Betsy Snow White Bibliophile

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  • 11 Days of Blogging

    11 Days of Blogging

    What’s your sign?

    I have mentioned before that I am a pisces, with an aquarius rising and a cancer moon, or what I like to call “I’m an emotional wreck bundle”. I am a collector of Pisces memes, and generally I can find a bit of myself in them, but it is possible I could find bits of myself in any sign. I am emotional, as a pisces is supposed to be emotional. I am prone to escapism, as a pisces is supposed to be. I am a dreamer, as a pisces is supposed to be. I am a bit odd, which could be any of these but it probably the aquarius placement that brings it through. *Shrug*

    I just know I enjoy reading about these little insights into who I am that are supposedly written in the stars. I enjoy knowing that some of the scents for pisces are sandalwood and lemon, which are two of my favorite smells. I have no problem being a bit of a stereotype of my horoscope. These are some of my favorite horoscope memes, and such from my phone.

    Do you feel like your sign is accurate? Why or why not?

  • 12 Days of Blogging

    12 Days of Blogging

    As the pandemic was ramping up last June I saw an announcement from Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess, saying that members of her book club would be receiving an autographed copy of her new book, Broken, as one of their books. I immediately signed up for The Fantastic Strangelings Book Club. I have not regretted it. I admittedly have not read every single book I have been sent, yet, but the books are varied and interesting. I have, so far, received 8 books including the latest which is The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec a book I am planning to jump into feet first tonight when I get off work (I am on break).

    I am a huge fan of Jenny’s writing and her openness about her struggles with mental illness, imposter syndrome, and just being a bit odd. And it excites me to think that I am somehow connected to her, even if it is just by paying to be part of her book club. I also love getting books in the mail every month. As an admitted book hoarder the only thing better than books is more books.

    Jenny also announced that she will be doing a “book tour” in April where she will do live talks online with other authors including Felicia Day, Neil Gaiman and Judy Blume. I am probably going to have to invest in the Neil Gaiman, but I have a minute to decide. If you haven’t already I highly recommend Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson; it is funny, irreverent, honest and wonderful.

  • 13 Days of Blogging

    13 Days of Blogging

    Things I need to get done that I am procrastinating: 1. Finishing putting Christmas stuff away 2. Make several videos for various social media platforms 3. Put on Garb and make more videos for social media 4. Put together and mail things to the wenches 5. Update my profiles and such on social media with podcast info 6. Get ready for my next class 7. Read the book for the module I would like to run for D&D 8. Take up the old crappy carpet in the front rooms of the house

  • 14 Days of Blogging

    14 Days of Blogging

    It’s Here!! The podcast I guested on is available to listen to here. It was a super fun and generally a great conversation. So check it out if you want.

    We are planning another live event for the podcast I will be cohosting Girls, Ghosts, Ghouls. We are going to do a live reading of Hop-Frog by Edgar Allan Poe. This is because we are covering the 1964 Roger Corman film The Masque of The Red Death and Corman mixed two Poe short stories to make this film, the titular story and Hop-Frog. Makes sense, right?

    I have such a love affair with Poe, even though I am aware that as a person he was problematic. His aesthetic is so my style. The Raven was one of the first poems I ever memorized that wasn’t my own. I have multiple pieces of Poe merchandise, like an action figure and a Poe-ka Dot bag from the company Out of Print. I have multiple copies of the complete works from several different eras. The paper that would lead to my change to an English major was on The Fall of the House of Usher. I am a fan of Poe’s work and I am well aware that his history is problematic at best. Shrug. I am not attempting to justify him as a person, but as a writer he was very influential to me.

    So…If you are interested in listening to me read some Poe along with my fellow Girls, Ghosts, Ghouls ladies you can find the event here.

  • 15 Days of Blogging

    #ValentinesDayChallenge

    How’d you guys meet: I worked with his Brother, Chris, at Chase and he introduced us.
    First Date: Olive Garden followed by a movie.
    How long have you been together: 14 years in May
    Married: For 9 years in October.
    Age difference: I am 3 years and a couple days older
    Who was interested first: I think it was pretty mutual. I asked him out first, if that counts.
    Who is taller: Seth
    Who said I love you first: I think probably Seth because I was afraid to rush things.
    Most impatient: Depends on the situation.
    Most sensitive: Me. I cry at commercials, often. Empathy can suck.
    Loudest: Usually me, but he has his moments.
    Most stubborn: Seth.
    Falls asleep first: Seth
    Cooks better: Seth does most of the cooking. I can cook he just enjoys it more.
    Better morning person: Me
    Better driver: Me
    Most competitive: Seth
    Funniest: Seth, but I have my moments.
    Where do you eat out most as a couple: Somewhere Mexican for me.
    Who is more social: Me.
    Who is the neat freak: Neither of us is a neat freak.
    Where was your first kiss: Chris and Niki’s house as he was leaving after a gaming session.
    Who initiated your first kiss: Seth
    How long did it take to get serious: Not long at all. We just clicked. We moved in together within a year.
    Plans date night: Food, movie, maybe a play.
    Who picks where you go to dinner: We both do at different times.
    Who is the first one to admit when they’re wrong: Me.
    Who wears the pants in the relationship: Probably me, but mostly we work as a team.
    Who has more tattoos: Me. Seth doesn’t have any.
    Who sings better: Me.
    Hogs the remote: Seth, but I have abdicated.
    Spends the most: Me, by far.
    Did you go to the same school: No.
    Where is the furthest you two have traveled: Las Vegas
    Who drives when you are together: Usually Me.

    This was kind of fun. I hope you enjoy the insight into my relationship.

  • 16 Days of Blogging

    Today we headed to Polaris Fashion Place, which is a giant mall in Columbus, to stalk our favorite soap makers and buy more of their amazing soaps. We have been almost exclusively using Elder Forest Soaps for at least 5 years but more than likely more than that. We met them at the Ashville Viking Festival and started by buying a couple of bars just to try them. Now we buy 6-9 at a time. We love their products so much and I highly recommend them.

    We ended up with Sandalwood Rose, Rosemary, Coconut Lemongrass, Woodland, Patchouli Spice and their seasonal Charcoal Rose in soaps. I also picked up some of their pain balm which is one of the best things for muscle pain I have ever found. Their natural deodorant spray which works well and leaves you smelling wonderful. And I tried their new lotion in Cashmere and Vanilla Oak and I smell so amazing right now. Katie the owner also threw in a lip balm for me and it is also great. If you are looking for a great natural soap company give them a look.

  • 17 Days of Blogging

    17 Days of Blogging

    Well, I have officially casted my first pod ever, lol. I recorded last night with my friend Jenny and her co-host Jean Paul for their podcast WTF Did I Just Watch? It was an absolute blast. We were discussing 1999s Simply Irresistible starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Sean Patrick Flannery. We laughed a lot and had a fun discussion of this crazy film. I will post a link to the podcast once it is available or you can subscribe on podbean here. I was super nervous going into it, but once we got started I was just having fun. They also record video so you can subscribe to watch/listen here.

    Tonight, meaning the 13th, myself and the other two hosts from our new podcast Girls, Ghosts, Ghouls will be doing a live AMA/QA on Facebook to give people a chance to get to know us before our first official episode which will come out in March. If you have nothing going on 6-9pm EST tonight stop by and say hi. 🙂 I am really excited to get into this and to begin digging in to these classic horror movies that I used to watch late nights on AMC and TCM.

  • 18 Days of Blogging

    18 Days of Blogging

    Do you celebrate valentines day?

    Seth and I really don’t. Once I made him a one time only sappy valentine’s love mix cd, back in the days when people still burned cds. (On this cd was: Luckiest by Ben Folds, Lucky Ones by Bif Naked and I’m Gonna Always Love You from Muppets Take Manhattan, among others.) But, since my birthday is exactly a month after valentine’s day we made the decision as a couple to skip it.

    My most memorable valentine’s day was my Freshman year of high school I think. I had been “dating” a friend of mine and he broke up with me as a joke the day before, but I didn’t get that it was a joke. He would tell me that later as well as saying since I took it so seriously he just decided not to correct it. We were still friends, and are still acquaintances online. He is a writer and fairly popular in certain online channels and once he broke up with me by saying “You are on a one-way trip to dumpsville baby, population you.” You can imagine how I was feeling about romance that next day.

    So…I put on a pair of black tights, black platform boots and my favorite Gap t-shirt dress that honestly barely covered my bits and I have no idea how I was allowed to leave the house in it. Oh, and a pair of creme colored lacy butt underwear things so if the skirt rode up all you saw was my ruffly butt. I added super dramatic makeup and dark lipstick. I had my mom take me to Meijer which at the time still had a bulk candy section and I bought 3 pounds of gummy worms. I then walked around on campus at high school all day a gloomy sight in all the valentine’s chaos and I gave out gummy worms. It went over well honestly and I got the attention of even some of the popular people at school with my antics.

    Later in the day I ran into my HUGE high school crush, you know the type I am talking about. I spun for him and asked him how I looked and he said I, “Looked like sex.” Which I then and still take as a compliment.

    There have been many, many valentines in between this one and that one, but that day in 1997 was the peak of valentines greatness for me. Seeing the smiles on peoples faces when I walked toward them with my giant bag of worms wishing them a tolerable day. My whole life may have just been trying to recreate that kind of magic. Thanks to bad break up jokes and my flair for the dramatic.

  • 19 Days of Blogging

    19 Days of Blogging

    In the past couple of years I have become friends with some absolutely amazing people, and a couple of people have asked me how I make friends as an adult. I can honestly say that I have absolutely no idea, lol. I have become the kind of person who will just start talking to people, and just kind of put myself out there. I do not know where this came from because if you had asked me I would have told you that I was a bit shy and reserved. Now, however I am the kind of person who will just walk up say hi and ask if we can be friends. It is not subtle, lol.

    My husband, Seth, says that I have a vast reserve of emergency bravery that I access when it is needed. This is a pretty accurate description for what happens when I turn it on, because I will be nervous with butterflies and anxiety until it is time and then suddenly I am outgoing in a way that I have never been before. I manifest self-confidence in the strangest way and I kind of love it.

    A big part of this change in my demeanor was becoming the Madam of Local 73 for the International Wenches Guild. Suddenly I am just approaching people to introduce myself, being a welcome wagon, pitching, getting people to play games, and offering cards and info to bad ass future wenches. I have pushed myself so far out of my comfort zone, that I forget what my comfort zone was. It is a strange thing to realize that while I might have once been shy, now I am the kind of person who hands out cards and asks people to come play with me, really.

    This is also the guiding force to when I decided to start a skating group during the pandemic. I just put it out there and then took charge, something that young me would never have done. I got to meet some amazing people that I never would have met if I hadn’t just put it out there.

    I decided to make this year the year of Badass for myself, but I honestly think I have been on my way there for a while. I just didn’t notice because I was having too much fun.

  • 20 Days of Blogging

    20 Days of Blogging

    February is always a strange month for me. It feels like a transitional month no matter what else is happening in the month. Part of this is that Seth and I both have March birthdays, as does my sister-in-law, Niki, so we are constantly looking forward to what is to come. Part of it is also that in the last several years the majority of Ohio’s wintery weather appears in the month of February. Add all this to the fact that it is already the shortest month of the year and it becomes the ultimate liminal space.

    Because of that I often spend the month in a bit of a shadow work, self-reflection and deep thinking space that can be both insightful and a little painful. Maybe my mind wants to work through all the crap before I turn another year old, or maybe I have a mild case of Seasonal Affective Disorder. Currently I am working through some anxiety issues, some impressive imposter syndrome, and some issues with holding myself back because of fear of failure. These are nothing new but they are here and I am working through them. I am making myself journal some of this out, and working through it with Tarot as well. The work is necessary and not very fun.

    The plus is I am learning some good things about myself and my psyche as well, so you take the light with the shadow, right?

    Photo below of all seeing eye earrings made by the daughters of my friend Susan. They run an etsy shop called RoamJewels where they sell their beautiful jewelry.