The Queen of Pinups Gets a Little Help From the Goddess of Love and Sex
The Woman
Bettie Page, coming of age during The Great Depression, is determined to escape poverty and live a life of adventure.
The Goddess
Aphrodite, watching the U.S. from Mt. Olympus, decides to help the nation fling off its Puritanism by bringing them the gift of sexual freedom.
Working Together
The goddess spies Bettie Page, a beautiful, restless young woman with “girl next door” charm and big dreams of independence. Following the rules set down by Zeus, Aphrodite inhabits Bettie to help them achieve their…
From the moment I saw them as a kid while visiting my great aunt, I loved the mid-century modern homes in Palm Springs. I loved them long before I knew the term “Mid Mod” or Modernism.
As an adult, it can feel intimidating to explore architecture because it seems like everyone knows more than you. This is especially true about something hip like Modernism.
Luckily, the folks on the Palm Springs Modern Committee, in collaboration with Palm Springs Life magazine, designed an app to help. It is called Palm Springs Modern: Mid-Century Architecture Tours. …
Once upon a time, in Hawaii, there lived an overworked wife named Hina. Her children, which had filled her with such hope, had left. Her son traveled in his canoe from island to island robbing people. Her daughter, whom she had thought would give her comfort and help in her old age, had run off into the forest to live with the wild people.
Her husband did nothing but lay about, gamble and yell at her for her laziness. Hina felt unloved and unappreciated.
Despite this, Hina was a hard worker. Every day, she would strip the inner bark from…
Oysters have been popular from early history through the present. Food oysters are different species than the types that make pearls. One of oysters’ most famous characteristics is that they are aphrodisiacs. How did oysters earn that reputation and how much truth is there to it?
“I love oysters. It is like kissing the sea on the lips.”
-Leon-Paul Fargue, French Poet
The Greeks believed that the semen was white because it was made of foam. Semen was similar to the salty foam of the ocean. Aphrodite translates as “foam borne.” She has a risque creation story.
Cronos, Zeus’ father…
Rockabilly is all about the music and it has its own unique culture. This article will explore Rockabilly music, from its beginnings at Sun Records to today. Subsequent articles will explore other aspects of the Rockabilly culture including pinups, burlesque, vintage clothing, and classic cars.
I first learned about Rockabilly when I started looking for swing dance opportunities. At Viva las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender, I discovered 1950s pinup Bettie Page. I fell in love with her and her sexy spirit and wrote my novel Bettie Page: Aphrodite Rising.
Sun Records is considered the birthplace of the Rockabilly sound. It was…
President Biden’s Inaugural Address on January 20, 2021, set a new tone for American’s future and gave us a reason to hope.
As an English teacher, I was listening to President Biden’s speech for references and allusions to other works of literature and was not disappointed. This article dives into the history of a few of his phrases to help the listener appreciate his speech at a deeper level. I recommend that teachers share the speech with their students as a great example of speech writing and the use of allusions and references to American Literature.
“A cry of racial…
Rob stood at the bar trying not to feel insecure. This wasn’t his scene. He was good looking enough–brown hair, stubble beard, fit body–but he didn’t have that ephemeral “it” that made women want him. He’d had girlfriends but, the chemistry had never been strong enough to make things last. He was at this trendy bar with his buddy Mitch, who had shamed him into coming.
“Come on Dude, you can’t honestly want to sit home another night? You’re turning into an old man in your thirties.”
“All right, but we know how this will end. The girls will swarm…
In the U.S., we don’t think much about magical mistletoe. We hear about it in songs and want to stand under it with an attractive partner. But, this parasitic plant has a rich mythological history in Europe, as well as a fascinating natural history in science.
Mistletoe is challenging to find in Southern California. From my research, I knew it liked oak trees. So we drove to Garner Valley, which lies on Highway 74, connecting Palm Desert to Idyllwild. We got past the pines and discovered oaks on some backroads. …
Whether they are a scientist, teacher, or just have a love of learning, here are 10 titles that are perfect for the science lover on your list.
It is easy to think of your teen as uniquely frustrating, but it turns out that all adolescents, both animals and humans, go through similar phases on their journey from childhood to adulthood. As a middle school teacher, and parent of two kids just out of their wildhood, I found this book intriguing. Behaviors that troubled me, like risk-taking and an over dependence on peer opinion, suddenly became a normal biological part of…
A photo shoot with a professional photographer is the perfect pinup Xmas present. Initially you might think this is only a gift for a man to give his lover, but a pinup photo shoot is empowering. Women can buy it for their sisters, friends, or themselves. Two hours to feel beautiful and be the center of attention, with the result of pictures to cherish.
I bought a photo shoot for myself in October because I needed some professional images for my book Bettie Page: Aphrodite Rising. Since Bettie Page was the queen of the 1950s pinups, I knew that was…
Kimberly is a writer, teacher, speaker. She writes about mythology, nature, and bold women who drove social change in midcentury America https://kimberlyus.com/