Unboxable Posts

Virginia Hoffman

Reclining Buddha, by Virginia Hoffman

Splendid China opened in 1993 in Citrus Ridge, Florida, near Kissimmee.

Prayer Room, by Virginia Hoffman

Prayer Room, by Virginia Hoffman

The park was built by the People’s Republic of China at a cost of $100m. Exquisitely hand-wrought miniatures depicted Chinese landmarks.

The Great Wall, by Pat David

The Great Wall, by Pat David

Imperial Palace/Forbidden City, by Pat David

Imperial Palace/Forbidden City, by Pat David

Though the original Splendid China in Shenzhen was, and still is, a successful venture, the Florida park was besieged by protests, and fraught with internal corruption.

Rhys Asplundh

Rhys Asplundh

Rhys Asplundh

Rhys Asplundh

After just 10 years, Splendid China Florida closed in 2003.

Rhys Asplundh

Rhys Asplundh

Lee Bennett

Lee Bennett

For the next decade, the park became home to vandals and abandoneers. Much of the original statuary was stolen. This was probably for the best, as if it had not been taken, it would have been completely destroyed.

Analogcolor

Analogcolor

Allen Buckman

Allen Buckman

Rhys Asplundh

Rhys Asplundh

I missed visiting by one year. The park was completely demolished in 2013.

Rhys Asplundh

Rhys Asplundh

Allen Buckman

Allen Buckman

allen buckman

Bat Flower by Ray Schofield

Bat Flower by Ray Schofield

In reality, our limited garden space is reserved for edibles. I have neither the skill nor the time to plant a proper spooky garden, but I can dream.

White Wisteria

White Wisteria

My ideal dark garden is one that is dark by day, but transforms into a moon garden at night. Daytime colors would be classic goth: black, purple, red. At night, white and silver.

Calycanthaceae

Calycanthaceae

The Everyday Goth is also a garden dreamer, and has a nice guide for building a gothic garden. I like it because she works in proper gardening layers.

Black Bamboo

Black Bamboo

The classic site for dark gardening, Gothic Gardening, has been partially preserved on Archive.org. The themes, along with pictures, have been preserved at Aokley.com.

Night-Blooming Jasmine by Eran Finkle

Night-Blooming Jasmine by Eran Finkle

Night-blooming Jasmine has an incredible fragrance. A vine covered the front porch of our house in Portland. It was a joy to walk through in the evening.

Silver Sage

Silver Sage

Silver Sage has a shimmery look, and soft leaves. iVillage has some other good moon garden suggestions.

Persian Shield by Ines Hegedus-Garcia

Persian Shield by Ines Hegedus-Garcia

White Flower Farm not only specializes in white flowers, they have a section dedicated to moon garden plants.

Phlox Paniculata by Shihmei Barger

Phlox Paniculata by Shihmei Barger

I know it’s not very gothy, but I’d have to sneak a fairy door into my garden somewhere.

Fairy Door by Annabel Vita

Fairy Door by Annabel Vita

And a dragon. Definitely a dragon.

Komoda dragon by Peter

Komoda dragon by Peter

This year, I am participating in Shadow Manor’s Secret Santa Can Suck It virtual gift exchange. It’s a lovely tradition for which I never seem to be on time, so I was delighted to finally participate.

My giftee is the inevitable Kathy White. Now, I know a Kathi White, and at first, I confused them, but I did realize that my target is, in fact, a complete stranger to me. I know nothing about this person, if, indeed, she exists, and isn’t a fevered hallucination of Jenna’s. That would be diabolical, wouldn’t it? She can’t fake all the names, but she could cleverly sneak a few in for extra booty. She also runs the Secret Pumpkin gift exchange. I’ll have to watch out if she someday assigns me a “stranger.”

I mean, really, “Kathy White?” She may as well have assigned me “John Smith.” She also mentioned that my assignee didn’t have a list of likes or dislikes. THAT WAS EXTRAORDINARILY LAZY, JENNA! If you’re going to make up a person, you could at least put in some of your likes and dislikes. Perhaps she thought that would tip the game? I can understand why she wouldn’t want to slip in some Hello Kitty to throw me off. Next thing you know, she’s getting this for Christmas:

Well, HellOOO Kitty!

Well, HellOOO Kitty!

Okay then, we’ve determined that my giftee is likely fictional; nonetheless, I shall take this as seriously as I normally would, which is not seriously at all. Perhaps there really is a Kathy. It could happen. There are plenty of perfectly real Kathies in the world. Hah, yeah right.

So, on to my gift. When I don’t know someone, I usually get them either fuzzy holiday socks, or a Starbucks gift card. But I have no limits here, so I shall default to the strategy of the truly terrible gifter: giving that which I want to receive.

Congratulations, “Kathy,” you get a GOTH BATHROOM MAKEOVER!  Hope you have plenty of room, because I thought we’d start with something like this:

gothic bathroom 1

Small bathrooms lack drama

This has just the right balance of dreariness and filtered light through stained glass. I’m sure “Kathy” won’t mind if we take out a few walls. It’s worth it for the ultimate bathroom!  Now let’s put a tub right in front of the fireplace. I like this one:

tub

Imagine this big enough to drown in

It’s a bit shiny for our theme, so we might have to rough it up a little. Maybe drag it behind a truck.

For a commode, we have this delightful number:

toilet

There’s a small automatic flame under the back of the seat so you can “breath fire”

The lid is nice, but I disapprove strongly of the rest. Black from foot to lid, I say. And a matching bog roll dispenser:

Yes, that's actually a paper towel dispenser. I like big butts and I cannot lie.

Yes, that’s actually a paper towel dispenser. I like big butts and I cannot lie.

For a vanity, this should do:

sink

And hang this behind it, to tie in with the toilet:

Dragon, dragon, on the wall

Where do you get dragon milk? SHORT COWS.

That is my gift to you, “Kathy,” and may it bring you joy this holiday season.