so long & thanks for all the polar bears

The series finale of LOST is on tonight, which you probably already knew unless you live on a deserted island without a television.

The awesome posters that were going around the interwebs way back at the beginning of the season are going to be available on abc.com. I kind of want the bunny one.

It’s weird to have something that’s been part of my life for so long come to an end. Six years is a long time. I watched the pilot episode in a teeny apartment in Boston on an equally teeny television what seems like half a lifetime ago. Since then I’ve gotten married, moved away, written a novel, painted a tarot deck. Tessa wasn’t even around for the premiere, that’s how long ago and far away it was.

The boy & I spent part of the cocktail hour at our wedding flailing about the greatest use of the Red Sox on television, ever, from the episode that had aired that week, back in Season 3.

And yes, I picked the polar bear photo for this past Friday’s flax-golden tale on purpose.

I doubt I’ll ever have this again. I don’t watch that much television. I certainly don’t watch that much television that keeps me theorizing and hypothesizing and occasionally flailing around like a fangirl. Like, I don’t buy tv stuff, yet I have Dharma shot glasses & I’m wearing a shirt with the numbers on it right now, even though I’m rather annoyed that the numbers themselves haven’t gotten a satisfying resolution yet. I suppose they have a couple more hours to explain.

I’m excited and nervous even though I’ve been kind of nonplussed about the last few episodes and I’m still mad about Frank. I’m making frozen pina coladas later. Soon there will be Hawaiian pizza.

I likely won’t be posting thoughts on the finale, because I know there are people who won’t be able to watch it tonight, or haven’t even watched the show at all and if you’re one of them you really should, I think it actually works better watched on DVD instead of week-to-week.

So goodbye, LOST. You’ve meant a lot to me even when I wanted to throw things at the TV. You had mystery and cleverness and bunnies. You are responsible for my massive crush on Michael Emerson. You made me laugh. You made me cry. (The latter I blame mostly on Michael Giacchino.) You always kept me guessing.

You’ve been a special kind of awesome. The kind that dares you to look death in the face and say, “Whatever, man.”

Thank you. I’ll miss you.

flax-golden tales: polar

polar

I was three when I fell in the polar bear pool at the zoo.

My parents say it’s a miracle that I didn’t drown.

Always that I didn’t drown. Not that I didn’t get eaten by the polar bear. Maybe they don’t like to consider that possibility.

I don’t remember much of it. I’m not even sure how I managed to fall in, and everyone else’s recollections of the actual air-to-water transition vary.

I remember how bright and blue the water was.

I remember how desperately I wanted the polar bear to be friends with me.

Sometimes in my dreams I am back in that impossibly blue water, and sometimes it feels like home.

About flax-golden tales. Photo by Carey Farrell. Text by Erin Morgenstern.

concord

I wanted to go on an excursion today, so we took a drive out to Concord.

It was a gorgeous day for it, sunny but not hot. We saw lots of adorable dogs and almost ran over a great many cyclists. Also, there were very loud geese.

We walked around the Old North Bridge area for awhile, and then went over to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, so now I have my own photos of the graves from Author’s Ridge that are more or less exactly the same as the ones from the Wikipedia entry. (Apparently they forgot Hawthorne, just like I did.)

There are more photos on my Flickr photostream. And I have a new photo of me up on my about page, too, so that’s actually up-to-date for a change.

It’s an odd sort of day when you find yourself standing on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s grave. Good, but odd.

flax-golden tales: enjoy your stay

enjoy your stay

The Hotel is a place that is stumbled upon, often unexpectedly, by anyone who is in need of a stay.

There is already a reservation in their name at the desk.

A suite awaits with wrapped chocolates poised precariously on perfectly fluffed pillows.

Room service brings anything a guest might desire, completely free of charge.

(And they do mean anything.)

The light in the hallways is soft and pleasing to the eye, no harsh fluorescents casting twitching shadows.

The entire Hotel, from the lobby to the penthouse, is glowing and serene.

It is an oasis from the outside world. A respite in which anything can be accomplished.

And still, guests spend most of their time in the bar.

About flax-golden tales. Photo by Carey Farrell. Text by Erin Morgenstern.

post-revisionland

And revisions are done. Beta-ed, adjusted again, re-beta-ed & polished to a high shine.

It is almost disgusting how much better it is than the last draft. Seriously.

I’m not leaving the Revisionland Hotel because I have too many friends here and I like the bar. But I’m done. Done done done.

Sending the New & Improved version back to agents first thing tomorrow. Kind of baffled that I’ve finally reached this point.

Anyway, while I was unplugged last week I did mostly nothing but rewrite and rework and make good sentences great and listen to so much Pandora radio (Arcade Fire station) that I blew my 40 free hours for the month. Might have to invest in fancypants Pandora.

Y’all were also spared a rant about last week’s LOST. Um, I still love it like candy but that episode made me mad. Like, livid, throwing things mad. And not just because I love Frank. Sigh. Am nervous about the rest of the season. I didn’t think they’d be able to lose me at this point, but now I’m kind of concerned.

I also started knitting a new scarf, because nothing says spring like new scarves.

Not sure what I’m going to do with myself once this thing is out of my hands again. Reading & yoga, most likely. For now I have champagne sorbet.

flax-golden tales: this is not twue wuv

this is not twue wuv

You send me all these roses.

Every time I think the last bouquet has arrived, finally, another turns up.

I’m running out of vases.

I didn’t know roses came in so many colors.

You say they’re the perfect symbols of love because they have thorns and love is pain.

I say life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.

And you don’t get it.

You say you love me, but you don’t speak my language.

You don’t even realize I’m an orchid girl.

About flax-golden tales. Photo by Carey Farrell. Text by Erin Morgenstern.