Dallas and ice cream pizza! / Dying of yellow fever

Spent some time with Grandma before Dallas came over - I was watching the news when he got to the townhouse. We discussed the fall of Harmony Airways, exercise for children in class, prices, Toronto, orcas in Alaska, the Colorado-Vancouver hockey game (we shut them out 3-0!), and my mom's cooking. Curry, tripe, congee, fish, peri-peri chicken, and veggies were on the menu - so were soya eggs for Jon's protein needs since he's Lenting meat. It was funny listening to Grandma talk about beer, haha... Jon also made a "Dallas face" when referring to his reaction to the stuff. I refused to take certain food items home: who knows what that blob is which Jon's friend gave to him! Talked about lamb, honey and not feeding it to babies under one year of age (lacking enzymes?), Nathan and Jon making the best macaroni and cheese ever, my handwriting (he should hear how I type!), the 24 finale dinner (not MY auspices!), the Citrus Lemon episodes, blog updates, the ice cream pizza Dallas bought for us, birthday cards, my old friend Daniel Louie (who Jon saw at Regent), coffee, summer classes, Dallas' landlord cooking a LOT of stuff, and exams.

I know how my mom thinks, so I told her that Daniel's married (which is true) - she then tried to twist it and say that only I thought like that. Um, no... who wants to matchmake all the time around here?! Not me! :P Jon and I listened to the Boredoms on the way home while listening to Dallas talk to Harmony about Delta and books. Then I got home and had second thoughts about certain travels, as usual when I've already sorta committed to that kind of thing. Oh well, at least I get to bug Corey about reduction / minimizing and violent video games! ("I'm also downloading a really violent game called Yakuza where you get to beat people in really violent ways, like slamming their face into a curb and then hitting them with a golf club. I saw some swords in the previews, so I'll try to reduce something the way you think of it.") I also had a phone call from Manitoba while I was out: 204-927-2271, anybody?


Today's Haggard Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

Lydia Rost was the daughter of Emile Rost, the owner of Destrehan Plantation in Louisiana. Lydia's room in the historic plantation house is kept perpetually in summer dress with furnishings contemporary to about August 1853, when Lydia died in the room - a victim of yellow fever. Lydia's last rites were given by Father Paret, who described her death in his journal, which (roughly translated from the French) reads as follows:

"The poor child is on the point of returning her soul to her Creator. She's suffered so much, spitting up black rotten blood from her burning chest. Her whole body is covered with blisters... Her haggard eyes seem to pop out of her head. Her cheeks are shrinking. Her teeth rattle and click against each other... Her whole body twists and turns with such an unbelievable force that the doctor and I barely hold her down. After a long and intense writhing, her pulse weakened and the agonizing death rattle began. Soon, we had only a corpse whose eyes I closed. That death will never be erased from my mind as long as I live... I could hardly remain standing and I trembled like a leaf... my eyes flooded with tears... Having finished this pious duty, they impose a second on me, that of announcing the news to the tearful family."

Culled from: Vestiges Of Grandeur

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Okay, perhaps my ongoing illness isn't quite as severe as Lydia's... but I still can sympathize! I see a "specialist" tomorrow. Let's hope he can work a modern medical miracle on my ravaged remains!

Oh, by the way, you can visit Lydia's death room, complete with haunting portrait, at Destrehan Plantation.

While I was huddled in my sickbed today, I read the book Vestiges of Grandeur that this fact was culled from. It's an interesting collection of exterior and interior photographs of the grand old Louisiana River Road plantations. Of course, the ones I found most interesting were the photographs of the abandoned ones that were collapsing, but which still had all the original antique furniture and family heirlooms inside them. These plantations are still owned by the original families, too. Can you imagine simply allowing a grand old plantation house complete with your entire family history and priceless antiques to erode like that? Stupid people. We really should take these things away from them for their own good.

Anyway, the book's quite interesting if you'd like to explore the history of plantations in Louisiana.

Vestiges Of Grandeur: The Plantations of Louisiana's River Road by Richard Sexton

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Morbid Trinket Du Jour!

Here's a nifty toothpick holder you'd be proud to display at your next cocktail party!

Thanks to Christina for the link.

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Morbid Mirth Du Jour!

My dogs could contribute some specimens to the Circus of Disemboweled Stuffed Toys. Grisly!!

Thanks to Katchaya for the link.