-Yrpf4pwvFNFzwReAqikveznd1/s475/168668.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="311" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwl7HVLe3rb5xhbMqbWJbyq_bEJSZylnRtR2wQsma00M9dmLCwW6qxELLVJ_mXltjwUFZ69xVjEKPc9ioV3FoDvpZAaI93Ng-_dTsAobGGI4I_R8iqgb9wc7-ETZgVgLjI9sd1m9HDD2jeE-4j20fNBh9M4KFnqFNmzz-Yrpf4pwvFNFzwReAqikveznd1/s320/168668.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><p><b>December 13, 2011</b>: Gianluca Casseri, a far-right author, Germanic neo-Pagan, devotee of American fascist Ezra Pound, and historian of <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2013/02/imbolc-buddy-holly-and-human-sacrifice.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">J.R.R. Tolkien</a> goes on an anti-immigrant shooting spree in Piazza Dalmazia, Florence, Italy. He shoots five street vendors who are all immigrants from Senegal, wounding three and killing two. Casseri then kills himself.</p><p><b>December 14, 1920</b>: <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2022/12/102-years-ago-today-gipper-passes-on.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">George “The Gipper” Gipp</a>, legendary Notre Dame football player, dies of strep throat and pneumonia in St. Joseph Hospital (then in South Bend, now located in Mishawaka). He is 25 years old. </p><p>George Gipp is buried in his native Michigan, but an often-told legend around the Notre Dame campus is that Gipp's ghost haunts the old theater building, Washington Hall. According to the legend, when Gipp missed curfew and got locked out of his dorm building, he would sleep outside Washington Hall. </p><p><b>December 14, 1995</b>: 28-year-old professional skydiver Rob Harris dies while filming a<a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2012/06/my-favorite-cole-porter-songs.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Mountain Dew commercial</a>. The commercial, a <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2022/08/bummer-summer-part-i-awful-things-that.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">James Bond</a> spoof in which a Bond-like figure snowboards out of an exploding plane, is aired featuring previous takes, but none of the footage from Harris’s final jump, contrary to urban legend. Harris’s fatal fall is triggered by tangled lines and a backup chute that fails to deploy in time.</p><p><b>December 16, 1913</b>:<a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2022/12/109-years-ago-today-ambrose-bierce.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Ambrose Bierce</a> writes to his literary secretary, “I am going to Mexico with a pretty definite purpose which is not at present discloseable. If you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags, please know that I think that’s a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico–ah, that is euthanasia!” Neither Bierce’s literary secretary nor any of his other acquaintances ever hear from him again after this letter. He’s presumed to have died in Mexico, perhaps in an early example of “suicide by cop,” or in this case, suicide by revolutionary.</p><p><b>December 18, 1966</b>: Tara Browne, the heir to the Guinness stout fortune, dies in the hospital one day after crashing his Lotus Elan sports car into a parked truck. Browne had been driving at over 100 miles per hour through London and sped through a red traffic light before crashing. Browne’s passenger, model Suki Potier, was not injured in the accident. </p><p>In popular cultural, Browne is remembered as the man who “blew his mind out in a car” in the Beatles song “A Day in the Life.” Browne and <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/05/unfortunate-mostly-literary-happenings.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Paul McCartney</a> and <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/04/unfortunate-mostly-literary-happenings.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John Lennon</a> were acquaintances.</p><p><b>December 18, 2015</b>: A fire at Mzuzu University Library in Mzuzu, Malawi, destroys an estimated 45,000 pieces of media.</p><p><b>December 19, 1848</b>: 30-year-old <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/search/label/Emily%20Bronte" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Emily Brontë</a> dies of tuberculosis.</p><p><b>December 19, 1991</b>: Musician Henry Rollins and roadie Dennis Cole return home from a <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2011/05/nobodys-daughter-and-return-of-courtney.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hole</a> concert at the Whiskey a Go Go nightclub when they are held up by a pair of men with guns. The men demand money, and when they discover that Rollins and Cole only have $50 of cash between them, the men order Rollins to go inside the home (which Rollins and Cole share) to get more. Rollins escapes and calls the police. Cole is shot in the face by the robbers and dies. The assailants have never been identified or arrested.</p><p><b>December 21, 1940</b>: Heavy-drinking author <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2015/02/great-by-sara-benincasa-gender-swapped.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">F. Scott Fitzgerald</a> dies of a heart attack, leaving his novel <i>The Last Tycoon</i> unfinished.</p><p><b>December 22, 1940</b>: The day after F. Scott Fitzgerald dies, author Nathanael West runs a stop sign while driving home to Los Angeles from a trip to Mexico. He and his wife Eileen McKenney are both killed. </p><p><b>December 23, 1888</b>: Vincent Van Gogh, suffering from a severe bout of depression, cuts off a piece of his own left ear with a razor.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWz1SiIbkk9q72KX-DJ0F_Ewinc4mWJSp2d0eUh21-3tHdbtYS7pZyHN6apNq7gehWXJkMos2rWOoc2QVlQVHrR4kwBF869xn6m4wXMolVJzgj42Y9G68X9MmqQR8PZQGQtpuOvno-AUhFCve3DByrY7qa0tCX5D-gWkTV81yoQX8VloQSki3puyKW-Z7Z/s655/512px-Vincent-van-gogh-cafe-terrace-on-the-place-du-forum-arles-at-night-the.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="655" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWz1SiIbkk9q72KX-DJ0F_Ewinc4mWJSp2d0eUh21-3tHdbtYS7pZyHN6apNq7gehWXJkMos2rWOoc2QVlQVHrR4kwBF869xn6m4wXMolVJzgj42Y9G68X9MmqQR8PZQGQtpuOvno-AUhFCve3DByrY7qa0tCX5D-gWkTV81yoQX8VloQSki3puyKW-Z7Z/s320/512px-Vincent-van-gogh-cafe-terrace-on-the-place-du-forum-arles-at-night-the.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vincent van Gogh, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>December 24, 1851</b>: A fire at the U.S. Library of Congress destroys 55,000 books, or approximately two-thirds of its collection at the time, including most of the books donated by Thomas Jefferson that made up the library’s original collection.</p><p><b>December 27, 1974</b>: Ned Maddrell dies at the age of 97. He was the last fluent speaker of Manx, a Celtic language of the Isle of Man.</p><p><b>December 27, 2016</b>: Actress and author <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2011/02/amber-chens-hottest-sci-fi-couples.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Carrie Fisher</a> dies during her fourth day in the intensive care unit of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. She has suffered from respiratory failure while aboard a flight on December 23rd. Her exact cause of death could not be determined, but artery disease, sleep apnea, and use of cocaine and opiates are all thought to be contributing factors. Fisher is 60 years old.</p><p><b>December 29, 2003</b>: Maria Sergina, the last fluent native speaker of the Akkala Sámi language, dies and the language goes extinct. Akkala Sámi was spoken by the indigenous Sámi people of the Kola Peninsula in Russia.</p><p><b>December 30, 1903</b>: The <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2016/02/nonfiction-tinder-box-iroquois-theatre.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Iroquois Theatre</a> in Chicago hosts a performance of <i>Mr. Blue Beard</i> before an audience filled with women and children out making a day of after-Christmas shopping. A faulty arc light causes the background scenery to catch fire. A number of inadequate fire safety precautions, including too few exits, lead to a disastrous fire that kills more than 600 people. </p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://ko-fi.com/kofisupporter86474" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #993300; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Visit me on Ko-fi </a><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px;">for more daily history posts!</span></p>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-23460740590619319122023-11-30T06:24:00.004-05:002023-11-30T06:24:42.026-05:00My Spotify Wrapped 2023<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDIAMP7W0enooO3Nedr-HqbcQJoq7Jy5B7LHBobDyVtMGko4T1i61oFimBtHPTuCo27BpfNzQ061F1aO29XGYBJ5WA9mVAD1em98uE4TpSFv6FInTnB5ioGthGEuSdYu14mOvu53EiDL7Omddlp1Qs3Ap795i9xzve116numEJjw5Z3ikPmhbqmn6ESyBe/s1280/1b2c9d3e-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDIAMP7W0enooO3Nedr-HqbcQJoq7Jy5B7LHBobDyVtMGko4T1i61oFimBtHPTuCo27BpfNzQ061F1aO29XGYBJ5WA9mVAD1em98uE4TpSFv6FInTnB5ioGthGEuSdYu14mOvu53EiDL7Omddlp1Qs3Ap795i9xzve116numEJjw5Z3ikPmhbqmn6ESyBe/s320/1b2c9d3e-7.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Of course the Wallflowers were one of my top artists this year; we finally got to see them live. I listened to plenty of both Jacob Dylan and his dad Bob. <p></p><p>My favorite podcasts have hardly changed at all since <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2022/12/my-spotify-wrapped-2022.html?m=0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">last year.</a> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnwwquKFTFDDudIW8hyaCYG3aVJ4Dqv3bMhfAAZsW1D9h07pVnzYmfmcat_KFp0zAYqih1PDlleUXPJL3hMje7cRQtsafJ3bR6FWvwOqZZgY2z7sE7WU_LxxsB4Vv1KVmErsW5Q0FeYWC2fsrSFVSzQJALQacO9vuok6-hekx8sUjqly1vHUPr4ec2frh6/s1280/5d919de0-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnwwquKFTFDDudIW8hyaCYG3aVJ4Dqv3bMhfAAZsW1D9h07pVnzYmfmcat_KFp0zAYqih1PDlleUXPJL3hMje7cRQtsafJ3bR6FWvwOqZZgY2z7sE7WU_LxxsB4Vv1KVmErsW5Q0FeYWC2fsrSFVSzQJALQacO9vuok6-hekx8sUjqly1vHUPr4ec2frh6/s320/5d919de0-5.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih3e8WEbz6pc-kKRCGMabPOc8PtaPEIZrKMEU-h9FYD1Rg99juIaBJpwaLIC32thjPa3aI_inhWxaFpHW-k6XygwwsAmOCrDwvFv8fusjbO33Y1-2wfVusbjbn-QgvW9Sz50zaYux-a2fmhv2kTcastVCt5uKH43xBMzgb1FlVqK7OW5aceVUfoCBImkB5/s1920/267c8ee6-c.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih3e8WEbz6pc-kKRCGMabPOc8PtaPEIZrKMEU-h9FYD1Rg99juIaBJpwaLIC32thjPa3aI_inhWxaFpHW-k6XygwwsAmOCrDwvFv8fusjbO33Y1-2wfVusbjbn-QgvW9Sz50zaYux-a2fmhv2kTcastVCt5uKH43xBMzgb1FlVqK7OW5aceVUfoCBImkB5/s320/267c8ee6-c.png" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Of course my top artist is Lady Gaga again this year. It's always Lady Gaga. I just like so many of her songs. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-31mNvPjzra0oZCY4IhU0xNieaZW1hyphenhyphen_f1NsTBIJU3UR150Cz-Jkw8KznXv-p-PZ6D_vllP3OEHtgYH6bMTiuOAth2Rm6WINEAkh8rJW8IVvQYNJHPpk10VwidwfOVUqt55o5ju4-Ev2jlhOreAqFbsI-z5_23d33Q5tq2265YjPXl_7I8JY3hfHdbwTN/s1280/b1b53ed3-b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-31mNvPjzra0oZCY4IhU0xNieaZW1hyphenhyphen_f1NsTBIJU3UR150Cz-Jkw8KznXv-p-PZ6D_vllP3OEHtgYH6bMTiuOAth2Rm6WINEAkh8rJW8IVvQYNJHPpk10VwidwfOVUqt55o5ju4-Ev2jlhOreAqFbsI-z5_23d33Q5tq2265YjPXl_7I8JY3hfHdbwTN/s320/b1b53ed3-b.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNhV_giwJnqf23dbzd-F3CtGf0DpXwi1snj9gOANshPXLP19pBSmTEsY1JMVubu75ylk8QJ7NWZnX9QfNZUuav6Nw6610UAYCX9GFzLfOnP72pxVxVCR9gF3CwXrlDsVKUv4RZgwgKzApvBL-pCmCOvXOctHCFK8MoanSjbXT3PR1ZgS55WUAKWoUrwCvn/s1920/ef99cc8c-6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNhV_giwJnqf23dbzd-F3CtGf0DpXwi1snj9gOANshPXLP19pBSmTEsY1JMVubu75ylk8QJ7NWZnX9QfNZUuav6Nw6610UAYCX9GFzLfOnP72pxVxVCR9gF3CwXrlDsVKUv4RZgwgKzApvBL-pCmCOvXOctHCFK8MoanSjbXT3PR1ZgS55WUAKWoUrwCvn/s320/ef99cc8c-6.png" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEjdPB7YxTuEU9-tAiddSYkvSC5j9WluRwsx9uC6ZCoKK07XgJr9i3Yx9lPL0Xc1edglypYQEBshfu-0RrRrzEloGTLza5U_h8xyoP1IszXQy65dZDvQ1DeYzgc2ZBzPA_pG4xFhCJDp9MLSbBE9TDdhQfi5-gN9oQehUKWFShHLEUQe-Mt2LCBk6ttUPy/s1280/e20b5852-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEjdPB7YxTuEU9-tAiddSYkvSC5j9WluRwsx9uC6ZCoKK07XgJr9i3Yx9lPL0Xc1edglypYQEBshfu-0RrRrzEloGTLza5U_h8xyoP1IszXQy65dZDvQ1DeYzgc2ZBzPA_pG4xFhCJDp9MLSbBE9TDdhQfi5-gN9oQehUKWFShHLEUQe-Mt2LCBk6ttUPy/s320/e20b5852-2.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I think this is the first time one of the songs from my Halloween playlist, the charmingly innocent 1950s bop "Batman, Wolfman, Frankenstein or Dracula" by the Diamonds, made my top 5. I guess I hit the Halloween playlist hard this spooky season. I indulged my urge to listen to songs that made me feel nostalgic. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tell me some fun facts about YOUR Spotify Wrapped in the comments. Were you surprised by anything?</div><br />Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-54596927458001476132023-11-23T00:00:00.029-05:002023-11-23T00:00:00.138-05:00Happy Thanksgiving!<p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRESZChIvM9UBjr0OTRRLF20p7N-m90lFHyQnK5brnJZ8bmS9qqrp5PCyQcIDp834xrdzlThbutsX4Kv6HYLUdQCaLOj7KYrkeO5sNipY9WTBU6nAGjxmYSa4onyIZfgKRDWp7nHCEzWRjBwVhoS7jbzrUGV_-rOqSh8CfGs3Wu56PNxHkLXoe_e1KO3mY/s300/Over%20the%20River.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRESZChIvM9UBjr0OTRRLF20p7N-m90lFHyQnK5brnJZ8bmS9qqrp5PCyQcIDp834xrdzlThbutsX4Kv6HYLUdQCaLOj7KYrkeO5sNipY9WTBU6nAGjxmYSa4onyIZfgKRDWp7nHCEzWRjBwVhoS7jbzrUGV_-rOqSh8CfGs3Wu56PNxHkLXoe_e1KO3mY/s1600/Over%20the%20River.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3FdaK8l" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/3FdaK8l</a></td></tr></tbody></table>The poem:<p></p><div><div>Over the river and through the wood,</div><div> To grandfather's house we go;</div><div> The horse knows the way</div><div> To carry the sleigh</div><div> Through the white and drifted snow.</div><div><br /></div><div>Over the river and through the wood--</div><div> Oh, how the wind does blow!</div><div> It stings the toes</div><div> And bites the nose,</div><div> As over the ground we go.</div><div><br /></div><div>Over the river and through the wood,</div><div> To have first-rate play.</div><div> Hear the bells ring,</div><div> "Ting-a-ling-ding!"</div><div> Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!</div><div><br /></div><div>Over the river and through the wood,</div><div> And straight through the barn-yard gate.</div><div> We seem to go</div><div> Extremely slow--</div><div> It is so hard to wait!</div><div><br /></div><div>Over the river and through the wood--</div><div> Now grandmother's cap I spy!</div><div> Hurrah for the fun!</div><div> Is the pudding done?</div><div> Hurrah for the pumpkin-pie!</div></div><div><br /></div><div>More Thanksgiving reads:</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqn4DrCb8OcHn57X8eLbPOXXtHe12VNU1a09-N7vAMPxgZYxD6JJz4nFYkz5z-Y7obRjIKP4UscQ7oOPiDq2j1npnpcVi2FMEU45rMV1o0f5Vg14Wb1xYtFcszlSDK-Zu6VaAy-uPvDyR7LbfYT1gsyX1muEwQvcsDr1wUGlHE1rp4nfzWzNyhhaxvMJN/s361/Capote.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="361" data-original-width="235" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqn4DrCb8OcHn57X8eLbPOXXtHe12VNU1a09-N7vAMPxgZYxD6JJz4nFYkz5z-Y7obRjIKP4UscQ7oOPiDq2j1npnpcVi2FMEU45rMV1o0f5Vg14Wb1xYtFcszlSDK-Zu6VaAy-uPvDyR7LbfYT1gsyX1muEwQvcsDr1wUGlHE1rp4nfzWzNyhhaxvMJN/s320/Capote.JPG" width="208" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Link: <a href="https://amzn.to/3QENbup" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/3QENbup</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYopoY0UVDgzRW10T5S_qBDgdGOF6dSVhDF6YE1G17tMz9MtNrKVanF0cSx3RQvjSL4ndpH-j1cl0j75D41Es7hLKZW3YJyAwZOWvZOJZi62-BvalS-v_YsZf1ewXoTEdG7-fTPGzUxC3yVFeM40QtrdNPrOC7rqpcyQu4zSAzaJrCQhRrIOUJrhLa6V5/s300/Wales.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYopoY0UVDgzRW10T5S_qBDgdGOF6dSVhDF6YE1G17tMz9MtNrKVanF0cSx3RQvjSL4ndpH-j1cl0j75D41Es7hLKZW3YJyAwZOWvZOJZi62-BvalS-v_YsZf1ewXoTEdG7-fTPGzUxC3yVFeM40QtrdNPrOC7rqpcyQu4zSAzaJrCQhRrIOUJrhLa6V5/s1600/Wales.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Link: <a href="https://amzn.to/40sFwDP" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/40sFwDP</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-56280891489541013542023-11-19T08:36:00.002-05:002023-11-19T08:36:32.283-05:00 Behind the Door: The Dark Truths and Untold Stories of the Cecil Hotel<p>Told by the hotel's former general manager who appeared in the 4-part Netflix documentary (<i><a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81183727" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel</a></i>) that centered on the case of <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2015/03/real-feelings-about-ersatz-history.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Elissa Lam</a>, this 1st person account gives context and humanity to the hotel's wild reputation. </p><p>Amy Price seems like a decent woman and apparently she's a creative and talented interior designer and jeweler. I still feel terrible for Elissa Lam's family. So does Amy Price. </p><p>I hope she doesn't stop at writing just this one book because she seems like she has an aptitude for storytelling.</p><p>I borrowed this book from the Indianapolis public library through the Libby app. I was not obligated in any way to review this library book.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBE54dSq1UBPEGUSjFEdT8pSLsDpeh2T7mEdMJwAwTxSgfjdL6S4EYWwNx-6S6cpa392rcIMt4hPOdlOLE_BbLSY0LNekS-V-PtVA_eIGZTPkvSnV1Z_nqT_mFo40KC_c8d1MK9hFyKHLOpuQsHRLhmR-AF931Rb2dQm6DAvJfai87irZQ1X84PG-ZJu4E/s455/Amy%20Price.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBE54dSq1UBPEGUSjFEdT8pSLsDpeh2T7mEdMJwAwTxSgfjdL6S4EYWwNx-6S6cpa392rcIMt4hPOdlOLE_BbLSY0LNekS-V-PtVA_eIGZTPkvSnV1Z_nqT_mFo40KC_c8d1MK9hFyKHLOpuQsHRLhmR-AF931Rb2dQm6DAvJfai87irZQ1X84PG-ZJu4E/s320/Amy%20Price.jpg" width="211" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Link: <a href="https://amzn.to/3QOMIFY" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/3QOMIFY</a></td></tr></tbody></table>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8320320644788091119.post-79582691248739979142023-11-16T18:06:00.003-05:002023-11-19T08:43:20.588-05:00Song: Ava Gardner<p>Here's a song which I feel is very cool: "Ava Gardner" by <a href="https://superknovaofficial.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SuperKnova</a>. Deliberately crafted in an homage to "Buddy Holly" by <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2012/05/yes-i-finished-fifty-shades-of-grey-no.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Weezer</a>, instead of Buddy Holly and Mary Tyler Moore, it asks us to imagine roleplaying the love story of Ava Gardner and <a href="https://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/05/25-years-ago-today-frank-sinatra-dies.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Frank Sinatra</a>.</p><p><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/4aa9ieeEzzXVwbzN5rqb97?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUxTcWJYSicfiEG0NfnH8Cjy5RQW_Hvt0xyxZkOyYxBbM8sA_eH54S0PLWH_hvstFdhxW-zzdTyDnGlwbe7QdCleTdtgOjnRYjpcGC2Rk1tZ_MwCGD3WXPw4KpS8l4EfsOhuey3N8q4h-sbR42xB2EYrHvFPgKsAF-MIv1NeAj2cyEuY-zg5MqrmEgcvhM/s981/12-13-1951_10109_Frank_Sinatra_en_Ava_Gardner_(4086739645).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="981" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUxTcWJYSicfiEG0NfnH8Cjy5RQW_Hvt0xyxZkOyYxBbM8sA_eH54S0PLWH_hvstFdhxW-zzdTyDnGlwbe7QdCleTdtgOjnRYjpcGC2Rk1tZ_MwCGD3WXPw4KpS8l4EfsOhuey3N8q4h-sbR42xB2EYrHvFPgKsAF-MIv1NeAj2cyEuY-zg5MqrmEgcvhM/s320/12-13-1951_10109_Frank_Sinatra_en_Ava_Gardner_(4086739645).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner at a table in a restaurant in Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam) on December 13, 1951 Photo Ben van Meerendonk. Via Wikimedia Commons.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>Erin O'Riordanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14829574740027964039noreply@blogger.com0