Wednesday is... mystical

Christina: What a wonderful trip! I love your photos.

Cassie: Good list. I read Hunger Games the other day--amazing, as I expected it to be. I don't know why/how it took me so long to read it! Far overdue.

And now, my Top Ten List! Honestly, in no particular order, the best Mystical Creatures:

10: Ghosts. They're all over the place, in gazillions of different cultures. They're evil, good-natured, vengeful, and leftovers of real, live human beings. And, from my very well-researched (read: completely un-researched) point of view, one of the most commonly encountered mystical creatures.

9. Angels. Probably almost as widely spread as ghosts, angels have lots of purposes. They can be our sources of guidance and enlightenment, or they can bring news of the Immaculate Birth of Yonder Messiah. Any way you spin it, angels are all over the place and very important to those who believe in them.

8. Demons. Right on par with angels in terms of belief and import, demons can be torturous or indwelling. They are the attributed cause for many a possession in cultures all over the world.

7. Chthulu. I don't really know anything about chthulu, but I do know that its/his name has the same first four letters as the word "chthonic," which is pronounced in ignorance of the first "ch" and means "of or pertaining to the underworld." So Chthulu is pretty cool in my book.

6. Unicorns. The animal Noah left behind. Horses with horns. Awesome.

5. Vampires. The sparkly ones don't count. Reference: Underworld, other reputable vampire movies.

4. Werewolves. Jacob doesn't count. Reference: Underworld, other reputable werewolf movies.

3. Fairies. Tiny little mythical beings. Reference: Pan's Labyrinth, other reputable fairy movies.

2. Perfect Mates. They simply don't exist. You can have someone just perfect for you, as I'm pretty sure I do, but no one human being is perfect. It simply does not happen. If you want a perfect significant other, try pursuing Chthulu. More tentacles, less imperfection. Or something.

1. Dragons. I was raised on dragons, in the late Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series. In this series especially, they're awesome: they bond to one human exclusively, forming a lifelong telepathic bond and teaming up to fight the forces of evil (embodied here as Thread, burning evil that falls from the sky and must be burned to be vanquished).

So that's my Top Ten List. As I write it, I have had one (read: more than one) beer, so it may be just a little bit silly and more than a little bit underthought. But I enjoyed it, and I hope you do too!

Happy last few weeks, all! I'll miss you!