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Everyone have a decent 4th? Mine was quite nice; Katie and I went over to Long Island, to the John Green's family residence, as I've done so for… gosh… over ten years now. Another pleasant afternoon spent sitting by the pool and consuming assorted meats grilled over an open flame, but this time it was a tad bit better than previous years. Maybe because the weather was particularly awesome, plus it was the first time assorted other peeps were present, like Allan, Alisa, Allison, and Scott.
The rest of the weekend was almost entirely spent in front of the television, with one kind of game controller or another in my hands. Tried giving Bully for the Wii a second chance; got it as a birthday present a while back and played it only once. Didn't like my initial ten minutes with the game, and after spending a solid hour and half with it yesterday, I now know for certain that it's absolute garbage. I still can't believe how so many people jacked off to it during its release. Wait a minute, yes I can, because it's Rockstar and anything they produce is supposedly gold, or at the very least garners a conspicuous amount of high scores; Katie more or less hit it on the head by stating that R* is basically the Family Guys of video games… and for those people out there who love to claim that they have such sophisticated storytelling in their titles, please to explain to me if there's any real point to the mean-spirited ridiculing of fat girls in the beginning, which just left a nasty taste in my mouth. Then there was Ninja Blade, the lame-o fusion of Ninja Gaiden and God of War for the 360. Since I'm weaksauce when it comes to any Team Ninja title, and unable to deal with GoW's aesthetics (hate to be one of those kind of people, but I just find Tokyo of the near future more appealing then ancient Greece, though Ninja Blade's art design is pretty ugly as well), I figured I'd also give it another shot; MS sent me a review copy a while ago, but it kept crashing my debug. All I can say is… God, I'm so done with Quick Time Events.
Played a bunch of other stuff, but in the end, I find myself knee deep in Super Mario Galaxy; there were some worlds I had totally forgotten about. God that game is still so amazing. Meanwhile, Katie, who had been playing Persona 4 is now knee deep in Pop Cutie, the fashion designer simulator for the DS. Once she's done with the DSi, I can get back to Flower, Sun, and Rain, whose charms have finally begun to wear off on me, but I'm too deep into things to bail out now. Plus, I'm in the midst of downloading Bit.Trip Core, and been trying to figure out how to use Kodu, that new game making tool for the 360, all morning but I'll save the rest of the game speak for later, because now it's time for…
So the NYAFF is officially done and over with. And as noted last time, the 09 edition was perhaps the best one thus far, simply by virtue of introducing to me the glory that is House, along with a few other gems, which I'll be detailing in just a bit. Sorry I wasn?t able to file my festival report in a timelier manner, though there's a good chance that most of what's mentioned will be coming to an art house theater near you, or perhaps on DVD/Blu-ray if we're lucky. Hence why I'm gonna pass over the clunkers, which there were a few…
Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl
When the final line-up for the New York Asian Film Festival 09 was at last revealed, I noticed the abundance of "gore" films and was somewhat confused, even a tad bit concerned. At the very least, it just felt like overkill. On the bright side, it meant numerous pre-movie antics between the aforementioned Nishimura and Iguchi, which turned out to be one of the biggest highlights of the entire festival; both men more or less had their hands in every single one of these movies (so I'm assuming that Subway Cinema must have gotten some kind of package deal or the like). So to avoid burnout, I decided to check out a few, with Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl appearing to be the one with the most potential for both Hilary and myself, especially since the trailer had the same vibe as Tokyo Gore Police's, which we both enjoyed so much last year. So the verdict? It's no TGP, that's for the damn sure.
For whatever reason, Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl just didn't do it for us. Perhaps it's the fact that the movie only used half the amount of blood as Tokyo Gore Police (according to co-director Nishimura in the Q&A, plus he's gone on record as stating that it's basically a gore movie for beginners). The basic premise, which is infusing the TGP formula into a high school romance, certainly seemed promising enough; there's this guy who's dreamy and all, but also rather shy and somewhat wimpy. Hence why he doesn't put up much resistance when the resident tough gal, an ultra aggressive gothic lolita that commands a small army of like-minded chicks, demands that he becomes her boyfriend. Though on Valentine's Day, the transfer student offers the boy some chocolate (in Japan, on that day, it's girls who offer boys candy, as a sign of intense affection), which he accepts. Just half a bite into the odd shaped morsel reveals a very odd taste… it's blood! This new girl's blood. Who happens to be a vampire, which naturally turns the boy of her dreams into one as well. Gothic lolita gf naturally gets quite angry by this turn of events (though she's completely unaware of the vampire part, just the fact that there's another girl is enough to set her off) and gets in transfer student's face. One thing leads to another and gothic lolita girl is soon dead, but thankfully, her father is some wacked out mad scientist that brings the dead back to life! Plus he always tries to make improvements, which means killing assorted classmates and borrowing their best attributes.
The movie is not without it's moments; for starters, I was happy to see that wrist cutting as a popular pastime for girls, as introduced in TGP, was back as an after school club. That wacky sense of humor from before has definitely carried over, but even more offensive this time around, as evidenced by it's interpretation of the ganguro craze, which is a term for Japanese girls obsessed with darker skin, normally typified by having fake and back tans, to the point of looking orange. Well in the Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl universe, they adopt some not so pleasant and flat-out racist black traits; not to go into details, but let's just say that any African American viewer that's offended as a result has somewhat of a just cause. Then again, that's Japan for you, things are just different over there. Also loved the chain-smoking Chinese teacher, portrayed by the director of Ju-On (plus the scary lady from Audition also has a brief cameo). And as already noted, there's not a crazy amount of gore when compared to Tokyo Gore Police, but the stuff that's there is just as finely crafted and hilarious as one would expect. The real issue is how much of the TGP's charm, for a lack of a better term, is simply missing; VG vs. FG is certainly crazy in parts, but TGP was REALLY out there. Translation: there's nothing close to the magnificence of the pussy chair to be found, sadly. Yet the gore fans in attendance certainly ate it all up, enough to sell out both screenings and prompting a third, much to both Hilary and I's total shock. Again, wasn't going to concentrate on the clunkers, but given how it was the festival's biggest disappointment, along with one of it's most high profile films to begin with, figured passing along my two cents was almost necessary.
Blind Love
Before each screening, the folks who run the festival will give away assorted prizes to the audience, usually movie posters, DVDs, or gay manga. And at VG vs FG, Hilary won a free ticket to the second Pink Eiga program for later that evening; Pink Eiga is an American distributor for classic Japanese pink films, which are essentially soft-core sexploitation movies, but as crazy as it might sound, the genre actually commands a certain degree of respect in its native land. Numerous established directors got their start in pink, and it continues to thrive today (whereas in America, not only is there no real equivalent, plus as we all know, porn is bad for you, period). Both Pink Eiga programs were on my list of stuff to maybe see but were ultimately cut, though Hilary winning one ticket was the reason I needed to plop down one of those comp passes from Ip Man.
Because pink movies are a bit on the short side, each of the programs contained two films, and the first one here, Blind Love, simply blew us away. It's the story about a short fellow who is a ventriloquist and the blind girl that falls in love with him, or at least his voice. After a performance, she shows up with a bouquet of flowers and a big hug for the new man of her dreams, but accidently gives it to his apprentice, who is much taller than his boss. But the ventriloquist plays along by saying thank you while standing on a chair and talking to girl over said lackey's shoulder. At first, both men act as if the girl is no big deal, but each secretly begins to obsess over her, and next thing you know, each is on a date with her, with one supplying the mind and the other the body. Since this is technically a porn flick, yes, there is a sex scene involving all three people. Now, I realize much of what I just described sounds pretty silly, but trust me when I state that Blind Love is honest to God one of the most touching, as well as heart-wrenching love stories one will ever find on film, period; not to give anything away, plus I'm usually not the type to get emotionally crippled by a movie, but that ending is something that both myself and Hilary are still trying to recover from. The degree of sensitivity and pure raw emotion simply puts all the trite romantic comedies and dramas that Hollywood routinely produces to absolute shame. The funny thing is how the film would have completely worked without any of the sex scenes, and in a certain sense, is somewhat dragged down by them, with the exception of one, since it's fairly key to the story. And that's a sentiment that was actually shared by the director himself, Daisuke Goto, who was in attendance. Who also btw looked like a total Yakuza badass. But as Goto explained, the reason why many get involved in the world of pink in Japan is because it offers a fast track for many hopeful directors to helm a 35 mm vehicle, while normally it takes many years in the traditional studio system. I have no idea if Blind Love is available on DVD in America, though the Pink Eiga representative was pushing another work of Goto?s that evening (who btw was simply hilarious), that being A Lonely Cow Weeps At Dawn. It's about a woman who lets her senile father in law to believe that she's his favorite cow, which recently died, by allowing him to milk her. That at least sounds more like an actual porn flick.
The second pink film was Groper Train: Wedding Capriccio, directed by Yojiro Takita, whose actually an Academy Award winner (for directing Departures last year). Already, that's good news, right? Long story short, it was by far the worst thing I have EVER seen at the NYAFF. There was absolutely nothing worthwhile from the entire thing (the advertised Close Encounters and E.T. jokes were certainly not worth the time wasted waiting for them), with the worst part being that there's hardly any actual groping on trains to speak of. Over a week later, I still want my 68 minutes back.
Fish Story
When it comes to most films, no matter how wild and wacky the story or characters might be, one can almost always figure out at a certain point where things are going, generally speaking. That's definitely not a knock, but simply how things are; even when it comes to Japanese cinema, whose filmmakers love to keep its audiences on their toes by constantly jumping all over the narrative timeline and the such, it's not hard to tell what is happening and what possible (or natural) outcomes will be. Take something as insane as House for example, which is ultimately a horror flick involving a bunch of girls in a haunted abode, so we all know that they're probably all going to die. But every so often, and quite rarely, comes along a movie like Fish Story, which from beginning to end is absolutely unpredictable and completely validates the aforementioned contemporary Japanese style of jumping around (which truth be told, has become so standard fare that its on the verge of becoming obligatory).
The story kicks off in the near future, a few hours before the end of the world; there's a meteor about to hit the coast of Japan, and ensuing tidal waves promises to wipe the country from the face of the Earth, plus civilization as a whole will surely crumble due to the ensuing climate changes that will also come as a result. But despite the futility in such an act, everyone in Tokyo has deserted the city for higher ground, except for two dudes in an underground record store, completely oblivious to the world at large, and a grumpy old guy whose at death's door, who therefore don't feel bad about the end of the world and is almost gleeful about it, such as when he breaks the grim news to the two young fellows. So what does the guy who runs the shop do upon hearing all this? He plays an old and obscure Japanese punk song called Fish Story, from a band that never made it, mostly because they came a few months before the Sex Pistols, so no one at the time had any idea what to make of this strange loud noise. Cut to… the mid 80s, with three guys listening to the song on a tape during a car ride. At this point, it's developed a minor following among those who believe supernatural stuff, due to the completely missing guitar solo which has been completely muted; some say that a woman's blood curdling screaming was the reason for the edit, and those with a sixth sense can still hear it, which might be one of the three! Next we jump forward almost fifteen years, to 2000, at a doomsday cult that believes the world will end according the Nostradamus's predictions the very next day. Which doesn?t happen. Just a few years later, we have a girl that's stuck on a cruise boat and the weirdo waiter whose parents trained him to be the ultimate champion for justice, and which he's able to demonstrate when the vessel gets taken over by terrorists. Eventually we go back in time to the 70s and visit the band that would create the song that a person promises will one day save the world. And it does!
Again, movies that go back and forth in time to visit same the people in different places is not exactly new, especially in Japanese cinema these days, but there's something decidedly fresh about Fish Story that is almost impossibly to properly put into words. Perhaps it's the fact the film's director, Yoshihiro Nakamura, who does an absolutely brilliant of job of giving the audience only the barest of essentials while maintaining multiple mysterious in multiple timelines till the very end; the biggest revelations, after so much build up, are thoroughly satisfying and genuinely inventive, and not some overly big and contrived affair that insults one's intelligence that it could of easily been. Though also lending considerable support was the immensely charming cast across space and time; never before has a feel good movie made one actually feel really good after all was said and done (I've never heard such hearty and enthusiastic applause from an audience at the end of a movie, ever). I'll bet you anything that the thing gets remade by Hollywood, and it will be utter horsesh*t, but at least that means the original might have a chance of being released in America as well. But yeah, along with House, Fish Story is easily one of the best films I have seen in a very long time. If you get the chance to check it out in whatever fashion, do not miss the opportunity.
A Korean cinematic adaptation of a Japanese manga, Antique is the story of Jin-Hyuk, a man who decides to open a cake shop despite the fact that he hates cakes and sweets in general. Why? Doesn't matter, at least in the beginning. What does is how the supremely talented chef he hires, Sun-Woo, is not only gay but gay for Jin-Hyuk, or at least was; back when they were in high school, Jin-Hyuk confessed his love for his classmate and was thoroughly rejected. Which oddly enough triggered something in him, basically transforming the formerly meek and modest schoolboy into the "Gay of Demonic Charm" almost overnight. And since then, practically every male that comes his way, gay or straight, is hopelessly smitten, but since his boss is somewhat of a homophobe, we have the ultimate boss/employee pairing! Plus add a former boxer who wishes to learn the essence of proper cake making from a master and the somewhat oafish bodyguard from Jin-Hyuk's past to the staff, along with a host of other colorful characters, you have…
In America, whenever there's a movie that tries to adapt a comic book, usually about a handful of issues are tapped as source material. Never saw it, but I'm assuming that Watchmen was perhaps the most ambitious by trying to cover 12 issues in the course of 2 hours (or did it? again, didn't see it and probably never will). Well, much like Cromartie High School from three years ago, the film version of Antique (actual name of the manga is Antique Bakery, for those interested), clearly tries to cover about 120 issues in 2 hours, and unlike that previous effort, here it actually succeeds… somewhat. The pace is almost too quick to the point of confusion, but that's only because there's so much material to cover, not just story-wise. Interestingly enough, Sun-Woo's homosexuality and the effect it has on people does not take center stage… not due to shyness on the director's part, but maybe because it's such familiar territory for Min Kyu-Dong, who also helmed one of my favorite Korean movies of all time, Memento Mori, which also deals heavily with gay romance (albeit on the girls' side of things). Perhaps it's a case of been there, done that? As a result, Antique isn't just about good looking Korean boys (hey, I've always said that Korean girls are the hottest of all the Asians sects, so I guess it only makes sense that Korean dudes are also pleasing to the eyes… or at least I'm assuming), but scrumptious looking pastries of course (this film will make you hungry for chocolate cake afterwards, that's guaranteed), fun song and dance numbers (which I guess isn't much of a shock either cuz, you know, gay dudes eat that stuff up), and… solving a rather grim, unsolved crime involving boys being kidnapped and abused.
That last part sounds kinda ridiculous, and is sorta is; by the end, you'll be somewhat scratching your head, wondering what the hell such and such was about, though you'll also be too hungry to really dwell on the negatives. It is pretty amusing how the same ultra quick rhythm and wit that makes things hard to grasp is also what makes the entire thing work and so enticing in the end (accentuated by some terrific cinematography and editing). Antique is hardly perfect, but like Sun-Woo, it's charms are irresistible enough to forgive any real issues, and you don't have to be a gay guy to totally dig the movie. Now I just have to figure out if the original comic is worth scoping out. Though if it's straight up, flat-out yaoi… at least the graphic kind… I'll have to pass.
Tokyo Gore Night
First, some clarification: when I first heard about Tokyo Gore Night, I was under the assumption that it was the sequel to last year's mind-blowing Tokyo Gore Police and even stated as such in previous entries. Wrong. When Hilary pointed out that it was actually a bunch of short films that take place in the Tokyo Gore Police (and Machine Girl) universe, along with an encore screening of TGP, my immediate reaction was "oh." But we decided to go anyway, if only for the new stuff and for another chance to check out the pussy chair on the big screen.
Well, when it was finally show time, the both of us were fairly spent from the screenings from the previous two days, as well those from earlier that afternoon (my first film, Fish Story, was at 1 in the afternoon, and here we were, a little past 11 on a Saturday night). The plan was to check out the new stuff, stick around for the Q&A and prize give away that would be happening in-between, and then skip out on the feature attraction (especially since Hilary had forgotten to bring the flask of vodka, which definitely added to last year's screening, perhaps considerably). Once the lights went down and the energy of the very enthusiastic crowd finally became apparent, I got my second wind, and then began to rethink my plans… That was until the two "music videos" for TGP played, which basically showed all the best, gory bits from the movie, set to the TGP theme. Not sure what the point of those were, other than to make us not feel so bad for wanting to skip out on the whole thing later on. Problem was, again, NO PUSSY CHAIR, WTF. Next was a short called Tokyo Gore Day Laborer, which centered on a way to the side character from TGP, trying to re-adjust to live after the events of that movie. It was mostly just funny to see the director of Ju-On reprise his racist Chinese character yet again. Afterwards was Machine Girl Lite, which featured the Machine Girl's best friend, also with a gun for an arm, but also out of her ass. That was okay as well. Sprinkled about were some more fake commercials, which was a definite highlight of the film proper, and the same applies here.
Afterwards was when the aforementioned Q&A, and comedic duo of Nishimura and Iguchi were back in full effect, along with Tsuyoshi Kazuno, the visual effects supervisor for TGP, Machine Girl, and VG vs. FG as well I'm assuming, plus Grady and Mark from the Subway Cinema team… all wearing fundoshi. Another guest at the festival, Tak Sakaguchi, was also present; he's the dude from Versus, along with various other flicks, whom Hilary and I happen to find ultra boring, hence why we skipped Be A Man! Samurai School, which he also directed. Looked rather lame, though Hilary was somewhat interested because of his rad looking coat that he happened to be wearing instead of underwear. Like the other Japanese dudes, I believe he also had his hands in virtually every single Japanese film at the festival, at least the ones that featured fight scenes (his main forte is fight choreography and it shows, but his acting leaves much to be desired I'm afraid). What followed was a series of routines, starting with everyone trying to see if they were man enough to enter Samurai School, which basically meant Sakaguchi throwing darts at their asses. Half the time he would miss and get someone's back instead, but even with all the fat that's found at a person's rear, they still apparently hurt like hell. So that fun to watch; this entire part lasted for like half an hour it felt. Next was Iguchi's surprise birthday celebration; a cake with a ton of candles were brought out… all jokey-joke candles… and another solid ten minutes was spent watching Iguchi trying to blow them out AND deal with a wardrobe malfunction; the front of his underwear kept unraveling. The thing about Japanese comedy is how, aside from being very violent, there's also a lot of homosexuality involved, so it was somewhat par for the course that the other dudes were either fondling or trying to cover up, yet still handle his wiener.
Next it was time to present Iguchi his birthday presents; I believe Kazuno gave him the Japanese photo essay of women's butts, while Nishimura presented his pal with a dildo chinstrap (for those giving oral pleasure to woman, to also allow for penetration at the same time, natch). Getting it on properly took another ten minutes and required the female translator to get involved as well (who herself had been pretty damn entertaining the entire fest also). Grady's present was a rubber paddle that had the word "BITCH" imprinted on it (which was clearly picked up at one of the sex shops that's next door to the IFC Center), and four audience members were called to the stage to spank Iguchi, one for each decade. Each slap left the word emblazoned across his ass, with the best part being Iguchi going "thank you, thank you!" after each contact. Afterward it was finally time for the prize drawing! And what a prize it was; a DVD of an absolutely insane looking porn flick directed by Iguchi called Hypertrophy Genitals Girl. Not even gonna bother to describe the clip that was played, which almost made everyone?s heads explode, but those who still want a taste after hearing such a title can simply go here, and I suppose it goes without saying that it's totally NSFW.
Finally we all got the very first look at Iguchi's latest project, RoboGeisha, which has since become somewhat of a minor YouTube sensation. Looks awesome! Comes out later this year in Japan, and will apparently be here for the NYAFF 2010 edition. Anyhow, some of other stuff went down I believe, but the entire evening is somewhat hazy at this point… it was pretty late and all. By the time TGP began to roll, it was close to 1 and definitely time for me to head back home (since I had the NY Zine Fest the very next morning). As for what I missed, it was basically a live director's commentary with I believe some audience participation, but since it was recorded for the new special edition DVD release, so I'll just pick that up when the time comes. According to Dave, who was also in attendance, everyone afterwards got movie posters, which is neat and all, but I've still yet to frame my Dasepo Naughty Girls one from two years ago.
… The rest of my report in just a few!


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|André Lacroix
|"The Magician"
| Height
| 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
175 lb (80 kg)
| Philadelphia Flyers
Chicago Black Hawks
Philadelphia Blazers
New York Golden Blades
New Jersey Knights
San Diego Mariners
Houston Aeros
New England Whalers
Hartford Whalers
| June 5 1945,
Lauzon, PQ, CAN
|Pro Career
|1964 – 1980
André Joseph Lacroix (born June 5, 1945, in Lauzon, Quebec) is a retired professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association, and is the WHA's all-time leading career scorer.
Playing careerEdit
A centre notable for his playmaking, penalty-killing and faceoff skill, Lacroix played his junior hockey for the Peterborough Petes, leading the league in assists in both the 1964–65 and 1965–66 seasons and in points the latter season. He then played two seasons for the minor-league Quebec Aces of the AHL, playing brilliantly in the 1968 season before being recalled by the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL in the spring of 1968. Paired on a forward line with fellow ex-Quebec wingers Jean-Guy Gendron and Simon Nolet, he was an immediate star, leading the Flyers in scoring in both 1969 and 1970.
After the 1971 season Lacroix was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks, and dismayed at the change of scenery, played poorly the next year. However, in the fall of 1972, the upstart World Hockey Association began play, and he lost no chance to return to Philadelphia and sign with the league's Philadelphia Blazers franchise. Despite the team going through much tumult and controversy, Lacroix was an immediate star for the squad, leading the WHA in points that season with a 50–74–124 mark.
However, in the offseason, the franchise was transferred to Vancouver, and Lacroix was traded to an even shakier team, the New York Golden Blades for the 1974 season. Again, despite tumult that caused the team to be moved to New Jersey mid-season and payrolls to be missed, he was a standout, leading the WHA in assists with 80. That fall, Lacroix was named to Team Canada for the 1974 Summit Series against the Soviet Union, scoring one goal and six assists in eight games to be the team's second leading scorer.
The New York-New Jersey team moved yet again for the 1975 to California to become the San Diego Mariners, and Lacroix continued his success. In that first season in San Diego, he achieved his second league scoring title and racked up 106 assists, the professional record at the time and the only player other than Bobby Orr who had ever reached 100 assists in a single season. Lacroix scored over 100 points the next two seasons with the Mariners as well, before the franchise folded.
He continued to star in two more seasons before the end of the WHA, for the Houston Aeros in 1978 and the New England Whalers in 1979. His skills diminishing at last, Lacroix played briefly and respectably for the Whalers after their move to the NHL in the 1980 season before retiring.
Lacroix has been involved with hockey since retiring, creating the André Lacroix Power Hockey Academy and was the Director of hockey programs at the Oakland Ice Centre until 2005.
Career records and achievementsEdit
- 79 goals and 119 assists for 198 points in 325 games in the NHL.
- 251 goals and 547 assists for 798 points in 551 games in the WHA.
- Named to the WHA's First All-Star Team in 1973, 1974 and 1975.
- Won the Bill Hunter Trophy as the WHA's leading scorer in 1973 and 1975.
- Scored one hundred points or more in six consecutive seasons, a mark achieved by only six other major professional players.
- The WHA's all-time leader in games played, assists (by nearly two hundred) and points (by over a hundred).
- Fourth all-time in WHA history in goals scored.
External linksEdit
- André Lacroix's biography at Legends of Hockey
- André Lacroix's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
- Biography at Flyers Heroes of the Past
|This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at André Lacroix. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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Amanda and Tim's Italy trip: Lake Como
Ok, so continuing on with our trip…after our time exploring Venice and stopping for some delicious pizza in Verona, we jumped in our rental car and headed to the magical area of Lake Como. May I say that driving in Italy is an adventure, to say the least. Going nearly 90 mph on the autostrada and watching cars fly by us made me shriek a few times!
Nestled in the Alps, with a glacier lake that is as deep in parts as the mountains are high, it was a breathtaking sight! After driving a few hours from Verona, we looked up and saw this hotel thinking "Wouldn't it be awesome if we could stay THERE?" only to find out that was in fact our hotel! We checked in to the lovely Grand Hotel Tremezzo, and hiked up on their property for this beautiful view of the hotel and lake below..
Breakfast each day was a huge glamorous spread of freshly prepared omelets, sausages, salamis, potatoes, an array of juices, fruit and breads on a big open-air patio overlooking the shimmering lake. The back pool area was one of the most impressive I've ever seen..surrounded by lush greenery with the cutest little snack bar. Their second pool is below.. and is actually on top of the lake! Such a perfect hotel for honeymooners.
Being in Lake Como makes you feel like royalty. Considering we weren't, we felt a bit out-of-place until we decided to pretend like we belonged there in this fantasy land, amongst the wealthy vacationers and celebrities. We took ferries to Villa Balbianello, Villa d'Este, and Bellagio, ate fresh fish from the lake at Trattoria San Giacomo, drank champagne and reveled in the fact that we were actually present in this unbelievable scenery right out of a movie.
Our last day there, we decided to take a boat out on the lake to take in the scenery on the coast at sunset. It had been awhile since Tim had driven a boat, but we sped on out to the middle of the lake, laughing the whole while. Tim was snapping photos of me, I was taking photos of him and we were on a huge high. I felt so glamorous being out there on that boat, and almost teared up at how beautiful and serene it all was, and how lucky I felt to share this whole experience with my best friend. I heard the engine stop, turned around and Tim was there with a ring and the sweetest proposal!!!
Tears in our eyes, I said YES!
Social Love
Monica at Paper Cut Industries on Oct 18, 2011
How beautiful! Congratulations! -xx
kate on Oct 18, 2011
BIG congratulations! What a surreal setting :)
Julie @ Kiss and Punch Designs on Oct 18, 2011
Aww...such a sweet and beautiful proposal. Congratulations!
Wendy {Just Wenderful} on Oct 18, 2011
Congrats Amanda!
Desi on Oct 18, 2011
that is so romantic. congratulations to the pair of you.
Katie on Oct 18, 2011
Congratulations Amanda! So happy for you both! Your pictures are amazing!!!
cinzia on Oct 18, 2011
Amanda !!!! you are a w e s o m e !!!! and a talented photographer too <3
Britta on Oct 18, 2011
Congrats! I know rings are sacred ground in the world of weddings, but your's looks gorgeous! Would you mind telling us more about it and maybe a close up?
Brenda's Wedding Blog on Oct 18, 2011
congratulations Amanda - what a beautiful destination for an engagement
margaux on Oct 18, 2011
congratulations amanda! your trip looks like it was amazing and we're so happy for you! xoxo
Egle @ libellula weddings on Oct 18, 2011
What a beautiful story. We live just next to Lake Como in the neighbourhood Switzerland and have to admit, it's all true - it's beautiful! No surprise George Clooney has a villa there :)
Carly McCray on Oct 18, 2011
Congratulations!!!!! Looks so romantic + exciting...you can see the joy in your eyes! :)
MaeMae Paperie on Oct 18, 2011
YAYAYAYAYAAAAA!!! so exciting! congratulations and much love to both of you!
Julia on Oct 18, 2011
Congratulations! very very romantic
Jessica on Oct 18, 2011
First, congrats on the engagement! Second, I have been obsessed with visiting Lake Como for forever and a day! I really wanted to go there for my honeymoon with my mister but he wasn't feeling it. Boo. How deliciously romantic that your proposal took place there. Magical! P.S. Gwen Stefani's Cool video was filmed in Lake Como.
jacin {lovely little details} on Oct 18, 2011
yay!!!!!!!!!! so exciting :)
Brancoprata on Oct 18, 2011
Exciting news!!! Congratulations to you both!!!
Mary Herrington | Forever & Ever Events on Oct 18, 2011
Congratulations, Amanda!!! What a beautiful setting for a proposal! xxx
Koru Kate {Koru Wedding} on Oct 18, 2011
What a gorgeous, perfect location for an engagement!! Congratulations!
Coralie on Oct 18, 2011
Congratulations Amanda and Tim!! I recently became engaged as well, I can so feel your joy in those pictures! You are going to have the wedding to ENVY, Considering your a part of 100 layer cake....I can't even imagine!!! Do you have a date set yet? I am having the hardest time figuring mine out! Best wishes, Alyssa
carter & cook on Oct 18, 2011
That is SO sweet! Congrats to you Amanda & Tim!! What a romantic location and gorgeous ring...I can only imagine...your head is spinning with ideas! Enjoy this special season of being engaged. xo C&C
Scout's Honor Co. on Oct 18, 2011
What an amazing story + unbelievable setting! Congrats Amanda + Tim!
Tyler + Jessie on Oct 18, 2011
Congrats! One year ago we were traveling many of the same beautiful locations for our honeymoon, and we miss it every day. You'll always remember it :)
Sandra Fazzino Photography on Oct 18, 2011
Wow, I was reading the post tearing up in amazement at the beautiful scenery, dreaming of our next vacation and praying we get to Lake Como soon, and then bam, the proposal! Mamma mia! He's a clever guy. What a great read this afternoon!!!! Tanti auguri!!!!!!!!
100layercake on Oct 18, 2011
Thanks, everyone!! You're so sweet and your comments make the magnitude almost too much to handle! I'll post some photos of the ring later, and as for a date we're thinking next October but we have yet to pick a venue so it will all depend. I can't believe it's finally my turn to be on this end of wedding planning! After pouring my heart and soul into this blog with Jillian and Kristina for the last few years, it feels so amazing to see myself and my new fiancé up here, starting this journey together :) For those of you readers that are already married, I'd love to hear any advice you have in the upcoming months as we prepare for our big day! And for those of you currently planning your weddings, I hope we can share our ups and downs through this wild and fun process. Hugs and kisses to you all! *Amanda
Mary on Oct 18, 2011
Congratulations! Such lovely pics and such a lovely couple!
Meredith Perdue on Oct 18, 2011
A big congratulations to Amanda! I loved reading this post! I visited Bellagio with my boyfriend while studying abroad in Italy. It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited! What a dream-like setting for such a special memory!
Sidra @ The Bridal Diaries on Oct 18, 2011
Congratulations to you both!! What a great story and a great post. Your photos are incredible!!!! Best wishes to you, cannot wait to see what your wedding will be like!!!
Jordan Marie on Oct 18, 2011
I knew I knew I knew! Ha ha.. Congrats.. I felt so cool keeping a secret! <3xojo
Joy on Oct 18, 2011
OMG Congrats!!! What a great way to make an awesome trip just great! Your man has the perfect timing I swear.
Lisa on Oct 19, 2011
congrats!! I like in Como and forget how lucky I am and how beautiful it is until I see it through other people's eyes. Your pictures are just stunning xx
Filipa on Oct 19, 2011
Yay!! What a happy story - congrats to you both. What a perfect setting to get engaged in.
Libby James on Oct 19, 2011
This is what fairytales are made of! So romantical!
Erica on Oct 19, 2011
Congratulations, Amanda & Tim! What wonderful news! I was in a cab with Jillian when she found out. She was very excited to say the least. I'm so happy for you both and what a perfect setting. Your holiday sounded like a dream. Good luck over the next year in planning your wedding! I think you'll have plenty of help. Hugs & Kisses!
Stacia on Oct 19, 2011
How wonderful! What a beautiful proposal, made me teary to read. Congratulations!
Pure2raw twins on Oct 19, 2011
beautiful pics! congrats!!
Melissa at MasterPiece Weddings on Oct 19, 2011
Congratulations!!! This is just gorgeous and i lovelovelove those multi-colored couches- how fun!?!
Plum Pretty Sugar Loungerie on Oct 19, 2011
Sending along so many congratulations! xo www.PlumPrettySugar.blogspot.com
Mai on Oct 19, 2011
how beautiful!!! Congratulations on your engagement <3. such excitement in the air!!
Clayton Austin on Oct 20, 2011
Congrats Amanda!
Amanda on Oct 20, 2011
I must say I love this post! First of my name is Amanda as well, I was in Lake Como about a month ago with my boyfriend and he proposed there too! We even were staying at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo! So many great memories and it truly is a magical place!
100layercake on Oct 20, 2011
Oh my gosh, Amanda...that is crazy! Where did he propose? Lake Como is just the most romantic place for a proposal to happen. Is your fiancé's name Tim too? ha!
anne-marie on Oct 20, 2011
Lago di Como is one of my favorite places in all the world. THE favorite place, in fact. Endless congrats to you and your love. (Perhaps George will let you marry at his sweet little villa!)
100layercake on Oct 20, 2011
Ha! Anne-Marie, that would be pretty sweet! We actually passed by his villa on the way back from our little boat excursion :)
mobile crusher on Oct 21, 2011
How wonderful! What a beautiful proposal, made me teary to read. Congratulations!
Christa Alexandra on Oct 22, 2011
I've always dreamed of getting engaged overseas :) What a wonderful story to tell over the years. Can't wait to follow along to see all the details for the big day! Congrats!!
Rebecca on Oct 22, 2011
Super congrats, Amanda! I wish you ALL the happiness :) xo Rebecca
Anthony on Oct 24, 2011
congrats! my wife and i just returned from there for our honeymoon. royalty indeed!!
anne on Oct 26, 2011
What a romantical story! Super congratulations! Can't wait to see what your wedding will be like!
Amanda on Oct 29, 2011
100layercake - He proposed in the gardens on the hill top at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo! It was so lovely an similar to home. We live in lake Tahoe. It was sooo wonderful and just towards late afternoon... every minute was fabulous! We got engaged September 22. Even signed the guest book to leave our mark. However, my fiancé's name is Chris. Congrats again Amanda + Tim!
100layercake on Oct 29, 2011
Amanda, Tim and I took a hike up to that hill top too, and I was wondering if he was going to propose there also! It is such a beautiful little spot!
danni / hellofriend. on Nov 1, 2011
A little behind on my blog reading but CONGRATS AMANDA!!!!!!!! I am so happy & excited for you, I can't wait to see how all the planning and the details turn out! What a sweet and beautiful romantic proposal. You 2 are such an adorable couple! ps: My dream will now come true ;) (remember I had that dream you got married and it was the wedding of the century, haha. so random!)
100layercake on Nov 1, 2011
Omg Danni.. HA! Your dream will totally come true now! Thanks for having it!
Mezzo@ Steel band hire on Nov 11, 2011
Amazing! It looks like the same location as Casino Royale. Must have been truly magnificent and thoroughly enjoyable for you both.
Sara on May 19, 2014
Amanda, I so enjoyed reading your honeymoon posts! I read in a comment that you were there for 3 weeks? My fiance and I are going for two, and I was curious if you would share your highlights of what you would choose to do again if only given 2 weeks? It would be much appreciated!
weddingonlakecomo on Sep 23, 2014
Oh my God.That is Attractive and beautiful post.Getting married lake como


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Monday, 7 June 2010
Carrots From Brownievillegirl
Carrots Glazed with Cumin and Orange
750g peeled carrots (I think organic are worth the extra money)
1 clove garlic
2 tsp cumin
2 or 3 cardamom pods
8 sprigs fresh thyme
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
2 tsp caster sugar
zest from 1 orange, in large pieces (remove carefully with a potato peeler, with as little of the white pith as possible)
salt and black pepper
Slice the carrots into 1cm (1/2 inch) rounds - they look better sliced diagonally.
Heat your pot without any oil and when hot add the cumin and cardamom seeds (which you have removed from the pods), toast them for a minute or two until they release a beautiful smell.
Add the oil, butter, garlic (I grate it in, you could crush it), thyme and the carrots.
Turn the heat down to medium and sweat the carrots for 5 minutes.
Add the sugar and about 1 tbsp of water and the orange zest.
Cover with a lid and cook until tender - keep an eye on them and add a little more water if necessary.
When cooked remove the lid and reduce any liquid if necessary.
Season and serve.
10 comments:
- Rosa's Yummy Yums said...
A delicious way of preparing carrots! Lovely!
- 7 June 2010 at 08:33
- Grannymar said...
I always have carrots, now let me see... cardamom... cumin...
I know what my veg will be tonight! Now what to do with these green beans for a change.......?
- 7 June 2010 at 10:02
- Brownieville Girl said...
Delighted you enjoyed them!
The quote about the orange juice is Heston's - I would never be clever enough to work that out!!!!
- 7 June 2010 at 11:15
- Lucie said...
ooooo they look oh so tasty Brenda. Hope you had a nice holiday. Lucie x
- 7 June 2010 at 18:55
- Cynthia said...
This is sounds excellent. The only way I can eat carrots is raw or as a fritter or stir fried in Chinese dishes.
- 8 June 2010 at 01:33
- La Bella Cooks said...
This recipe sure does sound and look delicious. Isn't her blog tasty?? You both are so talented.
- 8 June 2010 at 04:41
- Manu said...
Ciao! these carrots sound delicious! i've never cooked them with sone sugar and orange. I'll give a try.
LOL Manu from Nigella.com
- 9 June 2010 at 12:56
- Gloria Baker said...
I really love carrots Brenda and these sounds absolutely delicious! thanks by sharing, gloria
- 9 June 2010 at 18:00
- Rhyleysgranny said...
Rosa - Thank you
Grannymar - I'll see if BVG can work her magic with beans.
BVG - They were delicious. No other rway to do the humble carrot now. Thank you x
Lucie - Thank you. Yes we had a lovely week. Just chilled out enjoyed the sun and read four books!
Cynthis - hello! Isn't it amazing how that big stretch of pond makes a difference to our taste buds. The Irish are fairly plain eaters by nature hence the excitement over a carrot. LOL
Bridgett - Youu are too kind. BVG's blog is really good and she has a great turn of phrase.
Manu - Hello and welcome!Do try this you will be amazed at the flavour. x
Gloria - Thanks and bless you x
- 9 June 2010 at 21:39
- JillyB said...
I think these could be appearing with the roast lamb tomorrow Brenda! They look and sound fab.
- 12 June 2010 at 07:05


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Fancy an impressive wedding venue? I give you Bovey Castle
Saturday night We took the VW camper booth along to Bovey Castle on Dartmoor to (hopefully) add to the fun of Megs and Tim Hallinan's wedding party.
Wow! Bovey Castle is vast. Ducking and diving the golf balls, the long drive up to the impressive wedding venue is full of anticipation and awe. We imagined Megs being driven up to her groom within such grand surroundings – it must have been so exciting for everyone. An unforgettable experience.
After a lovely sunny day, we rolled up at Bovey Castle in the blustery rainy evening and were immediately provided with a nice cup of coffee to warm us up. We met the band 'Hipster' who'd arrived at the same time as us but who had a much longer drive than us having come all the way from Manchester!
The Dartmoor Suite looked stunning in candlelight with a great party atmosphere from the moment the wedding guests began to trickle in. The party kicked off at around 7pm with plenty of fun in the booth until the bride & groom's first dance. My favourite bit of the whole night. I'm a sucker for the first dance at a wedding!
The happy bride & groom!
Later on, rumour had it the hog roast was open for business and in two ticks the function room became a ghost town. We joined the party goers queueing up for delicious food – thanks to our generous bride and groom.
Normally we're booked for 3 hours but were up for a massive 5 hours – the booth stopped only the once the whole night whilst everyone tucked in to the evening food – oh doesn't the time fly when you're enjoying yourself? All the pics can be found here at http://photos.yellowbooth.co.uk/event-photos/2015-02-28-megs-tims-wedding/
To Mr & Mrs Hallinan, thank you so much for booking us! This didn't feel like work! x


text:
If you are into casino games, chances are you know a fun fact or two about your favorite games, we do too. It is nice to collect what apparently is useless information about stuff we find entertaining, therefore we went ahead and worked on a cool research: The History of Blackjack, but focusing on stuff we did not know, fun facts for those online blackjack players that visit the Virtual Casino on daily basis.
History of BlackJack
This is definitely something we all know, the game of Blackjack is the long lost son of old game called Twenty-One. No one really knows where 21 was originated, although there is an interesting legend that claims that it was first mentioned a book by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes(you have probably heard about The Quixote right?). The story claims that Cervantes was a gambler himself. On his story, Rinconete y Cortadillo, from his compilations Novelas Ejemplares, he claims are very proficient at cheating at ventiuna (Spanish for twenty-one). He also explains that the object of the game is to reach 21 points without going over it, even more interesting he specifies that the ace values are 1 or 11 on that game. Although in the book the game is played with the Spanish baraja deck, which is quite different from the card deck we are mostly familiar with: the Spanish baraja does not have eights, nines or tens. This story was written between 1601 and 1602, which gives us a pretty good idea of how old the game might be.
Twenty-one was introduced in the US by gambling houses. These places offered bonus payouts to stimulate players' interest on this game: for example one of the most common bonuses was a ten to one payout if the player's hand consisted of the ace of spades and a black jack; the name of this hand was of course "blackjack", just like the game we currently play.
Other interesting facts of BlackJack
Italians and French have been claiming and disputing which of the two actually hold the title as the country where Blackjack originated; however there is absolutely no prove to say either one did it. The balance tilts a little to the French side as a lot of people claimed that the original name of the game is vingt-et-un (French for 21). Also, history claims that Napoleon loved the game of 21 and played it when he had time to kill on his exile in Elba, another point for the French right there.
Blackjack was once banned in the United States around the 19th century until 1939 as the state of Nevada removed its bans and the beginning of Las Vegas as we know it took place.
In the early 60's there was a man named Edward O. Thorp, who wrote a book called "Beat the dealer". On this book you could find the mathematical workings and details of the game. This man is recognized as the father of card counting. Because of this man and his book, Casinos everywhere altered some of the standard rules, which then lead to new variations of the game.
There is a Blackjack Hall of fame and it is not easy to get in it. The Blackjack hall of fame was opened back in 2002. Only blackjack experts, world known authors, and truly professional players have gotten a distinctive mention there.
Do you have any interesting Blackjack fun facts that you consider worth mentioning?


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- Home
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- Escapes by Chuck Pinson Call of the Wild 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle
Product Description
Fall foliage is at its peak in this 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle based on the artwork of Chuck Pinson. Call of the Wild shows wild animals in their natural setting along a river bed. Humans and animals coexist peacefully in this puzzle as bears and other wildlife wander near a cabin in the mountains. Once this puzzle is complete, search for 9 hidden images in this Escapes Series favorite.
Every Buffalo Games jigsaw puzzle is manufactured in the U.S.A. from recycled puzzle board. A precision cutting technique guarantees that every piece will fit soundly with the company's signature Perfect SnapTM. A bonus puzzle poster is also included so that you have a handy reference of what the completed puzzle should look like while you put yours together.
- 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle
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- Includes bonus poster for help in solving
- Manufactured from premium quality materials
- Made in the USA


text:
Pewee Valley Gauge
Fisherville Gauge
Mt. Washington Gauge
With warmer weather and longer days, the most adventurous explorers around Louisville look to get back on the water. Floyds Fork is particularly alluring this time of year due to the frequency of times in the spring when water levels are high enough to make for fun paddling adventures. When you couple these great water levels with sudden 60+ degree days, it can feel like spring. But the water temps take much longer to moderate. This means that although you feel warm on the surface, any encounter with water brings the risk of hypothermia. It's still very much winter on the Fork.
This doesn't mean you should stay away from paddling. It simply means you need to be prepared. The tips below can help you enjoy these late winter days when Floyds Fork is a great way to get away from the big city.
By taking these simple steps, and practicing extra care when on the river for obstructions and debris, you can have a great early season paddling trip on the Fork. And who knows, you may be lucky enough to catch a trout or spot a bald eagle!
Note: Trout in Floyds Fork are under a seasonal catch and release regulation from October 1 - March 31. Stocking & Regulations
Being a donor-supported public park means we rely on donations, not tax dollars, for annual operations each year. Because of your generosity, we are able to maintain, program, and further develop this extraordinary public space without charging an entry fee. Together we work to enhance quality of life and help our community and economy grow in ways that are healthy, sustainable, and enjoyable for people of all ages. Help us reach our goal of sustaining The Parklands by becoming a Member today. Members make it happen!
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text:
July 1874. Fall River, Massachusetts.
1. Taking Her Fancy
Amidst a sidewalk sea of bowler hats and frilled bonnets, frock coats and flounced bustles, two women walked from opposite directions along the main street. One came from the north, City Hall rising behind her, where the center of Fall River banking and government sustained itself within its imposing granite tower. This woman was quite young, full in the face, with light hair and a cheery little smile that curled at the edges as she soaked in the life about her. She walked with an upright and dignified posture, a lofty attitude of certainty.
The other woman was considerably older and came from the south-west. She was gaunt and sallow, covered in a threadbare print dress and a worn bonnet; her gait was clearly more rushed and less-directed, as if she had been seized with some nervous energy that had driven her compulsively into the streets. At each step, she seemed in danger of pitching forward upon the ground. No one around her seemed to notice her condition.
The two women, complete strangers, came together in the doorway of Hodges & Son, a fabric store near the corner of South Main and Columbia. The young girl was paying more attention to her surroundings, and so had time to avoid the imminent collision. The elderly woman stared wildly at her more-youthful counterpart as if she were looking down upon a disobedient domestic. Then a stark change swept over her face, her features rapidly composing themselves, and she said in a whispery Irish voice, "I am sorry for this, Miss. Please take your way and I shall follow." She raised a shaking hand, bidding the young girl to pass.
The woman's sunken eyes looked filled with sorrow and danger, the young girl thought, but she refrained from showing any overt concern. With a deft lifting of her skirt, she pranced into the store and went about her business.
As she picked through bolts of fabric looking for some choice material to bring to her dress maker, the young girl kept an eye on the strange figure that had followed her in. The elderly woman was fidgeting about, her fingers quivering over fabric samples, but her eyes remained unfocused. The store owner, old Hodges himself, a beefy man with large hands and an even larger set of muttonchops that expanded his head liberally in both directions, carefully walked near her, unobtrusively keeping a close eye upon his merchandise.
Feeling that the store was now safe in the competent hands of Mr. Hodges, Lizzie Andrew Borden, the young girl in question, gave up her surveillance of this most suspicious woman and went about examining a few choice samples. She poked about on a table where some bolts and sewing materials were laid out, then sidled alongside the notions counter to admire some cards of mother of pearl buttons, when her eye rested upon a resplendent silver plate pin tray. A few common pins rested within, which must have been a convenience for the shop girl who was wearily winding up fabric on bolts at the other end of the counter. Lizzie's appraising eye noted the little repousee pansies, the unfurling ribbon bowknot, and the quality quadruple plating. Gorham—Yes, surely it was Gorham silver plate—and quality too!
Lizzie sniffed the air appreciatively and nonchalantly turned her back to the counter while holding up a card of buttons to the light for inspection. With one deft movement of her right hand, the silver tray found a snug home inside the back waistband of her skirt. The oval contours of the tray rested undetected over the accommodating shelf of her bustle.
As if the fates were conspiring to stroke Lizzie's guilty conscience, she spotted the elderly woman not two tables away at the cutting implements. Mr. Hodges, distracted by a flurry of activity at the front counter, had ceased to monitor her; and lo, she was also passing something small into the folds of her dress. There was just a brief flash of light on something metallic; the woman stood motionless with her arms by her sides.
"Oh, my," Lizzie thought. "If it is true that this woman has taken her Fancy as I have, I dare not raise an alarm for fear that they shall suspect me as well." She mused briefly upon her predicament. "This fabric sale will last all day," she concluded. "I shall simply come back when she is gone from the premises."
Then, as Lizzie strolled towards the front, preparing to escape into the streets, the elderly woman darted forward, running noisily to the front register behind which a young Mr. Hodges, a thin and weedy version of his father in appearance, the same beady-eyed face, but lacking the hairy embellishments, stared straight at her. The woman reached over and, without any attempt to conceal her action, grabbed the cash box, removing it from the counter and headed rapidly for the door. At that moment, both Hodges the Father and Hodges the Son raised a general alarm by shouting: "Stop that woman! Oh, do not let her get away!"
The assembled customers, mostly women holding samples of cloth and bolts of fabric, looked up with startled cries. There was a scuffling and the elderly woman dropped the cashbox to the wood-slatted floor as if she were coming out of a trance. She raised a hand to her forehead and swooned downwards, landing with a pronounced crackling of her stiff bustle, directly at the feet of an increasingly nervous Lizzie Borden.
Lizzie raised her hands instinctually above her head, as if proclaiming her innocence to all about, thus proving somehow she had nothing to do with the attempted robbery. Many a time in the past when she had taken her Fancy, whether it was in fabric stores, apothecaries or flower boutiques, being at the center of everyone's attention while the Fancy was concealed in her clothing had caused great anxiety; and often at night her dreams were turned to dread nightmares in which a thousand eyeballs stared unblinking at her while silver wear, pearl mirrors and hat pins tumbled to the ground from beneath her skirts.
As Hodges & Son ran for the street to call a policeman, Lizzie glanced around, trying to perceive where, in the confused midst of the disturbance and the large number of customers surrounding her, she could dump her silver tray. Divesting herself of any incriminating evidence was, at that moment, her chief concern. She abandoned the thought of getting rid of the item only when a young police officer entered the store and ran to the collapsed woman.
"What is this?" the officer asked, bemusedly. Hodges & Son, with arms flailing, hastily gave their perspective on the preceding events. The elder Mr. Hodges pointed at Lizzie, which caused her heart to skip a beat. "This girl can verify what I have said. She was not three feet from the crime when it happened!"
"Here, this is young Miss Borden," the young officer grinned. "Hello, Lizzie. How's the family?"
"Fine," she replied, hoping to be as monosyllabic as possible. She recognized the officer as Peter Gaskell Bence, not her favorite policeman, but a happy enough fellow.
"What did you see?" he asked. "Are the Hodges telling it straight?"
"Why," Lizzie said, tossing explanations about in her head, "I did see this woman up close, but from my vantage she seemed very nervous, almost starved. I would say if you examine her, you'll find evidence that she is positively malnourished. Perhaps she hasn't eaten in quite some time, two days perhaps, or an interval that you and I would find intolerable. I would say from her vestments, that she is a cloth doffer at one of the mills, or even possibly a domestic on the Hill, perhaps removed from her job and failing to find a situation that would sustain her life in the meanwhile. I would say she came in here hoping to find a soul who would take pity on her, and, sensing only the indifference of commerce, she gambled away her liberties by plunging for the till, hoping beyond hope that she could steal the money and save her life."
There was a thundering silence. All eyes in the store glared at Lizzie Borden. Mr. Hodges broke the calm: "You seem too clever for your own good, young Miss. While you are seeing suffering and starvation, I'm just seeing hard earned dollars being filched from under my nose! 'Tis not my business that she was sacked from the Mill!"
"Well," Officer Bence said with a broad smile, "let's arouse this lady and get her side of the story. Then we'll take her down to the station house and see if justice can be distributed one way or the other."
They made an attempt to awaken the woman. As they pinched her cheeks and slapped her chin and pulled at her shoulders, Lizzie saw a few twitches and eye movements suggesting that the woman was feigning unconsciousness. But she kept quiet about it, being mindful of the silver tray in her dress, hoping that it would not slide out over her bustle pouf and reveal her perfidy.
A few customers from the store stepped forward and offered to help haul the woman to her feet and carry her down the street to the police station. However, without warning, the fainted woman's eyes fluttered and, for the first time since her outrage, they opened.
"Oh, have pity," she said in a whispery voice. "Have pity on poor Fiona Conway. Ah! Have pity on the hungry!"
"There, there," Officer Bence said. "Justice shall pitch her scales and we shall balance the weight of the matter."
For a moment, the woman gazed perplexedly at the policeman's smiling face as if trying to untangle his curious metaphors, then she quickly fell back into a deep slumber. It took two men to support her weight, but they managed to move her out the door and into the street beyond.
"And you, Miss Lizzie," Officer Bence said, crooking a finger at her. "I'd like you to come along to make a statement and identify this woman before the Marshal."
Lizzie's heart sank again. With a helpless shrug, she followed the men out of the store and up the street—towards the last place on earth where she wanted to be with a pinched Fancy in her bustle.
2. Mutiny on The Durfee
The Central Police Station on Purchase Street was not a building that Lizzie Borden had ever wished to visit. In her childhood imagination, it had always been a place inhabited by all the monsters of society that she wanted banished from her world. Its tall tower rose over the surrounding buildings like an ominous fortress of torture and the stench from the nearby horse yard was quite wretched. As her official escort led her to the tall iron doors, she froze, pressing her feet tighter against the ground. The silver tray in her bustle suddenly felt heavier.
"Forgive me," she muttered to Officer Bence. "I have not a sense of where I am going or for what reason."
"Don't fear," he said gently. "We're only going to book Miss Fiona Conway, if that is indeed her name. We need you here as a material witness."
Summoning her strength, she advanced forward and entered into the main hallway. All about her were policemen in their shell helmets, many of them conversing with each other, paying no attention to her presence. However, in her mind's eye, they were all staring suspiciously at her weighted bustle, looking for traces of her Fancy. Lizzie nervously paced herself down towards the squad room between a gauntlet of officers, and was relieved when Officer Bence offered her a seat on a bench near the Marshal's office, leaving her quite alone. Here she was able to retreat back into the role of spectator, where she could simply observe people and not be compelled to take part in any action. She felt safer that way: being unseen but all-seeing.
The squad room was crowded, buzzing with activity. A sporting boy and his fancy girl were seated behind an untidy desk, being shouted at by an irate detective. A few Portuguese laborers were trying to make sense to a stupefied policeman who did not speak their language. Several other citizens of Fall River were present, apparently there to make complaints, or having been summoned to address matters of urgent police business. And a tall, long-haired man in a black frock coat sat near the filing cabinets in a gloomy solitary meditation.
Lizzie was about to turn her attention toward the open doorway of the Marshal's office, through which she had heard some muttering, but quickly snapped her gaze back to the tall man in the black frock. At that very instant, he stared back at her, and both of them bolted upright in their seats.
"Father!" Lizzie shouted, then slouched downward, pressing her lips together as if trying to prevent her blurted word from advancing too far towards anyone's ears.
Andrew Jackson Borden rose to his full height and advanced stealthily across the room. His daughter bravely stepped up to meet him, her chin rising to just below his bristly beard.
"Yes, Daughter," he said grimly. "I must confess that I have police business this afternoon. But I am shocked to see you in these premises. I don't suppose you are here because you have been taking a bit of … uh … your Fancy."
She waggled her slack face. "No, Father. You need not fear; there shall be no visits to the shops today. I have cleaned my hands of that habit."
"I am glad to hear of it."
As he spoke, Andrew was reaching towards his face as if to scratch it. He did this several times before Lizzie realized that he merely did not know what to do with his hands. "So," he said, "what exactly is your business here today?"
Lizzie fluttered her lids. "I can honestly say, Father, it is of the most perplexing nature. I am an innocent observer this time, purely a victim of circumstance. For upon my visit to Hodges & Son, a Maggie lost her reason and tried to pilfer the till. She was seized by the younger Hodges and brought here to this very station where no doubt she is being interrogated in the back rooms as we speak. They claim that I saw the offense, that it happened right before me, and are asking me to make a statement as to her guilt."
"And what would be the girl's reason to do such a rash act?" he asked. "Does she not get paid well by her employer?"
"I believe she has lost her situation. Hunger, despondency, and despair have driven her to such a gesture."
Andrew grunted. "Well, if there is justice in this town, she shall hang!" He turned from her to retreat to the bench; Lizzie followed behind, anxiously.
"Father!" Lizzie shouted, pulling at his arm. "What a brutal thing to say."
"She robbed a concern," he said casually. "There are laws for that. I pay enough tax money to put our peace-keepers into office. I'd like to see them stick to the letter of the law for once."
"But hanging! She is certainly not innocent, but I can honestly say the circumstances were quite understandable."
"How much was in the till?" Andrew asked.
"I do not know, but Hodges was doing a brisk business on a bolt sale."
Andrew snorted. "Enough for a scaffold, sounds like it."
"Father, I will not continue this debate with you. You know nothing about this crime and can't pass judgment on broad facts. I shall see that her offense be put into perspective."
"To each his own," Andrew said resolvedly. "The whole affair means nothing to me. I am here on matters that shall deserve the gallows."
"What may that be?" Lizzie asked, holding her breath.
"I am hesitant to tell you since I do not want to alarm you, Mrs. Borden, or your sister Emma." He glanced both ways to ascertain their privacy, then lowered her onto the bench, seating himself next to her. "I do not think that you know about the brigantine, the B.M.C. Durfee, that sailed from New Bedford upon two Aprils past?"
"I know a little, Father. The ship fell into evil times. The crew mutinied and murdered the Captain before tossing him overboard. They were captured off Barbados and brought back to New England in irons."
"Yes, they were evil men who did evil things. They did it all for money, imagine that. Captain Coffin is now resting in his watery bed, and his wife is despondent because of the nefarious deeds of Joseph Shove, Samuel Howe, and Oliver Fleet."
Lizzie screwed up her eyes. "But Father, were not Shove and Howe the two men who were hanged in New Bedford this past summer for their role in the affair?"
"Why, yes, Daughter."
"You mentioned a third man."
"Fleet, yes. He was the third man, and, of the three, he was the most seething with devilish fire. He escaped from custody, killing two officers, and was last heard from in a taunting letter to the New Bedford police department, saying that they could sooner catch the Devil himself than Fleet-Footed Fleet. This angered the Governor to no end, and the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been keeping a harsh vigilance for him."
Lizzie lowered her face, bewildered. "I have heard of the sorrows of Sarah Coffin. I did not know that her solitude was the result of her husband being murdered."
Andrew's already bitter stare grew darker. "It is said that in the mutiny, Fleet picked Captain Coffin up over his head and snapped his limbs like twigs, and when the Captain's cries were so pitiful that the Great Advesary himself would have wept to hear it, Oliver Fleet fiendishly laughed through his teeth."
"So they believe that he will return to Fall River?"
"Daughter, now we get to the heart of my business here. Fleet-Footed Fleet yearns for nothing but to be reunited with a fallen woman of this city who had taken up with him. Not only has he returned to Fall River, but he is in this very building!"
Lizzie felt a deep shudder and clung her arms tight about her shoulders. "Dear Lord," was all she could say. "Are we safe?"
"As safe as the City Marshal and his gallant lawmen can make us," he said assuredly. "For the man is in shackles in the lock-up. I have not seen him yet, but I shall within the hour."
"You?" Lizzie asked. "Why you?"
Once more he glanced about to certify that no one could hear. "Here is where I am most ashamed, Daughter. I must confess that four years ago I invested heavily in the B.M.C. Durfee. I own a hearty portion of its stock. Its success would have meant a valuable expansion of my capital. The dividends from its sugar and molasses run would have been quite handsome for me. The mutiny was a savage blow, from which, financially, a part of me has not since recovered."
"So are you here to give Mr. Fleet a piece of your mind?"
"My Daughter," Andrew said sternly. "The officials merely want me to look him in the face and say Yea or Nay as to his identity. I may be one of the few men in Fall River capable of fingering him. While others have seen his likeness, he has changed it through alternation of his whiskers. But I have heard his voice, a deep tone, which can shudder your bones when you hear it. The police believe my testimony will be binding, and they will be assured that they have their man. It is a heavy burden."
"Yes, Father. A heavy burden, indeed, which I share. For I am also here to identify a prisoner, although I am determined to prevent Fiona Conway from hanging as long as I can testify to her sorrow! Just because she is a Maggie, that doesn't mean… "
Andrew stiffened and his eyes turned to marble. "Did you say, Fiona …Conway?"
"Why, yes. We heard her name from her very lips as she swooned on the floor of the fabric store."
His face brightened. "Why, she is our woman! She is our woman!" He threw back his head and cackled.
"Father, is your reason unhinged? What do you find amusing?"
He got to his feet and fingered his lapels. "Why, I have found a way to lighten my burden. Fiona Conway is not a Maggie, as you put it, but Fleet-Footed Fleet's lady of the night, his fallen woman of Fall River!"
A shaft of light descended inside Lizzie's mind. "I have been such a fool," she announced. "Father, you have handed me the missing piece of the puzzle! Fiona Conway did not attempt to lift the till because she wanted to steal the money. It was an act of desperation, yes, but not one of passion. She knew that her long-lost lover, one whom she despaired of ever seeing again, was within police custody, and she deliberately broke the law in order to join him in the cells!"
"You are sure of this?" Andrew said hastily, "Perhaps it is not her but …"
"There is only one way of finding out," Lizzie shouted, and then darted across the room to a desk where Officer Bence was taking statements from Hodges & Son.
"Violate my peaceful business, she did!" the elder Hodges was shouting. "On the day of the bolt sale, no less! Now I have a half-witted tide-waiter tending till and a bumbling Bristol man walking the floor while we waste our time here! The store will be in chaos by the time we get back!"
"Officer Bence!" Lizzie shouted in a shrill and startling voice, causing Mr. Hodges to bury his loud words inside the waggling of his side chops. "I know this is a strong cause to advance," Lizzie explained, "but the Maggie known as Fiona Conway can exonerate herself if only the truth will out."
"Are you mad?" Hodges the Son said. "You saw what she did, you were right there!"
"Yes, but I have information that you must consider." She turned and motioned for her father to advance.
Andrew crossed over nervously and stammered, "She is right, Lizzie is right. We do not believe that she intended to steal the money. We believe she intended to be caught before she left the store."
Mr. Hodges pulled at his chin. "What? Of all the preposterous monkey-dash!"
With a quivering voice, Andrew explained his story to the astonished assemblage. He paused a few times, blushing at his public admittance that his own money had once sunk like rocks to the bottom of the ocean instead of providing him with healthy dividends. While he related his tale, Officer Bence's face grew lighter and less ponderous, while the faces of Hodges & Son grew more gloomy and despondent.
When her father had finished, Lizzie completed the picture with her interpretation of the events in the fabric store. "The Maggie's plan was to get inside the cell with her lost lover. What she plans to do, whether she plans to help him escape, or she merely wants to lay one more look upon him before she next sees him dangling from a rope, I cannot say. But it is certain that she is not what she claims to be."
The Officer was hurriedly on his feet and headed for the City Marshal's office. "He must hear this," he said bemusedly. The tall, ponderous Marshal had soon joined them, stroking his beard, while Officer Bence repeated Andrew's story.
"By Jupiter, this is fire indeed," the Marshal nodded. "The girl is a crucial part of our prosecution, we must see to this immediately. Officer Bence, please advance an invitation to all our guests here to join me in five minutes in the interrogation cell. Both Fleet-Footed Fleet and our Irish scullery maid are in for a momentous surprise."
"Aye, Marshal," Bence said, and then turned to Lizzie, Andrew, and Hodges & Son with a chuckle. "You're all coming with me to the Tower," he announced.
"Now, Daughter," Andrew said, patting the back of her hand. "We shall witness the sinking of Fleet-Footed Fleet."
"May God have Mercy on the Maggie," Lizzie intoned.
3. A Heart Unveiled
They climbed the wooden stairs into the station tower where sunlight flooded the hallway, coming in over the rooftops of the smaller surrounding buildings. A short ten minutes previous, Lizzie would have been horrified beyond sensibility to walk this far into the station, no matter how secure the locks. From the street, she had always glanced up at this tower as if it were Fall River's dark castle, deeper and more haunted than the currents of the hidden river below the mills.
But now, as she entered flanked by her father and the City Marshal, accompanied by Officer Bence and Hodges & Son, she swaggered with a sense of excitement, experiencing a desire not only to be a spectator, but also a direct participant in the drama that was unfolding about her. Her mind no longer lingered on her bustled fancy.
Entering the lock-up, Lizzie immediately was overpowered by a harsh odor. To the far right was a barred cell, inhabited by a few drunken vagrants. Their strange aromas, mixtures of various scents typically absent from Lizzie's comfortable and reasonably clean surroundings, mingled with those wafting from the horse-yard below, and filled the whole interior of the tower with a palpable wave of unbearable air.
To the left was a solitary lock-up inside of which an indistinct form was silhouetted against the light flooding through the back window. An officer was already on guard nearby, and he stood to attention as the Marshal gave a barked command. Lizzie's eyes were adjusting to the contrasting shadows and now she could make out, within the confines of the cell, an imprisoned man perched on a cot like a braced animal; she could discern two angry eyes and a savage mouth surrounded by thick black hair.
"Stand to attention," the officer-on-duty said harshly. "The Marshal will address you."
"You can tell the Marshal," a deep voice sounded from the darkness, "that he can kiss my bottom's beard!"
"Do you see?" Andrew asked excitedly. "How brutal! For that alone he must hang!"
"Hang?" barked the man. "And who are you that you shall judge me?"
"Andrew Jackson Borden," said Lizzie's father. As he puffed up his chest and thrust out his whiskers in a mild attempt at confidence, his voice crackled and his trousers trembled.
"Never heard of you," the man said with a dismissive sneer. "How can I be judged by a complete stranger?"
"I am not a complete stranger. I personally recruited you from the Iron Works to be first mate on the schooner. Do you not remember? I came to your apartment …"
"Nope," the man said lightly.
"I brought you round to the shipping office. I was there when you signed your lay commission."
"I am not the man! But wait, I have heard of you, Andrew Borden. You're a furniture maker. You made my cabinet. Perhaps I recognize you from the day you carried it up my back stairs like the servant you are!"
"God's wounds!" Andrew shouted, and curled his fists.
The Marshal stepped forward. "Fleet, be still. We shall corroborate with one more witness. If two people positively identify you, then we shall ignore your claims that you are Horatio Phelps of Boston."
"Then you shall be a poor policeman, for I am Horatio Phelps. My business is real estate. I have witnesses!"
"A drunken card sharp and two prostitutes," shouted the Marshal. "And the only real estate you own is currently being used as a brothel."
"Stuff your witnesses," Officer Bence added. "We have your girlfriend."
The man, full of swagger and boisterousness, went strangely silent. Then his voice returned with a disoriented scatter in its rhythm. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "I don't have a girlfriend. Perhaps you are mistaken…"
The metal door to the prison opened with an ominous squeak, and two officers entered guiding Fiona Conway between them. She was dull in her senses, her eyes barely open, her face slack and pale. She moved forward like a senseless thing, stepping where the two officers urged her to step. They stood her before the lock-up.
"Fiona Conway of County Galway," the Marshal explained. "I believe that you know this man?"
Fleet muttered the name, "Fiona…", then choked and broke out into a coughing fit. "You had me over for a bit! I know not this woman."
The woman calmly lifted her face and peered into the dimness of the cell. "But I may know this man," she said in a bitter voice. "Let me a little closer …"
Lizzie came forward and took the woman's hand in hers. She held it gingerly and stroked it with her other, while saying gently into the woman's ear, "I know what you did in the store, Miss Conway, and I know why. I beseech you, help us to bring a bad man to justice today. If anything, for the sake of Captain Coffin's widow."
The Maggie turned her head and looked at Lizzie with a strange light in her eyes.
"Let go of this man," Lizzie continued, "and live the rest of your life in peace. He shall be sent to the gallows by a jury of his peers."
"He shall go to the gallows?" The light sparkling in her gaze seemed almost like hope.
"Yes," said Lizzie still holding her hand. "You need not lie and let him go free. For then he would forever rule tyrannically over your life, and you shall always be his slave. Do what is best for yourself. My father shall take care of you."
"I shall?" Andrew asked.
"Yes, and I shall make sure you are housed and fed and the rest of your days shall be lived in peaceful happiness. Why, you can even come and work for us! We are looking for a Maggie!"
"We are?" Andrew asked.
The woman smiled with a curious twist in her lips, and then said to Lizzie, "Have no fear. All shall be as it shall be. My love lies deep." Then she turned to the Marshal and said with a renewed sense of vigor, "Let me in to examine him at a closer range. I shall tell you if this is your man or nay."
The Marshal nodded to the police guard, who produced the key to the cell and opened the iron gate. Conway's hand slipped from Lizzie's fingers, and as they did, Lizzie sensed something odd. There was something about her hands. Something…
My love lies deep, Lizzie repeated in the privacy of her head.
As the door swung open, the river of reason that flew through Lizzie's buried mind burst free and in a split second she understood what was happening. With a hair's breadth of time as the interval, Lizzie and the Maggie leapt forward, both women flying as if they had been hurled off their feet by some demonic energy. Someone was yelling, and Lizzie was certain it was herself. Perhaps she was raising an alarm, making an inhuman inarticulate noise, because to explain in rational words would have taken too much time. One split second delay and Fleet-Footed Fleet would be dead.
What Lizzie had seen, or rather felt, all in a flash, were the smooth, white, soft hands of the Maggie, hands that were accustomed to no heavy housework, but instead had enjoyed a lifetime of silk gloves and rose water and glycerin cream. She did not feel the chapped, work-worn calluses of a Maggie, or see the red splotches that would have been impossible to disguise. These were the hands of a lady, not of a servant. These were the hands of a Captain's wife.
My love lies deep.
Before anyone else in the jail cell could move or breathe, Lizzie Borden was tossing her body through the dark air towards the disoriented Fleet, closing the distance between them. As she fell across his body, she saw a flash of light glisten on a pair of scissors: the same scissors that Lizzie had seen disappear that very morning off a cutting table at Hodges & Son and into the bustle of Sarah Coffin when she was disguised as an Irish scullery maid. It was only as the teeth of the scissors plunged with deadly accuracy towards Lizzie's back, when they were about to penetrate into her body with a speed and ferocity that nothing but Providence seemed capable of aborting, that she did recall that Coffin had been standing at the sewing table. In that brief flicker of memory, Lizzie recalled the flash of light off the hard steel disappearing into Sarah Coffin's clothing for concealment.
"For my Captain!" screamed the forlorn widow.
Then the scissors struck home and Lizzie felt as if she had been punched hard in her kidney. For a brief moment, she screamed, hearing loudly the cries of a dying woman, perhaps herself acting as observer to her own murder.
Within the briefest of intervals, Fleet-Footed Fleet had sprung to his feet and tossed Lizzie to the ground like he was dumping his slops onto a midden heap. He roared with a voice filled with fire and savagely grabbed Sarah Coffin about the throat with a massive, knuckled hand. The scissors scattered to the floor and the couple stood silhouetted against the dark light. No one could move, such was the paralysis of fear within the cell. The only sound that could be heard was Sarah Coffin choking as she struggled for her life.
Andrew Jackson Borden broke the tension by stepping forward into the cell. He walked up to Fleet, who barely paid attention to him; such was his intensity upon strangling the Captain's widow. With a strangely casual gesture, Andrew lifted his index finger and pointed it towards Fleet's head.
"Sink my investment, you will!" he shouted, and then, as Fleet's face turned toward Andrew, the finger shot forward and jabbed full force into his eye.
"Gee-yah!" the man screamed, letting go instantly of Coffin's throat. The girl slid down senseless to join Lizzie on the ground.
Fleet danced about with both his hands to his eye, his feet tapping along the stone floor, his movement much like the convulsions of a dying chicken. Then Andrew kicked him in the shins and sent him crashing back down on the prison cot.
Police officers darted forward and all became a chaotic blur. Hodges & Son ran about screaming, raising an alarm. The vagrants in the common lock-up were laughing and hooting, shaking their toothless faces. Somewhere in the middle of a dimly lit dust, the blue pewter-buttoned coats of the officers and the heavy boots of the City Marshal were rolling upon the ground, clashing with the dark patched jacket and wild black hair of the screaming maniac.
"A pestilence upon you all!" he was shouting.
In the midst of the melee, Andrew slid to the floor and found Lizzie. She was shaking her head as if trying to remove cobwebs that had blurred her vision.
"Father," she said.
"Lizzie," he said gently, and pressed a palm against her face. "You are unharmed."
"No, Father," she said, amidst the tumult of the police officers, frenzied mutineer and fabric store owners, "I feel a pain, as if the moments of my life are numbered. Ah! The darkness descends!"
She paused and glanced down at her torso, and then furrowed her brow. Reaching back behind her bustle, she pulled out the silver pin tray that she had completely forgotten since she had entered the police station. There was a hefty ding in its surface as if something hard and metallic had attempted to penetrate it.
"Lizzie!" Andrew said, pointing at the tray. "You have been taking your Fancy, I knew it!"
She held the item up to the light where it shone with an almost-spiritual air. Then Mr. Hodges, snatching it from her hand, turned it over and examined it with a distended eye.
"Young lady," he said, his face reddening. "You'll have to pay for this!"
Lizzie reached up and snatched it back. "Monkey-dash!" she spat. "Just put it on my Father's account!"
4. New Dawn for the Maggie
Lizzie Borden woke the next morning in her own bed in her tiny room on Second Street. The northern light came down on her, drawing her up towards a new day. As she dressed, she felt the bruise on her backside, a cold reminder of the events of the previous afternoon.
She left her room, alighting directly into the spacious bedroom of her sister Emma. The older sister was standing by the bed staring at Lizzie, her long face betraying no inner thoughts.
"Why, Emma," Lizzie said with a flutter of her lids. "Out and about so early?"
"There are visitors," her sister said plainly.
Lizzie looked about the comfortable room with its quaint rose wallpaper, generous sunlight and fainting sofa. Perhaps one day, Lizzie thought to herself. "I shall have it," she completed the thought out loud.
Emma stared puzzled, opened her mouth as if about to speak, then glided out into the hallway, retreating down the stairs without another word.
Lizzie went down to the sitting room, where, to her surprise, she found Mr. Hodges & Son, sitting with her father and heartily smoking cigars. There was an affable and cheery disposition to all, and Lizzie was warmed to see her father so jovial. When he spotted her, he slapped the empty side of the couch on which he sat.
"Come Lizzie! Come sit!" he bellowed, and she slid into place beside him.
"The girl of the hour," Mr. Hodges said and his Son nodded, almost reluctantly. "Why, if it wasn't for your fast action we would have been in quite a barrel of spindles, eh, Andrew? Yes, it was fortunate indeed that you are such a keen observer. I never would have guessed that Sarah Coffin was attempting to enact her higher purpose."
"If you mean murdering a man in cold blood," Lizzie said, "then I would consider another phrase besides 'higher purpose.'"
The younger Hodges waved a finger. "The man was a devil. He deserves death regardless of how it comes. I say it would have been best to let him be killed by someone who held a passion for it."
"Her hands are clean of blood," Lizzie said. "If I … if we … had not stopped her, she would have been as tainted as the man she hunted."
"Now, Lizzie," Andrew said, blowing a hefty cloud of smoke into the air. "We need not engage in any philosophical triffling. We are all alive and healthy and happy. Are we not?"
The room was exploding with a round of head nodding and hearty calls of "Yes, 'tis true," when there was a knock upon the front door. As the men conversed, Lizzie went to answer it, and, to her surprise, she saw two women standing on her front stoop. One was Sarah Coffin, now dressed in her blue satin finery and her Lady's cap, and the other, to Lizzie's even greater astonishment, was a young woman dressed in the plain dress of an Irish scullery maid with thread-bare bonnet.
"Miss Borden," Sarah said gracefully, holding up a gloved hand for Lizzie to touch. "Forgive me any trespassing in your privacy, but I thought it best to come to your home and thank you personally for the great good you have done for me."
"I am honored," Lizzie said, her lips touching upon a smile.
"I have talked at great length with the City Marshal and I am pleased to say that he is satisfied with my disposition. Yesterday, I was not in my right mind. I was driven by an inner madness that I can barely identify as having come from myself. In my rage and clouded passion, I fear I could have committed murder."
"I am glad that I was instrumental in stopping you," Lizzie said.
"I don't believe anyone can understand a loss such as mine, and what unhealthy state of mind into which it can put one. I am truly sorry if I have caused any inconvenience in your health, either physical or mental."
"I am doing a'right," Lizzie said, with a slight nod.
There was a moment of awkward silence while Sarah Coffin struggled to maintain eye contact with Lizzie, then she stepped back a pace and raised a hand towards the girl behind her. Her small mouth was pressed tight, her eyes cast downwards, her hands thrust into her side pockets.
"May I introduce Fiona Conway, late of County Galway."
The Maggie dipped her knees in a slight bow. "M'am," she said.
"I have sought her out," Sarah Coffin said, "to explain to her my role in the affair, and to beg her forgiveness."
"There is nothing you need to apologize for," the Maggie said in an explosive, unexpected burst. "I have told you that in my youth I was glamorized by the man, but now in my clear sight I see him as much the devil as you do. I am glad to see him hang."
"That makes things easier," Sarah Coffin said with a weak smile, then turned back to Lizzie. "I have taken Miss Conway on as my domestic. I will provide for her a bed and a job. She shall not be wanting."
"That is very kind of you," Lizzie said. She reached over and took the Maggie's hand and looked her in the eyes. "The very best of luck to you!" she said.
"Thank you, M'am," the Maggie said, blushing a faint red, and pulled her hand back.
"Well," Sarah Coffin said, staring up at the sky. "It is a beautiful day, and I do believe I have some fabric shopping to do!"
"Good day to you both," Lizzie said smiling. "And if there is anything I can ever do for either of you, please let me know."
"I shall," Sarah said, and turned to leave. At the bottom of the steps, she paused and turned and looked up at Lizzie.
"Miss Lizzie," she said. "If I had done the deed, and become a murderer, would you have judged me?"
Lizzie thought for a moment, a bit distracted by the open-eyed stare of the Maggie, then said carefully, "We all do what we must do…at the exact time that we do it."
Sarah nodded and stared into space as if digesting the words. "Yes," she said finally. "That is a good philosophy of life. I must remember that. Good day to you, Miss Lizzie."
They turned and headed upstreet. Lizzie watched them as they receded into the crowd, crossing through the bustle of the horse-drawn carts and vegetable peddlers. In the distance, a factory yard bell was tolling and the sky overhead was clear blue without any clouds.
All is well in the world, thought Lizzie Borden. And I have made that happen. All I needed to do was to pay attention to the details. How easy it was to stop evil from happening. Perhaps if I apply these powers to other situations, other people in trouble, I shall stop more bad things from occurring.
All was indeed well, for due to the mental and physical actions of Lizzie Borden, two tormented women of Fall River have just found their peace. Perhaps three, she added.
"I must think further upon this," she concluded, then closed the door and walked back towards the smoke-filled room of loud, laughing men.


text:
If unable to print the above form, please list which seeds you would like to order on a piece of paper and mail the order along with a check for the total (shipping is $1.00) to : Brandon Burns 66 S. Orchard St. Logan OH 43138
Please call (740) 603-6137 with any questions or to order by phone. Daytime calls will be returned in the late afternoon/early evening.
Thank you!


text:
Sun is shining... time to think about your next weekend getaway. Any plans for next Saturday? Visit Carlton Bike Rental and you can head North or South, either way makes for a beautiful, leisurely ride. Minnesota starts here.
Bike art courtesy Adam Swanson. See more of his bike art at www.adamswanson.com