"Do you pray with your eyes closed naturally?"

The perfect, unexpected fusion of seredipity and synchronicity never fails to set me aglow. Over the holidays, I caught a vintage episode of Subterranean online (we'd cut our cable and were relying on the 'net for electronic entertainment... that is, until we finally broke down and got Netflix, plus an antenna-type thingie Chef Boy eventually picked up from Costco) and saw the nerve-tingling, lush little video below. Shivery and haunting, the music provided an ideal soundscape for the visuals of hypersaturated emeralds, luminous blacks, and milky skin. To this secret gothgirl at heart with an uncontrollable penchant for dancing to processed electronic maudlinity, the washy drumbeats, weepy synths, breathy vocals, ruins of a mediaeval cathedral, crumbling cemetary, and wardrobe of a Gorey schoolgirl-slash-Wednesday Adams did not fail to titillate.

However, what precipitated this clip to memorable event was the wraithlike singer, Alice Glass. In both contemplative demeanour and fragile appearance, she so greatly reminded me of a close and cherished friend who's long moved away, but returns intermittently for surprise visits. (Admittedly, the killer cheekbones may have also played an unnegligible role in triggering the perceptible comparison.) We hadn't seen each other or chatted since her last talk- and chortle-heavy visit during the summer, and I missed her deeply. Thus, the moment the pang of recognition struck, I hopped on YouTube to find the video, then sought to send it to her via fb message. When I realized she had once again deleted her profile, I slipped to Gmail to send it to her the new-fashioned "old-fashioned" way.

While ensconced in writing a short letter to go with the video, I noticed a fresh message had just popped up in my Inbox. It was from none other than said long-lost girlfriend in question, announcing she was in town, was having her head done in by being trapped in close quarters with batty bloodkin, and could I please rescue her at some point by going out for dinner and a walk?

Needless to say, I simply sat and alternately gawped and chuckled, shaking my head, at the screen.

I never did send the e-mail and instead responded to her query, planning to tell her the story once we hooked up. Unfortunately, the holidays were so mad with overlapping events and simple bad timing we were never able to successfully sync up a date, but next visit, my Love, I am all yours.

This is for my Coyote Girl. You are dearly missed.




Crystal Castles ~ "Celestica" from "Crystal Castles II" (2010)




(photo credit: me, of CG modelling a shirt she'd just made in my kitchen. I made a tribal-looking shark one for Jeeps. I always wonder why we don't paint more Tshirts, so fun and ridiculously easy are they to make.)