Updates for January 2025

Before we close out the first awful, Los Angeles-burning, Trump reinstating, American government-ruining month of 2025, let's look back at past blog posts and make a few updates.

First off, let’s start by acknowledging that Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer are absolutely garbage human beings. 

What song did I get obsessed with right after the cutoff for Spotify Wrapped 2024? Hozier's song inspired by Dante's Inferno, "Hymn to Virgil." I made a Destiel meme for that one, too. 

https://thatwritererinoriordan.tumblr.com/post/769533420409896960

What song am I obsessed with right now? "Devil In Me" by Gin Wigmore.

In “More Unfortunate Happenings of Past Decembers,” I mentioned the Comet Ping Pong shooter. According to a BBC Washington article posted on January 9, 2025, the man is now deceased. Pulled over on suspicion of being wanted on a warrant while driving in Kannapolis, North Carolina, the man is alleged to have pulled out a gun. Two police officers then fatally shot him. He died later at the hospital. 

On Saturday, January 25th, Mr. Elingtin and I went to Dream Palace Books for an author's reading. The author, Jaclyn Youhana Garver, mentioned Julie Powell. Garver's novel Then, Again uses parallel storytelling of the kind that Powell's memoir Julia & Julie also used. We haven't forgotten about you, Julie. You're still on our minds and in our hearts.

https://thatwritererinoriordan.tumblr.com/post/773749924165779456/thank-you-jacyln-youhana-garver-for-coming-to

On a recent episode of the podcast History of the 90s, I learned that Sarah McLachlan wrote "Angel" about Jonathan Melvoin.

The blog post that mentions Jonathan Melvoin, "More Unfortunate Happenings of Past Julys," also mentions Billie Holiday's death on July 17, 1959. Here's a random fact: There were 120 days between Billie Holiday's death and the events of In Cold Blood.

My Goodreads 2023 Reading Challenge

 I read 32 books this year, or at least 32 books that I remembered to enter into Goodreads. 

You may remember me mentioning Greg Jenner's history of celebrity, Dead Famous, in this bit of fiction titled "Four Vignettes."

Full review of Little, Crazy Children here. 

Luster 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. 

Brief review of True Crime Addict here. 

Gabriel Byrne's memoir Walking With Ghosts 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. And he's still my sweet, sweet baby.

That Neil Gaiman short story anthology was really good, too. My paperback came signed by Neil Gaiman. Tit Elingtin bought it on the day we heard Neil Gaiman in person.

What were your favorite reads from 2023?

Neil Gaiman Reads 'A Christmas Carol'

Illustration for "The Children's Dickens: Stories selected from various tales" (1909) London: Henry Frowde and Hodder and Stoughton by Gilbert Scott Wright (24 July 1880 – 1958). This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1928.

My Goodreads Reading Challenge 2022

 

Art Matters is one of the signed copies of books Tit and I picked up when we saw Neil Gaiman in person.

The book with "No image available" is this one.

I Saw Neil Gaiman Last Night

My husband and I were lucky to see Neil Gaiman do a live reading and question-and-answer session on the Butler University campus last night. Now I feel like a Victorian lady must have felt after she saw Charles Dickens on one of his American tours. (Except Neil Gaiman is an English person who lives in the United States; I don't think Dickens ever moved here.) 

Mr. Gaiman began the evening by reading a short poem about reading to children, aimed at some friends in the audience whom, he knew, had their young child with them. Secondly he read us "Chivalry," a delightful short story which you may remember from LeVar Burton Reads.

Someone asked him how he came to be so obviously fascinated by myths. He said, in a deadpan tone, "When I was four, I was bitten by a radioactive myth." I suspect the sincere answer has more to do with an autobiographical story he told later about asking his parents to leave him at the local library all day, where the librarians would treat him, a child, with respect and use inter-library loans to get him almost any book he could think of. 

Later he read "Click Clack the Rattle Bag," a funny/scary horror story, and then a short story that was sort of a sequel to "Chivalry," about the woman who releases the genie from the silver lamp, but doesn't want any of his offered three wishes. 

Neil Gaiman talked about his children a lot. He was quite adamant that he can't be happy unless they're happy. He especially mentioned Holly, because she was the inspiration for Coraline, and Maddy, but he also mentioned the time Michael became frustrated with him because, Michael said, "You make things up." He didn't mention Anthony by name, but again I stress, he can't be happy unless all of his children are happy.

He spoke lovingly of his Good Omens co-creator Terry Pratchett, who apparently was a wonderful friend to talk to over the phone, a bit prone to calling out of the blue. He also spoke lovingly of Stephen King, relaying an incident in which the King family offered to take Mr. Gaiman to dinner after he finished his 4 p.m. book signing. The Kings sat impatiently in their car from 7:30 to 8:30, still waiting for Gaiman to finish signing things, when Joe Hill (approximately 22 years old at the time) came in sheepishly to let him know they were going back to their hotel, where Mr. Gaiman was welcome to join them after the signing. Which he did, at 10 p.m. It was a very long book signing line. 

Neil Gaiman mentioned the bucket list he wrote when he was around 10 years old, which included writing an original musical, which he still wants to do. Some of his works have been adapted for the stage, but he hasn't written anything original specifically for musical purposes yet. I had to chuckle, because Tit Elingtin and I had seen Something Rotten! at Footlite Musicals on Sunday. The plot involves an Elizabethan soothsayer predicting that musicals will be the next big thing in theater. 

The presentation ended with two poems, both written collaboratively with input from the Twitterverse. The first was about how to stay warm, and was part of a project aimed at collecting money for some the world's estimated 65 million refugees, from Afghanistan and other conflict zones. The current number of refugees and internally displaced persons in the world is believed to be the highest it's been since the end of World War II. 

The last poem was written expressly to be part of an unnamed person's full-back tattoo. Mr. Gaiman agreed to take part in this project not imagining that the illustrated who provided the art would also say yes to the project...but he did. 

Lastly, my beloved Tit Elingtin braved the book line to get me several pre-signed copies of Neil Gaiman books. They'll be a prized part of my book collection. I'm sure they were all signed with his favorite writing instrument, the fountain pen.

The Book Adaptation Tag

I borrowed this tag from Ronnie at Paradise Found.

1. What is the last book adaptation movie you saw?

2. What movie are you most excited for?

3. Which upcoming movie will you definitely NOT see?

I have zero interest in Red Sparrow. It's just not my kind of thing.

4. Which book movie would you NEVER watch again?

Maybe Where the Wild Things Are. I felt like the movie sucked all the fun out of the book and made it preachy and sad.

5. Is there a movie you saw that made you want to read the book if you hadn't/haven't yet?

More than once, yes. The Vampire Academy movie made me read the whole series.  Beautiful Creatures made me read the first two books. I wanted to finish the series but I never have.

6. Conversely, is there a movie that made you never want to read the book?

I hardly ever think to myself that I absolutely never want to read a book, because my interests change all the time. I can't think of one I never want to read, but I probably won't read, for example, Kathryn Stockett's The Help, even though I liked the movie. I already know the plot now and I usually don't enjoy reading racist characters, even if they do get their comeuppance.

Maybe Cloud Atlas because that movie left me both sad and confused.

7. Name an adaptation that has almost nothing to do with the book it is supposedly based on.

Howl's Moving Castle, but I love both the book and the very-different movie.

8. Have you ever left the theatre during a movie adaptation because it was so bad?

Nope. The only movie I ever walked out of Saving Private Ryan because my best friend got grossed out by the gory violence.

9. Do you prefer to watch the movie or read the book first?

I prefer to read the book first, but I don't always do it. There are a lot of book adaptations I like but still haven't read the book they were based on. Coraline by Neil Gaiman is one.

10. How do you feel about movie adaptations that age characters up? (ex. characters that are in middle-school, but in the movies they are 18)

I don't really have any feelings on this one. I can't think of an example.

11. Do you get angry when the actors don't look like you thought the characters looked?

Sometimes, a little. I usually end up liking the movie version anyway, but occasionally I like my fictional image better than the movie image.

12. Is there a movie you liked better than its book?

I like the 2002 adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo a little better than the book, but bear in mind that I really, really love the book too. I just like the movie ending better.

13. Name a book that you'd like to see as a movie.

If you'd like to answer these questions, here's the question set.

1. What is the last book adaptation movie you saw?
2. What movie are you most excited for?
3. Which upcoming movie will you definitely NOT see?
4. Which book movie would you NEVER watch again?
5. Is there a movie you saw that made you want to read the book if you hadn't/haven't yet?
6. Conversely, is there a movie that made you never want to read the book?
7. Name an adaptation that has almost nothing to do with the book it is supposedly based on.
8. Have you ever left the theatre during a movie adaptation because it was so bad?
9. Do you prefer to watch the movie or read the book first?
10. How do you feel about movie adaptations that age characters up? (ex. characters that are in middle-school, but in the movies they are 18)
11. Do you get angry when the actors don't look like you thought the characters looked?
12. Is there a movie you liked better than its book?
13. Name a book that you'd like to see as a movie.

I Fantasy-Cast Dan Brown's 'Deception Point'

The latest book I listened to on CD was Deception Point by Dan Brown. From the pre-Robert Langdon era, it was Brown's second published novel (after Digital Fortress).

Frankly, Deception Point isn't as interesting as the Langdon novels. It lacks the world art, architecture, and history references that help make the Harvard "symbologist's" adventures so entertaining. Deception Point is still entertaining as a fast-paced thriller, though.

The other day I shared some of my "casting" choices for my mental "movie" of Deception Point. For the main protagonist, Rachel Sexton, I like Kristen Stewart. Rachel is young, intelligent, capable, ballsy when she needs to be, and a bit vulnerable at times. She's the prototypical Dan Brown heroine, a Sophie Neveu in the making (minus the divine bloodline).

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/46936021090341757/

Rachel Sexton's love interest is the oceanographer Michael Tolland. I can't imagine anyone else but George Clooney as Tolland. Michael Tolland is supposed to be a good-looking, photogenic guy with brown eyes. Maybe he's not right-now George Clooney - age 53 - but The Perfect Storm-era George Clooney certainly would work.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/46936021093404462/

Are they too mismatched in age to be a couple? Stewart is only 24, a whole 12 years younger than the newly-minted Mrs. Clooney, the brilliant, gorgeous humanitarian lawyer Amal Ramzi formerly-Alamuddin-now-emphatically-Clooney. (Guys, I love her.) This is supposed to be Mike's second-chance romance. He lost his wife to cancer right before he threw himself wholeheartedly into a career of bringing science education about the world's oceans to the public through documentary filmmaking, like a Jacques Cousteau for the 2000s.

Eh, maybe it's a bit of a male fantasy--the much-younger woman--but I'm going to let it slide. It's pretty much par for the course in a Dan Brown novel.

For Dr. Corky Marlinson, the astronomer and expert on meteor composition, I favor Jeffrey Wright. He's brilliant as Beetee in the Hunger Games series; is it bad to typecast him as "smart guy?"

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/46936021093404618/

Thank you, Dan Brown, for not killing Corky. I was pretty worried for a moment, especially when Corky's leg was bleeding and he didn't put a tourniquet on it.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/46936021093404966/

He's a fairly minor character, but Dr. Weilee Ming could be played by Ken Leung. To be honest, though, Dr. Ming is much less of a troublemaker than the typical Ken Leung character.

While we're on the subject of actors from Lost and Person of Interest, I could see William Pickering as Michael Emerson.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/46936021093405045/

It's a given from the text that Gabrielle Ashe looks like Halle Berry.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/46936021093405082/

But who should play her boss - and Rachel's estranged father - Senator Thomas Sedgwick Sexton? I can only think of Richard Gere.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/46936021093405097/

I borrowed this audiobook from my local library and was not obligated in any way to review it. Now that I've finished it, I've begun listening to The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, read by the author himself. It'll be the first Neil Gaiman book I've read.

If you're a Simpsons fan like me, you remember Neil Gaiman from "The Book Job." It's my second-favorite episode, after the classic "Lisa's Rival."

Oh How Pinteresting: I Saw the Movie, Didn't Read the Book

I read a lot of books - but, honestly, not as many as I'd like to. Sometimes I skip the book and go right to the movie. Today's theme for Oh How Pinteresting! is "I Saw the Movie, Didn't Read the Book."


This was a great movie to see in 3D. I really liked the story. Did I read the book by Yann Martel? Nope.



Mom loved this book. Grandma loved this book. Did we all share it like we did Shanghai Girls or The Mermaid Chair? No, it skipped my generation.



I've never read anything by Neil Gaiman - other than stuff he posts on Tumblr, I mean.



I love this movie so much. I've even heard people say this is a rare case of the movie being better than the book. I don't know; I've never read anything Ian McEwan.



I don't read James Patterson, either. I liked this movie generally, but was somewhat disturbed by Matthew Fox in this. I was like, "No, Jack Sheppard, y u be so evil?"



I never read Jonathan Safran Foer, either. If it helps, I did read The History of Love of Nicole Krauss, the author who happens to be married to JSF.



My 9-year-old niece has devoured this series, and likes to pretend she's married to Percy, but I haven't cracked a single one of the books. (I didn't really like the movie, either.)



What did you fail to read, but enjoyed on the big screen?

Interview with Visual Artist Christopher Chamberlain

Pagan Spirits: What drew you to erotic art?

Christopher Chamberlain: Some might say a pencil, but I prefer watercolour and brushes. Honestly, there's just an attraction there. I enjoy drawing women, and exploring the different themes is just something that is really inspiring. Creating new work is always a lot of fun. And I suppose Playboy had something to do with it, too.

PS: What inspired the BDSM themes?

CC: Exploration, and maybe a bit of reading. I came across some references to Shibari - the Japanese art of rope bondage, and I was just amazed by it. Certainly there are a lot of psychological factors going into the entire role play of it all, but the way that the ropes intertwine and layer around the body is very intricate and intriguing.

PS: In your experience, is it socially acceptable to make erotic art these days?

CC: I think perhaps people are more ready to admit that it is an art, and that they do like the art. However, I can't tell if it is really socially acceptable more now than it was. I do think however that it is more accessible. It's easier to find the people who do like erotic art, and support the artists, which could mean it's more socially acceptable, or just that it's easier to find the niche market. But, it has to be more acceptable now, because Playboy no longer even ships in a paper bag, or at least the black bag that replaced it.

PS: What does your wife say about your erotic art?

CC: My wife encourages it actually. Some pieces she likes, and some she doesn't. You can't please everyone all the time, even yourself.

PS: How old were you when you first started making art?

CC: Consciously, or at the least from when I can remember, I was around four. But there are examples of my artwork from before that. I won my first prize at a fair for my artwork when I was five. Part of me at the time thought, "Wow, I'm an artist."

PS: Which is your favorite medium? Do you prefer digital or the old-fashioned way?

CC: Whatever medium works for the effect that I want to achieve. Digital is really cool because there are a lot of effects that can be achieved that no longer require tons of expensive equipment and excessive ventilation. But, the experimentation is kind of lost. I love creating most of my work with my own two hands and no extra digital manipulation.

PS: Who has been the biggest influence on your career?

CC: In terms of artists? There are a few - one of whom gave me a really solid critiquing of my art a couple of years ago, and that really helped me focus and create better works.

Otherwise, I would definitely have to say my wife. She's given me the most support and helped me get to the drawing board, even on those days I didn't particularly feel like it.

PS: What project(s) are you currently working on?

CC: I'm creating more erotic artwork, some illustrations, and several projects that I cannot talk about at the moment for confidentiality reasons. For my erotica artwork, I'm actually creating a couple of different series, or themes. I'll begin sharing them on my blog once I have a good selection of pieces finished. Anyone can keep up with my blog where I post new works as they are created, and of course, figure sketches and studies for my erotica.

Also, I'm creating my fun, all-ages webcomic Kid Robo. It's a total departure from my erotic work. I love working in different styles and genres, and this is just a fun thing for me to play with.

For anyone of your readers who may be looking for artwork of all sorts, they can feel free to contact me and be treated very professionally. I take my artwork seriously, and I treat each piece with the same level of professionalism. I can be contacted through email:

manyfacesart@gmail.com

To see more of my work, and read more about my Not For Victorian Eyes virtual art tour, please visit my sites: www.c21.deviantart.com

I'm offering as a bonus, to all new followers of my blog, a chance to win an original print of one of my pieces of art. This contest will run until the 7th of August. Each and every follower of my blog will have a chance to win, including my current followers. New followers will have an extra ballot in the random draw. You can also get an extra ballot by leaving a comment. The best three comments (as chosen by me) left on my blog over the duration of the contest will receive a print.

PS: Why do you consider Neil Gaiman and Robert Howard your favorite authors?

CC: You did some digging - I commend you on that! For Neil Gaiman's work, I'm just really kind of smitten. The first thing I remember reading of his (where I remembered it was him writing it) was a short story in a magazine called "Troll Bridge." And that was about the same time that I picked up the Sandman, and the character Death, of the Endless. There's a big draw to his work for me - just the imagination and the themes that he plays with. And the fact that I love fantasy as a genre doesn't hurt.

I love Conan, as a character, and as the stories that were written by Robert E. Howard. He was a really prolific writer, and he created a large number of characters. His stories are just something that feels they were written with a lot of vigor and determination, and written with great affection for his characters. They all lived, and breathed, and some times died. Plus there is just something really cool about a wandering, well-muscled giant from the North with a pencheant for adventure and women.

PS: What’s your favorite comic book? You seem a little fascinated with Wonder Woman.

CC: I do like Wonder Woman, though she holds more interest for me now than when I was say, a child. There's a lot of interesting ideas and themes at play with her. No wonder she was created by a psychologist. I'm not really certain if anyone has ever really nailed down the true potential for that character.

Couldn't really pick one favourite comic book, there are lots of them that I love. Batman and the Hulk are probably my favourites. The Dark Knight Returns is one of my favourite stories. That, and the two Death miniseries that Neil Gaiman wrote.

PS: Favorite Garbage song?

CC: I love Garbage! That's cool that you found that one out. I'm waiting for their new album to come out, I think I heard something about a Christmas release date. "#1 Crush," "Only Happy When It Rains," "Special," "Queer," "Shut Your Mouth," and "I Think I'm Paranoid" would be my faves. Now I have to go listen to all of those albums!

PS: If you could turn any book (one that’s not generally thought of as an illustrated book) into a graphic novel, which would it be?

CC: Most of my favourite books have either already been illustrated, or started out with illustrations. Perhaps "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" or Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I'll aim high with what I want to illustrate.

CC: Thank you so much for featuring me on your blog, Erin. You asked some fantastic questions, and I really enjoyed answering them!