Tag Archives: monsters

That’s Not Writing on Monstrous Monday

Now I remember why I so often have Monstrous Monday.  I am TIRED on Mondays!  And I want to make my blog post quickly and watch Dateline on OWN.

Nobody does. What am I complaining about?

All day at work today I thought about writing.  At least, throughout the day, off and on, I thought about writing.  I thought about writing my blog post.  I thought about writing the next murder mystery.  I thought about writing my next article for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  I thought about writing a novel.  That last was more of a vague thought; for the others I actually formed words in my head I intended to put on paper.  However, as the writing books so helpfully point out, thinking about writing is not writing.

When it came time for break, the only thing I could manage was a few jottings in the food journal I am keeping this month.  I am writing down everything I eat, any exercise I get, and when I get a headache or feel light-headed.  I hope to do it for a month and look for patterns.  Being me, it is more likely that I will (a) forget to write things (b) lose the journal (c) get tired of the whole thing (d) start adding all kinds of commentary, thus obscuring the information and losing the purpose (e) any or all of the above.  But that is strictly by the way.  The point is: I am not writing enough.  Bad writer!  Get to work!

But… DATELINE!!!

Will I tear myself away from the television?  Will I continue to watch Dateline (full disclosure:  I have been giving it half an eye while I type this post) (as Truman Capote once said, this isn’t writing, it’s typing)?  Will I attempt to write WHILE watching Dateline?  A little uncertainty adds spice to my evening.  In the meantime, I think I need one more picture of a monster if this is to count as a Monstrous Monday.

 

“Are you going to write, or do I have to get tough?”

 

Monsters and Shout-outs, What Day Is It?

What a way to start the new year!  Yesterday’s blog post was dumb and today I can’t even think of anything to write about!  Is 2019 the year I stop being a daily blogger?  SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!!  Then again, it is Wuss-out Wednesday.

Well, that was a lousy lead.  Where can I go from here?  I went back to work today and worked ten hours on my feet.  Um, I did not work on my feet, I stood on my feet while I worked at my job.  The first way sounds like I spent 10 hours giving myself a pedicure.  Imagine the toenails I could get that way!  But I digress.  The fact is, I am tired and somewhat brain dead.  I resorted to monsters yesterday and I am going to be bold enough to do it again today.  We can call it Mid-Week Monsters.  More Monsters at Mid-Week?  Titles are hard.

“Wasn’t I just here yesterday?”

Following yesterday’s dictum, I open with a vampire, Nosferatu to be exact.  I love that guy.

I should follow this guy’s example and have some coffee.   And go on a diet.

I took this fellow’s picture at the Old Barn Marketplace, on Route 5 in Little Falls, NY (you see I can multi-task: show monsters and give shout-outs to local businesses) .  Alas, they are closed for the season, but they will re-open in the spring.  I’ll be sure to visit them when they do, and write a blog post about it.

This is BEFORE he ate all of Margaret’s great treats!

Here’s a business that local readers can visit right away, the So Sweet Candy Cafe.  I don’t imagine the skeleton will be there before October, but you can find lots of yummy treats!  They are located on Varick Street in Utica, NY.

Well, this has not been a completely useless post after all.  I gave shout-outs to two local businesses and shared another picture of Nosferatu.  I wonder if I can find a peppy picture to close with and think of an appropriate title.

Sometimes even a monster has to relax.

This now seems more like a Non-Sequitur Thursday than a Wuss-out Wednesday post.  Well, it is one of those weeks where I can’t remember what day it is.

 

Monsters Usually Help

“Am I late?”

When in doubt, open with a vampire.  I came across a new picture of one of my favorite guys earlier today on Facebook and downloaded it.  I should have known it would immediately come in handy when I realized I don’t have a whole lot to blog about today.

The fact is I am deep in the throes of a massive Post-Holiday and — even worse — End of Vacation letdown.  But I am uncomfortably conscious of really being someone “with nothing to complain about.”  I put it in quotes, because it is kind of a cliche.  Now it is not only post-Christmas and Back to Work that is bothering me, it is that everything I type in sounds so stupid to me! Have I suddenly lost all ability to write?  SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!

It’s no use:  I am down and, as I often say, sometimes you just have to feel that way until you don’t feel that way any more.  In the meantime, there is no point in dragging others down with me.  I’ll throw in a couple more pictures, maybe make a couple jokes, and call it a Tired Tuesday post.

Who can resist a sweet puppy?

I just peeked back at Facebook, and this cute card from the 1950’s caught my eye.  After all, I’m not ALL about monsters, murder and mayhem.

Do you recognize a young Christopher Lee?

However, since I am somewhat about monsters, murder and mayhem, I end with a picture of Horror Hotel (1960), which I recently found out is also known as City of the Dead, although it is really more of a village.  But I digress.

So this is my New Year’s Day Tired Tuesday post.  Here is a Freudian typo for you: I first put “Tried Tuesday.”  Get it?  I TRIED to make a decent blog post.  I shall try again tomorrow.  As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

Not a Famous Monstrous Monday

His expression is not as festive as his attire.

Well, why not have a Monstrous Monday on Christmas Eve?  For one reason, I don’t have much else.  I went running this morning, intending to do a Running Commentary.  Steven and I had breakfast at Heidelberg Cafe in Herkimer, NY prior to picking up rolls for tomorrow’s Christmas feast, so I could have done a shout-out to a local business.  Well, sometimes these things do not work out.  Right now I want to get back to celebrating Christmas Eve with my loved ones, so I will attempt to come up with something mildly entertaining at least.

What could be more Monstrous Christmas Eve than Boris Karloff reading “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”?

Here is another Frankenstein/Christmas mash-up: the most famous portrayer of the former reading a classic tale about the latter.  But adding the macabre to Christmas is by no means original to me.  There is even a line in a Christmas song, “There’ll be scary ghost stories…”

Who doesn’t love a ghost at Christmas?

We watched two different versions of A Christmas Carol yesterday and might have watched  a third if I hadn’t pooped out (I only mentioned one in my blog post; do you suppose I should go back and edit?).  It is perhaps the most famous Christmas ghost story.

And now I see that I am over 200 words.  Regular readers know I call that respectable, especially for my more foolish posts.  Happy Christmas Eve and Monstrous Monday, everyone!

 

Vampires for Christmas on Monstrous Monday

He looks kind of like I feel.

Hello, it’s Monstrous Monday.  I am dreadfully tired.  Did I work too hard today?  Did I play too hard all weekend?  Does it really matter?  I say no, it does not. What matter is that I make some semblance of a blog post before I sleep.

He does not look as if he is bidding us velcome.

Well, that didn’t work.  I was just looking for a Christmasy picture in our downloads, since Thanksgiving is over and so Christmas can begin.  Instead, I saw this lovely shot of Bela Lugosi that I don’t think I have used before.  Well, who doesn’t love a vampire for Christmas?

“Did somebody say vampire for Christmas?”

This vampire is hanging in my living room.  My nice husband Steven gave him to me for Christmas several years ago.  Please note the green stocking hanging around his neck.  You can also just about see the green jingle bell in his right hand.  We often mix holidays in our house.

Oh dear, as I was looking through my Media Library, I saw that I did have that picture of Lugosi.  Well, I can’t remember every picture of Bela Lugosi in my collection.  It is unreasonable to expect it.

I don’t really look anything like this, but the words fit.

I close with the picture that reminds us:  I’m not perfect, and I can’t even pretend to be close.  On the other hand, I have made some semblance of a blog post.  I’ll try for a better one tomorrow.

 

No New Leaf on Monstrous Monday

Monday is perhaps not the best day to turn over a new leaf.  Oh dear, a little voice in my head is saying, “Well, there is never a good day, you just have to do it.”  What an annoying little voice.  Are others tormented by such voices?  I know, the voices in your head probably say the voices in my head are full of beans.  Only they don’t say “beans.”

Nobody does, Monster, nobody does.

I think the idea of making all kinds of improvements on Monday is just an excuse for indulging in all kinds of excesses on Sunday.  That being the case, I supposed I should have misbehaved a little more on Sunday, but too late now.

So I guess it is pretty obvious that I really, truly got nothin’ today.  But being Monstrous Monday, perhaps I can throw in a couple pictures of creepy creatures and get away with it once again.

Full disclosure: I’m not sure if this is Bela Lugosi or Martin Landau playing Bela Lugosi.

Here is a human being as a monster, arguably the worst kind of monster, although I am no hand at argument.

 

But how can I escape my destiny?

Can I have a Monstrous Monday without Nosferatu?  Why would I want to?  Don’t you just hate it when somebody answers a question with another question?

 

Despite what rumors you may have heard, this is not actual footage of my first date with Steven.

Nobody has called me a monster lately.  I wonder if I have been doing something wrong.

So this is my silly Monstrous Monday post for the week.  Not my only silly post, no doubt, but the only Monstrous Monday.  I hope to get back to having Mohawk Valley adventures and making real blog posts.  We’ll see how Tuesday is for a new leaf.

 

Why am I Smiling on Monstrous Monday?

Can I have a Monstrous Monday after having a Many Monsters Sunday?  I think so, and not just because it is almost Halloween.  I like monsters ALL YEAR LONG!!! And, blogworthy activities-wise, I ain’t got much.  I will just mention that after last Saturday’s Haunted Historic Four Corners and the cancellation this Saturday’s murder mystery, I find myself in the rare and unfamiliar state of Nothing I HAVE To Do.  No commitments.  Nothing I need to work on and get done by a certain date.  (Oh well, my article(s) for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  Let’s not talk about that; just let me savor this!)

My teeth are not this good, but I have a similar smile right now.

I have not idea who this wolfman is.  I went to the Facebook page The Golden Age of Monster Movies and looked through the photos for a happy monster.

This is what I looked like a few weeks ago, when I was still trying to cast the murder mystery.

This, in case you didn’t know, is Elisha Cook, Jr., in House on Haunted Hill (1959).  Full disclosure:  I didn’t remember his name and had to look it up.

Since I do not have to begin writing another murder mystery till 2019 (for Morning Star Methodist Church in Ilion, NY in probably April), I can turn once again to writing novels.  I tried it this morning, but things did not go very well.  I have been jotting notes and inventing characters.  I have a few ideas, so I will persevere.  I will let you know how it goes.

I must bear this thought in mind.

 

I’ll remember this dictum as well.

OK, that was my pep talk to myself.  I will close with another monster, just because.

“Don’t forget about me!”

It was a choice between Michael Myers and Nosferatu.  Jaime Lee Curtis, I love you, but for me, Nosferatu always wins.

 

Just Another Monster Day

It seems as if I just had a monster day, and looking back (I am not always too lazy to do so), I see I had Mid-Week Monsters last Wednesday.  Well, today it is Monday and I need monsters.  I just changed my Facebook profile picture to the Bride of Frankenstein.  I commented, “When I take a little trouble with hair and make-up, I’m a whole different person!”

This is not the picture I used for my profile, but I love the saying.

Can I just say, sometimes it is difficult to find the picture you want. Oh, quit playing that miniature violin!  Everybody is allowed to complain once in a while.  Perhaps I take a few extra turns.  These things happen.

Scary!

To continue my post, I went to my Media Library and added the next picture that caught my eye.  Some of the older movies made excellent use of shadows.  And it just occurs to me:  lots of people are scared of the dark, but when it is pitch black, at least you can’t see any frightening shadows.  I’m just saying.   Another observation: I seem to have a lot of pictures of Nosferatu.  Some of you already knew that about me.

I’m with you, Boney!

I see by my word count I am over 200 words.  Miller time!  Figuratively speaking, of course.  I am actually sipping seltzer with lemon and feeling fairly virtuous about it.  Will my virtue last?  A little suspense adds interest to my evening.  Happy Monday, everyone.

 

Add Monsters and Stir. I Mean, Hit Publish

How about some Mid-Week Monsters?  It’s a new feature, for when I forgo Monstrous Monday.  It is, in fact, another Pre-Rehearsal Post (I guess that could be a category, too), because we are soon to leave for rehearsal for Donate to Murder, the murder mystery dinner theatre LiFT, Little Falls Theatre Company, is presenting at Herkimer Elks this Saturday, Sept. 15.  Steven and I are wearing our costumes, although I do not have pantyhose on (I’m certain my character would wear pantyhose).  Also, I could not find my grandmother’s pearls, which I thought would work for my character (full disclosure: they are not real pearls, but they look nice).  Luckily I have TONS of beads, vintage and otherwise.

What a long first paragraph.  I do babble on, don’t I?  I thought this was going to be a monster post.  Let’s see what I can find.

Not the best depiction of Julia Adams, but a pretty cool poster nonetheless.

Look, I can also include a foreign language lesson.  Sometimes I can so multi-task (although most days I barely manage just to task).  Steven and I just watched Creature from the Black Lagoon on Sunday.  Perhaps you read my blog post in which I mentioned it.  And while we’re visiting foreign countries…

I think this one has better artwork, but I like the lettering in the Spanish version.

And look at me, over 200 words on a Wuss-out Wednesday (I guess this post fits multiple categories).  I do like to include three pictures, so I will pull something from my Media Library.

“Love! Exciting and new!”

I never knew the Creature guest starred on The Love Boat. I suppose he is quite an actor. Perhaps I could use him in a murder mystery sometime.