Posted by Stitchy McYarnpants On October - 5 - 2005   ShareThis

So what the hell kind of jerk spends all sorts of time spamming blogs just to get theirs noticed? And while doing it, they pretend to compliment the bespammed by saying “Hey nice blog ya’ got here! Come check mine out!” It may work once, but geez Louise, 40 or 50 times? Screw you, spammy! So what’s a blogger to do? I know I’ve heard other people mention this happening, so how do you stop it if the spamholes have Blogger accounts? Lousy motherspammers.

Anyhoo. Have you ever seen Pee Wee’s Big Adventure? You know the scene where he runs into the burning pet shop to save the animals, and every time he goes by the snake tank, he makes a face and moves on to something cuter and fuzzier? Eventually, everything cute and fuzzy has been rescued, so he has no choice but to save the snakes. Moments later, he runs out of the shop screaming, arms flailing, his hands full of snakes, then he just passes out.

Yeah. I’ve been feeling a lot like that lately. I hate being a grown up and having to make decisions and junk and stuff.

Carlos the Electrician is finally done (yes, that Carlos and that electrical work). He came a couple of times a week on average and I didn’t act as his assistant most days, so it took for-freaking-ever. And now we need to decide what the next step is do we look into having insulation blown into the ceiling while the ceilings are all messed up? I have no idea how much it costs, but I’m guessing it’s hella expensive. And then we have to patch all the holes. Honestly, there are probably at least 50 places that need patching. I haven’t counted, but we had work done in every single room in the house. Do we do it ourselves over time, making mess after mess every weekend for the rest of our lives? Or do we spend more money to have it done in one or two weekends? Then we have to paint the walls in every room. In most places, this means removing wallpaper. And neither Jon nor I are any good at decorating, we still have milk crates everywhere, fer chrissakes! So I have no idea what colors to choose or anything. Oh my heavens, what a mess.

I suspect we’ll just cover the holes with plastic “for the winter” and never speak of it again. It will be our silent pact to just pretend we don’t live in a wooden box with holes poked in it. Egads, we’re living like a couple of tree frogs captured by an 8-year-old!

Another snake in my craw, unfortunately, is my blog. I keep wanting to post, but I just never have time to write anything good, so I just put it off until a later than never seems to come. I’ve gotten out of the habit and its bugging me. So I hereby declare that I will write something every day until I leave for Rhinebeck. It may not contain pictures and it may not be brilliant, but I’ve got to get back in the habit of blogging. So there you go. Instead of a vow of silence, I’m taking a vow of daily rambling. And if I don’t do it, you can feel free to mock me, berate me, even spam the bejesus out of me with links to blogs about David Hasselhoff. As Dot is my witness, I shall blog again!

And since I have no pictures today, either, I will leave you with a link that is probably not everyone’s cup of tea. But if you like spooky, abandoned buildings particularly asylums, than have I got a link for you. This guy is a great photographer and even has pictures of a building that Charlene and I have a dangerous crush on. Yes, we have a crush on an old insane asylum, so what?! It’s in Danvers, MA. If you drive up Rt 1 north, past all the strip malls and whatnot, you can see its spires peeking out above the trees on the left. The best time to see it is in the winter when the leaves are off the trees. They’re going to be replacing it with condos very soon. I don’t know how much demolition they’re going to do, but they will be some and it’s a shame to loose such an amazing piece of architecture. You can’t drive up to it, there’s pretty tight security, but it’s worth a drive by just to see the peaks of the buildings. It gives me shivers just to look at it. I don’t know if I believe in ghosts and hauntings and wayward spirits, but if such things existed, this place would be crammed to the gills with them. It even starred in a movie called Session 9, which I loved.

So take a peek Opacity, not only at Danvers State Hospital, but of the other urban ruins he’s explored. They’re truly beautiful and creepy and sad and stunning.

24 Responses

  1. Beth Smith says:

    I read your blog everyday – even when you haven’t posted in weeks. I will also be in Rhinebeck – my fiorst time since I’m a pretty new spinner. Maybe we’ll see each other. I’ll be the one with the kid (2 year old boy) in the stroller with the Mickey Ears ball cap.
    Hope to see you there.

  2. Wendy says:

    http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=1203&topic=23

    Word Verification will help deter spammers as most are computer generated.

    It has helped for my blog. :)

  3. iv’e got word verification on my blog too, and i havne’t ahd any spam since. glad to see you’re back, we missed you!

  4. Kat says:

    Thanks for the Opacity link. His photography is gorgeous. Much better than other urban exploration sites.

  5. Laura.Y says:

    The rest of the girls said it, turn on the word verification option found under the settings. Thank goodness blogger came out with that one. it’s a ‘spam’ saver.

  6. happyspider says:

    word verification is the way to go.

  7. Maggie says:

    The spam visited me too…been going on for about a month now. Usually about 3 minutes after I publish the post it shows up. I wait for it, then I delete it. Might try word verification…I’m still thinking of a way to get even…

  8. Colleen says:

    Yes, I’ve noticed a lot of blogger/blogspot blogs with word verif.

    Thank you for reminding me about Opacity. DSH: fab-u buildings. Part of Massachusetts’s (then) innovative response to treatment of mental illness.

  9. melanie says:

    You put the opacity link there just for me didn’t ya? You love me. :)

    Excellent idea the daily blog exercise. It will serve you (and us) well!

  10. Lee Ann says:

    One day I got spammed by people like that no fewer than 147 times. It was appalling to watch my inbox groan and keep swallowing that crap. It’s been a while since I’ve been bothered by them, but I expect they’ll come round again…

    Thanks for the link to that great photo site. My grandparents, aunt, and cousins lived in Wenham, so Danvers was right nearby, and it’s an incredible place, architecturally.

  11. I hear you on the plastic/holey home. I’ve just done a little Do-It-Yourself job on my kitchen ceiling involving a roll of tape and some trash bags. Seeing it may make you feel a bit better about your own. I’ve got a picture of it on my blog. So, “come check out my blog”. =)

    I’m sorry, I really couldn’t resist the temptation to say that. I’ve gotten a few of those spams myself. A bit irritating, for sure.

  12. katiedid says:

    I have a friend who takes frequent trips to an abandoned state hospital to take pictures. It’s much more run down than the Danvers one though – more plants and trees growing in through windows and peeling paint and such. Creepy as hell but beautiful in it’s own way.

    Anyway, thanks for the link! Those are great photos!

  13. Becky says:

    Come and visit us sometime and we can take you to see Bannerman;s Island…check the Opacity link for it. One of the cousins was once in one of the MaState mental hospitals,but in a prison wing? I think? I will have to ask Mom about that one.
    Becky, the NY sis-in-law

  14. Imbrium says:

    If you have a passion for abandoned buildings (I do!)check out http://www.release-me.net/defunct/ and http://www.abandoned-places.com/

    Beautiful and creepy!

  15. Fiber Fetish says:

    I can’t believe they’re going to tear that place down, it’s architecturally AMAZING. Why is it that developers always get it in their heads that new = progress? They knock down the old and build new because it’s cheaper but they don’t realize what they’re destroying. It makes me sad. They’re doing the same thing to the Ambassador Hotel in LA and that’s got major history…

    Ambassador Hotel

    As for your insulation, I say do it. You’d be surprised, it’s not as expensive as you think. Insulation is about the cheapest thing you can have done in a home improvement. At least get an estimate.

    I’m looking forward to reading you again, I’ve missed your blog. Welcome back. :)

  16. Leisel says:

    In regards to decorating, Lynette Jennings (the hostess for one of the first ever home decorating shows) suggests finding an inspiration piece (a piece of fabric you really like, or an article of clothing, or maybe some artwork), and pick the colors out of that. If you want to coordinate rooms, just switch out which of those colors are the dominant color in each room, and which are the secondary colors.

  17. Rebekah says:

    What I want to know is why it is that Insane Aslyums or Mental Health Institutes as we call them here in the Midwest are typically amazing buildings. The two I’m familiar with, and in particular the one in Independence, IA where I grew up is so neat. I think maybe it has to do with the time in history they were built. I love to hear stories about them though, my favorite are the ones where they kept patients, the criminally insane ones, in the basement locked up, and how there were tunnels, etc, and old machines down there for treatments. Oh and of course the graveyard. We would go and walk through the graveyard, which was suorrounded by corn fields, and the graves were eery because they only had numbers on them, no names. Ahh the good old days.

  18. Clara says:

    I’ll be happy to see you post everyday, even if you don’t put up pictures!

    I also see that you put up word verification–good job!

  19. MISSED YOU!!!!! So glad you’re back. And I *loved* that link – thanks so much for sharing! Also, if the insane asylums in the midwest and east coast are the most architecturally (??) beautiful buildings, why is it that the friggin Dept. of Water and Power have the most beautiful buildings out here?! (Barring the multi million dollar mansions and beachfront property, of course.)

  20. Kellee says:

    What FiberFetish said? Ditto. I can also loan you one insulation-blowing-handyman for cheaps. It will be good practice for him for our place.

  21. Cara says:

    Wow! Thanks for the link. He’s been to Byberry – the state hospital in Philly right near where I grew up. When we were in school (especially elementary school since it was pretty close) any weird person was said to have “escaped from Byberry.”) I’ve read how people go in there all the time – it’s a very, very scary place if you ask me – and the pictures are fascinating.

  22. Kathen says:

    Why is the Opacity site so addictive? (And why didn’t I have screaming nightmares after getting lost on it for 3 hours?) Thanks for the link.
    Our local “Mental Hospital” closed a couple of years ago, but I think it is only from the ’40’s or ’50’s. There’s a lot of talk about turning it into a University Campus. They’d better hurry!

  23. Amber says:

    Wow, yeah, obsession with asylums (I used to walk around NoHo’s asylum all the time) references to random web pop culture (have you seen the “potter potter potter, potter, weasly! Weasly!” animation!?) and your kitty! He has the personality, my goodness.

    I think my alternate reality needs an ottlite too, even if the one in the picture of my place looks like the exploration pod from war of the worlds (the good version) =)

    http://thefifthdistrict.com/potter/

    It’s a Snaaaaape!

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