WARNING. I DO NOT MODERATE COMMENTS. ANYTHING YOU SAY WILL PROBABLY BE USED AGAINST YOU BY CRAZIES THAT LURK ON THE INTERNET.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

I made some Art.


My friend Vicki over at glitterfrog is wrasslin up her writin skills and she put out a call for cover art. Not being one to let a friend down, I put my mad photoshop skillz to work. Just for her. I am not even going to charge her for it.

Around the World in 80 Tunnels.

Ok so not 80, and only across country. I just wanted a cute literary reference in my title. Shoot me.

I was doing my daily farking. What??? I was reading fark.com morons. Sheeesh. You people really have your minds in the gutter. I do not know why I continue to hang around you just to be badly influenced. Oh wait. I want to be badly influenced. Never mind.

Back to my farking. I came across a link to a story about Salem, Oregon's underground.
Here: katu.com news story with no pictures. I saw a reference to Portland's underground and a cursory search found this: http://www.shanghaitunnels.info/

Now tunnels have always been a part of my life. Freaky, I know. to explain how,I have to take you to the OTHER coast. EAST SIDE! REPRESENT!

I really have to check my med dosage.

Anydarkspookyplace, I grew up in Savannah,Ga. The city oozes history. It drips from the walls. Truly.
If you have never been to Savannah maybe you are not familiar with "The Pirate's House Restaurant".Read up here. I'll wait.

Done?

Did you see this part?
Stories still persist of a tunnel extending from the Old Rum Cellar beneath the Captain's Room to the river through which these men were carried, drugged, and unconscious, to ships waiting in the harbor. Indeed, many a sailor drinking in carefree abandon at The Pirates' House awoke to find himself at sea on a strange ship bound for a port half a world away. A Savannah policeman, so legend has it, stopped by The Pirates' House for a friendly drink and awoke on a four-masted schooner sailing to China from where it took him two years to make his way back to Savannah.



I know they do exist. I have seen them. Been in them. In fact, until a recent refurbishment, you could see 2 chained off openings. One was actually gated off at the top of a set of steps. At the bottom of the steps lay a "dead pirate". To spook little kids. As one does.
When I was growing up, we would eat at the Pirate's House every so often and I would visit and be properly spooked by the pirate. Ah good times. I have not been to eat in a few years so I could not give a good review, but it was always an experience, to say the least.
I shall have to go dig up some ghost stories...........

I want these. So badly. These count as a CountDown Post!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

RHPS

If you are not at all familiar with the awesomeness that IS The Rocky Horror Picture Show, then you do not know that the movie is where I got the blog's name.
I heart me some RHPS.
I have a script that was signed by Meat Loaf and Susan Sarandon. I rock.

So yes, I will be watching Glee on October 26th when they pay tribute.
Check it out!

4 posts in ONE!!

Not like it is some super post or anything I am just trying to catch up. It was a long weekend. We had Maddie and Logan's combined birthday partys here sunday and it was one of those non stop weekends. I just stopped. and it is tuesday. Since they live here part of the time I had to figure out where to put the new stuff. I thought I had outgrown that a while ago.
When my kids were little, we got into this easy routine over the years with birthday parties. It was always understood that grandparents and aunts and uncles would come. Other kids were optional. Even if it meant 2 parties, there was a party that was mostly adult relatives.
Because my older 2 had birthdays near Christmas ( October and November) this meant 2 things. One- there was a cleanout of closets and toyboxes. They new that the old was going to less fortunate kids. Two- Major Christmas gifts would not purchased until after the child's birthday because some one ALWAYS trumped me. This was only an issue once and it quickly became a non issue.
So back to this weekend. I am slowly getting over this major chest infection, corralling the troops to clean and decorate and work. All in the past few days. I crashed yesterday. And work beckoned today. and will for the next few days.
So I took some time today to do the "Pre Christmas" weeding that I thought I had grown out of.
I say I had grown out of,LOL. I mean that I thought that those years had passed. I am rather glad that they haven't though. Kids grow up so damn quick. They are with us such a short time when you think about it. When you are knee deep in diapers and bad report cards it seems like an eternity.




PS. I lied about the 4 posts in one. there are more coming...

Friday, October 15, 2010

Japan loves Halloween too! CDP#15!

Who knew?
I was clearing out my email inbox, which I usually do this time of day, especially on friday, and I received an about.com newsletter. They have them for just about every topic. I mean I bet you could go to about.com and search for a section on Middle Aged Women who have sex with elves. I am NOT going to search, but you could. Just sayin.

This newsletter in particular was titled "The Scariest Places on Earth". My son's room was conspicuously absent. But then there are a lot of so called "Scariest Places" lists and I think they vary in what the qualifications are.

Anyway, the newsletter included several links, one which is here.

Being the sweetheart that I am, I thought I would check some of the discussed places/events and share! No need to thank me, just send cash.


Kawasaki Halloween


No, not a celebration for over powered bicycles, this is a parade and dance ( Thriller , I do believe) that takes place at Kawasaki Stadium.

I did get a chuckle out of the disclaimer/warning.

※Entry registration closes on 10th of Oct or once we reached to our limit.
※No baby carriage allowed in the parade.
※All participants must follow the instructions by the guards.
※We will not allow anyone to join the parade with the costume that gives uncomfortable feeling to others, overexposure costume, who has any dangerous weapons as like as a gun, sword or body accessories.

In case you were wondering, they HAVE reached their limit.
They e a costume contest and an after party. AND A FREE SHOWING OF ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW! ( well must buy one drink). Japan rocks.


Most of the other sites are in Japanese but you get the idea. I would kill to be able to make the Sanri Puroland Party - Home of Hello Kitty. You know SHE gives a rocking party.

I have set google alerts to find out just how awesome these events were.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Trick or Treat


Haunted Mansion Soundtrack



There were several versions of the Disney Haunted Mansion Soundtrack. I owned, for years the 1974 LP Trick or Treat—The Stories of Halloween (Out of print; Disneyland Records DQ-1358). I would probably still have it, but my mom the 6th grade teacher, always took it to her class to listen to on Halloween or the friday before. One year it never came back. The whole of side two is an abbreviated version of the recording made for the soundtrack album. Side one is the unrelated (but famous) Donald Duck story"Trick or Treat," featuring Witch Hazel and Donald's nephews. I grew to know this by heart as I would fall asleep listening to it.








Version that I had in the 70's
Fast forward to sometime around 2002 when I found a cassette version at Toys R Us. My son loved this recording as much as I did so it did not last long. I did find some various versions of the audio at doombuggies.com. since then I had it in various forms. I could find it on youtube and limewire.
Then last year, for the 40th Anniversary of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion Disney released the "The Story and Song from the Haunted Mansion "CD. Of course I snapped it right up. The cover and booklet was graphically reconstructed and restored by Sean Tejaratchi from the original illustrations by artist Collin Campbell. The enhanced CD also includes a Digital Image Gallery (which can be accessed by inserting the CD into a computer) of high quality images from Campbell’s original paintings for the album.




Anyspookyhouse, it you want to hear more audio or learn more about Narration and Music from the Haunted Mansions head on over to the audio library at doombuggies.com.
They always have room for one more.....

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Some fun and cute online games for Halloween! Countdown post 13!

Woo hoo!

Castle Calamity. I love that name. It is so what I would name my house if it were Castle Class. But it is not. I can't even come up with a word pun for that one.
The game is here. Cute little wander around a haunted house game. Of course you have objectives to meet. Keep fresh batteries in that flashlight. You can pick up batteries in dark corners. Beware of the holes, fall in and lose a life.

kidzpage has a nice selection. online coloring, mahjohng, and some more fun things.

primarygames.com also has a healthy selection.


Of course you can always google for specifics but why should you when you have me to do it?

While the whole world watches....

The Chilean Miner live stream video from Foxnews has been open on my laptop since about 8 last night. It would have been earlier but I was nestled in the arms of Morpheus, dreaming of Sprinkled Donuts. I watched it until the wee hours of the morning, but then I only slept for about 2 hours. I woke up coughing up a lung. For all I know , Bill is in there snuggled up to it like it was my pillow.
I got up, checked other news, read some blogs, then decided to get some work done. See how well that is working out? I did make some yummy coffee though!

Is it not awesome that these men will be reunited with their familes? It seems to me that the rescue efforts are progressing quite rapidly. I did notice that they had to do some minor repairs but it was done quickly. Now I do not know how much you know about this rescue effort, but if you don't know anything , well you suck. Get off my blog. I thought it was uber cool though that NASA helped out. They collaborated with the Chilean Navy to make the capsule. I wanna buy em all a beer. Sailor's get grabby though, so I will have to send someone in my place.( I married a sailor, an american one, I know how grabby they get) Of course, I am also broke so maybe this is a bad idea. Oh well. It is the thought that counts, right?

As the sun rises they are showing more static shots of the camp and surrounding area. The feed seemed to switch last night from above to below ground. Which was fine until the screen was filled with hairy miner butt. Yeah , that was not a pleasant sight. That occurrence makes the sunrise all the more welcome because the video can vary a bit more. I do know, though, that the sun is problematic for the minors as they have essentially been mole people. Those that come up during daylight are having to wear superstrong sunglasses. They all seem to be in good shape otherwise though. So, YAY!

A Mine Doctor is giving a statement now, sounds like everyone is checking out ok so far. I am sitting here trying not to look at the stack of work I have and feeling the slight pull of my mind-monster ( my nickname at times for my bi-polar) and then I want to kick myself. I have not been trapped in a tunnel for 70 days, and while these guys have a lot to be thankful for, so do I.

I guess my point is, this situtation, like so many , could have turned out so much worse. There but for the Grace of God. I am so thankful that these families can be reunited. There have been some comments and articles in the media that they will face issues other than just physical health. There is the issue of being in the spotlight. Kind of not-so-instant celebrities. Of course there will be some cash coming their way, probably for quite a few of them. I think we need to remember that their ordeal is not over yet and continue to Pray for them and their families.


I will be be back later biatches! With COUNTDOWN POSTS!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Sorry

My grammar and spelling is crap today. I don't care to edit. Maybe later.

POST 12! For the COUNTDOWN!


Some of you who are FB friends may notice that I have been changing my profile picture a lot. There are several reasons. There is a lot going on in my family. 3 birthdays just this month. My son turned 18 on the 11th, my grandson turns 1 on the 18th and my granddaughter turns 3 on the 25th. And of course there is Halloween.

I started wanting to collect Vintage Halloween several years ago. Then decided that I could not afford it but I could still learn about it. If nothing else I could at least jack pictures of other people's stuff and keep them on my hard drive. In this house that is the best option anyway.

There are some really good sites out there and a few good books have been written. Do a search on ebay and of course you get a nice variety. There are some time periods that I like more than others of course. I love the mid 70's ( yes people THAT is considered vintage now) and the early 20's. Beistle was the company that gave us a lot of the art that we are familiar with and the honeycomb decoration. Great article here. The good thing is that a lot of the Vintage items are now in reproduction. YAY! The guy at the top of the post is the most widely recognized. Tell me that does not bring back warm fuzzy memories of childhood. Don't lie. I will know.

It makes me think of a time when all I had to worry about was making sure I got out to T an T before all the good candy was gone. That was always a concern. But before the BIG NIGHT, there was the Halloween Carnivals that all the churches and schools had. Yes our very prim and proper Methodist Church had a multi-level Haunted House in the Educational Building for a few years. Unheard of today I know. All the schools have taken to calling the functions "Fall Festivals". It is still the same but geared toward a more tamer and less demonic trend. I do not disagree with that, I am just talking about how times have changed.

Anyway, back to the Vintage Stuff. It speaks to a time when things were not majorly mass produced like they are now and even when they were there was more detail and a higher quality. Actually, some of them were innovations in new ways of mass producing, so there is a kinda paradox there, but you get my point.
I have some links for you to free ,printable Vintage Halloween Art that you can use for scrapbooking or decorating or choosing your next tattoo. Whatever. Go crazy.

4 old Fashioned Cards

Images with links to more!

Here is more from the Toymaker. There are some patterns to print that you can pair with these images too!

Free ecards with Vintage Art

COUNTDOWN POST 11!! WOOT!

I got nothin.

I keeeeeeeeeed.


What I have for you for the eleventieth post is a photo essay from LIFE magazine.
You do know they have archived all kinds of crap online right? Did you know that you can read back issues ( ok ancient issues) of life through google? LIFE is just awesome like that. They are sharers. They would probably give you their last bite of Kit-Kat. I would not.

But here it is.
Maske: World's Haunting Masquerade's.



For the last several decades, photographer Phyllis Galembo has visited and revisited far-flung villages where traditional masquerades -- social gatherings centered around men and women wearing symbolic costumes -- serve vital social and even governmental functions. Her new book, Maske, (published by Chris Boot, $45) gathers together many of the stunning photographs from her journeys

If ya'll only knew how much c and p and undo I go through just to get you one simple post. GAH


Monday, October 11, 2010

This kinda counts as a Countdown Post.


Before I do any more post I want to say a few things.

I committed myself to do 31 days of straight posting as a personal goal. I am teaching my self to set small goals and keep them. This has a lot to do with dealing with my bi-polar and how it can affect my productivity. So if you don't read them all, waaa. I have on big girl panties and it will not hurt me at all. Ok maybe a little.

Another thing...apparently I have fans! One even wrote me. I was GIDDY! I mean I know the Vickis love me and Paula and Lynn has to read it because she is my baby sister and it is like a law.
She even is gonna come and be all snarky with me! YAY! We could have a snark off or sumthin. WOOT!


So I thought I would share this as part of my countdown. I found an awesome cornbread recipe . How is this Halloween you ask? Well Walmart has a tres cool selection of cupcake papers this year. I tend to buy them seasonally and then use them through that season for muffins and things other than cupcakes. I make cupcakes too though.
Anywaybacktotheawesomecornbread, I took a picture of them. Just for you. AND, yes get this...I am going to share the RECIPE!

INgredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spray or lightly grease a 9 inch round cake pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir in egg, milk and vegetable oil until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

I did not have to modify the recipe to make the muffins. This is a thick batter so I just put a tablespoon or so of the batter in the muffin cup.

Post 9. Really this is cool.

I love corn mazes. In theory. I have never been in one. I hear the gasps, I can hear it now "But Kat , you are so well traveled and and your experiences could fill a thousand books!?!!"

I am shocked as you are. Truly. There are however a few good reasons why.

-I did not live near corn.
-Know that I do, nobody wants to go with me.
-I would need a designated driver because I have been told I would have to drink corn liquor.
-I have seen the movie "Children Of The Corn"

However, that does not mean I do not want others to enjoy them. If you do go, let me have enough notice so I can call Met-life and get a basic policy on you. It is the least you could do. I will send your family a few bucks every now and then.Promise.

I found this site that tells you were one is near you. You are welcome.

We are on Post 8.

See I am paying attention. My health woes have simmered down. I seem to have a chest cold though. But I am still here!

So for Today's Post I am going to point you in the direction of one of my fave places:

imockery.com

He's got an excellent countdown going over there and lots of awesome articles. His motto is mocking pop culture and everything else he can get his grubby hands on. I so totally want that as a tramp stamp. For Reals.

Here is a bit of an article ( it is not plagiarigism** if you only copy 10% and linkback)


Halloween Edition Color Blanks
( For those not in the know....Color Blanks are made by Rose Art...find some here.)

It seems as though vinyl toys have never been as popular as they are these days. More stationary pieces of art than toys, they're being sold just about everywhere you look, and a number of companies have been selling blank vinyl toys that you can customize yourself. Those of you looking for some new Halloween crafts to tackle this season will be pleased to know that Rose Art has just released two new Halloween edition versions of their Color Blanks figures. One is Frankenstein's Monster and the other is a Human Jack-O-Lantern, and they come with a few markers and various stickers to decorate their bodies with.

Naturally, I had to pick up both of them, but rather than torture your eyes with what mine would inevitably look like (hint: covered in far too many stickers), I called upon Re to lend her artistic talents to this urgent Halloween project. She got right to work and I'm pleased to unveil the results of her labor:



You'll have to go here to see the rest and the pics. For the record, I would have
waited until my meds kicked in and then done them. I have some frickin A awesome Christmas Ornaments that I made one year.



** Note. I meant to misspell that. I liked the way it looked. And my pain meds just kicked in.

PS. There is an AWESOME new Group on FB. Join It. All the cool kids are.

18 years ago today.

I ended 48 hours of labor and was given the joy of raising a bouncing baby boy.
Oh what a ride it has been. He was on a first name basis with the staff at the er until he was 12. I am so thankful that most of his injuries happened at school-----DFACS would surely have been up my ass.
I really don't want to get all mushy here ( I got work ya know) but Happy Birthday William. Don't read your mom's blog. It will warp you more than you already are.


PS YES I KNOW I AM BEHIND ON THE COUNTDOWN. SHEEESH

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Funny Headstones

http://tombwrecks.blogspot.com/

Do you know how jealous I am that this was not my idea? Of course my traveling is limited but the WWW gives us access to ,well, everywhere. I missed the boat.
But Enjoy!

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Real Skeleton found at Yardsale

Here

I wanna know how the guy just knew it was the real thing. Buy bones much?

Friday, October 8, 2010

Countdown Post 7!

Here is a neat article about the minds behind some of the Best Seasonal Haunted Attractions

They plan this all year, you know. They stay up at night, staring at the ceiling, dreaming up new and more diabolical ways to give you nightmares.

What they crave is this time of year -- when the darkness comes sooner and the chill of night creeps into your bones -- because that's when they finally get to unleash their horrors upon you.

Their reward is your terrified scream.

Their faces and names are relatively unknown; most people only know the darkened, terrifying worlds they have created with names like Erebus, Netherworld, The Beast, and The ScareHouse







.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Easy Countdown Post 6

I stumbled across these 2 fun Halloween sites that are obviously big ads for products but fun nonetheless,

You can always count on Ben and Jerry.

Celebrate with Hershey's.

and for Something Totally Unrelated

I came across this article about the discovery of a poem by Ted Hughes. The subject is the days/night leading up to his wife, Sylvia Plath's , death by suicide. Her death has been the subject of fascination in literary circles for decades. In fact there are those that blame Hughes as he had only recently separated from her and have gone so far as to deface the inscription on her tombstone. In fact, the outcry against Hughes only worsened as he removed it to repair it and then even more so after his partner Assia Wevill killed herself and her 4 year old in 1969.
Back to the Poem. It is not here in it's entirety , but it does give an idea that maybe Hughes was not as culpable as those in history as made him out to be.
http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/cultural-capital/2010/10/hughes-poem-poet-publish



If you want more on this, in my opinion, the wiki article on Sylvia Plath is quite neutral and gives some good references.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Plath

I can't do ALL your research for you biatches.


PS. I have to add here that I do have a fascination with this myself. If not for the fact that Sylvia Plath's novel "The Bell Jar" has always haunted me. Then add in the mystery/eeriness behind her illness and suicide. Forget about the impact that her life and mostly death had on the women of the time

OOOPS I did it again...

Sorry. Yesterday was a down day. A migraine and just out and out fatigue.
I am gonna make it up to ya.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

STUPENDOUS OCTOBER COUNTDOWN POST number 5!!

Hard to fathom that we are already 5 days into October. In 6 days, my middle child ( my bouncing baby boy) will be 18. WOW. I need to up my valium dosage on that one.

Now let's get into the swing of things! Let's get all Halloweenie!
On a budget, don't decorate, think Halloween is not worth the trouble or just don't get into it but still wanna bring back some memories of yesteryear??
Well here are a few ideas that I put together just for you.

  1. Take a gander at this list of Hallowee movies. Some can be rented from your local video store ( do they still exist?) Some are on netflix or try places like Hulu.com or Youtube.com. Some you might have to procure in not so legal ways. Just sayin. Or go to TVGuide.com and search the listings. Here is the list. kinda dated, but still.
  2. Search online for Virtual Haunted House. There are some really good ones out there.*
  3. If you have the backyard for it, plan a bonfire, make some warm drinks and try to scare the crap out of each other. This always ends well for us. ( yeah....right)
  4. Plan a night around the board game "Clue". With lots of candles and no lights.
5. Research your local history and folklore. Come up with a self guided tour of the spooky spots. These people have been on the web for a while and there is a lot of good info here.And here

*some of the good ones I have found I have linked for you ( and by good I mean tolerable). There are quite a few out there. Some are cheesy, some are really good flash, and some that seem cheesy NOW were awesome 10 years ago when they were first put up. Some even longer because I remember that kid mentioned at the start of this post on my lap while we went through them.

http://www.virginiavarela.com/Halloween/index.htm



http://www.indigo.org/lightning6.html


http://www.halloweenishere.com/hauntedhouse.html

The Department Of Internet Posting and Licensing Bureau

Please note : The author wishes to clarify something. There may be offense taken at this post but it was written in jest. You know satire. Humor, you remember that.

It has been a long time since I took a creative writing class. I will not tell you how long. I do not want to age myself - I think Mork and Mindy were involved. It has also been a REALLY long time since I took any type of English class. Not fancy pancy literature but good ol grammar.
Still I think I have a good grasp of the elements and I do try to enforce them with my children. It is going to be a challenge though to home school my child with out someone in this house giggling at just at the mere hint of something dangling. Participle or not. I must admit that part of the hesitation is that I am a punctuation, spelling, and grammar snob all rolled into one. I think people should have to pass a test to get on the internet.

Just like I think people should have to pass a test to be parents, I think there should be a course, and then you have to have a license. Or you go to jail. It would definitely stop all those silly arguments when someone points out that someone else has used the wrong "your". Personally that turns into an awesome drinking game but that is not the point. There ( not their or they're) are also people that need to turn off the textspeak, but that is another post all together. (did you catch that?)

This brings up the delicate point of people that ,well, um, are apparently not educated at all. People that would not normally mix with others except online. Like on FB. Most internet forums are going to have mostly like minded, similarly educated people. Facebook lumps everyone into one big ole melting pot. Now the posting in question may not even be one of your friends, but a friend of a friend. Or a fan of your favorite TV show. This brings out the "ese" that you are not normally exposed to. It sends chills up your spine. You weep for the poster because they have clearly and blatantly posted their ignorance for the whole World Wide Web to see. Then you shudder as you realize that if, in Real Life, there were cartoon balloons that captioned what we said....THEIRS WOULD LOOK JUST LIKE THAT.

Makes you think huh? Makes me crack the hell up envisioning walking around Wal-mart. I would not be able to breathe. I would literally be ROTFLPIMP. That thought alone right there, boys and girls, makes me realize that all people have a purpose, even if it is only for my entertainment. I still do not want to share the internet though.

It also pains me to admit that there are people I hold dear that cannot spell. For the record that person is directly related to me and does not read this so please, do not think I secretly mock you. Besides, you all well know that I mock openly.( I also want you all to know that while the things mentioned above are a pet peeve, I really do not want to miss out on great people because of a silly bias. I realize that not everyone can be as smart or wonderful as me. If someone I hold dear even came close to my ridicule I would discretely let them know. I am all helpful like that.)

Now for your creative writing assignment: What is your earliest memory of Halloween?

Monday, October 4, 2010

Countdown Post Tres. Yes I skipped it.

Why do you people let me near numbers?? What the hell are you thinking?

Just a quickie tonight. Family Dinner on the patio. Wee..

Since food is on the brain , I have some Halloween recipe links! YAY! Gross food!
http://www.halloweenishere.com/recipes.html

http://familyfun.go.com/halloween/halloween-recipes/




ooops dinner is ready....I'll be back to post more later!

Some of my faves!

kitty litter cake!

really gross...not for the faint hearted

really cute stuff here. all ages!


allrecipes.com never lets me down!



later on this week, I will let you know what I have decided to make for Halloween this year. Our plans are still not final but even if it is just hubby and I watching tv, there will be food involved!
Got any faves of your own??

Sunday, October 3, 2010

STUPENDOUS OCTOBER COUNTDOWN number QUATTRO

This post has some links that I will refer to from time time, as well as a few seasonal goodies.
Since is October,a time of goblins and ghoulies and ghosts, let me introduce you to one of my Favorite Places In The World,
OF ALL TIME.

WDW HAUNTED MANSION
ok so it is not the original but it is still awesome. A discussion of all the parks Haunted Mansions is forthcoming. You can find out all the trivia and lore at another favorite site:

http://www.doombuggies.com/


Wanna find some local haunts? Of the manmade kind???
http://www.hauntedhouse.com/

http://hauntworld.com

http://www.hauntedhouses.com/

This is a new one to me. I shall have to check it out......


Let's Get Crafty!
I love crafts, and I love doing these things with my kids even if they eventually get thrown away or do not turn out so well. This is about the time spent and getting into the mood of the season more than actually decorating your house. Truthfully, how many macaroni wreath ornaments does YOUR mom still hang around the house?

I have subscribed to "Family Fun" magazine for years and I have a few of their craft books. Yes they are owned and operated by Disney. They have a great website which is one of my go- tos for simple or neat stuff. Most of the crafts do not require a long expensive list of stuff.
http://familyfun.go.com/halloween/halloween-crafts/

This'll keep you busy! I really wanna make a cheese cloth ghost now. It has been years..
http://www.allcrafts.net/halloween.htm





This post, I realize has no real rhyme or reason or point, but then if you took my meds , you would not make much sense either, lol. I just promised a post a day at least so that is what you get.

Oh and if anyone can tell me the magic text to keep my FB likes thingy within it's borders please give me a holler! Thanks!


PS This has got to be the worst post I have ever written.

OMG I missed a day. So this is yesterday's NUMBER DOS!

I am in the middle of bleeding to death ( the Doctor's say I am not, I beg to differ, All I have to say is if they ever suspect me of murder and do that luminol trick in my bathroom, I am screwed)

Now that you know more about me than you ever wanted...Here is the make up post.
In all it's wonderful glory.

It may seem like cheating because I am posting more links than substance but I am actually sharing some of my own PRECIOUS Artsy Fartsy Photography with you. I am also posting in between letting the floors dry.


I am a ......THANATOPHILE ( without the icky sexual part) I swear wiki slays me sometimes...
I love to tromp through Cemeteries and old Graveyards ( there is a difference) I am also a lifelong student of the Art and Symbolism we humans put into death.
Now please do not think this is creepy, I do not collect this mess to satisfy weird urges.
We are all to some degree preoccupied with Death. Face it, it is the EndGame and because people have so many questions about it, have since Life began, there is a fascination with it. I could go on but there are a lot of more scholarly people who have written entire volumes on this that I will not. I will say that I know when I die, I will meet Jesus so my fascination tends to be on how the generations have unknowingly written their history while observing the current customs of death. There are a lot of like minded friends I have made online -mostly at the Forum That Shall Not Be Named.

I take pictures of Tombstones. Some I have sold.
From sheldon2

I have even gotten my now 12 year old into romping around Cemeteries with me. I.Am. That.Good.






From sheldon2


Now that the weather has cooled off and I have 2 new spiffy cameras to play with -a 35 mm SLR given to me by my Dad which will is almost as cool as the fact that I also own his first 35mm evah. I also have a new mini digi that I am trying out . Thank you Office Depot...-there will be more romps and new pics. YAY!

Enough about me and my blabber, now to learn ya.

I have compiled some links n stuff to help get you up to speed on this stuff. I will be posting more throughout the month. Stay tuned. Some of these links will end up over there->>>> in my linkatorium.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori

Roman Death Scultpures

the Thanatos Archive WARNING there are dead people here. Nicely dressed, some you cannot tell are dead , dead people but still. This archive is mostly pay, but hosts most of the well know photos out there. I will do another post on this but for the unlearned...most Victorians did NOT have Kodak Easyshares, the only time in life there would be a pic for most was maybe a wedding photo. It became the in thing to do in a time of high infant/child mortality to take a picture. I it was probably the only image they would ever have. Also remember it did not seem quite as creepy to them. They laid out their dead in the front parlor and had a much more common sense attitude toward death than we do now.


Tombstone Rubbings. How To.
Note: this practice is banned in many places. It can be harmful to the stone.

One of our rubbings. ( do as I say, not as I do kids)


From rubbings
Weird But True Strange Unusual Tombstones Just a few, I'll post more in the coming days.

I will put up the 3rd countdown post later today.

Friday, October 1, 2010

STUPENDOUS OCTOBER COUNTDOWN number UNO


A lot of blogs I read do various countdowns. Yes I jacked the idea ( especially from i-mockery and x-entertainment , 2 awesome retro ish blogs that do not know I exist but I am still upset that x never finished the Playskool/Lego Advent Calendar last year)
Mine is kinda different. A little Martha Stewart, a little Cheezy Horror, some awesome websites and surfing finds then throw in some great timewasters and whatever else I come up with and you have the STUPENDOUS OCTOBER COUNTDOWN. That is so awesome it needs no name or logo. Or readers for that matter.

So get ready!

Happy October

IT's gonna be DAMMIT or else.
I have a file folder full of crap that I am gonna post this month. While this time of the year is awful for my bipolar ( most of my hospitalizations were in the fall and seemed to have coincided with my girly time - more on that later) It is still one of my FAVE! The weather is cooling off, you can open the house and let the clean air in,and I had my older 2 kids in October and November. For me it is just as much a time of rebirth as in the Spring. Yeah , Yeah, I know...here it comes " But Kat??? Is that not a bit sacrilegious, I mean if not against what Organized Protestants want us to think ( STOP RIGHT THERE. I am a Christian. As in WHEN THE RAPTURE COMES, YOU CAN HAVE MY CAR AND MY LAPTOP IF YOU ARE NOT MEETING JESUS WITH ME. So hush) what about what HALLMARK wants us to think? Well pshaw I say! I make my own cards anyway. And I have it on good Authority that My Lord and Savior loves rebirth any time of the year. If you need me to cite that I will be happy too.
AnyhowcanIsequethis? I am going to FORCE. I MEAN BY SHEER WILL. Force my family and all those around me to have a wonderful fall. So dear reader(s) I am going to start your October off with Bat Fellatio.
It's Halloweeny Right?

And Firefox crashed and I lost all my work. Nice.

But I will carry on.

The Ig Nobel awards were recently awarded. Get it? Ignoble. Look it up. I can wait. Got it? Ok good.

Now these are different from the Prestigious and Stuffy Nobel Prizes in a few ways:
  1. you do not get a wad of cash for "further research"
  2. ??
  3. they are awarded to scientists whose work makes people think first and then laugh later.
Here is the entire article, you can read it now or later. I am already on to something else in my day by the time you get this so whatever. I will be happy to answer questions though.
Read Away! Some icky parts about snot though.
Anyway this is the part that caught my eye :

Biology prize

A description of the sexual antics of the short-nosed fruit bat earned the award for Gareth Jones at Bristol University and collaborators in China. The team showed that females who performed oral sex on their mates copulated for longer. "It is the first documented case of fellatio by adult animals other than humans to my knowledge, and opens questions about whether female animals can manipulate males via sexual activity, perhaps in this case to improve their chances of successful fertilisation," Jones told the Guardian. He planned to demonstrate the behaviour at the ceremony using puppets.

Writing about the research for the Huffington Post last year, the primatologist Frans de Waal said: "The fellatio story on bats is a bright spot in an otherwise miserable record that denies animals the pleasure principle, homosexuality, and other forms of non-reproductive sex."


Now I could spend hours taking these few lines apart, but I won't. I did however want to comment on a few things.

The pleasure principle that animals seem to be denied. Have you people ever watched a dog lick himself for HOURS in front of the ladies from the Bible Class? Have you ever taken your offspring to the zoo and tried to explain just why that monkey was so fascinated with his own willy? Heck I have pictures from last summer of Turtle Sex. Tell me that does not take HOURS. I do not buy it that other mammals do not get pleasure. Ask my cat.

This article also brings up the age old question of endurance. Now I am not classically trained, nor am I a ho. I just read a lot. I bet if he would have talked to that Bat's old girlfriends he would have found out that he reacted to the act ( as far as it increasing the amount of time he could wing it away) he would have found that he did not always react that way. That sometimes he popped right off. Think about it.


The more you know.