La Reine Margaux

Hilarious.

2009-11-13T00:39:00.001-08:00

Click the photo. The first sign on the left reads "Most Beautiful Lady," and the next sign says "Most Beautiful Suit." Check out the facial expressions. Glorious.

It's my party and I'll put off my homework if I want to.

2009-11-11T22:26:00.000-08:00

I have ten pages to write. That I haven't begun to write. That I don't want to write. Today is my birthday and it feels like the least birthday-ish birthday. I get the day off from school every year, but my relaxation has been clouded by this paper and the fact that I'm still not perfectly healthy as I so desperately wish to be. I think maybe I will try to stay up late, cleaning my room (a messy room=a messy brain, for me, anyway) and getting something-ANYTHING school-related, Done. I shall just have to postpone dress up/celebration of my birth until this weekend and Thanksgiving. Mmm, Thanksgiving!

FRIDAY

2009-11-06T23:07:00.000-08:00

I have been so very very busy avec school, you wouldn't believe it. We're talking twelve-thirteen hour days here, folks. But now I'm home and I made myself pasta and aside from homework and rehearsing this weekend, I can take a break and collect myself and breathe a little more deeply (through my mouth since my sinuses are HORRID currently). But this rambling and whining must cease!!! I don't have many thoughts unrelated to my cold, and all the things I've got to do, but.......I had a good Halloween. Here are some silly pictures I took of myself as Little Red Riding Hood. Happy November!!!

Homework.....

2009-10-22T22:39:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-10-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

...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

2009-10-20T19:14:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-10-16T17:52:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-10-08T10:19:00.001-07:00

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...

2009-10-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

THERE WILL BE HATS.

OH Etsy. Etsy, Etsy, Etsy.

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

2009-10-04T18:54:00.000-07:00

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.

One of my Favorites.

2009-09-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite singers is Eleni Mandell and I only discovered her a month ago, thanks to the television show, Weeds. Here is an adorable music video that you may enjoy.

happy things!

2009-09-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

Jean Arthur.

Being in a class where I'm assigned to write plays about whatever I like. Here come people who talk like they walked out of the twenties, as well as ghosts and parrots and old mansions!

This picture is a bit off-topic, but I love vintage valentines.....and there's a parrot.....

Getting assigned a monologue from a Shakespeare COMEDY.

Trader Joe's.

Playing with Photo Booth on my Mac (I have a new one and it has new things and new things are exciting).

je ne comprends pas

2009-09-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

I don't understand how anyone can call Shampoo (1975) a comedy. Directed by Hal Ashby, written by Robert Towne and Warren Beatty, it takes place on election night, 1968 and concerns a hairdresser named George (Beatty) who sleeps with every woman he claps eyes on. As far as I can tell it's just a movie for Beatty to be a ladies man (which they say he was in real life). So...um...yeah.

Things to like about this film:

Goldie Hawn being sweet and adorable, wearing mini dresses and having big eyelashes

Feathered hair

Julie Christie's ridiculously posh British accent

Jack Warden (Saul from While You Were Sleeping)

Crazy-silly 60s/70s clothes

Random Carrie Fisher appearance

The entire soundtrack is The Beatles and The Beach Boys...feels like a road trip with my grandpa

The end in which the primary women George chases desert him (thank God)

Things to hate about this film:

Pretty much everything else.

Sorry, Warren Beatty, I don't like you in this movie. At all.

Here are some screen shots of the moment of truth. After this, all the dames head for the hills and George is left to cry alone (mwa ha ha).

Secondhand Rose

2009-09-17T14:11:00.001-07:00

Am SUPPOSED to be packing. Kind of decided to play with my hair instead. Have been listening to my Funny Girl record a lot lately and it's just so much fun to sing along. I felt only slightly rude yesterday when my grandparents arrived and didn't quite understand why I had to sing along to "You are Woman, I am Man" instead of conversing with them like a normal human being. I did pin curls again last night (my hair length right now is nice but I feel best when it's somewhat curly) and then today I tried my amateur hand at a mini-faux-bang. I don't have a whole lot of forehead so I didn't go overboard. I look kind of silly, but I like it. I took pictures. You may observe.

I think it's kind of a sloppy job, but I'm not that obsessive about looking exactly perfect.

Technicolor Time!

2009-09-14T14:35:00.000-07:00

I recently watched Down Argentine Way (1940) starring Betty Grable and Don Ameche. It's a terribly cheesy technicolor musical about an American gal who randomly sings and tap dances in front of people in Argentina (enter Betty) who falls for a Latin lover (enter Don) who owns lots of prize-winning horses with his father, who has some issue with the dancing gal's family (a very vague, watered down feuding family thing is slipped in to create conflict between prospective lovers and horse-buying and selling). Alas none of this schism will stop the cast from singing and dancing!

My favorite bits of the movie, aside from the sheer schmalzy glamour of a Hollywoodized Argentina and a simplified story, arrive in the performances by Carmen Miranda and The Nicholas Brothers.

“I have never followed what people say it is 'fashionable'. I think that a woman must wear what fits her. That is why I created a style appropriated to my type and my artistical genre." -Carmen Miranda A woman after my heart on so many levels.

Honestly, Fred Astaire was a smooth cat, but there are tricks these guys did that I'm pretty sure he never ever went for (doing the splits in the middle of a routine and rising up like all you did was tie a shoe lace?)

Look how happy everyone is!!!

P.S. I confess I only JUST learned how to do a screen capture on my Mac. So I had to try it out.

Casual Friday

2009-09-11T13:21:00.001-07:00

Do you ever feel that the days you don't try hard to look well put together are the days you magically throw on the nicest pairing of pieces? During summer when I have hazy plans and no classes to go to and no set-in-cement idea of who I might see/want to be cute for, I often just throw things on (at least for the beginning part of the day) and go about business. Today for example, I awoke with my hair in pin-curls. Not wanting to undo them just yet, I knew I'd tie a scarf around my head à la Lucy Ricardo on cleaning day. I threw on a skirt and top, put on my flip flops and grabbed my purse and suddenly realized I matched perfectly. Even the old sunglasses I don't wear much that I grabbed from a dusty drawer.

Observe (and forgive the poor quality of the photos).

The Butterfly Couple

2009-09-08T20:19:00.000-07:00

I have adored the work of J.C. Leyendecker for about a year or so (as long as I've known of him). He was a prominent artist for the first part of the twentieth century, famous for poster work, and illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post and Arrow shirts. His brother Frank was also an illustrator, but it seems as though J.C. is the most famous.

My favorite illustration at the moment is The Butterfly Couple (1923), pictured above. I floated around the internet searching for these pictures, but apparently there's a book on the market that is going on my wish list. Enjoy!

Bad lighting, good hair.

2009-09-07T09:09:00.001-07:00

There are a lot of summer resolutions that I have left unfulfilled this year. One of those resolutions was to perfect finger waves. Definitely failed there, however I've been having fun with my old standard (this being pin curls).

waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting....

2009-09-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

...for a telephone call. It was fun at first. It was fun having someone to wait for. Now it's driving me absolutely round the bend-insane. Nervous. Last night was excited-nervous. Last night was sing-along to the Funny Girl soundtrack while shimmying around the house. Now it's getting severe. Am trying to distract myself. It's difficult. I feel like Dorothy Parker, except we don't look alike, I don't smoke and I don't drink as much as she probably did, and I feel she was probably sharper and had more bite to her bark. Not that I'm lacking in bite...I have some stored up for emergency situations. I'm rambling.

If you haven't read Dorothy Parker's short story, A Telephone Call, do yourself a favor and click here.

Okay, I clearly have nothing else to say at this juncture.

my blackbirds are bluebirds now

2009-09-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

Love love love love love. Ridiculously happy weekend. To top it all off, my brother and his girlfriend are going to have a baby. It's nothing any of us expected to happen so soon, but we're so excited. I've decided I love the following song and it's incredibly appropriate.

Also, the title of this post is the title of an old song which is equally joyful. The version I know is by Annette Hanshaw.

21 favorite male film stars

2009-08-28T00:22:00.000-07:00

So I've been inspired by my friend Kelsy's blog to make a list of my favorite actors. I could go into depth explaining my "history" with all these people and their films, but I'll try not to bore anyone and simply state that some of these men are my favorites more for their comedy than their acting, or more for their looks, etc. It varies....honorable mention goes to Humphrey Bogart, Harrison Ford, Gene Wilder, Anthony Hopkins and others I will think of later. Enjoy the randomness.

Jimmy Stewart

Steve Martin

Robert Downey Jr.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Tom Hanks

(Young) Mel Gibson

Marty Feldman

Peter Lorre

Jeremy Northam

Javier Bardem

Gregory Peck

Gene Hackman

Stephen Fry

Clark Gable

Ewan McGregor

Daniel Day-Lewis

Cary Grant

Fred Astaire

Alan Rickman

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Bill Nighy

Thursday afternoon.

2009-08-27T15:50:00.000-07:00

Half-watching a PBS film on biological weapons online, reading The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, considering some food that isn't chocolate, considering making a pie, going over some lines, experimenting with pomade in order to make my hair look like Grace Kelly's.

Ch-ch-ch-changes.

2009-08-25T14:12:00.000-07:00

So I'm a novice at about pretty much anything to do with computers. Well, as much as a girl can be a novice despite the fact that she was born in the eighties and grew up with them. Only a little while ago did I realize that I could post a link on my blog without having to enter a code myself. And just minutes ago I realized I could change the domain of my blog in two seconds so that it actually matches the title.

Anyway, I hope the few passers-by out there don't have trouble finding me. I'm going to change to lareinemargaux.blogspot.com in a day or two. Oh, large font is exciting.

In other unrelated news, I watched yet another movie on Netflix the other day, this being The Edge of Love (2008), directed by John Maybury, written by Sharman MacDonald, starring Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller, etc. I really have very little to say about it except that it was set in the 1940s in the British Isles, so I had to watch it on principal if for no other reason. There isn't much of a story or point that I could surmise, but I'll sum up as briefly and painlessly as possible: Keira Knightley's character is a singer in London, the war's on, she was the childhood friend/adolescent lover of Dylan Thomas back in Wales, he has a crazy, freewheeling wife who likes to flirt with other men but is still possessive of him (enter Sienna Miller) and then there's a brooding, creepy-eyed soldier who marries Keira, yada yada yada, bing bang boom, blah blah blah. In conclusion, I watched the whole thing for the pretty hair, pretty make up, pretty scenery and pretty clothes. The acting was fine, and I thought Keira did some nice dialect work and I thought her singing was quite good for someone who isn't a singer (do I sound mean? I'm trying to be honest and nice). I'm done babbling though. Here are some pretty pictures.

Favorite Film of 2008, Hands Down, No Doubt About It, I Really Mean it, Holy Moses.

2009-08-23T01:03:00.000-07:00

So I've been sick, and have spent my time watching a LOT of movies. The best (by far) I hadn't seen before was Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) directed and written by Mike Leigh who also wrote and directed Secrets and Lies (1996) another film I really like, but haven't seen in years. Happy-Go-Lucky stars Sally Hawkins as Poppy, an optimistic English school teacher who loves life and the people in it, no matter their occasional unwillingness to play along.

Normally when I want to be put in a cheery mood, I go for a romantic comedy (Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn, etc). I personally don't come across many sweet, happy movies that don't involve a happy romantic ending. I am also a connoisseuse of the female power film (if you can call them that....) but few of those leave you REALLY truly happy at the end. Usually those films (I'm talking things like Shirley Valentine (1989), The First Wives Club (1996), Sweet Charity (1969), An Unmarried Woman (1978)) are really great, but there's still a hint of a feeling at the end: these women are alone in the world somehow, unless they keep finding love. Sure, sure they're all optimistically looking into the future, and their relationships with friends and family might be there to a degree, but a part of me is left looking at these heroines, wondering, "Will she be all right?" once the credits start to roll. The movie Happy-Go-Lucky isn't about finding love and holding onto it, it's about giving love and being happy and grateful for life itself, finding the fun, the joy, experiencing it. At the end of this movie, I am not worried that Poppy won't survive if her new relationship fails. I'm not worried that she'll lose hope and be left alone. Poppy has faith in the world around her and faith in herself no matter the day of the week. What's more, I think the friend love story in this film is so believable and endearing, so beautiful. On a sidenote, it's funny because Sally Hawkins reminds me physically of Parker Posey but they play such totally different characters. If you're looking for a depressed girl romantic comedy to play double feature to this, I suggest Broken English (2007).