Month: December 2015

Creepy Fingers, Sexy Voice – Vampire Verisimilitude

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I’m just going to throw out two words: Frank Langella.

Timothy, as many of you know, has an extensive collection of Vampire movies and television shows, but one I’d never heard him talk about was the 1979 Dracula. When you hear about classic leading actors playing Vampires, the names Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee come up, but you don’t hear the word sexy. Powerful and dangerous, sure — these Vampires took what they wanted, but Langella’s Dracula seduced.

Timothy and I watched his new Blu-ray of the movie early Christmas morning. He won’t admit it, but I think Frank is a favorite of his.

DraculaFrankLangellaAnd why not? The first time you see him, it’s only his fingers — long, slow, and deliberate — reaching for Mina tenderly but ensnaring her all the same. I think it was meant to be creepy…like watching a spider, but you still wanted to watch. The second time he is whole: tall, well dressed, moving with precision. His eyes linger and caress…wow. And his voice! Louisa once told me she knew I had been transformed from the quality of my voice, hearing that extra component that makes it “irresistible.” But hearing Langella pouring on the charm? Hearing him read a software agreement would be captivating.
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Making Christmas Memories – Vampire Verisimilitude

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Staying active physically, mentally, and spiritually are problems for today’s Seniors. Idle hands, idle minds, and idle lives. Never mind the devil and his well-documented workshop; this is an important holiday ideology.

FromTheDeskOfJanissSignaturePeople need purpose. Whether you’re starting out in life or approaching your so-called declining years, purpose fulfills us. Here’s where retirees and immortals have a lot in common: we both have a lifetime (or lifetimes) of memories haunting us. If you’re not a Vampire, those memories fade. Routine, hobbies, and memorabilia can help the elderly, but making new memories help hold onto old ones.

People need interaction. There’s nothing wrong with spending time alone — that’s a skill unto itself — but we’re social animals. Many of our residents have no other family or receive visits from relatives, so they have each and our staff. Looking forward to sharing with others provides purpose as well and keeps minds active.

People need people. I am suggesting to all of our supporters to make plans to visit with or contact your relatives, especially the ones who may not be with us much longer. Learn their stories and interact with them; you never know when they’ll be gone. The conversation is only one-way when you’re staring down at a headstone, Ebenezer.

Just think of me as three Christmas spirits rolled into one. With fangs.

Don’t wait. Get involved. Make memories.

This is what immortality is supposed to be: being remembered.

No one should need to seek out a Vampire for that.

Merry Christmas, everyone — and keep each other safe.

~ Janiss

Email janiss.connelly@cedarcrestsanctum.com
Twitter @JanissConnelly
Instagram @janiss.connelly

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Dracula’s Bucket Brigade – Vampire Verisimilitude

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Have you ever thought about a Vampire having to deal with something completely mundane?

I had to laugh at this.

FromTheDeskOfJanissSignatureWe have alarms at Cedarcrest Sanctum for various reasons, not the least of which is a trespasser on the property. With the safety of our residents being paramount, we monitor for several possible emergencies, but imagine my surprise when a flooding alarm went off. As someone who sleeps deep in a hole in the ground, flooding is not high on my list of favorite things. Fortunately, the flooding was traced to a pipe that had broken due to a freeze, but we had to carry equipment down into a sub-basement to pump out the water. Truthfully, I was doing a lot of the carrying.

This got me thinking about Dracula — silly, right? For the record, there’s no such guy, but imagine he and his brides waking up one stormy evening to discover the crypt was full of water. “Egads!” he’d cry out in a thick Romanian accent (I have no idea what he’d say, so I’m rolling with this). “Quickly, my brides! Gather all the buckets and towels you can find! For the love of darkness, save the tapestries!” Then there would be burst of motion and activity as four Vampires started bailing out a crypt and moving things away from the leak to wait out the storm. Turning into a bat, he’d brave the pelting rain to survey the roof, finding the portion that had given way.

DraculaBelaWax“Niña! Pinta! Santa María! Swoop down upon the unsuspecting village below the castle and use the cover of the night to snatch as many roofers as you can carry! Make all haste!” For full disclosure, I have no idea what the names of Dracula’s brides are, so I used Spanish ships — what’s he going to do, sue me for defamation of character? With the roofers secured, Dracula would use his command of the elements to make the storm over his castle stop so the roofers could fix the damage, then send them back to their village with a bag of gold each. Do you think that’d be enough to cover the workmanship plus free round-trip airfare to the castle and back?

Yes, I’m being silly, but I think the fictional King of all Vampires would be awesome at crisis management.

Keep each other safe — and dry.

~ Janiss

Email janiss.connelly@cedarcrestsanctum.com
Twitter @JanissConnelly
Instagram @janiss.connelly

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A Good Arrangement – Vampire Verisimilitude

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Sorry there was no specific Thanksgiving message this year…as usual. A few of you know why — and no, it had nothing to do with becoming a Vampire.

Thanksgiving used to be my favorite holiday, but it’s been a while since then.

I adopted Christmas as my new favorite holiday afterward, basically moving up number two into the empty spot. Being the only child in a loving and well-off family didn’t suck and — as my mom used to say — I made out like a bandit. My dad would come back later and buy anything he’d caught me eyeballing.

FromTheDeskOfJanissSignatureMy mom was sneakier. Knowing dad would dote on me, she’d buy things for me I could re-gift to Daniel and Eric. Mr. and Mrs. Moore always seemed to be out of money at the start of school and right at Christmas, so up until we moved away, mom always “accidentally” bought things perfect for the boys. Dad must have known but he never said anything.

Seeing Daniel and Eric get something cool for Christmas that they couldn’t get for themselves always made me happy, but I think Mrs. Moore resented us for it. The only charity she wanted was from their oft-missing Uncle “No-Show” Par who she had decided owed her everything. Of course, I found out recently his absence wasn’t strictly due to avoiding Marie.

My point is this: I enjoy seeing others get something for themselves.

So, here we are in December. Colorful lights are going up in and around the small town of Glenville, West Virginia. Plans are being made and the 25th is just a few weeks away. I am blessed that everything I want this year is for someone else.

Sure, I wish I didn’t have to depend on so many others, but I give plenty in return. I wish the daytime didn’t make want to crawl into a dark hole, but there’s no fixing that. It’s not perfect, but we have a good arrangement, Cedarcrest and I, and the nights are wonderfully long this time of year.

Of course, this is usually the part of a Joss Whedon television show when the next Big Bad shows up.

Hopefully he/she/it is having a nice December holiday of their own and won’t come around until after the first of the year. If they want, I’ll even let them help take down the decorations.

If you’re reading this, please leave a few thoughts about your holiday plans. I’d love to read about them.

As always, keep each other safe.

~ Janiss

Email janiss.connelly@cedarcrestsanctum.com
Twitter @JanissConnelly
Instagram @janiss.connelly

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Sins of the Fathers and Trails of Tears – Vampire Verisimilitude

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Is there a statute of limitations for immortals? If someone wrongs an immortal and escapes their wrath into death, should their offspring suffer?

I’m not talking about reparations. I’m talking about pure revenge. This isn’t even a right or wrong question; it’s a question of motive.

Ruth recently mentioned Deuteronomy 5:9 to me, the often-misquoted bible verse: ‘…for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.’ Yes, that’s a bit specific and in no way forgiving.

NancyWardOfferingsLet’s say for example that Nancy Ward — for whatever reason — was still alive. Nanyehi was born into the Wolf clan of the Cherokee at Chota (the hills of Eastern Tennessee) in 1738. She rose to fame taking up arms against the Creeks after her husband fell in battle, earning her the title Ghighau, the “Beloved Woman of the Cherokee,” a powerful position of influence within the tribal government. With the creation of Fort Loudin on the frontier, Cherokee and colonists traded and sometimes mingled; Nanyehi took the Anglicized name Nancy Ward and learned English when she married English trader Bryant Ward. In contrast to her warrior instinct or perhaps because of it, Nancy sought peace between her native people and the encroaching colonists until her death in 1822.

For all the good it did.
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