The last couple of days have been strange and difficult, and there's not much point in my trying to give an accurate accounting of them. Well, maybe for Sunday, but not for Saturday. Saturday simply spun out of control, and there was one of the worst seizures I've had in a long time, during which I managed to all but dislocate my left shoulder. Saturday was the first day I've had to give an "L" (for "lost day") in my day planner since April 13th. I spent most of the day in bed, and by evening had recovered only enough energy to goof around on Facebook.

Oh, I am quite happy to report that Emma the Beltane Bunneh, late of Spooky's Etsy Dreaming Squid Dollworks, now has a new home in faraway Lancaster, England. Booya.

Yeah, I'm not much for linear today. Sorry.

Yesterday, still recovering from Saturday, I decided it was best to wait another day before getting back to work on "The Alchemist's Apprentice," and that we could use the "downtime" to get started on the trailer for The Red Tree. There was a lot of technical stuff, cameras and editing software and whatnot, but later in the afternoon we managed to get out of the house. The weather was grand, warm, but not really hot (high 70sF, and lots of sunshine, but a few clouds to keep the sky from seeming carnivorous). First, we stopped by Myopic Books over on South Angell Street. No, this has nothing to do with the trailer, I just wanted to spend an hour or so browsing in a good used bookshop. We behaved ourselves, and came away with only two volumes: Simon Winchester's Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded (2003) and Andrea Barrett's Servants of the Map (2002).

Afterwards, we headed south out of Providence, and did some location scouting on Conanicut Island. Most of the footage for the trailer will actually be shot in western Rhode Island, out towards Moosup Valley. But we will need a few brief shots of the rocks at Beavertail, and I was in the mood for the sea, not fields and forests. There were a truly annoying number of people, though. Still, I managed to get some test footage below the lightouse, and Spooky shot some a little farther north. We found a dead cormorant shattered on the phyllite boulders. After a while, I spread a blanket on the rocks just northeast (about .03 mi.) of the lighthouse, and we just sat and watched and listened and smelled the sea for about an hour. I wanted to stay and watch moonrise, as last night was the full moon, but it was still hours away and there were things to be done back at the house. But the sea was good while it lasted. The gulls and cormorants, the breakers and the salt air. Two guys were fishing just north of us, throwing bait to a lazy herring gull that waited impatiently nearby.

Here's a short bit I filmed down below the lighthouse. This wasn't done with the camera that'll be used for the trailer, by the way. It's awfully murky footage, but, in some ways, it gives a better impression of Beavertail than all my still photos. Oh, and there's my shadow at the end. And sound. You can hear the foghorn.



So, that was Saturday and Sunday, more or less (mostly less).

Please do have a look at the current eBay auctions, if you are able and so inclined. Thanks. The platypus says I must go now. Doughnuts and all, you know.