February 8, 2009

• The Horror Book club

  Try as we might, we just cannot seem to get more people to join our horror book club. Yesterday, aside from myself, my brother, and my friend, there was only one other attendee. At least it wasn't the creepy guy who salivated when he spoke and talked too loudly of inappropriate topics despite our nearness to the Children's section. Our book this month was Dracula. I had read it before, and I didn't want to read it again. I thought it was a horrible book when I read it the first time, but my friend hadn't read it before and wanted to try. Long story short, no one liked the book. lol It's safe to say that theater and movies saved Stoker's creation from oblivion. Without the stylings of Lugosi, Dracula and vampires would never have ascended the ladder of fashionable monsters. So in a way, I have Stoker to "thank" for the travesty that is the Twilight dynasty. That's right. I said it. Twilight sucks. And not in a good, vampiric way. lol

  In any event, I got the opportunity to show off my knowledge of vampire and werewolf folklore and the history of Wallachia and its strange nobles. Vlad Tepes I like and respect. He had a tough job and did it well. So well that his people still revere him today. Ersabet Bathory, the Blood Countess, the true "vampire" behind Stoker's Dracula was a really psycho though. I feel sorry for Vlad Tepes that he's had his reputation tarnished by Stoker's book. Not that the prince of Wallachia was a cool guy to hang around with. He was pretty much a hardcase by all accounts, but he wasn't a vampire and most of the things said about him in his lifetime were propaganda to scare the invading Turks. Bathory was a blood bathing serial sadist with delusions of beauty (and sanity).

  So, Dracula was not such a good read (or reread as the case may be) and the meeting pretty much devolved to discussion of the various movies and who our favorite Dracula actor was. Next month will be Brian Keene's Deep Hollow, if the book ever arrives at the store. With the new ordering mechanisms in place, it might be that they won't send it and each member of the group will have to order their own copy. Which if the bookclub wasn't dead before, will probably kill it.
  

  
  
  

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  Tattoo
  the webnovel so far...

  Chapter 1: Blood is Thicker
  

  Chapter 1.1 in which Glory is not mindful of the store
  Chapter 1.2 in which Glory is made to do something she would really rather not
  Chapter 1.3 in which Glory thinks she might be sick
  Chapter 1.4 in which Aaron makes a mistake
  Chapter 1.5 in which Glory is made to see the error of her ways
  Chapter 1.6 in which the circle remains unbroken

  Chapter 2: A Farewell to Arms
  

  Chapter 2.1 in which Aaron makes another mistake
  Chapter 2.2 in which Glory reflects on her path
  Chapter 2.3 in which we learn Aaron is not really a nice boy
  Chapter 2.4 in which Glory speculates on the holiness of salt
  Chapter 2.5 in which Glory learns of the necessity for upper body strength, but makes do with  what she has
  Chapter 2.6 in which Aaron tries to make amends, but is still pretty much an ass

  Chapter 3: Small Sacrifices
  

  Chapter 3.1 in which Glory is spat on, twice
  Chapter 3.2 in which a cop is threatened
  Chapter 3.3 in which someone is crying
  Chapter 3.4  in which there's more to the moon than meets the eye
  Chapter 3.5  in which Glory comes face to face with an loony environmentalist
  Chapter 3.6 in which Glory gets turned around
  Chapter 3.7 in which Glory is threatened
  
  

  Chapter 4: The Shape of Things to Come
  

  Chapter 4.1 in which a doctor makes his rounds
  Chapter 4.2 in which Glory is asked some awkward questions
  Chapter 4.3 in which Glory adopts a pet
  Chapter 4.4 in which Glory gets a surprise, but decides she should not have been surprised at all
  Chapter 4.5 in which Glory explains why there are no debts where duty is concerned
  Chapter 4.6 in which a shapeshifter is an enemy to no man
  Chapter 4.7 in which Glory defends Toby's right to make a phone call
  Chapter 4.8 in which the nose knows
  Chapter 4.9 in which good pizza is wasted on a possum
  Chapter 4.10 in which the ruse is discovered and much blood is shed
  Chapter 4.11 in which names are dropped and there is much frustration

  Chapter 5: Of Mice and Men and Other Things
  

  Chapter 5.1 in which money can't buy happiness
  Chapter 5.2 in which Glory makes herself at home
  Chapter 5.3 in which Glory indulges her passion
  Chapter 5.4 in which Gozala speaks of things stolen
  Chapter 5.5 in which there is a fungus among us
  

  
  
  

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  February 7th
  (yesterday)
  

  
  

  Li Chum in China is a celebration of Spring. During a parade, some people carry small clay water buffalo (a symbol of new life), while others carry much large representations made of bamboo and colored paper. When they reach the temple, the clay figures are smashed and the paper animals burned so that the effigies carry their pleas for a prosperous season flow up to heaven.
  
  

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  This is a Greek holy day dedicated to Selene.
  
  

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  Thomas Aquinas died today in 1274.
  

  
  
  

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  February 8th
  (today)
  

  
  

  The Star festival is a nighttime celebration, giving thanks to the stars influencing human fate. The master of the house offers prayers to the star that governed his birth and then lights one hundred eight small lamps on a special altar. Each son in the household also offers prayers to the star of his birth, relighting three lamps as the lamps of his father go out. The brightness of the flames dictates the outcome of the year.
  
  

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  The Narvik Sun Pageant is a festival held in Norway in honor of the Sun Goddess, Sunna. The festival begins at dawn and continues until evening shadows darken the sky.

  
  
  

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  • 7:46 pm
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