Pagan Spirits

Read last year's May post here.  MAY 4, 1897: On the second day of a charity bazaar set up by Catholic charitable organizations in Paris, aristocratic women shop in a wooden warehouse set up...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2024/05/bummer-may-part-ii-more-unfortunate.html

READ THE FIRST FOUR VIGNETTES HERE.  Believe me, if all those endearing young charms,     Which I gaze on so fondly to-day, Were to change by to-morrow, and fleet in my arms,     Li...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2024/04/three-more-vignettes.html

This is the latest preview of a work in progress tentatively titled Almanac of Bad Days. For the origin of the project, see this post .  Last year's April post APRIL 14, 1865: U.S. presid...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2024/04/bummer-april-part-ii-more-unfortunate.html

READ LAST YEAR'S BUMMER MARCH POST HERE. MARCH 2, 1978: Two thieves steal the coffin containing the body of actor Charlie Chaplin , which was interred in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland. They h...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2024/03/more-unfortunate-mostly-literary.html

I made two more very short YouTube clips for tracks I created in BandLab . In each, I'm reading the lyrics of "Luv U Sum," a rare track written by C.J. Holland and Lady Gaga.  The lyrics are: ...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2024/02/lady-gagacj-holland-luv-u-sum-lyrics.html

In these three short YouTube clips, I read three poems. The first is by Sappho, the second is a found poem with text from a 1990s sociology textbook, and the third is by Aphra Behn. I recorded al...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2024/02/i-read-poetry-with-bandlab-youtube-clips.html

Read about The Day the Music Died and other February tragedies in last year's post here. Previous Installment in the "Bummer" Series: More Unfortunate Literary Happenings of Past Januaries ...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2024/02/more-unfortunate-mostly-literary.html

Get these Audible.com book deals through the end of January 2024. This book is an amazing primer on intersectional feminism. I'd recommend it to anybody. Tressie McMillan Cottom is brilliant.  ...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2024/01/audiblecom-book-deals-thru-january-31.html

192 years ago today, on January 27, 1832, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (pen name: Lewis Carroll ) is born. Here's a Spotify playlist I made combining some spoken word tracks with music inspired by C...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2024/01/a-spoken-word-and-music-playlist-for.html

Read last year's post "Bummer New Year: Unfortunate (Mostly Literary) Happenings of Past Januaries." Here are only a few more updates I've added over the past year: JANUARY 6, 1977: Natal...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2024/01/more-unfortunate-literary-happenings-of.html

My #1 post this year, about the end of Ted Lasso , got 401 notes. This was my #2 post. The answer is, Jonathan Crane did earn his degrees at a young age, but he wasn't an M.D. He didn't ...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/12/my-top-10-tumblr-posts-2023.html

 I read 32 books this year, or at least 32 books that I remembered to enter into Goodreads.  You may remember me mentioning Greg Jenner's history of celebrity, Dead Famous, in this bit of ...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/12/my-goodreads-2023-reading-challenge.html

I don't know what this is. Maybe it was inspired by my Spotify Wrapped ? I'm still not sure I'm using the word "pastiche" correctly. I pulled at a few different threads and I wove this, whatever ...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/12/four-vignettes.html

All right, 2023 and I are officially fighting now. First it had the audacity to take away Tina Turner . Now I find out the sublime actor Andre Braugher of Homicide: Life on the Street and Brookl...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/12/andre-braugher-may-his-memory-be.html

Roman Bowl Fragments with Menorah, Shofar, and Torah Ark. Public domain.

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/12/hanukkah-night-8.html

The Zeiss Model II Star Projector nicknamed "Jake" by staff on display at the Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh, Pa. It was employed in 1939-1991 at the Buhl Planetarium. Was built in Germa...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/12/hanukkah-night-7.html

The Shuttle Enterprise rolls out of the Palmdale manufacturing facilities with Star Trek television cast members in attendance. Public domain.

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/12/hanukkah-night-6.html

Public domain. This photo depicts the handprints of Leonard Nimoy in front of The Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/12/hanukkah-night-5.html

The Zeiss Model II Star Projector nicknamed "Jake" by staff on display at the Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh, Pa. It was employed in 1939-1991 at the Buhl Planetarium. Was built in Germa...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/12/hanukkah-night-4.html

The Shuttle Enterprise rolls out of the Palmdale manufacturing facilities with Star Trek television cast members in attendance. Public domain. I unironically love Leonard's '70s outfit, with ...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/12/hanukkah-night-3.html

Samantha Cristoforetti flashes the Vulcan Salute in the cupola of the International Space Station in honor of the Leonard Nimoy. The actor, famed for his role as Mr. Spock in the Star Trek ser...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/12/hanukkah-night-2.html

Public domain. This photo depicts the handprints of Leonard Nimoy in front of The Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/12/hanukkah-night-one.html

Do you like bad things? Want to bum yourself out? You can now read the complete set of unfortunate, mostly literary happenings that happened in past months: Douginamug, CC0, via Wikimedia Co...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/12/an-entire-years-worth-of-unfortunate.html

Read November's post here. Content warning for mentions of suicide. DECEMBER 2, 1984: Union Carbide ’s pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, is so poorly maintained it causes the largest indus...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/12/unfortunate-mostly-literary-happenings.html

Of course the Wallflowers were one of my top artists this year; we finally got to see them live. I listened to plenty of both Jacob Dylan and his dad Bob.  My favorite podcasts have hardly ...

http://erinoriordan.blogspot.com/2023/11/my-spotify-wrapped-2023.html