A Birthday Thank You & A Process Hodgepodge

Posted on by Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Sunday, June 29, 2025

The Mad Hatter's birthday party by Teagan via Night Cafe

This is the weirdest birthday party ever. It isn’t even my birthday quite yet, but everything feels bizarre right now, so I’m rolling with the weirdness. I want to tell you a story about the story of a song, but first things first—

Thank You

A year ago, I posted my appreciation for all of you in a “thank you” post giving myself a little birthday party and giving you a song of gratitude — a Song For You.  Now, I’m doing a similar post, but I’m adding a hodgepodge of blah-de-blah about my creative process.  Thank you for sticking with me for another year!

The Story of the Story

Note: I realize that I’m treading a fine line, since I don’t allow political or religious comments here.  Forgive me for skirting the edges of my own rule.  Nmemosyne Rising illustration by Teagan

Back in January, along with shall we say “current events” I was dealing with a betrayal from a friend.  Those things combined to a mostly unpublished story of my own angst, confusion, and fears.  I posted a couple of episodes, but I stated that I probably wouldn’t be able to make a serial of it, because it kept my mind in such a dark space… but that I might occasionally post things from the world of that story — The Rise of Mnemosyne… and a second episode.

It was a dystopian story, set in the near future, giving voice to my feelings of betrayal, and to the awful things I foresaw as more than possible for my homeland. Since I don’t talk politics, I was uncomfortable with that, so I took it out of the dystopian real-world setting and made it a dystopian parallel world.  Yeah, it was still too dark of a place for my head to have to live for months of writing.  Now, six months later, the story is still gnawing to get out.

The Song

Bolero dancers perform for the Red Queen by Teagan via Night Cafe

Meanwhile, throughout this year I couldn’t shake the feeling that the world is as strange and “upside-down” as Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland.  I never saw the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland, and I was decades into adulthood before I read Carroll’s original, but it always seemed like a sinister story to me.    Which brings me to another part of this hodgepodge, the 1967 Jefferson Airplane song written by Grace Slick, White Rabbit.  Even as a child I could feel that the song was about a lot more than what it seemed or about drugs.

Click here for Interview with Grace Slick about White Rabbit

I read a similar interview with her years ago. While I was surprised that the music was based on a Spanish march (with additional stimulus from Miles Davis’s Sketches of Spain), that bit didn’t fully intrigue me until more recently when I learned that particular march song was Ravel’s Boléro.  Whether or not my imagination was accurate, from that moment on, I kept seeing confidant, graceful Spanish Boléro dancers marching into Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland to the sparking rhythm of White Rabbit’s intro.

Bolero dancers under mushrooms Wonderland

Months ago, Tim Price generously put my vocal cover of White Rabbit together with the music.  I had been trying to find time to make images to do a video for it.  Then, and we’ve finally gotten to the point, White Rabbit and the dystopian world of The Rise of Nmemosyne entwined.  A hybrid story got into my mind.  That new story is told through my own image collages, and pictures I made with Night Cafe in the video below.  So, rather than anyone singing “Happy Birthday” to me, I’m singing to you, just as I did a year ago… but with a very different song.  

Note: Because I’m not monetizing this recording and the original artists have allowed such, it passes YouTube’s copyright screening in the USA.  However, in some countries, that may not be the case.  I apologize if you can’t open it.  The video below is my tribute cover of Grace Slick’s White Rabbit.

Thanks for coming to my weird birthday party.  Friendly comments are welcome. Hugs!

♣ ♦ ♠ ♥

Of course, here’s the obligatory shameless self-promotion.

Speak Chuckaboo & Speak Flapper

Speak Chuckaboo & Speak Flapper, by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

Universal Purchase Links

Speak Chuckaboo

Kindle:  relinks.me/B0B9W38LDJ

Paperback:  relinks.me/B0B9T8MP1K

Speak Flapper

Kindle:  relinks.me/B083HNK3BB

Paperback:  relinks.me/1656168553

♣ ♦ ♠ ♥

This is a work of fiction.  Characters, names, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2025 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

All rights reserved. 

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 provided by free sources, unless stated otherwise.

75 thoughts on “A Birthday Thank You & A Process Hodgepodge”

  2. I’m glad you acknowledged your birthday and shared it with us – even if weird. The images are beautiful and scary and other-worldly, and your musing on White Rabbit and Alice in Wonderland was fascinating. Your music video was impressive! Thanks for sharing, Teagan, and Happy Birthday. ❤

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  6. Happy Birthday, Teagan. You are so observant and intuitive; it’s no wonder that the course of events you noticed and followed ended up as a beautiful birthday tribute.

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    1. You are so kind, Jennie — thank you. I actually deleted a lot I had written about the origin of the story, and the things that I feared coming to pass. I’d like to write that book, but I just can’t bear to keep my head in that story. Writing stories that put me in a dark place feels like a drain on my soul. Thank you for your good wishes and encouragement. Hugs.

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      1. I know exactly how you feel. I just can’t write about dark places or dwell on them. I focus on the good, albeit little things. That keeps me going. Mega hugs, Teagan.

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  7. Thanks for making the connection between White Rabbit and Ravel’s Bolero. One of the highlights of my life was going to a Jefferson Airplane concert, sitting in the 8th row, and listening to and seeing Grace Slick sing White Rabbit. The song stirs many emotions and states of mind: dread, rebellion, fear and anticipation of the unknown. In these times, I find myself returning to those “heady” days. Resilience isn’t easy to come by, but I hope you dwell within it.

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    1. Wow, Mary — what a wonderful memory to have! Her song brings out the same array of emotions in me too. It’s as layered as an onion.
      You’re right about resilience. That is a wonderful birthday wish, and I thank you for it. I will try. Hugs.

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  9. Happy birthday, dear Teagan! If you’re in a dark place in your mind, go through the door marked OPEN ME in neon lights and step into a cozy wonderland of warmth and comfort I keep in the Everywhere just for you. Hugs!

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    1. Dear Marian, thank you! What a warm and wonderful image you put into my mind with this comment.
      A manager once told me there was a blinking neon sigh, floating a foot above my head flashing the word stupid. I like your neon sign much better. I love your idea of the “Everywhere.” Hugs winging back to you and the kitties. ❤

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    1. Thanks, Pat. I was pretty hedgy about the backstory of the setting back then. I haven’t exactly been direct about it now either.
      The “betraying friend” used to say she was using her “mom card” whenever she said judgmental things. My writer brain took that to “What if there really was a mom card… and you had to have one to get by as a woman… and all women’s rights were removed? What would they do with single childless women in a country like that?” So the story got a little too personal, in addition to being too dark.
      Have a good week. Hugs.

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    1. Thanks so much, Teri. We’ll have a Teagan-verse blowout. I have champagne in the ‘fridge. I have the stuff to assemble (I don’t actually cook) a pretend key lime pie. (I’m allergic to eggs, so desserts are difficult.) I’m going to try a variation/combination of a couple of recipes I’ve seen: lime yogurt, with some dry lime jell-o mixed in. Then fold-in whipped cream and put in a mini graham cracker crust. It should be nice and tart. Yeah, it sounds as weird as the rest of this post. But you never know. Once in a while I hit on something that actually turns out good. Although those recipes are usually for cocktails. LOL! Hugs.

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  15. Happy Birthday, Teagan. Love the song.
    I can understand no political comments, I’m the same way. Frankly, I’m sick of hearing the news altogether!!

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    1. I’m delighted you enjoyed the song, GP.
      Yeah, me too. I feel the need to be informed. For about ten years I’ve had to really limit how much news I watch, but some days I can’t watch more than ten seconds of a report before I have to turn it off.
      Thanks for your good wishes. I hope your week is going well. Hugs.

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  18. Wishing you a Happy Birthday, Teagan! Let me know if there are any leftovers of the cake…
    The White Rabbit song gave me flash backs to the days when I was a kid. Great cover!

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    1. Thanks so much, Herman! LOL, a strawberry cake might have leftovers. A banana cake, maybe not — Velma likes bananas. Go figure. Regardless, I’m sending you a large virtual slice of cake.
      I’m delighted that you liked the song cover. Hugs to you and Niki.

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  21. Happy Birthday for tomorrow as well, Teagan! Oh, and thanks for the fabulous song, and video. I didn’t know about that musical connection either, so it has made my day. Do take lots of care and make sure to enjoy your birthday your own way. Love to you and the Scoobies!

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  23. Happy Birthday, Teagan. Thank you for your song and video and the history of White Rabbit. The connection with Bolero I found extra fascinating because a couple of weeks ago I watched “Bolero” which is an account of Ravel’s creation of Bolero.

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    1. Hi Mandy. I’m delighted that you enjoyed this and the video. That’s fun serendipity about the Bolero film. The rhythm is relentless (in the best way possible), and it seems to drill down into the soul. It’s more than a mere “ear worm.” Thanks for coming to this crazy party. Hugs.

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  24. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Teagan! 🎉🌟💥💐

    You did a fine job with the video.

    Thank you for the party!

    I saw that interview with Grace Slick. She is fabulous, a kind of female rock hero to me.

    Birthday Hugs!

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  27. This song is so well-suited to your voice. And now that I know the Bolero connection it seems so obvious. I also like the Dali references at the end of the video. It does seem like we’re living in Dali’s world right now.
    I hope you have the happiest of birthdays! (K)

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    1. What a marvelous comment, Kerfe — thank you so very much.
      I wanted to make an image that reflected “feed your head.” I was going for part of the side of a woman’s head being missing, and food going into it. That wasn’t working out at all. I don’t know what made me think of using just the ear and in the style of Dali, but I was pleased with most of the results. Have a sparkling new week. Hugs.

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  30. White Rabbit has been one of my favorite songs since I first heard it, Teagan. I really like your version and the video is pretty cool. I hope you have a happy birthday. By the way, you’re right about this year feeling upside down, or at least out of whack. I don’t like to drift into those topics, but it’s getting hard to avoid subjects that brush up against the side.

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    1. Ooh, that is well said, Dan — “subjects that brush up against the side.” So true.
      Oddly it wasn’t my favorite of her/their songs until recent years. “Somebody to Love” used to be my favorite. However, re-listening from a different mindset and age, I realized White Rabbit had layers, not necessarily in meaning, but in the feelings it evoked… something deeper than the words and music alone.
      Many thanks for your good wishes. Hugs.

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