Betsy Snow White Bibliophile

Category: Slice of Life

  • November Finally Ends…

    November Finally Ends…

    I had such great hopes for November. I would roller skate. I was going to write a poem a day. I had just started a new job and I was learning my new position well.

    And then I was diagnosed with Covid-19. I spent a little over two weeks in quarantine and 10 days in complete isolation. Covid made me so tired some days that I would barely move. I lost and regained my sense of smell and taste. It was an unusual time and other than watching an inordinate amount of tv and movies on my laptop and reading a couple of books I did not accomplish anything during this time. I wrote a couple of poems for school, but none just for me. It was not my most productive time.

    And now November is over and December is about to begin. On December 1st I am going to begin Blogmas. I have a couple of weird challenges for December that I am planning to participate in on Instagram and then I want to share the best of December here.

    Here’s to a better December than November. See you Dec 1!

  • Covid Chronicles: Diagnosis, Shock and Early Symptoms

    Covid Chronicles: Diagnosis, Shock and Early Symptoms

    I tested positive for Covid-19.

    On Wednesday I woke up with what seemed to be sinus drainage, typical for this time of year and not at all unusual for me. By Thursday it was falling into my chest and I had a wet sinus drainage cough, which is again not unusual, but because of the current issues I was sent home to contact my pcp. She thought all signs pointed to sinusitis, but ordered me a Covid test because it is basically required if you report a cough.

    So… Friday late morning I went to a drive thru testing facility for my pcp where they tickled my brain with a swab (this is what it felt like, weird but not painful). I was notified by my pcp that I had tested positive for Covid late on Friday night.

    I cried quite a bit and immediately went about contacting work, family and friends that I had tested positive. I also shut myself up in our master bedroom away from my husband and our pets. Seth went Saturday morning to get tested as well, and he was negative which made my full quarantine even more necessary.

    So, today is technically day 4 since my diagnosis, but day 7 since my first “symptom” began. I still have a bit of a cough. I have also lost my sense of smell and taste. I took a bath with a witchbaby bathbomb which I know smelled amazing and I couldn’t smell anything. That is disheartening to say the least. Especially knowing that it may never come back.

    I am in quarantine for at least 10 days, possibly more. Right now it seems like I have a mild case and I am hoping it stays that way. I am resting, a lot. And I am watching too many Christmas Movies because they make me feel better.

  • Completed: October Things To Do

    Completed: October Things To Do

    I successfully completed everything on my October To Do List. It was a wonderful month and I am going into November with new goals and expectations. I decided to do NaNoWriMo but I am doing it differently this year by commiting to a poem a day for the month of November rather than a word count. I will still track on the site, so if you are interested in following along I am BetsySnowWhite.

    I have other plans that will solidify over the next couple of days that I will share when they take shape.

    Thank you for sharing Blogtober with me!

    • Magical Days, Madrigal Nights – Final Weekend: Wearing my new witch hat and having a blast with my friends.
    • Spooky Basket Exchange #1 – finish up and mail out: I need to finish a craft, box everything up and mail out.
    • Medieval Monster Mash at The Forge: Social distanced and monster themed. Our table is Witch themed. And Jameson’s Folly will be performing.
    • Spooky Basket Exchange – Duchess Edition: The ladies of the Duchess Squad will be exchanging baskets. Mine is purchased but needs assembled.
    • Give out candy for Beggar’s Night – Safely. I will figure it out.
    • Hallowest 1: Virginia West and Krystal Something Something co-writing and starring in the first Halloween performance at District West.
    • 2020 Witch Walk : My friend’s Kristan and Susan created this event a couple of years ago. We meet up at Goodale Park and then walk through the Short North dressed as witches.
    • Lady Gang Halloween at Carol’s: It’s Halloween and the Full Moon. We can’t let this go past without celebration.
    (more…)

  • Did I Need a Skull Tiara?

    The answer to this query is no. Did I buy a skull tiara? You know full well I did. Is it blingy to hell and covered in clear gemstones? Yep. Was it less that $30? It was…which is why I just couldn’t resist.

    Me wearing a tiara made up of a series of small skulls.

    I also recently got a new grouping of bath bombs and my first bath potion from Witch Baby Soap. I had never tried the bath potion before. I bought it in Little Boo which smells like Pumpkin, Marshmallow and crisped rice. Add a cap full or two to your bath water and it not only smells wonderful, but you get a bath full of bubbles! I love it! I was already in love with their bath bombs but now I will have to invest in bath potions as well.

    Here’s to treating yourself to Spooky Halloween Treats!

  • Friday night Karaoke and Cocktails.

    Friday night Karaoke and Cocktails.

    Yesterday was my last day on my current job, and it was a stressful last week, so Seth and I went down to Newark last night after work to meet up with my mom and sister for some dinner and Karaoke.

    We started at Elliott’s Woodfired Grill where we all got different woodfired pizzas. I got a roasted red pepper with goat cheese. Seth got the Mama Dre which had pepperoni, sausage, and ham. Mom had the spicy italian and Traci got the chicken bacon and ranch. They were all delicious. We kept trading pieces.

    Roasted red pepper and goat cheese pizza.

    Then we headed back to The Bootlegger for Karaoke. This time I started with a Blackberry and Sage Gimlet, which was delicious. Then I had the Sronefruit Sangria. I started the night singing Sin Wagon by The Chicks followed by Doctor Jones by Aqua, Wig in a Box from Hedwig, Cry Little Sister from The Lost Boys and finally The Warrior by Scandal. I also sang a duet with my sister of Wonderboy by Tenacious D.

    It was a super fun night. We laughed a lot and just generally had a great time.

  • Thoughts on Halloween Season 2020

    Thoughts on Halloween Season 2020

    This year it is hard to find my full Halloween spirit. Halloween is my favorite holiday, but I am just not feeling the spooky spirit as much this year as in years past. I know there are a lot of reasons that it is harder this year: pandemic, about to start a new job, water heater replacement suddenly, oh and did I mention a pandemic.

    Yesterday my manager wandered over and told me that she saw someobe who was challenging my place as queen of Halloween at work because she was wearing a Halloween dress, with leggings and socks; I was wearing a pair of jeans and a goldenrod blazer. It made me think about how I have not been wearing a lot of my Halloween stuff this year. It seriously hadn’t occurred to me until she brought it up.

    I am going to try to find my Halloween happy this week and next. I have a Halloween party on Saturday that I am pulling together a costume for which is getting me into the spirit a bit. I am also going to be pulling together looks for a couple of witchy meetups and Halloween shows, so I predict the spirit beginning to show itself soon.

    I really hope so. I miss casually spooky me. 🖤👻💀🕷🦇🎃🔮

  • My Pre-Halloween Streaming

    My husband and I have been doing some spooky movie/ tv show watching over the last couple of weeks and there have been some seriously fun and good ones and some fun and terrible ones, but here are some of the standouts for me.

    Little Monsters (Hulu): Lupita Nyong’o is absolutely radiant in this zombie horror film about a field trip gone wrong. Also features Josh Gad in a role that had to be so much fun to play. It was campy, good horror comedy. Highly recommended.

    Zomboat (Hulu): This is another zombie based horror comedy, but a series this time. It is funny, very British, and only one season 6 episodes so very bingable. Hoping there will be a second season because ot os genuinely fun.

    Night of the Demons (Amazon): This movie was released in 1988 and it is a good old fashioned 80s slasher flick. I want the goth bride outfit from this badly. So bad it is good. Stars Linnea Quigley, which is a plus.

    Fright Night (Amazon): The original 1985, which I have seen before, but have renewed my love for. Chris Sarandon is wonderfully smarmy. Posits the theory that Vampirism makes your hair grow to be longer and a different color. Roddy McDowall overacts to raise the dead.

    The Cabin in the Woods (Hulu): I admit I am late on this one. I watched it because one of my podcasts (Talk from Superheroes) was discussing it and they highly recommended not spoiling the film. It was a very entertaining film. Superb twists throughout.

    We have watched more, but these are the ones that stood out. Have you been watching scary/halloweeny movies? What are you watching?

  • Macabre crush – Vincent Price

    Macabre crush – Vincent Price

    I was two when Thriller by Michael Jackson was released. My older sister, Krystie, knew the song terrified little baby me, so she would play it on a loop to keep me out of our shared bedroom. I never knew what it was that scared me so much until I was older and realized that it was Vincent Price’s voiceover.

    So…you would think a child who was terrorized by his voice might have grown up to resent the man, but on the contrary I grew up as a great lover of Vincent Price. From his appearances on The Muppet Show to his amazing dark films he is beautiful to me. I have a large pin of him on my Leather Jacket, and honestly I am watching a A Comedy of Terrors as I type this.

    Some of my favorite Vincent Price performances are the Edgar Allan Poe based movies from the 50s-60s (House of Usher, Pit and the Pendulum, The Raven, etc.), The Last Man on Earth, and The House on Haunted Hill. I also love the narration he did for the Tim Burton short “Vincent.”

    Do you have any strange/macabre crushes? I have a lot honestly.

  • 10 Strange Spooky Facts About Me

    1. I have eight or nine different witch hats. Possibly more.
    2. I collect bones, skulls and such. I even have an alligator skull I inherited.
    3. I was recently told that I have a young boy spirit around me by a friend. It was strange, but cool.
    4. I once hyperventilated so hard at a haunted house when I was 12 that they had to carry me out screaming at the actors to leave me alone.
    5. I have a fluffy black cat named Samhain (Sam for short)
    6. I did my beginner’s acting class actor profile on Bela Lugosi.
    7. I love cemeteries and have considered studying funerary art.
    8. I have had 5 weird bat encounters in my life. (I may tell these stories later.)
    9. When I was little (4-5) I wandered in at just the wrong time on Nightmare on Elm Street, inhaled a nacho and had to be given the Heimlich.
    10. After my Grandmother died she returned to talk to me in a series of dreams, including one where she prepared me to deal with my Grandpa getting ill and having to help him and call an ambulance. It was intense and much appreciated.

    What are some spooky facts about you?

  • Friday Night Karaoke in Newark

    Friday Night Karaoke in Newark

    My little sister, Traci, texted me at work yesterday afternoon to see if I would like to come down to do Karaoke at The Bootlegger in Newark. I love Karaoke so I headed that way after work.

    The Bootlegger is a nice bar located in the building underneath the Crystal Ballroom (where I used to perform occassionally in my teens with Encore Productions). It has a gin joint feel in the best possible way, which they encourage with a large portrait of Al Capone.

    We both started the night with an Apple Butter Mule which was Crown Apple, butterscotch schnapps, and ginger beer with a caramel rim. It was delicious, and something I will have to try replicating at home. We also tried their Barrel Cider which was very good as well.

    I started my Karaoke night with We Belong by Pat Benetar, then Traci and I dueted with Tribute by Tenacious D. I followed that with Brand New Key by Melanie. Traci did a song by Miranda Lambert that I don’t know the name of. I finished the night with Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi.

    Overall it was an amazing night! Thanks for the invite, Traci. I needed that.