#r john wright

[h0neytune-cherub]

R. John Wright, felt kewpie dolls +

[ameuluvs]

If i thought of hot selfish bassist with nice asses i would immediately think of these chaps

[movies-to-add-to-your-tbw]

Title: The Goldfinch

Rating: R

Director: John Crowley

Cast: Ansel Elgort, Oakes Fegley, Nicole Kidman, Jeffrey Wright, Luke Wilson, Sarah Paulson, Willa Fitzgerald, Aneurin Barnard, Finn Wolfhard, Ashleigh Cummings, Aimee Laurence, Robert Joy, Boyd Gaines

Release year: 2019

Genres: drama

Blurb: A boy in New York is taken in by a wealthy family after his mother is killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In a rush of panic, he steals The Goldfinch, a painting that eventually draws him into a world of crime.

[blackdollenthusiast]

Hottentot Kewpie

[fall-out-dolls]

Patrick Stump is R. John Wright's Kewpie Bunny (2002)!

[weaselandfriends]

do you know of anything with a similar "clockwork storytelling" style of plot development that you used to described act 5 in hymnstokes?

I'm glad you asked this, because this is a concept I've kept in my mind for a long time.

The most obvious well-known examples of clockwork storytelling that come to mind are the films of Edgar Wright, with Hot Fuzz in particular standing out. Edgar Wright's style is that every detail and line of dialogue, no matter how seemingly inconsequential, comes back later to mean something more than it initially seemed. There is no wasted space, nothing extraneous or unneeded. It is all extremely tight and extremely satisfying to see play out.

Film in general, having significant restraints in terms of length, is often subject to this style, though at differing levels of complexity. What is so exciting about Act 5 of Homestuck is that it manages this style while juggling a zillion different characters and plot threads, so when the pieces all slot together it has the sprawling sense of a symphony with hundreds of individual performers working together at once. But I would argue that even something like, say, most Pixar films follow an ethos of extremely tight plotting with minimal extraneous elements. Pixar operates at a smaller scale, so it doesn't overwhelm with magnitude the way Homestuck does, but it still creates that feeling of satisfaction via structural perfection.

Another good example is Rick & Morty. Dan Harmon is an Edgar Wrightian who has his own personal "hero cycle"-style plot structure he likes to stick to, and that level of plotting is on display in most episodes of the first few seasons of the show. What makes R&M an interesting example, though, is the intrusion of Justin Roiland's influence. Roiland is like, a dumbass stoner whose storytelling ethos seems to be to adlib goofy noises into a mic, which is completely at odds with Harmon, but it complicates the otherwise simplistic story template and wound up creating some of the show's most quotable moments (wubba lubba dub dub).

I like works that fuse intricate and satisfying plotting with bizarre and difficult-to-grasp or even contradictory aesthetic decisions like that. My two favorite anime, Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Blood-C, both fall into that camp, and both times it's due to the utterly opposite aesthetic dispositions of the show's respective directors and writers. Madoka, for instance, balances Gen Urobuchi's tight, almost mathematical plotting (the show has a major plot development nearly every 3 episodes on the dot) with Akiyuki Shinbo's surreal and eccentric visual style. The visuals wind up complicating what would otherwise be a perfectly-composed but possibly quite dry narrative. Blood-C, a less well-known show, similarly combines a rather simple narrative by CLAMP -- where every event and line of dialogue gestures toward a major twist revealed at the end of the show -- with a manic, sleazy gorefiendery from Tsutomu Mizushima, the director of Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan.

When it comes to clockwork narratives at the scale of Homestuck, it's harder to find examples. Of course, Homestuck is itself faking being a clockwork narrative, which I think I talked about in my old Hymnstoke posts. Homestuck's style is to simply toss out so many details that even by calling back to only a third of them it creates the impression via volume alone that it was all planned out and deliberate. A great example is John's toy chest. It contains some items like the Sassacre book that have a recurring purpose in the narrative, some items like the trick handcuffs that have one notable callback use (when John's Dad escapes captivity using them), and some items that only briefly reappear in the background of later panels. It also contains one item, the fake blood capsules, that never show up again (at least John's fake blood capsules don't; there are some fake blood capsules used by Dave's Bro during the whole puppet Saw misadventure). Hussie has only really meaningfully called back to a few of these details, but has created the impression he has called back to a lot of them, because there are simply so many.

In reality, Homestuck, even Act 5 Homestuck, is laden with extraneous and useless details. Most of the trolls are useless, which is why so many of them are glibly killed off. I used to think the only truly important troll to the narrative was Vriska, and by extension any troll that was important to Vriska, such as Terezi. Now, though, I realize that Vriska's breaking-the-game-for-personal-satisfaction shtick was hijacking Rose's whole bit. Rose was constantly seeking ways to break the game or exploit its boundaries. This ultimately culminates in nothing. Rose goes "grimdark," a completely meaningless state that causes her to be goth for a scene or two, and then that's over with and she becomes an essentially ancillary character for the rest of the story, useful only for a few bits of exposition. Even if we ignore the Act 6 part of that, it's a completely pointless set up with no payoff. Rose questioning the game and trying to break it leads nowhere. All the important game breaking is done by Vriska.

I think you could easily do a troll-less rewrite of Homestuck where the only major difference is that Rose is the one who creates Bec Noir instead of Vriska. It's true that the trolls frequently give the kids exposition that guides their actions, but the story has so many sources of exposition -- the sprites, random writing on their planets, Doc Scratch, their own future selves -- that you could easily fill the gaps they leave. That's the other way Hussie fakes a deliberate and satisfying clockwork narrative: redundancy. Hussie can have 100 characters who all "feel" like that have a role because many characters are all basically doing the same thing. I think I once said, in a spiel about database-driven storytelling, that Hussie wrote similar to how he coded. If you ever looked at the HTML of the old MSPA site, I might have been more right than I knew...

This all probably sounds quite harsh on Homestuck, but I think even creating this illusion of unity at such a large scale is impressive. Compare to a lot of the long-running shounen, which accumulate hundreds of characters who are relevant for their introductory arc and then become part of an increasingly gigantic crowd of tagalongs who are lucky if they even get to say a line now and then to remind the audience they exist. Hussie used the (at the time) brand new concept of the "meme" to accomplish a lot of this aesthetic clockworkery. The most common callbacks in Homestuck, after all, are repeated lines from Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff. The redundancy in characters and details helped the work's internal meme language because memes tend to disperse by being templatized and reused in a variety of similar-but-different contexts. In a normal story, you might see stairs several times, and not think anything of it. But in Homestuck, the concept of "stairs" is memetically meaningful. If stairs show up, you better be sure you'll soon get a memetic callback. A bunny? There's a bunny? Oh shit. You better put it back in the box. In this paradigm, a character being similar to another character, almost to the point of redundancy (i.e. Dave and Davesprite and Dirk), is aesthetically unifying, rather than pointlessly promulgating.

[todaysdocument]

Card of Thanks from Confederate Prisoners of War Thanking Residents for Christmas Gifts

Record Group 393: Records of U.S. Army Continental CommandsSeries: Letters Received

[handwritten]

Card of Thanks

In consequence of a Donation given unto us

prisoners confined in [illegible] prison by the citizens

of St. Louis Dec. 25, 1864, we the prisoners of said

prison Do this 26th Dec 1864, Think that it is

our duty as a grateful people to hold a meeting

for the purpose of showing our gratitude unto the

Donors, and all those that have used their efforts

in distributing the same. On motion of J. C. Couzins

Mr. T. M. Northcutt was called to the chair. The

chairman was requested to state the object of the

meeting which was made known by a few

brief remarks. On motion of Mr. T. H. Beckett,

Mr. John C. F[illegible] was appointed Secretary, on motion

of J. E. E[illegible] a committee of 20 was appointed

to draft resolutions expressive of the sense of the

[illegible]ing. Thereupon the Chair appointed the following

named persons: J. C. Couzins, D Howe, T. H.

Beckett, Dr. John Hart, John Moffitt, J. Hoggs, David

Hampton, R. E. Wild, John Lowry, O. R. Horn, [Y?]. J.

Wright, [S. J.?] McLain, John Hall, J. M. L[illegible],

M. M. Harrington, George [Bobhill?], John Brewer,

R. G. [Mercer?], W. H. L[illeible]berry, Frank Dodd.

The Committee made following Report:

Whereas we the Committee in behalf of the Prisoners

of Gratiot would Respectfully Report as follows.

That having been the recipient of a most magnificent

Christmas Dinner, Donated to us by the citizens

of St. Louis. Therefore Be it Resolved 1st That we tender

our thanks unto the Donors of this Christmas

repast of which we the prisoners of Gratiot have

been the Recipients.

2nd Resolved! That we also tender Our sincere

thanks unto Maj Genl Dodge Commanding

the Dept of the Mo. Col W. C. Davis Provost Mar

Genl of the same and Lieut Col Hendricks

Inspector Genl and Superintendent of Military

prisons for permitting us to be the recipient

of this most magnificent repast.

3rd Resolved! That we return respectfully our kindest

regards unto Capt Allen and all of his

subordinate officers for the amble facilites which

were afforded us in enjoying this with luxury.

4th Resolved! That we return our most sincere and

heartfelt thanks to the Sisters of Charity and

Mercy for their uniform kindness and generosity

toward the prisoners of Gratiot, And more especially

for their liberal exertions in distributing

the same unto us on the day above named.

5th Resolved! That the City papers be requested

to publish the forgoing preamble and resolutions.

On motion the meeting adjourned.

S. M. Northcutt

Chairman

John C. F[illegible]

Sec

[garadinervi]

Best Short Stories by Negro Writers: An Anthology from 1899 to the Present, Edited and with an Introduction by Langston Hughes, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, MA, 1967

Feat.: Alston Anderson, James Baldwin, Lebert Bethune, Robert Boles, Arna Bontemps, Gwendolyn Brooks, Frank London Brown, Charles W. Chesnutt, Alice Childress, John Henry Clarke, Cyrus Colter, Pearl Crayton, Owen Dodson, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Katherine Dunham, Junius Edwards, Ralph Ellison, Ronald Fair, Rudolph Fisher, Ernest J. Gaines, Chester B. Himes, Langston Hughes, Kristin Hunter, Zora Neale Hurston, Clifford Vincent Johnson, William Melvin Kelley, John Oliver Killens, Woodie King, Jr., Sylvester Leaks, Paule Marshall, R. J. Meaddough III, Ronald Milner, Willard Motley, Lindsay Patterson, Ted Poston, Conrad Kent Rivers, Charlie Russell, Mike Thelwell, Jean Toomer, Mary Elizabeth Vroman, Alice Walker, Eric Walrond, Dorothy West, John A. Williams, Charles Wright, Richard Wright, Frank Yerby

Plus: Anthologies of African American Writing, Mason Libraries Omeka Portal, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

[thechanelmuse]

My Top Albums/EPS of 2025

It's that time again where I give y'all my end-of-the-year music list and take over your dashboard. Hopefully some of these projects or artists will be new to you.

I would love for y'all to tell me your faves this year.

Here's my list:

JAZZ

Charles McPherson - Reverence

Christian McBride & Edgar Meyer - But Who's Gonna Play the Melody

Christian Sands - Embracing Dawn

Immanuel Wilkins - Blues Blood

Jazzmeia Horn - Messages

Jeremy Pelt - Tomorrow's Another Day

Joel Ross - nublues

Kamasi Washington - Fearless Movement

Keyon Harrold - Foreverland

Lakecia Benjamin - Phoenix Reimagined (Live)

Miles Davis - Miles '54: The Prestige Recordings

Miles Davis Quintet - Miles In France 1963 and 1964 - The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8

New Brass Band featuring Trombone Shorty - Live at the 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

Nubya Garcia - Odyssey

Samara Joy - Portrait

SOUL/BLUES (ROCK)

Baby Rose with BADBADNOTGOOD - Slow Burn (EP)

Brittany Howard - What Now

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram - Live in London (Expanded Edition)

Jerron Paxton - Things Done Changed

Jovin Webb - Drifter

Lizz Wright - Shadow

GOSPEL

Cory Henry - Church

Karen Clark Sheard - Still Karen

Ricky Dillard - Choirmaster II (Live)

Tamela Mann - Live Breathe Fight

COUNTRY/AMERICANA

Beyoncé - Cowboy Carter

Brittney Spencer - My Stupid Life

Caitlyn Smith - I Think of You (The Heartache Collection)

Elles Bailey - Beneath the Neon Glow

Gabby Barrett - Chapter and Verse

Lainey Wilson - Whirlwind

Luke Combs - Fathers & Sons

Mickey Guyton - House On Fire

Rvshvd - It's Rashad

Tanner Adell - Buckle Bunny (Deluxe) — 2023 album

FOLK

Bessie Jones, John Davis & The Georgia Sea Island Singers - The Complete Friends of Old Time Music Concert

Jessica Pratt - Here In the Pitch

Yasmin Williams - Acadia

ROCK

The Black Keys - Ohio Players (Trophy Edition)

Lenny Kravitz - Blue Electric Light

Linkin Park - From Zero

Olivia Rodrigo - Guts (spilled)

Sum 41 – Heaven :x: Hell

BLENDED GENRES

Amythyst Kiah - Still and Bright

Boney James - Slow Burn

Charlotte Day Wilson - Cyan Blue

Eva Cassidy - Walkin' After Midnight

Gallant - Zinc

Judith Hill - Letters From a Black Widow

Madison Ryann Ward - Purified Love

Marsha Ambrosiuos - CASABLANCO

Matthew Whittaker - On Their Shoulders: An Organ Tribute

Tank and The Bangas - The Heart, The Mind, The Soul

Victoria Monét - Jaguar II: Deluxe

Willow Smith - empathogen

R&B

Andra Day - CASSANDRA (cherith)

Avery*Sunshine - So Glad to Know You

BJ The Chicago Kid - Gravy (Deluxe)

Derand Benarr - En Route

Kenyon Dixon - The R&B You Love: For the '99 and the 2000s

Kyle Dion - If My Jeans Could Talk

Lalah Hathaway - VANTABLACK

Ledisi - Good Life

Lucky Daye - Algorithm

Muni Long - Revenge

NxWorries - Why Lawd?

Ravyn Lenae - Bird's Eye

SiR - HEAVY

Usher - Coming Home

RAP

Big Sean - Better Me Than You

Common & Pete Rock - The Auditorium Vol. 1

Doechii - Alligator Bites Never Heal

Kendrick Lamar - GNX

LL Cool J - The Force

MC Lyte - 1 of 1

Rapsody - Please Don't Cry

ScHoolboy Q - BLUE LIPS

POP

Ariana Grande - Eternal Sunshine

Billie Eilish - HIT ME HARD AND SOFT

Caroline Polachek - Desire, I Want To Turn Into You: Everasking Edition

Chappell Roan - The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess

Christina Aguilera - The 25th Anniversary of Christina Aguilera

Gavin DeGraw - Chariot 20

James Bay - Changes All the Time

Sabrina Carpenter - Short n' Sweet

Teddy Swims - I've Tried Everything but Therapy (Part 1.5)

Tori Kelly - TORI.

HOUSE/ELECTRONIC

Durand Bernarr & Charlie Vettuno - Charlie Vettuno Presents… Where in the World is Carmen Randiego?

KAYTRANADA - TIMELESS

HOLIDAY

Boney James - Soulful Holiday Sax

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Ella & Louis Wish You a Swinging Holiday

Jennifer Hudson - The Gift of Love

Kelly Clarkson - When Christmas Comes Around...Again

[what-raggedy-is-this]

Is there any Marcella doll(s) that exist?

no official marcella dolls have been made in the traditional raggedy ann rag doll style, but r. john wright did make a miniature collectors doll of marcella alongside other gruelle characters:

however, these wright dolls do go for a very pretty penny (as in thousands of dollars) and aren’t meant to be played with. they’re works of art!

hope this helps!

~ 🐴

[maniculum]

Sometimes, internet lore takes on a life of its own. Join us this week as we debunk the popular internet myth of the Irish faoladh, and dive into the true history of the Irish werewolf and its medieval origins!

Join our discord community!

Check out our Tumblr for even more! Support us on patreon! Get your copy of Marginal Worlds, a deck of 50 magic items pulled directly from medieval manuscripts, built for any TTRPG system here!

Socials: Tumblr Website Bluesky Instagram Facebook

Citations & References:

Bane, Theresa. “Wulver.” Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology. Link.

Bettini, Jessica Lynne. “The Rage of the Wolf: Metamorphosis and Identity in Medieval Werewolf Tales.” East Tennessee State University, 2011. Link.

Boyle, Elizabeth. “On the Wonders of Ireland: Translation and Adaptation.” Authorities and Adaptations: the Reworking and Transmission of Textual Sources in Medieval Ireland, ed. Elizabeth Boyle & Deborah Hayden (Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 2014), pp. 233-6. Link.

Briggs, Katherine. An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures. Pantheon Books, 1976. Link.

Boyd, Matthieu. Melion and the Wolves of Ireland. Springer, 2009. Link.

Bernhardt-House, Philip. Werewolves, Magical Hounds, and Dog-Headed Men in Celtic Literature: A Typological Study of Shape-Shifting. Edwin Mellen Press, 2010. Link.

Coir Amann (The Fitness of Names); CELT- Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition - link

Coir Amann: A Middle Irish Treatise on Personal Names, Part Two. Ed. Sharon Arbuthnot. Irish Texts Society, Vol. 60.

Carey, John. “Werewolves in Medieval Ireland.” Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies. Carey’s profile link.

Faoladh art post

Faoladh pronunciation post

Maegen Stebbins’s website, tumblr, & Arthur and Gorlagon post

Stebbins’ debunking the wulver post

“The Story of the Crop-Eared Dog,” Two Arthurian Romances, compiled by Macalister, Robert Alexander Stewart, 1908 - link

Smith, Brian. “The Real Story behind the Shetland Wulver.” Shetland Museum and Archives. Link.

Lady Wilde. Ancient legends, mystic charms, and superstitions of Ireland. Link.

Saxby, Jessie. “Wulver.” Shetland Traditional Lore.

Summers, Montague. The werewolf in lore and legend. Dover Publications, 1933. Link.

Melion and Biclarel: Two Old French Werewolf Lays. Edited and translated by Amanda Hopkins. University of Liverpool. Link.

McCone, Kim R. Werewolves, Cyclopes, Diberga, and Fianna: Juvenile-Delinquency in Early Ireland. Cambridge Medieval Celtic studies, 1986, p. 1-22. Source link.

Jakobsen, Jakob “The Old Shetland Dialect.” The dialect and place names of Shetland: two popular lectures. Link.

Gerald of Wales. The historical works of Giraldus Cambrensis. Containing the topography of Ireland, and the History of the conquest of Ireland, translated by Thomas Forester. The itinerary through Wales, and the Description of Wales, translated by Sir Richard Colt Hoare. Rev. and ed. With additional notes, by Thomas Wright. Link.

West, Marie. “Aspects of diberg in the tale Togail Bruidne Da Derga.” Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie, vol. 49-50, no. 1, 1997, pp. 950-64.. Link.

“Wulver.” The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore. 2004.

“Wulver.” An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures. 1976.

“Wulver.” Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology. 2013.

“Wulver.” The Encyclopedia of Vampires & Werewolves. 2011.

[movies-to-add-to-your-tbw]

Title: American Fiction

Rating: R

Director: Cord Jefferson

Cast: Jeffrey Wright, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Sterling K. Brown, Skyler Wright, John Ales, Patrick Fischler, Carmen Cusack, Joseph Marrella, Stephen Burrell, Issa Rae, Nicole Kempskie, Becki Dennis, Tracee Ellis Ross, Myra Lucretia Taylor

Release year: 2023

Genres: drama

Blurb: Thelonious "Monk" Ellison's writing career has stalled because his work isn't deemed "black enough." Monk, a writer and English professor, writes a satirical novel under a pseudonym, aiming to expose the publishing world's hypocrisies. The book's immediate success forces him to get deeper enmeshed in his assumed identity, and challenges his closely-held worldviews.

[shannendoherty-fans]

Shannen's Native American Descent

We all know Shannen Doherty was of Irish descent through the paternal side of her family.

The Doherty / O’Doherty family is an Irish clan based in County Donegal. The O’Dohertys are named after Dochartach (c. 10th century), a member of the Cenél Conaill dynasty which in medieval Irish genealogy traced itself to Niall of the Nine Hostages. The O’Doherty clan and family name is one of the most ancient in Europe. The clan traces its pedigree through history, pre-history, and mythology to 2BC. (Source)

Shannen and her dad, John Thomas Doherty, in Ireland ca. 1996/97.

Shannen was also from English and Scottish descent through her mother Rosa Elizabeth née Wright. The red-haired Southern belle also has Native American ancestry, most concretley the Chumash people (Source), and thus has Shannen (Source).

Shannen and her mum spending time in nature, ca.2024.

Shannen explained that she wasn't able to be with her dad when he passed away on the 4th of November of 2010. Her best friend Chris Cortazzo told her to spend some quality time with her mother and him at his ranch in Tennesse, which is surrounded by Native American ground. When she was there suddenly the wind shaked the plants and trees and she felt her father’s arms go around her and say “It’s ok baby, I love you. I’m here" (Source) (Source).

Her mother Rosa said that one of her great-great-grandmothers (she doesn't know the grade) was forced to move in the called "Trail of Tears", the forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" [Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminoles] between 1830 and 1850, and the additional thousands of Native Americans within that were ethnically cleansed by the United States government (Wiki). Furthermore, she said her ancestor was from the Chumash people and was forced to move from Mississipi to Oklahoma (Source).

Rosa also said about Shannen's Native American's heritage:

"The whole Indian heritage to Shannen was very, very important ... Shannen swore when she bought this property [a ranch in Malibu to live with her mum, her friends, and to do a shelter for horses]… she says, I just feel it. She says, I know that this is where I'm supposed to be. And she just felt that whole Indian."

Also she was proud of having directed "Charmed"'s episode "The Good, The Bad and The Cursed" that features a storyline involving American's First Nations people's and Native actors Kimberly Guerrero (from Colville and Salish-Kootenai native peoples from Alaska) and Michael Greyeyes (Nêhiyaw (Plains Cree) from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada).

Shannen Doherty (R) with First Nations' actors Kimberley Guerrero and Michael Greyeyes.

The Chumash are a Native American people of the central and southern coastal regions of California (Wiki), in portions of what is now Kern, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, extending from Morro Bay in the north to Malibu in the south to Mt Pinos in the east. Their territory includes three of the Channel Islands: Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel; the smaller island of Anacapa was likely inhabited seasonally due to the lack of a consistent water source.

Modern place names with Chumash origins include Malibu, Nipomo, Lompoc, Ojai, Pismo Beach, Point Mugu, Port Hueneme, Piru, Lake Castaic, Saticoy, Simi Valley and Somis. Archaeological research demonstrates that the Chumash people have deep roots in the Santa Barbara Channel area and lived along the southern California coast for millennia.

The Chumash lived in over 150 independent villages, speaking variations of the same language. Much of their culture consisted of basketry, bead manufacturing and trading, cuisine of local abalone and clam, herbalism which consisted of using local herbs to produce teas and medical reliefs, rock art, and the scorpion tree. The scorpion tree was significant to the Chumash as shown in its arborglyph: a carving depicting a six-legged creature with a headdress including a crown and two spheres. The shamans participated in the carving which was used in observations of the stars and in part of the Chumash calendar. The Chumash resided between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the California coasts where a bounty of resources could be found. The tribe lived in an area of three environments: the interior, the coast, and the Northern Channel Islands. Some researchers believe that the Chumash may have been visited by Polynesians between AD 400 and 800, nearly 1,000 years before Christopher Columbus reached the Americas.

Chumash Family by American sculptor George S. Stuart

The maritime explorer Juan Cabrillo was the first European to make contact with the coastal Alta Californian tribes in the year 1542. Spain claimed what is now California from that time forward, but did not return to settle until 1769, when the first Spanish soldiers and missionaries arrived with the double purpose of Christianizing the Native Americans and facilitating Spanish colonization. The Chumash people moved from their villages to the Franciscan missions between 1772 and 1817.

Mexico seized control of the missions in 1834. Tribespeople either fled into the interior, attempted farming for themselves and were driven off the land, or were enslaved by the new administrators. After 1849 most Chumash land was lost due to theft by Americans and a declining population, due to the effects of violence and disease. The remaining Chumash began to lose their cohesive identity. In 1855, a small piece of land (120 acres) was set aside for just over 100 remaining Chumash Indians near Santa Ynez mission. This land ultimately became the only Chumash reservation, although Chumash individuals and families also continued to live throughout their former territory in southern California.

No native Chumash speak their own language since Mary Yee, the last Barbareño speaker, died in 1965. Today, the Chumash are estimated to have a population of 5,000 members.

Map of the Trail of Tears

Chumash worldview is centered on the belief "that considers all things to be, in varying measure, alive, intelligent, dangerous, and sacred." "They assume that the universe with its three, or in some versions five, layers has always been here."

Human beings occupy the Middle Region, which rests upon two giant snakes. Chronological time is unimportant, though the past is divided into two sections: the universal flood that caused the First People to become the natural world and, thereafter the creation of human beings, the arrival of the Europeans, and the devastating consequences that followed."

The middle region (sometimes referred to as 'antap), where humans and spirits of this world live and where shamans could travel in vision quests, is interconnected with the lower world (C'oyinahsup) through the springs and marsh areas and is connected to the upper world through the mountains. In the lower world live snakes, frogs, salamanders. The world trembles or has earthquakes when the snakes which support the world writhe.

Water creatures are also in contact with the powers of the lower world and "were often depicted in rock art perhaps to bring more water to the Chumash or to appease underworld spirits' at times of hunger or disease." Itiashap is the home of the First People. Alapay is the upper world in Chumash cosmology where the "sky people" lived, who play an important role in the health of the people. Principle figures of the sky world include the Sun, the Moon, Lizard, Sky Coyote, and Eagle. The Sun is the source of life and is also "a source of disease and death." The Sky Coyote, also known as the Great Coyote of the Sky or Shnilemun, is considered to be a protector and according to Inseño Chumash lore, “looks out for the welfare of all in the world below him”. During the creation of mankind, the Sky Coyote was present among the other important cosmological figures. The Eagle, also known as Slo’w, is the force that maintains momentum and order among the other stars so that they do not fall down on and destroy earth.

Chumash pictographs.

The Chumash cosmology is also centered around astronomy. Rock art and arborglyphs that have been found within Chumash sites are thought to have depicted Polaris (the North Star) and Ursa Major (the Big Dipper). These two astrological entities were paramount to the Chumash belief system as well as their perception of time. It is believed that the Chumash used these constellations to determine what time of the year it was depending on the position of Ursa Major around Polaris.

***

I love that Shannen showed her respect to her ancestry in some "Charmed" episodes, like in 2x10 "Heartbreak City" (click to see if bigger):

Charmed 3x01 "The Honeymoon is Over" (click to see bigger):

And the already mentioned 3x14 "The Good, The Bad and The Cursed" (click to see bigger). Her love for horses also comes from that connection:

[astro-tag-9]

The Signs as songs with We in the title

Aries sun: We Are - Hollywood Undead Aries moon: Something That We're Not - Demi Lovato Aries rising: We Are - ONE OK ROCK Aries Mercury: And We Danced - The Hooters Aries mars: Way Down We Go - KALEO Taurus sun: We Got History - Mitchell Tenpenny Taurus moon: We Loved It - John Legend Taurus rising: Places We Don't Know - Kasbo Taurus Mercury: Why Should We - CHASE WRIGHT Taurus mars: We Were Like - Kelsea Ballerini Gemini sun: We Were Young - Petit Biscuit, JP Cooper Gemini moon: Gemini rising: When We Were Young - Lost Kings, Norma Jean Martine Gemini mercury: We Are Stars - The Pierces Gemini mars: We Were In Love - Ta-ku Cancer sun: Why Don't We Just Dance - Josh Turner Cancer moon: We Run LA - Doc Hollywood Cancer rising: we think too much - Lil Peep Cancer mercury: We Danced - Brad Paisley Cancer mars: We - GODLACTUS Leo sun: We Found Love - Rihanna, Calvin Harris Leo moon: We Wont - Jaymes Young, Pheobe Ryan Leo rising: When We Were Young - Adele Leo Mercury: While We Have The Time - PLVTINUM, Sam Carter Leo mars: Sugar, We're Goin Down - Fall Out Boy Virgo sun: The Kind of Love We Make - Luke Combs Virgo moon: The World We Live In - The Killers Virgo rising: Hold On, We're Going Home - Drake Virgo mercury: We Were Cowboys - Kameron Marlowe Virgo mars: The Night We Met - Lord Huron Libra sun: we fell in love in October - girl in red Libra moon: We'll Be Alright - Travie McCoy Libra rising: The Song That We Used to Make Love To - Carrie Underwood Libra mercury: We Are Young - Fun. Libra mars: We Major - Kanye West Scorpio sun: We Can't Be Friends - Ariana Grande Scorpio moon: Until We Bleed - Kleerup, Lykke Li Scorpio rising: We - HONEYMOAN Scorpio Mercury: When The World Was At War We Kept Dancing - Lana Del Rey Scorpio mars: We - Bon Iver Sagittarius sun: we're not alike - Tate McRae Sagittarius moon: Where We land - Ed Sheeran Sagittarius rising: We're Young and Beautiful - Carrie Underwood Sagittarius Mercury: Somewhere Only We Know - Keane Sagittarius mars: We Were - Keith Urban Capricorn sun: We Still Don't Trust You -Future, Metro Boomin, The Weeknd Capricorn moon: We Don't Talk Anymore - Charlie Puth Capricorn rising: If We Ever Meet Again - Timberland Capricorn mercury: We Were Happy - Taylor Swift Capricorn mars: We Were Lovers - Bloc Party Aquarius sun: We R Who We R - Kesha Aquarius moon: We're Good - Dua Lipa Aquarius rising: Can We Pretend That We're Good? - Daniel Seavey Aquarius Mercury: WE - Arcade Fire Aquarius mars: We Can't Stop - Miley Cyrus Pisces sun: Here We Go Again - Demi Lovato Pisces moon: Dance Til We Die - Lana Del Rey Pisces rising: We'll Be A Dream - We The Kings, Demi Lovato Pisces mercury: Like We Used To - A Rocket To The Moon Pisces mars: We Belong Together - Mariah Carey

[garadinervi]

Best Short Stories by Negro Writers: An Anthology from 1899 to the Present, Edited and with an Introduction by Langston Hughes, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, MA, (1967-)1969 [Perma-Bound] [Anthologies of African American Writing, Mason Libraries Omeka Portal, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA]

Feat.: Alston Anderson, James Baldwin, Lebert Bethune, Robert Boles, Arna Bontemps, Gwendolyn Brooks, Frank London Brown, Charles W. Chesnutt, Alice Childress, John Henry Clarke, Cyrus Colter, Pearl Crayton, Owen Dodson, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Katherine Dunham, Junius Edwards, Ralph Ellison, Ronald Fair, Rudolph Fisher, Ernest J. Gaines, Chester B. Himes, Langston Hughes, Kristin Hunter, Zora Neale Hurston, Clifford Vincent Johnson, William Melvin Kelley, John Oliver Killens, Woodie King, Jr., Sylvester Leaks, Paule Marshall, R. J. Meaddough III, Ronald Milner, Willard Motley, Lindsay Patterson, Ted Poston, Conrad Kent Rivers, Charlie Russell, Mike Thelwell, Jean Toomer, Mary Elizabeth Vroman, Alice Walker, Eric Walrond, Dorothy West, John A. Williams, Charles Wright, Richard Wright, Frank Yerby

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 4.8

Beer Birthdays

Thomas Dawes (1785)

Henry Lembeck (1826)

John F. Betz (1831)

Marc Sorini (1966)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Gautama Buddha; spiritual leader (563)

Steve Howe; rock guitarist (1947)

Barbara Kingsolver; writer (1955)

David Rittenhouse; astronomer, mathematician, inventor (1732)

Katee Sackhoff; actor (1980)

Famous Birthdays

Patricia Arquette; actor (1968)

Adrian Boult; orchestra conductor (1889)

Jacques Brel; singer, songwriter (1929)

Melvin Calvin; chemist (1911)

Ilka Chase; actor (1905)

Harvey William Cushing; neurosurgeon (1869)

Ponce de Leon; Spanish explorer (1460)

El Greco; Greek artist (1614)

George Fisher; cartoonist (1923)

Betty Ford; first lady (1918)

Shecky Greene; comedian (1926)

John Havlicek; Boston Celtics F/G (1940)

Sonja Henie; skater (1912)

John R. Hicks; British economist (1904)

Jim "Catfish" Hunter; Oakland A's P (1946)

Santiago Jimenez Jr.; accordionist (1944)

Taylor Kitsch; actor, model (1981)

Josef Krips; orchestra conductor (1902)

Julian Lennon; pop singer (1963)

Carmen McRae; jazz singer (1922)

Lewis Morris; signer of the Declaration of Independence (1726)

Edward Mulhare; actor (1923)

Mary Pickford; actor (1893)

John Schneider; actor (1960)

Izzy Stradlin; rock guitarist (1962)

Monty Sunshine; jazz clarinetist (1928)

Douglas Trumbull; film director (1942)

Robin Wright; actor (1966)