Ballston, Virginia, September 2016
This is the major professional and commercial area of Ballston, an affluent section of Arlington, Virginia. These were taken near the Virginia Square Metro Station; just north of George Mason University. (Do college students eat frequently at these upscale cages and gourmet delis? When I was going to school in Fredericksburg, we splurged when we went to Olive Garden after a formal.)
Also just a few blocks away is the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Paul Emile Chabas’ “La Marchande de Reves,” 1897
“The Dream Seller.”
The Bees Are (Still) Dead
If you’re in the mood for some excellent apocalyptic or dystopian reading, then do remember to stop over at The Bees Are Dead. We recently have been fortunate for the opportunity to share dark visions from poets throughout the world, including Edilson A. Ferreira, Jason Ramsey, Jonathan May, Jonel Abellanosa, Andres Rodriguez, Marianne Szlyk, Stela Xega and Scott Thomas Outlar.
I myself am especially partial to May’s outstanding poem, “The Wolves;” its imagery is both nightmarishly vivid and expertly rendered. You can find it right here:
And be sure to peruse the poetry, short stories and photography by all of our contributors.
Photo credit: By John Charles Dollman – Guerber, H. A. (Hélène Adeline) (1909). Myths of the Norsemen from the Eddas and Sagas. London : Harrap. This illustration facing page 8. Digitized by the Internet Archive and available from http://www.archive.org/details/mythsofthenorsem00gueruoft Some simple image processing by User:Haukurth, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4722868
Ingrid Bergman in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” 1941
Warrenton, Virginia, Labor Day Weekend 2016 (3)
All The Pretty Horses! (That’s a James Patterson reference, by the way.)
This pretty girl took a shine to me instantly. (I was surprised, as I thought horses were generally shy around strangers.) I wanted so badly to pet her, but I elected not to cross onto this person’s property in order to do so. I am told Southern people take certain things very seriously — and two of them are property lines and Second Amendment rights.
This eastern rat snake (or northern black racer?) elected to join our party, or he at least ventured near it, where he was expertly plucked up by one of our group. (You’ve got to lift them from just behind the head, so that they cannot bite you.)
Forget that narrow-fellow-in-the-grass bull@#$% you heard; this mamajama was KAIJU.
Watching “Captain America: Winter Soldier” on the big screen on the side of a barn! And then “Civil War!”
Tinypup!!
Warrenton, Virginia, Labor Day Weekend 2016 (2)
FutureMacNuggets!!
One of these chickens is an enterprising bird that my friend and her family have dubbed “Adventure Chicken,” as she frequently escapes the enclosure. Adventure Chicken actually stuck her head in my tent when I wasn’t looking.
Cover to “Exit Sherlock Holmes,” 1979
Art by Jordi Penalva, for the excellent novel by Robert Lee Hall.
Fresco, St. Charles Church, Vienna.
Photo credit: By C. Cossa (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 at (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/at/deed.en)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
Warrenton, Virginia, Labor Day Weekend, 2016
Camp Nolan II. The anti-bobcat bat is inside beside my bed.
The soda-holding flamingo.
This pretty lady and I became fast friends.
She even wanted to become my bunk-mate!
A homely locust.
CVS is selling Halloween decorations already. But it’s okay, because some of them are damned cool. This is a rat skeleton I purchased. Then a trio of us placed it inside a certain Mary Wash alum’s tent at night, with a glow-stick inside its ribcage.
The results were somewhat lackluster, as you can see below. Our host however, ensured he received his a proper scare this weekend by firing off a starting pistol while he napped.
Flora.
“PET ME,” says the Puppy!
A butterfly joined our group for quite a while. The trick to attracting them, apparently, is organic tomato sauce.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 