Happy Valentine's Day!

Lizzie Borden Not Guilty - Her Period Did It

This is the bedroom where Lizzie Borden allegedly took a hatchet to her step-mother.

(And you can actually stay here in this room - the house is a bed & breakfast now.)

I've long known about the infamous axe murder of her parents and the fact that Lizzie was generally thought to have done it even though she was acquitted at trial.

Someone was certainly after them, as they had suffered from suspicious food poisoning. And Lizzie had bought poison at the drugstore.

So why a hatchet?

Well, according to The History of Murder and A Private Disgrace, Lizzie's father had recently chopped off the heads of her pet pigeons with a hatchet. (Makes ya wonder what was going on in that house - what a sick, cruel thing for a father to do.)  And she may have been thinking about that when she had a petit mal epileptic seizure. These are also known as absence seizures. Basically, the person suffering from the seizure can walk and talk and function but isn't conscious of their actions. Such seizures can happen during one's menstruation.

And it is a recorded fact that Lizzie Borden was menstruating on the day her parents were killed.

This was mentioned in Flow, that Lizzie committed the murders during - and due to - her period, and I was like, what? Seriously?

So I looked it up in The History of Murder and, sure enough, there it is. No wonder men are so afraid of a female with access to nuclear weapons. It's not just the PMS you have to worry about. It's the period during the period itself, as well. So that's, what, two weeks each month where women could be indiscriminately violent. As opposed to men....

Anyway, this theory was first put forth by Victoria Lincoln in A Private Disgrace, which I have yet to read. The theory about Lizzie and her period, that is, not the theory about man-fear. Obviously. Just checking that you were still reading attentively.  ;)

On top of the pigeon massacre, there were also some financial dealings with which Lizzie took issue. So money was a motive as well. And then the menstruation-instigated seizure caused her to act out her feelings.

It's an interesting solution to the crime.

Captain Jack and Doctor Shippiness

Romantic Times Faery Ball 2010

This is the logo for the 2010 Faery Ball which will be held at the Romantic Times Convention in Columbus Ohio at the Hyatt Regency (350 North High St.) on Thursday April 29 at 8pm.

It's a costume dinner/dance ball, and the theme is the Elements - Earth, Fire, Water, Air.
I'm going as a Water sprite. :)
Hope to see you there!
Registration: http://www.RTConvention.com

Tenth Doctor Cover Yumminess

This is SUCH a sexy cover!  I want this as a poster.  Over my bed.  :)  And so far the book is fantastic, too!  Trevor B has really captured the Tenth Doctor - I can totally visualize this as an episode.

I also like how he is handling the Daleks. And the other characters are very well drawn and sympathetic.  And there was a Blake's 7 reference.  So I'm a happy camper.

I really liked Judgement of the Judoon, too.  Loved how Colin B gave three dimensions to the Judoon commander.  Fun read - and this one had a Tintin reference.

I'm also working on The Slitheen Excursion. This one has a bunch of in-jokes for Classics majors. If you know your Greek mythology, your Heroic Age, or even your Mary Renault, you'll get more out of this.  :)

Oh, and just in case you thought I was joking - there really are posters of Ten.  Just not of this particular artwork.  :)