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My Rules on Monstrous Monday

Posted on March 21, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have often said that writing begets writing, and I have been writing several things this evening, yet here I sit, looking at a blank space on my “Add New Post” screen.  Maybe I was writing the wrong things.  I wrote a couple journal entries and finished a letter to a friend.  By my rule of Any Writing Counts, that should help.  Then again, why do I think that my rule made up by me has to always be true?

“Why oh whyyyyy can’t I make a blog post?”

I throw in a picture of a monster, because it is Monday.  Regular readers know how I love my Monstrous Monday Posts.

Is this the formula for a decent blog post?

If I continue to add pictures of monsters, I’m sure I can get to 200 words.  I realize making blog posts of at least 200 words is just another one of My Rules For Me.  What is it with me and rules?

Are they pondering the rules of magic?

I wonder if I think something magic is going to happen if I follow these rules.  For example, when I started this blog, I decided I was going to make a post every day for one year.  I did pretty good for the first year, and not bad off and on for the subsequent years (it’s been almost 12).  I don’t know that anything magic happened.  I don’t make up the rules about what counts as magic.

 

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Even Lamer Than Usual

Posted on February 18, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought of that title while I was running this morning.  I’m thinking it was not particularly worth remembering.  However, I feel bad that I made no post yesterday so want to make some semblance of a blog post now.

There was snow on the scene this morning.

I throw in a picture to pep things up.  This is half of Herkimer’s Historic Four Corners,  which I ran by this morning.  It was cold out, but I persevered. I thought briefly of making my blog post before my run, as I did earlier this week, but only briefly.  It takes less mental wherewithal to run than to make a blog post.

It occurred to me as I ran that lately I have managed to do a few blogworthy activities but have not managed to actually blog about them.  What’s up with that, me?

A note of hope.

Another picture may inspire me to come up with more words.  I confess to being not too worried about what I say.  This is a Late Lame Post Friday post, the bar is not high.  Additionally,  I am still in Give Myself a Break mode.  I wonder how much longer I can get away with that.

Who could be un-cheered by a Screaming Skull?

I end with an unrelated but amusing (to me, at least) picture from The Screaming Skull.  I often watch cheesy horror movies on the weekend.  That might be fun.

In the meantime,  I see I am over 200 words.  Once again, I thank you for tuning in.

 

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Is My Life Really So Monstrous?

Posted on January 31, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Late posts continue, and I do not know why I feel the need to point out my deficiencies.  After all, if they are not obvious to the casual observer, can they be all that bad?  Discuss amongst yourselves.

In the meantime, it is Tuesday morning, and I chose to have a second cup of coffee and make a blog post (or some semblance thereof), rather than do the dishes (don’t judge me for not doing them as soon as they got dirty), fix my lunch, or do any of the other chores hanging over me like a hulking creature promising doom.

Hey, wouldn’t a hulking creature be a monster?  I have led myself right into a Monstrous Monday Post.

He’s scary!   But the movie is fun.

If it conquered the world, I do not feel that I am so much at fault if it keeps me from getting my stuff done.  Then again — Spoiler Alert! — it does not actually conquer the world, although it makes a good try.

Not exactly hulking, but definitely threatening.

This, of course, is from Nosferatu (1922), a delightfully frightening movie. I am afraid I resemble the person on the left, trying ineffectually to escape but not really doing anything of use. I get a little impatient with movie characters who can’t seem to do anything but stare, scream, run the wrong way, fall down, or some combination.  Then again, if the monster had no victims, it would not be much of a horror movie.  I suppose it could still work as suspense, but that is a longer discussion than I care to embark upon before breakfast.

Oh, I could just scream!

I end with an image from The Screaming Skull. I think skulls always look like they are smiling.  This inspires me to start my day with a smile.  After a smile costs me nothing and may brighten someone else’s day.  On that not so monstrous note, I bid you farewell and thank you for tuning in.

 

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Elliott Ghoul, Can You Help Me Now?

Posted on January 10, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I guess it was not a massively Monstrous Monday.  Yet I am making a Monstrous Monday Post, because I ain’t got much else.  Also, I want to read the book I just got out of Basloe Library in Herkimer, NY:  The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum (and yes, autocorrect,  I meant “Poisoner’s” not “Prisoner’s”).

Is it just me, or does he look a little jolly?

Here is a shot I have always liked from The Screaming Skull.”  I believe I wrote a blog post about it, but I am too lazy to try to track it down to link back to it.

I should try to get a shot with his eyes bright red.

Here is a non-movie monster, our own Elliott Ghoul.  He says things like, “Follow me… to the graveyard!  Ah ha ha ha ha!”  I appreciate anybody who says, “Ah ha ha ha ha!”  It is what I say when I accomplish a task or find sonething I have been searching for.

Oh crap!  I just accidentally hit Publish!  I hope nobody reads this before I finish it and hit Update.

A closer but more blurry shot.

Elliott stays in our window all year long.  Last year, my husband, Steven turned him off so he stopped saying things.  I was delighted when he turned him back on in October.

I see I am over 200 words.  That is good news for me, because I want to hit Update.  And read that book!

 

 

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It’s Late and Lame, But I Like It

Posted on November 5, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

Hello, and welcome to another late Lame Post Friday post.  I thought briefly about making this post last night, but I was too lazy.  I was watching Keith Morrison on DVR’d episodes of Dateline.  I loves me some true crime!

Just throwing in a picture to pep things up.

Tonight we present He Laughed Himself to Death, the interactive murder mystery dinner theatre benefiting the Herkimer County Historical Society.  I must recruit my energies.  And continue to study my lines.

Giving the information one more time.

Hmmm… I can’t think of a whole lot else to say.  I have had coffee and breakfast, played a few games of solitaire (with an actual deck of cards, as God intended), all while looking at the news  but trying not to pay too much attention,  because, quite frankly, it is depressing.  Yes, I have been up for a while.  Early to bed, early to rise, and the rest of the saying is a bunch of lies.  I just now made that up and am rather pleased with it.

I have a thing for putting my fists in the air.

When all else fails, throw in another picture.  This is from October 2020, when I walked up to Herkimer College to vote (perhaps you read my blog post about it).  Since Election Day is Tuesday, that makes this a kind of a PSA reminding folks to vote.

That got me over 200 words. Score!  Maybe one more picture for good measure.  Mystery or monster?  Let me see what I can find in my Media Library.

Scary! And fun!

From The Screaming Skull.  It has nothing to do with the rest of the post, but I like it.

 

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Some Kind of Sunday

Posted on September 19, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh dear, looking back over the last week, I see I have missed a few blog posts.  Well, at least I will not miss my Sunday post.  Last week I considered instituting a different feature from Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  That still appeals to me.  For one reason, I feel I must explain Wrist to Forehead every time, and explanations are so tiresome.

I must make a note to myself to strive to make my blog posts earlier in the day.  I get so tired so easily!  Perhaps I need to lead a healthier lifestyle.  Any suggestions?

A lucky find in my Media Library.

I have had an enjoyable if not particularly productive day.  I went for a long (for me) run, I grocery shopped, I did a load of laundry, I cooked a tasty dinner, and we watched movies, one of which I found a picture from, Murder by Death.

I cannot seem to find any good pictures from Sleepy Hollow, the first movie we watched, but here is a funny story about it.  Our DVDs are in alphabetical order.  I started looking for Sleepy Hollow   under “H,”  because I usually call it The Headless Everybody.

Skulls are so in these days.

The last movie we watched was The Screaming Skull. I think I have the movie poster in my Media Library but am too lazy to look for it so downloaded the above from Facebook.  You would think I could have found an image of Sleepy Hollow that way, but apparently not so much.

This is a fun book.

In my gyrations to share the skull picture, somehow I inserted Dick and Jane and Vampires into this post, which was also in my Media Library.  I know I could easily delete it, but I kind of like it.

I see I have somehow gotten to 300 words.  How did that happen?  I don’t know how to bill this post.  Cinema?  Scattered? Slacker?  Maybe Searcher Sunday, because I was searching for pictures to share.  Any thoughts?

 

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Skeletons, Fashionable and Monstrous

Posted on April 14, 2020 by mohawkvalleygirl

This shall be a Monstrous Monday Post.  Should “post” be capitalized?  I think I have done it both ways.  Oh dear, I think it is becoming clear that this will be a very foolish post.  What else can one expect?  It is a very bad time for Mohawk Valley Adventures,  after all. But monster pictures, I can do. I hope.

“Oh woe! Oh anguish!”

Here is our skeleton,  Bonita, in a wrist to forehead pose.  That is pretty much how I am feeling these days, but there is no point in elaborating on the subject.

You didn’t think she had only one outfit, did you?

Here is Bonita in her current ensemble.  I am having trouble with the hat.  Bonita’s head is too small for most of my chapeaux.

However, this was meant to be a Monstrous Monday Post,  not a Skeleton Fashion Parade.  What else can I find in my Media Library?

“May I have this dance?”

Here is a monstrous skeleton from House on Haunted Hill, one of our favorite movies.

I must watch this one again.

I wanted to end on another monstrous skeleton,  and I am sure The Screaming Skull fits the bill.  I have it on DVD, in my collection of 50 Horror Classics, I believe.  It was also featured in an episode of Mystery Science Threatre 3000, one of our best beloved shows.

As I sign off, I am torn between Dateline on OWN, or a monster movie on DVD.  I feel sure either choice will be delightful.  Happy Monday, everyone!

 

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Pop in a Movie; You’ll Feel Better

Posted on September 10, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

The movie is not nearly as lurid as the poster.

Yes, it is another Cheesy Movie Sunday.  I guess I never declared that as a category, but I do often watch movies on Sunday and my favorites are the cheesy ones, so…  My only regret is the lack of alliteration, but I can’t worry about that now.  My husband, Steven, and I began our day with a couple of Mohawk Valley adventures, which may form the subject of articles for Mohawk Valley Living magazine or future blog posts. Now we are comfortably home, in sweats, and watching movies.  We began with The Screaming Skull (1958), which I believe I wrote a blog post about at some point.

The movie is on our DVD collection of 50 Horror Classics.  Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959) was on the same disc, so we continued with that.

They don’t even show the Victor Buono-looking guy.

I thought one character in the movie looked like Victor Buono, who played Bette Davis’ father in Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964).  I might have liked to go on to that one, but I was more into shorter movies today.  That is one virtue of your really cheesy features: they are in general short.  We did want something that moved a little faster, and Steven suggested Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959).  Say what you will about this movie, it is NOT the worst ever made. It holds your interest and moves right along.  I say, go, Ed Wood Jr.!

What’s not to like?

As you may have guessed, I am into Halloween movies.  Well, the Halloween season does begin after Labor Day, does it not?  It does in my house.

What’s a big ugly ape gotta do to get a date in this town?

We are continuing our viewing adventures with King Kong (1933).  What will come next?  Who cares!  Tomorrow’s Monday; I’m having fun today!

Full disclosure: I do not feel THIS bad about it.

 

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Monstrous Monday During Dateline

Posted on May 22, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

“Dateline is brain food.”

I open with a picture of a brain, because mine seems to be taking the day off (cue jokes like “What else is new?”).  I have been knitting and watching Dateline for a few hours now, one of my favorite things to do.   However, I must make my blog post, because there is no reason for today to be the day I do not post.  Also, I promised myself a Monstrous Monday.  I do like sharing pictures of monsters.

Sometimes people are the real monsters.

First I include a shot of the Dateline logo, in the interests of accuracy.

I’m thinking IT did not actually conquer the world, even in the movie, but I confess I do not remember.

I further declare this a Cheesy Movie Monster Monday, since I did not actually get to watch a cheesy movie yesterday.  I suppose I could have watched one today, instead of all those episodes of Dateline, but it just felt like a True Crime kind of a day.   Incidentally, extra points go to this movie poster for the correct use of “its.”  Remember:  it only gets an apostrophe when it’s a contraction of “it is.”  Otherwise it’s like his or hers; you don’t put apostrophes on those either.  Just a little digression from the grammar geek inside me (and not too far below the surface) (you may have noticed).

This one I have seen with and without robot heads (for the uninitiated, “with robot heads” means as an episode of Mystery Science Theatre 3000).

I have seen The Screaming Skull more than once.  I believe it features a human monster as well as the titular skull.  Fun flick.  I see I am approaching 300 words.  That’s pretty good for a Monstrous Monday.  And I am missing the next episode of Dateline.  Can’t have that!  Thank you for tuning in and I hope to see you all on Tired Tuesday.

 

 

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