Weeknotes: 10/29/23 - 11/4/23

This Week:

• We had a fun Halloween. Dominic rode on the Oneonta Halloween Parade float, and then trick or treated with friends around his school. Hazel trick or treated with Mummy and then took great delight in handing out candy to visitors to our house (of whom there were more this year).
• My Lovecraft read this year turned out to be “The Thing on the Doorstep”, Lovecraft’s body-switching and witchcraft opus. The thing that struck me this time around was how much this story focused on character, something Lovecraft usually avoided in favor of more melodrama, plot and mood. The scene in the long car ride between the narrator Daniel Upton and the possessed Edward Derby was particularly unsettling.
• I watched “The Bridge of Frankenstein”, a justifiable classic of the Universal Monsters era. It was sumptuously staged and shot, and there were moments that, even nearly 100 years later, took my breath away. It’s also a moving film, whose terror comes from our inability to find connection, friendship and love.
• I did some more collections work to further our repatriation efforts.
• Along with our DEI-Indigenous Affairs committee, I assisted in drafting a statement on how we will celebrate and make actions for Native American Heritage Month. *I firmed up some plans for future elementary school visits to the Museum.