Homework.....

I'm not doing my homework...yet. It's going to be a long night...and a long day tomorrow. But you know what? It's going to be okay. And I'm going to make it. We're all going to make it. Before I do the things I should be doing, I decided to share/promote a DELIGHTFUL BBC made for tv film. I speak of The Young Visiters (2003) starring Jim Broadbent, Hugh Laurie and many other well-known and well-loved British actors. It's a deliciously whimsical tale based upon a novel by Daisy Ashford which she wrote at the age of nine, in 1890 (although it wasn't published until 1919). The story concerns a man named Mr. Salteena (Jim Broadbent) who stands in the middle class of English society but wishes to marry a lovely, snobbish young woman who is only drawn to him when he declares that he knows many nobles (a bit of a white lie). The story is so different to others set in Victorian England, because it's drawn more like a fairy tale than a moral piece, or a tale about the struggles of society and how they aren't easily managed, life is tragic, and so on. In this Victorian society, dreams can come true after all.

Bill Nighy!!

This production is done so beautifully. London is made up into some sort of wonderland.

Rising up in the ranks!

I came home for a nap...

...which turned into lying in bed with popcorn whilst viewing the classic 1993 film, Heart and Souls. Does anyone remember this one? As a kid, it was one of my favorite movies (I was probably a sucker for romance before I could walk...). The movie stars Robert Downey Jr., Elizabeth Shue and a bunch of other people I'm not as familiar with, but they're pretty famous actors. It seems to me that although ghosts, spirits and vague allusions to Christianity and the afterlife reappear in film a lot, the romance/ghost film had a bit of a heyday in the 80s and early 90s.


This movie is SO ridiculous and yet....and yet....I admit, a part of me still loves the schmaltzy ridiculous romance. I was pondering this just now: does being exposed to things make you who you are, or is it how you react to those things? I suppose it's a dumb question and the answer is both. I've just always loved romance. Not that I'll go see your average 2000s rom-com. I think that this movie still gets me because a) it's nostalgic, b) the story is cheesy but at least the silly ghosts' unfinished business plot is enough for the mind to play with so that we're not tied up in some more cliche romantic storyline and c) it's Robert freaking Downey Jr.

How to Keep Sane: Late October Resolutions and Old Movies

To keep me going, to keep me sane. To get me to graduate college.
1.Look at to-do lists as things I CAN and WILL accomplish, NOT as things to worry about, or as things that will be difficult.
2. Work a little bit each day, so that the week something's due, I do not panic.
3. Have the wisdom to see that I WILL survive and that the world is love and I am love, and we're all going to get through it together (or something equally happy).
4. Read ahead for classes. Ask the smarter people for help when my brain goes blank in geology. Do the pre-tests online.
5. Realize I only have about a month until Thanksgiving and then a week or so and it's Winter break.
6. Find out who I need to talk to about transferring credits/graduation.
7. Pray. Remember to be thankful.
8. Pick up the ukulele once a week, at least.
9. Allow myself a movie once every day or two. Even if it's just to fall asleep to or something.

Last night I used up number nine on a sweet little film entitled The Ghost and Mrs. Muir(1947) starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison. The film was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and written by Philip Dunne (based on the novel by R.A. Dick). It tells the tale of an English widow and her little daughter in 1900, as they move into a house that is haunted by the ghost of a dashing sea captain. Mrs. Muir and the ghost form a sweet relationship, yada, yada, yada. Also enjoyable is the Hollywood version of the English accent. So cheesy and delicious.

Stress-shopping...

and stress-eating. I don't BINGE when I'm stressed or anything, but there is definitely always chocolate involved. In terms of shopping, I tend to go through long-ish periods of not buying and then BAM I need a fix. Kind of did that recently. In my defense, I have hardly any tights or stockings that aren't full of holes and I don't own a lot of pants, so the stockings purchases were completely necessary. However, I Maybe didn't need to buy two new dresses online. And I Maybe don't need to consider buying one or two more. What happens when I DO graduate college and I have no financial aid money? I guess I'll just have to become a clothing seller myself and go to lots of garage sales. Though honestly, I kind of think that sounds like tons and tons of fun.

Anyway, black or red? I haven't bought either dress but am....sort of thinking about it (she said shamefully).

Poppies in October

I feel like Sylvia Plath always brings to mind a brooding, depressed, angsty girl in her late teens or early twenties. I will admit that I first heard about Sylvia Plath through the film 10 Things I Hate About You, when I was eleven or so. All that aside though, I think she was so marvelously complex and her poems are chalk-full of evidence. They're so strangely worded, they're so full of unusual flavor and intensity and female perspective, that it's only natural that women are drawn to her. I just love her style, and I really like her lighter poems. Some of them are truly gorgeous. In honor of October, here is one of my favorite Sylvia Plath poems:

Poppies in October

Even the sun-clouds this morning cannot manage such skirts.
Nor the woman in the ambulance
Whose red heart blooms through her coat so astoundingly ----

A gift, a love gift
Utterly unasked for
By a sky

Palely and flamily
Igniting its carbon monoxides, by eyes
Dulled to a halt under bowlers.

O my God, what am I
That these late mouths should cry open
In a forest of frost, in a dawn of cornflowers.

Confession time...

Now that I'm going to be an auntie, my etsy browsing sometimes leans toward items for a little baby girl. Let's hope that she likes vintage things and lace dresses and dolls...of course, what I really hope is that I have a daughter one day who likes those things.... So funny to think about.

Okay, here are a few cute baby things I like.

French vintage baby clothes and toys from myredboots.

Sophie, the giraffe. She squeaks!

Crocheted monkeys from twinklekids2.

PS I just realized my last two posts covered marriage AND children. I think I creeped Myself out just a little bit. I promise next time I'll go back to talking about Cary Grant or 1930s clothes or something. Sheesh.

If I ever get married...

THERE WILL BE HATS.

OH Etsy. Etsy, Etsy, Etsy.

Window shopping....and then some accidental window buying.

I meant to clean, grocery shop, do my homework and study all day. I have cleaned and bought groceries. However the scholarly part of my day seems to have been spent surfing the web for materials for a Halloween costume as well as just fun, frivolous things like vintage stockings, gloves, hats and jewelry. Ummmm....whoops. Oh Etsy, how I love thee. Let me count the ways!!!

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

And so many more.....

What did I BUY? Why a hooded cape for my LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD costume!!!!!! YESSSS.