E is for Ego Likeness

I not only like my music dark, but other artwork as well. Musician Steven Archer of Ego Likeness crafted amazing multi media paintings featuring H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, several of which adorn my home. He and writer Donna Lynch, whose book "Isabel Burning" is a captivating read, make a great team in all mediums. I’m glad to own their EP “The Lowest Place on Earth” and probably should pick up the rest of their catalog.


For the letter E I came up with the fake band named Empty Life. This seems perfect for a post-modern goth/punk band. Doesn’t it?

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D is for Disturbed

As promised, I bring you Disturbed. Front man David Dramon turned forty-two years of age as of March 14 this year. I note this because I hope he rocks on into his eighties or later because the band’s hiatus broke my heart just a little bit. Oh, what a happy day when they came out with “Immortalized” in 2015.


Demon Dolls is my feaux rock band for the day. Because my imagined name evokes the Gorillaz debut album “Demon Days” I have decided they share the group’s eclectic sound featuring a wide range of guest vocalists.

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C is for The Cure

It’s embarrassing but I only came to understood this band’s name a few years ago. They stayed true to the cliche of sex, drugs, and rock and roll since “the cure” refers to drug and/or alcohol addiction treatment. On that note I find The Cure's music plenty addictive. Robert Smith is simply fabulous.


Crumpled is my fake band for today. It was going to be Corrupted Angel until yesterday's wind storm ripped at a chunk of our house (pictures below). Crumpled might have a sound similar to the Goo Goo Dolls.

By the way, our flashing beat the roof like a whip before pieces started breaking off - a frightening sight. I ventured out several times to collect pieces before someone got injured by our flying debris.

Former Flashing

The Remnant Where the Flashing Used to Be

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B is for Birthday Massacre

For whatever reason, I usually prefer male voices over female. Birthday Massacre's Chibi has an amazing set of pipes, though. And they put on an excellent live show. One of my favorite memories consists of meeting a hardcore fan who sported a tattoo of Chibi on his arm complete with plaid schoolgirl skirt. He said that attention to detail compounded the pain but that he wouldn’t have changed a thing.


Bottled Rage is today’s imaginary band. I like to think they would play music similar to that of Korn and Disturbed, both of which I will mention on their respective days. Stay tuned!

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A is for Avenged Sevenfold

Happy April first and welcome to my venture in the A to Z Challenge! And now for the letter A...

I first heard of this band upon finding their merchandise in a Hot Topic store. The winged skull looked so cool I bought a shirt. Then a friend’s daughter played me their music upon seeing the garb. Now I own every studio album plus a concert DVD. Great head banging stuff.



As I decided to be silly and make up phony band names, as well, I give you Autoclave Empire for the letter A. I imagine they are a super group made up of members from LA Guns and Velvet Revolver.

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Beauty and the Beast

Years ago a neighbor who has since passed away gave me some trees he received from the Arbor Day Foundation. One survived those early gardening days, my learning curve a steep one.

Fast forward into the present. Only twelve months or so ago did I endeavor to identify what turned out to be a Bradford pear. How fitting, I thought, since that is the tree Harold wanted most of all.

And it is beautiful in the spring. Just yesterday I photographed the sundrenched upper branches.

Note the Seven Black Vultures in the Distance

Now I come to find out that an early demise is the trees’ best attribute. Developers were wrong in thinking this prolific flowerer was sterile. They can cross pollinate with every other pear tree in the environment. And their offspring revert to an invasive thorny hedge which chokes out native species.

My partner found an article titled The Curse of the Bradford Pear. Lovely, huh? And simply typing “Bradford Pear” into Google immediately triggered “invasive” as a search suggestion. I found articles from Missouri, Pennsylvania, the Carolinas, and more. How I’ve missed this news for so long is a distressing mystery.

Horrified, we will probably spend a few hundred dollars to get this house-high beast removed as soon as possible. I’m sure not willing to tackle the project. And to think our own US Department of Agriculture introduced this plant, a fact I readily discovered. I feel betrayed yet again by our wonderful government.

One minor bright side is that we now have space in our small yard for something native that will benefit local fauna and hopefully thrive for many years in our heavy clay, high alkaline soil. Any suggestions, fellow gardeners?

In happier news, tomorrow begins the A to Z Challenge. I hope you’ll join the fun!

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Organizing With Velcro

I like lists. They help organize my thoughts and keep even the smallest goals on track. I also hate to waste paper. So I purchased a modern alternative - a dry erase board.

Unfortunately the dry erase marker that came with my renewable resource dried up and none of the new ones would fit in the provided holding clip. Having three colors is great but made storage options even more elusive. For several days I've left them on the table near my front door. That furniture is mostly decorative and does not have a drawer.

The result? An eyesore. I wanted an alternative.

Inspiration struck just today. And hence the company name in my title. Velcro's wonderful fastener solved my little issue. We bought five feet of the stuff years ago and never regretted it. The two-part product has so many uses.

And here is another. Voila!

Forgive My Sloppy Print

I attached the most commonly used black marker at the top (obviously) while the red and blue are situated on a clear plastic tab meant for hanging the board (I'm using the magnets with my metallic garage door).

At lest you know I'm making an effort to exercise!

Do you have any organizing tips to share? I would really appreciate incorporating new tricks.

Also, did you notice that the A to Z April Blog Challenge is in red at the bottom? Can't forget to get that ball rolling! Happy organizing...

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Time Marches On

Time marches on, and March is nearly over. I cannot believe it's almost April. Time for the A to Z Challenge! So, I decided it best to get the badge on my blog the moment it crossed my mind. The creators did a lovely job, by the way...

Isn't it Pretty?

No time like the present, right? Well, that little task made me realize that I never updated my National Novel Writing Month winner's badge. Silly me! November was ages ago. At least that has been done at last. Thank you to the Offices of Letters and Light for the image's ongoing accessibility.

Meanwhile I decided to set a theme for this year's challenge. I've written little blurbs about music groups represented in my collection. For fun I also concocted names for bands and an equally imaginary factoid.

I hope you'll join me. Do you plan to embark upon the blogging challenge? If so, let me know in the comments and I'll make sure to stop by.

Happy April!

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