the weird wild paghat

June 12, 2003 9:19 PM

Paghat The Ratgirl (google cache) is one of the more interesting people that I have encountered on the Internet. A frequent poster to the newsgroup rec.gardens, her gardening site is an interesting mix of plant history and folklore, lovely images and a darn good place to get ideas on what to add to the yard next. She frequently posts to many other newsgroups as well and a quick google search or two turns up thousands of messages by paghat, her detractors and her fans. She even has a gift shop.
posted by bargle (7 comments total)

i like the rat stories and my friend'll like the gardening site :D thanks!
posted by kliuless at 4:24 AM on June 13, 2003

Thanks Bargle. I got all excited about her garden but then once I started reading the google searches things got much more interesting.
posted by pomegranate at 6:45 AM on June 13, 2003

I think I like this. Very fun to explore and read, despite the fact I have absolutely no time for it. This one captured my heart:

Were Teddy
by Paghat the Ratgirl


Not every toy for girl or boy
Is fun to own or share.
One has need of blood for feed --
The snugly, cuddly were-teddy bear.

This beast you see, cute as can be,
With children unaware,
Leaps up to bite necks in the night!
The huggable, lovable were-teddy bear.

Many a child bitten by wild
Rat or raccoon or hare
Today is alive, but fewer survive
The fangs of the sweet 'n' dear were-teddy bear.

Paghat is cool...
posted by Shane at 7:07 AM on June 13, 2003

I believe the illustration on Paghat's "Hiya, Bub!" page is from Bryan Talbot's wonderful Tale of One Bad Rat ("the second most requested graphic novel in US libraries...and an honourable second at that - only Maus beats it.") Required reading. This itself carries plenty of meaning. Very cool.
posted by Shane at 7:22 AM on June 13, 2003

Ms. Ratgirl is also a published author and an antiquarian bookseller and historian.

If you're looking for more dirt, pick up Thomas Disch's Dreams our Stuff is Made of, page 130 or so.
posted by kurumi at 11:01 AM on June 13, 2003

Wonderful, bargle! The poetry is genius... what a fascinating person.

Just curious, kurumi - how do you know that Paghat is Jessica Amanda Salmonson? It's an interesting coincidence, because I only recently discovered Violet Books via Iconomy's site.
posted by taz at 1:47 PM on June 13, 2003

kurumi is correct.

I didn't add those links to my post because I was somewhat focusing on the Paghat persona more than her real life - since she purposely divides the two, doing her gardening and other sites via "Paghat" while mantaining the more real-world side as well... and I figured I would let people dig as deeply as they wanted to...

But yeah, definately the same person.
posted by bargle at 2:20 PM on June 13, 2003