Betsy Snow White Bibliophile

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  • Witches of Legend Oracle

    Witches of Legend Oracle

    My wonderful husband, Seth, backed a kickstarter for me for the Witches of Legend Oracle by Annabelle Lewis. The art was just so gorgeous that I couldn’t resist. Seth would call me in to show me updates and new cards as they were created, additional tiers that were added, and so much more. The deck was fully funded, starting production and then, Pandemic. After a bunch of delays the decks finally made their way to Annabelle, and then on their way to us.

    AND MINE ARRIVED TODAY!!

    I am a little excited. Opening the box I saw black tissue paper and a sticker saying Thank you for supporting my small business.

    When you opened it up you saw a beautiful black velvet Tarot bag.

    Under the Tarot Bag was a Reading Cloth.

    Also included was a gorgeous enamel pin of Nyx, prints of Hecate and Medusa, and stickers of Medusa, Hecate’s familiar and The Morrigan.

    And, then there is the deck itself. It comes in a nice box, but it is a little big so I will probably use the velvet bag. The book is really nice and has space for adding your own notes for each of the cards. I love it a lot. The deck itself is gorgeous and comprised of 34 cards. The art is ink and watercolor and the palette is primarily monochrome with hints of gold. The deck has beautiful gold edging and feels wonderful in the hand. I am so excited to begin working with it.

  • Tarot Impulse Purchases

    Tarot Impulse Purchases

    I have mentioned before that I am slightly obsessed with/addicted to Tarot and Oracle decks. I have many. I want many more. In the last week I got two Tarot decks and one Oracle deck in the mail. The tarot decks I recently impulse bought from Zulily (they had a collection all about witchy stuff). Seth kickstarted the oracle deck for me pre-pandemic, but then pandemic, so they just finally arrived stateside and were shippable. I am going to make a separate post for the oracle.

    So, Tarot Decks: I picked up the Modern Witch Tarot Deck by Lisa Sterle and the Tarot of the Divine by Yoshi Yoshitani.

    The Tarot of the Divine I was familiar with because a friend, lady gang member, wench Mary bought it and I was enamored, but hadn’t picked up a copy yet. It is “Inspired by deities, folklore, & fairy tales from around the world.” The deck itself has matte, textured cards that are pretty thick but feel nice in the hand. The box is really nice and I think I will use it to store the deck. The book has color photos of each card and explanations of the inspiration behind each card. I haven’t tried reading with it yet, but I really like the vivid imagery and the folklore backgrounds.

    I was not super familiar with the Modern Witch Tarot, but I liked the imagery a lot and decided I would pick it up too. I am not sad that I did. It is a deck based on the Smith-Waite deck, but with a wonderfully diverse imagery. The box is really nice for this deck as well. The cards are thick and very glossy which makes them easy to shuffle. This is another deck with vivid colors. And the book is super cute. Again, I haven’t read with it yet, but I am excited to do so.

  • How the hell is it already April?

    How the hell is it already April?

    It’s April. Crazy. March flew by and I barely noticed. We had my birthday, Seth’s birthday, my sister-in-law Niki’s birthday. Traci and I went to New Orleans. I got my first dose of the Moderna Vaccine. I made a new friend through roller skating and got to try out my new babies for the first time. I dyed my hair blue/teal. Generally it was a good time.

    We recorded and released the first episode of Girls, Ghosts, Ghouls Podcast! (you can listen/watch here.) We also did a live reading of Hop-Frog; Or, The Eight Chained Ourang-Outangs by Edgar Allan Poe. I bought a new mic after the first recording and am waiting to receive a ring light so the visual and sound on my end will be improving.

    We have officially announced this month’s film which is…Psycho!! I am a huge fan of Hitchcock’s work, even if he was kind of a disaster of a human, and Psycho is one of my favorite horror films of all time. I also have a bunch of stories around the film, so I am going to ramble a bit which I’m sure will be exciting for all.

    I added the footage of our most recent live reading of The Masque of the Red Death by Poe recorded on Saturday April 3 below. The beginning is a little odd because we were having issues getting the live stream to work, but after some chatting and silliness the reading is pretty fun. So, enjoy.

    This month we are obviously recording another episode. My mother, sister, friend and I will be going to a socially distanced drag show. Seth and I got new hiking shoes, so we are planning to go hiking soon. I am going down to Newark this weekend to take some photos for a story I am working on. So much happening.

    Oh, and I gave the blog a spring cleaning. What do you think of the new layout? Yes? No? Let me know.

  • I turned 40 in New Orleans

    I turned 40 in New Orleans

    In January I got a test message from my sister, Traci, that said: Hey. So…Happy Birthday early, Betsy! You and I are going to New Orleans! I booked us flights and we have a hotel from March 13th -March 17th! (Mom helped me pay!)

    I was shocked and excited and probably a little trepidatious but mostly excited that I would be starting my 40th year in a city I have wanted to visit for so long. Our room would be located right in the heart of the French Quarter and centrally located to many famous local attractions. We began to plot and plan and make a share pinterest board, like you do.

    On the morning of March 13 my husband brought me to the airport where we met up with my sister, and we flew out to New Orleans by way of a 4 hour layover in the Orlando airport. We finally make it to New Orleans around 6pm and we go to our hotel in a memorable Uber ride with a semi-racist who was definitely homophobic, but who I was able to distract with the fact that I am a Saints fan. He drove us by the Superdome after I said this, which was nice, but you know not that nice.

    Once in the city we ran out to find a place to grab dinner, and because it was very much dinner time we found a cute little mexican/cuban restaurant to grab a margarita and some food. After that we were wiped from a full day of flying so we went back to the hotel, set an alarm and headed to bed so we would be rested for my birthday the next day.

    The 14th we woke up early(ish), got ready and headed out to go to Cafe DuMonde for breakfast, because in New Orleans that is what you do. When we arrived there was a line, but people were social distancing pretty well and everyone was masked. We were in line for about 30 minutes before we reached the front and were buying our beignets and iced cafe au laits. (Fun fact: If you go make sure you have cash because they are cash only, but if you don’t the store across the street has an atm and the fee isn’t too bad at all.) The beignets were delicious and in spite of the fact that I was wearing head to toe black I managed to wear very little powdered sugar which was a true birthday miracle.

    Then we headed out to explore and shop. We had no solid plans except that we knew we wanted to go to the Museum of Death, as two gothy murderinos it just seemed like the right thing to do. We made our way to the museum and we found several shops we wanted to check out as they opened for the day. The Museum of Death was fun, they had some interesting displays and information, but Traci and I agreed that it was nothing we hadn’t seen before online. My favorite part was the funerary and mortuary historical pieces. As we left I bought a tank top, an enamel pin and a patch from the gift shop.

    We walked around a bit more, bought books in a cute little bookshop, and then grabbed brunch (yep, we ate again) at an adorable restaurant called Evangeline. We then headed to one of the shops we had walked past earlier, Road Kill, where I bought a dress, a bag, sunglasses, two patches and two pins. They suggested to us that we check out two Vampire themed shops they thought we would like. I mentioned it was my birthday and one of the people in the shop pinned a couple of dollars on me, which was added to by a patron of the shop. We browsed a couple more shops, but didn’t make any purchases, then found another place to stop for drinks Cane & Table where I had what might be my personal ideal cocktail Sardi’s Delight which is “A passionfruit daiquiri with gin, a touch of pomegranate, and island spices.”

    We wandered back to the hotel to drop off bags, and then headed back out to find Boutique du Vampyre. The shop was fun, and had an amazing collection of Vampire books, so I bought a couple and then we walked over to The Vampire Cafe next door. We grabbed a couple of drinks there as well as Deep Fried Deviled Eggs which were delicious.

    We ended the night of my birthday by eating at Cafe Amelie (Mostly because I loved the name. Amelie is one of my favorite movies.)

    The next two days we walked around to take many photos, eat so much food, have some amazing drinks. On Tuesday we made it our mission to get a drink at the famous Carousel Bar in the Hotel Monteleon. We befriended a super nice woman from Houston and her adorable and lightly crotchety husband in line, and she decided to adopt us so we could all get on the Carousel at the same time. And It worked!! I ordered a drink that had Absinthe in it, but it is not listed on the menu for the bar and I cannot remember what it was called. It was delicious. The bartender there reminded me a bit of Penn from Penn and Teller, so there is that.

    What I am saying is that New Orleans is amazing, even when wearing a mask, and I am ready to return in order to explore more, especially since we never even made it to the Garden District. Now for an absolute photo dump.

  • 4 Days of Blogging

    4 Days of Blogging

    I recently ordered a new Tarot Deck (yes another one) The New Wave Tarot. I had been eyeing this one for some time from LastCraft Designs and then they announced that this printing would be the last ever, so I jumped in and pre-ordered. Per their site, “Each card features digital collages of 1980s musicians such as The Smiths, The Cure, Siouxsie Sioux, Joy Division, Berlin, Yazoo, Duran Duran, Adam Ant, Erasure, Depeche Mode, Clan of Xymox, The Go-Gos, Cyndi Lauper, Culture Club along with esoteric imagery inspired by the Rider-Waite and Thoth tarot.” Even if I never really read with it the imagery is wonderful and a deck with Cyndi Lauper in it is perfect to me.

    In this deck instead of the normal suits: Cups – tea cups
    Wands – eyeliner
    Disks – LP Records
    Swords – microphone

  • 6 & 5 Days of Blogging

    6 & 5 Days of Blogging

    I have been binge watching The Muppet Show since it dropped on Disney+ on Friday, and I have been so enjoying the sheer joy and chaos. Some of the episodes I have seen and some of them are new to me. Watching them with my husband has been an absolute joy.

    I have mentioned before that I am a huge Muppet fan. In fact in May I will be getting a tattoo of Kermit on my thigh. The tattoo is being designed by the artist, Bishop from Munkehed Tattoo in Newark. It will be a framed portrait and I sent him these photos as inspiration. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with.

    I am really hoping that he will be able to incorporate the Jim Henson puppet into the tattoo as well. This is just the start on a full leg sleeve I have planned of all Muppets and Jim Henson creations (labyrinth, dark crystal, fraggle rock, etc.)

    My favorite episodes I have watched so far are: Vincent Price (I feel like this goes without saying), Joel Grey, Paul Williams, Ben Vereen and Zero Mostel. The Zero Mostel episode has one of my favorite sketches from when I was little. The poem in this sketch was apparently written by Jerry Juhl in the style of Edgar Allan Poe.

  • 7 Days of Blogging

    7 Days of Blogging

    Do you share your birthday with anyone famous, or any holidays?

    I share mine with several fun celebrities: Billy Crystal, Michael Caine, Quincy Jones, Tamara Tunie, Chris Klein, Stephen Curry and Simone Biles.

    Also, Albert Einstein, whom I have an unnatural affection for because of this. It is also Pi Day, which has led me to own/buy many items with a Pi theme. As well as many items with Einstein on them. I have Pi posters, have done 5ks just to get a Pi medal, have Pi clothing and Pi jewelry. I have Einstein posters, bobble head, Pop Figure, books, shirts, socks, postcards, magnets, a little plant pot, jewelry and an action figure.

    The Einstein thing happened because of a conversation with a teacher in 7th grade. Him:(looking at calendar) Today is Einstein’s Birthday. Me: It’s my birthday too! Him: So that’s what’s wrong with you? Me: ??? Thanks? Him: (shrugs, laughing) You know what I mean Me: (Laughs) Yeah…

    Does anyone else do this? Become obsessed with things because of loose associations? Just curious.

  • 8 Days of Blogging

    Seth and I went for a walk in Green Lawn Cemetery the other day because it was a sunny, cold day and the snow looked so pretty. We parked in an area of the Cemetery we hadn’t explored yet and we ended up parking right beside the Jewish section. I am a big old witch, and my husband is agnostic, so neither of us knows much about Judaism or the customs there in. I was delighted to see small stones and rocks sitting atop all of the headstones in this section and after a quick google we found out that they are visitation stones. When saying Kaddish or visiting a grave the stone is left to show that the person is remembered. I love this custom so much!! I am so happy to know this now.

    We also just happened upon the grave for Marvin Fishman aka. Flippo the King of Clowns, who had a morning children’s show that ran in Columbus beginning in 1953 and running through 1983. He passed away in 2006 after a career entertaining Columbus and surrounds. Apparently I learned through his obituary that he coined “Nerk” for my hometown of Newark. Small world.

    Jewish cemetery, burial and Mourning Customs. (2003). Retrieved February 23, 2021, from https://www.jcam.org/Pages/Foundation/Education/articles/stones-left-on-monuments.php#:~:text=The%20Origins%20of%20Leaving%20A%20Visitation%20Stone&text=common%20Jewish%20cemetery%20customs%20is,of%20the%20act%20of%20remembrance.

  • 9 Days of Blogging

    9 Days of Blogging

    On Friday I went with my mom and sister to a socially distanced, masked, cash tip free drag show at District West. It was Stadium Virginium X featuring the amazing Virginia West, drag mom to Nina West from RPDR fame. They had an amazing specialty cocktail menu for the occasion and along with the Headliner which is my favorite of theirs generally, I tried a Hollywood Walk of Shame and a Ziggy Starfruit as well as a shot called Pop my Cherry.

    Stadium Virginium is a rock show for the most part and this one was not exception. This one featured everything from The Runaways to Hootie and the Blowfish to Gwen Stefani to Meatloaf. I sang so hard I barely had a voice yesterday. It was an amazing show with truly amazing performances. I am always so impressed with the quality of a West Family show.

    If you are ever in Columbus, or just feel up to a virtual show check out District West on Facebook. You can stream most of the shows as well. Worth every penny. Always!

  • 10 Days of Blogging

    10 Days of Blogging

    If you could live inside a book, which book would you pick? Which world would you pick? I have a couple that would be on my shortlist of worlds/ books to live in.

    1 The Starless Sea – How lovely to live in a subterranean library under the earth. Surrounded by books and cats and readers and words…lovely! The bibliophile in me says yes please.

    2 The Night Circus – Another Morgenstern, but as a child I secretly (or not so secretly) wanted to run away and join the circus, and this circus with its black and white color scheme and super magical origin just pulls my soul right in. I would absolutely accept just being a girl who runs a concession stand.

    3 Discworld – Specifically, I would want to be one of the witches even though it looks like a lot of hard work. I just love the world that Terry Pratchett created and I would love to be a part of it. I like to think Terry lives there too, so maybe I could finally meet him.

    4 Newford – This is the setting for many of the books by Charles De Lint where fairies, old gods and the modern world meet. Would love to have tea with Jilly and meet the Crow Girls. Please?

    5 The Hollows Cincinnati/ Chicago in Dresden Files – I am putting these together, because they feel like very similar worlds. This is another set of pretty modern but add magic, urban fantasy wonderland and I would love to live in either one.

    When I was younger I might have added Narnia to this list, but it doesn’t seem as great for an adult. Wonderland also might have made the list, but doesn’t appeal as much to me any more. There are other worlds that have lost some shine for me over the years. MiddleEarth I would take only if I got to live in Hobbiton.

    I have undoubtedly forgotten some, but this is a good beginning list. How about you? Thoughts?