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This Just in From the 1890s

Title: And I Will Walk On Water (17/18)
Characters: Dean and Castiel, Sam, Lucifer, Michael, Chuck
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: ~6,000
Notes: Beta'd by ibroketuesday, whom I love.
Summary: This is how the apocalypse ends.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16

( The sight of Lucifer's smirk brought horror and dread and loathing, but mostly, it brought anger. )

LAST TBC EVER OMG. But the final chapter will have to wait a week or so, I am leaving tomorrow (read: later today) for vichan's house and Chicago con! \o/

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/11/radio-books-violin-lessons-also-haircut.html

Went in to KNOW radio station in ST Paul today and recorded an introduction to the NPR MORNING EDITION "Open Mike" piece I've been recording on audiobooks, and heard the edit. Asked them to see if they could find a bit more time in the piece for Audible founder Don Katz, who did an amazing interview and was pared down to about a sentence in the current edit. It'll go out in the next ten days, and as soon as I know when it goes out I'll put it up here. I talk to David Sedaris, Martin Jarvis, Don Katz and veteran audio producer/director Rick Harris in it.
Hi Neil,

I just read about your event in January, where in you will be narrating Peter and the Wolf. My husband and I are over joyed by this. We will hopefully be bringing our three girls up to see the performance. We did have one question though. Will you be reading the original version where the wolf actually is killed, and not the "oh my goodness our kids can't hear about death" version in which they bring him to the zoo? We are both, obviously, really hopeful that being you, and not afraid to scare children (thank you for that btw) will be speaking the true to the story version in which Peter shoots the wolf and then his dead body is paraded through the town as a trophy.

Thanks for your time,
~Cecily

PS- Do you know if there will be tickets for the event or the reception afterwards? It will be a long drive, and it would be nice to be prepared for either staking out seats all day or having tickets in hand. (We could not find any reservation information on the website)

I'd forgotten - or never knew - that there was an alternative version. The script I was sent is the Zoo version. I'll investigate...

And no, I do not know about tickets. I will find out.

Dear Neil,

Your Web Goblin offered to post photos of Coraline pumpkins, and when they were told this, my 8 and 11-year old daughters decided to make some. Here they are, along with 2 emoticon pumpkins and a turnip.

http://www.steampunkfamily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/IMG_01521-300x225.jpg

I used them to illustrate a ghost story: http://www.steampunkfamily.com/2009/10/philomenas-fright/

Three of the four of us were Coraline characters for Halloween. (The 11-year old went her own way as Susan Sto-Helit.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37435081@N03/4077708519/sizes/l/in/set-72157622616148613/

The Other Mother is the scariest thing I've ever been for Halloween. All the children (even the 4-year olds!) knew who I was, and I elicited much nervous laughter when I offered to sew buttons in their eyes.

Thank you for being VERY SCARY INDEED

I love how many families were Coraline families, this year.

If, like me, anybody else was intrigued by your mention of Kenneth Grahame's other works and wants to read them with a minimum of searching, they'll be happy to know both 'The Golden Age' and 'Dream Days' are available for free on the always invaluable Project Gutenberg:

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/291
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/270

Thanks for mentioning them in the first place; I'm always interested in children's lit of that time that has managed to slip through my net.

- B. Bolander

What a good idea. Two very beautiful, gently funny books by the author of The Wind in the Willows. I really enjoyed them, but stylistically they are, well, out of fashion, and will not be everybody's cup of Edwardian tea. Here's a passage that describes the illustration I put up yesterday, as small children steal through the house on a midnight expedition to obtain biscuits (ie cookies, if you are American):

The Blue Room had in prehistoric times been added to by taking in a superfluous passage, and so not only had the advantage of two doors, but enabled us to get to the head of the stairs without passing the chamber wherein our dragon-aunt lay couched. It was rarely occupied, except when a casual uncle came down for the night. We entered in noiseless file, the room being plunged in darkness, except for a bright strip of moonlight on the floor, across which we must pass for our exit. On this our leading lady chose to pause, seizing the opportunity to study the hang of her new dressing-gown. Greatly satisfied thereat, she proceeded, after the feminine fashion, to peacock and to pose, pacing a minuet down the moonlit patch with an imaginary partner. This was too much for Edward's histrionic instincts, and after a moment's pause he drew his single-stick, and with flourishes meet for the occasion, strode onto the stage. A struggle ensued on approved lines, at the end of which Selina was stabbed slowly and with unction, and her corpse borne from the chamber by the ruthless cavalier. The rest of us rushed after in a clump, with capers and gesticulations of delight; the special charm of the performance lying in the necessity for its being carried out with the dumbest of dumb shows.

Once out on the dark landing, the noise of the storm without told us that we had exaggerated the necessity for silence; so, grasping the tails of each other's nightgowns even as Alpine climbers rope themselves together in perilous places, we fared stoutly down the staircase-moraine, and across the grim glacier of the hall, to where a faint glimmer from the half-open door of the drawing-room beckoned to us like friendly hostel-lights. Entering, we found that our thriftless seniors had left the sound red heart of a fire, easily coaxed into a cheerful blaze; and biscuits—a plateful—smiled at us in an encouraging sort of way, together with the halves of a lemon, already once squeezed but still suckable. The biscuits were righteously shared, the lemon segments passed from mouth to mouth; and as we squatted round the fire, its genial warmth consoling our unclad limbs, we realised that so many nocturnal perils had not been braved in vain.

"It's a funny thing," said Edward, as we chatted, "how I hate this room in the daytime. It always means having your face washed, and your hair brushed, and talking silly company talk. But to-night it's really quite jolly. Looks different, somehow."

"I never can make out," I said, "what people come here to tea for. They can have their own tea at home if they like,—they're not poor people,—with jam and things, and drink out of their saucer, and suck their fingers and enjoy themselves; but they come here from a long way off, and sit up straight with their feet off the bars of their chairs, and have one cup, and talk the same sort of stuff every time."

Selina sniffed disdainfully. "You don't know anything about it," she said. "In society you have to call on each other. It's the proper thing to do."

"Pooh! YOU'RE not in society," said Edward, politely; "and, what's more, you never will be."

"Yes, I shall, some day," retorted Selina; "but I shan't ask you to come and see me, so there!"

"Wouldn't come if you did," growled Edward.

Hi there! I just joined, hoping someone in this community might be able to help me out. I'm directing a musical in San Francisco, and my vision for the production is that it takes place in a steampunk-esque world - it's a fantasy adventure story about a troupe of traveling actors in a time of war - the given time period on the script is "five years after 'Once Upon A Time'", so it's like this blending of a fairy tale world into industry.

That all said, I am in search of a costume designer for this project - it's a paid job, with a materials budget. Experiencing doing costuming for theatre is a plus, but what I'm really looking for is someone who can use creativity, ingenuity, and resourcefulness to bring this world to life through the costumes.

If I've piqued anyone's interested, feel free to e-mail me at reynaldilolong@gmail.com or comment here with your e-mail. Feel free to pass this along to anyone you know who might be interested as well... thank you!

Garden of the Gods
November 8, 2009

I photographed this adorable family on Sunday at the Garden of the Gods. The boys were initially reluctant to have their photos taken, but after I showed them all the fun rocks they could play with, they opened right up. The Garden of the Gods is a great setting for family portraits for many reasons!

( More of their family portraits )

( bigger )


self-portrait of my boy and I.

 I can't seem to find any pendant cab settings like this in a big enough size, I need an opening of 60X50mm : http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23019083

I have absolutely nothing interesting to say tonight, so I'll just do a throwback to an old standby. So, ask me a question about anything, and I'll try my best to answer! (Well, within reason. ;)

Poll #1484239 NaBloPoMo Topics
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 21

What should I write about next?

Hello, ladies & gents! I'm looking for a corset to complete a steampunk ensemble and of course I'm torn between saving up for a nice custom one and getting one nownownow. ;) I just saw that Inhale Corsets is having a sale this month (which means I have just enough cash for an underbust Victorian), but I've been burned recently by a cheap corset seller and now I'm nervous to try someone new. I haven't seen them mentioned here before; anybody know anything about them?

Alternatively, I get a good feeling from Sidney Eileen's website. I like how open she is to customization (I have some specific ideas and I really like the idea of a one-of-a-kind piece), but I think one of hers would run me more like $275. Still, that's not too dear and it might be worth it to wait. Any thoughts?

Finally, just a word of warning: the corset seller that burned me was Alter Ego Erotics on eBay. I've seen them recommended several times here, and maybe they're just going through a bad time right now, but it's been over two months since I paid and I have never received the corset (missed Halloween! I was heartbroken), nor have they responded to multiple requests for a refund. I feel like I just threw away $100 and wasted two months of my life. :(

• 22:12 Broken pickle picker! :-( twitpic.com/p31d9 #
• 14:22 RT @LADollhouse: RT @WhedonFanNews: Retweet please: Hopefully one of the Cable stations will be smart enough to pick Dollhouse up!! #
• 14:53 RT @w07v3r: for @m3mark : ''the world wears well. these autumn afternoons & well-marbled landscapes of green & gold & russet... #

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Date: October 30, 2009
Location: Louisville, Colorado
Camera: Canon EOS 450D/ Digital Rebel XSi
Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM
Resized only, no other editing

The Wings put a good old-fashioned smack down on Columbus- 9-1. (Game recap later.)