Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Snow Zombies, Sweatlodges, and ARCs

I'm belatedly answering a couple more of those questions last week. Hanna asked about snow zombies. It's funny, because I have standing plans with my friend Anny to make snow zombies, but it never happens. Mostly because my children would be afraid of them. But also because Anny will want to decapitate them once they're done, and then my neighbors will call the cops.

Speaking of flipping out the neighbors, over the weekend, I did a sweatlodge. You can think of it like a homemade sauna--you make a little structure out of willow, top it with blankets, crawl inside, fill it with hot rocks, and pour water on them until the steam sears your nostrils. And then you get out and roll around in the snow, which is freaking GREAT.

Of course, now that I've brought this up, I need to say that sweatlodges are totally awesome IF YOU FOLLOW SOME SIMPLE SAFETY GUIDELINES. A couple of years ago, there was an accident at a sweatlodge, and some people didn't make it out. So please, if my entry makes you interested in lodges, please make sure to find someone who is experienced with lodges and ASK THEM WHAT THEIR SAFETY GUIDELINES ARE.

Anyway, we did a lodge in a friend's backyard (safely, of course), and we were running around in 10 degree weather and half a foot of snow in shorts, t-shirts, and no shoes. Only for a minute going to and from the lodge, but I can just imagine what the neighbors must think.

Hello, tangent!

Kate asked about my ARCs, which is totally awesome of her. It's so hard to hold on to these ARCs, but my debut is still six months away! I'll probably start giving them away in a month or so--stay tuned to my blog and/or twitter to stay in the loop. Speaking of ARCs, if you have an established book review blog and are interested in receiving a copy, please drop me an email at carrie at carrieharrisbooks dot com. I'll add you to the list!

Oh, and Nushi-ke? I've watched Beetlejuice more times than I can count. It was one of the inspirations for BAD TASTE IN BOYS, you know. :)

5 comments:

Unknown said...

wow, I never heard of Sweatlodges but I'm not big on saunas either, I feel a little claustrophobic the couple of times I've been in there. Sounds like a lot of work. =/ Yay for ARCS!! =)

Laura Riken said...

Man I LOVED Beetlejuice! Used to watch it all the time. My little brother and I did a choreographed dance to the dinner party scene, butt air wiggle and all. I'm sure he'll love me for telling people that.

I would like to be greedy and ask for an ARC even though I've already read it! Muahahaha! But I will be a good fangirl and buy one (or seven) and then pester you to sign it (them) for me.

The snow sweatlodge thing sounds very confusing for your body. Were you tempted to get all heated up and jump into a huge snowdrift to leave a Carrie-body print?

Matthew MacNish said...

Technically a Sweat Lodge, or Medicine Lodge, is a highly spiritual Native American rite, which should be done naked and accompanied by Tobacco, Sweetgrass and Sage, but that doesn't mean you can't dumb it down a little just for fun. Next time you should try doing it near a frozen lake with a hole cut in the ice. It makes for a pretty awesome natural high.

Anonymous said...

yay ok atleast I know
becuse I do review books (thought I'm not as.."established" as most on here) I do have people look at my blog and a total of 5 watchers on my book review blog...
sorry rambling anyway
yay

Hanna Banana said...

Hee hee, decapitating snow zombies. My 12 yr old son and 10 yr old daughter kick the heads off of the snowmen they build. I think it's awesome but it makes me wonder what kind of things they will teach their children lol