Lucky Stars and Garters
by angeliska on December 31, 2006
At the turning of the year, when so much has changed-
my life so transformed, so altered by tumult
and blessing simultaneously-
I am galvanized by it, and yet with scant
few moments of respite in which to reflect or take stock,
to recount the moments or meanings..
No time to shuffle the cards, or sort through
the archives to tell of all the enormous and subtle
changes, the miseries and delights that have transpired..
I process it all in shivers and flashes.
However! I send fervent wishes far and wide to one and all
for a brightly shimmering beginning to a brave new year..
New Year’s Eve was my mother’s birthday,
and that of the first boy I ever kissed,
and a certain far-flung sea-mermaiden I know..
This year I’m headed to the country again-
to Lone Grove- my ancestral home.
I don’t care for New Year’s parties, or the city under
the duress of everyone frantically counting down,
rushing about for the most poignantly smashing time..
Give me the stars, a fire, and good company-
a little time to ponder upon what’s come before
and what’s still to come..
I actually do have quite a few resolutions this year,
but shan’t detail them here as none of them are
very earth-shattering; only to be a better correspondent,
to be kinder to everyone in general,
and to wake up earlier.
Oh yes- and to finally learn to operate an automobile!
Wish me luck!
Sea-opals and tatters-all
by angeliska on December 17, 2006
Hello from the vine-tangled fallow fields, fanciful friends!
No winter’s bluster to speak of hereabouts, I’m afraid-
as our overwarmly revolving nugget of a planet is
rapidly becoming uncomfortably hot under the collar..
In Texas today, we wore short sleeves and light skirts
(well, I did anyhow..) and perspired ever so slightly.
Extremely well-loved darlings bear glad tidings..
A marvelous change has come upon me recently in regards
to my form of gainful employ- I now work in a
veritable wonderland, a haven for the curious,
a cavern of curiosities, an oddity in every nook and cranny..
Uncommon Objects!
Everywhere you look, there is some sort of loveliness..
Like this glorious Oddfellows banner..
As well as all manner of Masonic memorabilia..
Meteorites of lost memories..
The upper air burst into life!
And a hundred fire-flags sheen,
To and fro they were hurried about!
And to and fro, and in and out,
The wan stars danced between..
Mothjinx! I was tempted by this cannister, but it smelled very strange indeed..
These critters make me want to eat pink cake..
Jewels galore!
The only downside is that I am spending all my wages on treasures!
Though, my wunderkammers were so depleted-
surely it’s no sin to fill them up again, eh?
These photos are actually quite old at this point,
but I’ll soon show you all the fanciest treats!
Needless to say, I feel very much in my element
and am an extremely happy (and incredibly busy) bee..
Halloweenie Time!
by angeliska on November 7, 2006
A very belated yet happy Halloween to you all..
Something strange and dark is happening in space,
the waning once-full moon floating like a house,
stars crossed and hanging in the heavens
by frayed and tangling ropes.
Monsters lurking in the corners,
or peeping out from sinkholes.
Bloodbubbles and everything
I try to write tonight comes out kinked and clubfooted.
Perhaps I’ll just show you pictures instead..
Here’s some slimy zombie-girl kisses on your gore-encrusted faces!
I will tickle your cheek with my wee little Frida moustache
(though it had mostly rubbed off by the time this photo was taken
because of all the cheeks that had been previously tickled..)
Beware- spontaneous aortal aneurysms can be caused by
an overdose of acute cuteness from looking at this pint-sized mohican.
This is the lemur that licked my face. It recognized me as one of its
own kind- attempting to jump onto my shoulder and grabbing my head
in both its fuzzy little tree-froggy hands and kissing me excitedly!
My heart exploded into a zillion little bits right then and there.
Um. That man has a lemur in his shirt-
see its little furry head poking out from the hairy bosom
to say hello to me! Hilarious.
By the way- lemurs are not meant to be pets.
Unless you’re me, maybe.
I dressed as a little kookla to go see Beirut and A Hawk and A Handsaw..
It makes me happy to see people dancing and responding to this kind of music-
wherever it is played and whomever chooses to play it.
Trumpets and violins have magical powers in the right hands.
Darling Francesca and Mister Jason F. Austin the fearsome Viking..
Two of my most favorite people, who have incredible smiles
and the amazing capacity to smile brilliantly whilst walking through fire..
That skull had a tongue in it, and could sing once:
how the knave jowls it to the ground, as if it were
Cain’s jaw-bone, that did the first murder! It
might be the pate of a politician, which this ass
now o’er-reaches; one that would circumvent God,
might it not?
Mlle. B. Sainte-Francis invited us over for another fantastic dinner party..
I love her wee elfin princess castle- it is the coziest, loveliest haven,
filled with dollies (most of whom carry weapons, knives- all sharpened).
She is an superb cook- lamb with Ethiopean spices and teff bread
and always an array of good wines and such.
I asked what I could bring-
she said only, “the moon on a string”
and since I forgotten the jar of olives,
these Chinese Lanterns,
had to suffice.
I want to be this goat girl, forever.
Rusty Jacknife apparently loves pumpkin, and mango as well-
or maybe anything edible at all, as he is a terrible glutton-piggers.
You are what you eat.
Totally ridiculous.
For Halloween proper, I was a FRUIT BAT!
Colin was a beautiful coppery owly-bird creature..
Violetta was a fox girl! Kitsune kawaii!
A black sharpie makes for excellent pointy teeth, if you’re on top of your game-
and I can do some pretty great things (if I do say so myself)
with toilet paper, liquid latex, a Death Wheel
(six popular shades execute the extreme effects of death.),
and rose jam + red food coloring (we were out of karo or fake blut)…
I long for the Master Bruise Kit
(design a multitude of realistic injuries with these six exceptional creme colors),
and the Trauma Simulation Wheel
(simulate fresh scrapes, wounds and injuries with three useful shades)!
General MacArthur and Mlle. B as “New Orleans 1912 – The Botched Abortion”
Our Gang– including the lovely Miss Patience as Awdrey Gore,
and Miss Hollybelle as Madame Reflection all in white,
and adorned in mirrors, orchids, doves, and silvery leaves..
I was accosted by this fancy fire-bug,
who made the most perfect use of uva fronds
by attaching them to a cornucopia stuck on her bee-hind
with many tinkling brass bells shaking ferociously!
Christmas and Hanukkah, so fantastic.
Mistress Stephanie und ihre Melodische Katze
are possibly my new favorite band,
and if you know what’s good for you,
they will be yours too.
Everything is really very amazing right now-
I have some wonderful news which I shall relate at a later date,
and honestly, I’ve never been happier- I was only disgruntled
for a moment because I couldn’t find things I was looking for
in the house (which is exceedingly messy and disarrayed)
namely the metal bathtub thingy so I can take a bath
and the Iva Bittova disc for Hazelka.
If anyone has seen either of these things,
please inform me.
Damn Mercury in retrograde!
Adrenalum and other Horrors
by angeliska on October 12, 2006
Alright, darlings- to tell you the truth,
I’ve not been sharing all the happy tidbits of
my day-to-day existence of late because, honestly-
I feel paralyzed with dread at the hideous state of the world.
And I feel very odd writing about cheery things like
strange caterpillars. tiny turtles, fanciful journeys,
exquisite books, incredible music and lovely people
when there are such monstrous and dire things
every-which-way happening every-single-day.
And then I think, “Well, but! We need some
marvelous and small wondrous news to keep
our spirits up and remind us of why we still bother,
you know- hanging around on this dreary planet!”
Right? Of course. And I will- I will share
those sparkly stories very soon I promise, I do.
However!
Today has been really quite unpleasant,
(for kind of babyish reasons)
and I feel that if I am going to regale
you with any little tale of woe,
I must mention a few things..
So, first this late-breaking news
from the scene of the crime!
From the suits who brought you
great hits like, “What Ha-Ha-Habeus Corpus?”
and other all-time-faves
here are the…
Top 25 Censored Stories of the Past Year, from Project Censored:
(thank you )
#1 Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media
#2 Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran
#3 Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger
#4 Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US
#5 High-Tech Genocide in Congo
#6 Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy
# 7 US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq
#8 Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act
#9 The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall
#10 Expanded Air War in Iraq Kills More Civilians
#11 Dangers of Genetically Modified Food Confirmed
#12 Pentagon Plans to Build New Landmines
#13 New Evidence Establishes Dangers of Roundup
#14 Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the US
#15 Chemical Industry is EPA’s Primary Research Partner
#16 Ecuador and Mexico Defy US on International Criminal Court
#17 Iraq Invasion Promotes OPEC Agenda
#18 Physicist Challenges Official 9-11 Story
#19 Destruction of Rainforests Worst Ever
#20 Bottled Water: A Global Environmental Problem
#21 Gold Mining Threatens Ancient Andean Glaciers
#22 $Billions in Homeland Security Spending Undisclosed
#23 US Oil Targets Kyoto in Europe
#24 Cheney’s Halliburton Stock Rose Over 3000 Percent Last Year
#25 US Military in Paraguay Threatens Region
There’s no excuse for not being aware.
For years, I chose to live in a little bubble-
a fantasy-world of la-la-la where I never
bothered to listen to the radio or read the paper,
because I knew the mainstream media was
a pile of poppycock. Now, it’s only gotten worse-
but, there are many alternatives sources for your information.
One of them is run by my uncle
and it would behoove to check it out:
Liberation Video
It’s really interesting- kind of a netflix for activists.
Okay, now it’s time for my awful story!
Come read the terrible tale of your
faithful narratrix being shot up with
LIQUID ADRENALINE!
Here is the story of how today was truly dreadful.
I woke up at 7 o’ clock in the morning
(which is bad enough in and of itself!)
for an appointment with the allergist
to determine exactly are the sources of
these damnable allergies I’ve been beleaguered by for so long..
Notwithstanding the fact that my morning consisted of being
pricked over and over with hundreds of little needly pokers and syringes.
and the fact that these were filled with wee little irritant beasties,
various things one might be allergic to- this alone, I could deal with.
Yes, it’s true- I was even sort of looking forward to the process!
Oh but then- I had a reaction to one of them, and then-
quick as a flash! I was jammed in the leg
with a syringe full of liquid adrenaline (epinephrine)!
Hello flight-or-flight syndrome!
Hello unstoppable tears
and feelings of insurmountable horror!
Greetings, ragged gasps and tachycardia!
Salutations- shivers, shakes and body quakes!
The sweet hick nurse kept calling it “adrenalum“.
I was so freaked out I couldn’t even laugh-
I was too busy hyper-ventilating with tubes
shoved in my nose and paper bag stuck to my face.
I don’t like doctors or hospitals- I spent too much time
in and around them in my childhood.
They make me nervous and scared-
I think of my mother dying in them,
constantly prodded and poked
and poisoned and pilfered
by the men in white coats. Horrible.
Then they gave me another one,
in the other leg! It took me forever
to calm down, I’m still not really-
and then total exhaustion,
black sleep, soul-crash style.
Combined with all the other crap
they made me take, the after-effects
made me feel like a tattered old shoe.
You want to know the best part?
Guess what it is I’m allergic to?
Kitty cats. That’s right. Meow-meows.
I never in a million years would have guessed it-
in fact, I was positive that it was a bajillion other things.
But never kitties! Damn it! What’s the use of adoring
the furry little creatures if they can’t snuggle up
in bed with you? Apparently, they must now be barred
from the boudoir. This is just positively satanic.
Equinox Song
by angeliska on September 23, 2006
Welcome to Fall, all!
I do believe that the onset of autumn
a much more giddily anticipated event
down here in the South than elsewhere-
incipient cool-fronts keenly felt,
a brisk nip in the air and our ears perk,
noses twitch for the smell of burning leaves,
cinnamon incense, broody storms, pumpkin guts,
leaf mold and blessed beloved chill nights!
After the long, brutally hot dog-days,
they are finally on their way!
One day, this will be me!
Or I could endeavor to be like Mme. Tasha Tudor
(born Starling Burgess, what a name!)
She and have been
an inspiration to me of late-
those Vermont-ladies with their
old tyme witchy ways!
And goats!
We’ve been gardening like mad,
planting more fruit trees-
mandarin orange and avocado
and loads of flowers and herbs,
and the Oxblood Lilies (Rhodophiala bifida) have appeared
in an amazing profusion!
Bloody crimson clumps of them
have popped up around the sycamores,
in beds we thought were walkways
and everywhere else..
They are also called Hurricane Lilies,
Schoolhouse Lilies, or Fall Amaryllis
and are one of the many wonderful
antique flowers that fell out of fashion
decades ago, but still tenaciously spring up
around abandoned old houses and ghost-towns.
The Southern Bulb Company is a great source for those heirloom bulbs.
I want grape hyacinths, and snowflakes, and twin sisters!
Not to mention.. The SNAKE’S-HEAD FRITILLARY!
A checkerboard snake lily? But really.
We had another rare surprise and sublime treat the other night
in catching a surprise concert from Miss Joanna Newsom
who I had never before seen perform-
oh my stars, it was so lovely and amazing.
She made me weep singing Sawdust and Diamonds.
She made a lot of folks tear up that night, actually-
big fellas and little gals all wiping at their faces.
“And everything with wings is restless, aimless, drunk and dour
the butterflies and birds collide at hot, ungodly hours
and my clay-colored motherlessness rangily reclines
– Come on home, now! All my bones are dolorous with vines”
Oh my yes indeed.
What else?
Some odd birds and bits:
Man Bites Panda
Please do not bite the pandas, sir.
A friend gave me an interesting and beautiful
piece of music recently:
Matmos
The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast
Ten sound biographies of homosexual icons
which sample the sound of burning flesh?
Yes please..
We also went to see Jan Švankmajer’s film Lunacy (Sílení)
with my grandfather et al.
It was really quite fantastic, his best so far
we all agreed- Grampa commenting afterwards,
“It was a political parable!
I knew this because of the music played during the final credits-
it was a communist funeral march.”
It’s an homage to the Marquis de Sade and Edgar Allen Poe
(loosely based on his stories
The Premature Burial
and The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether)
with meat puppets galore! Truly stupendous.
Books for you and I:
Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopedia Volume II
Is it true there’s a volume III out, and if so where is my copy?
The History of Love
by Nicole Krauss
This book was recommended to me by Ben,
a wonderful man who works at the Strand-
he looks like a lion and has a very kind demeanor.
I took his advice and ended up reading the end
in the bathtub, sobbing because it will make you
do that.
I finally got my very own copy of
The Affected Provincial’s Companion, Vol. I
by the adorable and illustrious Lord Whimsy!
Expect a full review rootle-toot-sweet!
Augustus in NYC – part I.
by angeliska on September 15, 2006
Oh my stars and garters! Where have I been?
New York, you say? Mercy! I can hardly recall it- seems like
a dream. It rained nearly the whole time we were there.
It was wonderful. I haven’t really had time to process
any of it- hopefully the following will enable me to do just that.
Incidentally, I’ve misplaced my brainpan around here somewhere,
and so in the meantime I’ve been using this manky old crockpot
instead, filled with a mixture of ponderousness and piebald
perfidy, petulance, peevishness- in other words a panoply
and profusion of picayune peccadilloes.
Pah!
One day I shall have to learn how to stand up straight and tall, like a real lady.
Perhaps I could take lessons from her.
Since our return from our sojourn to the big
rootle-dootle-apple-strudel I’ve been
preternaturally preoccupied (knock it off!)
with working-girl woes (I say, this is ridiculous!)
and other vagaries and vagueries of my venal, vagabond vays, dah-link.
And I’ve completely exhausted myself in the process.
Hah!
Gateau au chocolat for breakfast is de rigueur at chez Dion
where my darling, the delightful Mlle. Dana and her sweetheart Peabody
hosted us, in their very elegant and varying abodes
(we caught them in the midst of a move, poor dears!)
Bride Fight
We went to Coney Island.
I rode the Cyclone.
I thought I was going to die.
I’m much more a of Wonder Wheel kind of girl.
My love contemplating the wonders of the sideshow by the seashore..
A very sad little ice cream cone. With a moustache.
I ♥ popcorn, candy apples, Princess Pea-force, and the candyman.
Look at the pink cash register!
The candyman was so excited
he offered to pose for us.
His hair is great.
That place is the best.
Bump your ass off.
A happy little blue tooth in the night.
Did he have a candy apple too?
A second installment to follow,
I’m much too sleepy just now..
One Year
by angeliska on August 30, 2006
The enormity of all that has happened in the last 365 days
is almost beyond my scope at this moment to fully absorb and relate.
When I sit down to try and discuss it with myself quietly,
I am consumed by tears of sadness and rage
that catch in my chest and clog my skull but won’t come
until I exhaust myself with a combination of fears and worries.
In the face of this gargantuan injustice I have few words.
I have not so much in the way of rationalizations-
only a sore heart, an aching head, and too many memories with no home.
I know I need to feel it all, to see it all- but mostly I want to understand-
how all this could happen, how the world can be such a bad place
sometimes (more often if you happen to be poor + “undesirable”
in one way or another, of course)
I want to understand how we can continue to
lie to ourselves
about the end of the world
when it’s right in front of our faces.
I want to understand how I got from there to here,
and everything along the way-
the lost and found, lovers and friends
all my favorite houses, streets, watering holes..
I don’t have any answers for myself, or anyone else.
I miss it there so much, and yet know there’s no going back for me-
for so many who have little or nothing to go back to.
That’s not to say that many of my brave beloveds haven’t stayed,
or come back and bust their asses and cough their lungs out
trying to breathe life back into the place- and every day
they succeed, sometimes just
by the sheer fact of their presence and passion.
How can it be a year
when the levees are in the same damn sorry state
(worse, really) that they were before all this?
How can it be a year
when people ask me if New Orleans is still flooded.
How can it be a year
when I haven’t seen a score of sweet faces since
before the storm, and don’t feel with any certainty
when I ever will again.
How can it be a year
when so many of the dead are nameless, without graves.
Their loved ones are lost without them,
lost without their homes, their communities.
All day today I wandered around the big city
in the rain, rain, rain
with friends and ate and drank and looked
at things and tried not to think or to talk about it.
I wanted to blend in seamlessly with the throngs,
the tides of humanity who are unconcerned
with what happened down south a year ago.
It didn’t work.
I can’t sleep- I have to think about this,
and hopefully you will too.
A year ago I came home from Spain,
crawled over the creaking balcony
on my friend’s shoulders into the
dark and empty parlour
slightly dank and stale smelling
crowded with too many objects,
memories I had held onto for
far too long,
dust and dirt
sticking to my travel tattered skin
sheets and pillows damp with
swamp swelter, glad to finally
be home- but still restless.
A note left on my pillow
that said “WELCOME HOME”
still tangled in strands of gingery hair.
I left the night after next at 3:00 am
never imagining in my worst nightmares
any of what would happen next.
They’re cleaning out the house now,
finally- throwing piles of my belongings
out onto the street.
Those pillows we rested our heads against,
clutched and dreamed on- those were the worst,
spotted and speckled with mold feeding of
of our night’s droolings, dirty locks.
Those and the coverlet I wrapped myself in,
that creaky little bed all trash, worse than trash now.
Dresses, shoes, letters
ruined paintings and photographs,
sodden peacock, blackened fiberglass
and moldy drywall, sheetrock chunks.
Treasures buried in foul smelling heaps
and passersby find nothing much
salvageable or worth digging
through toxic refuse to hunt for
pieces of what was my life.
The trees all down below,
gone- too much light where
once were branches.
Here are some people who can say it better than I can:
Jose Fernandes- please go look at his incredible photographs,
they make the thousand useless words adage ring truer than ever.
Tami Nelson () – always nails it on the head and slays my heart simultaneously.
And still the light pours down from a crack in the clouds
near where Myrtle () is standing.
Signs of Life: Surviving Katrina from – I need this book.
and from a conventional news source:
A one year anniversary takes it to the streets
A KNIFE, A FORK, A BOTTLE AND A CORK
by angeliska on August 16, 2006
Summer – Weegee
Start spreading the news..
It’s true- we’re coming to New York for a visit:
August 23rd – September 2nd
A week and a half of hot fun in the summertime-
with any of you lot that dwell in the region, I should expect.
I would love to frolic with you there, oh yes indeed-
so! Get me your digits if I don’t have them already, yes?
Heatspell, 1938 – Weegee
Oh yeah, and where are we staying?
With you? On your fire escape?
With your little brothers and your kitten?
I know it’s hot, but we’re very nice and tidy
and we’ll cook for you and clean up afterwards
and also bring you flowers.
The following are on the official list to-do:
1. Carnivorous plant hunting with my honey in the Pine Barrens-
“…a haunted place where the blood red waters of the Mullica River rise in the bog of a New Jersey town…. The cedars that line the river banks stain the waters their deep color. Stunted pitch pines stand motionless, their shallow roots anchored precariously in gleaming white stands. Silence reigns.” -Helena Mann-Malnitchenko from her memoir, “A Haunted Place”
2. Hunt the Jersey Devil.
3. The Neue Gallerie -and the Cafe Sabarsky!
4. The Cloisters
5. Noguchi Museum
6. I won’t get to see Kiki and Herb, but you should!
7. Coney Island
8. Rice to Riches!
9. Snatch up these lovelies.
10. Obscura!
11. Whatever else you suggest.
Mother and Son – Weegee
I feel a bit like both of these lately- creaky and freaky.
Weegee’s photos tell me so much.
He was a friend of my grandmother’s-
he dedicated one of his books to her.
She was a photographer too.
In a week (!) we’ll be strolling under the gingkos
and eating at the takoyaki stand
(even though I promised Amelia I wouldn’t
eat octopi anymore because they are
so intelligent..)
I need Rejuvenation Station:
❦ bookstores overflowing onto the street
❦ comfortable strangers
❦ old friends
❦ strange new dances
❦ kir royale
❦ yonah schimmel’s knishes
❦ sitting in the park
❦ dinner with you
Juli in Luilekkerland
by angeliska on July 16, 2006
Another amazing gigantor bug on my house,
with wee baby hitchhiker to boot!
She was about as long as my palm, I’d reckon.
Sweet Amelia hiding behind frog bones.
We had such a lovely, perfect day last week-
visiting the coatimundis, coyotes, bobcats,
foxes, owls, polecats,
bones, butterflies bees et al.
Then a marvelous dinner à la Rusty Sparks,
full moon swimming in the deep cold springs,
a raucous game of 31 (Scat / Ride the Bus / Blitz)
and a.. GOATWALK!
Oh sweet goatie! How I adore you!
How they love to nibble poison ivy, yam-yam-yam..
Yonder, beyond the fields we know.
Bee-home.
Mercury turns to lead in this weather-
an alchemical abomination fraught with
abscondments!
crossed lines, various demons, and broken plans.
My grampapa and I had planned another trip
for August- this time to Japan (aiii!)
but unfortunately he must have cataract surgery
soon and so we had to go ahead and cancel it..
I’m more than a little heartbroken over it-
on several thousand levels.
I hope we can take another trip together.
Perhaps in spring- for cherryblossom time?
I have to get out and travel a bit though,
or I may go completely batty!
So we’re going to try and get to New York
for a short jaunt- to noozle lovelies and
see at least one of the following…
Diamanda Galás presents for THE SPIEGELTENT: four different concerts for voice and piano, most recent interpretations of some songs new and some famous to her repertoire, spanning Hollywood, New York, the Deep South, Paris, Greece, and Asia Minor.
August 10/06 – Long Black Veil: a program of tragic and homicidal love songs by Diamanda Galas, OV Wright, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins Ornette Coleman, and others.
August 17/06 – O Death: songs of loneliness, death, and defiance by John Lee Hooker, Phil Ochs, Ralph Stanley, Hank Williams, and Shel Silverstein.
August 24/06 – Heaven Have Mercy: The Singers – songs made famous by Marlene Dietrich, Peggy Lee, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Edith Piaf, and Timi Yuro.
August 31/06 – Burn Me: Songs from the Greek underworld, Armenian Udi Hrant and other songs by Diamanda Galas using texts from the French poets maudits and Galas’ vocal prowess in the amanethes of Asia Minor.
So yes, that and hopefully Kiki and Herb
and Nova Scotia or the Pine Barrens
and definitely Ossining!
Summertime slinks in casting waves of heatshimmer,
honeysuckle dewed hummingbirds dip in the twilight
branches rustle, cicadas thrum, holy basil and tomato leaf.
The world is all blue and gold and green
when I am at my rest.
My luminous star-lily-of-the-sea!
skin seascape in suspension
holographic entrypoint
each part reflects the whole
A dryad indeed is she!
Return to the Chateau Funspit, my most favorite new neighbors.
Staghorn fern chandeliers,Amaranth (love-lies-bleeding), White Datura,
melons, vines, and fireflies outside
and darn good company within.
Also, chickens.
Oh, and seven songs of my right now:
1. Summerwine – Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood
2. Human Fly – Nouvelle Vague
3. Miss You – Rolling Stones
4. TXAss Rock – Tiana Hux
5. Here Come the Girls – Ernie K. Doe
6. Poppy Day – Legendary Pink Dots
7. Les Sucettes – France Gall
There's no place like..
by angeliska on June 24, 2006
Home sweet home!
The after-dinner-mint green asbestos siding
will eventually come off to reveal lovely wood siding,
which it has been graciously preserving all these years..
Oh, soon our shady stoop will tangle with twining vines snaking over all!
Over the garden gate, sweet little fence.
A big bad cottonwood beetle. Note his false scary eyes and ponytails.
He was imprisoned in a honey jar because he eats trees until they die.
The bare bones beginning of our bath pavillion..
Every house I’ve lived in since I was 16 had a clawfoot bathtub-
and this one is now no exception. It’s something of a necessity.
..Oh, and there’s this bit of magic from Ambassador Gorvetzian..
Spell to Bring Lost Creatures Home
Home, home,
Wild birds home!
Lark to the grass,
Wren to the hedge,
Rooks to the tree-tops,
Swallow to the eaves,
Eagle to its crag
and raven to its stone,
All birds home!
Home, home,
Strayed ones home,
Rabbit to burrow
Fox to earth,
Mouse to the wainscot,
Rat to the barn,
Cattle to the byre,
Dog to the hearth,
All beasts home!
Home, home
Wanderers home,
Cormorant to rock
Gulls from the storm
Boat to the harbour
Safe sail home!
Children home,
At evening home,
Boys and girls
From the roads come home,
Out of the rain
Sons come home,
From the gathering dusk,
Young ones home!
Home, home
All souls home,
Dead to the graveyard,
Living to the lamplight,
Old to the fireside,
Girls from the twilight,
Babe to the breast
And heart to its haven,
Lost ones home!
– From Kathleen Raine’s “The Year One”, 1952.
So we’ve ensconced ourselves in our firefly-frought palace,
safely and soundly but not without trial and travail and
some frightening misadventures..
Our beloved canine companion nearly died
the night before I had to be out of the Avenue B cottage.
It seems he got into some rat poison,
we think from a dead critter he dug up..
He went from slightly listless and mopey
to irregular breathing and shitting great gouts of blood
in the space of an hour.
Luckily, we were able to get him into the emergency
animal clinic where they gave him the antidote for
Warfarin posioning- Vitamin K!
If you ever suspect your animal might have
eaten rat poison, that’s the answer- if you can
get it quick enough.
Looking at him now, you would never know
how close he came to being no more..
The most amazing dog in the world. No, really. It’s the truth.
Our beautiful weeping pear tree.
And a little fig tree we just planted, along with lots of briar roses,
wormwood, plumbago and a mango tree!
We have a third of an acre with giant sycamores, pecan trees,
a lacebark elm and a cedar. Heavenly shade to hammock under.
Soon there will be a greenhouse and a fountain and a carnivore bog
and a pygmy goat and a pygmy donkey and another doggie and a
blacksmith’s shop and a vegetable and herb garden and a willow
and and and and and!
Wow, so somebody got a special deal on remnant tile-
and kind of went to crazytown with it. It’s kind of John Waters-y,
but in the best kind of way.. The showers, however,
are a bit spooky-manky and made for midgets.
They may have to go. We’ll see.
Another kooky loo. With effalent.
So our house is something of a project.
One that will be ongoing for many years to come, I’m sure.
It’s an old house, with good bones- but a few issues.
It’s real-estate terms it’s known as a “handyman’s delight”
though we’re not sure if “delight” is the most appropriate word..
Luckily, we are handy- and when we’re done it will be
nothing short of incredible.
It has eight rooms, not counting the two bathrooms, kitchen
and bathtub pavillion- lots of closets and crannies and windows.
So come visit! There’s lots of room!
(Although we’re kind of living like fancy squatters right now,
with no stove, and boxes and janky-janky everything-
Colin told me to pretend I was living in New Orleans again.
It worked, actually.)
Oh yeah, and most of the rooms are painted a dazzling shade of
“Smurf Blue”. Somebody also got a deal on paint, apparently.
It is my bane. Though as far as graffiti goes,
the poetry is a nice touch!
We went to the store and picked up a stripper.
It was very noxious and gave us burning sores. But very effective.
Ta-da! Shiny wood floors and a temporary bedroom painted
a lovely shade I call “Seaweed Dream Green” and Colin has
dubbed “Spirulina Surprise”! Yep, we’re gettin’ pretty darn
Bob Vila up in heah!
