a snowball's chance in hell

That saying is funny. I just imagine a cute little snowball trying to make it in hell. Poor lil fella.
Anyway. It's hot again. 80 degrees. I already started eating halloween candy. But I think this year I want to give out tricks instead of treats- Those kids go out fully expecting to get a sack full of free baby ruths and tootsie pops. Why even bother saying "trick or treat"? They could just say "GIVE IT" and it would be the same. It's boring. Together WE CAN PUT THE TRICK BACK IN TRICK OR TREAT!

Gotta keep those kids on their toes.

over the river and through the woods

I love my Grandmother (Ama Colleen) and everything in her house. I realized my taste in housewares, furniture, and decorating stems directly from a mixture of both of my Grandmothers. Time travel has been on my mind a lot lately, and I wish I could go back in time to my other grandmother's old house, where my Mom and all her siblings grew up- that house was lovely and I want to go back and take pictures of everything, just the way it was. The house is still there, but some one else lives there now. Maybe tomorrow, I will tour childhood homes in this town, there are at least 5 of them. I guess that is the closest I can get to time travel for now.

Viticus awareness

Some people are just really good at singing.
Born naturals.
A little viticus never hurt anyone. Uh oh- he's got that crazy look in his eye- don't give him a microphone!
You are probably wondering to yourself, What is viticus? If you have never been to Nevin's bar and you are not up to date on the underground moonshine circuit, then chances are you've never heard of it. If you do in fact know anything about Viticus, please fill me in- all I know is that it is home-brewed moonshine, it's DELICIOUS, and it's either Polish, Lebanese, or Greek. But it might be Hungarian or Czech. Either way, it smells like Christmas and tastes like a cross between spiced carrot cake and a gingerbread man. And it kinda gives you the feeling of being on cough syrup.
note: Not sure why I made these pictures square.

Pizza Party

Friday night on the streets of downtown Baltimore.
Why do drunk people love pizza so much?
What is it about pizza and booze? They just go hand in hand.
Give a drunk a pizza at 2 a.m. and this is what happens.
Walking home through a sea of discarded pizza remains.

update

I've updated my website.
it now includes titles and descriptions (dimensions of drawings coming soon) as well as new images in each category.
see for yourself at...
www.bethhoeckel.com

I couldn't have done it without the generous help of Derek and Paul-
THANKS DUDES, YOU'RE COOL!

something to fall back on

IT'S HERE! IT'S FALL! Chilly wind, grey skies, still waiting for the leaves to change...
Not going to bother waiting for hot apple cider, spiced wine, roasted pumpkin seeds, haunted houses and haunted hay rides.

So long, Indian Summer

Today may have been the last hot day this year.
Which, after living in LA the past four years, is exhilarating.

I renewed my Maryland drivers license today. Apparently it's already been 5 years since I got the last one. Even though I have lived in 2 different states in those 5 years, I somehow managed to never have to get a NY or CA license (oops). Now here I am, getting yet another MD DL, same height, same weight, same address. Only difference is this time it has a picture of a crab on it. And I don't mean me.

genius lives on, all else is mortal

The Walters art museum in Baltimore is way awesomer than I remembered it. And thanks to some rich person's generous donation, it's free for everyone.

this leopard lives on! or is it a cheeta.
We just happened to be walking by and ended up staying for hours. Highly recommended.

Lowcountry Risin'

A night on the town with Donald McMichael
Of the rock group Lowcountry Risin'
No less than 8 people asked to have their picture taken with Donny
Be on the lookout for our first album- "Risin' on the Horizon" and our 4th album "Lowcountry Risin V-I". We haven't made our second or third albums yet.

don't know how I'm gonna do what mama told me...

I think I'm getting addicted to not having a job. Not sure what I'm gonna do about that dilemma.

Feeling the urge to go to Europe; the UK. Funds needed.

sea monsters

Octopuses, crocodiles, sting rays. I would rank these in the top 10 creepiest animals on earth.

"if there is magic in this world, it can be found in the water"

C'mon, there's magic everywhere. But aquatic creatures in captivity sure are entertaining!

Look! I found Nemo!
I can relate to this shark, it has freckles.
Jawls, hisself
crocodiles in the mist
Oh and this is just some silly python eating a giant rat. whatevs!

from above

It's "Free Fall" month in Baltimore- most attractions are free in October. So I went to the top of what I guess is the tallest building in town.
Below, a view of a place, i visited today. Inside this geometric palace, creatures of the sea reside.
and here- i went yesterday, the USS Constellation. From above. The only civil war era ship still afloat.
Betsy! So far away!

and if you wake up with the sunrise...

I CUT OFF MY HAIR!


SIKE! It just keeps growing, and growing, and growing wildly, madly, uncontrollably.

tuesday afternoon...

oh right it's wednesday.
i've had that moody blues song in my head all day because i thought it was tuesday til just now.
life is pretty sweet when you don't have a job.
more home-town tourism tomorrow: the national aquarium.

O, black water

This week is Tourist In Your Hometown week. Which for me, happens to be Baltimore. Once self proclaimed "Greatest City In America". No, really. That used to be the city motto.
I don't see why they ever changed it.

Old Line State, 1632

The despot's heel is on thy shore,
Maryland!
His torch is at thy temple door,
Maryland!
Avenge the patriotic gore
That flecked the streets of Baltimore,
And be the battle queen of yore,
Maryland! My Maryland!