Betsy Snow White Bibliophile

Blog

  • This is Halloween…Movie Edition.

    Since it is finally October I can begin my Halloween movie watching. I am a huge fan of both cheesy kids Halloween movies and spooky, scary movies. Here in no particular order are some of my favorites:

    This is obviously not exhaustive, but these are the ones I watch every single year. I enjoy horror movies, but I don’t really have a favorite one. I love old horror films, though, especially ones with Vincent Price like the House on Haunted Hill or The Masque of the Red Death.

    Do you have a favorite Halloween movie?

     

  • What I love most about October

    It’s finally here! October is my favorite month. I got married in October, the sixth to be exact. October houses my absolute favorite holiday Halloween. The weather, usually, begins to get cooler and the leaves in ohio change to the golds, reds and oranges of autumn. Pumpkins, apples, apple cider, candy corn (I am pro candy corn and think it is delicious, but I understand the naysayers), spooky things, costume parties, and witchy things everywhere make me a happy fool for the whole month.

    I have so much planned for the next month including witch walks, anniversary plans, moving my little sister into her house, a wedding, parties and more Renaissance Festival. I am planning to post a blog a day for all of October. Let’s celebrate the 31 days of blogtober. See you again soon. 🧡🎃🧡

  • The State of My State

    The State of My State

    My life feels like a most delightful form of chaos currently.

    I am halfway into my first semester of my Grad school and I am already realizing that I may have made a mistake. My thought was to take my English degree and make it more practical by studying Communication – Social Media and Marketing and the truth is I don’t like it. Despite having worked in the banking business for 17 years I am not a very business minded person and I don’t love looking at people as commodities and creativity as something that can be swayed to be profitable. I am doing fine, but I am not happy. I am planning to contact my adviser to see what I can do. I will keep you posted on the outcome. I am hoping to maybe swing over to a English – Creative Writing. Fingers crossed.

    The Wenches of Myth, IWG 73, have made they’re debut in their first official year at the Ohio Renaissance Festival. We are having a great time. I even wrote a toast that I got to present during pub sing. I am meeting new people, making new connections, and generally having a really good time.

    I have lost 53 pounds so I am also able to wear some of my faire garb that I haven’t been able to in years. It feels fantastic. I am down to a size 14-16 and still working. My husband and I joined WW (weight watchers) in February and with diet alone have together lost about 108 pounds. He also looks amazing and we both feel so much healthier. Check out this this side by side of my face from January to August.

    img_20190804_0033103691662327051689814.jpg

    Beyond that my little sister is buying a house, my cousin is getting married, we have tickets to see Rasputina and David Sedaris in October. There is a lot going on, and a lot to look forward to. Tomorrow we are surprising my friend with a Duchess party. Pictures to come.

  • Are you going to Renaissance Faire? Part 1

    Are you going to Renaissance Faire? Part 1

    Did you sing that title? I did. Thanks Simon and Garfunkel.

    It was the September of 1995 that my mom bought tickets and took me for the first time to the Ohio Renaissance Festival. I remember walking through the front gate that day and thinking “This is it. I am home.” It is a feeling I still get to this day. We watched The Swordsmen, belly dancers, the Washing Well Wenches of Willy-Nilly (Ohio Renaissance is set in the mythical English town of Willy-Nilly on the Wash.), human combat chess and Full Mounted Joust. Some of the acts from that year are no longer active, and others are still going strong, but all of them penetrated into my 14 year old brain.

    I auditioned and was a cast member in 2003, when I was 22. I was Emma Cricket the town gossip. I was paid I think about $250.00 for the full season, plus “peter pounds” an in faire currency that could be used for food and drink. I spent close to $1500.00 in costuming, etc. So I came out at a solid -$1200.00 for the season, but it was worth every penny. I loved talking to patrons, and especially playing with children who were attending with their parents. I had several fellow cast members (Sue, Jen, Ashley, and Lynk as well as many others) who I would walk about with and spend the majority of my days. Jen was playing nobility while I was very lower class, and we had fun with me acting as something of a servant for her while also teaching her fun peasant things.

    It was while I was on cast that a fellow cast member told me that I would be an amazing wench and that I should look into it. He was a member of the brother organization the International Brotherhood of Rogues, Scoundrels and Cads otherwise known as the Rogues Guild. I did some research into what the International Wenches Guild was and how it worked, and immediately sent off for my pin and membership. Several months later I received my certificate declaring me a certified wench, and my wench pin #2648. It was 2004 and I was 23 years old.

     

  • Confessions of a Certifiable Word Nerd

    Confessions of a Certifiable Word Nerd

    I love words. I love the sound of them, learning the meaning of them and the joy of finding just the perfect word when I am writing or speaking. I love to play what my family calls Dictionary games; where you open the dictionary to a random page, find a word you don’t know and tell everyone all about it. I love that moment when I am reading a book and find a word I don’t know. I eagerly run to the dictionary or to google if my dictionary isn’t handy (I prefer the Webster’s Collegiate personally, but Oxford English is nice too!) and find out more about the word, and often write it in my planner if I really like it. My word of the year for last year was pulled straight from Neil Gaiman speaking about his friend Tori Amos, Coruscate which means to sparkle or reflect the light back. As an amateur etymologist and self professed word nerd, I thought I would share with you ten of my absolute favorite words. All definitions are pulled from Google Dictionary because my Websters is not handy at the moment.

    1. Zeitgeist : noun. origin – German, meaning: the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.  “The story captured the zeitgeist of the late 1960s”  Literal Translation: Time Spirit
    2. Kerfuffle: noun. origin – British, meaning: a commotion or fuss, especially one caused by conflicting views. “There was a kerfuffle over the chairmanship” 
    3. Petrichor: noun. origin – English, meaning: a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather. “other than the petrichor emanating from the rapidly drying grass, there was not a trace of evidence that it had rained at all.”
    4. Onomatopoeia: noun. origin – Greek, meaning: the formation of a word from a sound associated with what it is named (eg. cuckoo, sizzle)
    5. Schadenfreude: noun. origin – German. meaning: pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune. “a business that thrives on schadenfreude” 
    6. Metanoia: noun. origin – Greek. meaning: change in one’s way of life resulting from penitence or spiritual conversion. “what he demanded of people was metanoia, repentance, a complete change of heart” 
    7. Susurrus: noun. origin – Latin. meaning: whispering, murmuring or rustling. “The susurrus of the stream”
    8. Brazen: adjective. origin – Old English. meaning: bold and without shame. “he went about his illegal business with a brazen assurance” 
    9. Hyperbole: noun. origin – Greek. meaning: exagerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. “he vowed revenge with oaths and hyperboles” 
    10. Quixotic: adjective. origin – English. meaning: exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical. ” a vast and perhaps quixotic project” 

    What are some of your favorite words? Why? What do you love most about words; the sounds, the meanings, the way they feel when you say them?

     

  • Camping in the Summer and Midsummer Masquerade

    Camping in the Summer and Midsummer Masquerade

    My husband and I spent the weekend camping in Caeser Creek with some friends so that we could attend Midsummer Masquerade at the grounds of the Ohio Renaissance Festival.

    Friday it was ninety some degrees and about 150% humidity on Friday when we arrived for camping. We got set up and only melted slightly in the heat and insanity. We had to borrow a tent from my sister and brother-in-law because ours was apparently stolen from our garage at some point. Their tent is a 9 person cabin, so it was huge! I could get used to that.

    Saturday we woke up, went to a flea market (It was big and fun and shockingly Trump-y) and then waited for our fellow campers to arrive. They finally arrived, set up, we went to dinner, and then got ready for the Masquerade. My friend Susan decided we should do a glitter part and since I am always willing to do anything glitter I was in. I chose to do a fine red and then thicker gold toward the middle. I used a brick red eye shadow to create a mask style makeup. Since it was so hot I wore a cute fancy bra with a cropped bodice and a skirt for a belly dancer look. I felt super cute!

    The Masquerade was already in full swing when we arrived, but we got to watch the beautiful dancers of Lunar Rhythms, the daring fire work of Reverend X and friends and the comedy musical piracy of The Varlots. I also bought glow in the dark bat hair clips and punk doll head earrings that made me ridiculously happy courtesy of Mirabellaz Menagerie . Then we went back to the camp to have a fire thanks to my lovely Eagle Scout, Seth.

  • The Ghost in the Hall (Who may or may not watch you pee)

    I went to a pool party at a friends house yesterday, and it was the first time I had been to her home. A couple of us were standing around laughing and chatting and waiting for everyone to arrive when the woman who’s house it is, Robin, says, “Oh, I don’t know if you are sensistive to it, but this house is haunted.” Robin tells us that they have named the ghost carl, and that he appears to be wearing a trenchcoat and a fedora like Dick Tracy or a noir detective. Her son has seen him, and another friend of hers after using the bathroom came out and told her that it was just polite to warn guests that a ghost might be watching them pee. Robin said she laughed when her friend said this and gave the warning from then on. Her grandson can also see the ghost and will sometimes not want to go into the bathroom because Carl is in there. I peed a couple of times, but did not experience the ghostly peeping tom, possibly because we were drinking quite a bit.

    This brought up the question of whether we believe in ghosts. I am a believer in ghosts in a couple of different ways. One I believe that sometimes what happened in a location was so horrifying that it leaves an imprint of the high emotion that happened there ie: hospitals, asylums, prisons and crime scenes. I also in intelligent haunting, where a ghost has retained some piece of it’s personality and nature that can be communicated to the living. I do not pretend to know how that works, but I have experienced “ghosts” that were able to communicate.

    When I was a little girl we lived in this house in Heath, Ohio. It was a cute little ranch in a nice area, but I always had odd things happen to me. At night if the closet door was left open a “person” who looked like they were made of TV static would walk out of the closet and come to my bed. I would pull my cover over my head, and if I looked out the face would be right above my face just inches away. In this same house there were the white people in the basement who would call my name in the voice of my mom or grandma, and if they were not at home or hadn’t called me then I knew I should go play in the basement. When I would look down the stairs I would see three or four white faces peeking around the corner of the stairs at me.

    Many, many years later my mom would tall me that the previous owner of the house died tragically in an industrial accident. After his death his widow went insane in her grief and painted all of the walls and cabinets in the house black. When my grandparents moved in they had to paint everything back to white, which apparently wasn’t easy. I feel like a lot of the crazy things I experienced there were the manifestation of the widow’s grief and rage.

    I have been listening to a really fun paranormal podcast Ghosted with Roz Drezfalez where Roz, an LA based drag queen, brings on guests to tell their ghost stories and strange run-ins with the paranormal. Stand out episodes are Kyle Ayers, Selene Luna, David Oman, Rain Phoenix and Casandra Peterson (Elvira). Roz has his own fun and interesting tales and honestly the show is just delightful.

    I have not seen or heard a ghost since becoming an adult, but I can sometimes feel them. I honestly wish I had retained some of the sensitivity I had as a child. Can you see, hear, sense, smell or taste (Yep it is a thing) ghosts? Do you believe? Do you have a good ghost story?

  • The Strangest Things in Stranger Things

    I am an absolute sucker for nostalgia. As a child of the 80’s there have been numerous shows and movies that have played right to that place in my heart. The one that has done so the most successfully and completely is Stranger Things. My husband and I binge watched season three this weekend, and I was hit straight in the face with the mother of all nostalgia bombs. From the familiar feeling of the mall to the outrageously wonderful tackiness of the clothing I am ready to go back in time.

    This is not my first bout with eighties nostalgia, and in fact I have been suffering from the affliction for a couple of years. It honestly began with netflix whose numerous 80s based shows (Stranger Things, GLOW, etc.) led to me binging so many 80s movies it is ridiculous and to listening to 80s music. Since the great 80s uprising in my head I have invested in records by Cyndi Lauper, Thompson Twins, and the complete works of Devo. I have also purchased many an 80s film,  some even on VHS.

    So…Here are some of my favorite 80s things that I would like to revive in my world thanks to nostalgia.

    1. Bathing Suits – The mom’s at the pool left me craving a classic 80s bathing suit.

     

    2. Clothing with Designs – Strong Bold Designs.

    3. Eighties Hair and Makeup – I need a crimper so badly.

    4. My favorite 80s things, pure nostalgia.

     

    Are you a child of the eighties? Are you nostaglic? Where would you go back to in time?

  • Sisters are doing it for Themselves!

    Sisters are doing it for Themselves!

    I am a woman with sisters. I have biological sisters and chosen sisters and one spectacular sister-in-law. There are few things in this world I find as important or as necessary as the relationships I have with these women.

    I have three half-sisters, two from my mother and one from my father. From my dad’s side there is Chelli. Chelli is a boss babe and an entrepreneur who created Bloom a coworking space for women and women owned businesses. She is gorgeous and amazing. I don’t know her super well, but I am proud to be her sister, even distantly.

    From my mom there is Krystie and Traci. Krystie is eight years older than me. She lives in Oklahoma so I don’t get to see her as often as I would like to, but isn’t that just the way. She worked her ass off and is a manager for Raising Canes, a job that she loves (most of the time) and is good at. She is also studying business management through SNHU online and working hard on bettering herself and the world every day. She is also a bad ass. Traci is ten years younger than me and she and I are super close. She is a creative power house. She is an amazing artist, a lovely singer (though she refuses to do it in public) and is becoming a fabulous cosplayer. She is sensitive and smart and hilarious. She is a bad ass as well.

    Apparently my family only produces absolutely bad ass women.

    My sister-in-law Niki is one of my best friends. She embraced me as the strange coworker her husband befriended because she had no life. She, and her husband Chris who is his brother, were instrumental in my meeting and falling in love with Seth. She is an activist, amazing mother to my two bad ass neices and one bad ass nephew, and a great friend.

    I am involved in several women based groups as well, and those bad ass women are my sisters by choice. I have spoken before of the Lady Gang and those women are precious to me. They are smart, funny, brilliant, creative, and the most fun. The lady gang has had numerous happy hours, hygge nights, wig nights, gone to conventions, gone to put-in-bay, and we are planning a big camping trip soon. These ladies always have something going on.

    There is also the International Wenches Guild which is a Renaissance Festival based group that I have been a member of since 2004. It is made up of naughty, bawdy women who love ren faires and love to play. My friend Susan and I had been spearheading to get Ohio it’s own local and we suceeded last year in establishing Local 73 – The Wenches of Myth bringing my friend Sarah into the mis to be Madame of Vice. Then just in the last couple of months we found out that we also have official sanction from our home the Ohio Renaissance Festival. The guild council had their first meeting today to plan for the season, and I have no doubt that it is going to be amazing!

    Do you have amazing, bad ass women in your life?

  • I Got to Attend A Body Positive Pool Party!!

    I Got to Attend A Body Positive Pool Party!!

    About a month ago an event popped up on Facebook. It was created by a group called the Fat Babes Club of Columbus and the event was called Body Positive Pool Party. I was immediately interested. Then my friend Sarah asked if anyone was going so she and I made a plan to go together. We waited eagerly for more information. So when one Saturday morning at 7 am I was waiting for  mom and sister to pick me up so we can go garage saleing and a notification came that tickets were on sale I immediately snatched up two tickets. Then I found out that my friends Julie and Megan would be coming too. This was going to be so much fun!

    Saturday I threw on my Harry Potter bathing suit and met Sarah in the parking lot across the street from the Westerville Jaycees Pool. When we got to the door they were not quite open yet, as they were still clearing the pool of daily visitors. We were the first people to begin forming a line into the event. By the time the gates opened there was a nice sized line behind us, and the party was ready to begin. My id was checked and a blue heart was drawn on my hand to show I was old enough to drink and in we went.

    Immediately into the party room there was a bar to the left and beside it was a table loaded with raffle items. As you walked through you passed a table with little bags of chips, cookies and pastries. Once you got out by the pool there was a DJ set up spinning vinyl all night and the pool was full of fun inflatables. Sarah and I claimed some chairs and then hit the bar.

    The bar had sodas, natural light strawberry lemonade, bud light and several flavors of white claw. I am a fan of white claw so I started with a raspberry. I moved to the raffle table and they had some amazing raffle items: gift baskets from local businesses and companies, make up sets, skincare sets, and more. I bought 15 tickets for $10, and put them into the drawings for a basket from Wild Cat Gift and Party, Uproar by Babe Roar, Urban Decay, Benefit Cosmetics and a couple of others I have forgotten.

    I got a tattoo this week which was stupid honestly since I knew I had a pool party this weekend, so I decided that I would not “Swim” but would get in the water keeping my arms out. I got in and there was this adorable unicorn floaty that I decided I needed to get on. Some lovely ladies helped me and I floated for exactly 2 seconds before the unicorn bucked me off and I was fully energed in the pool. Oops. Not intentional, but still What the Hell, Unicorn? I watched him buck several others as well, so it was obviously nothing personal.

    Julie and Megan arrived around 8:30 or so, and I lounged beside the pool drinking while they swam and chatted with me. Sarah got pulled into doing some footage for the people who were video recording the event. She went down the slide about 3 times, and ended up doing some under water and jumping in shots.

    They called the raffles at 9:45, and Julie won a package of facial cremes etc, and I won the Benefit Cosmetics Brows before Bros set. It had eyebrow powder, a pencil and a filler along with a pore shrinking primer and a They’re Real lip stick in Lusty Rose. I was so excited!

    There is going to be another one in August and you know that if I can I will go again.