Announcement

(Art by Catherine Ledner.)

Katy, your anonymous friend would like to wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

A Few Helpful Travel Tips

If you're heading to Berlin this summer, be sure to check out the super-creepy fence shown below. When viewed straight-on, it's just an average iron fence. But from the side . . . mwahahaha. I might just get one of these installed outside my house. I can't think of a better way to scare off potential burglars. (Aside from a guard guinea pig.)













And if you're traveling to Naples, you might want to avoid the pizza. Apparently some pizza shops there have been caught digging up coffins in the local cemeteries and burning the wood in their brick ovens. Gives the pizza a little something special, I hear. (Don't believe me? Click here.)

So, What Happened to Me?

(Photo: Ben Aqua)

Nothing. I've been working, working, working! I'll get back to posting more regularly soon. I promise!

In the meantime, check me out on the Today Show. I'll be there on May 27th between 9:30 and 10:00am to discuss the wonderful world of Kiki Strike.

Watch, and you'll learn the answers to the following questions . . .

1. Is she really as unbelievably charming as everyone says?
2. Did she finally have that parasitic twin removed?
3. Will she be able to form coherent sentences while in the presence of HER PERSONAL HERO, Mr. Al Roker?

Questions that may not be answered . . .

1. Is that REALLY her?
2. Is that a disguise or does her hair always look like that?
3. What's up with the strange foreign accent?

(If you happen to be attending the BEA, I'll be there later that afternoon. Stop by and say hi!)

Don't Mess With the Bronte Sisters

Are You Being Watched?

You've been receiving threatening texts from an anonymous number. Every night, someone prank calls your house. You have gotten numerous notes warning you're going to be attacked. And you've started to sense that an evil clown is watching your every move.

If you live anywhere other than Switzerland, you should start practicing your kung-fu, hire a squad of girl masterminds to act as your personal bodyguards, and consider phoning the police. If you're Swiss, check your parents' credit card bills. It might just be your birthday present.

Dominic Deville has started a new birthday service in Lucerne, Switzerland. For a reasonable fee, parents can hire him to slap on some evil clown makeup and scare their birthday girls and boys senseless. He'll stalk each kid until he has a chance to deliver a "present"--a birthday cake smashed in the kid's face.

Most people think it's sick. But I kind of feel sorry for Dominic. One day, he's going to end up stalking the WRONG kid.

More here.

Comments

(Above: Can't remember where I found this, but it's too awesome to leave in a computer folder. Sorry, fabulous artist.)

Hi Everyone,

I've heard that many of your comments aren't being posted on the blog! So sorry about that. I assure you it's not a new censorship campaign. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure it's a problem with Blogger, so we'll just have to wait for them to fix it. Don't give up!

Kirsten

The Terror of the Toilet

If you ever have the chance to travel to Japan (or if you're lucky enough to live there), you would be wise to avoid the third bathroom stall on the third floor of any school building you visit.

That particular stall is said to be haunted by a ghost with bobbed hair and a red skirt. Known as Toire no Hanako-san (“Hanako of the toilet”), she's the spirit of a girl who met a tragic end at the hands of a demented adult.

If you're in a bit of a spot, and the stall in question is your only option, knock three times to see if Hanako-san answers. If she does, DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR, unless you fancy being pulled into the toilet and joining the ghost girl in her foul-smelling grave.

(The information above comes from Pink Tentacle, which should really publish a travel guide.)

The Metropolitan Etiquette Authority

Jayshells, you are my favorite person of the week. The artist has created a new "Subway Etiquette" campaign designed to address passengers' most common complaints--about other passengers. Posters will soon be up in trains throughout the city.

Believe it or not, nail clipping (as mentioned above) is a fairly common sight on New York City public transportation. And there's always some dude with a finger up his nose. Come on, people!

There Must Be a Logical Explanation, Right?

Okay, here’s the story. A teenager in Croatia wakes up from a 24-hour coma. Doctors soon discover that she’s lost the ability to speak Croatian. She does, however, speak perfect German.

According to the girl’s parents, she’d been studying German (an incredibly difficult language to learn) but was by no means fluent. (This all reminds me of another story I heard several years ago.)

Interesting, right? But the most fascinating thing about this article in the Telegraph was the following quote from psychiatrist Mijo Milas:

There are references to cases where people who have been seriously ill and perhaps in a coma have woken up being able to speak other languages – sometimes even the Biblical languages such as that spoken in old Babylon or Egypt . . .

Wow. I’m sure there could be a logical explanation. But maybe, just maybe . . .

There's a Really Good Story Here . . .

A reader came across this sign while visiting Charlotte, North Carolina. A hot dog eating alligator. Love it! Thanks, C!

Kiki Strike is the Latest Pick for Al Roker's Book Club!

(Above: How can you not love this man? He has such excellent taste in books!)

It was just announced. Kiki Strike is the next selection on Al's Book Club for Kids. Which means yours truly will be on the Today show in May. Which means I get to meet Al Roker. Oh the joy! Oh the happiness!

I'll keep you all up to date!

Manhattan's Underground Cow Tunnels (of Death)

(Above: Art by Kaisu Koivisto)

More evidence of New York's vast underground world has recently come to light! According to experts, numerous tunnels were constructed here in the 19th century after the city made it illegal to herd cattle through the streets. The underground passages made it possible for cows to be driven from farms north of the city to slaughter houses in lower Manhattan without blocking street traffic.

Over time, the tunnels fell out of use, but GUESS WHAT! They may still be there!

The website Gothamist quotes an article written by author Brian Wiprud in 1997. Wiprud describes:

. . . watching a crew install a drainage basin on Greenwich Street when they came upon a wall of wood about ten feet down. A laborer went into the hole with a torch and came out saying it was an oak-vaulted tunnel ten feet wide by eight feet high that trailed off an undetermined distance in either direction. It was then that an old man from the neighborhood stepped up to the trench and said, 'Why, I see you found the cattle tunnel.'

So where are the tunnels? Gothamist thinks it's discovered the location of two of them.

[An official] document lists two historical underground cattle passages from the 1870s that are listed as still being in existence, one at West 34th Street and another at West 38th Street, both along 12th Avenue.

Awesome! Now let's go find them!

Sold: Unicorns, Yetis, and Flying Kittens

The Brading Experience, an unusual museum on England's Isle of Wight, recently closed for good, and the contents of the building were auctioned off yesterday. Which means that anyone in the market for a yeti or a flying kitten should have been in the UK. (Darn!)

According to legend, the unusual beasts were collected by a mysterious Professor Copperthwaite who traveled the world in the 19th century, searching for curious creatures. (My ideal job!)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Mother Nature Is One Cool Lady

(Photo by mdid. Looks good to me!)

Lightening makes mushrooms multiply.

The South American jabuticaba tree grows fruit on its trunk.

Looks like a strawberry, tastes like a pineapple.

Fifteen fingers, sixteen toes. If this kid doesn't grow up to be a superhero, I'll be really disappointed.

The mystery monkey of Tampa Bay.

The five-centimeter high ghost orchid is Britain's rarest flower.

The Little Mermaid Deboned

A statue of Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid (below) has long been one of the biggest tourist attractions in Copenhagen, Denmark. But for the next six months, she'll be visiting China, and her rock will be empty for the first time in almost a century.

So on April Fool's Day, some crafty pranksters decided to fill the void. Tourists who came looking for the Little Mermaid instead found her skeleton. I wish I could have seen their faces.

More here.

There's a Lesson Here Somewhere . . .

When nineteen-year-old Kevin O. went shopping for an animal companion, he refused to settle for the usual pets. No puppies or hamsters or capybaras for Kevin. Oh no. He needed a cobra.

He brought his cobra home earlier this month and placed it in a special terrarium. When Kevin returned to see how his snake was settling in, he found the terrarium . . . EMPTY.

Now the snake in question is quite venomous, perhaps even deadly. And Kevin lives in an apartment building with two other families. The authorities were called, and a massive snake hunt began. Floors were ripped up and walls were demolished. (See below. And see more pictures here.) The search lasted a week and cost more than $50,000, but the snake was never found.

So what happens now? Everyone in the building has been forced to leave. The house will be sealed off for eight weeks, which is as long as experts figure the snake might survive.

If I were Kevin, I don't think I'd go back. The cobra might be dead, but I have a feeling the neighbors are now far more dangerous than the snake ever was.

Happy April Fools Day, Everyone!

(Above: From the new Charles Addams exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York. I'm DYING to see it!)

Any good pranks to share?

So You Pull Up the Submersible Robot You've Sent to Survey the Ocean Floor

And you find THIS attached to it . . .







Apparently they're considered a delicacy in Taiwan.

Things Adults Would Already Know If They'd Bother to Read Kiki Strike

(Above: The nicest ladies in the world.)

A recent study published in Psychological Science offers evidence that clean, pleasant smells can make you a better person. According to the Boston Globe, "The authors even suggested that clean smells could be employed as a tool to influence how people act." Oh really? You don't say!

The article is pretty interesting (if long). Here are a few of the highlights . . .

People playing a trust game in a citrus-smelling room treated their opponents more fairly.

The smell of some cleansers made people more likely to volunteer for a charity.

People walking through a mall were more likely to help fellow shoppers (by retrieving dropped items) if the smells of cinnamon buns and coffee were in the air.

A French study showed that people were more likely to help a female stranger if she was wearing perfume. (And even more likely to help if she was wearing Fille Fiable.)

The moral of this story? Take a bath every day. (And add a small bottle of fragrance to your spy-girl toolbox!)

Big News!

As you may recall, a while back I posted three potential covers for my new book, The Eternal Ones. Over one hundred of you wrote in to vote for a favorite. Well, here's the final cover! (Sitting on my cluttered desk.) I love it! What do you think?

Now my amazing publisher, Razorbill, has done something so unbelievably cool that I can barely contain myself. They've had ouroboros rings made!!!! I just wish my photos did them justice. Their little red eyes sparkle with evil.







Razorbill has even put together a video that brings the snake to life. It's things like this that make sitting in front of a computer all day worthwhile. And there's so much more to come!




One more thing before I go. My Significant Objects dome doll (scroll down to see it) sold for $35 on ebay. Woohoo! Thanks for bidding!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Pictures by Magdelena Bors. (They remind me of St. Patrick's Day for some reason. And they're awesome.)

Significant Objects

Significant Objects is a fascinating project that asks writers to pen "descriptions" of objects that are later sold on ebay. The proceeds go to charity, and the list of writers who've contributed is pretty amazing.

I was asked to contribute, and my "item" (the world's creepiest dome doll) went on sale earlier this week. Check it out! (And make sure you check out the other items on the Significant Objects site as well.)

The Earthquake Fish

Don't believe in sea monsters? Then you've never seen an oarfish. (Shown below and possibly above.) These long, silver, serpent-like fish can reach up to 56 feet in length, and they have a bright red dorsal fin that runs the entire length of their bodies.

Oarfish live in deep water and are seldom seen by humans. Which is why the Japanese are a little worried that nineteen of them have recently washed ashore. What's going on in the ocean's murky depths that might be sending them to the surface? Watch this video and find out.

(Thanks to an AD reader for the tip!!)

Ahh, The Glories of Nature

The Nepenthes rajah (shown above) is the largest carnivorous plant in the world. Its trap can hold up to two liters of water. Or your average tree shrew. Which is why most botanists assumed that the N. rajah ate tree shrews. (Pitcher plants usually lure unsuspecting insects or small mammals into their traps, where the creatures are slowly digested.)

But this plant has no interest in eating the shrews themselves. And the fact that it's shaped like a miniature toilet is no accident. As the photo below shows, the N. rajah and Borneo's tree shrews have a very special relationship.

That relationship was summed up by the BBC in a headline that deserves an award of some sort. Check it out here.




P.S. Those interested in carnivorous plants should definitely check out the photos here and here!

The Bleeding Iceberg

Eww. Read the true story behind Antarctica's Blood Falls here.

Congrats . . .

. . . Lucy & Claudia on your 7th friend anniversary!

New York Just Got a Little Less Scruffy

Artist Jan Vormann recently visited New York and decided to fix up the place. He and his crew of random kids and passersby filled the city's cracks, crevasses, and assorted holes with Legos. (See more pics here.

Thanks, Jan. You're welcome back any time.

Blackie the Mutant NINJA Penguin

(Photo by Andrew Evans.)

That is all.

I'm Baaaack

(Above: File under old but amusing.)

Hello everyone! I'm just back from some book business that took me all the way across the country. I had a great time, and I even managed to fit in some "real" work. By that I mean underground explorations of course!

I finally had the chance to see Seattle's own underground city up-close. I highly recommend Bill Speidel's Underground Tour. The tour guide was hilarious, the underground world was fascinating, and there were many mentions of exploding toilets (not sure if the one below ever exploded).




So now that the contest has a winner and my work is over, it's time to get back to some weirdness. Look out for some tomorrow!

(P.S.: The judges of the 1000 Contest were the judges of all the other contests!)

(P.P.S.: The t-shirt entry I'd like to have made into a shirt is below. I love it because only the "Irregulars" out there would know what it means!)

And Even More AWESOME Entries!!!!

And a few great ideas that didn't come with a visual . . .

IDEA #1
Gold lettering on a black shirt: WELCOME TO THE SHADOW CITY!! Warning please beware of delinquent girl scouts deaf rats and butt kicking super spies!
The warning part would be in red lettering on black.

IDEA #2:
Super bold print: WATCH OUT I'M DANGEROUS!!!! (In gold lettering.)

IDEA #3:
Do You Believe In Ghosts?



On the back of this shirt, it reads: "You have to be able to kick butt when you're short.

(Sorry it took me so long to scan it, AB!)