and the Devil himself...

and the Devil himself...

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Things I Love Thursday

Inspired by Gala Darling http://www.galadarling.com

Assateague Island's wild ponies...


Making things with shells and rose petals...




Train whistles and clock chimes through rain...


The Threepenny Opera, Brecht/Weill Style...

Alabama Song before the Doors: 


The Beat Poets... all of them





Wednesday, May 30, 2012

The Town Behind the Land of the Outlaw Amish: Photos by James Neighbors

My friend and fellow actor James Neighbors has taken these remarkable photos of the quaint little place I live in. He even took one of me writing...

We have a little square:


with a fountain...


and statues:


We have frescoes and reliefs:



and not only  ivy covered houses:


but a log cabin:


Jesse James hid out not in the cabin, as might be expected, but in a cave just up the road:


There is another fountain


atop a scenic and historic hill. It has a panoramic vista:


The vista is in front of this amazing auditorium, (I stage managed a play Jim was in here):


We have a marvelous clock that chimes:


and an antique Railpark, (with baggage unclaimed for a century), 
where I sang songs and read The Elves and  the Shoemaker for children,
including not Amish but Mennonites, at Christmas time:


The square is filled with cute little shops and another chiming clock:


and one uber-uber cool hip store:




Sometimes vicious storms attack us:


Sometimes we drink coffee:


sometimes we find ourselves pastry-less:


I am occasionally caught writing in public:


...and magnolias. We have lots of magnolias.



Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Lonesome Liz's Top Ten Weekend Movies

This fabulous, long weekend, anyway. Not necessarily in this order; though, it's the order that occurred to me. I love them all:


1. Twelve Monkeys


2. Gattica


3. Tombstone


4. The Game


5. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari


6. The Last Waltz


7. Skeleton Key


8.  The Village


9. Immortal Beloved 



10. Catch Me If You Can


Extra Bonus: The Gift. Haven't seen it yet but think I will.

Monday, May 21, 2012

The Trail of Tears

Cherokee in Ceremonial Dress, 1800s
image source: 
http://www.nchumanities.org/programs/road-scholars/cherokee-ceremonial-practices-1800s

My Father's Grandmother was full Cherokee and I was very sad to discover, upon arriving in Dalton, GA en route back to the Land of the Outlaw Amish from the Lowlands, that this was where the Cherokee's Trail of Tears started. For those of you who don't know, that was the forced removal of the Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw and Choctaw nations, among others from their homeland. At the time, Dalton didn't exist yet as a town of course, it was a trade crossroads called Cross Plains.  The Choctaw were the first to be removed, the Cherokee here in Dalton in 1838. 4,000 of the 15,000 'relocated' Cherokee died on the way to the 'Indian Territory'.

We have then President Andrew Jackson and his Indian Removal Act, (1830) to thank for the atrocity.  "To this day, many Cherokees when given a twenty dollar bill as change, will refuse it and ask for two ten dollar bills instead, as they do not wish to carry the painful memory of the past when looking at the face of Andrew Jackson who appears on the twenty dollar bill. " from Georgia Cherokees and the Rest of the Story by Robert Jenkins http://dalton150th.com/1860.html

The march was 1,000 miles and was undertaken, to the greater part, barefoot. They were, additionally, given used blankets from a Tennessee Hospital where smallpox had broken out. A Georgia soldier said it was the cruelest thing he'd ever seen, (Wikki).

What was a primary motivator for such inhumanity? Gold had been discovered in Georgia.

In Cherokee language it is called Nu na da ul tsun yi - "the Place Where They Cried". 
   

Oddities in Lonesome Liz's Travel Bags - Savannah/Tybee Island Edition

1. A 4 foot long horseshoe crab shell



2. A rather large bag of other sea treasures, including a Sand Dollar



and a whelk



4. An evil eye ring and pendant


5. Two black bead bracelets full of Saints medals, one hematite



6. "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" by Ron Hansen


7. A sketchbook made by Kate Black (http://www.kateblack.com) fast filling with drawings from NYC to Tybee


 8. Bits of Savannah brick for some brick dust immersed in ancient Hoodoo


9. Hundreds of thoughts and snippets of conversations written out on bar napkins.  For example: "Juju hangs as thick here as sauce on spaghetti."

10. A belt all of coins


11. A bulletin from what may be the only church held in a bar in the world






12. A bottle of ocean water


13. The Fonzie lunch box I keep my jewelry in










14. 'A Frontier Lady: Recollections of the Gold Rush and Early California' by Sarah Royce



15.  One of my Mojo Art bottles containing Oil of All You Have Lost.

(I can't find the photo of that one, but here's another)


Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Southern Folk Magic - Hoodoo in Savannah

Aunt Caroline Dye, Conjure Woman
I'm on my way to Savannah and have just discovered it's Hoodoo Central - here are a few of the beliefs and practices recorded by the Georgia Writers Project in, 'Drums and Shadows' - read the full text at SacredTexts.com  http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/das/das06.htm

To dream of a dead person is a sure sign of rain.

If you hear an owl hoot in the day time, someone you know will die.

If you hear a ghost call you, they want to take you with them and you must tell them you aren't ready to go yet.

If the first person to come into your house on Monday morning is a woman, you'll have bad luck the rest of the week.

It is bad luck to borrow or lend salt.

Sweeping out the house at night will sweep your luck away.

Shaking a tablecloth out the door after dark will bring death in your family.

Laying a broomstick across the door at night keeps witches away.

If your left eye twitches, you'll get bad news. If your right eye twitches, good news is on it's way.

Placing a knife or a bible under your pillow keeps witches away.

If you blow on a coin, it will help you get more of them.

If you dream of a snake, it means you have an enemy.

Babies born with teeth will have bad luck all their lives.
Memphis Jug Band, Aunt Caroline Dyer Blues

Sunday, May 13, 2012

20 Reasons I Love Martin Margiela




















http://www.martinmargiela.com