a fellow by the name of heinz insu fenkl has put together a nice illustrated essay delving into the history of some sexy beasts, namely- mermaids, sirens, etc. interesting. what i especially like is that the whole thing was touched off by an overheard argument in a starbucks about the companies logo. he gets into the desexualization and history of that particular ubiquitous trademark and along the way makes mention of sheila-na-gigs, aphrodite, delphine, disney’s ariel, jesus, the virgin mary, the film she creature, joseph campbell, and the relative late bloom of patriarchies among many other things. (via plasticbag) the site which hosts this essay has many interesting non-fiction goodies in their reading room actually, all devoted to the “mythic.” very nice.