in a dream you saw a way to thrive and you were full of joy.

Christian // Artist // Stickers @ etsy.com/shop/littlesilverlion //I appear in October, December, and whenever A Big Sad hits me

[fictionadventurer]

Imaginary Book Recs Cover Thoughts: Round One

Two Passengers on the Last Train by A.G. Benedict: Obscure English literary fiction from the 1920s. I read it as a Gutenberg ebook, but the original cover was one of those clothbound classics with silhouette images. Any modern-day reprints are by very small publishing houses that provide minimal, low-budget covers using old illustrations (something like this version of Manalive.)

Song of the Seafolk by Marjorie A. Penrose: American children's fantasy from 1954, with illustrated cover typical of the era. Has had rerelease covers in subsequent decades (including one very nice painted cover from the '90s).

Bright Folly by Glorya M. Hayers: 1930s comedy mystery. Most representative cover is the mass-market paperback that looks like the more cartoony covers of Wimsey novels (like the editions that contain this version of Gaudy Night), though with a bit more of a sunny Wodehouse twist.

On Eternity's Doorstep by Willa Aldecott: Classic autobiographical novel about WWI nursing. Several rereleases over the years, all involving variations of historical photographs or historical-nursing-items on a colored background. (The Hiding Place keeps coming to mind as a cover comp, except with more sepia-toned photos and gentle browns and neutrals as background colors.)

The Queens of Wintermoon by Jessica Wagner: 1980s (or '90s, I can't remember) adult fantasy with an illustrated cover. A 2010s attempt to repackage it as a YA series split the book into four covers that each featured the heraldic symbol of the House of each of the four sisters (Raven, Eagle, Falcon, and Firebird) on a different jewel-toned background (probably blue, green, orange or red, and violet or black).

Caroline by Maria Layton: 1820s classic novel. Anything that's been done for an Austen book is applicable here.

The Lands of Dorothon series by Barbara Lamley: Off-brand versions of Narnia.

The Autumn Queen’s Promise by Rose Rennow: 1990s children's historical fantasy. Illustrated cover that combines the fantastical autumn colors of An Enchantment of Ravens with the more straightforward historical imagery of a book like The Sign of the Beaver or The Witch of Blackbird Pond.)

Island in the Stars by Carolyn Taylor Harris: 1970s children's science fantasy, with the period-accurate slightly wonky cartoony style.

The Camille series by Annette Nowell: Anne of Green Gables covers but with more exotic settings as the background. Both Camille in the Alps and Camille in the Andes involve her climbing mountains in intrepid Edwardian girl-reporter wear.

The Lakeshore Plan by Louise Zajac: Something between Swallows and Amazons and The Penderwicks. Could go full-on painted summer scenery, but simple drawings and/or silhouettes are also valid options.

Ever Miss Eliza by Charlotte Koning: 1940s slice-of-life light fiction. Honestly, I just picture the cover of D.E. Stevenson's Charlotte Fairlie, except the illustration is a woman in front of a rural schoolbuilding.

The Ocean’s Revenge by Edward G. Whitmore: 1940s pulp fiction in all its glory. Cover features a striking painting of a futuristic submarine in the grasp of a huge squid-creature.

The Book of All Days by Harriet Street: Painting of a little girl peering at an old-fashioned book.

The Guardian of the Nest by Aurelia T. Noah: 1960s children's fantasy. Probably a cloth-bound cover with the images (fairy tale carved right into the cover the way they are in some old books.

The Thief’s Debut by M.J. Ponders: Very recent indie-published fairy tale retelling that is unfortunately saddled with the genre-typical "girl in a sparkly prom dress" cover that probably involves her wearing a mask and standing in front of a vaguely Venetian-looking building. In a better world, it would get a digital-painted cover more along the lines of The Electrical Menagerie, (though the subject matter would be something between The Princess Bride and The Lies of Locke Lamora).

The Interdimensional Book Carrier by Martin Kaspar: Modern-day bestseller. Cover comps coming to mind are The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

[sawed-on-shotgun]

hello my name is Stray Hair snd my big dream is to play the itsy bitsy spider on broadway. doyou mind if i practice on the side of your head.

[ellakas]

that’s a lot of spiders

[sawed-on-shotgun]

hello my name is Stray Hair snd my big dream is to play the itsy bitsy spider on broadway. doyou mind if i practice on the side of your head.

[avantgarden-er]

Me: wow… i really have been so unplugged today… [sees that I posted every hour on the hour] well. Okay

[eretzyisrael]

THURSDAY HERO: Diet Eman

Diet Eman was a Dutch Resistance hero who, at 22 years old, risked her life to save dozens of Jews during the German occupation of Holland.

Born in The Hague in 1920, Diet grew up in a loving Christian family. Her father’s design business was hit hard by the Depression and the family had very little money, but it was a happy childhood. For Diet, the war began on May 10, 1940, when Hitler’s army invaded the Netherlands. Diet’s brother-in-law was killed that first day. Inspired by their strong Christian faith, Diet and her fiancee Hein Sietsma immediately formed a resistance group and enlisted their friends and family to join the fight.

They began by listening to banned BBC war news broadcasts, and sharing the information with everybody they knew. When the Nazi invaders began enacting anti-Semitic legislation, Diet’s work became more important and more dangerous. She found a house for her terrified Jewish friend Herman, who was marked for deportation. Hein, who had read Hitler’s autobiography Mein Kampf, knew what was in store for Jews in Holland. Together Diet and Hein found farmers to shelter Herman, as well as his sister, his fiancee and her mother. They continued their efforts and found safe houses for 60 Dutch Jews, saving them from almost certain death at Auschwitz or Sobibor. Some of the Jews were placed in cities, others in small villages or rural farm areas.There were so many Jews in need of help that Diet spent most of every day and night on her bicycle, delivering false ID papers and ration cards to people in hiding. Diet later said, “In the beginning you have no idea what risk you are taking. Then, you’re so deep in it, you can’t go back.”

The Gestapo raided a safe house and found Diet’s diary. Knowing she was about to be arrested, Diet fled from her home and moved in with a family on a remote dairy farm. She took on a new identity, and continued her resistance work from the farm, tracking the movements of German troops and supplies.

On April 26, 1944, Hein was arrested. Knowing she was next, Diet once again changed her identity and base of operations. Continuing her work with the resistance, Diet traveled by train with illegal documents to distribute. On the train, Nazi officers asked to see her ID, but it was clearly fake. She was forcibly removed from the train for questioning. Diet knew that once the Nazis found the fake documents, she would most likely be executed on the spot. But there was no chance to get rid of the documents, until a stroke of luck she later attributed to Divine intervention. One of the officers had a new plastic raincoat, a brand-new invention, and the others were so fascinated by the coat that Diet was able to toss the documents into a nearby trash can without being noticed.

Diet was arrested for the fake ID and sent to a concentration camp. She was employed in the laundry, where her job was to wash bloodstains off clothing worn by executed prisoners. The work was so difficult that she suffered an emotional breakdown. At her trial, Diet did such a good impersonation of a dim-witted housemaid that she was released. She continued her brave work delivering false documents, endangering her life with every trip by bicycle or train.

After the war, she learned that her beloved Hein had died at Dachau. Diet moved to America, where she got married and raised two children. She didn’t speak about her wartime heroism until 1978, when she spoke at a “Suffering and Survival” conference. People were so interested in her story that she began writing her memoir, “Things We Couldn’t Say,” which was published in 1994. “It Is Well,” a ballet about Diet’s actions during the war, was performed for Dutch King Willem-Alexander on a royal visit to Michigan in 2015.

Diet received thanks from many world leaders including General Eisenhower in 1946 and President Reagan in 1982. She was honored as Righteous Among the Nations by Israeli Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem in 1998. Diet died on September 3, 2019, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She was 99 years old.

[zinesbycee]

(nods sagely) (nods basily) (nods rosemarily) (nods saltly) (nods star anisely)

[ellakas]

Merry commissioned me to make a pink and green hat (he chose the colors, he told me the details) for his best friend who is 9 days older, lives 45 seconds down the road, and is a pistol of a little girl. She already has a winter hat but her mom said she is THRILLED to have a special hat commissioned by Merry.

Here is the hat:

[ellakas]

reddit’s been my best friend lately for random opinions on things, or ways to help me find what I’m looking for about a subject, and today’s subject was “fat feels safe” because I have the desire to be healthier which would lose weight, but I’m scared to!! And then I saw this -

Because being “fat” or plump or overweight etc etc can make you invisible, but the commenters were saying it’s an illusion that it keeps you safe! Since timidity and lack of confidence are often what makes a target, NOT attractiveness. And I remembered that yeah, when I was thin, I walked everywhere as if I had my concealed carry on me (I never actually carried it). And I was never once in danger or catcalled etc. The only danger I felt was from my porn-addicted narcissistic ex boyfriend who felt like he wanted to kiss me or kill me which now that I think about it might be the main contributing factor to this

[ellakas]

I wonder how much having anxiety plays into not understanding fear. If your whole life you “do it scared” and it’s talking to the librarian or ordering food, it’s so much harder to know what actually to be scared of!

[ellakas]

reddit’s been my best friend lately for random opinions on things, or ways to help me find what I’m looking for about a subject, and today’s subject was “fat feels safe” because I have the desire to be healthier which would lose weight, but I’m scared to!! And then I saw this -

Because being “fat” or plump or overweight etc etc can make you invisible, but the commenters were saying it’s an illusion that it keeps you safe! Since timidity and lack of confidence are often what makes a target, NOT attractiveness. And I remembered that yeah, when I was thin, I walked everywhere as if I had my concealed carry on me (I never actually carried it). And I was never once in danger or catcalled etc. The only danger I felt was from my porn-addicted narcissistic ex boyfriend who felt like he wanted to kiss me or kill me which now that I think about it might be the main contributing factor to this

[ellakas]

all I want for Christmas is for people to stop telling me I’ll be okay in the heat. it’s been seven years in NZ. I THINK I KNOW THAT I CAN’T

[animentality]

[bemusedlybespectacled]

you fools. pepe le pew is quebecois.

[tygermama]

REBLOGGING FOR LAST COMMENT

[merlinsbeard4332]

Description of a skunk written by a Jesuit Missionary, published 1634 (via Wikipedia):

The [skunk] is a low animal, about the size of a little dog or cat. I mention it here, not on account of its excellence, but to make of it a symbol of sin. I have seen three or four of them. It has black fur, quite beautiful and shining; and has upon its back two perfectly white stripes, which join near the neck and tail, making an oval that adds greatly to their grace. The tail is bushy and well furnished with hair, like the tail of a Fox; it carries it curled back like that of a Squirrel. It is more white than black; and, at the first glance, you would say, especially when it walks, that it ought to be called Jupiter's little dog. But it is so stinking and casts so foul an odor, that it is unworthy of being called the dog of Pluto. No sewer ever smelled so bad. I would not have believed it if I had not smelled it myself. Your heart almost fails you when you approach the animal; two have been killed in our court, and several days afterward there was such a dreadful odor throughout our house that we could not endure it. I believe the sin smelled by Saint Catherine de Sienne must have had the same vile odor.

[ellakas]

🙁

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

14 stars

[ellakas]

First of four hats done!

[ellakas]

another way to fight depression is…

when life gives you apples, make applesauce cider!!

This is 75 liters/16 gallons

[ellakas]

I’d just like to say that I almost have better support via being a regular in my small town businesses than through friendships😅 one of the op shop ladies held Chickadee so I could shop; we stopped by the chiropractor just to say hi and introduce him to Chickadee (my boys loooooove Mr J), and Miss G at the best sushi in town always ooh and aahs over the boys and this time she came out to meet Chickadee and ask the boys about her! Plus a guy on a motorcycle pulled over and asked me about Chickadee’s breed since he wants to downsize from German Shepherds and loved her look.

Depression be damned!!! I HAD A FUN DAY

[ellakas]

per my last post I did indeed find ROTK theatrical poster tshirts in the men’s section and bought them for working out and I had to wash them first or I’d be working out RIGHT NEEOOWWWWW hurry up washing machine!! 11 year old me can’t believe I have a home gym and LOTR workout shirts!!