Things and Stuff

The big storm is supposed to hit tonight. We'll see how that goes. I'm scheduled to go dancing tonight. ;) I must confess, I have a fear of big storms. My earliest years were spent in the midwest and one of my most powerful memories is of that time is from when we lived in Kansas City. A tornado swept through our area and to this day I can't hear the sound of those sirens and not be terrified. My family hid in the basement. We were perfectly fine, but I remember being afraid for our cat, Velvet, who'd been outside and hadn't come when called. Strangely, I still have nightmares even though we moved to Texas after that. It's why I love watching that cheesy Twister movie. There are two things that get under my skin big time: tornadoes and T-Rex. Spiders are a distant third. (And yet, I watch the hell out of that shit. Go figure. My husband is still trying to puzzle that one out.) Anyway, I read an article yesterday that gave me a good scare just in time for this storm front. Yeah. Heh.

I'm still reading Escapology. by Ren Warom. (I did mention that I'm a slow reader, right?) I'm about 3/4th the way through, and am still enjoying it. Good stuff. As mentioned before, it's cyberpunk--a total departure from everything I've been reading lately, but I consider that a good thing. Also, I downloaded SPQR by Mary Beard--my next audiobook listen. It's research for Blackthorne. Based upon what I've heard about it, I'm sure I'll love it. My hairstylist, Brad Joe, gave me a number of interesting details about Ancient Rome and hairstyles last week that I'm so sticking into the novel. My hope is to pick up more odd and interesting bits via SPQR. I'm certain I will. In addition, Mary Beard is kind of a bad-ass online, and I admire her a great deal. Also, I found this wonderful site, hosting images of women samurai. Am hanging on to that for inspiration for the novel too. I pick up inspiration from all over the place, really. It's one of the fun things about being a writer.

In other news, check out this wonderful combination of two of my favorite things: Studio Ghibli and Mucha. And today's featured art piece is by Joseph Cornell, my favorite mixed media/found object artist.