Francesca Forrest's Blog, page 38

TITANIC week, day 1!

Let me introduce you to Douglas Ross via his Amazon bio:

Douglas Ross is a lifelong Titanic and ocean liner enthusiast and a nonfiction writer who has written political and social articles in his local newspaper. Formerly a human rights and disability commissioner in Massachusetts, he has advocated for the civil rights of others in the past.

A resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Douglas enjoys reading historical books, bicycle riding, watching historical films and documentaries, exploring citie...

surprise wildlife

I happened to glance out my window and THIS BIG GUY was ambling through my backyard. By the time I managed to get my phone, he was already in the neighbor's yard.



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Images by Anne and Janet Grahame Johnstone

In my childhood, we had a picturebook collection of Hans Christian Andersen fairytales illustrated by twin sisters, Anne and Janet Grahame Johnstone. I've written about them here before in the context of "The Red Shoes"--I had vivid memories of their illustrations of that story, particularly an illustration of Karen begging an executioner to cut her feet off. At the time I wrote that entry, I couldn't find that particular illustration online, but in the meantime, someone has uploaded it and a bu...

Holding onto it

Yesterday it did end up raining--nice and dramatically--and we're glad, because it's been dry.

Earlier in the day, though, when it was still hot and sunny, and I was preparing to go for a run, an elderly couple walked by and commented on the how dry it's been, and we mused together on whether rain would really come:

Wife: "How come Holyoke gets a thunderstorm and we don't get nothing??"

Wife again (darkly): I heard the Quabbin holds onto it.

(The Quabbin, for those who don't know, is a massive reser...

and today this arrives

So, three days ago I made up a little story while I was mowing the lawn, the story in the previous entry.

As you'll recall if you caught that entry, it involved a cloisonné dagger.

So, I was more than a little freaked out when THIS arrived at the house just now.



...Admittedly, not for me but for Wakanomori, BUT STILL.

Of all the thank-you tchotchkes and souvenirs you could send from Korea ...

...It required a signature. The tiny young woman who delivered it was wearing silver bangles with bells aroun...

What I think when I see a delivery van

When I see a delivery van--Amazon, UPS, Fedex--I always think maybe they'll bring me a package. I think this even when I haven't ordered anything. Maybe a friend has ordered me something. Or, for example ...

A UPS van pulls into the driveway, and the driver hands me a small parcel with my name and address on it. Then takes out his phone and snaps a picture of me.

"Boss's orders," he smiles.

"Wait what? That doesn't sound right. UPS ordered you to take my picture?"

"Heh, yeah... UPS," he says with...

things that are horrifying which don't mean to be

My example for the day 17776: What Football Will Look Like in the Future

Maybe some of you read this closer to the time it came out, which was 2017. I only discovered it this morning when my daughter brought it to my attention. It's a hypertext meditation on an end state for human beings that involves them being eternally at play, and what, the story asks rhetorically, is a better game to play than American football?

Presentation-wise, the story is super cool--I enjoyed that aspect of it. But the...

Feeding the hungry ghosts in southern California

Wakanomori alerted me to this incredibly moving story of human compassion, imagination, and religious syncretism. I'm posting images of the tweets, but the actual Twitter thread starts here.













In response to a question, he also posted the name of the tattoo parlor (My Tattoo, Alhambra) and a link to its website.

The ~ everything ~ that comes together for this--I don't just mean the many faiths, but also daily life and the afterlife/otherworld, sorrow and consolation, creativity, community spirit. It...

the hand that strokes the elephant

I had my whole today turned yanked sideways by a possible medical emergency that turned out not to be one, for which I'm grateful, but I still needed to drive 45 minutes north in the driving rain and then 45 minutes south in the same rain to see disparately located specialists.

Fortunately I had reading material, Tasha Suri's The Jasmine Throne, which I won in a Goodreads giveaway. It's set in an alt-Indian subcontinent in ancient days, with an empire ruling over many principalities and one conqu...

further adventures of Little Heroine

Neighbor on the left was working outside and playing his music, and it got to "When Doves Cry," so I went over to enjoy the song and chat for a moment, and Little Heroine was out too, training and expanding her skills with one I've always loved.

Look how her shadow dances along with her. Yeah, I know all our shadows always do, but I like the way hers can balance *sideways* on that 2 x 4.





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