why does the virgin have 8 arms?
MAHARIA
esther was telling us about how in 19th century california, men from india were marrying mexican women. there were laws against brown people marrying white people*, but indian-mexican marriage was ok. they had similar material cultures (chilis, rotis, household altars, etc.) so one would think it would work out beautifully. but sometimes it didn’t, and we were picturing a terrible argument starting with “honey, why does the virgin have eight arms?”
*‘These marriages were more than a matter of individual choice, however, for the fact was that miscegenation laws prohibited marriages across racial lines in California until 1948 [<---OMG!! --ed.]. Most California county clerks saw the Punjabi men as colored, or “brown,” the word they used most often on the marriage license to describe the men’s race. Thus the women the Punjabis married also had to be perceived as “brown,” and that generally meant women of Mexican ancestry.’
Filed under digital, illustration, sketchbook | Tags: 8 arms, indian, mexican, virgin | Comments Off on why does the virgin have 8 arms?julia pastrana: singer, dancer, & bearded lady
for my beards series… let’s not forget the ladies, eh?
Julia Pastrana
Charles Darwin described her thusly: “a remarkably fine woman – she had a thick and masculine beard.” a charming person and graceful dancer with a beautiful voice, julia toured the world as a bearded lady in the mid-1800s.
another beard: emperor norton
hmmmm, this may be a mite difficult to turn into a gocco print. simplify, simplify!
Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, with canine companions Bummer and Lazarus.
norton was this awesome san franciscan who, during the 1800s, went a little crazy and declared himself emperor of the united states and protector of mexico. people back then were totally into it! he wore a blue suit with gold epaulets and they would salute him in the streets. he printed his own currency, which tourists would buy and use in local restaurants. he declared that calling san francisco “frisco” (“which has no linguistic or other warrant”) was a high misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $25. he also made some prescient decrees which eventually came to be: that there should be a suspension bridge built from oakland to goat island to san francisco, and that there should be a tunnel built under the bay.
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we were at the velo rouge the other day when in walked (according to the open mike acoustic guitar players) Jack Passion, World Beard and Moustache Champion 2007. the words streamed out of their mouths on ribbons. jack’s beard was truly lovely and luxuriant, a bright red with auburn undertones. he was wearing a green cardie that made it pop beautifully.
Filed under digital, illustration, oddities | Tags: beard | Comments Off on world beard champbeet-brambles-babayaga
baba yaga’s chicken-legged hut trundles over a blackberry-brambled hill where fireflies lurk, past snaily undergrowth, and into the purple night.
(^^^hee, see how i smush all my etsy tags into one jumbledy description!)
$5 in my shop
yeah!! this one was a breeze, and it’s even steve’s favorite!
there aren’t any goats that i know of in baba yaga stories. i wanted to add one cuz i was listening to a radiolab segment about a whole long quest that started when somebody saw a goat that was standing on a cow. at the very end, after interminable goatless minutes, the person telling the story concludes that it’s no great mystery why the goat was standing on the cow. goats like to perch on top of the tallest thing they can and have a look around. the real mystery was why the cow would let it. the nonchalant cow. (the nonchalant chicken hut?)
hm!
image from here
