Betsy Snow White Bibliophile

Tag: Badass2021

  • 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.

  • 21 Days of Blogging

    21 Days of Blogging

    I am working on a new list of things I want to do when the world goes back to normal.

    • Visit NYC
      • See Hadestown on Broadway
      • Visit the Museum of Moving Image
    • Visit Nashville
    • Visit Philadelphia with Traci
      • Visit Mutter Museum
    • Visit DC
      • Visit Smithsonian
    • Go to the Bristol Renaissance Festival
    • Go to St Louis Renaissance Festival
    • Go to Sterling Renaissance Festival
    • Go to Michigan Renaissance Festival (again)
    • Go to Kentucky Highland Renaissance Festival
    • Visit Sedona Arizona
    • Visit Iceland
    • Visit London
    • Visit Ireland
    • Visit Toronto

    So…I should probably start saving up. lol.

  • 22 Days of Blogging

    22 Days of Blogging

    So, this is a little late. I had a big paper due this weekend, so I spent all day yesterday working on and refining that. Priorities, lol.

    I am super excited because the other day I received a package in the mail and no it wasn’t more stuff I bought online. Well…it kinda was, but not in the way my last post was talking about. I got my membership package for the Ohio History Connection in the mail. Ohio History Connection is housed in Columbus as the Ohio Historical Center building which houses various museum style exhibits, the Ohio Archives and Library, and The Ohio Village which is a recreated 19th century community where they hold events.

    With my membership I can go to the Ohio History Center for free once it is open to the public. I get reciprocal admissions from over 250 museums nationwide and reciprocal benefits at over 800. Free tickets to Ohio History Center/Ohio Village Events like Night at the Museum, All Hallows’ Eve and Dickens of a Christmas (I have attended the Dickens event and it is really fun). Plus many other amazing benefits.

    More than that, though, I know that I am supporting the preservation of Ohio history during a time when they could use that support more than ever. I am also considering buying a membership to the Columbus Museum of Art for a similar reason. We already purchased a COSI membership for the inlaws and the niblings (I found out this is the non-binary term for nieces and nephews and I love it.) We also still have our zoo memberships which Seth’s parents purchase us for Christmas every year. While we may not get much use out of these this year, we are supporting important pieces of our community.

  • 23 Days of Blogging

    I am still shopping far too much online. It is an issue and also I feel like I am supporting a lot of independent artists by from etsy and personal websites. I have ordered so many stickers, pins, shirts, bath bombs and other amazing things for myself online. Here are some of my favorites from this week. (Seriously this is just what was delivered this week, except the coffin earrings which are from last week I think.)

    Coffin Earrings by Kianayouwanna – These are amazing. You can fill them with anything and wear them. Want Valentine’s Day coffins? Bam. Easter? Bam. How could I resist that? I bought Black Lives Matter pins from Black Cat Insignia. I think it is important to be an ally, and important to support Black Owned businesses while doing so. These pins are super high quality and will live on my two favorite jackets.

    I bought some skate stickers, a patch and some sparkly pink razorblade charms for my skates from ProjectPinup. I am planning to fix up an old rusty skate case I own and I want to cover it in skate related stickers, so I have been buying skate stickers like a crazy person. I also bought a cropped sweatshirt from Blood and Thunder that says social distance skating club. I can’t wait to wear it. I love it so much!!

    I bought myself some witchy stickers for my skate case and for use in my planner. These adorable holiday stickers from Wise Minerva Studio for Imbolc, Ostara and Beltane. A “Support your local witches” sticker from Moonrise Goods Co. Holographic pentacle stickers from pastelspell which are so rainbow shiny they make me so happy.

    I also bought a bunch of bath bombs from my favorite bath bomb company Witch Baby Soap. Honestly I buy from them monthly, but I grabbed a big bunch this month because I was completely out.

    Today in the mail I got a fantastic shirt from the company, Out of Print, as well. They released this amazing shirt featuring the Muppets that I can remember being on the wall of the library in my elementary school or our public library when I was little. I had to have it.

  • 24 Days of Blogging

    24 Days of Blogging

    I have been making collages and mixed media art since I was really young. I have several large collage pieces up around the house. I also use collage work as witchy work making vision boards/ spell boards. One of my old favorite papers to use for batsh#t crazy headlines and photos was Weekly World News.

    Do you remember this ridiculous publication? They gave us Bat Boy (which there is a musical about), so many aliens, every Elvis sighting, and so much more bizarre esoterica. Weekly World News was a print paper that ran from 1979 to 2007(!?) and was the trashiest and most fun of the “tabloids”. And in researching this I also learned they still have an online presence. In it’s peak WWW had a total circulation of 1.2 million readers. As a child and teen I would often pick one up to use in art projects since they cost…well $.70 in 1989 so not very much.

    I was sitting here doing some collage stuff not too long ago and I found myself reminiscing about the Weekly World News as collage fodder. Of course it has not been in print since 2007, but suddenly I had the thought to check on ebay for old issues that I could pull apart for collage work. Much to my delight there were several bundles to choose from so I received 3 issues from June-August of 1989. They are obviously products of their time; several articles are homophobic, fatphobic, xenophobic, etc. which is a little disappointing but not at all shocking. Some of the ridiculous stories though are so off the wall and farfetched that it feels worth it to rip them apart for their bits and pieces. Below are some of the ridiculous headlines, photos and articles.

    Now I just need a big lot of teen magazines from the 80s and 90s. Any leads?

    “Weekly World News.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Dec. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weekly_World_News.

  • 25 Days of Blogging

    I thought today I would share some of the poems I wrote for my poetry class last term. I had a couple that I was very proud of, so here they are for others to enjoy. The first is a prose poem, which is why it is formatted the way it is. The second is just a poem about roller skating.

    Witch
    In real life when witches meet it is often to drink tea or coffee, or whiskey, depending on the witch’s preference and the time of day. When witches meet they might as likely eat nachos and watch Practical Magic as light a cauldron and hold a ritual. They might discuss spell craft, divination, astrology, politics, fashion, or their love lives as all are important and valid. Some witches love long baths with herbs and bath bombs. Some have black thumbs and can kill a silk plant. Some witches have large black cats who might be their familiar or might be their fur kid or maybe both. Real witches can look just like you and me. Especially me.

    Roller Skates
    Wheels whirring, blurring, stirring the air.
    Shush, shush, shush…
    Barely breaking the still of a Sunday morning.
    I am sliding silently. Surfing the pavement,
    Setting skate in front of skate,
    Tracing little circles in the dust.
    My hair a hurricane halo radiating from my helmet
    It whirls and eddies as I spin and twirl.
    Shush, shush, shush…
    I let my thoughts glide as smoothly as my wheels
    Finding peace in the perfect playful pair
    who find their home upon my feet.
    Left to their own devices
    They would carry me away.
    Instead we circle endlessly in parking lots.
    And skating rinks.
    Taking contained adventures.
    With others who have heard,
    And succumbed to the sirens call.
    Shush, Shush, Shush…Come, come, come.

    I have been writing poetry since I was young, but hadn’t written anything in several years before taking this class. I refound my love of writing poetry.

  • 26 Days of Blogging

    I am a podcast addict…there I said it aloud and that is the first step. The thing is that I have no intention of not listening to podcasts any time soon. I don’t always learn something from Podcasts, but sometimes I do. I am always entertained, and I am almost always happy that I listened even to a podcast that deals with a serious subject. I am going to list some of my absolute favorites here. Some of these are incredibly popular, some are more independent, and some a relatively unknown but they are all among my favorites.

    • The Smartest Man in the World Podcast: This is the podcast that started me on podcasts. Greg Proops (Whose Line) talks about history, politics, art, literature, baseball and whatever takes him. I think of Greg as my unofficial father and sometimes in times of chaos I want his opinion more than anyone else.
    • My Favorite Murder: Karen and Georgia reignited and reaffirmed my love of true crime. I am still an avid murderino and I am so happy for how prolific they have become.
    • I Hate It but I Love It – Kat Angus and Jocelyn Geddie talk about the movies that they both love and hate. Some absolute stand out episodes are The OA (episode 1 and hysterical), Speed Racer, Jupiter Ascending, Super 8 and the cross overs with Talk From Superheroes (another great podcast) Star Wars Episode 2&3. I also support them on Patreon and it is worth every penny. Kat and Jocelyn live in my head in the best way.
    • The Daily Zeitgeist: This is not your parent’s news show. Jack O’Brien (formerly of Cracked) and Miles Gray host this amazing news podcast that happens every work day. The guests are amazing. It is educational but still funny.
    • Behind The Bastards: Robert Evans and guests lay out the stories behind some of the worst people in history. Things like the author of Hitler’s favorite books. He also has made two special events Behind the Police and Behind the Insurrection that are super informative and a tiny bit depressing.
    • Bananas: Kurt and Scotty go over the strangest and funniest stories in the news. It makes me laugh every single time. This podcast is the best palette cleanser in the world.
    • The Pastie Tapes: I make no secret of the fact that I love burlesque. This podcast hosted by the luscious Siomai Moore is interviews, behind the scenes and just generally great insider burlesque and I love it.
    • Scam Goddess: Laci Mosely is hilarious, ridiculously talented and a total scammer. This podcast will definitely make you laugh.
    • Hippie Witch: Joanna talks all things witchy, biz witchy and law of attraction. She is such an absolute force of nature. I support her on Patreon as well.
    • Ologies: Ask smart people dumb questions. Alie Ward is everyone’s pod dad and learning with her is one of the best things in the world. I have gotten so many people to listen to this podcast.

    I also listen to (in not particular order): I Saw What You Did, That’s Messed Up, Crime Junkie, The Murder Squad, Tenfold More Wicked, Skate Date Podcast, Unraveled, The Villain Was Right, Ghosted!, American Shadows, Cabinet of Curiousties, The Bechtel Test, I Said No Gifts, Lady to Lady, True Crime Garage, Cadaver Gals, Teen Creeps, This Might Get Weird, Sinisterhood, Mortified, Lolita, Do You Need a Ride, Talk from Superheroes, All Killa No Filla, Mom’s and Murder, Worst Year Ever, Snap Judgement, The Fall Line, Noble Blood, Lore, Iweigh, The Devil’s Music, Unobscured, Spooked, The Cryptonaturalist, and more.

    I told you I have a problem, lol. Any podcast recommendations?

  • 27 Days of Blogging

    27 Days of Blogging

    I used to be a prolific journaler. I always had a journal in hand. I used them as a diary, a planner, a scrapbook, and storage space. I still carry one with me, but I just don’t seem to use it as much as I used to. It is something I would like to get back to. I pulled out my old journals recently to help me write a poem for my poetry class, because I had a list of things I could be when I grow up and the poem needed to include a list.

    Today I was looking at these amazing pieces of my history. Taking a moment to read back through old relationships, how I have never really known what I want to do with my life, lists of things I want to do, buy or be, fun articles, my favorite horoscopes, and bits of overheard conversation. There are feathers, leaves, bits of ribbon, little drawings, poems, cards, and so many stickers. I read through the first days of Seth and I’s relationship, how hopeful I was while being cautious, it is so cute to read being a couple for almost 14 years (the anniversary of our first date is in May).

    My journals have been composition books that I decoupaged and decorated. They have also been beautiful art books that I have purchased from artists. I don’t know that I have a preference on which of these is better. I have loved them both, and worn them both out to the point that they are fraying on the edges and very well loved. The composition books have more me on the outside but it is the inside that counts, right?

    Photos of my various journals.

    These books hold so much of my past in their pages. And I am shocked and dismayed to see so many similar themes popping up from then to now, wanting to be thinner, feeling directionless, hating my job, fearing change…over and over again. I can see that there are some big changes needed in my life. Or, I can see that my mindset needs to shift beyond these things.

    Here are some of my favorite pages, pieces, poems, and such from my journals over the years.

    I am feeling a pull for a new journal. I feel like I might have a new composition book upstairs. Maybe it is time to break out the ModPodge, magazines and ephemera to make a new one. And start making lists again and wishing and dreaming to myself.

    Also, in case you were curious here is the poem I wrote for class from my list.

    When I Grow Up…
    English Professor, or author
    or maybe both?
    Journalist, or radio host, or
    One of those crazy morning shock jocks.
    The girl who makes orgasm noises for songs,
    or the opera singer for horror movie climax (just a different climax).
    Counselor or psychiatrist.
    800-number psychic friend,
    “Call me now for your free tarot reading.”
    Belly Dancer? Lawyer? Warrior Princess?
    Open a bookstore, with a cat and lots of comfy chairs.
    As a girl I was told that when you hit 40 you are old.
    Here I am breaking the mold
    And trying to decide what I will be when I grow up.