Merry Christmas, Sarah Winchester!

I've been very busy lately, and part of that business came from the fact that I was planning my vacation! That's right, I'm on vacation - my family paid for me to come back to San Jose for a week to surprise my siblings! (And oh, how I wish I had filmed the look on my sister's face when I walked into my old home and screamed 'what's up, bitches?!')

There's a lot I wanted to do this week (and I still have a few days in California to do some of it), and one of the things at the top of my list was to visit my old workplace, my ever-beloved Winchester Mystery House. This is a great time of year to do it, too. The way the staff decorates the House for Christmas is always beautiful - last year, it was my favourite time of year to be at work, and this year it was just as beautiful.

Of course, I wasn't expecting to take a Christmas tour. I just wanted to stop in and say hello to everyone after hanging out with a friend/former coworker for a chunk of the day. But then I found out I could take one for free (hooray for worker perks - tour guides get passes to give to who they choose, so I used my friend's pass) and, well, I had to! And this year, unlike last year, guests were allowed to take photos in the House. Which means I can now post photos of the big, beautiful building that still owns a big portion of my heart...

Ten Cheap NYC Dates I'd Love to Take

One of the quickest and hardest lessons New York will throw at you is that if you want something, you'd better go for it, because your chance will evaporate into thin air quicker than you think, and you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

(In fandom words? Be Alexander "I am not throwing away my shot" Hamilton rather than Aaron "Wait For It" Burr.)

What this means for me? I'm playing the lesbian dating fields again, messaging girls on OKCupid (I never used to message girls first before) and the like. I'm ending 2016 single, but I'm hoping if I play my cards right, I'll either end 2017 not-single or I'll be much more assured in my singleness. And while I'm playing, I might as well list dates I'd like to maybe go on.

Now I should specify. This is not a 'best dates in NYC kind of thing'. Not even a little bit. I haven't been on the East Coast near long enough for that. This is just ten that I would like to go on with someone.

As usual, these are in no particular order other than the order I thought of them.

Matcha Swedish Pancakes

I know, I know, I have been a bad blogger lately. One of my two jobs fell through and right now much of my time has been spent job hunting, which doesn't make for very good blog entries. And while I do still make it to many museums, I'm unsure how many people want to read yet another "LOOK AT THIS MUSEUM I WENT TO YOU GUYS" entry. What's a blogger to do?

How about instructions for a quick and easy recipe I make all the time?

Swedish pancakes are a bit time consuming (as are regular pancakes), but they're easy and delightful. They're thinner than American pancakes, though not as paper-thin as a crêpe, and rather than stacking them and drenching them in maple syrup, they're traditionally spread with butter and/or jam and then rolled up. Though you certainly can drench them in syrup if that's your preference. I won't judge.

The matcha flavouring is optional, too. I just happen to love matcha in everything. I love the slightly-earthy, slightly-sweet-but-in-a-bizarrely-umami-way flavour just a little bit of matcha powder adds to things. I love the eye-catching green colour, too. If I had it my way, I'd be having matcha something every day, whether it was a matcha latte, a matcha ice cream, or, well, these things!

It's easy for me to get a cheap tin of matcha powder - they sell tins of it in Chinatown - but if you can't find it or just don't like it, you can easily leave it out for regular Swedish pancakes.

So! Let's do this!

Subway Therapy - A Little Thing I Love About NYC

This is a short post I meant to have up ages ago.

In the days following the election, New York City was reeling. I remember the Thursday two days after election day very well. I happen to have been near Union Square, having gone to lunch with Sarah nearby as we tried to make sense of what was happening together. And as I descended into the subway to make my way back to Weehawken afterwards, I saw this:

A nearby sign and a stack of post-its on the ground encouraged viewers to add their on messages of peace and solidarity. I was touched and did so promptly, but didn't think much of it at the time.

The next week when I went back it had taken over most of the subway station.

It's called Subway Therapy, and it has attracted the attention of everyone from Mayor De Blasio to National Geographic's instagram page. And I'm a little obsessed with it.

It's been a month now, and it's still up, this little ray of hope. The MTA, usually quick to crack down on this stuff, has apparently chosen to leave it up. I'm not sure why I love it so much, except that I know that each of those post-its - and by now there are over 1,000 probably - is made by a different person. It's an almost-visceral reminder that, despite everything, here in New York, people stand together.

Times are dark. But I am not alone.

-Nym

Learning About the Lenape

I tell you what, New York City, as I've said before and as I'll undoubtedly say again, is a wonderful place to be if you're a history buff! I've already done an entry on here about the Dutch, the first Europeans to colonise New York, but today we're going back even further, to the pre-contact days.

Because recently, I attended a historical lecture/demonstration about the Lenape, the Algonquian tribe that once inhabited the forests that are now New York City.

It's hard to imagine forests in NYC, but Fort Greene Park is atmospheric enough!

Unfortunately, the lecture was purely historic. I say 'unfortunately' because while there are still Lenape descendants around, the tribe left New York a long time ago, and no Lenape were present at the event. It was lead by two park rangers instead. But still, I learned a lot!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I haven't posted much lately. November has been... a Month, to say the least. I hope to have a more frequent posting schedule in December when I am done with my current writing project, but lately that's been consuming a lot of my time, between the writing itself and all the research I've been doing!

However, today (in America at least) is a holiday, and despite the fact that back home it was never one of my favourites, and despite the fact that the story of the first Thanksgiving is largely a myth, I was really excited and, well, thankful when my roommate asked if I wanted to have Thanksgiving with her this year.

I am...

 I used to love the Animaniacs. I used to watch it with my father. Most of the jokes flew over my head, but I still used to love the hell out of this show.

I don't anymore.

A Victorian Seance

New York is weird, okay? New York is really weird. Where else in the world could I have had my hand kissed by George Washington, befriended a monk, seen a barbershop quartet on the subway, tried durian ice cream that smelled kind of like a corpse (it was as nasty as you're probably imagining), seen a bunch of sculpted Christopher Walken heads just sticking up out of the grass like flowers, and attended a Victorian-style Séance at a place devoted to all things death-like?

Yes, you read that right. On Sunday, the Morbid Anatomy Museum in Brooklyn held an event advertised as "a traditional Spiritualist message service, a ritual that dates back to the Victorian era."

Obviously I had to go.

Happy Halloween!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! As I've said before, Halloween is my favourite day of the year, and I always dress up, sometimes as a historical figure (in past years I've been Marie Antoinette and the Byzantine Empress Theodora), sometimes as a historical figure (last year I was Grunkle Stan from "Gravity Falls", the year before that I was Velma Dinkley), and sometimes (but rarely) in something more generic.

This year, I've decided to go as a Puritan woman, inspired by my love of movies like "ParaNorman" and "The Witch", and the play "The Crucible", and my fascination with the historical Salem Witch Trials. (Also, if I'm being honest, inspired by the fact that I had a budget of like $10 for this.)

I think I did pretty well with the money I had.

And the more I wear this costume, the more it begins to feel... well, almost like an alter ego of sorts. She even has a backstory...

*******

Young Goody Nym sat outside the meeting house in the chilly morning air before that Sunday's sermon reading her Bible like a good, Puritan woman.

 There had been a devil's scourge sweeping through Salem as of late - tales of women signing their souls to the devil and sending out apparitions that tormented local children. A shiver went down Goody Nym's spine as she recalled those poor children - young Abigail Williams and Ann Putnam among them - writhing and sobbing in the meeting house. Why, just last Wednesday there had been pins discovered in the girl's scalp, placed by witches!

Truth be told, Goody Nym didn't know what to make of any of it. But these trials frightened her. If the Devil really was active in Salem, she feared becoming the next victim of His legion of evil witches.

That was when she heard it.

My Top 10 Horror (and Horror-Comedy) Movies for Halloween

Halloween is coming up fast, and this is my favourite time of the year! The leaves are changing colours, restaurants are putting pumpkins and 'pumpkin spices' in everything, stores are selling spooky home decor and fun costumes, cheesy Haunted House attractions (both professional and home-made) are popping up, and TV stations and Netflix and local theatres alike are all playing horror movies!

Like "Fido", which is on my list!

 I love horror movies. I always have, ever since I was a little kid. I don't know why I've always had this attraction to spooky and macabre stuff, but this is the best time of year to embrace that type of thing, so I figured I'd list my top ten favourites to watch this time of year!

Technically, a lot of these are actually going to fall under the label of "Horror Comedy" rather than just plain "Horror" but they're all still good movies. So pop some popcorn, spice some pumpkins, get under a big cozy blanket, and try one of these out!

Four Thieves Vinegar

Today I made a batch of Four Thieves Vinegar, which is currently sitting in my dark closet so it can seep for a month and be ready to use by Thanksgiving.

Some of my readers are going to know exactly what this stuff does and why one would want to have it around, and some of you are probably scratching their heads and wondering, Nym, what the ever-loving fuck is Four Thieves Vinegar?

Aaron Burr's Ghost

Aaron Burr, the Vice President to Thomas Jefferson, the man who shot Alexander Hamilton. The man who got kicked out of Mexico, the man who married a woman who everyone said had murdered her first husband, even though he was decades older (she divorced him ten months later).

This guy

 It's Hamilton's fingerprints which are all over this city, but oddly not his ghost. You never hear about Alexander Hamilton's ghost. Aaron Burr's ghost, on the other hand...

Aaron Burr's ghost has been seen, they say, at his former carriage house, which is now an insanely expensive restaurant. His daughter Theodosia has also been seen, pushing patrons down the stairs or ripping earrings out of women's ears. If he disapproves of his daughter's dreadful behaviour, he doesn't let it show.

Aaron Burr's ghost, they say, has been spotted at Battery Park, staring forlornly out at the water, waiting for his daughter to return. She'll never return, they say. She was killed by pirates, they say. Never mind that this conflicts with her being seen at their carriage house. Never mind that Battery Park was all landfill added later, and did not exist when the Burrs were actually alive.

Aaron Burr's ghost, they say, has been seen in Weehawken where he shot Hamilton. He's pale, even for a ghost, as if he's about to be sick. Does he regret what he's done? Does he even realise?

Aaron Burr's ghost has even been spotted at Eliza Jumel's mansion. Even though she divorced him, even though he didn't even live there that long, even though it's so far uptown. Aaron Burr's ghost really gets around.

-Nym-

I Met a Monk

While I am a planner by nature, the beauty of New York City is that even if I set out without a plan (or very much money at all) I can just meander around and eventually find something interesting. That's what happened yesterday. I had no real plans other than to go to the East Village and pick up two copies of this week's "Village Voice" (because I promised my neighbour I'd get her a copy too), and I got hungry when there so I stopped into Veselka for some pierogi. (I'm addicted and someday I will have to do a blog entry about that place when I have more energy to do so.) Down the street from Veselka is the church St Mark's-in-the-Bowery, and I decided to check out some of the old grave plots in the yard.

That's when I saw him.

Sitting outside the gates of the church in an actual scratchy brown habit and knotted rope belt like something out of a medieval-themed movie was an honest-to-god real life monk.

New York City continues to find ways to surprise me. Just when I think I've seen the weirdest possible thing, this city throws something even more surreal at me. Meeting a Franciscan monk was not how I expected my Wednesday to go. In fact, I've actually never seen a monk in real life before, be they Franciscan or Carmelite or Benedictine or whatever other kinds of monks there are.

He had boxes next to him to accept donations of clothing and food for anyone on the street to just take. (He told me to take some food. I protested that even though I am poor and love free food, someone needier than I might need it more than I do, but he said it was for everyone so I took some garbanzo beans to make hummus with.) However, he would not accept cash. As he had taken a vow of poverty, he can't handle cash.

His name was Brother Angelo, and he wasn't what I expected a monk to look like. No shaved bit on top of his head, and he had tattoos on one arm and a couple fingers from his crazy pre-monk days. I was fascinated with him and asked if it was okay to sit and chat with him a bit, which he was all too happy to do.

In fact, this guy might be the happiest New Yorker I've ever met. He literally owns nothing, but he says that's freeing. He's happy to "serve Christ by serving the people" - that, he said, is why he took his vows and became a monk - and he said the best way to help him was to let any homeless people in the area know he was there in front of the church with food and clothing and a friendly listening ear. This guy is the real deal.

(Surprisingly, he was also pro-LGBT, which was really nice to find out.)

I wish I had recorded our conversation, because we were talking for like an hour and I wish I remembered all of what was said. Sadly, my memory isn't that good, though it's decent enough. I will report that talking to him felt like talking to an old friend, which is the best kind of conversation with a stranger to have.

Even though I am not Christian in any way, shape, or form - and I have no desire to ever be - I found my chat with Brother Angelo to be utterly fascinating and inspiring, and he invited me to come back and chat with him whenever I liked. I probably will take him up on that offer, too. Because I would befriend a monk. My life really is just that surreal.

-Nym-

I Heart Regina Spektor

This entry will be brief. I just wanted to make it known that two nights ago, on 17 October 2016, I saw one of my favourite singers live at NYC's Town Hall venue.

I am a massive Regina Spektor fan, and when I found out she would be performing in NYC I bought tickets right away. She did not disappoint.

First off, Regina Spektor is my queen. She could murder me and I would thank her for it. She is ridiculously talented and innovative, she regularly does things in her music that other artists wouldn't even think of, and she transcends genre. She's so versatile. Her songs don't all sound the same.

Now that all makes for fabulous albums, but how is she live? Turns out the answer to that is transcendent. She's transcendent. She's amazing live. She's so talented.

The concert could not have been more perfect. She played my two favourite songs of hers ("Blue Lips" and "Us"). She played the first song of hers that I ever heard ("Apres Moi" is the reason I'm a Regina Spektor fan). And of course she played songs from her new album!

It's phenomenally unlikely she'll ever see this. But Regina, if you ever do somehow see this? Thank you so much for one of the best concerts I've ever been to. Thank you so much for gifting the world with your music. I love you.

-Nym

A Visit to Coney Island

"The only thing about America that interests me is Coney Island" ~ Sigmund Freud.

Sorry for the radio silence on this blog lately. I've been without internet for the past few days thanks to a feline-related mishap. But in case anyone is curious, last Saturday I finally got to experience something I've wanted to do since I was like 10. Yes, last Saturday, Sarah and I hopped on the F-Train and rode it all the way to the last stop to visit Coney Island!

A Walking Tour of New Amsterdam

I really should have seen this coming. In any place that I've lived in - be it California or elsewhere - I start to get very interested in local history. I mean, I'm no stranger to New York's incredible volume of historical interest spots - my recent entries have mostly been about the American Revolution in New York City.

But lately, due to a current writing project (no spoilers), I've started to become interested in New York's history before the revolutionary era. Before Alexander Hamilton and his colleagues traipsed around this city's streets. Before he was even born, in fact. Before the British got their hands on this place at all...

Watercolour by Johannes Vingboons

I'm talking, of course, about New Amsterdam, which is what NYC was before it was NYC. That's right, the Dutch settled this area before the British! And while their 'purchase' of Manhattan Island from local Native Americans was rather infamously dubious (though at least they bought it instead of doing the British thing and just kicking the natives out or enslaving them), this city's oldest roots as a city are Dutch rather than British. Not a lot of that Dutch history remains - most of the original buildings are gone now, due to the fires set to the city during the Revolution - but it's still interesting to me.

And when I found out that this website offered a free self-guided walking tour of areas of interest to the Dutch history of NYC, I knew I had to take it.

A model of New Amsterdam, which spanned from what was then the southern border of Manhattan all the way to Wall Street.

Follow me under the cut to explore eight stops along the trail of what little is left of 17th Century New Amsterdam...

New Year, New Home!

First off, L'shanah tovah! Rosh Hashanah ("Jewish New Year" for all my goy friends) starts tonight!

Second off, I am no longer crashing on my cousin's couch or Sarah's floor - I got a place of my own! How did I do it, you ask? Here are my steps to finding a home of your own on the East Coast:

1. Schedule an apartment viewing in Queens. Go to it. Have the guy promise to call you back.
2. The guy never calls back? That's fine. Schedule another in Brooklyn.
3. They want you to sign a lease you're not comfortable with? It's okay. Brooklyn is huge. Try another one.
4. Too expensive, huh? Let's give Harlem a shot.
5. They picked someone else? Try a few more places in Brooklyn.
6. Rejected, rejected. Get stood up once. Try Harlem some more.
7. Rejected, rejected, rejected.
8. Break down. Cry. Then get back on Craigslist.
9. Give up and move to New Jersey instead.

I'm being somewhat facetious. Truth is, the place I found is in New Jersey. In fact, it's in Weehawken, just a short walk from where Alexander Hamilton was shot. My story begins where his ended. Poetic, isn't it?

But I don't feel as if I failed in any way. Actually, for how much shit New Yorkers give Jersey? I love it here. I love the house I'm staying in - it's an old (supposedly haunted) Victorian boarding house that has been converted to apartments. Sarah saw it and agrees it's perfect for me.

And as my boss said, "new year, new home!" It's a fitting time to move into such a lovely place. And it's actually really close to Manhattan - check out the view from the front porch:

A ten minute bus ride through the Lincoln Tunnel, and then I'm in the middle of Times Square. (I hate Times Square but it's a convenient transportation hub...) And, you know, I've always dreamed of someday living in a Victorian house. I just never expected it would happen at this point in my life.

Now, obviously, for privacy reasons I can't show you what the outside of the building looks like. Rest assured it is very cute. However I can give you a small home tour...

Exclusive Tour of Van Cortlandt House

On Monday, courtesy of the New York Adventure Club (which I of course joined as soon as I heard about it, even if I cannot afford to go to many of their events), I took part in an exclusive tour of the Van Cortlandt House, the oldest house in the Bronx and one of the oldest in NYC - it dates back to 1748!

Because this was an exclusive private tour for the club, we got to go behind gates and ropes and actually into the rooms (my history buff self was thrilled) as long as we promised not to touch anything, and everyone was super respectful and actually honoured that promise (my former tour guide self was more thrilled)! There was a lot to take in, so I took a lot of photos, but I will try not to overload this entry with them and only post a few of the many many photos that were taken. Hey, if you wanna see more of the house, plan a trip to the Bronx to see it, as it's really quite nice.

Nathan Hale Day

 Today is the 240th anniversary of the death by hanging of patriot spy Nathan Hale. And while I'm no stranger to doing private little memorials to the deaths of historical figures, I was pleasantly surprised to find that while Hale (whom I have written about on this blog before) isn't terribly well remembered back in California, here in New York every year a group called the Sons of the Revolution does a little commemoration for Hale every year on this day, which is officially Nathan Hale Day. Of course as soon as I found out about it, I knew I had to go, just for the chance of celebrating Hale with a group of people who respect the man as much as I do.

The event did not disappoint.

Nym's Guide to Colonial New York

To the shock of absolutely no one who has ever even glanced at this blog, I am a fan of early American history. We're talking the Colonial days, the American Revolution, and the years of the first few American presidents. There are entire posts on this blog devoted to me fangirling over Alexander Hamilton and Nathan Hale. And so it shouldn't be surprising that one of the things that excited me most about New York is that it dates back to Colonial times, and there's quite a bit here left over from the late 1700s. I mean, Alexander Hamilton lived here. I would know, I went to the man's house.

I think he and I may have had the same favourite colour.

I haven't made it to every single spot of New York with colonial significance - I have yet to visit Green-Wood cemetery, for example, where the Battle of Brooklyn took place. I also have a private tour of the Van Cortlandt Mansion planned (thank you New York Adventure Club!) and I'm going to a Nathan Hale memorial event on Thursday. But I have been to quite a few...

The American Museum of Natural History

 
I've dreamed of visiting this museum since I was, like, six. And on Monday I finally had the opportunity to go. I got there right as it opened, walked in, and lived my childhood dream...

I visited the American Museum of Natural History, the museum where I would most like to work someday.

(I took tons of pictures, you guys. It was so hard narrowing down which photos to use in this entry, there are at least 200 more that are just sitting on my phone.)

Lunch in New York with Alexander Hamilton

One of the most famous things about New York - and one of the things I've been enjoying the most - is its food scene. You can get some very expensive food here, but you can also get some very cheap food (my lunch today for example was a slice of pizza twice as big as my head, which cost me only $1). You can find any type of cuisine in the world - in my time here so far, I've had Italian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Japanese, Jamaican, and Ukrainian (at Veselka, a place I wanna go back to asap so I can do a blog entry about it!). And the best part is that no matter where you are in the city, there's usually at least one food cart nearby, so you never go hungry! I was reluctant to eat at one of these at first, since my mother always used to call them 'roach coaches', but god is it convenient, and they're actually usually really good!

Yesterday, for example, I had a job interview only two blocks away from the American Museum of Natural History (which is also gonna be a future blog entry) and afterwards, feeling peckish, I got a potato knish from a food cart and started wandering through Central Park, stopping to eat in the shade of a statue of Alexander Hamilton.

(I wish I could say it was a complete accident that I ended up at this particular statue but I will be honest with you guys - I was totally looking for it.)

It's a beautiful statue, you guys. It's carved entirely of white granite, and portrays Hamilton in his prime. The sculptor, Carl H. Conrads (of Hartford, CT if the little tiny inscription on the corner near where I sat is correct) really sculpted his jawline well. If that's a weird thing to notice, oh well, because I noticed it. The statue was gifted to the park by Hamilton's son, John C. Hamilton (the same guy who crossed out the words on that infamous Hamilton-Laurens letter where Hamilton is talking about his dick) in 1880.

I sat in the shade of that statue of my favourite founding father and ate my knish, people-watching for a bit. A father and son passed me by - the father murmuring to his son "he was a great man," presumably talking about Hamilton - and somewhere nearby, someone was playing live jazz music. And I was struck by how much what I was doing, in that moment, was such a uniquely New York experience. The food cart knish, a food probably originally brought to the city by immigrants... the jazz music, reminiscent of the twenties, one of New York's most shining decades... and Hamilton himself...

He doesn't have any really big monuments like the other founding fathers do. Washington has the Washington Monument and Mount Vernon, his face is on Mount Rushmore, and the entire U.S. capitol is named after him. Jefferson has the Jefferson Monument and Monticello, and he's also on Mount Rushmore. Benjamin Franklin has the Franklin National Memorial in Philadelphia. Even James Madison has the James Madison Memorial Building.

Alexander Hamilton doesn't have anything like that, but in a way, New York City is his monument. The hustle and bustle of the city's commerce is a fitting monument to how he shaped the nation's financial system. The city's rainbow quilt of every possible nationality is a memorial to his roots as an immigrant. His memory is all over this city, which is as fast paced as his incredible mind.

And I get to take part in it.

-Nym-

...Hello, New York!

It's taken me awhile to get time type this with how cuckoo-bananas the move has been (and also because the room I'm staying in for the week doesn't have wifi) but I've made it! I'm here! Living in New York City!

Good bye California...

via freeimages.com

In about 12 hours I will be stepping onto a plane and leaving California - perhaps not forever, but for what I hope is a very long time just because I wanna feel like my move has been successful.

It's... an odd feeling. It's been an odd week, saying good bye to all my friends and family and my cat (god am I going to miss that cat) and my job and places I have loved here in San Jose (like that little Korean restaurant down the street, or City Diner - honestly I feel like I've eaten out for most of my meals this week, and mostly it was other people paying for it). I'm really gonna miss it...

...but I actually find myself growing more and more excited for New York. I'm excited to be near Sarah again. I'm excited for all the museums I wanna visit. And I'm excited to start my job. (Oh, yeah, I got a part time dental reception job, though I'm still gonna keep looking because part time isn't gonna pay my rent.)

Still bummed about the cat though. She's on my lap as I type this and I can't quite come to terms with the fact that it might be the last time I'll have her in my lap.

The next you hear from me, I'll be in New York!
-Nym

It's Sarah Winchester's Death Day

Today I went back to work.

Okay, that's not entirely accurate. I leave California in 3 days. As much as I wish I could stay at Winchester, I can't. But I did have to turn in my uniform so I could get my uniform deposit back. And I figured I would do it today, because today is the 94th anniversary of Sarah Winchester's death.

Rest in peace, you wonderful tiny woman.

Sarah Winchester passed away on 5 September 1922, of heart failure, in the beautiful mansion where I worked for about a year and a half. We don't know her birthday, unfortunately, but she would have been in her early 80s. In tribute, every year on this day, the House's bell is rung 13 times at the 13th hour - 1 PM. (I filmed it too.)

Farewell, Winchester Mystery House

It's September now, and I need to start packing so I can move myself across the country. And that means saying good bye to my beloved job. I can't very well keep it; New York City to San Jose would be one hell of a commute. And so, with a heavy heart, I drove to work yesterday knowing that it would be my last day working in that "Beautiful but Bizarre™" place.

It's... difficult for me to express in words exactly how much this house means to me. It's become like my second home, with my coworkers like my second family and Sarah Winchester as our ghostly matriarch. I don't think anyone who's read my blog has any doubts that I loved working here, and leaving it was difficult.

Battle of the Homes: Winchester Versus Hearst!

One of the things I'm gonna miss a lot about being a tour guide at the Winchester Mystery House is the questions I get from guests. I've heard so many in the year and a half (well, just about a year and a half!) that I've worked here. Some are really intriguing - I have no idea how people come up with these things, but it really keeps me on my toes.

For example, on Saturday - my very last Saturday working at the mansion I've come to love so dearly - after one of my tours, two of my guests came up and asked me this:

"In today's real estate market, which would go for more money - this place, or Hearst Castle?"

(I'm paraphrasing, I don't remember their exact words, but that's the question.)

The Saturn Cafe and Antique Photos

I don't have a terrible amount of time yet in California. My last day of work is on Wednesday, and after that I have a week left before my flight. Though I don't have a lot of money, I'm trying to use the time I have left to say good bye to beloved places and to experience places I've always longed to try. One such beloved place is Santa Cruz, and one such place I longed to try was their Saturn Cafe in their downtown area. So a few days ago - last Wednesday in fact - a friend and I decided to make a day out of it so I could try that restaurant and say goodbye to Santa Cruz!

Okay, first off, the decor of the Saturn Cafe does not disappoint. Retro diners are kitschy by their very nature, and I adore them, to the point that if I ever did have a house of my own (not likely in New York!) I'd wanna theme the kitchen in that retro kitsch aesthetic. The Saturn Cafe, however? It takes that retro aesthetic and combines it with a kitsch take on outer space. The result is the greatest aesthetic for a place I've ever seen. Retro glitter black-and-pink space age madness is the look I want to achieve.

Things Are Starting to Come Together... Kind Of

via freeimages.com

As my move draws closer and closer, it begins to feel more and more real, to the point where my anxiety is at an all time high even though things are starting to kind of come together. (Basically, I go through my days feeling like I've just taken 8 shots of espresso.)

I don't really have anything permanent lined up yet, which I suppose is where the anxious feeling comes from. But I do have some job interviews and apartment viewings set up (finally!) and thanks to airbnb I at least have a couch to crash on until 15 September, which buys me a little bit of time to find an apartment.

My last day at my beloved California job is next Wednesday, 31 Aug. My bookshelf is becoming more and more empty as friends claim and take all the books I cannot bring with me. And this move feels more and more real by the second.

Now if only I could get my brain to calm the hell down.

-Nym-

6 East Coast Excursions I'd Like to Take

Image via Freeimages.com

(Putting this under my 'New York' tag even though only one of these is in New York)

As my move draws closer and closer, my emotions are kind of on a pendulum which is swinging steadily back and forth between 'excited and optimistic' and 'terrified out of my fucking mind'. I know that's normal.

But I want to hang on to the excited part, so I decided to list 6 trips that I'd like to take once I'm settled on the East Coast.

Top 5 Eras of History I'd Like to Visit

I expect absolutely no one to be surprised by the subject of this entry. It's something that even casual history fans have considered. If you had a time machine that miraculously gave you immunity to any illnesses of the past and the ability to understand the language of where/when you would visit, where would you go? What would you do? While it is hard for some to narrow it down, I tried to. Here are the top 5 eras of history I would like to visit, and what I would do there (in chronological order).

What's Going On In My Life

A recent entry in my journal

I don't expect this to be one of my more popular entries, but I figured for those who were curious I'd just give a quick update about things that are happening in my life right now...

• Sarah's last day at work was Monday, and she flies out of California tomorrow. She doesn't know yet if she plans to come back next summer or not. It's easier this year than it was last year, knowing I'll be with her in only a couple of weeks.
• My last day at work will be on 31 August. I cried when I gave my two weeks notice.
• I went out recently to the San Jose Museum of Art with a girl I met on OkCupid. (Yeah, I gave in and reactivated my account...) I had a great time and highly recommend the museum's current exhibit if you can get to it! And now I know I can meet people online in person and do well.
• Hung out in downtown Willow Glen with Sarah on Wednesday. We waited in line for an hour for an ice cream place called Icicles. It was good, but not 'wait for an hour' good. I expect this to happen to me at least once in New York.

•  Last night, I went to an early showing of "Kubo and the Two Strings". It far exceeded my expectations, and I cannot recommend it enough. Go see it!
• I've officially applied to every paying museum position that I qualify for in all five burroughs of New York City - including Staten Island! None of them have gotten back to me yet other than automated 'we got your resume' e-mails, but it took my current job a few weeks to contact me so I'm not too worried. My mother wants me to apply for some dental positions just in case.
• I've got a couple apartment viewings scheduled in Brooklyn so hopefully I can find a place to stay soon. If not, there's always AirBnb for the time being.
• Regina Spektor has a concert in New York in October and Sarah said she'd go with me. I hope tickets don't sell out before I get my next paycheck.

So that's my life lately
-Nym

Bright Young Things

Art by me

(For the best possible experience, put on a playlist of old jazz music. Or Postmodern Jukebox.)

New York City, 1926.

Happy Birthday Sarah!

I've been writing less lately simply because I've been so very stressed lately, between finding an apartment (not very successful so far), finding a job (less successful), and getting rid of most of my stuff (let's not even go there). So sometimes it's nice to have an excuse to just shove all that aside for a day and celebrate something. And yesterday I did just that. Because yesterday was Sarah's birthday.

Her family wanted to plan a surprise party for her, so I was recruited. I told Sarah on Saturday night that I was taking her out to lunch on Sunday, which wasn't technically a lie. And then yesterday, I picked her up, stalled for a while (we battled some gyms in Pokemon Go) until her mom sent the text that everyone was ready, and drove down to Downtown Willow Glen.

Coping Mechanisms For When I Get the Bad Feelings

As long as I'm being open about my experiences with mental illnesses, I figured I would go ahead and list some of my coping mechanisms for how to deal with depressive spells and anxiety attacks.

A spread from one of my journals

• Journaling. Nothing is as big a help to me as my journal is. I've been journaling for over a year now and I have no idea how I survived without it. My journals are a physical manifestation of what's going on in my brain at any given moment, and feeling like I'm creating something is a huge help!
• Calling a friend. It needs to be a phone call, not a text message, and it needs to be someone I trust enough to call when in that state. But sometimes what I really need is to hear a friendly voice.
• Watching documentaries about 19th-century immigration to New York. Don't ask why. I don't fully understand this myself. There's no reason for this to be so comforting to me, and yet sometimes sitting down and watching the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th episodes of PBS's "New York" documentary series is the only way I can help myself put things in perspective.
• Meditation.  I know it sounds cheesy but it really does help, the breathing techniques I've learned through meditation work wonders.
• My 'rainy day tag' on tumblr. My tumblr dashboard can be really bad when I get in a Mood, but when I'm not in a Mood and I see something that would help me, I'll reblog it with that tag. For me, it's mostly inspirational posts and cute animals, but if you have a tumblr or pinterest (a pinterest board would be fantastic for this purpose) it could be whatever helps you.
• Crafting. It's the same concept as the journaling, in that creating can be helpful. It helps to feel useful and it can be a good way to throw yourself into something and get rid of excess anxious energy.
• Playing Pokemon Go. I know, I know, it sounds dumb, but the game's system of hatching eggs and going to new places to catch new pokemon gives depressed individuals an incentive to pull themselves out of bed and going on a nice walk, which can be majorly helpful.
• Reading a childhood favourite book. When I was young, my favourite books were the Anne of Green Gables series. (The first three are in the public domain now so you can download them to an e-reader for free!) I still love the books to this day, I love the happy writing style, and Anne's ever-present optimism, even with all the trouble she gets herself into, is endearing. Bonus - it's also a historical series (it takes place in the Victorian and Edwardian eras). It's really nice to be able to escape the modern era sometimes. So sometimes I just need to put on some classical music, light a lavender scented candle, heat up some peppermint tea, and crack open Anne of the Island.

These are just some things that work for me. They may or may not work for you. If not, what are some things that have?
-Nym-

On Mental Illness and Suicidal Ideation

[SEVERE TRIGGER WARNING FOR TALKS OF SUICIDE]

Image credit: Freeimages

I don't write about it much because I don't want people to see me any differently and it's not the most pleasant of blog topics, but I also don't want people to get the idea that it's shameful or wrong so I'm just going to bite the bullet and come clean.

I am mentally ill. And sometimes that means I want to die.

Whatever Happened to Baby Starre?

This is a post about nostalgia more than it is about one person. I would just like to make that clear off the bat. One person was the catalyst that allowed me to think of this post, but this post isn't about her, not really.

Anyway.

This blog has been running for a little over half a year, but this is far from my first blog attempt. I have been blogging since 2004. Back then it was on xanga (does anyone remember xanga?) but once I found blogger/blogspot, I never turned back. (Okay I did flirt briefly with wordpress but we weren't compatible.) And one of my first successful blogger blogs (seriously, it got way more popular than I dreamed) was... a fashion blog! Shock and horror! Moreover, it was a pastel fashion blog! (I won't link to it here but it is still online for those who care to look for it.)

I know that must come as a surprise to anyone who knows me, since I tend to favour either casual goth or tomboyish outfits now, but back when I first became a legal adult I experimented in wearing all the frothy little girlish hyper feminine looks that my mother didn't let me wear as a kid. (She tried to dress me more ~sophisticated~ than my peers, which was really frustrating when all the other girls got to come to school in Disney princess pink concoctions.) I don't really regret it even if I would never dress like that now. I wore sweet lolita. I wore fairy kei. I wore hime lolita. And, though I couldn't ever afford it, I admired hime gyaru from afar.

And there was one blog that epitomised the idea of this hime fantasy brought to America. The enigmatic Starre Princess.

On (Lack of) Blog Type

"What do you like to do in your free time?"

This is the second most common question I get asked when meeting with new people. (The first being "What's your major?" - though now that I've graduated college I expect that to change.) My answer is always the same:

"I like to read and write."

"What do you write?" is usually the question that follows.

"Oh, you know," I'll say, "whatever. Short stories. Long stories. I like to blog."

"What type of blog?"

This is the question that always throws me. Why do I need to have a blog type? Does this blog even have a type? I would say it doesn't, and that's just how I like it.

I once tried to explain this concept to a well-meaning coworker. This isn't a fashion blog or a history blog or a travel blog (all blog types I've tried and failed at in the past). It's kind of just... whatever I feel like writing.

I've tried blogs that stay within one topic in the past and do you know what happens? I get bored of them. I can't hammer myself into a tiny hole for too long. It gets boring and exhausting. If I try to write only about history, what happens when I want to do an entry about aliens? About this cool restaurant I tried? About a short story I wrote?

"Ah," she replied. "A lifestyle blog."

I don't think that's entirely accurate, either. When I think of lifestyle blogs, I think of those typical white "bohemian" girl blogs where they post instagram-worthy shots of yoga positions and Starbucks drinks and manicures and write about how Coachella was just so inspiring you guys. Maybe that's not entirely fair but it's what I think of.

I don't think this blog is that. Or else where do my entries that aren't about my life fit in?

See, I don't think this blog needs a label. Moreover, I don't want one. I kind of like having a blog that defies labels. It's freeing.

If that's what my young coworker wants to call this blog, I won't stop her. Some entries do fit into that box. Not all of them. But some.

However, to me, this is just my blog. Not a lifestyle blog or a travel blog or a history blog. Just my blog. And that's enough.

-Nym-

How to Make Candles

Believe it or not, I actually can be a pretty crafty person when the mood strikes me. I consider myself to be a creative person. I write, I draw, I keep an artsy journal, I paint. But with the big move coming up, I haven't had much time or energy to devote to more extreme crafts. That, and I can't exactly try to make something huge when I'm in the process of getting rid of a bunch of stuff.

When the craft bug bites, though, sometimes there's little one can do but just make something.

Thus, candle making. Candle making is simple, and the end product is small and makes a great gift. I've done it before - the red one in the photo is a cinnamon/vanilla scented one from a few months ago. And when the crafting bug bit today, I made lavender candles! Why? Because I love lavender. It's one of my top favourite smells. It's calming, it's grounding, and yet it's magical and ethereal.

This time around, I took pictures every step of the way. So if you ever get the urge to craft, here's how I did it...

A (Not So) Serious Conspiracy Theory

I wanted to do this hot on the heels of my last post, about Marion "Daisy" Merriman, because this is kind of a follow up. And also, it's kind of not. This post is more about how the Winchester Mystery House came to be.

160 rooms. 40 bedrooms. 13 bathrooms. 6 kitchens. 3 elevators. Say what you want about the Winchester Mystery House, but you can't conceivably call it small. This mansion is ginormous, to the point where I still haven't seen every bit of it!

And part of the mystery is that we really have no idea why the house was built to be so big. Was Sarah Winchester building it to confuse spirits? Was she hoping to eventually move her whole family into the house? Did she just really like building? Was it conspicuous consumption?

Laura, a coworker of mine, offered (I assume jokingly) a different theory. A conspiracy theory, which I would like to submit for your consideration. Maybe... Sarah Winchester didn't exist! (Dun dun dunnnn!)

Will the Real Marion Merriman Please Stand Up?

Working at the world-famous Winchester Mystery House, I talk day in and day out about the lady of the house, Sarah Winchester. I love Mrs. Winchester. This blog has made it perfectly clear that I adore the old woman as if she were a member of my own family, and I know I'm not the only Winchester tour guide that feels that way.

But there was another lady of the house. According to our records, the daughter of Mrs. Winchester's younger sister Isabel came to live with her Aunt Sarah (or, as she probably called her, "Aunt Sallie") in 1890, and moved out sometime between 1903 and 1905 when she got married. (Though she and her husband may have stayed with Mrs. Winchester at later dates as well.) Her niece's full name was Marion Isabel Merriman (until she got married to a Mr. Marriott), but she often went by the nickname "Daisy".

And she fascinates me. I sense a "kindred spirit" in her, to borrow a phrase from a childhood favourite novel, Anne of Green Gables. She seems to have been a free spirit with a big heart. I like that, I like to think we would have been friends. I like to think she's the type of friend who would drive to your house at 1 AM for a spontaneous trip to IHOP.

I mean you don't pose in fountains for photos if you're not a free spirit.

But she is just as mysterious as her aunt. We don't know a lot about her. So I decided to try to gather, in one post, everything I know about Marion Isabel "Daisy" Merriman Marriott. As it seems to have been the nickname she preferred, I will be referring to her by the nickname "Daisy" for most of this entry.

Project: Wonderland (A Concept)

A few years back, over the summer I began to write a script of a webseries that was meant as a retelling of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (one of my favourite stories of all time, as long-time readers know), a personal psychological study, and a love letter to favourite spots in the Bay Area. Alice would meet the Mad Hatter at a local San Jose tea shop, for example, or the Cheshire Cat in Kelley Park, or the Mock Turtle down at Natural Bridges beach in Santa Cruz.

This scene would have taken place at the San Jose Rose Garden, for example

 It was a cool idea in theory. I still like the story I wrote for it. But let's be real, I was never going to make it. I have neither the time nor the funding to shoot a webseries, and where would I find other actors willing to trek up and down the San Francisco peninsula for 6-minute webisodes in funny costumes?

It was earlier this year that I begun to wonder if maybe, instead of something ambitious as a webseries, I turned it into a photography project? Instead of having to shoot and reshoot around tourists, I could snap photos and edit them in Photoshop? Art for art's sake, you know?

However, this still doesn't take care of the fact that I have neither time nor money to do so. I have equipment. I don't own a video camera or a boom mic or good editing software, but I own cameras and photoshop! But when I'm working to earn a living and saving for a cross-country move, I just can't afford to do a photography project all over Northern California.

So the solution that presented itself is obvious: If I ever do choose to do this (and that is a big IF), I'll have to do so in New York. Thus, I began the task of picking new locations to match the aesthetic I need...

(Photos included are either my own, or labeled for noncommercial reuse and used under creative commons license)

The Little Witch in the Big City

A Short Story 

Art by me

“A witch ought never to be frightened in the darkest forest, Granny Weatherwax had once told her, because she should be sure in her soul that the most terrifying thing in the forest was her.”~ Terry Pratchett

The little witch had grown up with that quote. She had lived by that quote, even graduating at the top of her class from Baba Yaga's Black Forest Academy for Young Witches. She had been so sure of how her life was going to go. Build a cottage deep in the forest, wait for young maidens and dashing heroes to come through looking for magical favours, commune with nature, paint with all the colours of the wind... it was just what was done.

So what, then, was she doing stepping off of a subway train in the middle of a large metropolis?

Thirteen Things I Still Need to do in California

This is a companion to the last post.

Where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars...

Those of you who know me in real life may remember that time I tried a project called 'The Bay Area Bucket List', meant to be a blog detailing my efforts to visit all the cool places in the Bay Area before leaving it, possibly forever if I may be overly dramatic for a second. It failed for a few reasons. Not least of which being that I just don't like Wordpress that much. (I know a lot of bloggers prefer it but there's a reason I moved back to this blogging platform, which suits my needs much better!) Other reasons included lack of money, lack of free time, and the fact that writing the same type of entry over and over is exhausting and not particularly rewarding.

But that doesn't me that the 'bucket list' itself doesn't still exist. I still have the list of all the things I had hoped to do, and I've picked out the 13 I want to do most. (Though the last two, being so far away, will probably not be done before I leave. Oh well. I can dream.)

Just like the last list, there's no particular order to this list. Just like the last list, these are all stock photos or labeled for noncommercial reuse.

Thirteen Things I'm Looking Forward To in New York

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of...

 I am so glad I pushed my flight back from 26 July to 8 September, because let me tell you, the quicker 26 July approaches, the more I realise that I am completely starting to freak out.

But I also (at least at times) believe in the power of positive thinking. Granted, ~*~positivity~*~ is not going to cure my depression or anxiety or PTSD or anything like that. However, I think it's high time I remind myself that New York City isn't just there to terrify the shit out of me. There are a lot of cool things I'm really looking forward to seeing!

So I decided to list here, in no particular order, 13 of them. Why 13? Well, why not? And I promise that not all of these are going to be museums. (Although a great many of them are. It is me, after all.)

(All photos included are free stock photos in the public domain)

That Time I Filled Out the Proust Questionnaire

I was looking through my old journals trying to find a recipe when I found an entry from last December where I filled out the Proust Questionnaire. 

Because why not, right?

If you're curious, read on, friends!

Venting About my New York Panic

This is going to be a not-entirely-coherent vent post because I feel like I just need to get it out.

I've been wondering lately if perhaps I really am just fucking insane, going over to New York City with nothing but a couple thousand dollars and a bachelor's degree. I know a lot of people are successful with far less than that in NYC, but as my flight date draws closer and begins to feel real I'm starting to get very anxious. What if my anxiety is right and I am destined for failure? I had a rather severe anxiety attack about it the other night, in fact, set off by the fact that SJSU has not mailed me my degree yet even though it's posted to my transcripts. (A friend told me 'since the original premise is wrong, the rest of that is wrong too' which was sweet and helpful of him to say, but the anxiety is still there.)

Don't get me wrong, I'm still gonna go. I feel like I have to do this. I have something to prove to myself. I don't know what but all signs I've gotten have pointed towards needing to do this. That doesn't mean I'm not secretly scared out of my fucking mind, though. I'm going over to something completely unknown - of course it's scary. Not knowing things is terrifying. Once I'm there I think I'll be okay but the not knowing is the worst!

Confessions of a Fake Pokemon Fan

So I, like most of the population, have been playing "Pokemon Go" pretty much non-stop since I downloaded it.

Look at this smug fucker I found in the stables at work

Here's the thing, though. I was never a Pokemon kid. I was very stubbornly a Sailor Moon kid, I was never interested in Pokemon. I wasn't even going to download the game until one of my friends pointed out that most of the Pokestops are areas of historical interest and sometimes have interesting little educational blurbs. And yet, despite my initial skepticism... I love it.

I am a 'fake pokemon fan' having the time of my life with a game that I know none of the backstory of.

My Recent San Francisco Vacation

Recently (on the 5th, 6th, and 7th - I've been in a post-vacation exhaustion haze since then) I took a vacation to San Francisco, meant to be kind of a last good bye to one of my favourite cities. New York may have my educational opportunities but San Francisco will always have my heart, and I could think of no better way to celebrate my graduation/leaving California than to go do things in the city by the bay. (Though honestly I hope to go back at least once more before I leave it for good.)

My itinerary was meant to be a combination of things that I already know I love to do and things I'd always wanted to see, and all in all it was practically perfect.