Wow, wow, wow! Talk about a “stop everything!!” moment:

That’s Terri Windling.

This is her new website.

How incredibly awesome.

Holy, holy holy, it’s Anne Briggs on YouTube.

Longtime readers will know that, like many a mainstay and folk pioneer (not that I’m comparing myself in that way, mind), Anne is one of my muses. She wasn’t on the scene for very long and footage of her is very, very rare. But sure enough, there she is — greeted on the couch by Louis Killen and then some impassioned banter with… oh geez, I can never tell those two dudes in the early Watersons apart… I think that’s Mike Waterson (someone help me out, if ya know).

I was stunned and drooling, but not for long, for there was much, much more to distract me. Apparently YouTube is just a veritable treasure trove of old skool British Isles folk clips. We have more Watersons (here’s a great performance of “Hal-An-Tow” — ELLEN KUSHER! I’m looking at you ’cause you turned me on to this album) and there’s a plethora of cool old Pentangle, including “Let No Man Steal Your Thyme”, “Wedding Dress” and — hang on to your 60’s medievalist Arthurian britches — “Hunting Song”.

Dang, that Jaqui McShee is just riveting. Reminds me of this cool girl I know, but I’m not gonna say who because she reads this.

Now, that last one may be a little hard for some of you to take. I totally understand. However, I’d just like to state for the record that Bert Jansch, in addition to being a bitchin’ guitarist gift from the Otherworld, was actually pretty hot back then. But I really don’t know what’s going on there. I do love how he calls it “a thirteenth century rock and roll song.” I don’t know if they wrote it or not, but, despite the glockenspiel, “Hunting Song” is in my personal top 10 favorite folk songs, hands down (lyrics, influences demystified and trivia here).

Lastly, I’ll leave you with a video of Richard Thompson singing “Beeswing,” a song supposedly inspired by/based on Anne. That’s how the legend goes; however, the story also goes that he only met her twice, and that both times she was “drunk and unconscious.” Whatever the case may be, it’s a beautiful song and well worth listening to. Fair warning: it is emotional; in fact, so emotional that one YouTube viewer has commented, “What a song. It makes me weep every time I hear it, and that’s a lot of weeping.”

Anyway, on the Annie tip, her Wikipedia entry is a good source for the basics — while it’s still up, anyway.

So! Hit another signpost on the writing road with my first short story in Endicott’s Journal of Mythic Arts Summer 2007 issue.

“Cooling” features a girl who’s a bit of an arsonist, a woman who is a bit of an alchemist, and a boy who is all water, walking around like he’s human or something.

Three guesses, and the first two don’t count, as to the mastermind behind the illustrations:

It’s the Young Adult fiction issue. I’ve linked to the masthead, not just my story. Be sure to check out the rest of what’s there. We’ve got stories by Holly Black, Will Shetterly, Emma Bull, O.R. Melling, Terri, Midori, Gwenda Bond, Steve Berman and tons of amazing stuff from amazing artists.

I don’t make deep personal confessions around here very often. But I do have one and it feels right.

Back in the day, years before I even contemplated reading comics in any sort of sustained way (let alone writing them) and way before I ran in any of the wonderful creative circles we are a part of now, I used to kill time at the office by combing through every word of the Endicott site. And come serious escapist daydreaming time, a sensitive, artistic blue-eyed husband with a handyman streak was just the beginning of my fantasy. What I really wanted more than anything was to be in one of these true creative partnerships a la Ellen & Delia, Charles Vess & Karen Shaffer, Brian & Wendy Froud, Will Shetterly & Emma Bull, and, of course, Charles & MaryAnn.

Both Endicott and marriage felt like major, major long shots at that time. And a creative marriage? WhatEver.

HA! Take THAT, weird ego!

Have a look and let me know what you think. It’s not my magnum opus, certainly, but I’m proud of it. I wrote it in the midst of some serious chaos last year (right around this time, actually) and it was one of those great escapes that one’s own stories can be when one is not feeling all that hot.

And yes, I do count my blessings constantly.

Spiderwick Chronicles Myspace page TRAILER ACTION YEAH!!!

Holy CRAP that looks FANTASTIC! You can see it bigger on the movie website.

I was just thinking about this the other day and was wondering if there was a trailer yet.

Urban Fantasy ROCKS the house EVEN HARDER than it has been rocking for the past two and a half decades. Congrats, Holly.

Ok, back to work for me.

The ladies of Endicott had so much good stuff for the journal that they bided their time and now they have a double issue.

Tons of amazing stuff there, like these crazy-like-a-fey-fox sketchbooks featuring work by Ian MaCaig, Alan Lee, Charles and Terri. Do check it out.

Also, Boorman and I have a short-but-awsome SCHEHERAZADE update; that was from yesterday. Please have a look if you haven’t already!

Wait a minute… I told you about that last night. Aye yi yi; I’m losing my mind.

The Endicott Studio site is still down as we’re awaiting the transfer of the domain, but the Endicott blog is up and running:

Endicott Redux

And I’ve begun posting. So check it out!

Some kind soul also made an LJ feed, in case you’d rather read over there.

We recovered all of the files after the server crash (thank you for all of your prayers and libations) so as soon as the domain transfer is complete, we should be back in business.

The bulletin board became a snidge unwieldy, so Midori built a brand new blog:

Endicott Redux

Check it out! I’ve got posting access, so I’ll be yammering away over there soon.

In other Endicott news, the journal’s server fell down, went boom, so we’re all wringing our hands until the shenanigans get worked out. In the meantime, if you feel like sacrificing a chicken and libating a bottle of scotch on our behalf, hey, go for it. We can use all the good vibes we can get right now.

(Note: that’s a metaphorical chicken and metaphorical scotch, you understand.)

Swear to goodness, I just don’t know how these people do it:

The Fantastic Menagerie Tarot

Karen Mahoney and Alex Ukolov of Magic Realist Press have done it again. Oh look — and again:

The Victorian Flower Oracle

And oop, don’t look now, but this is on the way as well.

I think my head might explode.

You know, there are lassies who are just so frickin’ cool that their coolness just makes you wonder? The ones where you look at them and go, “I just don’t know how you could get any cooler”… and then they go and get even cooler? Do you know any of those lassies?

Exhibit A: Helen Pilinovsky.

I’ve sometimes wished that everyone could see Helen when she’s in her element. Dear Goddess, hardcore folklore academia was never so charming. Okay, yeah, she’s a friend of mine, so I’m biased. Still! If you don’t believe me, see for yourself:

The Princess Bride: Dread Pirate Edition

Helen’s in one of the extras featurettes.

There’s also a Buttercup Edition for the uber-completists.

Attention! The Spring 2006 issue of Endicott’s Journal of the Mythic Arts is here!

So go take a look.

Death and rebirth is the theme this time, something that has been on my mind a lot in this time of change, don’tcha know.

Reviews are to follow shortly — I mean, really shortly. I’m still scrambling to get mine together in the wake of working overtime of late. I’ll let you know when they go live.