of a Happy 2018 New Year to all of you~~~~

Hello Darklings,

Well 2017 is winding down to a close, tomorrow is the last day of 2017, I'm sure for some people they will be glad that the year is gone.

For others they may ask the question "What Fresh Hell is coming to us?"   I say that with all the new tax laws and other laws that Start on January 1st. 

I had a talk with my tax preparer and he says that I am really in good shape and will not be affected very much.   I don't know about anyone else, and I'm sure all the tax preparers are going to have some serious headaches.

But for now I am looking forward to a nice and relatively quiet New Years Eve, no I'm not going out this time ordinarily I would be going to the New Years Eve Dance on the USS Hornet, but Doyle sprained his ankle and it's going to take time for it to get back into dancing shape and I refuse to desert my Man.

So I have family and a few friends coming over with pot luck, which works out fine for them as they didn't have any plans as well.  It will be interesting to see if the children can keep their eyes open when Midnight comes and if they do fall asleep well I have those extra bedrooms for them to wake up to a new year. 

But Sis and I do have plans to start the New Year with our annual Film Noir Fest in San Francisco, already we have our passport tickets, our vintage selections laid out and ready to pack, reservations made and confirmed at Hotel Rex.    From Jan 26 to Feb 4 a complete indulgence into Film Noir! 

Of course there will be some old favorites like "The Blue Dahlia", "This Gun for Hire" and "I wake up Screaming"  but a lot of seldom seen film's like "Conflict" with Bogart.  

The house will be watched by Doyle, and Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers will be back so the dogs will have their walk if it's not raining.  

Christmas was very pleasant and very cheerful I'm happy to say, and I'm going to present to the children some new books with old fashion binders which I'm happy to say Barnes and Noble provide.

But for now I and Doyle are going to have a nice quiet evening, sitting by the fireplace with candles burning to give the impression of a fire, and we'll be reading our prospective murder mysteries.

Currently I'm reading "A Virtuous Death" by Christine Trent  it is #3 in the Lady of Ashes Series, and has Queen Victoria, seances, and murder all wrapped up in a nice little read.

I wish all of you a very Happy and Healthy 2018 New Year!

Later Darklings

Of Rain and Film Noir~~~~

Hello Darklings,

I have been a naughty girl (well woman) by not posting so much, but with the damage the rains and winds have done I’ve been busy.

It’s been hard working on my garden, but I’m so glad that my orchid plants and my koi fish have been kept in the green house safe from all the cold and rain and debris, putting heavy chicken wire on the roof of the green house has protected the glass I’m happy to say. 

But I’ve had to put off doing work in the garden because we never know when the next rain storms will come, last night we had an unexpected heavy squall come down with torrents of water and wind.   I sat next to the window in the front parlor and watched as the rain came down in sheets being pushed along by the wind, water running down the steps of the front porch like a water fall, rolling down the driveways like rivers and the street gutters running fast and heavy with the run off.  In a dark Gothic way it was magnificent.

Fortunately no power outages, no trees falling over blocking roads in our area.  And having the fire crackling in the fire place made things feel cozy and comfortable, one would think that someone would be sitting at a small table reading tarot cards on such a wild, wet night.  

But no the dogs were snoozing in front of the fire in contentment, with Wiener dog snoring loudly, and Doyle in his comfy chair dozing and snoring in counter point, the Sunday paper collapsed like a blanket on his lap.   I decided to not turn on the T.V. and instead had a book in my hand to read, but watching the rain proved more fascinating for my night time viewing.

For the last few weeks I’ve been helping my sister until she can hire a good medical report secretary who can also do bookkeeping and maintain appointments for her.   She’s had a few candidates and one is very promising, just need to check out her references.  

Early yesterday evening Television was a bore, so I turned to some DVD’s that we had purchased, maybe I should use the Red Boxes but one never knows the quality of the discs that are distributed.  But I had to buy (a bit at a time) the American Horror Story Series,   but when one starts watching one has to be prepared for a marathon of watching you just can’t stop, you need to see the next “chapter”.   It takes all our strength to not stay up late watching only to wake in the morning exhausted. 

Well we (Sis and I ) started AHS: Coven,  We had seen AHS: Asylum last month, Sis wonders what goes on in the minds of the writers, she’d like to analyze them.  But in seeing Coven, if we ever can arrange it I’d love to go to New Orleans, but not during Mardi Gras that scene is too crazy.   And who knows what delightful little bizarre trinket one will find.   I understand the food is out of this world.  And I’d take in all the tours, even the ghost tours.  

I meant to talk about the S.F. Film Noir Festival that Sis and I attended in January,  once again we stayed at the lovely Hotel Rex and we dressed in our best late 1940’s to mid 1950’s clothing,  and once again we figuratively “drowned” ourselves in Film Noir,  this time with more foreign entries and including more modern entries, that in their own way surprised us, but I personally can’t help but feel that Film Noir should be more “black and white”  which is why in a way “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot”, “Blue Collar” and “Straight Time”  some what disappointed me.  But the others did not.

Gina Lollobrigida was beautiful in “Four Ways Out” and we had the classics such as “Criss-Cross”, “The Asphalt Jungle” and “Kansas City confidential” .

On days when there was no matinee we indulged in shopping and spa treatments and fine dining, but I think I’m going to have to go to the gym and work off a few pounds, not being able to walk the dogs because of the rain had me gain a few and it always is telling at the waist line. 

Rififi had me on the edge of my seat with the 30 minute not speaking portion, “Victoria”, a 2015 film from Germany, did show how Film Noir is developing in the 21^st century and although a fantastic film, I have to confess for this Elder Goth I prefer my Film Noir in Black and white and in the gritty times of the 40’s and 50’s.   Yet is was a good across the years selection, and I certain would suggest that you view these films as both vintage and contemporary and how we as a civilization have developed as well.

I have listed here the films that we saw:

CRISS CROSS 

THE ASPHALT JUNGLE 

KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL 

VIOLENT SATURDAY 

FOUR WAYS OUT / LA CITTÀ SI DIFENDE 

BIG DEAL ON MADONNA STREET / I SOLITI IGNOTI 

RIFIFI  / DU RIFIFI CHEZ LES HOMMES 

THE BIG RISK / CLASSE TOUS RISQUES 

THE KILLING 

CRUEL GUN STORY / KENJÛ ZANKOKU MONOGATARI 

THE LADYKILLERS 

THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN 

ONCE A THIEF 

THE SICILIAN CLAN / LE CLAN DES SICILIENS

THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123  

THUNDERBOLT & LIGHTFOOT 

BLUE COLLAR 

STRAIGHT TIME 

CHARLEY VARRICK

THE BRINK'S JOB 

SEXY BEAST

THE AURA / EL AURA 

BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD 

VICTORIA 

But for 10 lovely days Sis and I enjoyed ourselves, shopping, resting, pampering ourselves and even though it rained we had a great time.   And once again Doyle did not disappoint us.  He arranged once again to have us picked in in a classic 1950’s Cadillac complete with Chauffer (his friend who owns the car),  Sis and I came down into the lobby in our best 1940’s clothing paid the bill and had fun seeing a few folks that were there following us to our waiting vehicle, the looks on their faces was priceless.

We drove back across the Bay Bridge, across the section that echoes from the 1930’s and then through the tunnel (aka Time tunnel) across the new span built just a few years ago, the old workhorse bridge now completely gone, vanished, back to our homes and into the 21^st century and reality.

But we can dream a little and enjoy it a bit. 

Now the dogs are dressed in their warm coats, and Doyle in his heavy jacket and I am going to put on my very warm coat and we are going to take a much needed walk to work off those 5 pounds.

Later Darklings

Of Film Noir, Presidential Inaugurations and Dysfunctional Dolls~~~

Hello Darklings

I know What a combination!

Well my sister and I are leaving in a few minutes to go to the Hotel Rex and check in for our 9 day stay for the Film Noir Festival.

Our vintage bags are packed and ready to go,  Doyle has the Buick ready, yes it is going to get wet but he'll take care of that when he gets home.

Sis and I are looking forward to Spa Days,  shopping, the films, and just relaxing and enjoying ourselves.   The films are more modern but it would be interesting to see how they hold up to the ones from the 40's and 50's.  

We had a chance as we packed the last few things to watch the Pomp and Circumstance of this Presidential Inauguration but really----secretly---we wanted to see what Mrs. Trump would wear and both Sis and I yelled "Jackie Kennedy all the way!"  a classic style of outfit with matching gloves and shoes,  she also reflects the style of Prince Williams wife Catherine, simple, chic and classic, oh be still my Vintage Heart.

Of course how the presidency is going to go is another matter,  I'm not saying I'm for D.T. but seeing what she wore I think is a reflection of the hope of some folks.

Doyle promised to record what she'll be wearing at the Inaugural Ball. 

But have I given up my vintage Gothic heart to 1960's classic styles?   Not Quite.

A web site Dysfunctional Dolls, is a off shoot or maybe the parent company of Gothic Beauty Magazine and they sent me an e-mail saying that their make up is back for folks who are into Goth and Cosplay,  I had to check out their lipsticks and I have to say I was not disappointed, with colors like Blood stain Red, Cemetery Red, Bold Diabolical Red, and affordable as well as not animal tested, well I think I know what I'm going to order.

I know it sounds like I'm turning my back on Besame Cosmetics, but I'm not, just the other day my special order of it's Victory Red lipstick arrived with the special Victory pin, like what the ladies use to wear during World War II.

So in the space of a few days I have been treated to special discoveries which gladdens my heart.

About the repairs on my home, we were able to fix the protective glass panel in front of the stain glass window,  the basement window will be worked on when I return, and when we are past the worst of the storms I'll have the screens fixed on the back porch.

My gardener said that all the bulbs that had been planted have rotted because of so much heavy rain,  some may have survived but we won't know until early spring,  so it looks like I'll have to temporarily do annuals, which is fine.  

But now Doyle has told me that the bags are packed and do I have my film passport, so off we go to another time, another era.

Later Darklings

Of dealing with the Winter Storm of 2017 or Is the drought over?~~~

Hello Darklings,

It’s been awhile since I last posted,  and I’ve been busy.   Mostly with house repairs.

We had a terrifying storm here, winds were whipping things up and knocking trees over, flooding, mudslides and the reservoirs filled to capacity and over flowing. 

But I’ll get to that in a minute. 

For New Years Doyle and I celebrated with dinner and dancing on the USS Hornet, I was surprised my leg held up so well but it did,  many people wore period clothing, including uniforms from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s,  Doyle is ex-Navy and had his dress whites, he looked so Humphry Bogart in them.   I had a chance to see old friends who love to celebrate the same way. 

So we made promises to get in touch and visit with each other,  one of them has a vintage car that Doyle maybe interested in.  Sis didn’t come with us this time, she had been dealing with a number of clients suffering from Holiday depression, she said the best thing she could do was a cup of hot chocolate and bed and get plenty of sleep.

The weather was clear enough that we could see the spectacular fireworks across the Bay, I was curled up in my vintage mink coat and trust me Darklings, I needed it, a wool or down parka coat would not have been enough to cut the breeze coming off the Bay, I would have needed several layers of thermal underwear to be warm enough.  Doyle also wrapped his arms around me for added warmth, either me or him I’m not sure.  And then after an hour it was “Good night Ladies”  time to go home.

I swear celebrating New Years on the Hornet is like going back in time, you hate to wake up to reality the next morning, but it did come.   Now I have to remember to write 2017 on checks and such.

The children are getting over their colds, now its dealing with the aftermath the dry persistent cough, which makes the chest ache so much.   Both Chris and Coralline hate the menthol cough drops but it’s the only thing that works while at school, but everything tastes like menthol to them, they do like the Ginger and Lemon Tea (decaffeinated) That seems to help them a lot.  Of course they got prescription cough medicine so they can sleep at night.   It’s going to take a while.

In the meantime we had horrible, terrifying rain storms here, with high winds, flooding, mudslides, power outages and everything.   We lost power on and off for a few days,  it’s a good thing my heating and cooking is gas, but I worry every time we lose powder because of the refrigerator and freezer, but fortunately no food spoilage.

But the winds did a number on the house,  a few roofing shingles came loose and we had a leak,  I called a roofer and he nailed down heavy tarps until we got some dry days,  it got fixed but now the ceilings in two rooms are going to have to be painted.

And the WIND!!  It was a good thing I had glass protective panels put up in front of the stain glass windows, some tree branches blew against one of them and broke the protective glass, but the stain glass is fine,  I called a glazer and he came out and fixed that one for me, but another window may have to be done later, its one that allows light into the basement that got broken as well so we have it boarded up for now and have that fixed for later.

My water cisterns are full to over flowing, the good thing is the way everything is set up when it overflows it goes down this pathway and out into the street, the outdoor fish pond over flowed but I only keep my fish in the indoor one in the greenhouse, I only keep the free mosquito fish in the outdoor one, and by now a lot of them are swimming in some storm sewer somewhere.   There are some minor things like the screens on the porch are shredded I’ll have to replace those, but that’s minor compared to some folks that has had trees fall into their homes.   One of the trees in my yard lost a large branch but nothing broken.  So we survived very well compared to others.

I keep thinking of that opening line from that cumbersome Edward Bulwer Lytton novel where it starts with “It was a dark and stormy night….”   Suddenly the power went out!!  And just go from there. 

In spite of the chancy rainy weather, Sis and I are going to indulge in the 2017 Film Noir Festival, in S.F.  we’ll be staying at the Hotel Rex with special rates and it’s on Union Square close to the stores, some good eateries, and an easy 20 minute (depending on traffic) ride to the Castro Theater, we have our “Passports” for the series and are looking forward to it, this time our clothing will be more 1950’s early 60’s, think Kim Novak in “Vertigo” or Grace Kelly in “North by Northwest” and you’ll get the idea.   It will give us a chance to shop, indulge, rest and have some wicked fun. 

To me as an Elder Goth if you love old movies then Film Noir is the way to go, although this time they’ll be serving up some more modern fare but it’s enough to wet one’s appetite.   Doyle did promise to record my favorite shows while I’m gone including “Sleepy Hollow” which is back and “Supernatural”.

I’m not sure if I’m going to go on a wine tour in the fall this year, it depends upon a number of things,  health (which is good), budget (depends upon repairs beyond what the trust will pay), availability (always a variable), and mood (sometimes I’m just not into it) and other plans the look like more fun (always an option).

But I am hoping that Doyle will buy this vintage car that was offered to him, the garage is big enough to hold 3 vintage cars, but we only have my Buick right now, so we’ll see.

The other night I recorded “Creature Features” on North Bay TV (out of Santa Rosa) because they were going to have an interview with Karen Lewis, the 2^nd wife of Al “Grandpa Munster” Lewis,  she wrote a biography about Al Lewis and her, titled “I married a Munster” (play on words) and skipping the parts of  the movie, that tired chestnut titled “The Screaming Skull” it was enough for me to decide to buy a copy.  I remember “The Munsters” as well as “The Adams Family” although I think I’m more Adams Family, but it seems that being with Al Lewis must have been a fascinating life. 

The next big event on my list is the Vintage Fashion Fair in the Spring at Michaans auctions usually in May,  but I’m always on the lookout for retro things that would appeal to me.  

And now my Sister says that dinner is on the table,  it’s been so cold that we are having homemade clam chowder in sourdough bread rounds,  with a green salad with mandarin orange slices,  to get our vitamin Sea ( C) ok poor play on words. 

Stay warm my dark ones.

Later Darklings

Of a Super Bowl free Sunday and Film Noir~~~~

I am sorry my Darklings, but Moi will Not be watching the Super Bowl.  Why?  Well it’s not that “Big” on my “To Do” list.

As a matter of fact both my sister in law and my niece along with Sis, we will be relaxing having a girl’s day in.  Yes we will be pampering our feet, doing our nails, facials, massage all of that fun stuff, I managed to find a ‘serenity type spa’ where we can relax and feel good about ourselves,  Saturday we will all have our hair done (well for me it will be a dye and trim and scalp conditioning) and then Sunday to the Spa.

All the men folk will be congregating in the Man Cave at my brother’s house, my brother, Doyle, the twins, Christopher, and a few friends to watch the game. 

We ladies will in turn have a nice early dinner out after all that pampering and later dessert at my home and watch a few favorite Noir Films such as “Laura” and “D.O.A.” and “The Lineup”. My sister in law remarked the other day how Coralline has a bit of a resemblance to Gene Tierney, and even I can see it, in a way I’m glad she inherited the best features of both her Mother and her father, and in a way looks a bit like my Great-Aunt, yes she is beginning to become quite a beauty.  

I’m afraid Darklings that I have not posted for a while and the reason is I have once again been on a Film Noir “kick” yes, I attended Noir City the San Francisco Noir Film Festival, and besides old favorites like “Rear Window” and “The Two Mrs. Carrolls”, a more recent addition “Public Eye” and one that shows off that Lucille Ball was more than a comedienne in a dramatic turn in “The Dark Corner”,  that is why I “disappeared” for so long,  Sis was with me while Betty helped out by House sitting and watching the Dynamic Duo during the day and Doyle did duty at night.

Sis and I decided to stay in the City, shopping, relaxing, dressing in our vintage finery while attending the showings.   In a way it was a wonderful vacation with the exception of all the insanity of this Super Bowl stuff,  we did miss the fireworks that signaled the re-lighting of the Bay Bridge and the opening of Super Bowl City, but not by much. 

And yes I did take good care of myself and not have a relapse, no colds, no sniffles, no coughs or sore throats.   But I have to say seeing those old wonderful films revitalized me.   

But now we are home again, and once again my Doyle made arrangements to have his friend bring the vintage Rolls Limo (1930’s) to pick us up at the Hotel, both he and his friend dressed in vintage style chauffeur uniforms,  and Sis and I “dressed to the nines” in our vintage Day wear as we left the hotel, I’m sure some folks thought we were eccentric or weird, but really if you can’t have fun what can you do.

Although for a Monday getting through San Francisco was slower than usual I couldn’t help but notice that even the most anxious drivers gave the vintage Rolls a clear berth, no one wanted to scratch it’s paint or dent it’s chrome.   And the smiles on people’s faces especially as Sis and I waved as if we were royalty.    Such fun!!

And when we got home today Doyle surprise me with an early Valentine’s gift, the complete set of all 14 of the Chester Morris Boston Blackie films.  Where he got them I haven’t a clue, but I love him for it.

And now it’s back into the mundaneness of bills (which I will tackle tomorrow) and other things,  my handyman and I need to go around the house to see what needs to be done when things dry out,  there has been a bit of wood rot here and there, easy to take care of and the house will need to be seriously painted, which means scaffolding which means getting estimates, thank goodness the house trust is designed for such things.

And my Gardener has been removing those plants that did not survive the extreme cold or over-abundance of water, and trimming the trees and bushes when it’s not raining.  And he managed to squeeze in mowing the lawn during the storm breaks.  We’ll have to talk about what we want to do with the bare spots.

Belladonna and Weiner Dog were very happy to see their “Mommy” again and Betty has dinner crock pot ready all we have to do is serve ourselves.   But she told me even though it was daylight during the days it rained the house was “spooky” to her, she didn’t want to go into the Library where sits my Cabinet of Curiosities.  Too much for her, she’d check from the door how the cleaning ladies were doing but she just would not go in.   Well it isn’t for everyone.

But now with our plans in the works for our personal Super Bowl weekend, we have something lovely to look forward to. 

I’ve also been looking around for fun things that we Goth/Noir ladies can enjoy,  and I think I’ve found a few things but that will be for another time.

In the meantime, it's dinner and later we're are going to watch a new show "Lucifer"  Doyle recorded the first episode for me along with X-Files, Blacklist and a few other fun things, Doyle says I'm going to LOVE the vintage Corvette that Lucifer drives.  Well a Vintage Corvette, hmmmm he can't be all bad, can he?

Later Darklings