Gadlinks for Friday 10.30.09

by Brenda Yun on

I find costumes scary and Halloween night even scarier. I may love to travel, but on this particular evening there’s no better place than the comfort of my living room. For those of you who are a bit more brave and eager to set out into the spooky evening donning a custom costume, have a ghoulish time! But for the others, like myself, who prefer to stay home, I invite you to read these Halloween-themed travel reads.

‘Til Monday, enjoy the last of October!

More Gadlinks HERE.

National Poetry Month: Emily Dickinson’s Grave and house museum

by Jamie Rhein on

Cemeteries are fine destinations for gathering poetry fodder. I’m fond of cemeteries myself. To me, they are peaceful places where one can search for the connections between the people who are buried there and our own lives.

No one wrote poetry about death as well as Emily Dickinson. For National Poetry Month, here’s a nod to Dickinson with information about the house where she lived, a tour of of her grave in West Cemetery in Amherst, Massachusetts and one of her poems.

Dickinson was born and lived her entire life in Amherst, where she wrote more than 1,700 poems and lived as a recluse with a few exceptions.

Her house is now a museum, but check the hours as they are seasonal. There are actually two houses that make up the Emily Dickinson Museum. She lived at The Homestead and her brother Austin lived next door at the Evergreens with his wife and children.

The tour of the cemetery and the poem are after the jump. The tour gives you the feeling as if you are following the narrator around the grounds, and the poem alludes to how Dickinson might feel about where she is buried.

Ample Make This Bed

Ample make this bed.
Make this bed with awe;
In it wait till judgment break
Excellent and fair.

Be its mattress straight,
Be its pillow round;
Let no sunrise’ yellow noise
Interrupt this ground.

— Emily Dickinson

Even though I’ve never been to this particular graveyard, after seeing this video, I have a sense of what it might be like. I love the interactions between the person behind the camera and the person in front. The details about the grass around Dickinson’s grave compared to the rest of the cemetery offers insider info, something a person might not notice otherwise.

Photo of the Day (4-02-08)

by Jamie Rhein on

A spring flower and a tombstone–two images of life’s circle. The face of the soldier makes me wonder what he is thinking? I’m reminded of Inman, the Confederate soldier in the novel, Cold Mountain, whose Civil War experience was mostly spent finding his way back home. There are subtle aspects of this shot by mce323 that are quite lovely. Notice the soft moss on the ledge and the patina of the bronze. According to the tags, this fellow is at Cemetery of Père Lachaise in Paris.

Send your lovely shots our way at Gadling’s Flickr Photo Pool.

GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of December 3

by Adrienne Wilson on

Time to wrap up the week that was with some of our some very tasty and foul entries.

5. How to Have A Bad Time in New York City:
Sad to say, but everyone who arrives in NYC doesn’t have a great time which is not a reflection of the city by any means. Instead it goes to show how much homework time they invested in seeing the Big Apple the right way. To avoid having a bad time on your first trip in try giving this article here a spin.

4. Find a Grave Tourism:
Over the last year or so I’ve been attracted to cemeteries for many reasons and thankfully none of which were to attend a funeral. When Neil posted this plug on finding graves of celebrities or even your own special loved ones I thought how cool! Not that I go stalking the dead on a regular basis, but there is so much history in grave yards. Anyhow, if this sounds like your sort of thing too then go take a look.

3. Low Rollers Guide to Vegas:
Looking to go to Vegas on a tight budget? Head to Downtown Las Vegas where Low Rollers remain Low Rollers and save a little pocket change.

2. No Lights on Flights:
Passing on gas on planes probably won’t earn the kind of fame and stardom you’re seeking in life, but lighting a match to your flatulence will. Read the tale about common sense lost and a plane grounded when a woman tries to cover her smelly toots from her caboose.

1. Smile! You’ve Been Secretly Profiled!:
For some folks being spied on is a high honor that shows someone really cares, but for others it is enough to boil the blood stream and do nutty things. What kind of nutty things? I don’t know for sure, but it sounds as though the government has been secretly collecting data on domestic and international travelers for the last four years. Flattered yet? What they’ve managed to soak up and put in your own personal folder may be of interest to you. Check it out.