Gory Details Distractions

I feel bad I haven't written for a while and have this (pathetic?) fantasy that some of my new LJ friends may have actually missed hearing from me, so I'm throwing this out for now.

I've been very distracted lately trying to produce a CD of people's grisly stories of medical emergencies. At least initially, it will just be available via iTunes, but I also plan to burn some physical copies to sell via our website (www.artofbleeding.com) once we get some publicity rolling.

The stories in this "GORY DETAILS" collection were either recorded via a dedicated phone line (888-467-8535 ) I set up or collected from interested passersby who stopped into the Art of Bleeding ambulance on one of the several weekends it was parked out along Vermont Avenue in LA's Los Feliz neighborhood.

Anyway, I' ve been writing background music for the varioius stories, and doing the artwork for the cover, and it's taken up most of my free time. Hope to get back to journaling soon.

Call the phone line if you're interested. This batch of stories is only the first installment, and the line remains open for business 24 hours a day.

Random Wig Cake Enigma

Does this picture scare you?



It scared me. But that's okay. I like being scared.

This morning I was looking for an image using Google's image search function with the search terms "Lisa's Birthday Cake" because my sister Lisa's birthday is today,and I thought it might be funny to send her a picture of someone else's cake, but then this came up.

I am always enthralled by the random beauty of what washes up on the shores of the internet, and I'm totally convinced that Google image search can be used as a sort of oracle. It's the new I Ching. Or in a less high-flown comparison, it's like the pleassures of Found Magazine.

Hideous Yard Demon

WHAT IN GOD'S NAME IS THIS????

Something awful that came from MY YARD
Even worse, i think one of the dogs was chewing on it because it was in the dining room where they often bring in bits of wood to chew in air conditioned comfort.

Oh... a quick Google confirms what I suspected. It's a Jerusalem Cricket which also goes by a number of colorful names that refer to its allegedly humanlike (childlike) appearance: " the niño de la tierra (Spanish for "child of the earth"), Earth baby, cara de niño (Spanish for "child's face"), or wó see ts'inii (Navajo for "skull insect"). It is also goes by the more mundane "potato bug," or alternatively the old bald-headed man." Personally, I don't see the resemblance. It's also believed these little monsters can make a sound like a crying child. Only true in nightmares, I believe.

Mental Hospital Nostalgia

Further residue from my trip back to Indiana. Here's a picture of the State Hospital (mental hospital) where I worked when I was in college.





They're tearing parts of it down as it's ancient and endangered structurally, but I just wanted to post this to get some validation...


IS THAT OR IS THAT NOT A SPOOKY PLACE?


I always thought so, especially when I worked the midnight shift, but then again that's why I was there.

I also found this old postcard online (who exactly sends postcards of mental hospitals?). I like that it's called an "Insane Asylum."





Patients would drown themselves in the lake. My mother was a nurse there and told me about this one young woman who threw herself in to drown. Before she did, she took off her shoes. I guess she didn't want them to get wet