Monthly Archives: January 2022
The day CHALLENGER shattered the sky

My housemate, Charles, had this BETA cassette of news coverage he recorded on the day the CHALLENGER shattered the sky. I’ve done a lot of watching of old footage, and was grateful to discover that what’s on this tape isn’t available online anywhere, at least not yet. I plan on converting the footage to digital/DVD so that it can be preserved at least a little bit longer.
I’m not making light of, exploiting, or glamorizing a national tragedy that broke this nation’s heart. Thirty-six years ago today, the Challenger disaster took seven amazing people and ended an era.
I was a week shy of 15 when it happened, and it profoundly affected me—and still does. In an odd sort of way, the shock of that moment foreshadowed the one that was to come just a few months later, when my mother passed. For many GenXers, it was our first experience with death, and Read the rest of this entry
2021 Wishes & Intentions Update
I’m a couple of weeks behind on this, but January 2 was Wishes & Intentions Day! My friend Heather and I write—just free-flow, no premeditation—things we’d like to accomplish, achieve, receive, or do in the new year. On Wishes & Intentions Day, we open the envelope for the prior year, see how many we got, and then make our new one.
In 2021, out of 63, I accomplished Read the rest of this entry
Betty White and the 8 of Cups
It’s everywhere that Betty White died a couple of weeks before her centennial. Although she was special to me for so many reasons, this isn’t a tribute post—it’s really just something I found interesting.
On what would’ve been her 100th birthday on January 17, I was working with my Golden Girls Tarot Deck and the image on the 8 of Cups struck me: Rose is walking away.
Tarot cards have a myriad of meanings, depending on which cards they’re surrounded by in the spread and their provenience. But what struck me about the 8 of Cups is that, while the most dire of its meanings is abandonment, it’s also simply walking away from something that no longer serves you for something new.
This image made me sad, but it was also a comfort. Goodbye, Betty. I hope there’s a whole lot of better cheesecake in the heavenly kitchen.
Adventures in the Inbox …
34 Orchard, the dark literary magazine I founded in 2019, is my baby, and while it has faced its challenges, it does well and brings me a lot of joy.
The past three days were a little bit rough, but it also reminded me that I have a lot of great people in my life, that everything happens for a reason—and that sometimes, you need things to burn to the ground so you can rise from the ashes. I don’t even know why I’m sharing this here, exactly–it’s not customary, or a good idea, for editors to talk about their negative experiences publicly. It might even be considered unprofessional. But I just have this feeling someone out there needs to hear this today, so whatever. I’m human.
The short version: 34O was listed Read the rest of this entry
Ruminations on Romero’s THE AMUSEMENT PARK
I’m going to preface this by saying I’m not even close to knowing much about the late George Romero’s films, and in fact, I’m not even a fan of his work—mostly (I know, understand, and can appreciate its brilliance, and I think he was a genius. Zombies are just not my thing). He has, however, thanks to Night of the Living Dead, become synonymous with a specific brand of horror, so fan expectations are set.
I just watched George Romero’s gorgeously restored lost gem, 1975’s The Amusement Park, which has been available as a Shudder exclusive for a while now. In my opinion, this is one of the scariest films I’ve ever seen; if you enjoy the work my magazine, 34 Orchard, publishes, then you will definitely be into this—this is profound, visceral, disturbing, real-world, inevitable horror.
I will keep this all spoiler-free, Read the rest of this entry