DifficultBastad profile picture

DifficultBastad

Let the red dawn surmise what we shall do, when this blue starlight dies and all is through.

About Me

I spread joy wherever I go. Happiness and bright sunny-sunshine follow me to-and-fro like the comings and goings of warm summer days. My mere presence banishes the dark moods and melancholy thoughts of others to the farthest reaches of the cosmos. Shadows retreat as I draw near and rooms brighten as I enter, which saves me a lot on my utility bill. Indeed, the world in which I live is truly the funshiniest of all possible worlds.

My Interests

All Things Strange and Rare, Aestheticism, History, Literature, Neofolk/Folk-Noir/Neoclassical Music, Weird Fiction, Belgian Abbey Ales, Wheat Ales, Celtic Lore, 19th Century Fantasistes, The Beautiful, The Grotesque, The Exotic, The Absurd.

I'd like to meet:

Unless I have met you in person, or you happen to be someone whose talents or work I respect and admire (unlikely as most of those people are dead), then you'd better have a damn good reason for adding me if you expect me to accept your request.

Don't get me wrong - I'm the most incredibly positive, most warm-hearted, most sympathetic being you could ever have the good fortune to meet. Everyone should get the chance to bask in my sunshiny, radiant glory. Really. It's just that I hate being bothered by requests from spammers whose idea of conversation is "Oooh my name is Barbie - come look at my pix! I take VISA!"

A silly quiz:
Which literature classic are you?
Oscar Wilde: The Portrait of Dorian Gray. You are a horror novel from the world of dandies, rich pretty boys, art and aesthetics, and intellectual debates between ethical people and decadent pleasure-seekers. You value beauty and pleasure but realize their dangers, as well.
Take this quiz !

Music:

Ataraxia, Autopsia, Bjork, Carla Bruni, Cocteau Twins, Death In June, Diamanda Galas, E Muzeki, Fields of the Nephilim, Flogging Molly, Godspeed You Black Emperor, His Name Is Alive, Legendary Pink Dots, Lords of the New Church, Lycia, Mazzy Star, The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud, Nature And Organization, Natacha Atlas, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ordo Equitum Solis, PJ Harvey, The Pogues, Portishead, Rozz Williams, Rudimentary Peni, Sarah Brightman, Sex Gang Children, Sixth Comm, Sneaker Pimps, Sol Invictus, This Mortal Coil, Tom Waits, Vidna Obmana, Virgin Prunes... all in alphabetical order. How lovely.

Movies:

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Le Pacte des Loups, 12 Monkeys, Fight Club, Night of the Hunter, Donnie Darko, Sin City, The Thing (1982), The Big Empty, Serpent and the Rainbow, The Mummy (1932), The Call of Cthulhu, Snatch and/or Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Memento, eXistenZ, Cemetary Man, Fallen, The Matrix, Equilibrium, Blade Runner, ST2: The Wrath of Khaaaaan!, Dogs In Space, Lord of the Rings, The Descent, Carlito's Way, Unbreakable, Evil Dead 2, The Replacement Killers...and anything by Lynch or Hitchcock.

Television:

Bah. I avoid television as much as possible. There are a few shows (mostly britcoms) that I find entertaining, but generally speaking TV rots the brain, it does. Turn the damned thing off and go read a book.

Books:

Anything by H.P. Lovecraft, Neil Gaiman or Douglas Adams. "The King in Yellow" by Robert W Chambers. "Candide" by Voltaire. The Dune series by Frank Herbert. "The Age of Reason" by Thomas Paine. "The Picture of Dorian Gray" & "De Profundis" by Oscar Wilde. "Time and the Gods" by Lord Dunsany. "The Devil's Dictionary" & "Can Such Things Be?" by Ambrose Bierce. "The Great God Pan" (and nearly everything else) by Arthur Machen.

My Blog

So far...

The trip so far has been alright (although I've come to realize that I hate roadtrips now more than ever). We've spent the last day and half in DC with a friend of Mattie's, and have hit the typical t...
Posted by DifficultBastad on Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:18:00 PST

New England, here I come...

So... It's been close to a decade since I made that hellish roadtrip to New England and back. Guess that means it's time to do it again!I'll be in Maine until late August/Early September, so everyone ...
Posted by DifficultBastad on Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:25:00 PST

In Summary...

Mono.Scarby.Alcohol.Misc Groggtrollery.Sunburn.Hangover.Proof that the Guilty have no pride....
Posted by DifficultBastad on Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:57:00 PST

No, I’m not dead...

...just sick as hell. I've been rotating between a horrible headcold and a nasty upper-respiratory infection for over two weeks now. One clears up and the other comes back. I suppose this is what I ge...
Posted by DifficultBastad on Wed, 30 Jan 2008 04:13:00 PST

The Grog Troll Cometh

It's over. Pride and Prejudice is finally over. It kills me that I'll no longer spend 6 days a week experiencing 3 to 6 hours of Jane Austen per day, but somehow I think I'll manage. In fact, I do bel...
Posted by DifficultBastad on Mon, 24 Sep 2007 03:43:00 PST

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is now in its first week at DTC, which means when I'm not too busy, stressed or tired, I'm drinking, drinking and/or drinking. This leads me to the following two points:* If you wa...
Posted by DifficultBastad on Fri, 07 Sep 2007 02:34:00 PST

Summer in Texas...

...is Hell.The temperature hit 106 while I was driving on Loop 12 this afternoon. And Brits wonder why we drink iced tea and cold beer...
Posted by DifficultBastad on Tue, 14 Aug 2007 03:16:00 PST

Hangin wit Odin, yo

You are the Hanged ManSelf-sacrifice, Sacrifice, Devotion, Bound.With the Hanged man there is often a sense of fatalism, waiting for something to happen. Or a fear of loss from a situation, rather tha...
Posted by DifficultBastad on Sat, 04 Aug 2007 04:21:00 PST

The Ending of the Shrew

Yesterday was the final day of DTC's production of Taming of the Shrew. It's been a crazy few weeks, but I truly enjoyed being a part of it. The cast & crew were absolutely fantastic - in fact, th...
Posted by DifficultBastad on Mon, 14 May 2007 10:20:00 PST

Jazz Night @ New Amsterdam

I'll be heading out to New Amsterdam tonight for Maredsous and live jazz. The music last Monday was fantastic, so here's hoping tonight will be more of the same. Anyway, 8pm sounds like a good arrival...
Posted by DifficultBastad on Mon, 07 May 2007 12:20:00 PST