Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey was on my TBR list for a while. Childhood abuse and a haunted house? Count me in! (I'm s sicko like that.) This book has taken me a few days to process. It shows you that monsters come in many forms, but overall it's a love story. Yes, you heard that right. Let me explain...

It follows Vera, the daughter of a dead serial killer. She has a troubled relationship with her dying mother, but comes back to her childhood home to care for her. The story is a slow burn that's told by jumping back and forth between present day and when she discovers her dad was a killer. It's a bit coming of age story, combined with drama, and the supernatural.

Without giving too much away, it's well written, although a bit repetitive at points. The toxic mother daughter relationship is accurate. (Ask me how I know?) It sets an overall mood of being claustrophobic, stifling, and repressive. About the last 1/4 of the book it picks up and because it's so abstract, it's absurd....and this is the part I love. You come to find out that Vera and the house have always loved each other. That said, there are so many plot holes and loose ends...spoilers below...sort of...

What did happen to her father's journal? Did her mother always know about the monster in the house? Did Vera have the grease in her? Was Vera really naive at 13 to think there was grease in people and not blood because her father said so? Was there also sexual abuse? Did her father leave the peep hole for her to learn from? Did her father manifest the house monster when her built it? Is the monster her father? Why was the mother so emotionally abusive to Vera? Was it only caused by jealousy? Does Vera have a sexual attraction to the artist? So Vera tried to unlearn about the grease inside people, but never seeks help to understand what it meant? She loved her father so much, but never wanted to repair their relationship by visiting him in jail or reading his messages? Was the house leaving pieces of his journal around? Why does her mother want her father to kill, where does that come from? How did the blanket get into the shed? 

It was an interesting story. Amazing? Nah, but interesting.

 The Oddities and Curiosities Expo came back to Buffalo, this year for two days, and again I dragged Jodee Bowie with me. (You can read about my experience last year here.)

This year it seemed like there were fewer booths compared to last year, and fewer attendees, but that could be because it was broken into two days instead of just one. I went on Sunday. There was a ton of taxidermy and wet specimens ~ if you're into that sort of thing. I mainly went looking for "Evil Eye" jewelry. After reading The Evil Eye: The History, Mystery, and Magic of the Quiet Curse by Pagliarulo, I've become obsessed. (You can read my full review of the book in the upcoming Auxiliary Magazine issue for Fall/ Winter 2023.) 

I'm surprised they didn't have much in the way of Evil Eyes, but I did find a necklace I fell in love with! This is from Misty Bondy, who I remember being at the Oddities show last year, but her booth was so crowded I think I just walked on by. I'm so glad I stopped. She not only designs her jewelry, but makes original art work too! 

I had to visit Smell of Fear candles. She's a local gal that has worked with Grady Hendrix (he wrote a few books that I have reviewed) and she's also a customer at my shop Cats Like Us! I picked up this candle because I love the smell of old lady....I mean lavender. 

Next, I stumbled into the booth of lynne&lucille where I couldn't resist the simplicity of these modern looking earrings made from autopsy needles. She has jewelry made from bones and drum cymbals too. Even cool skull choker necklaces.  A truly unique addition to the Oddities show!

I was excited to see that Morose & Macabre were back! They have some of my favorite loose tea, so I grabbed more of the Amityville, and I liked the smell of Widow Black (even though I'm still trying to quit caffeine.)

Overall, it was a good show again and I saw a bunch of friends. Here's a picture that someone took for Jodee and I. I'm wearing these wonderfully comfortable swishy cargo/ harem pants that everyone hates except me. lol. And it's super off kilter, just like we are. 

Thanks again for reading!

Carnivals and amusement parks have always fascinated me, and it's because of their duality. A carnival during the day is bright and cheerful, filled with kids, but at night it's lit up for the adults, and can often be dark and seedy with beer tents, and in the olden days - "cooch shows". Freaks, geeks, and fortune tellers were just a small part of the sordid goings-on. I've watched Carnivale, Freaks, Nightmare Alley, and read Geek Love by Katherine Dunn (btw it is super f*cked up. It's one of the few books I own, AND have read at least twice. What can I say? I like f'ed up stories.)

There are giant amusement park rides filled with life - people, sights, sounds, and smells in their heyday, compared to empty amusement parks left to rot. i.e. one of the many is Chernobyl's Pripyat Amusement Park. I can watch urban explorer footage and pictures of abandoned amusement parks for hours. 

I've been to Cedar Point, Six Flags, the Erie County Fair, Universal Studios, but the king is Walt Disney World. It's a place created to be "the happiest place on earth" and it truly is a world in itself, with a huge amount of staff scrambling to make every visitor's experience perfect. They work in underground tunnels, running everything as smoothly as possible, like the "haves" above ground and "have-nots" below. This brings me to my book review of The Getaway by Lamar Giles. He's known for kids and young adult books but has written some thrillers too, and I'd categorize The Getaway under horror.

***Mostly spoiler free review***

It's the story of a place in the not too distant future similar to Disney called Karloff Country. Although it's even more excessive with its own energy grid, food production, and community. It's located in Virginia, since global warming has destroyed the coastlines. The book follows four high school students that live on the premises. Their lifestyle feels safe for a few years until it's not. Outside the walls of their sheltered commune, are food shortages causing riots, capital uprisings and more. Karloff Country goes into lockdown. The elite trustees are the ones trying to make Karloff their perfect refuge to hide from the chaos in the outside world. They move in to their mansions on the grounds, furthering the great divide of the rich people with abundance, and those living without food outside. The creator of the amusement park wanted the apocalypse to happen, so he could start fresh and make everything "better" only it devolves into chaos and spins out of control.

I couldn't put this book down. Just when you think the most horrific thing happens, there's more! It's written perfectly with short chapters, and some are titled after the characters indicating that they are the voice of those chapters to give you a well-rounded and clear perspective of the narrative. The characters are relatable and likeable. Giles writes black teenagers with expertise. Between chapters are snippets of marketing and ads for Karloff Country to give the story context and history. This book is timely, jarring, and there's even a reference to The Lost Boys, how could I not love this book? 

If you like Jordan Peele and his movie Get Out, you'll like this. It has a similar vibe and I can't recommend it enough.

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez has mixed reviews, but I recommend it. It's a true gory horror novel, and covers a lot of ground while weaving together an epic story that spans generations. It's about a family that's part of a maniacal, sadistic supernatural order in Argentina in the 1960s through 1990s. Members want to reform the hierarchy of the cult and make it less abusive. The cult part of the story is almost a backdrop to the characters because the members are still trying to learn about what the dark god they worship wants, and how to get it to grant eternal life. 

The political aspect can't be ignored, or the social divide. The rich cult members are the embodiment of evil. There are elements of folk horror, haunted houses, human sacrifices, ghosts, but also harsh disturbing real things that people do to maintain power. Trigger warning there's rape and suicide mentioned, amputations, and A LOT of child abuse.

I wasn't sure how this book would read since it was translated, but you can't even tell! It's a thick book at almost 600pgs but the sections are short, and each chapter is the voice of a different character, which I love. You can see how they start out and why they develop into who they become. 

p.s. I miss all of you, I just haven't had time to blog, but this book had to be shared! My business takes a lot out of me. Thank you for understanding, and you can always follow my fb page, where I post stupid memes. lol. Fluffy the Vampire Slayer

 I was recommended Mary: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy because I loved Bunny. I can say it does not disappoint! Deeper review below without spoilers...

Good books tend to cover themes relevant to society, and Mary is a true horror in every sense. It covers menopause..dun. dun. dun. No really, it's about a woman named Mary who is quiet, keeps to herself, has forgotten much of her childhood, and is experiencing the symptoms of menopause...mixed with other strange signs. So if you have ever been to a doctor, and they brush off your concerns as just part of menopause, you know the rage Mary feels. She's ignored and dismissed, but is she really? Maybe I just really connect with this book because I can relate. 

BUT that's not all! There is a trigger warning at the beginning of the book written by Cassidy to let us know what we are in for. There's a little something for everyone... animal mutilation, implied sexual abuse, verbal abuse, mental illness, misogyny, bullying, reincarnation, ghosts, a cult, and lots and lots of blood. I should mention that this book was written by a man. I know! Furthermore, I was shocked! He wrote an Afterword explaining why he wrote it, and I'm glad he created Mary. I finally feel acknowledged as an older woman. (Yes, I'm old, believe it or not.) It's his debut novel and was voted one of the best horror books of 2022. There's a movie in development too.

Mary's internal dialog is intense, realistic, funny, and a bit American Psycho. There's some Wicker Man vibes too. I loved it, and it's easily one of my favorite books now. Each chapter ends with an "Oh shit!" moment, and will have you going through a roller coaster of emotions, or ....maybe that's just my menopause talking. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Cult Classic was recommended to me, and after reading the plot I was excited to dig in, because cults am I right?! But I'm afraid it was just ok. Or maybe I'm too old to read it? It's Sloane Crosley's first novel and the quality of writing is wonderful, with dry wit and real poignant observations about relationships, BUT Lola, the main character, is annoying and unlikable. She has a string of ex-boyfriends that she keeps running into on the streets of New York City. Oddly, she finds out it's not fate, but that she's the key experiment in her friend's new cult. It makes sense since she seems to think the world revolves around her. Well, it's sort of a cult? But more like a new age organization that thinks they can "will" encounters to happen? It's sort of unclear.

Since Lola is now engaged, she is told by the cult she's seeking closure with her exes. It makes her question her relationship with her fiancé. Is he just convenient? Her inner dialog goes on for sometimes three pages, and as a reader I found myself drifting off into my own thoughts. I was unable to sympathize with her. She doesn't really like her friends, and everyone seems emotionally distant and superficial. Honestly, there's no one in the book I would root for. (Pro tip: Life is too short to be friends with people you don't like.)

In the end, we find out that all of her lovers reappearing is a ploy by her fiancé ~ with the help of the cult ~ to see if she really loves him. He tested her instead of asking her about her exes. I once had a teacher say the key to a good relationship is communication. What do the youngins say? This could have been an email? Well, this could have been a simple conversation between two adults instead of a book about boring ex-boyfriends. Lol.

Witch history throughout countries and cities, how can this book be bad? Well I'm not going to lie, I had a hard time reading it and almost didn't finish it, and it's not because of the subject matter...

I was excited to dig into Witch Hunt A Traveler's Guide to the Power & Persecution of the Witch by Kristen J Sollee, after all it was recommended by Pam Grossman, who I love. I've reviewed Sollee's books before, and again the same problem cropped up in this one...SHE NEEDS PICTURES, or at the very least a map! 

Each chapter of the book is named after the cities she visited, all of them with a history of witch persecutions, most of them European. It comes off as more of her personal travel diary, filled in with quotes from scholarly books on witch history or feminism. She constantly reminds the reader of the juxtaposition of contemporary life she's surrounded by vs. what a sacred place she's in. Let's not forget how many times she tells the reader she's already been to Europe. We get it, you're a second generation witch and educator, you have experience with witches, no need to remind us in almost every chapter. I found it pretentious. To the uninitiated, her witch history would get lost, not enough explanations of the persecution of witches, who they were, the power they held, and the consequences. Did I mention it's also filled in with overly descriptive romantic narration and descriptions of "visions" she has of the past? I rolled my eyes. It's hard to read when you're rolling your eyes. 

It would have been better with a map to highlight the locations she traveled to. She writes about snapping photos, it would have been nice to see them, or even pictures of what she's talking about. There is a reference at the back of the book of places to note, museums, shops, and memorials etc. and a bibliography of all the books she references. It stills feels like it's lacking. I'd say stick to her other books and pass on this one unless you are planning a trip to Europe and want to find witchy locations, then use the Travel Resource section at the back.

Thank you for continuing to follow me, so far it's been 6 years 💗 I don't write as much as when I started, but that doesn't mean I'm not still passionate about cats and horror! Enter to win my 6 year prize pack, description and rules below...

Prizes include:

1. Vincent Price Art Print by Little Shop of Gore, framed.

2. Acrylic Bat Necklace by Murderous Jewels.

3. The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay, hardcover.

4. Bat Bag by GoreJess Laboratory.

5. Silver Cat Earrings.

6. Bookmark to go with all your books from Little Black Bats.

7. An English Ghost Story by Kim Newman.

8. 25th Anniversary Edition of Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman.

9. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

~ Like the Fluffy the Vampire Slayer Facebook Page.

~ Comment on the Giveaway post pinned to the top, why you follow Fluffy the Vampire Slayer.

~ Share the Fluffy the Vampire Slayer Facebook page.

Good luck, and I'll be picking a winner at random on 

Wednesday, February 15 and they'll be contacted via Facebook. *Sorry only US residents.

If you've followed my blog, you know I'm a fan of Grady Hendrix's writing. I reviewed The Southern Book Club Guide to Slaying Vampires: A Novel and My Best Friends Exorcism (now a movie, that I heard was terrible, but I'll probably watch it anyway), now it's time to review The Final Girl Support Group: A Novel. Of the three novels, I liked this one the best!

***SPOILER WARNING...SORT OF***

The book tells the story of six "final girls", or women who live to tell the tale of confronting their slasher, that meet once a month in a support group. They've been together longer than ten years and each one has a different traumatizing experience. If you know horror movies, you'll relate their killers to 1970s and 1980s classic horror movies that we all know and love. The support group meets with a therapist, and in turn the therapist has used their sessions to author best-selling books. They each have processed their past differently, from one lady that has moved on and feels they are living in the past, to one that feels like the group is her only connection to people and the outside world. In any case, the final girls have a bond that no one else does, and without them realizing it, they have become a family.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again. I'm impressed at how Hendrix writes female characters. Their personalities greatly vary, but their interactions are wholly realistic and relatable.

The book is told from the voice of one of the final girls, Lynette. We see her living as a victim, paranoid and scared. One day, a member of the support group doesn't show up because she's been murdered. Now Lynette needs to find out who the killer is, and so does the reader! In gathering information, you peel away Lynette's story, and watch it slowly unravel. The heroines are flawed survivors, which makes the reader sympathetic to their experiences and eager to find out more. 

I won't tell you who did it, but it's a surprise, and just when you think you know, you don't! It's a thriller and as a reader you will feel like you have inside knowledge of a horror and gore slasher movie. Again, this book is also a reflection of society's obsession with serial killers and slasher movies and how much some people idolize them. That's a whole different kind of horror.

While I've never thought of myself as a “final girl”, there are days when I feel like it's me alone against the world, and I'm ready to do battle! The ladies in this book have a fighting spirit that makes them go on fighting when others would give up. They inspire me not to give up. They have battled, and won more than once. This book wraps up nicely, and I wanted to read it before next week, when Hendrix's next book How to Sell a Haunted House is released.

 

I'll admit, I read The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay and was angry afterward. Let me explain. The book starts off with two compelling characters – Art and Mercy. They are drawn together outcasts that become good friends through their volunteer work at a funeral parlor. He's in high school, and she's in college. She shapes his life by introducing him to punk music and drugs. Meanwhile, he copes with health problems and later self-medicates with alcohol and pain meds.

After Art passes away, he leaves a manuscript of a memoir behind for Mercy to read that details their encounters over the years. He feels that she's a type of vampire that lives off of stealing one's health. He doesn't have solid proof, and the convoluted way the "vampire" is described is hard to picture. Is it a blue blob? Is it tentacles reaching for someone? Is it a jacket come to life? I don't know, even after finishing the book!

Mercy edits Art's manuscript, gaslighting the reader into believing that Art is a drugged up musician and unreliable storyteller. She makes sure to let the reader know it's not a "memoir" but a "novel" because the way he remembered things is wrong.

By the middle of the book, I was reading it just to figure out what was going on, who was telling the truth, but you don't get that satisfaction. While I enjoyed the way it was written, with gen X references, editing notes for the reader, and could relate it to some friendships I've had over the years, the story fell flat for me at the end. I still don't know who's story was true and if the ending was just written to give Art's book closure. The Pallbearers Club was ok and an easy read, but not what I had hoped.

If I had thought about it when I went this past weekend, I would have taken more photos! I was excited to attend the Buffalo Oddities & Curiosities Expo. It's been canceled for the past two years due to covid. Now, although many of the businesses I follow online were not in attendance, I did come home with a few goodies.

Coffin Nail Necklace from Mockingbird Lane Artistries. It's been on my list for a while to get one.

If you know me, you know I'm a sucker for tea. I picked up some loose tea from Morose & Macabre, and it smells divine.

Lastly, I bought these raccoon knuckle bone earring from Feral Grandmother Artistry. While not on my list of things to purchase, I liked how tiny and delicate the bones are. The owner was really sweet too.

I saw many of my customers and friends there, and heard mixed reviews of the event overall. Personally, I'm not into wet specimens or taxidermy (I know ~ the shame), but there was enough there to be interesting. I thought it was a little weird they had booths that just had vintage stuff ~ not necessarily "odd". For example, a booth had old 1980s toys and another was selling vintage Playboys. Not that odd in my book. My guess is that this is the first time they are doing this expo, so they needed spaces to fill. I thought it was worth it to go, even if it was just to be among other weirdos.

Me & my friend Jodee Bowie.

Thanks for reading! My blogging has slowed down, but it's because I've been writing movie reviews for Auxiliary Magazine, prepping my kitchen for a full remodel that's been almost 20 years in the making (I'll post before and afters when it's done), and taking care of elderly Vicktor. 

Being a business owner, I have to plan. I meal plan, I plan what I wear each day the night before, and I plan vacations. Andrew (my hubs) and I try to take at least a small road trip each year ~ even if it's just for a change of scenery. That means it's usually on a Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday when my shop Cats Like Us isn't open, so our getaway doesn't interfere with shop hours. Let me tell you, I had our Cleveland, Ohio trip planned a few months in advance. It did not go as planned, as the universe was working against us. We still managed to include some fun things, but it wasn't what I had hoped.

A few days before we were set to leave, I was double-checking the hours of everywhere on our list. One day of our trip was going to be dedicated to visit the Feline Historical Museum. It's a museum created by the Cat Fancier's Association outside of Akron, Ohio that's dedicated to the preservation of the history of cats in all art forms and types of pedigrees. Well it said on their website they were closed until further notice! I contacted them and one of the persons that runs the museum died, another was hospitalized. How awful. I was super bummed about this, but it's understandable. Needless to say, our trip plans changed two days before. 

Since our last trip to Cleveland in 2019, some new places have opened that we wanted to check out, so we were still determined to go on our road trip! The first stop was The Haunted House Restaurant for Sunday brunch. It's on a corner and when you check in at the movie counter there are large murals in the waiting area. Inside they have at least three TVs playing different horror movies, movie props, and lots of windows, booths, tables, and a nice bar. I ordered the lobster BLT and it was heavenly. (Yes, I ordered the most expensive thing on the menu! I'm on vacation dammit!) Paired with The Ring cocktail, it was the perfect combo. Andrew went with some a la carte breakfast items. They played 80s party music, and announced a birthday and an anniversary while we were there, but beware when the horror soundtrack starts! You might end up with an extra lunch guest! 

Andrew made a friend! (He's wearing the exclusive to Cats Like Us Monster Matt T Shirt.)

Next up we visited Suite Lorain. It's a go-to when we are in Cleveland for vintage, but it's very crowded. Not with people, but with merchandise, and this time around they were very strict with the Covid mask mandate. I was talking to Andrew with my mask on, alone in a corner of the shop, and was told that it was moving and needed to cover my nose better. Which is ironic since the shop itself is a bit messy, dusty, stuffed to the brim, and a little hard to shop because of the overcrowding. You could easily remove half of what's in it, and it would still be full. As a store owner myself, I just want to sort and organize it. If you do go there, go on a mission or be prepared to dig through piles. They do have everything, but you have to take the time to find it yourself.

Another new (to us) place we visited was Cleveland Curiosities. It was recommended by our friend Jay of Wooden Ts (He printed our Monster Matt T shirts.) The small and friendly shop was bustling with customers when we were there. It had oddities and taxidermy for sale, some of it quite large! I would recommend a visit. If you can't make it there, we have a local shop next to Cats  Like Us in Tonawanda, NY called Black Sheep Market that carries similar items, but has more small gifty items, less taxidermy, and a strong sense of humor!

After shopping and driving around, we worked up an appetite and planned to grab a drink at The Dark Room Bar. They have a list of horror movie themed drinks and seemed like a good fit for our trip... only...when we pulled up...they looked closed. It seems they had a fire. Strike two. Two places we had planned to go to that were closed. I swear I checked two days ago, and they had hours listed.

So what were we to do? We googled nearby restaurants and ended up at the Creekside Restaurant and Bar. We chose it because it sounded like an "old people place" that would have cocktails. It did not disappoint. Old people know where it's at! The food was delicious and service great. Good for people watching, lots of toupees, and golf style outfits. It's not surprising that as we left, there were tons of people waiting for a table. This ended up being a good choice.

We ate an early dinner, and were still pretty wired, so we decided to catch a movie. We saw Thor: Love and Thunder at the largest movie theater I have ever been in! You seriously had to walk up five flights of stairs to get to our seats in the middle of the theater. It was pretty cool. (Side note: I thought the movie was ok. It was much more of a goofy love story than a super hero flick.)

Now on to day two. (Sorry, this is a long blog post.) Our second go-to vintage shop is Flower Child. It's organized and two floors and we were really looking forward to checking it out only...as we were walking up to the door a sign was being added to the front door. Really?! You got to be f'n kidding me! Closed for maintenance. WTF. I JUST checked their hours. It looks like they made a post on their Facebook the afternoon before we went there saying they would be closed. Three strikes. Ok, I tried to maintain composure and stay positive. 

We were not going to drive to Columbus, Ohio to their other location.

On to our next stop then, The Buckland Museum of Witchcraft. I wrote about them before, and they deserve another write-up! I mainly wanted to go back to the gift shop there. This place has such a good vibe. It turned around our day. The owner was working again, and I overheard him chatting with some customers. Everything he said is exactly what I say when my customers ask certain questions. Being a business owner isn't easy. You don't get days off. (and even when you do, everything seems to be closed. lol.) The shop is small but has a nice selection of books both new and used, and not just on witchcraft, but all kinds of subjects, there's a large crystal and gemstone display, altar pieces, and so much more! 

"Attention Shoplifters: The Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick is protected by a 1000 year old curse. Don't test us."

I came home with three books, a magnet, glow in the dark T shirt, special blended positive tea, and tea leaf fortune cards. (Another side note...I took an online six week tea leaf reading course from The Tasseomancy Museum. That's another reason why I was M.I.A. for a little bit. I plan to take the advanced one in fall.)

I'm a fan of cemeteries. They are quiet, serene, and free. I don't get a chance to go to them very often. When we learned the Feline Historical Museum was going to be closed, we shifted gears and decided the Lake View Cemetery would be worth a visit. Yes, Eliot Ness and the James A. Garfield Memorial are there, but I really wanted to see the Haserot Angel aka "The Angel of Death Victorious"! It's a life size angel sculpture made of bronze and marble located under a tree canopy that appears to "cry" black tears holding a snuffed out torch to symbolize extinguished life. Haserot was the name of a canning mogul, and it's their tombstone. It's absolutely beautiful in real life and so metal! But really it's a stunning piece of artwork by Herman Matzen. You can walk around it to view the full piece. 

Here's me in the picture for scale. I'm 5'6". Some other notable tombstones...

Alan Freed. Cleveland disc jockey that coined the term "rock n' roll".

Eliot Ness. Public Safety Director for Cleveland that brought down Al Capone.

James A. Garfield Memorial. It has relief sculptures, stained glass windows, and a gold dome.

Rounding out the day, and since we had more time to kill (get it? we were in a cemetery?.... I apologize.) we had some time, and visited a park. Hung out on a park bench, and then visited with some tiki friends at their in home tiki bar. We met their four cats. It was so nice and relaxed, I forgot to take pictures.

Last day was the drive back. We drove by the Worlds Largest Stamp. Even though it's a park, there's no free place to park because it's so close to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. (I've been there already. It's a beautiful, HUGE museum. If you go, be prepared to do a lot of reading and spend the whole day.)

Image taken from website, since we didn't stop and park.

The last last place to mention is that I finally ate at a Waffle House. (There aren't any in New York State.) Andrew is a fan and really wanted to go there. I thought it was fine. The bacon was made to my liking...burnt, and I was excited they had cinnamon raisin toast. He had a pecan waffle. 

So I guess the moral of my trip story... No matter how much you plan things, they may not work out and you will need to be flexible. I need to relearn this. Before I owned a shop, I was pretty easy going and went with the flow. This trip taught me I need to be able to pivot. 

If you got this far, thanks for reading!