(Divider by @saradika )

Two.

I walk into the little Historic Downtown Irvington shop on Washington Street that used to be the ice cream shop that sold bubble tea. I see the new owner has rebranded it as a 1950s-themed nostalgia diner. The bubble tea options and anime keepsakes are gone, but the ice cream counter remains, as do about a dozen shiny, chrome milkshake blenders.

The brightly lit Wurlitzer jukebox in the corner plays "Drugstore Rock'N'Roll" by Janis Martin. The cheerful song paints the perfect picture of midcentury innocence.*

At one high table sits Edgar Allan Poe. His dark brown suit fits him well, although the foot that dangles from the long-legged chair has an untied shoelace. Catching me in his blue-eyed gaze, he says, "This was her favorite place."

I'm confused. He died in the 1840s, over a century before the trope of the '50s malt shop emerged.

"I'm sorry?" I say. " 'She' is --?"

"Was," he corrects me. "She was my Annabel Lee."

I shake my head as I take the seat across from him. He offers me a sip of his milkshake, turning the straw toward me. I know I shouldn't, but I indulge myself in a sweet sip of Poe's chocolate malt.

I then continue, "This couldn't have been her favorite place; that's a line from that MC Lars song, 'Annabel Lee R.I.P.'"

He shrugs. Poe looks sad and beautiful but not morose. Despite his Gothic reputation, there's nothing gloomy or goth about him. He's every bit the Southern gentleman, gracious and effortlessly charming. I want to touch his dark hair where it starts to curl, just behind his ear.

I excuse myself to use the restroom. In the mirror, my eyes are less green and much more hazel than usual. Am I Christian Bale? No, I'm Augustus Landor. My clothes are careworn and I want to go back to my cottage.

Well, perhaps one more sip of Poe's chocolate malt first.

*The song is about a drugstore. The former drugstore with the soda fountain, the one robbed by John Dillinger, is up the block a bit and on the other side of the street, across from the present-day library.

Absolutely out there theory - I know that Rhonda said that the guidance counselor’s name was Mr. Manfredo and that he died in prison after murdering her, but I just can’t help but feel like Mr. Martin seems very like. Uniquely set up to be the guidance counselor? 

Rhonda would have died in the 1960s, and Mr. Martin seems like he died at around the same time, and is acting as the group’s counselor. Maddie heard vaguely about Wally, and I think the band kids, but she didn’t know about a murder in the school - even if it was a long time ago, I feel like "guidance counselor murdered a student here” is something that comes up once in a blue moon (the way an accident, like Charlie’s death, wouldn’t). They both seem to be the oldest ghosts there (so far) and Rhonda kept calling her guidance counselor “Mr. M” and Mr. Martin tries to steer the conversation from Mr. M whenever Rhonda brings it up. He even kind of looks like the photo that we see, though it’s super blurry. What if they both died together, it was deemed an accident, and Rhonda tells Maddie what she wished would have happened? Or he and her have this deal to not tell the support group - we already know Rhonda is willing to keep secrets like Maddie’s, even if she doesn’t love to do so, so she could be calling him Mr. Martin and keep her stories limited to “Mr. M”, knowing the ghosts aren’t going to be questioning this story, because why would they? Even if it’s not him, I think there’s some definite parallels - Rhonda says that Mr. M was comforting and supportive until the moment she actually got accepted. Like @deadlydelicious said here there’s something so off about him and he may be trying to use the group, or there’s probably a deeper story with Janet, or what his actual goal is with support group, or how he’ll feel when he realizes Maddie can speak to a living person. 

There’s just something incredibly sketchy to Mr. Martin in general and the Mr. M thing feels like it’s going to lead up to something important with him, whether it be a direct parallel or a reveal.

Some doodles :D

'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom' (2023) film

-watched 3/18/2024- 2 [3/4] stars- on Max

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) Review

Black Manta seeks revenge on Aquaman for the death of his father, attempting to locate the Lost Kingdom and wielding the Black Trident to have unstoppable power. To defend Atlantis and the world he must for an alliance with his imprisoned brother Orm. ⭐️⭐️ Continue reading Untitled

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Bad movie I have Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom 2023

NEM Double Exposure 48 - Curated by Merih Soylu

FEATURED WORKS BY: Thompson Kinder, Leah Chossid, Martín Liebkos, Linda Davis, Ceyhun Özener, Maria Bastos, Janis Brandenburg Lee, Brian Purnell, Laurence Brugerie.

Ardiendo por la pasión (Iris 3) - Dylan Martins & Janis Sandgrouse (2023)

En ocasiones, el miedo a perder a aquellos que amamos nos paraliza, nos rompe como al más fino cristal, haciendo que nuestra vida se convierta en un millón de pedacitos. El pasado se resiste a marcharse, a retirarse cual perdedor en el campo de batalla, y tras el peor de los sucesos en la vida de Iris, nuestra protagonista tendrá que aferrarse de nuevo a esas fuerzas que, aunque en ocasiones…

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JOEL'S MIX ▶ songs i could see joel listening to pre-outbreak | template

"Really, dad?" "C'mon, Sarah, this is a classic." "Classic is just code for 'old'." "You call Loretta Lynn 'old' in this house again n'you see what happens to you."

track list under the cut:

insignificance - pearl jam

gold dust woman - fleetwood mac

alone and forsaken - hank williams

down in a hole - alice in chains

flowers on the wall - the statler brothers

given to fly - pearl jam

blue bayou - linda ronstadt

rain on the scarecrow - john mellencamp

oh well (pt. 1) - fleetwood mac

coal miner's daughter - loretta lynn

a horse with no name - america, george martin

luckenbach, texas - waylon jennings, willie nelson

me and bobby mcgee - janis joplin

a boy named sue - johnny cash

i am mine - pearl jam

bad moon rising - creedence clearwater revival

when someone wants to leave - dolly parton

american remains - the highwaymen

cherry bomb - john mellencamp

folsom prison blues - johnny cash

blue eyes crying in the rain - willie nelson

indifference - pearl jam

Costume Appreciation

House of the Dragon (2022-) cr. Ryan Condal and George R.R. Martin

Character: Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy)

Costume Designer: Jany Temime

Today In History

Odetta Holmes is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and a civil rights activist, often referred to as “The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement,” who was born on this date December 31, 1930 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Odetta musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals. An important figure in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, she influenced many of the key figures of the folk-revival of that time, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, and Janis Joplin.

Rosa Parks was her No. 1 fan, and Martin Luther King Jr. called her the queen of American folk music.

CARTER™️ Magazine

Janis Martin

Obesity: The Science, Culture, and Politics of Fatness in America 

In Fall 2023, students enrolled in Dr. Margot Finn's course on the science, culture, and politics of obesity worked in groups to research and write captions for food history materials.

Most of these items were from the Special Collections Research Center's Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive.

These were featured on the Shapiro Library Screens in Bert's Study Lounge.

M. L. Holbrook, Eating for Strength (New York, M. L. Holbrook & co. [c1888]). Library of Congress. 

The 1888 edition of Eating for Strength, a popular 19th century work on diet written by Martin Luther Holbrook approaches food in a scientific manner, outlining the dietary needs of various classes of people and looking at the healthfulness of various foods. This book includes information about food and diet in relation to health and work, together with several hundred recipes for different foods and drinks. All of these tables illustrate the protein, carbohydrate, and fat content of some of the most common foods that characterized the diets of that era. This underscores how even over 100 years ago, these three macronutrients were seen as important to monitor in order to curb obesity.

Keeping Your Weight Down (Westfield, N.Y. : Welch Grape Juice Co., [1921?]). Janie Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive.

Published by Welch Juice Company in 1921, this recipe book called Keeping Your Weight Down suggests that Welch's Grape Juice can aid in weight maintenance, and emphasizes its importance in influencing desired health benefits with their beverage. The monochrome-purple book cover showcases an idealized “thin” model covered in loose night clothing, examining a weight scale. Inside, “Pudding and Desserts” recipes are listed in sections with the usage of Welch brand ingredients. Framing grapes as dessert, often eliminated in dieting practices, allows for the luxury of sweets within the strictures of losing weight.

Ruth West, Stop Dieting! Start Losing! (New York : E.P. Dutton & Company, Inc., 1956.). Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive. 

Although Ruth West’s Stop Dieting! Start Losing! was a dieting recipe book published in 1956, the artifact has a startling resemblance to modern attitudes about weight, despite the huge body of research conducted on obesity since this time. Today, It’s easy to laugh at slogans like “how to lose 2 to 3 pounds a week” and “16 foods for sex appeal and vitality,” but how different are these claims from those we hear today from diet magazines, social media and even our own medical professionals? Is the rigor of evidence from then to now all that different? 

Read more!

Remembering Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta on the day of her birth, singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and a civil and human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals. An important figure in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, she influenced many of the key figures of the folk-revival of that time, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, and Janis Joplin. Time magazine included her recording of "Take This Hammer" on its list of the 100 Greatest Popular Songs, stating that "Rosa Parks was her No. 1 fan, and Martin Luther King Jr. called her the queen of American folk music." R.I.P.