Adventure Calls!

I'm going to be away from the blogosphere for about a month. See you in late November!

HRH's Halloween Post

Hello, it's me -- everyone's FAVOURITE dead cat, Her Royal Highness, back from The Afterlife AGAIN to do my annual Halloween post! My hard-of-hearing and mostly-useless human FINALLY heard me meowing from across THE VEIL and let me in so I could use her computer.

Cats LOVE Halloween. It's the ONE holiday where we get some RESPECT. Of course, it helps that we just look SO DARN GOOD associated with all things spooky or pumpkinish!

By the way, this next photo is the VERY FAB Halloween costume which I DESIGNED for my human this year. As you can see, her bodice has MY lovely face on it. Don't read TOO much into the bloody throat/necklace imagery though. I would NEVER hurt my human by slashing her like that. Besides, it's a well-known fact that cats always eat the EYEBALLS first. Yes, I know the picture doesn't actually SHOW her eyeballs. Don't read too much into that either. SHEESH, YOU PEOPLE!

Anyway, have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN, everyone!

See ya 'round the blogosphere the NEXT time I can access a computer!

Putting the FUN in Funerals

It's only NATURAL at this time of year for our thoughts to turn to issues of DEATH and MORTALITY. Of course, we can use this contemplative impulse to wax philosophical about PROFOUND matters . . .

. . . OR we can take a more LIGHT-HEARTED approach to the whole area.

WHY must funerals always be such GLOOMY affairs? Use your creativity, people! Inject some FUN into the proceedings . . . serve CAKE, at the very least. EVERYONE loves cake.

Give some THOUGHT to how you want to lighten things up, even if it's only just to TWEAK the traditional ceremony a wee bit.

Or maybe you should consider going FULL-OUT GONZO CRAZY! Make your funeral an EVENT! One that people will talk about for YEARS!

If nothing else, take out a BILLBOARD!

WATER burials are an option for some.

Hmm, this looks LEGIT.

Whatever method you choose, may LOTS of people come to your party . . . I mean, funeral.

And DON'T forget to have fun with your post-funeral MEMORIALS too!

Halloween Party Tips

It's everyone's FAVOURITE time of year again! Be sure to decorate your haunted house in the SPIRIT (so to speak) of the season.

Remember, candles always create a LOVELY ambience for any room.

And don't be a RECLUSE! Invite a few people over for a get-together.

Or maybe just a few of the GIRLS --

Witches know how to parTAY!

But avoid playing MEAN JOKES on others . . . oh, who the hell am I kidding, LOL?

The scariest monsters are the ones you never even SUSPECT.

Now listen up, everyone, DON'T OVERDO the partying. You don't want to get carried away like THIS poor sap.

If you DO overindulge, though, just check into that NICE HOTEL down the street, spend the night there and sleep it off.

Have a nice brekkie in the morning and you'll feel MUCH better afterwards.

Have FUN, everyone! And take BAIL money with you!

Ravens in Mythology

In response to last week's post on Edgar Allan Poe and his famous Raven, Dezzy of Hollywood Spy sent a link to this funny meme as another contribution to the post.

I love the long-suffering look of annoyance on that cat's face, LOL!

Anyway, this meme reminded me of two wonderful myths where ravens play important roles of spiritual significance:

First, the story of Raven the Lightbringer, which is an ancient myth of the Haida First Nation on Canada's west coast --

["Raven bringing light to the world"

by Robert Davidson,

found here]

When the world was new, humans and all other creatures lived in utter darkness. Then one day Raven discovered that a selfish old man was keeping all the light in the universe hidden away in his house. The man had boxed up the sun so only he and his own family could benefit from it.

Through a series of clever shapeshifting manoeuvres, Raven took human form as the man's grandson. The boy, of course, wanted to play with the beautiful ball of light. Like any indulgent grandparent would do, the old man took the sun out of its box and tossed it to the child.

Immediately the boy shapeshifted back to Raven form, caught the sun in its beak and flew up, up and away through the dwelling's smoke hole. Raven placed the sun in the sky so that all peoples and creatures of the earth would benefit from its life-giving light and heat.

Thanks, Ron Burgundy, for bringing us to the second myth:

In Norse mythology, Odin the Allfather actually had two ravens who served him -- Hugin ("Thought") and Munin ("Memory").

[by kojotei]

Hugin and Munin were Odin's messengers and information gatherers. As suggested by the marvelous artwork above, they acted as Odin's eyes and ears throughout the Nine Realms. Scholars interpret these ravens as spiritual symbols of Odin's shapeshifting powers and his essentially shamanic nature.

[created by Jivotica,

found here]

Do you know of any other myths about ravens and their spiritual significance?

#PussyGrabsBack

Saw this fab video yesterday over at Bob Slatten's blog I Should Be Laughing and just HAD to post it here today! And I also swiped the cartoon from a Yellowdog Granny post. I only steal from the BEST!

Women of America, you know what to do.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Today is Turkey and Gratitude Time again in Canada!

When preparing the big dinner, be sure to keep a close eye on EVERY member of the family --

And always remember the most important thing!

A Boy and His Bird

I bet more people buy and read Edgar Allan Poe's books in October than at any other time of year. That poor miserable bastard was probably lucky in some ways to have been born when he did. It meant he escaped the clutches of George Lucas, the Muppets and Disney. At least until now.

Apparently poverty, alcoholism and syphilis didn't scare Edgar Allan Poe. No, he had only one fear --

But like every writer, Poe had to struggle with his literary creations too.

And his muse was kind of an ungrateful wretch, all things considered.

They had a pretty dysfunctional relationship, actually.