Gaia, Mother Earth
In honor of Earth Day (April 22), let’s talk about Gaia, the primordial goddess and personification of the Earth in Greek mythology.
Maleficent: Myth Thing
The 2014 movie Maleficent is a re-imagining of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale starring Angelina Jolie as the title character.
The Obsidian Butterfly
In Aztec mythology, Itzpapalotl is a fearsome warrior goddess who rules over the paradise realm of Tamoanchan, the final destination for souls who die a nonviolent death, particularly women who die in childbirth.
Memories of the 2010 Olympics
The Sunday before the Olympics descended on Vancouver, after months of breathless news coverage and constant construction, my espresso machine broke.
Aries Season
Spring is here in the Northern hemisphere, which means it’s Aries season! This changing of the guard moment representing the shift of seasons from Winter to Spring is represented by the first sign of the zodiac, the fiery, independent, bold, cardinal fire sign of Aries.
The Goddess Mania
In Greek mythology, the Maniae were female spirits personifying madness, frenzy, and insanity. These frightening emotional states were beyond human control, and therefore believed to be a result of spiritual possession or dark ritual practices.
Abere, the CanniBal Demoness
Abere is a cannibal demoness from Melanesian folklore, whose name means “Maiden.” She appears to be a beautiful young woman, but this is just an illusion hiding the terrifying reality.
Body Worlds
Gunther von Hagen's Body Worlds: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies, published in 2006, is the companion book to the Body Worlds exhibition which ran for several months from 2006-2007 at Science World in Vancouver.
Killer Sex Bots
Last week, I saw Companion, a surprisingly great little movie starring Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid (who I loved in The Boys). I won’t be spoiling anything here that they don’t spoil in the trailer, but if you haven’t seen it and you think you might want to, you should probably come back and read this after.
Yuki-onna, Japanese Snow Vampire
Yuki-onna, whose name means "Snow Woman” in Japanese, is a mythical apparition sometimes described as a snow vampire, who feeds on the blood of living children.
Poster Child
Did you have posters in your room growing up? From the age of about 11, I was absolutely obsessed with Marilyn Monroe and I had posters of her on every wall.
Airplane crashes
Throughout my childhood, I used to fly several times a year. My parents got divorced when I was five, so I would fly to visit my dad every summer and at Christmas. I wasn’t particularly scared of flying at first, until I got older, into my teens, when I realized how much I had to live for.
Ode to the Luddites
According to UrbanDictionary.com, a Luddite is someone who hates and fears change. It is a term used to describe anyone who fails to keep up with the latest model of iPhone or expresses trepidation at the reach of tech companies into every facet of our private lives.
Best of 2024
We’re three weeks into the new year, but it’s not too late to post a list of lists! Here are my favorite books, TV shows, movies and podcasts of 2024.
Fire Weather
Watching the news coverage this past week of the horrific fires in Los Angeles, I've been thinking more and more about John Valliant's Fire Weather, one of the most important and frightening nonfiction books I've ever read.
Drawcember: Week 5
Happy new year! This week I’m wrapping up Drawcember with a shorter post, since it only consisted of three days.
Drawcember: Week 4
Happy Holidays, everyone! It’s that weird week between Christmas and the New Year where we lose all sense of time and forget what day of the week it is…
Drawcember: Week 3
Can you believe Christmas is only four days away? The last two months of 2024 have gone by so quickly. This year more than any in recent memory, I’m reminded of the fragility and fleetingness of all that we love.
Drawcember: Week 2
Two weeks into Drawcember and I’ve only missed two days, but for very good reason! My mother came up to visit last weekend, so I was both playing hostess and performing in a very fun burlesque show at The Rio Theatre.
Drawcember: Week 1
Drawcember got off to a great start this week!