Mike Westphal

@mfwestphal

Biologist, writer, father of three, anti-fascist. he/him

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Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· 20d

Speaking of Szafran, I thought of this while scrolling through your covers, do you have it?

The cover of the Bantam edition of BARON ORGAZ by Frank Lauria, “The sensational new occult novel that explores a savage trinity of evil - Satanism, sex and the sado-masochistic underground” and a painting depicting a skull, a mostly nude woman with long black hair, an apparent swastika in the background and four red candles.

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· 21d

Taking the Women of Afrofuturism tour at the San Francisco Airport & words can’t describe how charmed I am to be walking around a major airport following a woman brandishing a picture of Octavia Butler

A smiling museum tour guide holds up a picture of Octavia Butler

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Jul 4

Read @hntdove.bsky.social ‘s new novella OR EVEN EAGLE FLEW right out of the mailer, enjoyed every bit of it. Timely reminder of the price that so many paid to take down the Nazis.

The cover of OR EVEN EAGLE FLEW by Harry Turtledove featuring a striking black-and-white artist’s conception of Amelia Earhart piloting a World War II era Spitfire plane with two other planes flying in formation beyond her against the backdrop of a sky full of dramatic clouds.

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Jun 28

Diesel is $6.66 at my local Chevron station. Probably doesn’t mean anything…

A photo of the front of a gas station pump sewing the price of diesel at $6.65 9/10

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Jun 28

This hung on the wall above the big antique rolltop in the den all during my childhood. I keep it in a closet now. The imagery is burned deeply indeed into my psyche.

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Jun 27

Men’s bathroom at SF MOMA is a killer installation

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· May 30

This gem just arrived. The discerning eye will see something familiar about the illustration, because it is, indeed, by Richard Powers, famed SF illustrator. A true relic of the 50’s that (I hope) held a place of honor on a shelf behind someone’s home bar, the Calder mobile spinning slowly above it.

A small Dell 1950’s paperback titled ”What, when, where and how to drink: the first complete book”listing these topics: Party Giving; Buyer’s Guide; Secrets of Mixing; Cooking with Wines. Over 250 recipes; 16 pages of photos. By Richard L. Williams and David Myers with Sherman Billingsly, Owen Brennan, James Hart, Bob Cobb, Toots Shor, Robert K. Christenberry. The illustration is a still life of a fanciful wine bottle and cocktail glass with what looks like an orange slice. The wine bottle looks like an idealized spaceship. 🚀 In the upper left corner: a forked blue banner with “First Edition 55.” in the upper right, a blue downpointing triangle, framing the price, 25 cents.

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· May 27

Driving with my son from Salt Lake City to his new home in Charlotte NC, stopped, by sheer dumb luck, in New Albany MS, birthplace of Wm Faulkner

A guy (me) poses in front of a colorful mural depicting a 1000x life size portrait of William Faulkner, alongside flowers on an open book, a deer, and a woolly mammoth. The mammoth is likely life sized

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· May 24

It’s not hard to find the modern Mansard roof in older neighborhoods in Salt Lake City, mostly on drab 70’s apartment and office buildings, but whoever built this thing really committed, chef’s kiss

Small brick house painted blue with carved wooden porch columns, maybe as old as Victorian era, with a tall flared Mansard roof complete with dormers

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· May 18

Best thing about that bridge are the four golden bears, two at either end. They look at you as you drive onto the bridge, and show their butts to you as you drive off

A statue of a golden bear stands behind a sign announcing that the viewer is crossing the Klamath River. Green conifers in background.

The rear end of a golden statue of a bear standing on a bridge abutment against a backdrop of misty green Pacific forest

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· May 15

Very stoked to come home & find FOUR EDGELAND WALKS by @christopherbrown.bsky.social in my mailbox!

A pamphlet titled A NATURAL HISTORY: FOUR EDGELAND WALKS, April 16-19 2026 features a stylized image of a pair of red heavy-rimmed glasses hooked through a black chainlink fence. What this photo does not convey is that the fence is embossed into the paper, a nice touch (literally).

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· May 11

That amazing cover is a variant of “L’oeil du silence” by Max Ernst and has been on at least one other notable book — Ballard’s THE CRYSTAL WORLD

Cover of first edition of THE CRYSTAL WORLD by JG Ballard showing a surreal landscape of greenish bluffs or outcrops with a figure in the foreground

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· May 6

Now I want to know more about this lapel pin he always wore.

A picture of Thomas Kinkade wearing a lapel pin

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· May 1

Pretty sure there’s a Dalek hiding in there

A tall barrel-shaped shrub festooned with orange flowers sits on the lawn of a suburban home

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Apr 15

Just realized that THE MATRIX (1999) has been around longer as of today than THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) had been when I first saw it

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Apr 15

My first goth girl

Margaret Hamilton as the wicked witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Mar 24

THIS ISLAND EARTH (1955) I recently had an epiphany where I realized that the Metalunans presented as highly evolved Mad Men and since then what this movie meant to me as a kid makes more sense to me now.

Exeter, a humanoid alien from the planet Metaluna, is pictured on the triangular screen of the interocitor. He sports a shock of white hair, an unnaturally high forehead, a snappy grey 50’s business suit, and an expression of superintelligent smugness.

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Feb 12

It’s the season! This guy was hanging out by my front door last night!

An arboreal salamander peers into the camera at close range.

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Feb 1

Scrutinizing this bullshit that the pedophile in chief posted yesterday. Recalling him watching with glee as our Capitol had its windows smashed, or ordering the East Wing to be razed without going through proper procedure. How can anybody believe this guy gives a rat’s ass about Federal buildings?

Text from a January 31st 2026 Truth Social post from the so-called president claiming “We will not allow our Courthouses, Federal Buildings, or anything else under our protection, to be damaged in any way, shape, or form.”

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Jan 25

A red eyed rebel loon rises from a blue lake towards the North Star, conveying solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Minnesota

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Jan 17

@tomtomorrow.bsky.social He wishes he could read it

Walnut the tabby Manx cat checks out my newly arrived copy of OUR LONG NATIONAL NIGHTMARE by Tim Tomorrow

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Jan 5

A holiday miracle! I’ve had the great good fortune to finally obtain the elusive Doubleday Anchor A205(alternate), THE GRAND MADEMOISELLE by Francis Steegmuller. Which, as it happens, is the only known collaboration between Andy Warhol and Edward Gorey.

Cover of THE GRAND MADEMOISELLE where a period portrait of a French noblewoman is surrounded by flowery lettering and decoration in black and white, overlain with splashes of hot pink.

Publication data page of THE GRAND MADRMOISELLE showing “Cover design by Andy Warhol” and “Typography by Edward Gorey.”

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Dec 9

Margaret Hamilton was a great person and a great actor. I find myself frequently revisiting her performance in Oz when she’s asking for the ruby slippers back. She could be hamming it up as a cackling baddie, but with her eyes alone, she gives us this split second of vulnerability and need.

A still closeup of Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West confronting Dorothy when she first arrives in Munchkinland in The Wizard of Oz

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Dec 8

Wow, the first thing I thought of when I saw that marble hand, before I even realized you were talking about Gorey, was this other Gorey hand.

Cover of the 1965 London House edition of Gladys Mitchell’s mystery novel Death of a Delft Blue showing Edward Gorey’s illustration of a black and white hand on a white background holding a stem with many small blue flowers.

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Nov 27

Darwin’s dry humor, Exhibit B:

A page from Charles Darwin‘s book The Voyage of the Beagle where he says about giant Galapagos tortoises that “I frequently got on their backs, and then giving a few raps on the hinder part of their shells, they would rise up and walk away; — but I found it very difficult to keep my balance.”

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Nov 27

And, Darwin’s humor was dry as hell. Exhibit A:

Page 26 of the first edition of Charles Darwin’s last book, The Formation of Vegetable Mould, Through the Action of Worms, with Observations on their Habits, where Darwin claims that worms took not the least notice of “the deepest and loudest tones of a bassoon.” Who was playing this bassoon he does not say. We are left to picture Darwin blowing a bassoon at a worm in his well appointed study.

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Nov 7

I‘ve seen one of those shacks depicted somewhere…

An image from a Monty Python’s Flying Circus sketch of a humble Scottish kilt maker’s abode, complete with thatch roof and surrounding sheep

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Nov 1

Choosing THE WOODS ALL BLACK by @leemandelo.bsky.social for my Hallowe’en purchase at the (awesome) Legendarium in Salt Lake City!

Cover of the book THE WOODS ALL BLACK showing disembodied eyes in a dark forest

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Oct 31

Happy Hallowe’en to all who observe, direct from the Great Saltair, the original Carnival of Souls!

A spooky black and white image of a bearded man (me) posed on a salt flat in front of the distinctive onion shaped turrets of the Saltair Pavilion near Salt Lake City

Mike Westphal@mfwestphal· Oct 30