Hounding from the Depths of Perdition

Calla Lily

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I am possibly the only human on the planet who cannot stand the Godfather movies. Thus I'm outside in 86 degree heat (by the koi pond) getting in more wordage, instead of sitting on the couch in the air-conditioned house. This because I'm tired of earbuds in my ears to block it out.

All things considered, I'd better get used to heat, since I turned 60 in April. If you know what I mean.

Until then, BBQ for all! I think there's a newbie hound. :evil
 

llyralen

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You might think you see a newbie… but I’ve been here all along. You’ve probably breathed in dust mites that have survived on my skin. Ahh!
 

Calla Lily

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You might think you see a newbie… but I’ve been here all along. You’ve probably breathed in dust mites that have survived on my skin. Ahh!
Dust mites are salt for the Newbie-Q. Just let me whip up a fresh batch of my homemade bbq sauce...
 
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Calla Lily

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Not sure I'm on board with that little purple devil... kind of reminds me of an evil cousin to the Master Control Program from Tron.
I was hoping to find the old red emoji with sharp fangs but haven't located it yet. That one and the seesawing devil/angel were my favorites.
 

slcboston

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I was hoping to find the old red emoji with sharp fangs but haven't located it yet. That one and the seesawing devil/angel were my favorites.
*sigh*

Yes, I miss fang.

Also made frequent use of the see-saw.

And a Newbie-Q? Wow. It's almost like old home week, only without the smell of ointment and the clack of canes.
 
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Calla Lily

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*sigh*

Yes, I miss fang.

Also made frequent use of the see-saw.

And a Newbie-Q? Wow. It's almost like old home week, only without the smell of ointment and the clack of canes.
All my joints go snap-crackle-pop, does that count? :LOL:
 
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Calla Lily

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Did someone mention rice krispie treats made from newbie joints?

*she says hopefully...

...while smugly noting that boz needs to look farther down the smiley list...slacker*

:e2teeth::evil:e2seesaw::e2teeth:
Yay! You found them! In my defense, I was on my phone and I haven't worked through the XenForo diffs on it yet.

Breakfast in the kitchen. Fresh newbie sausages and waffles!
 
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tiddlywinks

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As long as it's not me, I'm okay with that.

Also, you Hounds would be proud of me. I just discovered notes for a short story idea I apparently wrote down a good 6 months or more ago (not sure exactly but I was like "what the hell" when I found it in my handwriting in a writing journal, ha ha). It's definitely a creepy, scary story idea! *preens* Now I just have to write it. But the notes gave me the heebee jeebies! Apparently it was one of those vivid dreams I sometimes have and I wrote it down. Pretttttttty sure I died and woke up from the dream given the notes.
 

Calla Lily

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[This is a long one.]

Was it Thomas Wolfe who turned "You can't go home again" into a book plot?

He was right and it's horror.

Today when I was scrolling through the guide on DirecTV looking for the other Olympic broadcasts, I scrolled past PBS. They were broadcasting a revival of Leonard Bernstein's "Mass" on "Great Performances. Being PBS, they aren't showing it again until mid-September and I can't find a PBS on demand. I bet they don't have one because they want to gouge the public during one of their many pledge drives.

So I tried fo find the new version online, but PBS has it locked down tight. <not surprised> I did find one song by the lead on YouTube. What a voice. <swoon>

I did find the original 1981 recording. on YT and I have Thoughts.

First, how on earth could the new version capture the innocence and chaos of that time? HIV was a whisper. Pedophile priests didn't officially exist. People were torn--longing for the Latin Mass and enjoying actually understanding what was going on. There was still a longing for the simple belief that everything the Church said was blessed by God, that the Bible was to be worshipped, that if we did everything the priests said without question all our problems would be solved and we'd spend eternity in Heaven.

Second, the plot is all about the faithful taking baby steps: questioning, arguing, doubting. The wide-eyed priest goes from innocent to clueless to appalled to furious. When the congregation turns the Mass into chaos he finally cracks and smashes the monstrance and chalice. (The extended aria after this is a tour de force.) He rips off his vestments and walks out.

Third, the end attempts hope: an altar boy institutes the reconciliation between priest and congregation, yet despite the Latin of this song being only conjunctions of "praise," the reconciliation is more between the priest and congregation rather than the priest being the conduit between the congregation and God. The congregation is sorry for the chaos and the priest grasps at any straw of peace.

The piece is a product of its time. Now, with the RCC publicly revealed in all its corruption, with the idea that allowing an altar boy near a priest should be the epitome of social distancing, I can only see this being performed as a quaint period piece.

I was still a nun when this was performed. I secretly listened to it with my secular friends.

This nostalgia is... horrible. My life was chaos in 1981 and 1982, mirrored by the priest's crisis of faith and the loud, insistent, continual noise of the world attacking from all sides.

If I'd had any sense, I wouldn't have watched the original on YT tonight. The memories grabbed me by the throat and yanked me across 40 years of my life. This old, cynical, tired broad (I'm 60 now!) became a miserable, angry, terrified 20-year-old with only one thought: Did God ever give me a vocation to the convent? Is everything I believed a lie? There was the quietest whisper in the depths of my mind that the answer to question 1 was "no" and 2 was "yes".

After years of anger and bitterness and emptiness I got myself straightened out, and with my ex-Husband as well. No pre-nup with God! ;) Even so, I would like nothing more than to polish off the fifth of Jameson's in the china cabinet right now. People still ask me why I haven't written a convent memoir. This is why. It was horrible physically and mentally, and when faith is your reason for existing, having ishatter is falling into a Lovecraftian void. I'll keep writing horror and mystery with humor and magic and naughty bits, TYVM.

This is one of the longest posts I've ever written on AW, Hounds, and no worries if you skipped to the end. I'll turn the Jameson's into Irish coffee and bake scones for breakfast. They'll be waiting for everyone when y'all pop in tomorrow. Thanks for listening. Horror Hounds are the best.

ETA: fixed some confusing typos and didn't try to count the times I used 'chaos' and versions of 'horror'. Guess those speak for themselves.
:e2seesaw:
 
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ShaunHorton

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Hounds! Hounds! I want to know what you think of this idea. It's so horrible, but at the same time, I think it's genius.

A choose your own adventure style book where the main character keeps trying to commit suicide, but fate intervenes every time to keep him alive and mostly unharmed. The choose your own adventure part keeps looping back through the book infinitely, so there's no real ending, but if you read the first letter of each "chapter" in the table of contents, it reads "You're in Hell"
 

slcboston

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PBS does have a streaming service, which to the best of my recollection is free as long as you are a member of your local station. As one does.
 
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