Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 278
July 16, 2010
The weirdest thing on the beach
is the home and art installation of a local outsider artist. I've gone there once before, about seven or eight years ago, and I finally decided it was time to risk the crazions and head back.
The experience left me awestruck, shaken, and more than a little disturbed--in ways both good and bad. Outsider art is like that, but this place particularly so.
I took a ton of pictures, but I'm going to share only two.
On the cool side is this bottle house.
Everything on her lot is that crowded. The pla...
The experience left me awestruck, shaken, and more than a little disturbed--in ways both good and bad. Outsider art is like that, but this place particularly so.
I took a ton of pictures, but I'm going to share only two.
On the cool side is this bottle house.
Everything on her lot is that crowded. The pla...
July 15, 2010
Shopping oddities
One of the many beach traditions is to visit a store or two after lunch most days. The goal is less to shop than to revel in the strangeness that is the beach--though sometimes people do come home with new (and used) treasures.
Today's trip took us to Sugarbritches, a shop with namesake t-shirts that no one would wear. Drat. We did, however, get to see this disturbing donation box on the porch outside the store.
Do we really need a put-your-money-in-the-rhinestone-ass-slit box?
Apparent...
Today's trip took us to Sugarbritches, a shop with namesake t-shirts that no one would wear. Drat. We did, however, get to see this disturbing donation box on the porch outside the store.
Do we really need a put-your-money-in-the-rhinestone-ass-slit box?
Apparent...
July 14, 2010
More beach images
I didn't grow up in the South--Florida doesn't count as a capital-S Southern state--but I've lived in North Carolina way longer than I've lived anywhere else. Despite all that time here, I'm sometimes still surprised by the things I see.
Like this.
Did we buy a box?
Oh, hell, yeah, we did. Wouldn't you?
Of course, purchasing the box wasn't enough. Oh, no: we also had to try it. None of us, however, was brave enough to eat a whole one, so four of us agreed to consume a fourth of a donut each. ...
Like this.
Did we buy a box?Oh, hell, yeah, we did. Wouldn't you?
Of course, purchasing the box wasn't enough. Oh, no: we also had to try it. None of us, however, was brave enough to eat a whole one, so four of us agreed to consume a fourth of a donut each. ...
July 13, 2010
The view from the upper deck of the beach house
In case you're wondering why most of these vacation blog entries are short.
The pool temperature is perfect. The hot tub under the stars is lovely and restful. The ocean is magnificent and at an ideal swimming temperature. I eat lunch every day at the same place, where the food is good and the owners are friends. I'm in a house full of family and friends. Some of us are heading off soon to see Predators--because now half an hour away is a real theater.
I could stay here for months.
I lo...
The pool temperature is perfect. The hot tub under the stars is lovely and restful. The ocean is magnificent and at an ideal swimming temperature. I eat lunch every day at the same place, where the food is good and the owners are friends. I'm in a house full of family and friends. Some of us are heading off soon to see Predators--because now half an hour away is a real theater.
I could stay here for months.
I lo...
July 12, 2010
Two images you're not likely to see elsewhere
A Southern beach town is a very special place. You see things in one that you're unlikely to see anywhere else.
Like these two photos, both of which show objects we saw while at dinner the other night.
I don't think the soft drink that this sign is advertising exists today, but if it did, I'd have to try it simply so I could say I did. I suspect, however, that few in our group share the impulse.
This tree, by contrast, inspired nearly all who saw it. Some called it the America Tree, others t...
Like these two photos, both of which show objects we saw while at dinner the other night.
I don't think the soft drink that this sign is advertising exists today, but if it did, I'd have to try it simply so I could say I did. I suspect, however, that few in our group share the impulse.
This tree, by contrast, inspired nearly all who saw it. Some called it the America Tree, others t...
July 11, 2010
Want me to read and critique your story?
I don't normally provide those services, but at ReConStruction, the North American Science Fiction convention (NASFiC) in Raleigh in a few weeks, I'll be doing that for three writers as part of a writer's workshop in which I've agreed to participate. Oz Drummond, who ran a similar workshop at the WorldCon in Montreal last summer, explains some of the basics here. You can also get more information from this page on the NASFiC site.
As best I understand it, two published writers will sit down...
As best I understand it, two published writers will sit down...
July 10, 2010
Sarah's Top Three lines for today
Sarah ruled the verbal roost today, so in honor of her achievements, here are her Top Three statements.
3) I'm staring at my grilled cheese sandwich, and I'm getting quite excited.And, in first place is the line she said just before the above comment:
2) That reminds me of a butter dish I've been coveting.
1) I'm just sayin', I don't want to hear any more about Kyle's penis on a butter dish.Yes, you had to be there.
July 9, 2010
Today, I
finally got around to paying my bills and cleaning up my personal finances. The reason is that I am on day one of my vacation; tomorrow, we head to the beach. I intend to avoid email during this time, try to blog something silly and beach-y each day, relax, and heal from my fatigue and what feels like a very large, very inflamed soul bruise.
In the course of dealing with the stack of paperwork I had foolishly let build into a small but menacing tower, I also sent a little money to the readin...
In the course of dealing with the stack of paperwork I had foolishly let build into a small but menacing tower, I also sent a little money to the readin...
July 8, 2010
Those Fourth of July pictures I've been promising
are now available here. My thanks to Gina for supplying them.
Still photos can never even come close to capturing all that happens during a fireworks show; for that matter, video can't, either. The experience of being right there with the fireworks and the noise is something qualitatively different. That said, Gina's pictures are lovely and provide a sense of some of the individual rounds and a few of the more complex groupings that we fired into the heavens that beautiful Sunday evening.
Still photos can never even come close to capturing all that happens during a fireworks show; for that matter, video can't, either. The experience of being right there with the fireworks and the noise is something qualitatively different. That said, Gina's pictures are lovely and provide a sense of some of the individual rounds and a few of the more complex groupings that we fired into the heavens that beautiful Sunday evening.
July 7, 2010
The day after the day after
was, as Dave noted when he sent me this photo, rather impressive in its own right. Parts of the ash pile were still glowing hot.
As I trust is obvious, the show and the party are a great deal of work for me--and for a lot of other folks. It's also expensive: my share of the fireworks plus various party foods (e.g., hot dogs and hamburgers for a hundred people) and supplies runs about $1.5K. Many folks who are aware of these facts have asked me why I keep doing it.
The short and easy answ...
As I trust is obvious, the show and the party are a great deal of work for me--and for a lot of other folks. It's also expensive: my share of the fireworks plus various party foods (e.g., hot dogs and hamburgers for a hundred people) and supplies runs about $1.5K. Many folks who are aware of these facts have asked me why I keep doing it.
The short and easy answ...
