#Gertie on Tour

[tomoleary]

Winsor McCay “Gertie on Tour” art for an abandoned sequel to Gertie the Dinosaur (c. 1921) Source

While producing Little Nemo in Slumberland from 1905 to 1927, Winsor McCay created Gertie the Dinosaur in 1914.

“There are two surviving drawings from McCay exploring his initial ideas for the film, showing that the ‘on tour’ part of the film would be Gertie interacting with well-known American landmarks. She uses the Brooklyn Bridge as a trampoline, but is not very good at it so she and the cars are bounced into the river. In the other drawing, she picks up the Washington Monument, rather like the way she uproots the tree in Gertie the Dinosaurus, but thinks better of it and puts it back.”

[hee-blee-art]

part 3 of the new postman — time to go see the city!

[ <- part 2 ] [ directory ] [ part 4 -> ]

[ID: Two greyscale comic pages of a cartoony toyland.

Basil, a black and white cat marionette, is talking to Sir Alfred, a nutcracker doll. Basil hands Alfred an envelope with Alfred’s name written on it in cursive. 

A: Oh! This is Gertie’s handwriting… 

[Alfred opens and reads the letter:

Dear Sir Alfred,

I am running off with a charming young lad I met at Bingo. His name is Francois and he’s made of the smoothest plastic I’ve ever felt. Seriously, I can’t keep my paws off him. Anyway, we’re off to the sea. Please let the folk know and orientate my replacement. The postal service should send one along promptly.

Best wishes, 

Postwoman Gertie ]

A: Ah, I… see… well I guess that clears that up then. Huh.

B: Something wrong?

A: No, no, it seems all is well, it’s just… well, Gertie’s been the postwoman for Toyhouse Corners for as long as I can remember. I’ll miss her. But! No use ruminating on what can’t be changed. Gertie’s letter requested I orientate her replacement, so I suppose I’ll be giving you the grand tour!

B: [hesitant] Ah… goodie…

A: This way, New Postman Basil! I suppose we’ll start on Main Street.

end ID.]

[fangirlingfromdownunder]

Comfort in the Bunker

Summary - Part 46 in the Comfort series

Pairing - Dean Winchester x Reader, Reader x Sam (platonic), Reader x Bobby (father-figure), Andre (OG Character) x Reader (best friends), Garth x Bess

Series Masterlist | Masterlist

A/N: In case I haven’t been saying it enough lately, I just wanted to let you guys know how much I appreciate you all: all your likes, comments, reblogs and even if you’re a silent supporter I appreciate you all the same. You guys constantly remind me why I love writing so much. So, thank you so much! I hope you enjoy this week’s chapter. 

You spend a few more quiet days with Garth and Bess observing and getting tips to help keep Destiny on the right path and give her everything she needs to thrive. At Destiny’s request, you end up getting a blow-up mattress for her to sleep on the floor in the guest room with you and Dean. That had cemented in your mind that she was coming home with you. You can tell Dean’s still unsure and nervous about it all, but he’s trying his hardest for you and the more real it becomes the more he gets on board. Over the past few days, he’s tried to talk to her more and make her feel more comfortable around him. He even took her for a drive, just the two of them, so he could properly apologise for her father and start to make amends. And all of it has just made you love him even more. You couldn’t be more sure that he’s the one for you and glad that you married him amidst the chaos. 

Feeling more confident and prepared to take this massive step you and Dean start packing your bags and the Impala. After a lengthy discussion and lots of back and forth between the two of you, you finally agreed that for now you would just go back to the bunker and help her settle. You will help her decorate and set up a room of her own beside yours. You also agreed that it would be best to home-school her for now until she’s settled and you settle on a place to live more permanently. Rather than risking overwhelming her or forcing her to bounce around schools like Sam and Dean did. 

You fold your clean clothes back into your bags as you watch Dean struggle to deflate the mattress. Once he finally gets most of the air out and rolls it most of the way up, he sits on it to keep it in place and shut the valves. He then wrestles it back into the carry bag it came in. It’s quite the show, you can’t help but laugh at his struggle, feeling a bit guilty despite him refusing your help multiple times, causing you to roll your eyes at the strong hunter trying to show off. Once it’s finally secured in the bag he takes it and your bags down to the car. 

You say your goodbyes to Garth, Bess and Gertie, thanking them for all their hospitality and guidance and promising to come back and visit soon so the girls can have another play date. You hug each of them and then pile into the car. Destiny snuggles up on the backseat for the long drive while you and Dean sit in the front listening to his classic rock. So many words have been shared between each of you over the past few days that it’s nice to just enjoy the quiet. 

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

It’s dark by the time you finally pull into the Bunker’s garage. Sam comes out to greet you all. You help Destiny out of the back and go to introduce her to him but she hides behind your legs from the giant man. 

You pick her up, place her on your hip and smile at her. “It’s alright. I know he’s big but he’s not scary. This is Dean’s brother, Sam.”

She glances at him shyly and then hides her face in your shoulder. 

“It’s alright. Take your time,” he says softly while backing away.

You mouth “thank you,” at him and he nods.

He helps Dean unload the bags from the car while you take her around for a small tour, sticking to just the essential rooms: kitchen, bathroom, Dean Cave, and bedrooms. She seems very overwhelmed, understandably, so you take a seat on your bed with her in your lap.

“You can stay in here with us tonight. We’ll look at setting up your room next door tomorrow. How does that sound?”

She nods. “But I wanna stay with you.”

“You can stay with us until you feel safer. But we’ll always be right here. Just a wall away.”

“Thank you,” she says.

“Come on, you must be hungry. Let’s go see if Sam picked up any food.” You take her hand and lead her back to the kitchen. You help her up onto one of the tall stools while you go to check the fridge. Sure enough, Sam got everything you asked. You pull out a packet of cow hearts and serve one onto a plate and place it in front of Destiny. She goes to pick it up but it’s very cold. You notice her hesitation as you seal and place the packet back in the fridge. “Too cold?” you ask.

She nods, “a little. I’ll just wait.”

“Alright. Just let me whip up a sandwich and then I’ll join you.”

“Okay,” she says as she watches you move around the kitchen.

You make two PB&Js knowing that if you have one Dean will eventually find his way in here and want one too, and if not then you can just take it to him once you’re done. You join Destiny at the small metal table. She tests her meal again, the chill is ever so slightly less so she takes a small bite. The oosing of the blood from the vessel as she bites into it is something that will take a lot of getting used to. Even after days with Garth and Bess, it still puts you off. But you mask your reaction by biting into your bread. Minutes later, as expected, Dean strolls in and joins you. You slide the second sandwich across to him. He smiles before taking a massive bite. You smile back as you watch him and then Destiny. You think about how you could get used to this little family. It’s far from the nuclear family, but it’s yours, nothing’s been normal in your life so far, why would you start now.

After swallowing his mouthful of bread Dean says, “How’s your organ, kid?”

Slowly learning table manners from the frequent sit down meals we’ve shared recently, she swallows and then replies, “Good. I wanna thank Sam,” she looks down before shyly adding, “but I’m scared.”

You open your mouth to speak but Dean beats you. “Want me to come with you? He might look like a big scary moose, but really he’s just a big sap.”

“Can you?” she asks.

“Sure! Finish eating and then we can go.”

You all finish eating in relative silence and then you start to collect the plates. You hand Destiny and Dean a napkin each as they’re just as messy as each other, the only difference is that the red smeared across Dean’s face is a little sweeter and yet Destiny wears hers better. It’s much more acceptable for a child to make such a mess than it is for a man in his mid-thirties. You shake your head at them both as they clean up. After placing the dirty plates in the sink you come back and help make sure they’re both food-stain-free. Once you give them both a thumbs up Dean helps Destiny off the chair and leads her down the hall in search of Sam. You hang back to tidy up the ingredients and clean the plates.

Once the kitchen is clean you head back to your room to unpack your and Dean’s bags. His being overful from when he tried to leave. The room seems so bare without his usual decorations, although you hesitate at the though of putting all of them back. You put the framed photo of the two of you back on his bedside table and put his clothes back in their respective homes, but your opt to leave the weapons in the bag. You figure he can display them in the shooting range instead to keep your room more child-friendly. You then turn to your own bag with your new purchases, most of which still haven’t been washed. So, you take the remaining dirty clothes to the laundry. The whole process feels so domestic. Your child-self would never believe that you feel comfortable taking on this role, but now you would happily take on the role of a stay-at-home mother to keep things flowing smoothly and do right by that little girl and your husband. 

You dump the clothes in the machine along with a detergent pod and then turn it on. You set a timer on your phone to remind you to come and switch them to the dryer and then go out in search of your family, Sam included, his is officially your brother-in-law now afterall. 

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

Tag list: (Leave a like or comment on this post or let me know below if you want to be added to the tag list for this series)

@bitchwitch1981, @muhahaha303, @justrealizedimmascifygurl, @mcdowell-123, @leigh70, @marvelsmarauder, @losa12308, @tapedeck-hearts, @luvjaida, @peachtxa, @ambearsstuff, @shadow-of-a-cloud, @slut-for-buck, @iprobablyshipit91, @sassy-pelican, @fallenlilangel99, @heavenlyhopeful0, @nelachu2423, @ladysparkles78, @canyouimaginethatstory, @mrlonelycat

[you-should-care-about-animation]

April 2024 (1/2)

Blackbird - Norman McLaren (1958), Canon - Grant Munro & Norman McLaren (1964), Mosaic - Evelyn Lambart & Norman McLaren (1965), Blinkity Blank - Norman McLaren (1955), Neighbours - Norman McLaren (1952), La poulette grise - Norman McLaren (1947), A Chairy Tale - Claude Jutra, Norman McLaren (1957), Begone Dull Care - Evelyn Lambart & Norman McLaren (1949), Dots - Norman McLaren (1940), Rythmetic - Evelyn Lambart & Norman McLaren (1956), Opening Speech - Norman McLaren (1961), Hen Hop - Norman McLaren (1942), The Centaurs - Winsor McCay (1921), Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: Bug Vaudeville - Winsor McCay (1921), Flip’s Circus - Winsor McCay (1921), Gertie on Tour - Winsor McCay (1921), Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: The Flying House - Winsor McCay (1921), Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: The Pet - Winsor McCay (1921), How a Mosquito Operates - Winsor McCay (1912), Gertie the Dinosaur - Winsor McCay (1914), Little Nemo - Winsor McCay & J. Stuart Blackton (1911), The Sinking of the Lusitania - Winsor McCay (1918), The Little Mole as a Painter - Zdeněk Miler (1972), Remembering Winsor McCay - John Canemaker (1976), So Long - Joanna Lurie (2012), The Table - Eugène Boitsov (2016), Grey Noise - Stéphane Aubier & Vincent Patar (2016), Two Snails Set Off - Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Romain Segaud (2016), Bāhubali: The Beginning - S. S. Rajamouli (2015), Bāhubali 2: The Conclusion - S. S. Rajamouli (2017)

[marvelann]

So I spent the day walking around Dublin doing Ulysses' tours and generally following Leopold Bloom's footsteps

(I'm sorry but my daddy issues aren't severe enough to give a shit about Stephen Dedalus)

Ended up going to the Sandymount Strand on my own (it wasn't part of any tour as far as I saw, maybe because it's a bit far?). It's the place where Leopold masturbates watching Gerty while Gerty fantasizes about being the heroine of a romantic novel. My favourite chapter tbh.

Anyway. I love you, Leo, but this has to be the least erotic place I've been to in this city

[e-m-p-error]

Ostello And Family

Oscar Lawrence was born to Ruth and Timothy Lawrence in 1899. On December 25th, 1910, Timothy died in the line of duty as a firefighter. This left Ruth to raise her son and navigate a blossoming romance with Marty Nichols, a friend of the family. While he never harbored any bad feelings for Marty, he never did grow to see him as his father.

When he was 20 (August 3rd, 1919), he met 17 year-old Olivia Fairchild at a church choir meeting, who became almost instantly infatuated with him. He was not really looking for a relationship, but his mother insisted that he try dating, and Olivia was earnest about gaining his affections. They married in July of 1921, just a few short months after Oscar became a famous pop-jazz singer.

When Oscar was 33 and Olivia was 28 (March 15th, 1932), they welcomed Gertrude Rose Lawrence into the world. His one-sided emotional affair with Alastor (@ritzy-cervidae) was what prompted her middle name to be rose, as those were his favorite flowers. It was his crush on Alastor that spurred the making of Gertie in the first place.

He was an absentee father, touring and doing movie shoots in Hollywood a lot of the time while his wife and daughter remained in Nebraska. In the long run, he was a better father to Shirley Temple than he was to his actual daughter. He knew her so little that he didn't remember her full name was Gertrude and not Gertie.

After falling into Hell when he died of a combination of liver failure and a heart attack at 45 (May 3rd, 1944), Ostello sunk into his work. He did not date from 1944-1972, until he met Valentino at one of his infamous parties. He was instantly infatuated and they married two months later. While he wanted a child with Valentino, it never actually happened for them.

[calturnerreviews]

#BlogTour – #BookReview of #CloseKnit by Jenny Colgan @jennycolganbooks @hodderbooks 

I’m delighted to welcome you today to my stop on the blog tour for lovely feel good novel Close Knit by much loved author Jenny Colgan. Thank you to Alainna from Hodder & Stoughton for giving me the opportunity to read and review this heartwarming and memorable tale. About the book: Everyone knows her life story.But who will win her heart?Gertie has always had her head in the clouds, wondering…

[dollycas]

Sorry, Knot Sorry (An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery) by Lois Winston #Spotlight #Giveaway - Great Escapes Book Tour

It is my pleasure to shine the spotlight on Sorry, Knot Sorry (An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery) by Lois Winston today! About Sorry, Not Sorry Sorry, Knot Sorry (An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery) Cozy Mystery 13th in Series Setting - New Jersey and New York City Independently Published (June 4, 2024) Print length ‏ : ‎ 300 pages Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CXTY8D76 Magazine crafts editor Anastasia Pollack may finally be able to pay off the remaining debt she found herself saddled with when her duplicitous first husband dropped dead in a Las Vegas casino. But as Anastasia has discovered, nothing in her life is ever straightforward. Strings are always attached. Thanks to the success of an unauthorized true crime podcast, a television production company wants to option her life—warts and all—as a reluctant amateur sleuth. Is such exposure worth a clean financial slate? Anastasia isn’t sure, but at the same time, rumors are flying about layoffs at the office. Whether she wants national exposure or not, Anastasia may be forced to sign on the dotted line to keep from standing in the unemployment line. But the dead bodies keep coming, and they’re not in the script. Craft tips included. About Lois Winston USA Today and Amazon bestselling author Lois Winston began her award-winning writing career in 2006 with Talk Gertie to Me, a humorous novel about a small-town girl in Manhattan and the mother bent on bringing her home. That was followed by the romantic suspense Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception. Lois wrote her first mystery thanks to a conversation between her agent and an editor looking for a crafting-themed cozy series. Thus, was born the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, which Kirkus Reviews dubbed, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” The series now includes thirteen novels and three novellas. To date Lois has published twenty-two novels, five novellas, several short stories, one children’s chapter book, and one nonfiction book on writing, inspired by the twelve years she worked as an associate at a literary agency. Learn more about Lois and her books at http://www.loiswinston.com. Author Links Website    Newsletter sign-up    Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog    Booklover’s Bench blog    The Stiletto Gang blog     Goodreads    Bookbub Purchase Links  Amazon   Kobo     Nook    Apple Books Amazon Paperback and Hardcover  Also written by Lois Winston Find All of Lois Winston's books Here.  TOUR PARTICIPANTS - Please visit all the stops.  June 10 – Maureen's Musings – SPOTLIGHT June 10 – Sapphyria's Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT June 11 – Mystery, Thrillers, and Suspense – SPOTLIGHT June 12 – Jane Reads – AUTHOR GUEST POST   June 13 – Christy's Cozy Corners – CHARACTER GUEST POST June 14 – Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic – CRAFT POST June 15 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST June 16 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT June 17 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT June 18 – Elizabeth McKenna - Author – SPOTLIGHT June 19 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT June 19 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT June 20 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT June 20 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT June 21 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER GUEST POST June 22 – Boys' Mom Reads! – AUTHOR GUEST POST June 22 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT June 23 – eBook Addicts – SPOTLIGHT a Rafflecopter giveaway Have you signed up to be a Tour Host? Click Here to Find Details and Sign Up Today! Want to Book a Tour? Click Here Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using my links, I will receive a small commission from the sale at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Escape With Dollycas. Read the full article

[doll-1985]

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[andersonfam777]

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[birddogoriginal]

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[eviesessays]

2. Who are the funniest people in your family?

I was born in 1935 and those early years will not be remembered as an era  of great humor. Hitler was the dictator of Germany and head of the Nazi party.  He invaded Poland in 1939 and began his sinister extermination of nearly six million Jews.  Benito Mussolini was the Fascist dictator in Italy,  He invaded Albania in 1939.  I was entering first grade.  Mussolini died by firing squad in 1945 and he was hung upside down with his mistress in Milan for all to see. Prime Minister Winston Churchill in England was fighting for the very survival of his motherland against relentless bombing. We sat silently listening to great speeches on the radio and we prayed for outcomes, the severity of which  we scarcely knew.

I vaguely remember being taken with my brothers down to the railroad station to see King George V and Queen Mary as they stopped in Sioux Lookout on their cross Canada tour.  They were drumming up support for the war but Canada had already committed troops to many battles overseas.  We had many friends whose Dads were, “away at the war”,  Our dear neighbours, Austin and Gertie McIvor had four sons away at battle.  Ivan was in the Army and married an English war bride.  Bert and Douglas were in the Navy. Roderick, their oldest son was in the Air Force.  His plane was shot down and he is buried in France. We had a friend whose Dad came back with only one leg. At home gas was rationed, as was sugar, butter and meat. We drank powdered milk. We mixed a yellow colouring into the margarine when our butter coupons were exhausted. These were small sacrifices compared to the price some paid.

These were worrisome and trying times that required some comic relief somewhere and my Dad was a more than willing supporter of a little humor and levity.  My Mother was devoid of any sense of humor and my Dad was more than happy to compensate.  On Sundays we walked to Fasano’s Candy store and for five cents each we could pick out candy treats.  We went on to the Drug Store and got a NY newspaper that had the best funnies. Every Sunday my Dad read us, “The Teeny Weenies”.  He regaled us with fanciful stories about almost catching the Easter Bunny and he had a few tufts of hair to demonstrate how close an encounter this really was.  He once had a few whiskers from Santa’s beard.He fancied himself a great skater and taught us all to do his figure eights. He assured us that if your nose ran and your feet smelled, you were built upside down. All of his grandchildren were remarkable and in his one word description, they were all,”chubbyhealthygoodlooking” children. This was their identity until about the age of six. Once when he visited, Jaylyn came home with a new pair of dungarees which were in high fashion in high schools at the time.  When she asked my Dad if he liked them he responded, “Well I spent a lot of years hoping I would never have to wear those pants ever again. But if you like them, I like them.”  My Dad’s family were potato farmers in East Selkirk, Manitoba.  They were immigrants from Galacia escaping the Bolshevik Revolution.  On his last visit to us I met him at Logan Airport in Boston.  He walked with a limp since his last stroke.  I told him he looked like Charlie Chaplin.  He said he wished someone paid him as much to walk like that.  My Dad was a funny man.

My Dad was funny but here comes the “but”, my brother, Kip, (Clifford), was even funnier.  He saw the humor in everything.  He was different than Carl and I and later Michael and Elizabeth. He was kind and gentle.  I don’t know why he was like that but he was.  He was born in 1934 and was immediately diagnosed as a “blue baby” which was obvious from his color.  This was as scientifically advanced as Medicine was about congenital heart anomalies in Sioux Lookout in 1934.  Kip, in much later years was diagnosed with Ebsteins  anomaly in which parts of the heart are missing.  The tricuspid valve does not work efficiently.  Doctor Bell advised my mother not to send him to school’  He thought it would be too hard on his heart and he was not going to live to make use of an education..  Being a stout German woman from whom nobody was given a pass  Kip started school at age 6. I was 5 and sent along to, “watch out for him”’.  I always felt protective of Kip but over time I more than realized, he was really my rock and my redeemer.

As children we all learned to swim  We all  learned to skate.  No exceptions were made for Kip  unless being made goalie instead of a defense man  on the hockey team matters.  He curled on our High School Curling team.  He wrote the hockey news for our local paper.

When Kip was about 18 the local Rotary Club wanted to make Kip’s heart their project.  Mayo Clinic had just begun doing heart surgery and the plan was to get Kip to the Mayo and repair his heart.  He had to be seen in Winnipeg for clearance and was told there that he was not a candidate for the type of surgery now available.  He accepted this with the equanimity with which he accepted everything in his life. When I admonished him for what I thought was excessive carousing, he replied that he had to fit a lot of life in a lot less years.  When Kip turned 34 he wrote to me acknowledging that he now made it longer than Jesus Christ and added that he could never have put odds on himself.

In 1969 he had married Roberta (Bobbie) Law.  In four years they had four children. the youngest , Kim and Kent are twins.  Kip continued to work at the Imperial Bank of Canada where he began as a teller the day after we graduated from high school.. They managed to move between all the babies deliveries  Banks in Canada transfer employees as frequently as the military.  Through amalgamations the Imperial Bank now became, The Imperial Bank of Commerce of Canada.  It was from there Kip was medically retired at the age of 59.

Kip died on August 18, 2005.  He had outlived Dr Bell’s life expectancy prognostication by 50 plus years and much of it was spent laughing.  Near his end in a conversation with his cardiologist, Dr. Belands of the Heart Institute he agreed to donate his heart to the Institute and he asked only that they be certain he was done with it.  At his wake many told stories of his’ “Kipisms”.  A bank colleague told about a golf tournament at which Kip whiffed the first stroke on the first hole.. He looked  around and  exclaimed, “This really is a tough course”.  He said their dining room at home ran on pool house rules, One foot on the floor at all times.  whenever asked what he was up to he generally responded, “Oh about 6 foot 2 inches.”  He felt that the best thing about central air conditioning was that it allowed him to wear his winter clothes all year round.  About his health, he said he felt like a cat with nine lives and only wished he knew how many he had already used up.  Their neighbor, Maureen was clapping her hands at the blue jays monopolizing the bird feeder.and observed they were not deterred.  Kip said the jays thought they were getting a standing ovation.  He was once bemoaning his weight loss and described himself as a telephone pole with glasses..

I visited Kip often in that last year of his life..  When I was home in Warner, I called him frequently.  I always asked how he was and his response was always the same,  “Oh I”m 100 percent.  I just don’t know of what.”  Kip was the funniest person in our family.  I miss him dreadfully but still laugh out loud when recalling times with him.

[uncovering-sumac]

I did it! I wrote my first article!

Although that means now people will read what I wrote… eek. Maybe I should have thought this through.

4 Bars You Should Know in Sumac, by Del Blaushild

Hello, Sumac! My name’s Del and I’m the new tourism writer in town. I never got to meet the last writer, Pat Davies, but I’ve been reading a lot of his articles, getting to know him just a little bit. For my first article I’ve taken one of his old pieces and updated it, revisiting his recommendations and adding a few of my own. Let’s get started!

1. Sprout’s

A controversial favorite on the corner of West and Maple, this bar and grill has held the award for Best Vegan Restaurant for three years in a row. When Pat visited after their first win, a crowd of plant-rights activists had been demonstrating outside for hours. “They’re upset because we’re not afraid to stick to our traditions,” the owner Dave said of the demonstrators. “They may not like it, but nothing’s ever gonna replace plants. Think of a veggie burger. The taste, the texture- no dry, flavorless hunk of meat can come close to that. Americans love plants, and that’s just the way it is.” Three years later, Dave seems to be right. Sprout’s still draws a healthy crop of locals, and curious visitors stop by for a chance to taste the controversial “Veggie Lover’s Pizza.” During my visit I didn’t see any protestors, but a few posters were taped up outside showing vegetables being diced and soybeans being pressed into tofu in graphic detail.

2. Rosencrantz & Guildensterns

Brother-sister duo Frank and Becca opened this Sumac mainstay ten years ago, hoping to create a place “where friends can get together, talk about books, and make weird art.” Their bar is a popular hangout for Sumac’s creative types, who donated the paintings hanging on the walls and have featured it as a location in countless short films. In his original article Pat wrote about the friendly people and spectacular taxidermy assortment, which are both worth a visit on their own, but I also want to shout out their music and poetry parties on the first Friday of the month. Attendees bring records and play them backwards, then everyone writes down what they hear and writes poems out of it. If you’re lucky, you may even see Acacia the cat on one of her weekly visits.

3. Ozzie’s

This bar’s location on the edge of Candor Lake attracts locals and tourists alike. Even in the dead of winter, patrons will sweep snow off the benches on the wide deck to enjoy the view into the steep basin of the lake. An affordable happy hour and weekly live music keep the bar bustling year-round, and the new owner is keeping it cleaner and safer than ever. Sumac’s lake-watching club also meets here. Founded when its members were young kids, this close-knit group of nature enthusiasts has recently started gaining new members due to its welcoming and relaxed attitude. The small group of retired men who made up the club when Pat visited has grown into a diverse group with members of all ages. I learned an amazing amount about freshwater fish while sitting with the group, and the bartender makes a mean margarita.

4. The Ellicott Inn

What list would be complete without Sumac’s oldest establishment? Built in 1810 by Nathaniel Ellicott, the inn has hosted figures such as Rosetta Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Kate Gleason, as well as countless Western New Yorkers visiting to take the waters of Candor Lake. On its first floor Gertie’s Tavern serves up historically accurate dishes from the town’s heyday, while the second and third floors still function as an inn. Go on the Sumac Haunted History tour and you’ll finish here, as the ghosts of Ellicott and his family are said to roam the halls to this day. The stable boy, who spent most of his free hours in the tavern in life, is said to appear beside you if you sit alone at the bar, and he’ll challenge you to a drinking contest. What do you get if you win? Nobody’s ever won, but my guess is some kind of medical record for liver damage. Pat recommends the Fox-sister-style seances, which I haven’t had a chance to attend but which he says are thrilling and most fun with friends.

Thanks for reading, Sumac! I look forward to doing more of these and getting to know the town better. If you’ve got a spot for me to visit, or any information about Pat, please write to me or stop by the tourism office. See you again soon!

[supercantaloupe]

B plot + text post meme (13/?)

[dwsavideos]

Some cute pictures of Sean Grandillo in costume as Curly in Oklahoma even though nobody asked Also pictured: The very talented Hannah Solow as Gertie

I’m low key glad that Sean is in Oklahoma because to be honest I probably wouldn’t have seen it if there wasn’t someone that I already know in it and it was so so so good and the whole cast is just so amazing. Now I wish I saw it with Ali (I was super close to getting tickets and I regret not getting them) But yeah, gotta love and support DWSA cast members in other shows! (That’s also why I’m so bummed that I never got to see Regina Comet)

I may or may not post a review of the show, whether people are interested or not because there’s a lot of mixed reviews about this version in particular right now (plus a lot of insensitive remarks) and I feel like I gotta address some stuff that people are saying about it.

[lefthandedbastard]

I'm the first person on tumblr to post about gertie milk and the keeper of lost things and i would like that to be my legacy thank you