The pub may be closed, but there’s always Trek…
A Happy Somber Saint Patrick’s Day to You, Terrans
March 17, 2020
Happy (Belated!) New Year’s 2020!
January 4, 2020
Hi, everyone. I guess I should have planned a little better — should have written a “new year’s post” and then saved it before the holiday season began, scheduled the post, and then enjoyed overeating, overdrinking, and sleeping in.
Except of course that’s not what actually happened. Continue Reading
Here There Be Witches — i.e., Strong Women
November 1, 2019
The Witching Hour and Hallowe’en have come and passed, but there’s still time to think about family history…since, of course, it does involve witches. And ghosts.
We have two witches and one ghost in the family tree, on my mother’s side (my father’s side has pirates, kidnapped settlers, and Captains who start intercontinental wars, but more on that in another post). The witches, of course, were caught up in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and 1693. Otherwise known as the Salem Witch Paranoia. Victims of insecure white men. So what’s new? Continue Reading
The Halloween “Shat-Attack”
October 23, 2019
It had been rumored for decades that the mask the killer Michael Myers wore in the Halloween films was in fact based on Shatner’s face. Not just his face, but specifically a Captain Kirk death mask created for Star Trek. As it turns out, the anecdote is very true.
😳
Yup. In an interview, Shatner even talked about wearing a mask of his own face for trick or treating.
(It’s in the linked article.)
Pleasant dreams 💤🎶🕸🕷🦇🧟♀️🧛♀️🧟♂️🎃
https://intl.startrek.com/article/the-shatner-halloween-connection?amp&__twitter_impression=true
Who wants a hotel on Mars??
February 25, 2019
Seek and ye shall find!
Ah, a place to crash on Mars.
No, not a lander. A hotel.
I won’t mention the web site where this automated (probably Google) ad popped up.
But they often have extreme -ly interesting tech -nology information.
Just in time for spring break, too!
You must not go into the Wood at night!
December 21, 2018
Check out this free five-minute reading of “The Magic Wood,” by Henry Treece, one of many New Apocalypse poets who influenced Neil Gaiman’s dialogue in Sandman. Available only for the next 29 days.
Truly creepy. With Great Pleasure at Christmas (great title, BBC).
Link courtesy of the wordsmith Neil, himself, @neilhimself. Thanks!
Thanksgiving Day without you
November 24, 2018
Two days ago I celebrated Thanksgiving Day, or as we call it, Turkey Day, with my relatives in the US. It was the first time for me to do so in over 20 years.
The myths about the holiday are well-known, so I won’t waste time relating them here (most Americans are happy to go on pretending the “Pilgrim Fathers” started this when really it’s just an excuse for a four-day weekend of stuffing yourself, watching football, and shopping).
In our case, it was the first holiday since my mother passed away. The next two will be even harder. But the oft-trite is oft-true: it was as if the empty chair at the long table was filled with her presence. This year was different.
A passing of the family torch. Dinner at my sister’s house, dessert with her in-laws. Boardgames with aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews. Family stories with grandpa. Skype with the grandkids overseas. Most of us drove seven or eight hours roundtrip just to spend one day together.
The grieving process continues. So does life. You can’t pick your relatives, but in some case you get real lucky.
Star trekking throughout the universe…
November 21, 2018
The holidays are coming up, which always reminds me of old Trek.
No, seriously. When I was a kid, we always went to my grandparents’ house for the holidays, my mom’s parents. And they had a color Zenith (we had a tiny black and white TV at the time).
The first time I saw Star Trek was in the “TV room” of my grandparents’ house in Troy. In brilliant red-blue-green color. It blew my seven year old mind. Continue Reading
Finding the Tree in the Family Forest
August 31, 2018
While visiting Montreal and Upstate New York for summer vacation, my family were greeted by an unhappy surprise.
My mother has Stage 4 cancer.
I’ve been spending the past two to three years researching my ancestry (at, you guessed it, ancestry.com) and I had already hoped to talk with my mother about her memories of our Irish and French Canadian heritage.
I’d already managed to find quite bit online via various databases, both public and private. But there’s no substitute for family stories. And now I have a time limit.
Sakura: An Easter story
April 2, 2018
My friend, you died on Easter morning.
We all knew it would happen sometime soon. But still it seemed sudden.
My grandfather also died during Easter weekend, many years ago. Good Friday, in fact. I was 10. We had to have the wake and funeral right away. The Church said they wouldn’t allow him to be buried on Easter Sunday.
My mother told us that Grandpa went straight to Heaven, because he died on Good Friday. That we would one day see him again.
Terry, you died on April 1st. But it was no Fool’s. It was Easter. You were sleeping, and did not wake. Continue Reading
