NYC subway R1 car 23rd Street station 2006 WikipediaThursday, December 12, 2024Hello, one and all. welcome to both Wednesday and Thursday. My mind is racing around into a whatnot tangle, so I decided to combine the two days for one post. Pardon the scramble if I seem to bounce back and forth between days.
Whatnot Wednesday
Illustration for A Peril in the Vines, collage by TeaganIn writing news, I finally typed “the end” on the manuscript of “A Peril in the Vines.” Now to finalize it. Hopefully that doesn’t take long. AND hopefully Amazon KDP doesn’t hold this one back — their dastardly deeds with Real Steampunkery Tech are what took up my time and energy, with the added result of making this next book be so deplorably late. Anyhow, the cozy cottage above, with a quaint arched doorway is one of the illustrations I made to go at the beginning of each chapter.Velma: Hang on just a minute, Yummy Human. You can’t have a Whatnot post without us! Daphne and I are waiting…Velma and Daphne waitingDaphne: Thank you, Yummy Human. Now hold still and I’ll chew on your toes to show my appreciation. No? What about your elbow? Why do you always tell me not to bite?
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Thursday Doors
Image by Teagan via Night CafeAs the train photo at the top of this post (hopefully) suggests, 2024 will soon “leave the station” and head to the end of the line. This is my last Thursday Doors post of the year. Dan Antion (host of that blog challenge) suggested posting some of our favorite doors from 2024. (By the way, Dan recently published a combined version [think boxed set or omnibus] of his Dreamers Aliance series, and it’s currently priced at $5.99)Since I’m not able to go out photographing doors, my favorite doors are for “inner-spaces” — the doors in my imagination. I chose the photo of the subway train caboose, at the top of this post, to represent Lulu’s favorite hangout, and the location whereHullaba Lulu: A Diesel-Punk Adventurebegan, an abandoned subway station. The station also features inHullaba Christmas: Lulu and the Snatched Santa. The dusty deserted station became very real to me.
Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires. Argentina. WikipediaThe world of The Delta Pearl was in my head for years while I was writing it. This spring, as I finished getting it ready for publication I revisited my favorite places on that magical riverboat. Every cabin, hallway, and public room has so much substance in my mind that it seems I can feel the surfaces. The Art Deco door above reminds me of the door to the Chandelier Deck’s gaming room.While the strange hospital where Liddy was held wasn’t a nice place at all. However, the setting of The Rabbit Hole holds some of my favorite doors, because they opened to endless different adventures. One of my favorite doors there is by Resa McConaghy. Her photo helped inspire the short story.Photo credit: Resa McConaghyNow, as the New Year approaches, many are filled with dread, others with cynicism. Just remember that whatever 2025 brings, there will still be doors, and they can open to anywhere and anything our imaginations can conceive.Altered CGI by Teagan via Playground
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Thanks for opening this door. Friendly comments are encouraged. Hugs!
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I must include the obligatory shameless self-promotion.
Thursday Doors is a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. It’s hosted by Dan Antion. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time).
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No part of this work may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.
All images are either the property of the author, or used with permission, or from free sources.
53 thoughts on “Whatnot Wednesday & #ThursdayDoors — Favorite Places”
It is surprising how doors can mean different things to different people. As a kid, doors (closed doors) always intrigued me. Why? because my apartment door used to always stay open most of the time. Closed doors would indicate me that there is something secretly going on behind, and I was like ‘what’s behind that door?’ I vividly remember me and my mother passing by an establishment called NewYorker that had a big glass door and outside that a huge queue of people standing in nice clothes. I would ask my mother, mom, what’s behind this door and why are they standing here on the pavement? My mother would shrug off saying she had no clue. I was like – mom, someday I will go inside and find out and let you know. My mom was like, you sure do when you’re grown up man. Probably seven years later, I get a job in that same establishment (by then my mom was no more) but when I came out with the job appointment letter, I did spoke to my mom and told her – Mom, I finally made it past that door and its a Mexican restaurant mom, those people were waiting for their turn to get their tables. I went on to work for 2 years in that restaurant and it still is the best job I ever did. I made friends who are still connected on FB and offline as well.
You’re welcome, Teagan. Well, the new year is not going exactly the way I want it, but that’s life. It’s a rollercoaster ride, up and downs, fun and scary at the same time. 🙂
love these doors, Teagan and yes, all doors are portals: I am entering a new one today and I am thrilled; I am ready for new adventures 🙂 incidentally it is the summer solstice here so days are getting shorter, slowly , slowly …..
A cool collection of doors and settings in this post, Teagan. And cats! I love your message at the end about doors opening to wherever our imaginations bring us 🌞
Those Art Deco doors are awesome, Teagan, and your opening photo made me smile- earlier this week I couldn’t resist a photo of the old steam train that operates across Tavira island. It wore it’s Christmas hat! Best wishes to you for the season and good health and happiness in the New Year.
Hi, Jo. Wow, that sounds like an awesome photo! I don’t know why, but there’s just something magical about trains that are decorated. All those wonderful wishes back to you and yours too. Thanks for opening this door. Hugs.
Letting us travel inside your imagination is an amazing vacation getaway, Teagan. I love the train and the image of Teagan via Nigh Cafe – that is so moody, I’m at a loss for words. One of my favorite doors from this year is the boiler doors of a huge steam locomotive that I added to represent The Bonding Ceremony when you released The Delta Pearl. I love trying to find doors for the places in your stories.
I hope your KDP process goes smoother than mine did. Thanks for mentioning that “Boxed Set”
Dan, it’s my pleasure to mention your combined version of the Dreamers books.
Oops… I should revise that caption. It isn’t meant to be me, but Lulu… Playground changed so much that it’s not useable for me anymore. That one is from Night Cafe, which is usually great, but yesterday it was not giving me what I wanted (and I can only get one image a day, unless I’ve managed to “earn” more). Anyhow, I’m glad you liked it.
Oh, those locomotive doors were fantastic! I love using your photos to illustrate my serial or blog posts. I appreciate your generosity with them. I often think of the fun it was to do that with Brother Love.
Last night I thought of a little tweak I need to add to the Vines manuscript. Although I’m relieved to see that the manuscript is looking pretty clean. Yes, now if KDP will cooperate. Have an easy coast down the other side of this midweek hump. Hugs.
I enjoyed this doors to imagination post. This is my takeaway mantra for the new year: “Just remember that whatever 2025 brings, there will still be doors, and they can open to anywhere and anything our imaginations can conceive.”
That cemetery door is super cool. Your kitties want to eat you? Gwendolyn tries to eat me in the night. That’s great you got to the end of “Pearl of the Vines.” I love all the images.
Tim, I’ve never had cats that gave “love bites” — but these two do all the time. Velma has little teeth, and her bites are barely a nibble. Daphne, on the other hand, is about 30% bigger than Velma — and has big teeth… and her insistence on giving love bites is downright stressful. But to her it’s just part of cuddling… Thanks for reading and commenting. Hugs to you and Laurie and the crew.
PS: I forgot to reply my thanks for your email description of Belafonte drinking coffee! 😀
Thanks, Greg. It’s good to see you. Stable Diffusion? I’ll look into them. I was enjoying Playground when I wanted to make CGI pictures, but they changed everything, and now it doesn’t do what I need it to do. Night Cafe has been a great alternative, but it’s free version only allows a VERY limited number of images. Just one a day (without “earning” more). Wishing you an easy coast down the other side of this midweek hump. Hugs.
Your beautiful and always interesting doors have encouraged me to look at the surroundings I’m in at the time. Doors do say alot and it”s always fun to see something different… 🙂
Loved the wreath on the back of the metro car! And maybe it’s orange kitties- Garfield likes to bite the fat part of my thumb even after six years of telling him NO!
LOL, Daphne will bite any piece or part that comes close enough to her teeth for her to stretch and reach. Sometimes I can see that she “knows” she isn’t supposed to bite, but the impulse is stronger… I’ve begun to see it as one of those natural cat behaviors that are stronger in some cats than others. For instance, Velma doesn’t bite as much as Daphne, BUT she has that impulse to “cover” things (whether food or in the litterbox). She often pushes a big pile of litter out of the box. Or she’ll swipe her paw across a bare floor trying to cover a plate of leftover food — or pull other things into the plate. Daphne covers things in the litter box, but that’s all. But that and the biting — they seem to be natural impulses. I ramble… Thanks for visiting. Hugs to you and yours.
I’ve had various kitties with all those habits. It’s what makes them different and special. The first cat we had was our favorite: W. Schnitzle (W for Weiner). A black and white cat with loads of smarts – he could open doors, knew when you were upset and comforted you and even mimicked a sore foot when I had a bad ankle. Even after 30 years we still miss him.
Bravo, Teagan on finishing your latest Peril book. Everything always takes longer in my experience. Great pictures, I love them all and also wrote for Resa’s.
It really does, doesn’t it… I wrote “the end” but last night I thought of something I need to do to make a sub-sub-plot thread work better. LOL, there’s always something more. I remember your lovely post for Resa’s door photo. It’s an evocative image. Enjoy Tokyo! Hugs.
Hi Teagan, I am currently more than half way home. Looking forward to seeing my sons soon. You are right that book writing is hard to finish. Eventually you just have to publish and leave it. 🥰🌞
Thanks so much, Fraggle. Yeah, Amazon has made me paranoid. There’s still some editing to do, but we’ll see how the next publishing round with them goes. Hugs to you and Phil and the kitties.
A lovely summary to the year, Teagan! Fingers crossed on the publication (congratulations!), lovely to see Daphne and Velma, and thanks for the hopeful image of 2025. Big hugs and thanks for bringing us colour and imagination every week. Happy holidays!
While the strange hospital where Liddy was held wasn’t a nice place at all. However, the setting of The Rabbit Hole holds some of my favorite doors, because they opened to endless different adventures. One of my favorite doors there is by Resa McConaghy. Her photo helped inspire the short story.
Teagan's Books 
It is surprising how doors can mean different things to different people. As a kid, doors (closed doors) always intrigued me. Why? because my apartment door used to always stay open most of the time. Closed doors would indicate me that there is something secretly going on behind, and I was like ‘what’s behind that door?’ I vividly remember me and my mother passing by an establishment called NewYorker that had a big glass door and outside that a huge queue of people standing in nice clothes. I would ask my mother, mom, what’s behind this door and why are they standing here on the pavement? My mother would shrug off saying she had no clue. I was like – mom, someday I will go inside and find out and let you know. My mom was like, you sure do when you’re grown up man. Probably seven years later, I get a job in that same establishment (by then my mom was no more) but when I came out with the job appointment letter, I did spoke to my mom and told her – Mom, I finally made it past that door and its a Mexican restaurant mom, those people were waiting for their turn to get their tables. I went on to work for 2 years in that restaurant and it still is the best job I ever did. I made friends who are still connected on FB and offline as well.
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What a wonderful Doors story. I’m so glad you shared it. I hope your new year is going well. Hugs.
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You’re welcome, Teagan. Well, the new year is not going exactly the way I want it, but that’s life. It’s a rollercoaster ride, up and downs, fun and scary at the same time. 🙂
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I’m sorry. Although I know what you mean… Stay safe and well.
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I enjoyed this post and its artwork, opening doors to Imagination —
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I’m happy you enjoyed it, John. Thanks for opening this door. Hugs.
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Doors take many forms, both physically and mentally. You have the gift of sharing both!
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You are so kind, Jennie — thank you! ❤ Merry Christmas and hugs.
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You’re welcome, Teagan. Merry Christmas and mega hugs! ❤️
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love these doors, Teagan and yes, all doors are portals: I am entering a new one today and I am thrilled; I am ready for new adventures 🙂 incidentally it is the summer solstice here so days are getting shorter, slowly , slowly …..
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Sorry for the late reply, John. Entering a new portal — that does sound exciting. Wishing you a sensational summer. Hugs.
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I love your concept of both physical and internal doors. Wishing you many doorsome adventures in 2025.
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What a wonderful comment, Mandy! Thank your for visiting — and thank you for inspiring positivity and gratitude. Big hugs.
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Hearty congratulations dear Teagan. You are too good with your stories. Happy Christmas to you and your lovely cats.
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Thank you so much, Kamal. I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season. I appreciate you opening this door. ❤ Hugs.
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You are always welcome dear Teagan. Happy holidays to you. Big hugs 🤗🤗
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A cool collection of doors and settings in this post, Teagan. And cats! I love your message at the end about doors opening to wherever our imaginations bring us 🌞
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Thanks so much, Dave. The imagination is a wondrous thing, a mind saving, life saving thing. I appreciate you opening this door. Hugs.
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Those Art Deco doors are awesome, Teagan, and your opening photo made me smile- earlier this week I couldn’t resist a photo of the old steam train that operates across Tavira island. It wore it’s Christmas hat! Best wishes to you for the season and good health and happiness in the New Year.
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Hi, Jo. Wow, that sounds like an awesome photo! I don’t know why, but there’s just something magical about trains that are decorated. All those wonderful wishes back to you and yours too. Thanks for opening this door. Hugs.
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Wonderful take on the New Year’s doors Teagan! I adoor the positivity of the creative landscape they open out, or into.
Thank you so much for the shout out. I’m thrilled a door I found inspired you.
Yayayayay!
Sending hugs!!!
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It really is a wonderful photo, Resa. I appreciate your kind words about this post. ❤
Thanks for opening this door. Big hugs winging back to you.
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Always fun opening doors on your blog, Teagan!
Hugs flying back fast! Hope you’re wearing a catcher’s mitt!
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Letting us travel inside your imagination is an amazing vacation getaway, Teagan. I love the train and the image of Teagan via Nigh Cafe – that is so moody, I’m at a loss for words. One of my favorite doors from this year is the boiler doors of a huge steam locomotive that I added to represent The Bonding Ceremony when you released The Delta Pearl. I love trying to find doors for the places in your stories.
I hope your KDP process goes smoother than mine did. Thanks for mentioning that “Boxed Set”
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Dan, it’s my pleasure to mention your combined version of the Dreamers books.
Oops… I should revise that caption. It isn’t meant to be me, but Lulu… Playground changed so much that it’s not useable for me anymore. That one is from Night Cafe, which is usually great, but yesterday it was not giving me what I wanted (and I can only get one image a day, unless I’ve managed to “earn” more). Anyhow, I’m glad you liked it.
Oh, those locomotive doors were fantastic! I love using your photos to illustrate my serial or blog posts. I appreciate your generosity with them. I often think of the fun it was to do that with Brother Love.
Last night I thought of a little tweak I need to add to the Vines manuscript. Although I’m relieved to see that the manuscript is looking pretty clean. Yes, now if KDP will cooperate. Have an easy coast down the other side of this midweek hump. Hugs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I enjoyed this doors to imagination post. This is my takeaway mantra for the new year: “Just remember that whatever 2025 brings, there will still be doors, and they can open to anywhere and anything our imaginations can conceive.”
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Thank you so much, Liz. That phrase came from my heart, so I’m joyous to know that it touched your heart too. Thanks for opening this door. Hugs.
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You’re welcome, Teagan! That thought definitely resonates with me as important for the upcoming four years.
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Exactly. The ability to imagine better things and worlds is more important than ever. ❤
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That cemetery door is super cool. Your kitties want to eat you? Gwendolyn tries to eat me in the night. That’s great you got to the end of “Pearl of the Vines.” I love all the images.
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Tim, I’ve never had cats that gave “love bites” — but these two do all the time. Velma has little teeth, and her bites are barely a nibble. Daphne, on the other hand, is about 30% bigger than Velma — and has big teeth… and her insistence on giving love bites is downright stressful. But to her it’s just part of cuddling… Thanks for reading and commenting. Hugs to you and Laurie and the crew.
PS: I forgot to reply my thanks for your email description of Belafonte drinking coffee! 😀
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I think Gwedonly turns into a vampire kitty at night: https://youtu.be/nL7jvDD14F0
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OMBastet! That’s fabulous. I laughed out loud. The toes…!
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I loved the vampkitty going for the toes.
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I like your images. I have been using Stable Diffusion AI to generate AI art very similar to that. Quite a bit of fun.
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Thanks, Greg. It’s good to see you. Stable Diffusion? I’ll look into them. I was enjoying Playground when I wanted to make CGI pictures, but they changed everything, and now it doesn’t do what I need it to do. Night Cafe has been a great alternative, but it’s free version only allows a VERY limited number of images. Just one a day (without “earning” more). Wishing you an easy coast down the other side of this midweek hump. Hugs.
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Your beautiful and always interesting doors have encouraged me to look at the surroundings I’m in at the time. Doors do say alot and it”s always fun to see something different… 🙂
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What a lovely comment, Judi. It means a lot to me for you to say that. Heartfelt thanks for opening this door. Hugs.
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All magical doors, Teagan. Thaks for sharing some of your special places.
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I appreciate you visiting, John. This post ended up being my 2024 recap, but I went ahead and posted it for today. Thanks for opening this door. Hugs.
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Loved the wreath on the back of the metro car! And maybe it’s orange kitties- Garfield likes to bite the fat part of my thumb even after six years of telling him NO!
And wow! That cemetery door!
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LOL, Daphne will bite any piece or part that comes close enough to her teeth for her to stretch and reach. Sometimes I can see that she “knows” she isn’t supposed to bite, but the impulse is stronger… I’ve begun to see it as one of those natural cat behaviors that are stronger in some cats than others. For instance, Velma doesn’t bite as much as Daphne, BUT she has that impulse to “cover” things (whether food or in the litterbox). She often pushes a big pile of litter out of the box. Or she’ll swipe her paw across a bare floor trying to cover a plate of leftover food — or pull other things into the plate. Daphne covers things in the litter box, but that’s all. But that and the biting — they seem to be natural impulses. I ramble… Thanks for visiting. Hugs to you and yours.
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I’ve had various kitties with all those habits. It’s what makes them different and special. The first cat we had was our favorite: W. Schnitzle (W for Weiner). A black and white cat with loads of smarts – he could open doors, knew when you were upset and comforted you and even mimicked a sore foot when I had a bad ankle. Even after 30 years we still miss him.
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❤ ❤ ❤
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Bravo, Teagan on finishing your latest Peril book. Everything always takes longer in my experience. Great pictures, I love them all and also wrote for Resa’s.
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It really does, doesn’t it… I wrote “the end” but last night I thought of something I need to do to make a sub-sub-plot thread work better. LOL, there’s always something more. I remember your lovely post for Resa’s door photo. It’s an evocative image. Enjoy Tokyo! Hugs.
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Hi Teagan, I am currently more than half way home. Looking forward to seeing my sons soon. You are right that book writing is hard to finish. Eventually you just have to publish and leave it. 🥰🌞
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It is always a pleasure walking through the doors you open for us! Thank you for allowing us to enter the imagination that dwells within you.
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What a beautiful comment, GP. I appreciate you. Thanks for opening this door. Hugs.
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Congratulations on ‘The End”! Hope Amazon don’t mess you up again. Happy Christmas to you and the pusses!
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Thanks so much, Fraggle. Yeah, Amazon has made me paranoid. There’s still some editing to do, but we’ll see how the next publishing round with them goes. Hugs to you and Phil and the kitties.
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A lovely summary to the year, Teagan! Fingers crossed on the publication (congratulations!), lovely to see Daphne and Velma, and thanks for the hopeful image of 2025. Big hugs and thanks for bringing us colour and imagination every week. Happy holidays!
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Hi, Olga. Heartfelt thanks for this bright and beautiful comment. The same good wishes and hugs back to you. 😽😺
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