The completely disjointed ramblings of a girl who loves period drama; adaptations of nineteenth-century novels in general and Jane Austen in particular.
"I trust her midnight oil is well and truly burned..." "Where precisely is she now?" "I thought it best that she went home--" "--SHE NEEDED REST--"
Sorry.
I'm just popping in (I've been doing that a lot recently...) to say that I'm back (thank you for pointing that out, my dear) and to give a note of appreciation to Melody for keeping things in order around here while I was gone. (You didn't give her any trouble, now did you?) My J&W review went up on Tuesday, as you are doubtless aware, and is the first of what I hope will be quite a few period drama reviews here on YAPDB before June is out. I signed up to participate in Miss Laurie's period drama challenge back in... January, was it?... and if you count J&W I've had a grand total of two PD reviews on here since then. Pathetic. I intend to make up for that in the coming weeks--whether I actually achieve my goal of ten period dramas before July 1st is doubtful, but I shall at least do my best. Prepare thee for an onslaught of movie reviews, okay? Here's a really, really broad hint as to what the next one will be about...
What ho, followers all! It's time today to tackle my very first review of a television show, and I shall attempt to do my best, but I must say that I simply can't concentrate until Anne-girl takes off that ridiculous hat. Ladies do not wear straw hats in the metropolis, madam. Where on earth did she get it? I can only assume that it got into her wardrobe by mistake... or else had been placed there by her enemies.
Ah, yes, thank you for complying, Anne-girl. Spiffing. Very well, we can now proceed.
Now I must warn you that I am quite fond of this television series, quite fond indeed (in fact it is my favorite) and though I would like to do justice to it through writing a simply brilliant review, I'm afraid that the sheer brilliancy of the series itself tends to make me feel as though I had all the intelligence of a backwards clam and ought to just give up and join the Drones club. At least there I'd be appreciated--might even be considered a dangerous intellect.
But anyway. Here goes nothing.
"What? Certainly, Jeeves. What, a bit vivid do you think?" "Not necessarily, sir. I am told that Mr. Freddy He’s-a-Riot Flowerdew often appears on the music-hall stage in comparable attire, but…" "No, no, no. No, no, no. No buts, Jeeves. I happen to think very highly of them."
Jeeves and Wooster is possibly the most hilarious television program ever to grace my portable DVD player. The fact that I watch about four television programs with any kind of regularity does not lessen the distinction because J&W (as it shall hereinafter be abbreviated) is just plain hilarious. Everybody says that Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie are comedic genius. The reason for this widely held opinion is that it is the truth.
Hugh Laurie (first known to me as the ever-hilarious, the one and only Mr. Palmer in S&S95) absolutely IS Bertie Wooster. The first Jeeves book I ever read was... mmm... Thank You, Jeeves, and having seen a few photos of Bertie from the show beforehand, I was able to easily picture him in my mind. Exceedingly helpful when one is reading a book before seeing a movie or show, you know. It's horrid when you get one idea of a character firmly fixated in your head while reading the book and then have to get jolted into something completely different when you see the movie. (The people in my head are generally better.)
I knew I liked Bertie from the moment his hilarious narrative commentary began on the first page of Thank You, Jeeves. I mean, what's not to like? The man has an impeccable sense of the ridiculous (even if he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer at all times), a delightful lack of taste when it comes to clothes, the ability to see the bright side in most situations, an unswerving loyalty to his friends, an old-fashioned code of honor (er, code of the Woosters) refreshing to see in the dissipated 1920's (and in the even-worse 2010's, I might add) and a profoundly humorous way of expressing himself. (See above.) And Hugh Laurie captures every bit of Bertie's personality to a T.The only thing I can't understand is why anyone so uniformly charming could acquire so many enemies as Bertie seems to have done.
Take Aunt Agatha Gregson, for instance. She's basically the dragon of the show. First she's played by Mary Wimbush and then she's played by Elizabeth Spriggs, and I hope that doesn't confuse you because she's not the only character in the show to get replaced.
Though I love Elizabeth Spriggs' portrayal in the last season, Mary Wimbush is my favorite Aunt Agatha. She has the full-blown ship's-foghorn voice that I always imagined Aunt Agatha had, she has the third-best facial expressions on the show (after Jeeves and Bertie, of course-- oh, no, wait, I forgot Madeline Bassett in her third incarnation so never mind) and she has some pretty amazing quotes. "Don't talk drivel, Bertie." Aunt Agatha is completely convinced that her idle, rich nephew can't do anything right, and the fact that she's ninety-five percent correct somehow doesn't stop everyone from hating her. In a good way, of course. Because she's funny.
Elizabeth Spriggs does a fabulous job of portraying Aunt Agatha, too, and I can't help remembering Sense and Sensibility when I see her scenes with Hugh Laurie. "Oh, Mr. Palmer is so droll!" Only of course on J&W she doesn't think he's droll at all. "Drooling" would be a better adjective.
Like I said, several characters get replaced over the duration of the show, and if I had one complaint about J&W it would be about that. It's rather annoying to find that a recurring character (albeit minor) suddenly has a new face, new voice, practically a new personality (Pauline Stoker, I'm looking at you) or that one of your favorite characters has changed just enough to spark debate between you and your sister as to whether it's a new actor or not (it was. Gussie Fink-Nottle, what is up with that???). And as for Madeline Bassett... girl, you were portrayed by no less than THREE different actresses in a four-year period, and the first actress to play you went on to be a character who is your POLAR OPPOSITE (hi, Lady Florence!) in the latter seasons. What. Is. Going. On. Here.
Let's take this one step at a time. We'll begin with Gussie Fink-Nottle. I have a bit of a soft spot for Gussie-- he's a lovable eccentric, but not at all like King Louis XVI. (Um, sorry. Inside joke for Horrible Histories fans.) He likes newts, first and foremost, and... well...
I'm not saying I'm agreeing. I'm just saying he has a point. Poor Gussie is constantly getting himself into some sort of fix--whether it be romantical, involving his off-and-on fiancee Madeline Bassett, or relating to inebriation, involving spiked orange juice and some duplicitous behaviour on the part of his dear friend Bertie. (Melody's scowling and harrumphing at me right now, I can just see her.) And it's usually up to Bertie to get him OUT of the fix. Er, that is, for Bertie to attempt to get him out, to fail miserably and make the matter worse, and for Jeeves to step in and smoothly save the day. Yay Jeeves!
Now if only Bertie could have stepped in and befuddled the day (and then summoned Jeeves to save the day) when Richard Garnett got replaced on the show and Richard Braine took his place. I mean, Richard Braine is fine and all. But he tries too hard to be just like Richard Garnett, and he's just... not. The hair isn't right, the glasses aren't right, the face isn't right, and above all the adorable LISP just isn't right. Nope. I want First-and-Second-Season-Gussie or none at all, thankyouverymuch.
Florence Craye is another favorite character--although she's supposed to be just as horrid as Aunt Agatha, she's one of those people that you enjoy having around, if you know what I mean. You don't necessarily LIKE her, but you're happy when she makes an appearance, because you know hilarity is bound to ensue. Francesca Folan plays the best Lady Florence, but she did not make a very good Madeline Bassett. I know I said earlier that the two characters are polar opposites, but they're more than that--they're PENGUIN opposites. Lady Florence is a forward-thinking, get-it-done-and-get-it-done-now, I-tolerate-no-nonsense-from-people-named-Wooster, politically minded spirit of regurgitated womanhood.* Just look at the look on poor Bertie's face in the picture above. That's basically his one and only facial expression whenever Florence is around. Any woman who can reduce Hugh Laurie to a single facial expression has to be pretty awful. "The root of the trouble," as Bertie says in Joy in the Morning, "was that she was one of those intellectual girls, steeped to the gills in serious purpose, who are unable to see a male soul without wanting to get behind it and shove."
Oh, and don't make any disparaging remarks about poor Bertie's white jacket in that picture, 'kay? He has enough to handle from Jeeves.
"Beautiful women used to catch my eye."
"Presumably they thought you were a waiter, sir."
Back to Florence and Madeline. Like I said, Francesca Folan does a great job acting the part of Lady Caligula. Madeline Bassett, on the other hand, is the kind of girl who believes that every time a fairy blows its wee nose a baby is born, or something to that effect.
Bertie himself describes Madeline as a "pretty enough girl in a droopy, blonde, saucer-eyed way, but not the sort of breath-taker that takes the breath." (Have I mentioned how much I enjoy Bertie's narrative. Well, I do.) Elizabeth Morton brings this across fabulously. As mentioned before, she is a third-regeneration Madeline, and she's the best of the lot. When she maintains that the stars are God's daisy-chain (whaaaaat?), that Winnie-the-Pooh is the be-all, end-all of great literature (I'll give her that one) or that nothing in life can compare to the glory of being Countess of Sidcup (have fun, honey) she's actually believable. I mean, some of the time you just kinda want to smack her upside the head with a Reality Check, but for the most part you're laughing too hard to be able to do that.
And don't get me started on her voice. Just watch this clip and you'll see. (Excellent Florence moment, too. And an excellent Bertie moment-- as you can see, he's managed to get himself engaged to two ladies at once. Brilliant planning there, old sport.)
Did I mention that Madeline spends the entire series laboring under the delusion that Bertie is madly in love with her? Well, she does. And it's hilarious. Because he's not.
There are so many other characters that I'd love to talk about in great detail (Barmy Funky-Phipps for one-- he's the chap who thinks all the buildings in New York are tall because the plans got flipped sideways) but I really haven't time or space today, and I doubt you have the patience. (This is not meant to reflect upon your levels of patience.) Just go watch the show, okay? Start at the beginning and go on until you get to the end. Then stop.
By now you're probably frowning at me and tapping your fingers passive-aggressively, wondering when I'm going to get wise to the fact that I've left out an extremely important character. Jeeves by name, valet by nature, to be precise.
Don't be silly, I didn't forget him. I just saved the best for last. Reginald Jeeves is Bertie Wooster's trusty valet and my absolute favorite character on the show, bar none. Yes, he's better than Bertie. Yes, I would be happy to hear your long list of reasons why Bertie is actually the best character--my comment box is at the bottom. Yes, I will happily agree with each and every one of your reasons, but I will still maintain that Jeeves is the best.
Because Jeeves is more than just a gentleman's gentleman. He is a calming presence. He is balm on troubled water. He is the great brain that thrives on tinned fish and saves hopeless situations. His first name, as previously mentioned in brief, is Reginald, but we try to gloss over that bit.
(He is not a butler, in spite of inaccurate popular belief, but he has served in that position in a pinch and Bertie notes that he can "buttle with the best of them" when necessary.)
Jeeves has impeccable taste where clothes are concerned and does not hesitate to inform his employer when his employer's attire is less than satisfactory. White dinner jackets are a no-no, for example. A silken tie studded with little horseshoes once reduced the inimitable Jeeves to a shaking mess. And mustaches are an abomination and degradation. (So are goatees, but thankfully Bertie never goes quite THAT far.)
Practically everybody likes Jeeves-- how could one help it? The only notable exception is a certain gentleman's gentleman with teeth like old harpsichord keys who goes by the name of Brinkley... but then, Brinkley's probably the most easily-disliked character on the whole show so I leave you to draw your own conclusions. Small children have been known to be uncooperative when Jeeves requests their assistance, but bribery (which, according to Rosalind Penderwick, is immoral) can work wonders.
So can Jeeves, you know. What else can I say? Watch the show with all possible speed, try not to strain a rib while laughing and then let me know what you thought of it. And please do tell me I'm not the only one who actually really liked Honoria Glossop. "What ho, Glossops all!"
...Oops. Sorry. Shouldn't have said that. "Mother doesn't like me to say 'what ho.'"
(random pretty picture that has nothing to do with the post)
I'm not leaving permanently, of course (don't start celebrating just yet)-- I'm only going to my grandmother's for a few days, but I shan't be here during that time (do tell!) and so I'm just popping in really quickly to apologize for my absence of late. (I'm a high school graduate now, by the way. Which I think is supposed to mean I'm supposed to act grown-up. Have to do a little research on that.) At any rate, there will hopefully be a nice period drama review popping up in the next few days (scheduled to appear while I'm gone so nobody dies of heartache) and that should tide you over until my return.
In the meantime, the lovely Melody will be chatelaine of YAPDB, in charge of comments and what have you. Be good and do what she says, and I shall see y'all on Friday!
Eva-Joy is hosting a Barricade Boys week over at Ramblings of a Janeite in celebration of the week in 1832 when all our favorite literary characters got killed. ...Well, is that inaccurate? IS IT?
Teasing aside, I'm incredibly excited about this blog event, and I think the rest of you will enjoy all the delightful Les-Mis-themed posts popping up on her blog this week. I wanted to do something on my own blog to commemorate the 181st anniversary of the 1832 Paris Rebellion, but time got away from me this spring and I wasn't able to plan anything. Which is why I'm so very excited that I DID have the opportunity to write a guest post for Eva-Joy's event! Please head right over here to read my ramblings about my favorite little revolutionary... and I specify little, because I have a couple of other favorites too. :D
First of all, Happy 'Liza Doolittle day to one and all! If you don't know what that's supposed to mean and haven't seen My Fair Lady... perhaps you should go watch it. If you have seen the movie but are still confused... well, just go re-watch this part. I would celebrate by watching My Fair Lady again today, except for the fact that I want to save it to watch during The Event which is to happen in 50 days; that is the other occasion today marks, and it far surpasses even the day when England sings the praises of Eliza Doolittle. It is exactly 50 days until... well, before you know that, a story is required to be told.
This, my friends, is The Story of Amy and Melody. Told by... well, Amy and Melody, naturally.
It all began on a bright autumn day in 2011 when a girl by the name of Amy started blogging under the pseudonym of Miss Dashwood. Things didn't start to happen merely because this brilliant young lady had decided to start a blog of wit and humor and thought-provoking writing. Nope, that was only part of it--the real reason that Things Began to Happen was that another young lady by the name of Melody came to visit and commentate upon the blog (a kind favor in return for Amy's having recently followed HER blog, and for the charming comments she'd left there) and became the first commentator and follower on Amy's newly-created blog. And that, gentle readers, is when it began.
Because this was no ordinary acquaintanceship maintained over blog comments and courteous once-in-a-while interaction. Indeed, it snowballed quite rapidly into an exchange of email addresses, which led to manifold emails, which led to the tentative exchange of phone numbers, which led to a (slightly) nerve-wracking phone conversation (well, only nerve-wracking during the first thirty seconds or so) which led to MORE and MORE and MORE emails and phone calls and before you could say "two are better than one," these kindred spirits had formed a fast, firm, long-lasting, super-duper, extra-special, indubitably swellissimus friendship.
And in case that doesn't give you a detailed enough idea of the manner of our friendship--as Mr. Bennet would say, "read on!"
When a person wishes to indicate they don't have a romantic interest in somebody, they say that they are "just friends." Just friends, eh? In our (very humble) opinions, they rather underestimate friendship. Perhaps they momentarily forgot--or have never been able to find out--just how meaningful friendship can be. Probably the latter... not many have the chance to discover a friendship that goes beyond ones usually met with (which are nice in themselves). One that is a series of continuous delights, that adds new definition to one's life in general, that never grows old, and where the bond only strengthens; where you feel as if your friend is another part of you, and without them you would feel like something was missing. They probably never got to know somebody and found their thoughts, feelings and understanding to be so in tune with each other that it was like they were always meant to go together.
But though these two young ladies knew their friendship was something incredibly special, one seemingly insurmountable, nearly overwhelming obstacle still lay between them: many, many miles. The United States is a pretty big place (oops, we just told you we both live in the United States--our privacy is RUINED!) and, as life would have it, these kindred spirits live practically as far apart from each other as the country allows. Yet there was only one thing to do--pray, hope and plan for a face-to-face visit . (Oh, wait, that's actually three things.) Someday. Somehow. Somewhere.
And so the cautious suggesting of the idea to their parents began. (Initial reactions? "Well, I don't know about you going to see HER... but if she wants to come visit us, she's more than welcome!") As did the saving of money. The discussions over the phone, Skype, email and good old-fashioned letters (did we mention they did those too?). It seemed so unrealistic at times, almost a pipe dream, and at other times it seemed something that simply MUST and would happen, come what may. If the force of sheer willpower could do it, circumstances would have no choice but to obey.
Let's cut to the chase. After many months of speculating, praying, dreaming, wishing and calculating, it happened. Airline tickets were purchased. Days were marked on a calendar. And we stand (well, sit--when we're not busy jumping up and down, of course) here today delighted, thrilled, over-the-top SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE-ing to announce that Amy is going to visit Melody in just fifty days. FIFTY DAYS, PEOPLES. (In case you don't want to have to do the counting, we'll just tell you that it's happening on July 9th, 2013.)
How excited do you think we are? Okay, take that and multiply it by fifty, make it all-in-caps and throw in any number of exclamation points, and you might be coming close.
If you're looking at just days, the thing to do is add
one number to the day and ignore the rest. ;)
*waits a few moments for the news to fully sink in*
And that is why we are not watching My Fair Lady on this Eliza Doolittle Day. Because, you see, we will be watching it in less than two months. Together. IN REAL LIFE. (We consider it to be our musical, you know. For reasons unbeknownst to all of you and that would take too long to explain. Did we mention all the private jokes and such we have? Well, yeah, that was probably kind of a given... and don't even get us started on all the nicknames and acronyms. Your head would swim.)
As for the rest of our plans... well, let's just say we have QUITE a list. (There are a lot more period dramas to be viewed too, by the way.) Will we be able to complete everything on it? Heh, extremely doubtful. But we're as sure as certainty going to try our best. :D It's going to be the craziest, eight days (EIGHT WHOOOOOOLE DAYYYYYYYYYS!!!!!!!!!) of our lives; we intend to make the most of every single second with each other.
Just a small sneak-peek at some of the things we have planned...
~Have an elegant party where Amy can meet all Melody’s friends
~Go picnicking at a park
~Talk by candlelight at night
~Jump on Melody’s trampoline
~Visit a bookstore and read titles aloud to each other in dramatic voices and poke fun at the silly Jane Austen sequels
~Poke inside fun books such as the old Sears catalogs and look at old clothes
~Each get our own journal beforehand to write in the whole time, and then at the end we switch them and each have the one the other wrote (awkwardly phrased, but you get the idea)
~Play such delightful games as Beyond Balderdash, Imaginiff, Identify That Soundtrack and Clue
~Act out favorite scenes from period dramas and books
~Go English Country Dancing (SQUEEEEEEE!)
~Go to the mall to try on clothes and window-shop and sit on a bench and crrrrrriticise people
~Camp out in the backyard
~Play The Seaside as a duet on the piano (Amy needs to start practicing that...)
And, of course, we intend to post during the visit and keep y'all updated. Writing blog things together? Well, indubitably! That's how we met, isn't it? Can we just say again how thrilled and excited we are????
"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up."
~Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
All of the above was written by Us Together-- now it's just Amy (your usual host) putting in my two cents. I'm not going to take up this entire space squealing and being immature (though I'm happy to do so if anyone wants to see it) but I AM going to go on (and on and on) for a wee bit about how thrilled to tears I am.
When I first started blogging I never dreamed I'd make as many friends as I have (and I'm thankful every day for each one of you!) and certainly never imagined that one girl in particular would become such a part of me, such a kindred spirit, such a truly one-of-the-race-that-knows-Joseph as to make me wonder how I ever survived without her in my life. I honestly pity those of you who don't yet know Melody-- and all I can do is give you a link to her blog and tell you to go meet her.
The bond between Melody and myself is more than just a shared love of Jane Austen, classic literature, period dramas, strawberries, Carol Ryrie Brink books, Edwardian fashion, My Fair Lady and silly pictures of cats. It's a sisterhood in the truest sense of the word (as we're both daughters of one Heavenly Father), an understanding of what makes each other tick, a sense of sharing thoughts without even having to speak them, a feeling of being absolutely free to be oneself and not worry that the other will be annoyed.
It's a link that spans hundreds of miles (literally), a knowledge that what makes one of us laugh will undoubtedly give the other a giggle as well, a comfortableness with each other--though we've never yet actually met face-to-face--that enables us to be silent on Skype or the phone at times and not feel the teensiest bit of awkwardness.
Melody and I have laughed together, confided in each other, shared sorrows and joys and every kind of imaginable craziness in the nineteen months we've known each other. And yet I know full well that we still haven't plumbed the depths of our friendship, that we still have so much more to learn about each other, so many more adventures to take and things to do. The prospect of the eight days together in July is making me so happy, so elated, so awed and thrilled and chilled, so very full of squeeeeeeee, that I honestly don't know how I'm going to get through the fifty days that remain until then.
Is it too soon to start packing?
“There is one friend in the life of each of us who seems not a separate person, however dear and beloved, but an expansion, an interpretation, of one’s self, the very meaning of one’s soul.”
I know, I know. I'm doing two tags in a row. Lazy blogging at its finest. But I promise you that there will be a lengthy movie (well, okay, TV show) review up on here by the end of this week and that you may tie to. This is the famous Elevensies tag coming 'round again, and though I've done it before, my darling Eowyn was the one to tag me this time and her questions looked fun so I couldn't resist.
You've all seen this done before, I expect, but I'll list the rules anyway-- I have to give you eleven random facts pertaining to moi, answer Eowyn's eleven questions, tag eleven people and come up with eleven questions for THOSE people to answer. Here goes.
I'm horrid at coming up with random facts about myself, and to be honest, what I know about myself isn't half as interesting as what I imagine about myself so we're going to do something different today. You'll get eleven random facts, yes, but here's the catch-- some of them are truth and some of them are whoppers. Your job is to discern the "Things That Actually Happened" from the "Things That Prove Miss Dashwood Probably Needs Professional Help."
Eleven True (And False) Random Facts About Me
1. I have visited the Grand Canyon.
2. I am lactose intolerant.
3. I received my first marriage proposal when I was five. (This proposal was declined.)
4. I once met a famous Olympic gymnast.
5. My parents gave me a Labradoodle puppy for my eleventh birthday.
6. I have scars on my right arm from when a tree branch fell on me last summer.
7. I wear both glasses and contacts (but not at the same time).
8. My favorite Enjolras is Aaron Tveit from the 2012 Les Mis movie.
9. I have "flown" in a hot air balloon (okay, it was tethered; your point?)
10. I got caught once in a train door (the sliding kind--it closed on me as I was going in. Painful, but no lasting damage).
11. I really, really want to take part in a flash mob someday, but haven't yet gotten the chance to do so.
Eowyn's Questions 1. What was the most recent movie you've seen and what did you think of it?
Cars 2 was the last one I watched, but it wasn't for the first time so I don't know if it counts... anyways, I really enjoyed it. I mean, Pixar, people. What's not to love. I'm really not a racecar kind of girl (I get more amusement out of the fact that the word's a palindrome than from actually watching the sport) but I like the movie anyway. It's much more character-driven than machine-driven (heh, heh, heh, pun intended) and I'm just happy every time Mater, Luigi or Guido show up on screen. "Hey! You done good, you got all the leaves!" Oh, and Jedediah McQueen's hilarious too.
(I know, I know, this quote's from the first movie. :))
2. Would you rather live on the beach or in the mountains?
Beach all the way. I would be quite happy to get a little house in Cape May (or another equally cute and less tourist-y seaside town) and live there forever. Ocean breezes, sand and seagulls, biking on the boardwalk... yep, I could get used to it. Guys, I want a lighthouse. 3. What's your favorite Disney Princess and why?
Belle, hands down. She's the bookish one. :D That library in the Beast's castle is to drool for. 4. What's your favorite book? (Or, if you can't decide, what are your three top favorite books?)
Eowyn, I always knew you were a kindred spirit. Top three-- THANK YOU. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.
5. Would you rather live in Narnia, Middle-Earth, or 1860's England?
Being hardly at all acquainted with the first two choices and quite fascinated with the third, I'll go with 1860's England. :D
6. Who is your favorite movie or book character?
Eowyn, all that stuff about being a kindred spirit-- I take it back. HOW can you DO this to me. ARGH. Um. We'll go with the book I'm reading right now and say Jane from Jane Eyre, with the understanding that this answer is subject to change as soon as I start something new. Heehee.
7. Have you ever heard of Focus on the Family's Father Gilbert Mysteries? If so, what do you think of them?
I've heard OF them, but haven't actually heard--that is, listened to--them.
8. If you could pick anywhere in the world, where would you want to live when you get married?
Well, I talked about the beach in another answer, so I'll say something else now... hmmm... well, if it weren't so far from my family and friends, I'd go to Ireland! To be honest I love the idea of globetrotting-- I don't necessarily mean traveling and "seeing all the sights" but packing up at a moment's notice and moving to a brand-new place, be it small-town Mitford or the Scottish highlands or New York City. Of course I also like the idea of settling down and living in the same place for years and years and years and creating lots of memories. I suppose to answer this properly I'll just be sappy and romantical and say that I want to live wherever my true love is. There. Laugh if you must.
9. What's your favorite musical?
Ummmm.... thinking REALLY HARD here...
10. Cake or ice cream?
'Eavenly cake!
11. How many times have you been to Disney World?
I've actually been there three times. Once when I was two and so young I didn't appreciate it--literally cried when I met the terrifying creature they call Mickey Mouse--once when I was almost twelve and definitely old enough to appreciate it and once when I was sixteen, ditto. My aunt used to work there, and it's always been a pipe dream of mine to get a job being Mary Poppins at those character meet-and-greets (my phobia of costumed people has worn off, by the way).
Center of photo in the blue flowered rompers-- yep, that's yours truly in 1997.
My Eleven Questions
1. Have you ever eaten caviar? If so, what was it like? If not, would you be willing to try it someday?
2. When did you first learn to ride a bike?
3. Elizabeth Gaskell or Charles Dickens? (I leave Jane Austen out of it, we all KNOW she's the best...)
4. What's your favorite long/interesting/complex word?
5. Put your music playing device on shuffle and tell us the names of the first three songs that come up, no skipping.
6. What's the funniest dream you ever had?
7. How many plays have you seen performed live? (School plays and amateur productions totally count.)
8. Mexican food, Chinese food or neither? Why?
9. Is there a name that you consistently mispronounced for years and then finally heard someone say it out loud and felt completely mortified for saying it wrong all that time?
10. Which Les Mis character are you?
11. What's your favorite board game? (it doesn't have to be an actual BOARD game... technically Bananagrams isn't a board game, but you know the genre I'm talking about)
My lovely blogging friend Hayden is hosting a Childhood Memories Blog Party this week, and she posted a fun tag for everyone to take part in, so since I'm out of town this week I thought I'd schedule this to appear while I'm gone.
First: name 5 childhood memories that bring a smile to your face.
1. Gravitating to the swingset in our backyard with my sisters whenever we went outside-- no matter what we ended up doing, we always started at the swingset. Often just sitting on it and not actually swinging. :D
2. Playing endless games of paper dolls with Anne-girl in our basement-- some of which involved actual stories taking place, and some of which involved putting paper clothes on the dolls and taking them off again. Over. And over. And over.
3. Oooh, there was that time a cat ran into our house from the great outdoors, and somehow it managed to squeeze itself under my mom's hope chest, and Anne-girl (who was about three) freaked out when she first saw it but then decided that she wanted to keep it forever and was quite, shall we say, dismayed when the cat was chased out by Mom.
4. Going to the library. Need we say more?
5. Pretty much any kind of "pretend game"-- Anne-girl was and still is THE BEST at thinking up pretend games. She came up with the ideas and I followed blindly. Well, okay, maybe sometimes I had my own opinions. :D
Now: answer the questions.
1. Was there a particular game that you played with your siblings all the time?
Any kind of pretend game, really-- Anne-girl had a series of imaginary lands that she developed in great detail and we'd go exploring in them almost daily. The last and greatest of all was Jewelbank, and it was amazing. We dealt with mean orphanage matrons, birthday celebrations and weddings, insurrectionists trying to overthrow the government... yep, good times. 2. Did you have a special toy/item that you dragged around everywhere you went?
When I was a toddler I had a Madame Alexander baby doll that I called Goosey, who was sadly left behind on a camping trip in 1998 and lost forevermore. Copious tears were wept on that day.
3. What was a movie/ TV show that you were obsessed with as a child?
We didn't have a TV when I was little (still don't) and my movie-watching was pretty minimal, but my sisters and I loved the Little Bear show (we have a huge collection of Little Bear VHS tapes) and Mary Poppins, So Dear to my Heart and Peter Pan were favorites in the movie world. 4. Did you have an imaginary friend?
I did not, unfortunately-- I was an unimaginative child, I'm afraid.
5. What did you want to be when you grew up?
A restaurateur, to begin with, then a nurse. Now I'm a seamstress and a nanny. Who'd-a thunk it.
6. Who was president when you were born?
William Jefferson Clinton. Whoop-de-doop. 7. Any song associated with your childhood?
Hmmm... my dad used to sing "I Love You a Bushel and a Peck" to me when I was very small, and I still love that song. We sang the Davy Crockett theme song in the car all the time when I was in my first years of school, and Disney songs have always been favorites.
8. Something that scared you as a child?
Fires freaked me out. I still firmly believe that all the fire safety information little kids have to learn is traumatizing. I had major anxiety issues about house fires. Also large bugs, dogs with pointy teeth, and--stop, no more, you'll just UPSET me!
9. What’s the food that you like now but back then just wouldn’t eat?
I used to hate rice and broccoli but now I love both. 10. Was there any Christmas or birthday gift that you really, really wanted and went crazy about?
I was nuts about the American Girl dolls (weren't we all?) and my grandmother gave me Samantha for Christmas when I was seven. I was over the moon-- and even more so because she came with the treasury set of all six books (in one volume with gold-edged pages). She's still my favorite American Girl-- and I do confess to re-reading the books now and then. Er, frequently. Cough.
Friends of the blogging world, there's someone I'd like you to meet.
No, I don't have a suitor.
Was that what popped into your head when you read the post title?
:D
Nope, this someone is of the female variety. She's a bit hard to talk to, but quite accommodating once you get to know her. I can't exactly say that she has a good head on her shoulders, but she's dependable. She's rather stiff, but is willing to adjust when you have other plans for her-- in short, she is quite the nicest dressmaker's form anyone could ever want, and I think she and I are going to be great friends.
Her name is one I chose myself, and after much deliberation and consideration of many literary characters' names, I decided to bestow upon her the all-encompassing title of Mademoiselle. Mademoiselle, meet the Readers. Gentle Readers, this is Mademoiselle.
Mademoiselle has proved most useful and helpful over the last few weeks (she was a birthday gift in celebration of my first eighteen years on this earth, and I've had her for nearly a month now) as I scurry around like a distracted mouse getting ready for a Big Event. You see, in two weeks I shall be advertising Miss Dashwood's Historical Costuming in the Young Entrepreneurs' section at the Christian Homeschool Association of Pennsylvania's (CHAP) annual conference. (Mentioning all this because if you're going to be at the convention, do please stop by my booth!! I would so love to meet you!)
So I've been very much occupied of late in getting as many sample items ready as possible. And Mademoiselle's been a dear in putting up with it all.
She has modeled...
...and helped with fitting (though she's not built on the exact same proportions as I am, so a closely fitted bodice is not the easiest thing in the world)...
I call this dress the Donwell Strawberry dress-- not because it's printed with actual strawberries (they are in fact wee rosebuds) but because it rather reminds me of the dress Emma wears to Donwell Abbey during the strawberry outing when everyone is being horrid to Jane Fairfax (click image to enlarge).
I had some pictures of her modeling some petticoats I've made, but I seem to have somehow deleted them, so I'll have to take them again another time. Sigh.
Anyways, I shall close this short but rambly post with a few more pictures of the dress above-- in that picture, the buttonholes are still in progress and the dress is pinned onto Mademoiselle so that it will lay (lie?) properly. It's an 1850's style, a design I've dubbed the Esther Summerson, and it appears to maximum advantage when the model is wearing a corset. Now, Mlle. is capable of wearing a corset, but since she's a bit unyielding, the corset doesn't perform its functions as well as it ought to. So here's the dress on me (and there's a corset on me, too, but I'm not posting pictures of THAT.)
Forgive the "down" hair. I was in a hurry and hadn't had time or inclination to put it up. But as we all know, properly styled hair is totally not necessary to achieve the historically accurate look, right? Right? Perhaps I should just get myself a job in a Michael Landon Jr. movie...
Y'all know that I have a sister. Well, I have three biological sisters, and a twin who wasn't born on the same day as me (but that is immaterial), but the sister I want to talk about today is known to many of you as the Anne-girl.
Well, actually her real name is Carolyn. But she goes by Anne-girl on her blog. And on the cover of her debut novel, she goes by Anneliese Blakeney. I love that pseudonym, but I'm not quite sure why she chose it. I suppose she just liked the name Anneliese-- and as for Blakeney, I think she just picked it at random out of the phone book or something.
Anyways. For the last year or so Cara's been working on a novel known as The Princess and the Sage. I can't put into words how much I adore this story. It's silly. It's ridiculous. It's off-the-wall. It contains pickles and mud angels and a mysterious Jub-Jub bird and foreign diggity-dogs dignitaries and a cook who lets you do what you want so you'll learn about consequences. It's about a Princess, a perfect and prim and proper princess, whose whole life is turned upside down when a young Sage comes barreling into her quiet castle life. Yep, you read that right-- he's a Young Sage, and don't you forget it.
First of all he was not one of those old sages with long white beards and doddering mustaches, he was the Young Sage, and if you dared address him without the Capitals... well, withered doesn’t begin to cover it. You could leave off the young part if you wanted too. At least he lets me leave off the young part. But then, I’m the one writing it and that puts us on rather intimate terms. I could have begun the story at any number of places but I decided to begin it here: with the princess and her last lesson with a governess. Why? No reason. This is a nonsense tale you must remember; and beginnings and endings, while important, are not considered relevant. ~The Princess and the Sage, chapter one
Those are the first two paragraphs, people. And it only gets better after that. If you like Lewis Carroll, A.A. Milne, P.G. Wodehouse or E. Nesbit--or if you're like Carolyn and me and adore all of the above--then get thee to Create Space and purchase thee a copy of Princess and the Sage. Your stomach muscles might not thank you for it when you're done, but it'll be worth it. They say that every time you laugh, you increase your lifetime by a minute. Once you're done this book, you'll be practically indestructible.
Can we take a minute to appreciate Perry Elisabeth's perfectamundo cover design? I love it to pieces!
Again, you can purchase it here. Is this post a shameless plug for my sister's book? Yes. Yes, it is. It is also a review of sorts for a piece of hilarity that I am strongly recommending to you. I received this book after buying it from Create Space, and I have written an honest review-- the opinions expressed here are my own and have totally not been influenced by any other person, least of all my sister.
Have you seen her, by the way? She owes me some dark chocolate for... something.
p.s. Yet Another Period Drama Blog has a brand-new look, courtesy of my sweet Melody! Hop on over to her blog and tell her how much you admire her header-making skills, yes?
