THE LIST! - Handy Mer-Resource listings

Swimming Full Circle

I posted a question on Facebook, asking what it meant to be a mermaid. This heart-wrenching and poignant response was returned. It is published here anonymously at the request of its author.

"You posed a question about what being a mermaid is to our lives.

From the time of infancy being a part of the water has made life a joy. Even sitting in the tub and playing the afternoons away kept fins and scales well watered and functional. To spend a day in the ocean, catching waves where they begin to break and riding them to the shore, skimming her body along the top brings joy, peace, and keeps the world in focus.

Love sometimes has us make strange decisions. This mermaid was taken out of the water by one who more or less hates the water. The decision to step away and never return did not appear part of the deal, but it was. Mermaids can live on land, they can become accustomed to feet, but the way they love the sea, having waves slam them onto the beach, the roll with the remaining two is a feeling that twists the heart with longing.

Model Olga Mokina photographed by Nika Kurnosova

Swimming in spring water so clear that the feeling of floating in air is like a dream that can only be dreamed in the water.

When a mermaid gives up the water, when she walks on land, part of her heart remains deep in the sea and it will call her back. To stand on a beach and look at the sea, to feel it pull against her feet, is like a lover's call. Any mermaid who heeds love's call and gives up the sea should be a treasure to the land lover she has accepted. If she is not, she crumbles, falls into disrepair, and will die. Piece at a time she will die, until finally, her ashes can be returned to the sea."

Each month we will wind down the issue with additional resource listings for the given theme. We've done our best to be comprehensive, but given the amount of content that exists, we have most likely woefully neglected more than we've included. Even so, our hope is to fully sate your craving for all things mer.

ART - BIBLIOGRAPHIES & BOOKLISTS - MOVIES & TV - PHOTOGRAPHERS - PUBLICATIONS - SOCIAL MEDIA

Accommodations

Hotel Mermaid - Bangkok The Mermaid and the Alligator Bed & Breakfast - Key West, FL Mermaid American Hotel, Convention, Restaurant & more - Mounds View, MN Mermaid Cottages - Tybee Island, GA Mermaid Eco Resort- Cox' Bazar, Bangladesh Mermaid Hotel - South Kerala, India Mermaid Hotel & Club - Kalutara, Sri Lanka Mermaid Inn - Menlo Park, CA The Mermaid Inn - Rye, England Mermaid Resort - Sabang Beach Puerto Galera, Philippines Napa Mermaid Hotel - Ayia Napa, Cyprus Samui Mermaid Resort - Bophut Beach Koh Samuia,Thailand

(and not to forget the song Mermaid Hotel by Lana del Rey *wink*)

Art

Ancient to 18th Century 19th Century 20th Century Collectibles Cutting edge - peruse wonderfulDeviantArt 'Drawings' Fantasy - 'Light, Medium, Dark' MerLovers Pin-up Sculpture

Attractions/Theme Parks

Sea World Parks Weeki Wachee State Park Sanndi Art Mystical Expressions

Siren Life on Facebook

Camps & Events - See page 11 for Eventful Events

Fitness - Aquatic, of course Mertail Fitness, LLC Rebecca the Jamestown Mermaid Siren School

Food (Recipes, Bars, Restaurants, etc.) - See pages

19, 20, 38, 51, 73 & 95

Jewelry - A directory too big to tackle here; but fortunately, mer & oceanic baubles are rampant online. Here are just a few purveyors to get you started: I Am Really a Mermaid Jewelry Designs Mermaid Cove Online Mer-Made Jewellery Siren Jewels Sweet Romance

Literature - There all sorts of wonderful mermaid authors emerging from the sea in recent years. For a peek at their predecessors, consider those listed below The Sea Fairies - a children's fantasy novel written by L. Frank Baum, illustrated by John R. Neill, and published in 1911 by the Reilly & Britton Company, the publisher of Baum's series of Oz books. Literature up to 1950 Literature after 1950 Picture-Storybooks

Movies & TV

(Mermaids Movie & TV List from MermaidMovies.com) Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – Rated PG-13 (2011) Fish Tales – Rated PG (2007) Aquamarine – Rated PG (2006) H20: Just Add Water – Rated TV PG (2006) Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia – NR (2006) Peter Pan – Rated PG (2003) She Creature – Rated R (2001) The Thirteenth Year – TV G (1999) Magic Island – NR (1995) Ren yu chuan shuo, aka “Mermaid Got Married” – Foreign (1994) Hook – Rated PG (1991)

Sue Miller

Original art & fabulous art gifts

Mermaids – Rated PG-13 (1990) The Little Mermaid (Disney) – Rated G (1989) Splash – Rated PG (1984) Mad About Men – NR (1954) Peter Pan (Disney’s Animated) – NR (1953) Miranda – NR (1948) Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid – NR (1948) Click here for a shorter list, but with thorough descriptions and art Click here for an international site & list Click here for a list of Mermaid Movies/TV Shows/ Cartoons/Anime

Misc. Merness

Mermaids Dreaming - Handmade one-of-a-kind polymer clay mermaid and fairy art dolls, including balljointed fairy dolls The Mystical Mermaid - Featuring mermaids, salt scrubs, soaps & candles. Local Art! The Sassi Seawitch - Musings, Procurements & Enchantments for every Witch way The Tipsy Mermaid - Everything you want... and some things you need!

Music - See pages 76 & 77

Photographers

Chris Crumley - Glamour underwater mermaid photoshoots+ George Sweeney - Safaris, glamour underwater mermaid photoshoots+ Mermaid Productions - Weddings, portraits & events Sirens Photography - Mermaid & fantasy photoshoots Tammy Middleton Photography, Disney/Orlando - She not only photographs mermaids, she IS one

Publications - Mer-centric Mermad Magazine (I think they may be on hiatus?) Mermaid Muse Daily Mermaids & Mythology Magazine Tail Flip Magazine

Salons & Spas - See page 92

Social Media

(primarily English-speaking groups listed; not definitive by any means, but a good start)

The Mermaid Studio

Your one stop shop for all things mermaid

Be the Myth, Mermaid Secrets - closed group on Facebook Cynthia Mermaid - this gold mermaid blogs about all things mermaid I Am a Mermaid - Carolyn Turgeon's mighty mer blog L'il Mermaids on Facebook - a place for lovers of whimsy and the young at heart Mermaid Lovers - open group on Facebook Mermaid Musings - an inspiring stop on Facebook Mermaid MusicShow - closed group on Facebook Mermaid of the Lake - a Facebook lifestyle magazine created to inspire Mermaid Realm - closed group on Facebook for tailmaking tips Mermaid World - closed group on Facebook. I am guessing this runs a bit 'young' Mermaid & Merman Lifestyles - open group on Facebook The Modern Mermaid - a truly delightful find on Facebook Northwest Mermaid Pod - closed group on Facebook Phillippina Mermaid - open group on Facebook MerNetwork - a full-blown community and extremely efficient site Sea Tails - a fabulous resource for links to the latest news in the mer realm Siren School on Facebook & Google+ - a different sireny theme every week Siren Lagoon - closed group on Facebook, a place to relax and indulge your inner siren Siren Life on Facebook & Google+ - all things sireny, plus daily magazine posts Vintage Mermaid - NZ - vintage mermaid collectibles, custom & ready-made wands, Paua shell creations, mermaid reading

Tails - See our painstakingly put-together list starting on page 38

Bibliographies & Book Lists

• M. D. Anderson - Misericords: Medieval Life in English

Woodcarving (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1954) • John Ashton - Curious Creatures in Zoology (New

York: Cassel Publishing, 1890) • Linda Phyllis Austern, ed., Inna Naroditskaya, ed. -

Music of the Sirens (Bloomington, IN: Indiana

University Press, 2006)

Shadow Fancy Mermaid Tail Creations

Siren School Fantasy Camps & Glamour Getaways

• Janetta Rebold Benton - Medieval Menagerie:

Animals in the Art of the Middle Ages (New York:

Abbeville Press, 1992) • Heather Changeri - WhiteRose's Garden (WhiteRose (Heather Changeri), 1997-) • John Cherry, ed. - Mythical Beasts (London: British

Museum Press/Pomegranite Artbooks, 1995) • Anne Clark - Beasts and Bawdy (New York: Taplinger

Publishing Company, 1975) • Arthur H. Collins - Symbolism of Animals and Birds

Represented in English Church Architecture (New

York: McBride, Nast & Company, 1913) • Rodney Dennys - The Heraldic Imagination (London:

Barrie & Jenkins, 1975) • George C. Druce - Animals in English wood carvings (Walpole Society, London (Annual Volume of the

Walpole Society), 3, 1913-14, 57-73) • Luuk A. J. R. Houwen - Flattery and the mermaid in

Chaucer's Nun's Priest's Tale (Groningen: Egbert

Forsten (Mediaevalia Groningana, 20), 1997; Series:

Animals and the Symbolic in Mediaeval Art and

Literature); Vrouwen met vinnen en klauwen: de traditie van de zeemeermin in de Middelengelse literatuur (Millennium: Tijdschrift voor Middeleeuwse

Studies, 8:1, 1994, 3-17) • Helen King, John Cherry, ed. - Half-Human Creatures (in John Cherry, ed., Mythical Beasts, London: British

Museum Press/Pomegranite Artbooks, 1995, 138-167) • Peter Lum - Fabulous Beasts (New York: Pantheon

Books, 1951) • Wilfred P. Mustard - Siren-Mermaid (Modern

Language Notes, 23:1 (January), 1908, 21-24) • Arthur Waugh - The Folklore of the Merfolk (Folklore, 71:2 (June), 1960, 73-84) • And from Isidore of Seville:

Annotated Bibilography from Narrative Identity: The Mermaid Myth. Not restricted to "mermaid" stuff, it includes related gender books, like Wurtzel's Bitch. • Siren Song Bookshop. Lengthy annotated list of novels, children's stories, and mythology books. The depth of this list is largely why I haven't attempted my own. • Rogue Mermaid: Book Shop, with some annotations. • Mermaids in Literature list from Mermaid.Net.

Different ages and types.

Sweet Romance Jewelry An extensive & exquisite collection of wearable art in just about every genre imaginable