Betsy Snow White Bibliophile

Category: Ohio Life

  • Pinball Wizard (Or Something Like it)

    Pinball Wizard (Or Something Like it)

    Today I got a chance to play on my favorite pinball machine for the first time in years. It is this machine:

    This is a machine based off of the Broadway Musical version of The Who’s Tommy.

    First you need to know that when I was eleven or twelve my older sister, Krystie, bought us tickets to the Broadway in Columbus production of The Who’s Tommy. I had never even heard the music and I was blown away by the production, the music, everything was just amazing.

    Later that year we went as a family to Cedar Point. My cousin, Lynsi, and I were given some money (I was given $40) and we were sent off to the arcade to play for an hour. As we walked in I saw it, a The Who’s Tommy Pinball Machine.

    Immediately I walked over and as soon as I could exchange cash for coin I began to play. I am not a pinball wizard, but I love to play and this machine played just the way I liked. And as you played and your score rose the machine would play snippets of songs from the musical.

    Before I knew it I had spent all $40 of my dollars on this machine. My mom came to find us and when she realized what had happened she forbade me from setting foot in an arcade again.

    Now, for most people they would understand that she meant I should never spend money on a game like that again, but my probably neurodivergent ass took it literally. So when my friends would go into the arcade in our local mall I would wait outside for them and read a book or something (I am an elder millenial so there were no smart phones then).

    When my mom found this out when I was 18 or so, she was horrified. She of course did not intend for me to literally never set foot in an arcade again. But, regardless of intention that is what I took from it.

    The Who’s Tommy is still my favorite machine ( The Addams Family is a close second) in spite of all the weirdness. I remain not great at pinball, but I still love it. And I can still sing the whole soundtrack to the musical. ❤️

    This machine was at the Main Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library on loan from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. My husband took me to play it today for my birthday. It was also the Big Book Sale at the Library so I bought a bunch of books too. A good day!

  • About Me…Meme edition

    About Me…Meme edition

    Tara Wine-Queen on Facebook reached a milestone number of followers and decided to introduce herself to her new and old followers using memes. I loved this idea so much that I have been seeking out memes to replicate for myself, lol. Here is what I came up with:

    I am sure there is more, but I feel like this is a good representation of who I am.

    So, I read 27 books in January. And I have read 4 already for February. I am considering starting a book club where we just get together and talk about what we are reading a couple of times a month. I love the idea of a book club but being forced to read specific books makes it feel more like homework than reading for fun, so…create a literary society where we just talk about the books we are currently reading. Any genre. Plotting commences.

    Here is what I have read so far in 2023:

  • October 23 – 24: Spooky Basket

    I had previously mentioned that I was doing a Spooky Basket Exchange. Well, my buddy received their bucket on Saturday and I hope they liked it. I received mine on Sunday and I loved it. Behold the bounty!

    Popcorn!!!
    Light up kitty, mothman mug, horror bag and little wooden coffin full of pins.
    Poison Apple Mug
    Wooden pins: mothman, the craft and hocus pocus
    The ladies of the Craft wine glass
    Hocus Pocus spell shirt
    Halloweentown Shirt
    Little punkin
    Bandanas: most wonderful time of the year halloween and hocus pocus
    Skeleton headband, hocus pocus puzzle, and cute spooky kitty bag.
    The witch is in and Welcome spell bottle signs.
    Big comfy blanket with spooky blocks.

    I love every piece. Especially the pin of the Grand High Wizard from The Worst Witch…omg. And the poison apple mug. And the shirts…

    Here is the combined halloween countdown for the 23rd and 24th:

  • October 9 – Fall Adventure on the way to a Bridal Shower

    October 9 – Fall Adventure on the way to a Bridal Shower

    My Mom, sister Traci, aunt Gayle, and I were on our way to North Canton for my cousin’s daughter’s bridal shower and we were running a bit early. Then we saw a sign for Groovy Plants Ranch. And suddenly we were headed off the exit and heading that way.

    They had some of the most beautiful displays of pumpkins and gourds. I was excited to find that they were reasonably priced as well. I grabbed a large white cindrella pumpkin and another almost pink smaller one. I also picked up some cute little ceramic mushrooms and a bumper sticker for on my van.

    Behold the beautiful fall bounty!!

  • October 6 – 10 years of White

    October 6 – 10 years of White

    Ten years ago today Seth and I got married in a ceremony that was so personal to us that we wrote the whole thing, lol.

    Our wedding was largely DIY for Seth, myself and many members of my friends and family. My mom made Seth’s vest and my jacket. Seth made chainmaille flowers, and our chainmaille handfasting cord. I made button flowers and assembled my bouquet, the bouquet for my sister and the boutonniere’s for the guys and lots of little things. My sister in law Niki made our cupcakes. Our friend Cliff made our “wedding topper” diorama and the steps that led to the stage. So many people helped us along the way.

    Our wedding was uniquely ours. There was a bit of us in every aspect of the wedding. Our wedding was even featured in offbeat bride which you can see here: https://offbeatwed.com/columbus-steampunk-wedding/.

    Here is to 10 years of marriage and 15 years as a couple.

    And…The Halloween Countdown drawer of the day:

  • November has come!

    Happy November First! The last day of the Ohio Renaissance Festival was yesterday, and while I am sad that the season is over, I am happy to be free to devote time to some other parts of my life. This season of the festival was one of the best I can remember. Wench Collecting took off this year in a way that was unexpected and led to our local growing almost doubling in size as the season moved on and more wenches are planning to join in the off season. We were able to sponsor five wenches into the guild, and have the money for several more. Being the Madam for the local is one of the most rewarding jobs I have ever taken on and I am so proud of what this group is becoming. And we have so much more on the horizon, including the groups first election since 2018 when we formed the group and I became madame. I have no idea if any of my fellow wenches would like to take up the mantle and run to be madame next year, but I know that whether I am madame again or I am unseated the impact of this inaugural privy council has laid an amazing groundwork for the leadership to come.

    Beyond this I have a lot planned for the month of November. One I am participating in Nanowrimo this year, but rather than a novel my goal is to blog every day for the month of November. In the past I did Blogtober, but I just couldn’t swing it this year so I decided to do November instead. I am also doing my first walk in a long time on Thanksgiving, a five mile Turkey Trot. I am attending the Witches Ball, doing a lot of holiday crafting, attending some other events with wenches and the lady gang. Who knows what I might get into? I hope you will come along for the ride, enjoy the scenery and keep me company along the way.

    On the first day of November I am thankful for my amazing husband who took all of the photos below for me without complaint, following me around the Festival as I chased down all the wenches. I love that man with my whole soul and I don’t know what I would do without him.

    So many Wenches!!!!

  • Cemetery Ghost Tour with GGG

    Cemetery Ghost Tour with GGG

    Several weeks ago Seth, Myself and the ladies from Ghosts, Girls, Ghouls Jenny and Rebecca jumped in my car and headed off to Greenlawn Cemetery in Columbus to attend the “Night at Greenlawn Cemetery” ghost tour hosted by Bucky of Columbus Ghost Tours. As we arrived we pulled into a queue that then drove slowly through the cemetery stopping on a small lane between grave stones. We left our cars and found ourselves in front of the Lazarus Crypt to begin our night. Bucky came dressed in a coat and tails to set the mood for our walking tour of the Cemetery.

    He shared stories of suicide, death by misfortune, murder, grave robbing and much more as we wandered among the headstones of the 360 acre Cemetery. Some famous names appeared in the tales such as James Thurber the famous humorist writer who detailed his own brush with the paranormal in his story “The Night the Ghost Got In.” I will not spoil any of the amazing stories, but instead say it is an amazing tour and Bucky wonderfully lays out tales of the mystical, maniacal and macabre with humor and the panache of a natural born storyteller. When he reveals he is working on a book regarding some of the topics he covers it makes absolute sense.

    The cemetery itself is a registered arboretum and home to many different kinds of wildlife. Dusk set in we could watch bats swoop overhead to eat the mosquitos that were swarming around us on the humid Ohio summer night. As we wandered the night got darker and darker until every small thing seemed sinister. At one point what I believe was a skunk (I did not investigate) gave me a minor scare as it moved through the black of the night. It is truly disconcerting to hear a stick break behind you in a dark cemetery.

    If you are in the Central Ohio area, or are planning a visit, you cannot go wrong with one of the tours led by Columbus Ghost Tours. They offer a variety of tours as well as this one, including a tour of haunted bars where you get to drink and hear ghost stories which is on my list of things to do as well. You can follow them on Instagram at @boozeboos for more information and details.

  • Late Night Camp

    Late Night Camp

    Saturday night, after CFO, I met up with my fellow Girls, Ghosts, Ghouls ladies, Jenny and Rebecca, to go to a late night showing of the 1980’s cult slasher film, Sleepaway Camp which was followed by a live Q&A with Felissa Rose who starred as Angela in the film.

    Studio 35 is an amazing local privately owned movie theatre that also houses a bar and a pizza shop. They had a special drink menu for the event that included the Don’t Drown and the Camp Arawak. There were more, but I forgot to take a picture of the menu and can only remember the one’s I ordered. We shared a pizza called PELE’S CURSE which has a GARLIC EVOO base, house cheese, capicola ham, pineapple, ricotta, almonds, cinnamon. It might not have been my first choice but it was very good. We also shared a loaded popcorn that included reese’s pieces and m&ms. I bought myself a box of sweettarts.

    I was familiar with Sleepaway Camp, but had never seen it. I had an idea what the twist was, but had no idea how it played out in the film. The film is ridiculous, overacted, campy, and so much fun. I was not expecting the ending in any way, which made it almost more fun. Felissa Rose came out before the film to introduce it and give some fun little tidbits of info. She also found a member of the audience who knew absolutely nothing about the film, so she came back before the end of the film to watch his face as he saw the ending. After the film she did a Q&A which was great; she was open, warm and very funny. And she obviously has a lot of affection for the film that began her career. It was a great night and I am so glad Jenny suggested we go.

    Speaking of Ghosts, Girls, Ghouls a new episode should be dropping this week. Find us by searching for ZTOTV on your favorite podcast service.

  • Celtic Fest Ohio 2021

    Celtic Fest Ohio 2021

    This past weekend Ohio Renaissance Park hosted Celtic Fest 2021. The day featured many regional, national and international bands, dancers, etc as well as vendors and just general good times. I went in an effort to see and talk to as many wenches as I could as well as just to spend some time in one of my favorite places. The night before, so Friday night, storms cut through the area where the fest resides and this lead to insane flooding (waist deep in places) and a lot of panic amongst the vendors and performers who were spending the night onsite. It also caused a power outage that lasted until about 2pm on Saturday.

    As we headed out on Saturday morning, we were honestly not sure at all what we were getting ourselves into. I just knew that after the night they just had we needed to go and support some of these vendors we love. We got there about 11:30 (Gates were set to open at 11) and found out that the gates had been held until noon due to the power outage while they worked to get generators running to work the sound systems. Jameson’s Folly played at the gate as we waited for opening.

    Once inside we walked up to A Wired Viking where I picked up a pendant I purchased in advance and a necklace for my sister for her birthday both made by the lovely Felix. We also picked up a large beard bead for Seth, a ring for him and a bracelet for me. I forgot to get photos with the three wenches who work in that booth, because I suck.

    After this we walked around, said hi to many friends and wenches, got free commemorative Guinness Pint Glasses, took pictures, watched a couple of acts, gave cards to potential wenches, and generally had a great time. Here are far too many photos.

  • Otherworld: A journey

    Otherworld: A journey

    On May 30th we ventured to the East side of Columbus to explore Otherworld an interactive art experience in Columbus. Our party consisted of myself, my mother, my sister Traci and my friend Johnna. The exterior of the museum is unassuming and resides in an old strip mall.

    Once inside the lobby offers clues to what lies inside, with fun lighting, beautiful murals and interesting creatures. Once we got our wristbands we ventured inside.

    You can choose your own path, your own adventure. We wandered from room to room, exhibit to exhibit, laughing, touching, playing, discovering, and generally having an amazing time. Some rooms you have to crawl into. Crawling under a child’s bed in one room leads to a room with a giant narwhal and clouds you can sit on. A room full of neon spider webs had a ringing phone. Later in a control center we realized you can “call” the phone and speak to someone in the room. I am about to super photo dump. It goes without saying that this was an amazing experience and we plan to go back taking respective husbands and boyfriends.