Let me be short

What happened to short stories?
A novel is wonderful to get “sucked into”. We even love those that have sequels. I subscribe to Audible.com a talking book website. I love to get books that are 16 hours long. I know that I can escape into "That" world for a good long time.
But I also love short stories. A short story can be read during your lunch hour. Or enjoyed just before bed and not have to stay up 3 more hours to see how the villain gets thwarted.
You probably remember them as those annoying/dreaded English assignments in school. 1000 words about your summer holiday or some other "1st person" or "3rd person" retelling of your life.

And yet there are very famous authors that have achieved their fame all through short stories.


Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes) began as short stories published in a monthly magazine.
Charles Dickens was the same. And least we forget our own Mark Twain The ultimate American short story writer.
Magazines were the vehicle for all these beautiful gems of escapism. The public craved them. Demanded them and once an Author had proved themselves they were launched into fame through their readers.

It must be the radio and later the TV that took the place of what was first the "storyteller" of the clan/village. When the printing press came about the storyteller wasn't immediately threatened because the common man couldn't read yet. But after a few centuries even the once esteemed storyteller lost to the printed short stories. and now. . .with our attention spans evolving and becoming shorter the TV creates 30 min short stories for us that we no longer have to turn pages to absorb. We only have to press the FF button to speed through the commercials.

For those of you that didn't know, or had forgotten, let me introduce you to the short story world that that has no FF button, no commercials, and is not scheduled for only Monday night at 9pm on ABC network. These pocket/purse size worlds are easily carried, consumed and recycled through Genre specific magazines.

I subscribe to Asimov and Analog, both are Sci Fi magazines that are FULL of short stories and novellas. These magazines are also a wonderful medium for artists that do Cover Art for these kinds of books/stories. There are also articles on REAL science.
What you don’t find in these kinds of magazines are pages and pages of advertising or ½ page articles on fashion or some Hollywood Diva’s divorce.

The Mystery genre has similar magazines as do the Spy/Espionage stories. Short stories are delicious appetizers, try them. Don’t let this wonderful literary art form die out. (these are links, they just don't show up in the normal blue color)
Eye Spy
Mystery (Alfred Hitchcock)
Strand
Asimov
Analog
I challenge you, this summer, instead of picking up a paperback book novel for your vacation read, pick up a Short Story magazine in your favorite genre. Devour it. . and tell me how you liked or disliked it. Tell me where you escaped too.
And if you happen to really like Sci Fi, I will share my back issues. And I have lots.

Hammock Mayhem

Cousins are fun to have. . .aren't they? The older ones teach you things that get you into trouble.
The Younger ones are funny and easy to pick on.
Kentucky & Korban teach cousin Josiah the ins and outs and OVERS of a Hammock.

Hmmmmm, what are the big boys doing?






Now add two Girls. . .sister/cousin Joy. . . .

and Friend Jaden

Dragon + Rabbit = Drabbit

I am a sucker for the unique and odd creatures found in some artists imagination. Mine included.
For the past few years in my travels to Renaissance & Pirate & Fairy festivals or faires I have seen a creature that intrigues me. The creator calls them Drabbits.
I fought my buying trend this past weekend at the Southern Ren Faire. I thought I would be getting another piece of clothing or accessory for my costumes. After weighing the overall use of these items I chose to buy a Drabbit.
I can share the Drabbit with more people than I can a purse/shoes/hat. On Saturday I had Petal Pusher with me when I first looked at the Drabbits. She was very afraid of them for she was easily bite size to them.


On Sunday I had Beatrice with me,

no Bea was not at all afraid in fact she made very rude comments about some of the more colorful Drabbits.The booth was crowded, it was obvious that these creatures were popular. With the crowd and the heat I was still amazed at how kind the Boothies (people that help out the vendor) were to everyone.
Even when I made a comment while making my purchase that I should have mentioned I am an Oregonian. That California has a Good Neighbor law and the Oregonians don’t have to pay sales tax. The vendor was kind enough to offer me a Drabbit egg. I did not take him up on it for I didn’t know what a Drabbit egg was. Silly me. It was like a raffle for a free Drabbit. DUH! *hits forehead.

Knowing I wanted to share this creature with my grandchildren and other kids, I knew I needed to pick one that was not Mean or Ugly looking. I didn’t want to scare the little ones. Even though I liked the "dragon" looking ones.
I shared my new creature with Kentucky & Korban & Joy. I asked them to help name him.


Please meet Snerkle. The name is a blend of Sniffer (what he does to your cheek or ear) and Snuggle/Cuddle (which is what it feels like when you hold him up to your ear and neck)

Snerkle loves to sit on your shoulder so he has the best view of where you are going. He has a fluffy tail that goes down your back. He also has a cable (bike brake cable) that is slipped down your shirt neckline and then your sleeve so the controller is in the palm of your hand. You can twist the controller and Snerkle says NO, and if you push on the controller Snerkle says YES. Using both motions you can have Snerkle make very nice smooth movements with his head. The larger cousins of Snerkle come with two cables that also control thier body and wings.


Notice Snerkle looks more like a cat than a dragon. At first he flew to the top of my TV cabinet to get away from my cats (Monster & Shadow). then when I left the front door open he escaped out into the garden. But with some very nice words and promises to keep the cats away he traveled with me in the car to see the grandkids.

Kentucky immediately wanted to know how I was making him move.



Korban at first kept asking me “Is he moving by himself?”


Joy just wanted to pet it and kiss it. She kept saying “Be nice.”


After just 5 minutes Korban and Kentucky started fighting over controlling Snerkle. Unfortunately their shoulders are not wide enough nor are their arms long enough for Snerkle to sit properly or the cable to extend properly. So you might see my hand helping.
Even the Daycare provider for these 3 became entranced. She wanted to play with Snerkle immediately.
The opprotunity to use puppets to convey ideas and entertain will always be a pastime of mine. This unusual kind of puppet fits perfectly into my play plans with all the grand kids (6) and many others.


The artist that makes these creatures also makes Ventriloquist figures. He is very talented. Go check out his website.

Without a doubt I will be finding another companion for Snerkle in the near future. I hope they come back to the NW so I don’t have to travel so far to find one. Oh, did I mention that Snerkle did not ride back from California in my luggage. Nooooo
he was treated just like Paris Hilton's little pet. Snerkle was peeping out of my handbag and watching the airport people. Even the seat companion I had got to talk to Snerkle. I know Snerkle and I will have wonderful adventures in the future, where ever we may go.

Playing Dressup

Festive Wear

The Renaissance Pleasure Faire is located in Irwindale California. A city in the LA area. (See my other blog for faire fun).
I took My Pleasure this past weekend there. My costume choices were made weeks in advance. I worked on them down to the last days. The most fun wasn’t necessarily My dressing up, but seeing the myriad of costumes other people choose to wear to this fantasy laden historical re-enactment event.

Like the Fairy Festivals and the Comic Cons, SciFi Cons and SCA events that I have been to, the creativity or LACK there of is what intrigues me. I also take perverse pleasure in bringing along a friend or two who have are “faire virgins” or close to and watch their reactions.

I did not play “Bad Garb Bingo” this trip. In all actuality there were more good, damn good, costumes at this event than bad ones. So I don’t think I could have filled a Bingo card. That is not to say there weren’t some doozies.
Remember that on the slide shows you can click a pic and it will zoom in and show it better.

Sunday was Military appreciation day. . . .looked what showed up.

It was Bachanal weekend, which means Wine Tasting. I never did see wine, but I did see some strange “green men” outfits.


Enjoy these "Good Costumes". Be inspired, like I was.

On the Friday I spent the whole day in design heaven. I went to my favorite Corset supply shop. then went down the street to a fabric store that reminds me of Powell's book store here in Portland. F & S Fabrics, they had 3 stores in a 2 blocks radius. upholstry, fancy stuff and cottons. None were quilting stuff. And they had one of those walls we love. . .boxes and boxes of BUTTONS!!
Then my costume companion for the day (Tim aka Roddie) took me to his tailor. Yes tailor. Seems Tim not only does Ren Faire but also Dicken's Faire in San Francisco. And he has a full Victorian outfit. Renaissance Dancewear is his tailor and I got to drool on and pet all kinds of costumes and sewing machines while Tim was fitted with a wonderful wool suit circa 1870's.

Now we would have gone on to Mood which is the famous fabric store in Bravo's Project Runway. And we also wanted to go to the Garment district in LA, but there just was not enough time. The traffic in LA was horrendous.
But here is a pic of my treasures I did get.
2 - Busks (one for me one for daughter Cameron)
1 - lacing bars for my corset
1- lacing strip for Cameron's corset.
10 yards - bone casing
10 yards - German plastic boning (Best I have ever worked with)
1 yard - Coutil (very dense weave fabric for the corset itself)
3 cards of buttons
1 special button with a lilypad and a spider on it. (Guess where that is going to show up. . .
I already have my steel and spiral boning here so I am ready to tackle the next project.

While at the faire I did get one more item. I will post it on a different blog. He is a bit camera shy right now.