Welcome to Cole Manor

Originally posted on Cats of Cole Manor:
This site is dedicated to three of the most interesting cats I’ve ever met! Joey, Simon, and Beatriz! As I continue to reside at Cole Manor, I endeavor to chronicle their lives in all their splendor! This is Simon Eugene Banks (pronounced Bonks) the Third resting in the…

“Giant Redwood Trees of California” by Albert Bierstadt: Sublime Art, The American Frontier, and The History of Redwood Trees

Originally posted on NATURE MEETS MIND:
A LONG, LONG TIME AGO, PLANTS AND ANIMALS WERE PEOPLE. So the Southern Pomo and Coast Miwok story goes. One of those was Coyote, who made the world from the Sonoma Mountaintop. The elders of Coyote’s village became giant redwood trees, and they were coloured blood-red to remind everyone…

A Lunch Date With Zombies

Originally posted on Vampire Maman:
A Lunch Date With Zombies Fridays are usually my lunch hunt date. I switched things up this week and took Cody, my young “Vampire in Training” out with me today. Lunch dates are fun ways for Vampires to hunt right out in the open. They involve fun, flirting, a bit of…

Did the Code Hurt the Marx Brothers?

Originally posted on (Travalanche):
“I sure wish these bean counters would let us be funny again!” The origin of this post: A few days ago someone on social media asserted with enormous confidence, that “the Code hurt the Marx Brothers” (meaning, if you’re new to such things, that the Motion Picture Production Code, a.k.a. the…

A Vampire’s Guide to Friday the 13th

Originally posted on Vampire Maman:
Many people believe the negative origin of “Friday the 13th” comes from the demise of the Knights Templar on Friday the 13th. Some say the roots are more ancient, perhaps connected to the Last Supper or maybe even earlier events. I’m not superstitious and generally have little or no patience…

For Keeps

Originally posted on cosistories:
The mermaid watched the human’s ship go down. People screamed for help. Some people swore. The quiet ones cried. The mermaid was one with the water. She was one with the waves. If anyone looked her way, they would see just the tangled green of her dreadlocks and assume it was…

Desert Winds

Originally posted on Vampire Maman:
On the edge of the Sandia Mountains, My friends Amelia her husband Raul and I drove down the gravel road to the home of Ximena, an ancient woman who mostly lived in solitude with the company of the birds and the wind. Ximena’s home was a large old adobe structure rimmed…

Silky Submersions

Originally posted on cosistories:
Tristin stood on the shore, watching the sun set. He had been given three days. Just three days. It shouldn’t have been so difficult. His face was still his face. She should have recognized him even without his voice. She should have known that it was him. She didn’t. She didn’t…