Of Trims and Frills and Furbelows

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T12:55:00.000-08:00

“Love without marriage is still a sacred thing,
And unlike wedlock, is not dissolved by death.”
-Return to Cranford

Happy Valentine's Day! I don't know about you, but I'm just not one of those "I hate Valentine's, I hate romance, I'm mad at the world because I'm single, Single Awareness Day Forever" people. Yes, I do not have a significant other, but that does not mean that I hate romance. I love it. So today of all days, I wanted to celebrate this day of love with favorite scenes/quotes from my favorite romantic costume drama films!

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
-Sonnet 116

And be forewarned. This post might as well have "SPOILERS" written all over it. 'Cuz the scenes are mostly all spoiler scenes. So anyway.

(and I know I might be murdered for this. But I don't care. Despite the fact that he the knight in shining pajamas, this line still gave me the chills. So there.)

"The Portrait" scene from Somewhere in Time - when Richard Collier first sees the portrait of Elise McKenna...this scene is sooo gorgeous, and the Rhapsody from a Theme of Paganini is just perfect for it.

When Richard and Elise first meet - The setting...the characters...the music, of course.

"The Man of My Dreams" - When Elise shares her feelings for Richard - ad-libbed in the middle of the play.

The Reunion - my favorite scene in the film!

“If I do not speak it is only because I am afraid I will awaken myself out of this dream. It cannot be true! But I feel so ashamed in my makeup to deserve you!”
“What of my flaws? I have coached you, and I’ve lectured you, and you have borne it as no one could have borne. Maybe it is our imperfections that make us so perfect for one another.”
-"Emma" (1996)

The GORGEOUS ending to North and South - with Henry edited out. Hallelujah. Call me callused, but I hate having Henry ruining that gorgeous scene. Sigh.

"You would not be obliged to me in any way. It would be you who would be doing...me the service." Love the look on his face during this scene. Siiiiiigh...

The lovely proposal from The Scarlet Pimpernel - as only Percy can do it.

The hilarious - and plain gorgeous - picnic scene from The Scarlet Pimpernel. One of my favorite scenes in the film, definitely!

The wedding - One of the most gorgeous film weddings period.

Reunion - I just have a thing for reunions, I guess. This is my number one favorite scene in the film. I may or may not (cough, cough) rewind this several times every time I see the film. Besides the fact that it's soooooo romantic, the acting done by both Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour in this scene is exquisite.

“I went searching for my ideals outside of myself. I found it’s not what the world holds for you, it’s what you bring to it. The dreams dearest to my heart are right here.”
“ Well, I hope you keep on dreaming. It’ll be three years before I finish medical school. Even then there won’t be any diamond sunbursts or marble halls.”
“I don’t want sunbursts or marble halls. I just want you.”
-Anne of Avonlea

Scene from The Young Victoria - Please don't tell me I'm the only one who bawls in this scene. Please? Thank you.

"I Almost Wish We Were Butterflies.." - I discovered Bright Star this past winter, and it's one of my top favorite films (review sometime in the near future :-)). I love this letter excerpt from John Keats to Fanny Brawne. And the scenery is exquisite.

Edward's Proposal from Sense and Sensibility - By the time it gets to this scene, I'm bawling as much as Elinor is.

"I've come here with no expectations, only to profess now that I am at liberty to do so, that my heart is...and always will be....yours."

Chills. And grabbing-of-Kleenexes.

Wives and Daughters Ending - dear sweet Molly finally gets her reward! I absolutely adore proposals/reunions/any other kind of romantic scenes in the rain, and unfortunately don't see a whole lot of them! And the very last scene (which is cut off half way...which makes me mad) is my favorite in the whole film - I just burst into tears the first time I saw it (yes, I'm like that...). It's so....Perfect Helpmeet kind of scene, someone who wants to support her husband and help him in his vision kind of thing. Would Cynthia have gone to Africa and gone trekking all over the desert and study beetles? It's just sooooooooooooooo sweet!

And the line that Lady Harriet says is probably one of my favorite movie quotes period... "You men concern yourselves with the eternal verities. We women are content to ponder the petty things in life."

"You love George. You love the boy body and soul, as he loves you."
"Well, of course I do. What did you all think?"
-A Room with a View

One Hand, One Heart - One of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite musicals. The wedding scene is so adorable, and of course the song has become classic wedding music material.

"Tonight" - another favorite song, the balcony scene.

Today the world was just an address,
A place for me to live in,
No better than all right.
But here you are,
And what was just a world is a star...
Tonight!

All I Ask of You - I couldn't post romantic songs without posting one of my top favorites! While I'm not a fan of Sarah Brightman, I adore Michael Ball...so just had to include this. :-)

Somewhere - and lastly, my very favorite romantic song in the world, period. Yes, I adore West Side Story. And I also adore Josh Groban's voice. This is one of my favorite renditions of the song.

"Well, you can't marry someone when you're in love with someone else, can you?"-The Sound of Music

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Dickens Week Recap...

2012-02-12T12:38:00.000-08:00

Thank you all so much for making this such a wonderful week! I had such a marvelous time!

I just wanted to recap this week's events...I love rehashing over stuff. :-P

Sunday was the beginning with the tag. Thank you all *so* much who participated in this! I really enjoyed reading each and every one's answers!

Monday and Tuesday were the comparisons between the 1935, 1974, 1999, and 2000 versions of David Copperfield, and I had such a blast with it!

Wednesday I reviewed the epic musical version of A Tale of Two Cities and I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts on it!

Thursday and Friday were clips from other Dickens musicals (and a few more from Tale that I just couldn't resist :-)) including Oliver! and A Christmas Carol.

And Saturday was my dream casting for a new film (personally I'd vote miniseries :-)) version of Tale, and I sooooooo enjoyed getting everyone's feedback for that! It was sooo much fun and just reminded me that I need to get back to doing dream casts more...they're so delightful.

Lastly, I'd love for you (if you didn't all ready this week) to hop over to the delightful Old-Fashioned Charm and see the absolutely awesome Dickens week Miss Laurie hosted over there! It was simply fascinating!

Did you post something Dickens related this week? Leave a link in the comments...I'd love to see it!

Thank you all again for celebrating with me! We'll have to do this again sometime. :-) It was a far, far better thing to do...annnnnnnnnnyway.

And at the risk of sounding even more cheesy, I can't end a post on Dickens' week with anything but what Tiny Tim observed...

"God Bless Us, Everyone!"

A Tale of Two Cities: My Dream Cast

2012-02-11T09:13:00.000-08:00

A while back on Gina’s blog, Dickensblog (which is my favorite blog for all things Dickens)…this was a while while back…like, several years. YIKES. Anyway. She was talking about adaptations of A Tale of Two Cities in the past and dream parts for the roles. Tale being my favorite Dickens, I was very intrigued at the ideas.

Especially when there was a suggestion that if it had been made in the 80’s-90’s, Anthony Andrews would have made a fantastic Sydney. That did it for me. Considering that he’s played a very similar part before…oh, the agony. What we missed! Ack, I wept for days over the gloriousness that might have been. What an incredible Sydney…sigh, sigh, sigh. Excuse me while I go weep again…

Ok, I’m back. Anyway. Apparently evidence shows that in the nineties Mel Gibson was slated to play the ill-fated antihero, which sent me into even more spasms of agony. Another favorite actor, I would have died to see him in this role almost as much as I would have died to see Anthony Andrews in the part. Almost, of course (and on that note, Kate Winslet would have made a lovely Lucie in the nineties. Just sayin’).

Let us have a moment of silence for the Sydneys that might have been.
(silence)
Thank you. We can proceed.

Anyway. So naturally, when the idea came up for a dream casting, I pounced on the idea of dream casting this, my favorite Dickens story. Dickens seems to be popular with miniseries lately, with the success of Bleak House and Little Dorrit and of course the recent Great Expectations film and miniseries (and let’s not forget the endless adaptations of David Copperfield…), and yet hardly anyone has touched this, arguably one of his most famous works next to the immortal A Christmas Carol. People, are you listening? Stop remaking all the others and make a lovely version of this one!

Anyway. I must give credit here to my awesome brothers, who helped me think up 3/4^thsof this cast. Without them I wouldn’t have this here. Of course, there were a few castings that they did not approve of (those of you who know my brothers well can probably guess who those people were) and so wish right here to add that they’re not directly associated with this post. ;-) And thanks also to my bestie (and casting-buddy-extraordinaire), who helped me decide some of the casting as well – and read the whole book just to be able to help me pick! I’ve got great friends . :-) Thanks for everything, Tori!!! Anyway. All that said…

If I could pick anyone to play in a new adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities, I’d cast…

-Ioan Gruffudd as Sydney Carton

Ioan was one of the suggestions by Gina, and I was flabbergasted as I considered just how awesome it would be for him to play Sydney! Sydney most of all demands a great actor who can show the drunken clod and yet at the same time make him sympathetic and even…dare I say charming? (sniff again at what might have been…Ally, get over it. Sigh…) Someone who can show the incredible depth of love that he had for Lucie, and who can carry off those gloriously heartbreaking last few scenes and make the hardest-hearted person weep through his dying words (Sorry to spoil it for anyone who doesn’t know the plot…shame on you! J), like James Barbour’s performance on stage. For a film role, Ioan’s definitely my top choice to play the part (in this era :-P) for the amazing work he’s done all ready in the past (his role as Wilberforce in Amazing Grace helped cement Wilberforce as one of my two favorite real-life heroes).

-Orlando Bloom as Charles Darnay

I was trying to find a dark actor that at least had some minute passing (emphasis on passing :-P) resemblance to Ioan. While there have been more drastic attempts to show Charles and Sydney’s similarities (such as the dual casting of Chris Sarandon in the 1989 film – and was I the only one who sometimes caught myself waiting for Sydney to break out in “I would not say such things if I were you” in that version? :-)), upon reading the book again I realized that the point of the story is not so much how much they look alike as just that they could be mistaken for each other (make any sense? The point is not that they’re identical but that they have a passing resemblance). If you think about it, at the trial no one’s really going to notice it, and at the guillotine no one is, either. The only person who would recognize him – Madame Defarge – isn’t there. Sorry if I spoiled it for some people.

Back to my point. Charles is often cast as the more wimpy choice as is often done recently in the love triangle plot – Raoul in Phantom of the Opera being another prime example. To create sympathy for the unrequited love character, the “other guy” is often portrayed as a bit mousy, weak, or effeminate. This bugs me to no end. Charles in the book is never portrayed as less of a man, and I think he should be portrayed by someone like Orlando. While you should feel bad for the unrequited character, you shouldn’t have to regret the decision that the heroine made.

-Romola Garai as Lucie Manette

Lucie Manette falls under the “Dickens Heroine” category that it seems only Estella in Great Expectations, Esther Summerson (to an extent) in Bleak House and Bella Wilfer in Our Mutual Friend escaped…the rather flat heroine who does nothing but act sweet. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with being sweet. :-) However, I’m a person that likes three-dimensional characters, and it takes a good actress to pull off the sweet. Plus…I’m a bit more of the spunky heroine loving person. :-) I think that Romola (who’s played another sweet Dickens heroine in the past in Nicholas Nickleby) could make Lucie sweet and yet still interesting. Plus she’s got the right looks...the fair with blond hair. And she’s really good with drama, which is so needed with this character…despite the flatness which the character can fall to, the story itself demands an actress who can handle discovering a lost father, falling in love, and having her husband condemned to death, for starters, and do the drama well.

-Liam Neeson as Dr. Manette

I puzzled for a while over who to cast as Dr. Manette, passing over some of the great older actors I liked merely for the fact that they were too old. While being imprisoned for twenty years has aged him, upon reading the book again I realized he wasn’t as old as I pictured him (the book speaks of him being in his fifties through most of the story). So I puzzled and puzzled and suddenly Liam Neeson popped in my head out of nowhere. He did a turn as another Frenchman when he played the role of Valjean in the non-musical film version of Les Miserables in 1998 (and to the Star Wars geeks he’s best known as Qui-Gon-Jinn, the mentor of Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Phantom Menace) and I think he would be awesome in the role. Yes, he is a tad old, but not as old as some of the other people I pictured at first. Plus he has long hair and a beard in the Star Wars film, so I could picture him making shoes at the beginning. :-P

-Anthony Andrews as Mr. Lorry

First off, the guy needs to be in more films. Especially period films. Period. No pun intended. He would be excellent, I think, as the fidgety banker. I read through Tale again to refresh my memory of the characters and the first description of Mr. Lorry fit him to a ‘t’. As usual with the parts he’s cast in. I’d love to see him butt heads with Maggie Smith, anyway (and the scene of him advising Mr. Stryver against proposing to Lucie…would be hilarious). Plus if he can’t be Sydney (sob….) then I have to give him an honorary casting somewhere…hehe. This is called a “dream” cast, after all. (And am I the only one who noticed how often he does two of something…two Agatha Christie adaptations…two films about Edward VIII...two versions of David Copperfield? Add Tale and then you’ll have two films about the French Revolution. :-))

-Maggie Smith as Miss Pross

One of my favorite actresses, Maggie’s completely the perfect part for the vinegary servant with the heart of gold who took care of Lucie from her childhood. Probably older than the part, but she would capture the character, which as I said earlier in my David Copperfield comparison post, is what matters. Can’t you just picture her bawling Mr. Lorry out…“And you in brown! Do you call that being a banker?!”…and carefully chaperoning Lucie…and defying Madame Defarge… “Well, I am sure, Boldface! I hope you are pretty well!” (Hmm…reminds me of Betsey Trotwood in David Copperfield… Hehehe…)

-Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Defarge

She was one of the first people I picked for this part. :-) Recently cast as the eccentric Miss Havisham in Great Expectations (and as Madame Thenandier in the upcoming film version of Les Miserables - one of the only casting choices I'm actually excited about), this actress is known for her quirky roles (and is one of my favorite actresses period), and she has the intensity, the drama, and the ability to take Madame Defarge beyond the “villainess” role and show just exactly why she became the way she was…I’m thinking of a Defarge similar to Natalie Toro’s in the musical. Can’t you just see Helena with all that long dark hair? :-)

-Colin Firth as Ernest Defarge

This was actually one of my last castings…I was struggling to think of someone in this role and then as I was watching The King’s Speech (for the millionth time…*cough, cough*) and seeing the spectacular work Colin Firth and Helena Bonham-Carter did together, it suddenly popped into my head – why, of course! Monsieur Defarge is supposed to be a bit more sympathetic than his wife when it comes to the Manettes and disagrees with the extent that Madame Defarge wants to take with her revenge - but still isn't the nicest guy on the block. :-). In reading the novel, especially the first few scenes he appears in, I could completely picture him. It would be fun to see him in the ragged vestments of the sans culottes for a change. :-)

- Tom Hollander as Mr. Stryver

His role as Mr. Collins in the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice inspired the casting of Tom Hollander as the pompous fellow lawyer and friend of Sydney’s, who gleans off of Sydney’s expertise to get ahead in his job, and fancies that Lucie is in love with him until Mr. Lorry “advises” him not to propose. He would be splendid, I think.

-Sophie Alibert as Little Lucie Darnay

Last week I asked for brainstorming help for a little girl for my dreamcasting. I needed someone who looked like Romola Garai enough to be convincing as her daughter…and it never occurred to me until a few people pointed it out that there had been a young girl cast as a young Romola that would work splendidly. We only get a teeny glimpse of Sophie Alibert in the 2009 Emma, but she’s adorable, and make a really cute little Lucie Darnay.

-Sean Bean as Barsad

He plays a splendid villain in various films, and I think he would be equally as splendid in this part as the double agent who first tries to frame Charles Darnay, and later works for the peasants.

-Jason Isaacs as the Marquis St. Everemonde

I’m most familiar for his part as the despicable villain Colonel Tavington in the Mel Gibson film The Patriot…and this role calls for pretty much the same kind of character…a bloodthirsty, calloused, unfeeling person who could care less about the person in his way.

-Alun Armstrong as Jerry Cruncher

Because a Dickens adaptation without Alun Armstrong would be like bread without butter or macaroni without cheese, or peanut butter without jelly. In short…unthinkable. How many has the man been in now? (David Copperfield, Bleak House, Little Dorrit, and the recent adaptation of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, for starters...) Because he’s incredible. Because it would be hilarious to see him in this role (despite him being perhaps a mite old). Because I can completely picture him when I’m reading Jerry’s scenes. I can totally see him bawling his wife out for “flopping”.

Now it’s your turn! I’d love to hear your opinion on this…and then for whoever is interested, I’d love to see a dream casting of your favorite Dickens on your blog! If you do, please leave a comment with a link! :-)

Dickens in Musicals

2012-02-09T13:29:00.004-08:00

(*EDIT:* Due to the bug, scheduling conflicts, etc. (in short...life! :-)) this blog will count as Thursday and Friday's post. :-) See you all Saturday with my dream cast for Tale!)

Sorry this is so late...I've picked up a bug going around the family and didn't get time till now to post!

Yesterday I discussed in detail my favorite Dickens musical, A Tale of Two Cities. Today I just wanted to share a few clips from some of his other musicals. :-)

"As Long as He Needs Me" from the musical Oliver, sung by the amazing Ruthie Henshall, who coincidentally played a much simliar tragic "fallen angel" character, Fantine, in Les Miserables.

"I'd Do Anything", one of my favorite numbers from the 1968 film version of the same musical.

"When Love is Gone" - ok, so technically I suppose that The Muppets Christmas Carol isn't a musical (although it's listed as such), but I love the songs in it, so had to include it! :-) While I don't care for his girlfriend's singing voice that much, the song is beautiful and Michael Caine's performance in this scene is lovely. He is (as far as I know) the only Scrooge who does more than simply look like, "oh, man...my bad"...he really looks heartbroken at the mistakes he's made.

"Mr. Scrooge" - because I love this song and the way it's filmed...you don't see him till the very end and all that. Actually, if I had my way I'd post all of the songs from Muppet Christmas Carol...they're all so good!!!

"Thank You Very Much" - from the little-known 1970 musical film starring Albert Finney as Scrooge, this film is really quite fun. This number in particular is a very fun song! :-)

This is actually a workshop version before Tale came to Broadway...but its sooo gorgeous and one of my top faves so I had to include it. :-) Ack, that one line! Excuse me while I get the Kleenexes. :-)

Natalie Toro singing "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" from Tale. This woman is the best Madame Defarge period.

"I Can't Recall" - And lastly, I had to of course include probably my favorite song from Tale...hope you don't mind! :-)

So there you have it! Have you seen any of these, and which is your favorite song?

A Tale of Two Cities...the Musical Review

2012-02-08T15:21:00.000-08:00

Oh, I just realized my 200th post was actually on Charles Dickens' birthday! Lovely!

I also wrote a tribute to Charles Dickens on my other blog, as well for his actual birthday.

And now...a review of the musical A Tale of Two Cities!

My obsession with musicals is legendary among friends – and those of you who’ve been around a while since my blog started almost two years ago. And my foray into the gorgeous A Tale of Two Cities almost never happened.

It was during one of those random evenings in late 2009, sitting around watching a football game (or something…I know I wasn’t watching it) and Dad was switching channels to find something to switch to during commercials when he said, “Oh, is Les Miz on?” (and yes, he was the one that got us hooked on Les Miserables after being obsessed with it himself when the 10^th anniversary first came out.) No, it wasn’t, but it was the trial scene in A Tale of Two Cities, and needless to say the game was quite forgotten in the glorious music.

From where I sit, I see the way things are,
The way they’ve always been.
From here the heavens seem a little far
In this world filled with sin.
And with these hands I keep the memory
Of the things we’ve had to bear.
I mark the names of who will pay when we are free.
I knit a picture of the way it ought to be.

When people are thirsty and ready and willing,
Then it won’t be long till something else but wine is spilling.
The butcher is idle when people are starving.
But it won’t be long ‘til there’s a different kind of carving.
Look into the future, and what do you see there?
And if you do nothing, can you guarantee we’ll be there?

After seeing it, I was desperate to find it on DVD or at least get the CD, but alas! It was only a PBS showing and the only way to get the DVD or CD was to pay one of their “pay $200 and get the DVD and CD”, which obviously we weren’t doing, no matter how glorious the music. So I had to wait six months before it finally came out on CD and DVD around my birthday, which was the perfect time for my brothers to get it for said occasion! I’ve got awesome brothers. Anyway. And it didn’t disappoint.

When it comes to adaptations, the most important thing, I think in musicals, is that it’s true to the spirit of the story, which is where I think that The Scarlet Pimpernel (which I reviewed several weeks back on The Day Dream) failed, and why I love Tale despite the fact that it isn’t purely true to the story in every single way. The spirit of the story is there.

We both were lost,
But now that’s all behind us.
All the endless years
I never knew you.
Lay down your pain,
The shadows of the past.
You have seen the very last
Of what you knew.
I’ll help you to forget
The emptiness you’ve known.
You’ll never be alone again.
Together we’ll begin
That life lost long ago.
You’ll never be alone again.

The cast are magnificent, completely transcending the rather small and dinky (to quote my musical theatre aficionado/geek mother) stage. It’s a concert version of the story, so there’s no spoken dialogue, but the songs are “acted” out vs. sung in microphones like the concert version of Les Miserables. The bits in between are narrated by acting legend Michael York, and while he does fine with it, it can be a bit annoying to be jerked out of the emotion of the music and story to hear him going on about the plot (to be honest, Mom and I skip those bits when we watch it :-P).

James Barbour brings the most incredible and most accurate portrayal of Sydney Carton I’ve seen yet, showing both the charm, wit, and pathos of the character. He may have issues but personal life aside, the man is one incredible actor and he has an absolutely gorgeous voice to go with it. His singing literally moves me to tears with the incredible emotion in it, just what’s needed for this character.

I can’t recall the taste of wine,
Have I been drinking down my days,
A crippled wretch content to crawl?
If I have been that man,
Right now I can’t recall.

The choice is mine,
Tomorrow’s at my feet,
All yesterday’s a haze,
I pray that I will not repeat!

I can’t recall a night so clear,
The heavens seem an inch away,
And not unfriendly after all, after all,
If life was never quite this sweet,
I can’t recall!

Simon Thomas’ Charles Darnay, while a bit…”I’m the other guy so I’ve gotta be a bit of a wimp so everyone feels bad for the Unrequited One” (more on that later this week) has a nice voice and great chemistry with everyone, including Brandi Burkhart, who plays Lucie. Lovely voice and shows the sweet Lucie while giving her just a bit…personality? J Sometimes Dickens heroines can be a weeee bit flat, and she put just the teeniest bit of spunk that I enjoyed.

I’ve got to give a shout-out to Natalie Toro, who gives an absolutely amaaaazing performance as Madame Defarge. The villainess of Tale is often portrayed as just the personification of pure evil, but Natalie goes a step beyond and manages to show purely through her acting how Madame came to be the way she was. When I really thought about it, Lucie and Madame have two parallel stories – they were horribly wronged when they were young, and it was only because Lucie chose to forgive that she ended up the way she was. It is frightening in a way, to look at Madame Defarge and realize that it was bitterness that made her the way she was – and that any one of us is capable of becoming that way ourselves. Her scenes are sooooo dramatic, especially the trial scene, where it just seems as if she snaps and is just oozing with hate. Chilling scene. Plus she has one incredible belt, and while her voice for this character isn’t necessarily beautiful, it is one of those, “wow, what a voice” kind of things. J Major kudos to her character.

Out of sight, out of mind,
Where the strong never look.
If we don’t come too near,
It’s as if we’re not here,
And there’s nothing to fear.

But out of sight
We have the room to plan,
We watch them from afar.
They won’t suspect,
Till soon we’ll see a day
When they know who we are!

Let them stay unafraid!
Just for now, keep them blind.
Patience waits for a spark!
Till the time that is right,
We’ll remain in the dark…
Out of sight, out of mind!

For once I can say that I love every single one of the songs in this musical. They’re all gorgeous, emotional, and just give you that emotional high point that is one of the most glorious parts of the musical experience. My brother pointed out that there are several songs that ooze Les Miz vibes, and while that is true, it certainly didn’t spoil my enjoyment of them. The orchestration is absolutely stunning, soaring and rousing and just gorgous.

The melodies aren’t the only part of the musical. The lyrics themselves are brilliant, especially Sydney’s songs, which so perfectly express the emotions of the character.

If dreams came true,
I might have been a better man.
If dreams came true,
You might have set me free.
But God is kind,
For you he had a better plan,
And saved you from the pain of loving me.

(that song gives me the chills every time I listen to it…it so so perfectly describes Sydney’s pain. And the gorgeous way it’s put…”but God is kind, for you he had a better plan, and saved you from the pain of loving me.” Just…gorgeous. All I can say.)

I know this is a highly unintelligible review J, but the height of my love for this musical is just…yeah. Definitely in my top ten if not my top five favorite musicals, and climbing steadily every time I watch it. It is true to the spirit of the novel, really bringing across Sydney’s transformation and redemption and the truly selfless love he has for Lucie Manette. And I think that’s what I love most about the story…most people would think, oh, great…Charles will die and then Sydney will finally get what he wants. Even Sydney thinks it at one point in the story…

What if he can’t be saved?
What if he dies?
What if she turns to me?

But in the face of a story where everyone is looking out for themselves, revenging their own injustices and never thinking of how their vengeance affects other people, Sydney thinks only of the woman he loves and what would make her truly happy.

For now save her the sorrow,
For now save her the tears.
Save grief for somewhere years away,
Just not today, not here.
For now let her be lucky,
For now look down in grace.
Give her time to learn compassion,
Give her time to learn forgiveness,
Help me find a way to give this gift to her!
Only let her be a child,
Let her be a child…
Just let her be a child for now.

A Tale of Two Cities is ultimately the story of redemption and what a truly real love is – “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).” I always love the last bit of the story, where Sydney finally and truly has a purpose for living, and the story really shows this once again in the beautiful lyrics in “The Letter”, his goodbye to Lucie.

When you look into his eyes,
Know how much you meant to me.
Know this was the only way to set him free…
To set me free.

So if you don’t get anything out of this review, just get that – I cannot recommend it highly enough! It is available now on Amazon in CD and DVD format…and let me tell you, if you can get your hands on the DVD, do so! It really is amazing at how incredible they all do…you just forget that they’re on that tiny stage and it’s just wonderful. Believe it, it will be a far, far better thing you do… :-P Anyway.

I can’t recall a night so clear,
The heavens seem an inch away,
And not unfriendly after all…
If life was never quite this sweet…

It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done.
It is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.

I can’t recall!

David Copperfield Comparisons Part Two...

2012-02-07T13:35:00.000-08:00

Continued from part one...

1999

While this version has its flaws, it’s definitely my favorite of all the versions. Some of my favorite performances by my favorite actors are on here…specifically Maggie Smith as Betsy Trotwood – the best, IMO, period. “Janet – Donkeys!!!” Exactly how I pictured Betsy Trotwood. Betsy’s one of my favorite characters in DC, and as one of my favorite actresses, Maggie Smith did a fantastic job. While sometimes she can be a bit too “serious” in the role…she’s still fantastic.

Emelia Fox (well known in Jane Austen circles as Georgiana Darcy in the 1995 Pride and Prejudice) is completely and totally perfect as David’s mother, soft-spoken, gentle and sweet…managing to show the young mother overpowered by Mr. Murdstone and somehow at the same time keeping her from being annoying (am I the only one that gets annoyed by the other mousy, simpering versions?). She’s exactly what I imagined his mother as and this role shot her up to the list of favorite actresses for me. Her performance as Mrs. Copperfield sparked an inspiration for a similar character in one of my novels, so I’m partial to her performance. :-) Definitely the perfect Mrs. Copperfield.

Bob Hoskins is fabulous as Mr. Micawber…it’s hard to get exactly that character, and I think he did a great job. Some people say that his Mr. Micawber wasn’t over-the-top enough and too “realistic”, but I rather liked that approach…it made it seem more like someone you might actually meet, you know? Imelda Staunton (Sense and Sensibility, Cranford) as Mrs. Micawber was just a delicious extra. “I will never desert him!” :-) The attempted suicide scene was absolutely hilarious.

Ian McKellan has a disgustingly slimy cameo as Mr. Creakle, and the young David is an adorably cute pre- super fame Daniel Radcliffe who does, IMO, the best young-David job of all the child actors in the role I’ve seen. And of course, the alumni of Dickens adaptations, the marvelous Alun Armstrong, gives a wonderful performance as Dan Peggoty (but then, when has he ever done a bad performance?). My favorite Peggoty – Pauline Quirke (she might be familiar to viewers as Dixon, the Hale’s servant from North and South), while not exactly the book’s description, conveys the character of the faithful servant, and I think that is the key. The more I’ve seen films-adapted-from books, the more I’ve realized that it doesn’t always matter if they’re exactly like the description of the character, as long as they capture the character themselves. They may not have the same hair color or be quite the same age, but if they manage to bring across what the character was supposed to, that’s what makes you remember them.

Agnes fell just a bit short…you never really felt like she was in love with him, and just wasn’t quite right. Hallelujah, Rosa Dartle had a good, obvious scar, but looked quite older than Steerforth. However, her scene when *SPOILERS* they hear of Steerforth’s death was absolutely incredible. Very happy there.

But I definitely thought this had the strongest performance for Ham Peggoty, played by James Thornton. Unlike most that show him as a thickheaded, ugly dolt who somehow managed to win Emily’s hand because there was no one else around, this Ham is strong, manly, and handsome in his own rugged way. He is uneducated, yes, but there’s a masculinity and rough chivalry in him that makes you love him from the moment he comes on the screen, and that makes his sacrifice in the end so much more bittersweet, because unlike most times when you merely feel bad for Ham (like even in the book for me)…in this one, you like him. Also in this version (unlike others…and I don’t remember if it’s this way in the book) he knows when he goes out to save the man in the storm that it’s Steerforth, which just adds so much to his noble character. Definitely, definitely my favorite Ham. Sniff.

There are some weak performances – I’m not crazy at all about the older David. He’s much too bland and just…blah. (And does anyone notice the resemblance to Charles Dickens? I know that David Copperfield is generally considered a sort of autobiography, but it was funny…the very obvious comparisons to Dickens :-)) Dora wasn’t half childish enough and was a bit boring. Uriah just wasn’t quite slimy enough for my taste, and Mr. Murdstone fell a bit short…he was black and menacing and grouchy…but just not quite as menacing as I’d like. Plus there’s no charm to him whatsoever…you’ve got to wonder what on earth drew Mrs. Copperfield to him (I can picture a similar performance if they had cast Mark Strong in the role). I do have to make an exception for one scene right after David’s mother dies when he comes in to David and blurts that he wishes that David had died and not his mother. In that way we get a glimpse that just perhaps, in his own twisted way, Mr. Murdstone might have really loved David’s mother, and resented that David came between them. Which I like…I like a good three-dimensional villain who can show that they have other feelings inside of them other than brutality and hate.

While I enjoyed the young Steerforth, played by a very young Harry Lloyd, and while the older Steerforth did well enough (he reminded me rather of James McAvoy), he just didn’t quite cut it for me (and this was before I saw the 1974 version, so don’t judge :-P). Plus he butchered my favorite “judicious father” scene. Sigh.

But overall, this is a very good version if you want to see the story. My only complaint is that the last half seems rushed…they spent the whole first part on David’s childhood, going into detail and being almost completely straight from the book, and then the second half is spent rushing through the second part of him as an adult. It could have really used a third part to be able to expound on it more. But overall, highly recommended. And about the only version besides the 1930's one that you can find on DVD.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

2000

Does anything think it’s funny how often people will do the same project so close to each other? (Take the recent theatrical and miniseries adaptations of Great Expectations) Just a year after the last miniseries adaptation, this Hallmark version has some great performances that put it almost up to par with the ’99 version.

After that glowing opening I start with Mrs. Copperfield…couldn’t stand her. Sigh. :) Sally Fields was completely out of touch as Betsy and could never quite get the character (and was anyone else annoyed by her “Don-KEYS!”???) . I hesitate to criticize people’s attempts at accents as I know how difficult it must be, but the fact remains. She reminded me too much of my great aunt…which is not a bad thing, btw, because she (my great aunt) is an awesome person. Anyway. But my great aunt is not Betsy Trotwood. Did any of that make sense? :-)

Pegotty was ok, but a bit annoying in places. As for the young David…he was all right, but his hair annoyed me for some odd reason, and he seemed to only have one expression…like, oh-my-soul-what’s-going-on. Even when nothing was going on. He was cute, but…just cute. He never quite got the range of emotions (and for walking all that way from London to Dover, he looked remarkably well-kept). But he was adorable, which I find for child actors often makes up for it.

The amazing Eileen Atkins is the best Miss Murdstone I’ve seen yet…”Edward! I leave at once!”Although she would make a great Betsey Trotwood if another adaptation ever came up. J As usual she was completely fantastic, and was exactly how I pictured her in the novel. And this was the only adaptation that includes the book’s sideplot of her being Dora’s companion. Which was lovely. And which leads me to the main villain of the story…drumroll…

Anthony Andrews as Mr. Murdstone

Oh, look who it is. Hello! What a coincidence.

Yes, I knew about it coming in. And yes, I will admit! It had a large part in influencing my decision to see it. So there. I am not ashamed!

Theatrics aside. This is the first “villain” role I’d seen him in, and of course he was awesome (a given, I know). While it is hard to picture Sir Percy as a brutal villain, he got what no other Murdstone achieved…although Basil Rathbone came close…the charm. The charm that lured Mrs. Copperfield in. And yet, there was the brutality there, which was nice in a very horrid way. It was a bit odd how they kept sticking the Murdstones in there throughout the story…the purist in me was a bit shocked, yet as a fan I would be lying to say that I didn’t cheer every time they appeared on the screen. :-) The scenes where Mr. Murdstone manipulated the older David were chilling (and rather like another stepfather/stepson story of mine that was inspired by the characters. I take refuge in the quote that says something to the effect that good writers imitate and great writers steal…) and it does show what a lot of other adaptations tend to gloss over…what an impact the emotional abuse as a child would have on the older David’s life. Definitely the most menacing version I’ve seen.

Oh, and the dude went through wives faster than anything in this version. He ought to marry one of the Davis women from the Love Comes Softly series…with his penchant for going through wives so quickly and the Davis women’s penchant for the same; between the two of them perhaps they could stay alive through more than just one year of marriage. :-)

And I always crack up when Ian McKellan as Creakle in the 1999 version tells David that “I knew your stepfather…” I want to go, “Yes. In a different life he beat me at a duel.” Anyway. Random trail there.

To get back to my point…a job well done with this character. And no, it’s not just because he’s my favorite actor…I can hear the protests now (or rather this is why I’d say he’s my favorite…because in every single role I’ve seen him in he manages to exactly capture the character he’s playing).

This picture is completely out of character but it's so cute of the two of them that I had to include it. :-)

(And on a total side note…he needs to be in more Dickens/1840’s era films. The clothing really suits him. And the hair. End of total side note.)

Hugh Dancy was without a doubt the best older David I’ve seen, period. He has the vitality, the innocence without looking effeminate, the passionate drive (he would have made a great Nicholas Nickleby, far superior to Charlie Hunnam’s) and yup. Loved the character. And there was a much more subtle resemblance to Dickens. You just don’t always feel like getting hit over the head with the similarity, you know? :-) Anyway. Definitely the strongest performance of David, and actually made him a likeable hero vs. just the view through which we see the story.

The problem with David (and most early Dickens heroes) is that the main character usually isn’t very…interesting. (Think Oliver in Oliver Twist, David here, Nicholas in Nicholas Nickleby). Dickens’ focus seems to be on creating colorful and amazing secondary characters, and it’s those that you remember. The heroes are more there as a lens through which the reader sees the world that Dickens has created. All that said, Hugh did a fine job taking David a step further and make you actually care about him and what happened to him, and not just wish that it would get to the next scene with your favorite characters.

I was really looking forward to Paul Bettany’s Steerforth…as one of my favorite actors, I was interested to see his take on the character. While as the younger Steerforth (somehow he managed to pull it off better than Anthony Andrews) he did a fantastic job, he’s just not quite charming enough as the grown Steerforth as I would wish. Sigh. And there was no judicious father scene!!!! Of all the nerve!

Mr. Micawber…um. Wow. The worst I’d seen period. Played by American actor Michael Richards, this Mr. Micawber slips and slides everywhere as if he had banana peels strapped to his shoes. Turned the character into a completely and totally slapstick character. Badly done, Micawber. Badly done. And while I love Leslie Manville (North and South, Cranford, among others), she didn’t seem to fit with him (and seemed too old, IMO). Dora was quite a letdown. She wasn’t silly in the least bit…not like she’s supposed to be. Although her death scene was pretty good. But she wasn’t the silly, flighty thing she was supposed to be.

Emily Hamilton's Agnes, on the other hand, was complete perfection. The best Agnes yet, IMO. She was sweet but not too sweet, watching out for David while not being too maternal, and she showed very clearly…yet not too clearly so that everyone in the story could see – how much she loved David. And yet she was so sweet to Dora, especially at the end.

And Uriah…was all right. Passable. A bit…not quite Uriahish. Dickens describes him like a skeleton over and over, and so you kind of expect, you know, tall and skinny and whatnot. He just kind of annoyed me, I guess. To be honest, I really haven’t found a Uriah yet that I really like.

So overall...I would recommend it. Definitely. After seeing the 2000 version, I almost have to put it up there with the 1999 as my favorite, the only difference being the far superior Betsy Trotwood, Mrs. Copperfield and Mr. Micawber in the 1999 version. This version is only available in Region Two, so your best bet is watching it on YouTube, as I did. Unfortunately the upload is off-synch...but it didn't keep me from enjoying it. :-) So all you Copperfield fans (or Anthony Andrews fans who want to see him in a totally different role than our beloved Percy), get thee on YouTube!

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
(and ten out of ten for the Anthony Andrews fans ;-))

So there you have it…my personal (perhaps sometimes biased ;-)) comparisons between the four major David Copperfield versions. Sooooo….now it’s your turn! Have you seen any of these, and which is your favorite? Who’s a few of your favorite characters, and who’s your favorite portrayal of them?

David Copperfield Comparisons Part One...

2012-02-06T13:10:00.000-08:00

Hello, everyone!

I'm all Dickens-pumped-up over here. Late last night Mom and I got out my Tale of Two Cities musical DVD and watched it. Ack, the epicness...I'll be posting clips (and a review) later this week. But anyway! So now I'm all bouncy and happy about this week. Not that I wasn't before...but you know.

When I first thought up the idea of a Dickens week, the one thing I knew I wanted to do was a Dickens Adaptation comparison. Those are sooo fun and of course, what better excuse to see new Dickens? :-) Looking over the many different film adaptations I’d seen, I realized that the story I’d seen the most versions of was David Copperfield, so David Copperfield it was! (Well, take that back. The most adaptations I’ve seen would be A Christmas Carol…but anyway…you get this. :-)).

Once I started in my own sweet rambling way, I realized that this post was going to be way, way too long as it was…so I divided it up into two days’ worth of posts. Enjoy! I had such a blast revisiting these for the posts and giving my opinion on all of them!

David Copperfield –

1935

This is a pretty stereotypical ‘old thirties movie’, chock full of the best names in the Old Hollywood business, overall not the worst adaptation if you like old films. They make some changes, like cutting David’s school experience and having him meet Steerforth at school in Canterbury, cutting the Mr. Spenlow subplot (David and Dora meet and soon after marry without the struggle from her father – who is nonexistent) and Mrs. Steerforth and Rosa Dartle.

Freddie Bartholomew gives a pretty strong performance as the young David. It’s kind of hard to compare the films of the 30’s and 40’s with modern films, as the style of acting was so different, you know? But for that time, he did a very good job.

I can’t say the same for his mother…she probably had the weakest performance of anyone in the film. Highly, highly melodramatic, she floated around the room with literally her limp wrist at her forehead, swaying and moaning and overall being a pain. J

When I heard that Basil Rathbone was playing Mr. Murdstone, I thought that at last I may have found my perfect Murdstone…the man can be charming and yet brutal at the same time. I really haven’t found one that’s the perfect mix…while he’s brutal and heartless to David, there still has to be a charm there…how else would he win the young Mrs. Copperfield’s affections? However, from the first look into Basil Rathbone’s steely gaze at the first scene, he spends the rest of his time snarling at everyone…and it’s more bark than actual brutality. So I was a bit let down there.

Dame Edna Mae Oliver had her turn as Betsy Trotwood…it seems she had a role as all the grande dames of literature, from Lady Catherine de Borough to Aunt March to Betsy Trotwood. She does a fair job, not how I picture but adequately bringing the character across.

John Barrymore is Dan Peggoty, and sometimes it can be a little difficult to wrap your mind around the idea of Mr. Potter from It’s a Wonderful Life being a Yarmouth fisherman. Like most of the others, he does an adequate job in the role.

Steerforth was the weakest performance I’ve seen yet…he’s not half as charming as the character calls for, and you can see through him almost through the whole thing, which is not what I want with the character. Let me give a bit of background here and say that I’ve always had a soft spot for Steerforth despite his less-than-noble character ever since reading the novel (kind of the same as for John Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility). Despite the fact that you know from the beginning that he’s not a good idea for David and that he means trouble, you can’t help but be pulled in by his charm just as David is. So when I see an adaptation, I want to like Steerforth and wish that he “had a judicious father” and could somehow “guide himself better”, as he says in my very favorite Steerforth scene in the book. But this one is plainly a villain from the start...and he rushes through my favorite scene, which made me mad. J

The older David did well…a very old-film-Dickens feel to him similar to the characters in the 1951 A Christmas Carol or the 1948 Great Expectations. I was rather pleased with his performance in an old-film Dickens way. Uriah was not half as creepy as I like, but he did all right. Agnes was lovely, although I don’t remember her confessing her love for David to Aunt Betsy…but anyway. W. C. Fields is famous for his Micawber, but he didn’t quite cut it for me. Adequate, but still just not quite.

So all in all, the adaptation is adequate, though not the best. The exception is Maureen O’Sullivan’s portrayal of Dora, which to date is the best I’ve seen in any of the adaptations. She’s childish and naïve without being completely uninteresting and yet captivating, and you can see what would have captured the young David’s imagination.

The scenes with the cookery book and the flopped meal were exactly the Dora I had in my mind, and her last scene with David was perfection, exactly how I pictured it in the novel. She managed to show exactly how Dora was supposed to be – to me at least – which none of the other adaptations were quite able to manage (although the 1974’s Dora came close).

So, all in all, the 1930's version is good for entertainment and if you like black-and-white movies. My rating - 3 out of 5 stars.

1974

Let me just say up front that I’m not as a rule a fan of the 70’s-80’s BBC miniseries. They work adequately, but that’s about it, you know? J So I’ll be completely honest and say that my initial reason for watching the 1974 miniseries can be summed up in two words…or one picture. :-)

Anthony Andrews as James Steerforth

Yes, I confess that Steerforth was the draw for me (cough, cough…).

I mean…my favorite actor playing one of my favorite characters in David Copperfield? Come, now, how could I resist? :-) My best friend (who’ve I’ve converted to Anthony Andrews fanship ;-)…yes, I’m a bad influence) argues that he’s too “good” for Steerforth…if you’re used to a diet of Sir Percy and Ivanhoe and other heroes, it’s hard to wrap your mind around him playing a “bad boy” (much less a villain…more on that tomorrow…). However, I have to say that he does the job marvelously. He has all the charm that draws David to him in the first place, and I can hardly blame naïve Emily for being swept away by him. But he also shows the other side, from that horrid scene with Mr. Mel (even I, the Steerforth-oh-what-might-have-been fan, always hate him in that bit) to the way he rather uses David in some areas. He does a fine job and manages, as he always does, to capture exactly what you pictured reading the character while at the same time making him entirely his own. And he wears the most awesome caped coat and top hat. Which is a total bonus. The 1840’s have become one of my favorite fashion periods when it comes to men’s fashions. Yup, yup…

He completely masters the “I wish I had a judicious father” scene, with just the right amount of pathos and devil-may-care in that scene (not to sound like a broken record, but just how I pictured it…), despite the fact that it’s not the best scene for David. Bravo, as usual (And I may have been slightly traumatized by *SPOILERS* his death. That was very sad. Ever since reading the book I’ve wished that he would somehow turn around and live a better life. Sniff. Steerforth…why, why, why? Anyway…).

But I must say…it’s stretching it…him playing Young Steerforth. I know that he was quite a bit older than David, but a twenty-six-year-old guy playing someone ten years younger with a bunch of little boys…that was a bit hard to swallow. Fun from the fan standpoint, but definitely hard to swallow. J But as the older Steerforth, I enjoyed it immensely.

(And Mr. Mel must have been like…seven feet tall or something. Because Anthony’s not short…and the guy was like, towering over him. End of total randomness.)

All that said…I went into the viewing expecting nothing more than to see some Anthony Andrews screen time and just skim over the rest, so I was pleasantly surprised at how the miniseries turned out. Not amazingly impressive, by any means, but better than anticipated. At five hours, it’s the longest adaptation, and the closest to the book, almost word-for-word in some places (and including parts that most adaptations leave out…Mr. Mel, Traddles (which I thought he did a tremendous job, BTW), and other little bits like that).

The older David bugged me immensely at first, but I was surprised after watching him for a while how he grew on me. He isn’t my ideal David by any means, but he did a fine job. His scenes with Dora after they were married were particularly good. But the facial hair at the end was ghastly. Just saying. :-)

Mr. Micawber was good, but not exceptional. Dora was actually, despite being just a tad too old, very very good. Almost as good as Maureen O’Sullivan’s Dora. She was flighty and childish, and the flopped dinner with Traddles was superbly done by all. Agnes was great as well, probably my second favorite next to the 2000 version.

Peggoty was all right – probably the closest besides Pauline Quirke, my favorite Peggoty. The Yarmouth Peggotys were middling…Ham was rather a clod, but Dan was good. Rosa Dartle is a beautiful young lady with a practically non-existent scar (it is rather humorous to hear Anthony Andrews’ Steerforth talk of the “remarkable scar on her lip” when his own scar is more noticeable than hers) that you don’t even notice till halfway through the film.

I do have to make special mention of Uriah Heep, played by Martin Jarvis. I’m picky about my Uriahs, and he did an excellent job. Good and slimy and red-headed and skeleton-like, with a nice creepy voice. Yuppers.

All that said, unless you’re a die-hard miniseries viewer, you probably will have a hard time getting through the first ten minutes. It’s immensely true to the original story, with most of the script straight from the book. But the rather slow move of the film and very old-miniseries feel (almost more like being on a stage) isn’t going to help its cause. While there were a few rather excellent performances as I said above, it seemed for every good performance there were two…well, not so great ones (for the most part *wink*).

Betsy Trotwood looks like Leslie Howard in a bonnet (wow…that’s scary), and David’s mother looks fifty. Sheweeee, if David’s father was supposed to be twice her age, he merely must have died of old age, she looked so old. And every time Betsey calls her a baby I just want to hoot. Young David is far too old for the role, and Mr. Murdstone – my soul! All hair and nothing else. As Betsey said, he looked as if he couldn’t say boo to a goose. Even the beating scene was rather humorous in its lack of menace…or perhaps it was because I had just watched the 2000 version. More on that tomorrow. J

So basically I would hesitate to recommend this (enjoyment wise, not content…as there was none) unless you are a diehard fan of 70’s and 80’s BBC miniseries, a have-to-see-every-version fan of David Copperfield, or a diehard fan of Anthony Andrews (in which case, come and sit by me, fellow fan!) If any (or all) apply, then definitely get thee on YouTube (as it’s practically impossible to find on DVD) and see it (here's the link to the first episode...the rest are on there...)!

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars
(and 9 out of 10 for the Anthony Andrews fanship bit...hehe)

(...and I leave you with a pic of the epic top hat and great coat...
oh, Steerforth...I wish you had a judicious father...)

Stay tuned tomorrow for Part Two…the 1999 and 2000 versions!

Welcome to Dickens Week...and a Tag!

2012-02-05T12:31:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, and welcome to Dickens Bicentennial Celebration Week! I am so excited about this week and have so much planned!

Charles Dickens' works have touch so many people through the past two centuries, and I'm no exception! He's been my favorite author for the past ten years, and revisiting several of his novels the past few months in prep for this week has just reminded me why I love his works so much!

His characters are some of the most vivid and unforgettable in literature, with their colorful descriptions and sometimes zany names (who can forget Ebenezer Scrooge, Fagin, Sydney Carton, or Miss Havisham?), and his novels have influenced society and culture even to this day. His A Christmas Carol was one of the key elements in the shaping of the Christmas culture as we know it today, and Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby did their parts in helping along various social reforms, for example.

Great Expectations (2011)

Since the focus of this blog is primarily costume dramas and films adapted from literature, I wanted this blog event to focus primarily on the adaptations there have been over the years of his works. From blockbuster musicals to stories made so many times, there's even been versions with puppets and talking mice...Dickens has had a huge part in the film/stage adaptation realm. And that's what this week's all about!

So! For the first day, I've made a shortish tag and added my own answers. Enjoy!

1. How were you first introduced to Dickens?

2. Which is your favorite Dickens novel?

3. How many Dickens adaptations have you seen?

4. Which Dickens adaptation is your favorite?

5. Have you seen multiple versions of A Christmas Carol? Which version is your favorite?

6. Who is your favorite Dickens hero and (if applicable) who does your favorite portrayal of him?

7. Who is your favorite Dickens heroine and (if applicable) who does your favorite portrayal of her?

8. Who is your favorite Dickens villain and (if applicable) who does your favorite portrayal of them?

9. Have you seen any musical adaptations of any of Dickens’ stories? If so, which is your favorite song from it?

10. Do you have a favorite Dickens quote? If so, what is it?

And here's my answers...

A Tale of Two Cities (the musical)

1. How were you first introduced to Dickens?

Like I’m sure most people are, it was through A Christmas Carol for as far back as I can remember. My other-than-A Christmas Carol experience was reading A Tale of Two Cities for the first time when I was thirteen.

2. Which is your favorite Dickens novel?

Definitely A Tale of Two Cities. Hands down.

3. How many Dickens adaptations have you seen?

Good grief. Ummmm…at least sixteen different adaptations (several are different versions of a story). The novels I’ve seen adaptations of are…

-A Christmas Carol (6)
-A Tale of Two Cities (2)
-David Copperfield (4)
-Great Expectations (2)
-Oliver Twist (2)
-Nicholas Nickleby
-Our Mutual Friend
-Bleak House
-Little Dorrit

Bleak House (2005)

4. Which Dickens adaptation is your favorite?

Argh. Ummmmm…I really haven’t found a Dickens adaptation that’s my favorite (other than A Christmas Carol...more on that below)…since there’s never really been a really good version of Tale done yet (more on that later this week…), although the musical came close IMO. I really enjoyed Bleak House, though. And the various versions of David Copperfield (again, more on that later :-))

5. Have you seen multiple versions of A Christmas Carol? Which version is your favorite?

Well, my very favorite is the classic 1951 version starring Alastair Sim as Scrooge. Classic, and as much as a staple as the Christmas tree and Dad’s fudge. But I must say…that The Muppets Christmas Carol is a close second! Michael Caine is IMO almost as good as Alastair Sim, and for a film full of puppets it stays amazingly true to both the plot, dialogue, and spirit of the story. I'd recommend it as much as I would the 1951 version!

James Barbour in A Tale of Two Cities (the musical)

6. Who is your favorite Dickens hero and (if applicable) who does your favorite portrayal of him?

Sydney Carton, definitely. Even though I guess he’s technically more of an “anti-hero” (the guy who’s not technically heroic but does some deed by the end to redeem himself). And to date, my favorite portrayal has to be James Barbour’s in the musical version. Personal life aside, the guy did an incredible job in his portrayal, and to date has the best balance of Sydney’s character in the book.

7. Who is your favorite Dickens heroine and (if applicable) who does your favorite portrayal of her?

Hmmmmmmm. Dickens heroines are usually not that…you know, interesting. J But I’d have to say that my favorite wavers between Amy Dorrit (as portrayed by Claire Foy) and Bella Wilfer (as portrayed by Anna Friel).

Nicholas Nickleby (2002)

8. Who is your favorite Dickens villain and (if applicable) who does your favorite portrayal of them?

Goodness. That’s tough. There are so many different Dickens villains from bad boys to the comical villains to downright cold-blooded murderers that it’s hard to choose. Being the multi-choice loving person that I am, I’m going to divide them into subcategories. :-P

Bad-boy: James Steerforth (Anthony Andrews)
Comical Villain: Fagin (Ben Kingsley) - although Mr. Squeers (and Jim Broadbent's portrayal) almost steals that spot!
Bad-to-the-Core Villain: Hm! That’s tough. Probably Bill Sykes, although I’ve yet to see a portrayal of him that’s quite spot-on…I adore Charles Dance’s Mr. Tulkinghorn, but is he technically a villain? Mr. Murdstone is another, and I will admit to being partial to Anthony Andrews' portrayal of him as well. More on that later this week. J
Female Villain: Madame Defarge (Natalie Toro)

9. Have you seen any musical adaptations of any of Dickens’ stories? If so, which is your favorite song from it?

Hmmmmm. That’s a hard choice. Probably “I Can’t Recall” from A Tale of Two Cities .

Little Dorrit (2008)

10. Do you have a favorite Dickens quote? If so, what is it?

Oh, my goodness, so many! I’ll share just three...you know how it is, you have tons but when it comes down to it you can’t remember any :-P

It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humor. – A Christmas Carol

And it was always said of him that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us. – A Christmas Carol

And this last one just…gives me chills every single time I read it. J

It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known. – A Tale of Two Cities

Our Mutual Friend (1998)

So! Now it’s your turn. If you would like, please answer the questions on the tag on your blog, then leave a link in the comments on this post so I can read the answers! So excited for this week!

Help with Casting...

2012-02-02T18:25:00.000-08:00

I'm working on the dream casting for my Dickens casting, and I'm missing a character, and I thought I'd ask for some ideas from my period-drama savvy bloggy friends!

I need a young British actress, around 7-10 years old or so (a bit older is ok...but that's about the age of the character). I need a recent actress (as I'm casting a "if we had a dream film this year" kind of thing)...in other words I don't need child actors from the 30's, you know? :-)

Anyway! Please leave any suggestions in the comments with name and a film they were in to identify them.

Thanks so much for the help! Looking forward to seeing what you all come up with! :-)

Badly Done, Emma...

2012-01-31T11:22:00.000-08:00

The other night my parents and I were wanting something to watch that we hadn't seen in a while, and the 1996 Emma came up. I hadn't seen it in a while, and I did wonder how I would like it after seen the 2009 Emma, which I loved.

Um. I forgot how much I love this version. True, it's played as more of a comedy. True, it cuts out huge chunks. But I haven't laughed - or sighed - or squealed - so much in a long time! Everything was lovely, and I was reminded once again why Mr. Knightley is my favorite Austen hero...Jeremy Northam's performance! He was sooooo sweet and soooo chivalrous and soooo....heroic! Almost as heroic as Percy. Almost, you understand. :-P

Anyway. On Miss Dashwood's blog a while back, we were discussing the pros and cons of the 1996 and 2009's "Badly Done" scenes...so I thought I'd post this, my definite favorite. I only wish they had the Mr.-Knightley-rescues-Harriet scene and the proposal scene, which are my other favorite scenes in this film, but they don't. Ah, well.

Sooo...hope you enjoy!

Awards Post Coming Soon...

2012-01-30T13:22:00.001-08:00

I've gotten a boatload of awards from a bunch of lovely people!!! Thanks so much, everyone! A post with all the awards coming soon...I just wanted to say "thanks" to everyone! :-)

My Caption Won!

2012-01-28T18:47:00.000-08:00

(shout-out to Miss Dashwood...didn't she do a lovely job with the banner? Quite the awesome award, IMO...)

Have to say I'm pretty excited to announce that my caption "The Smolder" won the Period Drama Button Contest! Thanks so very much to Miss Dashwood for hosting this hilarious and fun contest, and thanks so much to everyone who voted!

And I leave you with the button itself. Have a blessed Lord's Day tomorrow, everyone, and see you all back next week!

By the way...get your gears ready for Dickens Week...my soul, can't believe how fast it's coming! Ay-yi-yi...

Guest Post...

2012-01-28T09:51:00.000-08:00

I posted a review of the musical version of The Scarlet Pimpernel at The Daydream today...please go over and read...and comment! And follow, of course. :-)

Dickens Buttons...sort of....

2012-01-25T19:52:00.000-08:00

Ok, sooo here's the scoop, my bloggy amigas. I've got Dickens blog buttons made....but with recent headaches, it will be a while until I get actual grab-the-button-thingies. BUT...it's getting late (like, week-and-a-half?!?!?!) so I thought I'd just go ahead and post the buttons. You can save the pics (there, you have permission) and post them if you want. Whatev. :-D

There's landscape and portrait buttons, for whichever you prefer. :-)

Anyway! Enjoy!

PHEW! :-)

2012-01-23T20:10:00.000-08:00

EDIT: It has come to my attention (thanks to those who commented...and no, I have decided I won't wring your neck...this time...) that there's some code trouble. It's being worked on and will be fixed ASAP. :-)

After a ton of headache and over-and-over-and-overs...(this is a BIG deal for this computer-illiterate gal!) I've got my blog button up! :-)

Hurrah...(slumps over) :-)

Anyway. Here's the code...PLEASE let me know if it doesn't work. I promise I will (try to) not wring your neck. ;-)

And THANK YOU soooooo much to everyone who helped! I literally could not have done it without you. :-)

My Captions Were Finalists...and Thanks!

2012-01-23T13:31:00.000-08:00

First off, thank you all SOOOO VERY MUCH for all the awesome help with the buttons! I'm fiddling with it now and will post as soon as I figure it out. :-)

On another note...two of my captions were contest finalists! Hurrah!!! Please hop over here and vote, if you would! :-)

Help for Blog Buttons...

2012-01-23T08:18:00.000-08:00

Ok, peoples, so I need some help here!

So here's my dilemma. I've got a blog button designed for my blog (finally...I can hear your cry, Flip) and I want to share it with you all! Problemo is, I'm not skilled in the do-hickeys of the whole html-grab-my-button-code-thingie. So anyway. I'd love any tips/help/whatev on how to do it!!! (I'm looking at you, Anna....)

And as you can see, the above is my new button. The pic at the top. Anyway. I like it, if I do say so. Aaaanyyhooz. You could...if you really can't wait until I get the code thingie...grab the pic and add a link to it the old fashioned way, like I do (upload as a pic on the sidebar of your blog/wherever you put blog buttons on your blog, and add the link in the little link line there in the upload-picture-window-option thing...as you can see, computers were never my strong point). I wouldn't kill anyone who did that. But anyway.

So! Please fill me in! How do you work the thing-a-ma-jig?

Pretty Awesome Caption Contest...

2012-01-21T14:52:00.000-08:00

So Miss Dashwood's hosting a Caption Contest on her blog...and so I naturally, being a lover of period dramas and humorous caption pictures, had to jump in!

In her own words...

Participants will submit a picture from a period drama with a humorous caption on it, such as the one at the top of this post. The caption must be either a common saying (such as "If I had a British accent..." or "Keep calm and ____") or a quote from another period drama ("sink me!", for instance) or possibly even a song lyric ("the simple bare necessities", perhaps). A quote or song lyric or saying that goes with the picture, that is.

So without further ado...here are my entries!

Picture: from Lorna Doone
Caption: The classic line from A Christmas Story

Picture: Guy of Gisbourne (Richard Armitage, duhhh) in Robin Hood

Caption: Flynn's awesome line from Tangled

And lastly, because of course you know that I could never post a period drama-related thing without having something stuck in about you-know-what...(and everyone says, of course not!)...I give you the last...

Picture: Percy and Marguerite (duhhh) from The Scarlet Pimpernel (duh again)

Caption: "I Feel Pretty" from West Side Story
(which has been stuck in my head all week, so of course it managed its way in the caption. :-P)

And please do not take these from the blog blah-de-blah without giving credit to me blah-de-blah...anyway. Hope you enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed making them!!!

For All The Fools Like Me....

2012-01-07T12:03:00.000-08:00

(that's a line from "When I Look at You", a song from the Broadway musical The Scarlet Pimpernel. Just for reference...)

I've greatly enjoyed reading Maria Elisabeth's blog at Miss Georgiana Darcy, and was ecstatic (as I always am when there's a new convert to TSP fandom) when she saw the 1982 film.

Now I am sooooo excited to announce that she's started a special all-things-TSP-related blog! Needless to say, I'm a stalking follower now! :-) It looks like it's going to be monstrously amazing!

So hop over to The Day Dream and take a peek!

"Is he in Heaven, or is he in hell?

My own elusive Pimpernel!"

"Sink me, the lady's a poet!"

- The Scarlet Pimpernel

Dickens Week Announcement...

2012-01-04T19:10:00.000-08:00

Just a heads-up, peoples!

My favorite author is having his 200th birthday this coming February!

That's right, folks. Charles Dickens would be two hundred years old February 7, 2012. Purty amazing. Anyway.

Soooooo I’m planning a special week February 5-11 in celebration of this amazing author’s incredible works. I’ve got lots of stuff planned…film comparisons and video clips and a tag and even a dream casting. Haven’t done one of those in ages so really looking forward to it!

Anyway. I’m giving a heads’ up so you all can know and plan forthwith. More details coming as the time draws nearer!

(and apologies for the lack of pictures in this post. Sigh. Since my computer crashed several months ago I have had quite the time with my sudden lack of costume drama-related photos...considering I had several thousand before the crash! So I've been slowly getting my collection back up and hoping that the old backup worked...just can't get the courage to plug it in and find out. ;-) I'm in the process of making buttons for the event, so again, stay tuned!)

Slightly Crazy Literary Tag...

2012-01-03T13:16:00.000-08:00

Yes, another tag. Don't judge. Ask my email buddies...I'm the queen of tags. So anyway. When I saw this floating around blogdom, I absolutely had to do it. And gracious, was it a blast!

Without further ado...

The rules...write down twelve characters from literature, making sure to not look at the questions until you've listed them. Then answer the questions.

1. Sir Percy Blakeney (The Scarlet Pimpernel series)
2. Jeeves (the Jeeves books)
3. Lord Peter Wimsey (the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries)
4. Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables series)
5. Juliet (Romeo and Juliet)
6. Bertie Wooster (the Jeeves books)
7. Fantine (Les Miserables)
8. Marianne Dashwood (Sense and Sensibility)
9. Tommy and Tuppence Beresford (the Tommy and Tuppence mysteries)
10. Marguerite Blakeney (The Scarlet Pimpernel)
11. John Thornton (North and South)
12. Javert (Les Miserables)

1. Who would make a better college prof, 6 or 11?
(Bertie Wooster, John Thornton) HAHAHA. Definitely not Bertie. John could lecture on mills, unions, and various other things. Oh, and Plato. So yeah, definitely John.

2. 12 sends 8 out on a mission. What is it? Does it succeed?
(Javert, Marianne Dashwood) WHOA. Um. Hahahaha. It would have something to do with seeing that everyone’s keeping the rules. Except if anyone would not keep the rules, it would be Marianne. So that would be awkward.

3. What is or would be 9's favorite book?
(Tommy and Tuppence Beresford) Detective novels.

4. Would it make more sense for 2 to swear fealty to 6, or the other way around?
(Jeeves, Bertie Wooster) ROFL!!!! Um! Jeeves is Bertie’s loyal valet, of course he would swear fealty to him. Hahaha!

5. For some reason, 5 is looking for a roommate. Should (s)he share a studio apartment with 9 or 10?
(Juliet, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, Marguerite Blakeney) Oh, definitely Marguerite. Tuppence would have no use for her, being much too practical, and Juliet and Marguerite could discuss unrequited love and how to get their guys to do something! Of course, Marguerite might go trying acting like she was dead to get Percy’s attention, and who knows how that could turn out.

6. 2, 7, and 12 have dinner together. Where do they go, and what do they discuss?
(Jeeves, Fantine, Javert) WOWOWOWOW. Hahahaha. Jeeves would be smoothing over Fantine’s offences to Javert, perhaps covertly giving her ideas to slip out of Javert’s grasp, and trying to find a secret in Javert’s past for Fantine to use against him.

7. 3 challenges 10 to a duel. What happens?
(Lord Peter Wimsey, Marguerite Blakeney) He’s much too much of a gentleman to challenge a lady to a duel, besides, Harriet and Percy would be most upset.

8. If 1 stole 8's most precious possession, how would she/he get it back?
(Sir Percy Blakeney, Marianne Dashwood) Um! I have no idea. She would walk in and create a fuss. And then…IDK. Marguerite would take pity and make him give it back. Maybe. Or get mad at Marianne, thus, catfight.

9. Suggest a title for a story in which 7 and 12 both attain what they most desire.
(Fantine, Marguerite Blakeney) – Um…Still I Dream He’ll Come to Me, and We Will Live the Years Together. Hehe. Very unoriginal.

10. What kind of plot device would you use if you wanted 4 and 1 to work together?
(Sir Percy Blakeney, Anne Shirley) Sir Percy would be gravely wounded while rescuing Anne from the shadow of the guillotine for standing devotedly by her aristocratic mistress, and Anne would nurse the wounded Sir Percy back to health. Hmm, nice plot there…

11. If 7 visited you for the weekend, how would you get along?

(Fantine) We’d sing…or talk about Cosette. Or something.

12. If you could command 3 to perform any one task or service for you, what would it be?
(Lord Peter Wimsey) Solve a mystery.

13. If 2 had to choose sides between 4 and 5, which would it be?
(Jeeves, Anne Shirley, Marianne Dashwood) Um! He’d think both of them were utterly silly.

14. What might 10 shout while charging into battle?
(Marguerite Blakeney) PERCYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

15. If you chose a song to represent 8, which song would you choose?
(Marianne Dashwood) One of the Sense and Sensibility soundtrack songs :-P

16. 1, 6, and 12 are having dim sum at a Chinese restaurant. There is only one scallion pancake left, and they all reach for it at the same time. Who gets to eat it?
(Sir Percy Blakeney, Bertie Wooster, Javert) Sir Percy would bow out, being a gentleman, Bertie would be too flustered to pick it up in time. And Javert would scowl and get it.

17. What would 5 most likely be arrested for?
(Juliet) Attempted suicide.

18. What is 6's secret?
(Bertie Wooster) I don’t think he keeps secrets.

19. If 11 and 9 were racing to a destination, who would get there first?
(Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, John Thornton) Um….that would be difficult to say.

20. If you had to walk home through a bad neighborhood late at night, would you feel safer in the company of 7 or 8?
(Fantine, Marianne Dashwood) HAHA. Neither.

21. 1 and 9 reluctantly team up to save the world from the threat posed by 4's sinister secret organization. 11 volunteers to help them,
but it is later discovered that s/he is actually a spy for 4. Meanwhile, 4 has kidnapped 12 in an attempt to force their surrender. Following the wise
advice of 5, they seek out 3, who gives them what they need to complete their quest. What title would you give this fic?

Sir Percy Blakeney and Tommy and Tuppence Beresford

(ha…Anthony Andrews has portrayed both Sir Percy and Tommy Beresford…) reluctantly team up (The League and The Young Adventurers together? FUN!) to save the world from the threat posed by Anne Shirley’s sinister secret organization (Anne is really behind the French Revolution, I guess. So much for standing by her devoted mistress…). John Thornton volunteers to help them rescue the poor doomed aristocrats, but it is later discovered that he is actually a spy for Anne Shirley (no one ever thought to ask what he was doing at midnight at the train station when he saw Margaret and her brother). Meanwhile, Anne Shirley has kidnapped Javert in an attempt to force their surrender (ooh, and Javert was played in Les Miserables by Terrance Mann, who played Chauvelin in the musical version of The Scarlet Pimpernel. Another interesting twist…). Following the wise advice of Juliet (played by Olivia Hussey…who as Rebecca in Ivanhoe was in love with Anthony Andrews…), they seek out Lord Peter Wimsey (another brilliant aristocrat who hides behind a less-than-brilliant façade), who gives them what they need to complete their quest (rofl!!!). What title would you give this fic?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!! What a twisted story. Ummmm!!! “What Happens when You’ve Seen Too Many Costume Dramas”. Hahahahaha. Or “The Case of the Twisted Costume Drama”

New Years Tag

2011-12-31T11:31:00.000-08:00

Yikes! New Years' Eve all ready? I should write out a nice post, but I have a lot to do today, and my backspace key died so it takes twice as long to write stuff. :-) Therefore I'm repeating something I did last year and doing a New Years' tag. Sorry, I know, I'm always doing tags. It's my blog. Anyway.

Oh, and stay tuned for a giveaway coming up...and an announcement for a special blog event coming up!

(hint: it has to do with Dickens' 200th birthday coming up...)

Anyway, without further ado...

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
Um, ate sushi. And actually liked it. :-) OH! And had a personal voice recital. One of the highlights of my year for me.

at my recital

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Hehe. Some of them. :-P. I may make some more....

3. Did anyone close to you give birth or get pregnant?
Yes, several people I know, including Mrs. Flaggard at church and my dear friend Katy!

4. Did anyone close to you get married?
Some acquaintances of mine did, yes. Very exciting!!!

5. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes, our sweet little Timmy on February 3rd, my aunt Lora August 20th, and several of my mom's extended family over the past few months.

6. Travel?
Um.....not really, actually. It's been a quiet year travel-wise. Praise the Lord. :-P

7. Did you move anywhere?
No! Praise the Lord for that!!! :-)

8. What was the best month?
Ummm...hard to say. January was nice. :-) And April...my recital and the Royal Wedding! :-)

9. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
Um...more money. :-P Hehehe. A lot less stress. :-D

10. What date(s) from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
February 3rd. August 20th. May 13th (my birthday! :-)).

11. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Umm...staying sane. :-) Making some big decisions with the Lord's help!

12. What was your biggest failure?
Myself. :-)

13. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Other than the norm, no, thank goodness.

14. What was the best thing you bought?
Ack. Um...my black dress for my recital. My antique 1912 copy of The Scarlet Pimpernel. Tangled (although that was from my dad :-))

15. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My brothers for getting their first jobs! And my mom for losing 60 lbs! Way to go, Mom! (the best part is we can swap clothes now. And she has the most adorable clothes on the planet)

16. Whose behavior made you appalled and/or depressed?
Several people I won't name. Hahahahaha. :-P Um...hmm. Public figures. :-)

17. Where did most of your money go?
Paying my library fines. :-P Hehehe. Just kidding. And Charming Charlie. And uhhh...books. :-)

18. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The Royal Wedding, The King's Speech winning all those awards (shallow, I know...), finding my antique TSP book, stuff going on at church, my friend Kate being in a relationship!!!!

19. What song will always remind you of 2011?
His Way is Perfect

20. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Waaall, a lot has happened this year, and while I'm not sadder, I'm not as...lighthearted as last year. :-)
ii. thinner or fatter? Hehehe, won't say.
ii. richer or poorer? Probably poorer.

21. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Reading. Spending time with others.

22. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Computer. :-D Isn't that what everyone says?

23. How will you be spending New Year’s Eve/Day?
New Year's Eve with the fam, eating snacks and watching stuff. New Year's Day at church. :-)

24. What was an unexpected surprise?
Lots of those, and not all good. :-P I was surprised by my birthday party, though. Not expecting that! :-)

25. Did you fall in love in 2011?
Nope. Unfortunately that didn't occur this year. Ah, well.

26. What was the best concert you’ve been to this year?
Unfortunately didn't see any kind of musical concert of any kind this year.
27. What was your favorite TV program?
Ummm...nothing new, really.

28. Do you dislike anyone now that you didn’t dislike this time last year?
Hehehe. Would I put that on a public blog? :-D No, not really.

29. What was the best book you read?
For Women Only by Shauni Feldhahn. And I really enjoyed Jane Eyre.

30. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Oooh. Um. Renee Fleming. Soooo gorgeous. Dabbled in The Scarlet Pimpernel musical...still can't decide if I love it or not. Some of the songs are amazing, and some are...not. :-P Got back into opera again. Lovely stuff.

31. What did you want and get?
Got some of my favorite costume dramas for Christmas! Yippee! And lots of other stuff.

32. What did you want and not get?
Hmm. I'm pretty happy with everything.

33. What was your favorite film of this year?
The King's Speech! And Tangled.

Alex and I on our birthday

34. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was twenty-two years old. I spent the day with my fam and had a birthday party with them...Tangled theme. Very fun. It had been a pretty rough week, but the birthday made it all good. :-)

35. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Hehehehe. Ummmmm...not having the various trials that happened. :-) No, they were all for a reason, no matter how difficult they were and even if we can't see the reason for them now.

36. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
Kind of shabby chic/Victorian/very-slightly-boho/lots of ruffles and flowers and whatnot. Ruffled blouses and drapey cardigans. Plenty of pink. Bangles and big huge rings. Lots of bling and shiny stuff. :-) Charming Charlie is good for that stuff. I also rediscovered how much I adore leopard print. And fur. I'm a luxury-loving girl at heart. :-P

37. What kept you sane?
My family!!! My dad to take care of issues for me, my mom to talk over stuff with and being willing to rehash stuff constantly, my bestie for sticking with me, and my friends to lighten my year! :-)

38. What political issue stirred you the most?
Hmm. Just overall!

39. Who did you miss?
My bestie. And my friends that live out of state. And I do miss my aunt now.

40. Who was the best new person you met?
You know...I don't think I met anyone new this year. Which isn't a bad thing. :-) Lots of re-acquaintances, though.

My current desktop wallpaper.

41. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011:
Never take anything for granted. You don't know what you have until it's gone. Evaluate everything you believe to see if you're doing it because God said so or because everyone else is doing it. God is not the author of confusion. God takes interest not only in our basic day-to-day needs, but in the little insignificant things that make us happy. Just because things seem like the right thing doesn't mean they are. And most of all, God has a plan in everything. And he's always with us.

42. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

You need not fear the terror of the night,
Nor the arrow that flies by day.
Under His wings your refuge,
His faithfulness your shield.
For to His angels He's given a command
To guard you in all of your ways.
Upon their hands they will bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
And He will raise you up
On eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His hand.

Happy New Year, everyone!!! Hope 2012 is the best year of your lives! I'm so grateful for each and every one of you! :-)

One More Sleep Till Christmas...

2011-12-24T21:42:00.003-08:00

One more sleep till Christmas. After 364 days of waiting, of preparing, of anticipating. We'll decorate gingerbread houses in the morning, and tonight have a Christmas Eve tea party after a traditional Cuban dinner of roast pork and black beans and rice, put on our red-and-white-striped pajamas, and all camp out in the boy's room. While the oldest of us have grown up enough to be able to get right to sleep, (horrible!) the little ones will lay awake for hours and hours, the anticipation eating them up. I remember that feeling. And then waking up and realizing it's only two in the morning, and you've still got five hours to wait before you're allowed to go down. I've grown out of that phase, too, unfortunately. ;-)

Finally. After so much waiting...Christmas is almost here.

There's magic in the air this evening,
Magic in the air.
The world is at her best, you know,
When people love and care,
The promise of excitement is one the night will keep,
After all, there's only one more sleep til Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

The Nativity Story: A Review

2011-12-19T19:46:00.000-08:00

I haven't had a movie review on here in a while...which isn't for lack of material! I've got four or five in my draft box. It's called time (oh, and that crashed-computer thing a while back...lost several to that. Sigh). Anyway. I found this old review I did on my old blog several years back, and as it's Christmastime (and this is one of my favorite Christmas films) I tweaked it (having seen it many times since and changed opinions/gained insight) and decided to post it here! Things have been soooo hectic this week :-) and so I've not been able to post like I want...but that's ok. :-) Anyway, without further ado...

The Nativity Story!

I first saw this several years ago (it is on YouTube last time I checked, for those interested). My brother Benjamin (who just turned two on the 11th...sniff!) had just been born and I was rotating with my mom on the staying-up-at-night routine. He was awake and I had nothing to do...so I decided to see this film. I had read tons of positive reviews on it, so I wanted to try it!
It. Is. So. Good.

First off, it was great seeing actors who looked like they could really be first century-time Jewish. Not a blond in the bunch. ;-) This was the first film on the Nativity I'd seen since Jesus of Nazareth, and I really loved it.

Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary

Mary - She was the only sliiiiiight letdown. Keisha's Mary was the right age and looked the part, but I have to admit I was comparing her to my favorite portrayal of Mary by Olivia Hussey in Jesus of Nazareth. Olivia's one of my top favorite actresses - she's most famous, of course, for portraying Juliet in the 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet, and I also love her role as Rebecca in the 1982 version of Ivanhoe alongside my very most favoritest actor, Anthony Andrews (review coming soon....and yes, I know...favoritest is not a word. Get over it).

Olivia Hussey as Mary in Jesus of Nazareth

So naturally I was a little biased coming in to the show. :-) Keisha Castle-Hughes wasn't quite up to par with Olivia's Mary. I thought there were several times when Keisha could have used a bit more...expression, I guess. Emotion. When her father is accusing her of getting pregnant out of wedlock and the possibility of them killing her for it, she just kind of sits there, you know. "I have broken no vow." And the dramatic in me is going, um! Is that all?

But anyway, she was good, just not quite as good as Olivia's Mary, IMO. I did like how they portrayed her as a young girl, especially in the scenes where she's playing with the other young people, acting like a regular young woman. I think sometimes we get so hung up on tradition that we get the idea that Mary just sat around looking perfect all the time. Not so - she was a girl just like any other. I really liked that part of it.

Oscar Isaac as Joseph

Joseph - Ohhhhh, wow. Um. He is hands down my favorite character in the film. Period. I am so in love with Joseph. Well, you know. Not literally. But anyway. Oscar Isaac did an incredible job with the character. He portrays Joseph as manly and the quintessential "gentleman", with all the qualities that a girl would want in a husband - gentle, kind, protective, chivalrous...

He stood up for Mary and risked his own reputation for her, put her before himself and protected her during the trip to Bethlehem, and was just a perfect guy! Well, not perfect, but pretty amazing. :-) I love when they're leaving Nazareth and everyone's scowling at them...Joseph's response? "They're going to miss us!" ;-)

The supporting cast was excellent! The wise men - ok, discounting the fact that there were only three and they came at Jesus' birth...which has always just been a minor quibble for me, so it was no big deal - were absolutely hilarious and a great comic relief for the film. ("If I'm right...and I usually am...")

We get an excellent (and slightly odd...a Jewish king?) cameo by Cirian Hinds - best known as Captain Wentworth in the 1995 Persuasion as well as roles in Jane Eyre, Amazing Grace and Phantom of the Opera, to name a few - as Herod the Great. And does he do a great job (oooh...bad pun, I know. Our family loves bad puns, I can't help it)! His Herod is menacing, crafty...and I'd never have known it was Cirian Hinds if I hadn't seen it in the credits.

I really enjoyed Zacharias and Elisabeth's characters (and John's birth scene...interesting look at Jewish midwifery and labor practices! ;-)) as well. Elisabeth really reminds me of someone I've seen before, but I can't place it...

Some people have complained about Mary's reluctance over the betrothal with Joseph. I was kind of ticked at it too, the first time I saw it, since in that time and culture arranged marriages were common. It wasn't as if they were all a part of the 21st century culture, where the idea of a relationship without love is absurd, to say the least! I have to say that most of us would sympathise with her...who would want to be stuck with someone you didn't love? But I did like how it showed their feelings grow as time went on through their betrothal and on the journey to Bethlehem (however, I most certainly do not condone arranged marriages, and would never go into a relationship without having romantic feelings for the other person! Had to clarify that for those people who labor under the delusion that we homeschooled gals are under the thumb of arranged, emotionless relationships/marriages that we have no control over. :-)).

The score was gorgeous, mixing traditional Christmas carols with a lovely original arrangement, starting with the lovely O Come, O Come, Emmanuel in the opening credits. I loved Herod's Theme - The Coventry Carol - in particular...I had just learned the song in voice before I saw it for the first time, so I loved how they tied the Christmas carol of Herod killing the babies in Bethlehem with Herod's scenes in the film...the eerie melody as he's giving that classic "when you find the child..." bit. Soooo good.

But my very favorite was the incredibly dramatic scene of them trying to find a room in Bethlehem, with the awesome Carol of the Bells in the background. I've always wanted to hear Carol of the Bells used in a Christmas film's soundtrack...done right it's an incredibly dramatic song...and it was awesome. My brother and I looked at each other and just went, "Yes!" :-) The scene was fantastic.

The birth scene was soooo beautiful. I've been to several of my sibling's births, and I bawled just as much watching the scene as I did at their births - it so perfectly captured the complete and total amazingness of those moments when a human life is ushered into the world. There is nothing in the world as completely incredible (excepting marriage and salvation :-)) as a baby's birth.

There really is no content to speak of. There's the usual talk over the scandal of Mary's pregnancy (her father asks if it was 'one of Herod's soldiers'), but it's handled with complete taste. There is some minor violence (a man is shown crucified, there's the usual Bethlehem massacre scene) and the birth scenes are IMO too intense for children, although nothing is shown.

Our family absolutely loved this film, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. In the ultra rush of the holiday season, it is so good to be able to sit back and put our focus on exactly why we are celebrating this...to remember the promises that were fulfilled at the birth of our Savior, and exactly what that birth meant to eternity. Without His birth, there would be no sacrifice on the Cross. And that's something to celebrate and something to remember.

Merry Christmas!

Blogger Does Not Love Me...

2011-12-17T20:18:00.000-08:00

...or I must be very special (and everyone says, rrrright. :-)). Because again...I've been hearing from bloggy friends that my comments are going in spam. And then again...I find friends' comments in my spam folder!

We must be one special group, you know...we're so special that we have to be put in our own special folder. :-)

Anyway. The how-to on the ornaments is almost finished...and I'm thinking over ideas for a giveaway since I just reached 100 followers! Hurrah!!! Thank you all!!!!

So anyway! Stay tuned...and don't forget to check your spam comments! :-)

Jane Austen Birthday Tag

2011-12-15T13:42:00.000-08:00

Miss Dashwood at Yet Another Period Drama Blog is hosting a blog party for Jane Austen's birthday this week! I had big plans for this event, but unfortunately my entire family came down with a flu bug this past Saturday, and I alone escaped...to take care of everyone. :-) Anyway, they're on the mend now, thankfully, and I was spared, save a cold. :-) Anyway. So all that went down the drain. Combined with Christmas prep...I feel accomplished getting this tag up! Sigh. :-)

But anyway. Without further ado...

1 - What was the first JA novel you ever read, and who introduced you to it?
Um...Northanger Abbey. And it was because it was one of the only JA books that I had not seen on film.

2 - Which is your least favorite JA novel, and why? (Everybody posts about their favorites... I want to know what's at the bottom of your list!)
I feel disqualified with this as I've only read one of her novels all the way through and two half-way. So I'll go with films and say the 1995 Persuasion. I wanted so bad to like this film...but after two viewings...I just couldn't get it.

3 - Who do you think is the funniest character JA ever created?
Um! That's so hard. I love Miss Bates, she's adorable and cute and just the teeniest bit annoying. And Sophie Thompson's take is hilarious. "ANGEL, mother!" :-)

4 - Which JA villain[ess] do you love to hate?
Hmmm! I've always intensely disliked Fanny Dashwood and Caroline Bingley.

5 - What's your favorite JA quote?
"The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!" - Marianne Dashwood. So true! :-P BTW, it annoyed me that Kate Winslet says that in the trailer and then doesn't say it in the movie. I really wanted to see her say that. Rabbit trail. :-)

6 - If you were to "start" someone on JA, which book would you recommend to them first and why?
Probably Pride and Prejudice...I actually started it recently, and it seems so far the easiest. Plus it's pretty well known, and so that helps people, I think. I know it did me when I started Dickens (I started on A Tale of Two Cities, which I was familiar with the plot). Just that you know what's happening so you don't have to concentrate so hard on keeping the plot straight. Did that make sense?

7 - What is your absolute favorite JA film adaptation and why?
Oh, hands down - the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility. My eighth favorite film period (yes, I do have a top ten :-)). Impeccable, impeccable cast (yes, I even like Hugh Grant...(ducks tomatoes)) - Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman, Greg Wise, Hugh Laurie...some of the best, you know? Gorgeous soundtrack. Incredible screenplay...Emma Thompson is a genius. Lovely costumes. Drama, romance, cinematography to die for. Amazing film.
Favorite scene: Probably the whole in-the-rain-at-Combe-Magna-and-Colonel-Brandon-carries-her-home. Closely tied with the Colonel Brandon/Marianne wedding. And Edward's proposal. LOVVEEE.

8 - If you could authorize a new film adaptation of one of JA's novels, which would it be and why?
Hmm. Mansfield Park, definitely. Accurate, without the content, and with proper hairstyles. Puleeze.
(funny how almost all the answers to this question are Mansfield Park! Um...anyone listening, powers-that-be?!)

9 - Which JA character do you most identify with?
Marianne Dashwood. Completely, totally, 100%.
"To love is to burn, to be on fire, like Juliet or Guenievere or Eloise...Pathetic? To die for love? How can you say so? What could be more glorious?"
"The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!"
Wisely spoken, my dear. :-) In all seriousness, I hope that I have a bit more sense than her ;-), but the drama, the passion for life and love, the romantic, the poetry-reading, dead-leaf loving...yup. Moi to a 't'.

10 - If you could have lunch with JA today, what question would you most like to ask her?
Explain your whole romance. :-)

11 - Is there any one thing that you think could have been improved upon in one (or all) of JA's books? What is it and why?
Proposals! That bugged me. I live for lovely/quirky/sweet/awkward/passionate/in other words, any kind of proposals at the end of stories. And we miss out on most of them. :-)

12 - If you could have lunch with one of JA's characters today, who would it be and why?
Hmmm. That's a tough question!!! Probably Marianne. ;-) Or Hugh Laurie's Mr. Palmer. :-P

Stylish Blogger Award!

2011-12-08T13:20:00.000-08:00

Thanks sooo much to the lovely Miss Dashwood at Yet Another Period Drama Blog!

I've gotten this one on my other blog before, so I'm going with a slightly different twist and I'm going to make this one a period-drama/book theme. Since that's kinda the predominate theme of my blog. :-)

1. I have a strange...don't know if you'd call it a talent or an oddity, but anyway...of memorizing films after only seeing them two or three times. I've had it since I was two and could quote the entire Anne of Green Gables and Cinderella films. It's actually a family trait...we all have it, and so go around the house throwing out movie lines to each other on a regular basis. Thus why I can quote just about anything from my favorite films. Although watching certain ones...ahem, lots of times...didn't hurt anything.

2. I was sixteen when I saw my two favorite films for the first time. It wasn't the best year of my life, but that made up for it. :-P

3. Ben-Hur was my favorite film at the age of fourteen. I barely saw any other films that year. Literally.

4. All my favorite actresses and almost all of my favorite actors are British. Go figure.

5. I'm not picky usually about accuracy...and most of the time I see the film before reading the book and so like the film better, anyway.

6. I tend to be one of those obsessive film fans (everyone says, No! Do tell! - heavy on the sarcasm) who likes to look up all the trivia and stuff and loves special features almost as much as the film - no special features on a DVD is heavy disappointment (I'm also the one who will pay more to get the DVD with more. :-) And someone needs to release a 30th Anniversary edition DVD of The Scarlet Pimpernel this coming year. With lots of bonus features and interviews with the cast. Just sayin'.)

7. I guess period dramas have such a special place in my heart because of the memories. It's probably my favorite way for my mom and I to spend an evening. We love watching these beautiful films with the gorgeous dresses and stunning landscapes and of course, beautiful love stories...and dashing heroes, of course. :-) Each movie has memories for me of time spent with my mom, something I'll always treasure.

I'm supposed to tag seven people, but I'll just tag all my readers! If you haven't done this yet, consider yourself tagged! Have fun!

It's the Wee Things...

2011-12-07T19:09:00.000-08:00

...that make me happy. :-)

A sneak peek at what I've been up to Christmas-decorations wise. I finally found a tree (at the thrift store! For a steal! I'm verrah happy...) for my room and I've spent today getting the decor up! Almost done and stay tuned for detailed room pics tomorrow...but here's a peek at my happiness!

I got this idea from here...and went wild with it. So many possibilities! Excuse the lighting...I haven't gotten the lights on the tree yet (yeah, duh, I should have done it first but I couldn't wait).

A bit of Pride and Prejudice...
what's a literary ornament collection without it?

And some of The Scarlet Pimpernel...cuz duh...

Oops. And another TSP one...

Shakespeare...

A Tale of Two Cities...

Oh, hello, more TSP. :-P
I got a wee bit...enthusiastic while cutting out TSP strips,
and ended up with enough for three ornaments. (*cough*)

It's just hard to pick the fave bits, you know?

(Actually, I used excerpts from three of the books, El Dorado predominately.
BTW, if you haven't read it...get thee to a library. It's the best in the series, IMO. Anyway. Moving on...)

John Keats' poems and letters...sigh...

and a dash of P. G. Wodehouse in the mix.
What's a tree without Jeeves?

"Indeed, Sir."

Sorry.

I'm happy with them. I do have a few books on hold at the library that I don't have but want an ornament for. :-) But they were so simple. A bit tedious at times, but not difficult.

There's soooo many possibilities with these. Poems, Bible verses, letters, songs, anything!!!

Anyway! They're super-fun and easy!

I'll put up the whole how-I-did-it when I get the rest of the pics up.

One thing I did different...she cut up real antiques...yikes! I couldn't do that. :-P

So I photocopied the books I had and coffee-dyed them. I think they turned out lovely.

I also did that with the sheet music paper chain...also more info coming soon. :-)

Hope you enjoyed this sneak peek!

I'll try and get the whole Christmas decor pics up soon. :-)

Merry Christmas!

One of My Favorite Things...

2011-12-03T08:55:00.000-08:00

...is antique books. I collect them the way some people collect, you know, figurines or dolls or pop cans. Or whatever.

I was talking with a friend about some of my recent additions to my collection, and since I know that I'm with a bunch of bookworms on this blog, I thought I'd share. :-)

(And since most antique books get adapted into costume dramas, well...it ties in with this blog. :-))

Anyway.

My collection is pretty small so far. I like to really "connect" with a book I spend money on. And yes, I connect with books. And yes, that's perfectly sane. As any book lover knows.

So I tend to buy books that I really enjoy...that have personal meanings to me. Because that just adds to the awesomeness of the book, you know?

So, without further ado...

This is my collection of Dickens. It's from the 1890's and I bought it with money from my sixteenth birthday. They are in gorgeous, practically new condition...I take them with me and actually read them.

There's something about seeing these old titles, knowing that someone really read them years and years ago. We went to Vaille Mansion last week, a beautiful old mansion in our area (I'll have to post pics soon :-)), and in the library was a set of Dickens that was the original owner's (from the 1880's). To me, that's just...soooooo incredibly awesome.

Tracing favorite lines, knowing that in the 1890's someone read these and was as thrilled by their beauty as I am now, over 120 years later...

I love the French Country/Shabby Chic look, and antique books fit right into that decor. I use my book collection as much for decorating as I do for just plain enjoying. The Tangled cup was a birthday gift from my sister, and though you can't see it, it's filled with napkin-roses one of my piano students made for me when we were all out at Wendy's one evening. :-)

A copy of Little Women from 1915,

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass from 1946,

Elsie Dinsmore from 1925, with a note on the leaf that says "Happy Birthday from Eleanor and Lucile" (they sold the original first-edition - the "pansy cover" one for those Elsie fans who know what I'm talking about - but I'm not that much of an Elsie fan anymore to pay the price they were asking. So I settled for this one.:-)) ,

A copy of Dicken's Cricket on the Hearth from 1920,

And another copy of A Tale of Two Cities - this one from 1906...a part of someone named "Pat"s school reading, as it has notes and underlining in the book and the name of his school written in the flyleaf. That is just plain incredible to me, lovelies.

I haven't actually read Castle Craneycrow, but the cover, peoples. Just look at that cover. It grabbed my attention all the way across the antique mall. Isn't it just stunning? It's from 1902, and from the little I've skimmed through the pages, it looks like quite the melodramatic story. :-)

The wee little book is a copy of Ivanhoe, also from 1906.

And now for my most recent find, and quite understandably probably one of my most prized posessions...

From 1912.

NINETEEN-TWELVE, peoplez.

I about died when I saw it. Completely fell over dead. And then squealed my head off. And promptly bought it.

The thought, you know. That someone in 1912 read this. You've got to wonder about the person. If they were a devoted fan - just like me, one hundred years later. If they read the book over and over. If they had it practically memorized. If they were in love with Sir Percy.

It's just waaaay too incredibly amazing to consider.

(Yes, I know I'm a major book/TSP geek. Be quiet. It's my blog.)

Sigh.

So there you have it! I always have my eye open for more, more, mooooore... :-)

I'd love to find some antique Austen. Or Jane Eyre. Or Les Miserables...a French edition would be even more incredible. Shakespeare and Keats and Gaskell and L.M. Montgomery. I've got my eyes peeled all the time.

So if you have to find me in an antique store, check the books first. It's where I'll probably be...sniffing the pages. Because honestly. What's more divine than the smell of old books?

Nothing. That's the answer.

"I cannot live without books." - Thomas Jefferson

We Did It and Other Randomness...

2011-12-01T12:27:00.000-08:00

I adore the little animal caption pictures. LOVE them.

So when I saw TSP versions of them...needless to say, it made my day. :-)

(You see I'm a bit of a poet...hehe. Sorry.)

So hello, and pardon me again for lack of posts! Fact is, I've been quite busy.

I COMPLETED 50,000 WORDS FOR NANO!

Well, we did. I could have NEVAH NEVAH done it without the help of my bestie.

We weren't going to do NaNo (which is National Novel Writing Month, for those of you who don't know, and it's a challenge to complete 50,000 words in the month of November), and we didn't technically. But we knew it was in November, and we're like, hey! Since we're all ready starting our book (the sequel to our last novel), let's go ahead and see if we can't get 50,000 words done in November.

So we piddled at it, and blah-blah. And the last week of November came around and we're like, oh! We only have 15,000 words. We'd better get a move on.

So we did. Two days before November 30, we were looking at 20,000 words. And going, oh, nice. Ok, no way we're going to make it. Let's drop the goal to 25,000.

So we decided to do that. And we wrote it. And then we said, hmmm. Let's go to 30,000. Just for fun. And so we did. And then we said, hmmm. Who dares who that we can get to 50,000?

And we said, you're on.

(More or less. I'm paraphrasing.)

Sooooooo the last two days were spent in frenzied writing. To be completely honest, I'm not 100% sure what all we wrote. I went back and read some and went, oh! Completely forgot that was in there. But anyway. It's only a first draft.

So last night, at like, eleven o'clock at night my time (Tori was all ready blissfully asleep in England...we did have a minor debate on whether or not she was technically allowed to write any more after midnight her time, but I pointed out that the contest was still going here in America so she could pretend she was here with me), I wrote out the last word. Brain dead, completely non-functioning.

But we did it. And it feels so good.

The book's not done yet, of course...still got 30,000 words to go. BUT the 50,000 mark is the hardest to get past, anyway, so that's ok. :-) We're quite happy.

This is our fourth book we'll have completed, and we're verrah happy with ourselves. But we've vowed to do not a bit of writing for the rest of the week. Needless to say, we don't even want to THINK about our characters for a while. :-P

So! That's where I've been. Congrats to all the others who completed NaNo! How'd you do?

I couldn't have put it better, Percy.

I'm Thankful For...

2011-11-23T18:57:00.001-08:00

God's Faithfulness...

He has been with us through every trial we've endured.

God's Mercy...

In so many ways, so many things could have happened that didn't...that was only the Lord.

God's Second Chances...

He is always faithful in giving us the second chance.

God's Provision...

In so many ways, giving us just what we need, in ways we could never comprehend

God's Guidance...

Through decisions I could never make alone, He has shown His clear guidance again and again.

God's Promises...

That He knows the future, that He is always with us, and that He always fulfills His promises. That He will continue to fulfill His promises in miraculous ways I can't comprehend.

He is Faithful.

I've been through a lot this year. A lot of stuff I'd rather have not gone through. Deaths, trials, life-altering decisions, lots and lots and lots of stress. In my flesh, I could say that I could have done without it all. I'd rather have not gone through the things I have. But God's plans are so much better than our own. He has given me the grace to deal with the situations we go through in life, and has taught me so, so many things. I have seen my views changed, reshaped, refined. God has taken me through things so that I can stand back and say, "What can I do differently next time?" He is teaching me to look at every trial and situation as a learning experience, and has opened my eyes to even greater truths that I never would have known had I not gone through these experiences.

So all in all, His way is perfect.

There are so many things swirling around in my head that I want to share! But for now, I am so, so thankful for the Lord, for His salvation and grace.

For my family, for being there to help me, to listen to me, to let me cry on their shoulder. For being there. For the knowledge that we're always together. Even though we've had some pretty rough roads, we got through them all together. People may come and go, but as long as we're a family, everything will end up all right.

For my church, for being the most awesome support this year ever. I know that my family would agree that we could have never gotten through everything without the wonderful love and support we got from you all, our just-as-good-as-family church. :-)

For my sis-in-Christ, for always, always having a listening ear, for patience and never-ending encouragement. For laughing and crying and even defending me. :-) I couldn't have done it without you, sis. The chats we've had and the stories we've written, the spiritual growth I've attained this year, our Bible studies and praying together and the memories of those "aha" moments with you are priceless.

For all my friends, for lighting up my life with joy and fun, for all the laughs and memories, and how you helped me get through everything. For the gazillion emails and texts, long insane phone calls and just knowing that you're there praying for me. It means so much.

And for everyone on my blog...for the joy of getting to know you all, of each and every comment that pops up on my dashboard, of sharing my heart. I wouldn't trade the experience of blogging for anything...although I'll tell ya, sometimes I look back at the old stuff...on my old blog...and shake my head and wonder, what was I thinking???... :-P

Hope you all have a very, very happy Thanksgiving! We're planning on lots of food, family time, and finally seeing It's a Wonderful Life.

Because it is.

And it's all thanks to the Lord.

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: Great is Thy faithfulness." - Lamentations 3:22-23

Of Blogger and Pesky Comments...

2011-11-16T11:04:00.000-08:00

Just a head's up...for all you fellow bloggers, check your spam comment thingie sometimes. Several bloggy friends told me that my comments for some reason often end up in spam...and recently I've found several comments that went into spam as well on my own blog. So I thought I'd just throw out a friendly reminder to check your spam comments sometimes, just to be sure a comment didn't slip in the cracks!

A helpful tip for the day. :-)

Sense and Sensibility Week Tag Questions

2011-11-12T09:08:00.000-08:00

This week was Sense and Sensibility week at Miss Georgiana Darcy. While I didn't have time to do as much as I'd like, I thought I'd at least answer the questions for the week!

1: When did you first read Sense and Sensibility? Have you reread it since?
Two years ago I read (most) of it. (ducks). And I was actually thinking this past week of reading it again.

2: When did you first watch Sense and Sensibility? Which adaptation was it?
Ohhhh, my goodness. I saw the 1995 version for the first time when I was...eight, I think .

3: If you have watched/heard of more than one adaptation which one was your favorite?
I've only watched the 1995 version, but as I said in an earlier post...it's just the best. :-)

4: Which three S&S characters drive you crazy?
Fanny Dashwood. She's just horrid. Soooo mean to everyone...and just...horrid. :-D

Lucy Steele. She's selfish, greedy, and just...irritating. When she goes on and on about Edward to Elinor...good grief, I could just slap her.

Um, Mrs. Jennings gets annoying, too. Although she doesn't annoy me as badly as some people. "Does she care for olives?"

5: Which heroine are you most like: Elinor or Marianne?
200% Marianne. Romantic, passionate, dramatic, loves music, impulsive...I could go on. :-)

6: Who would be most enjoyable: (or bearable) Mr. Palmer or Mrs. Palmer?
Mr. Palmer. As long as he was Hugh Laurie. :-)

7: What would be your reaction if you saw a re-write of Sense and Sensibility where it was Elinor who married Colonel Brandon?
Um! Wow. I think it would be quite the boring relationship. It just...wouldn't work. :-)

8: Where does Sense and Sensibility rank in your list of favorite Austen novels?
Well, I technically don't really remember the novel that much, but I know that the 95 version is my favorite Austen film period. Does that count? :-)

Downton Abbey...To Watch or Not to Watch...

2011-11-09T19:36:00.000-08:00

...that is the question. :-)

Or rather, I am going to watch it...I was just curious to hear what y'all thought of it! I did a similar post back when I first was considering seeing The Young Victoria and really enjoyed getting everyone's feedback.

Anyway! So I've heard so much good about this series, and I finally broke down and borrowed it from the library the other day. And now I'm just getting up the courage to watch it. :-)

I've been made aware of the content in the show, so I know what to expect. But from what I've heard, the good in the show far outweighs the content. For those of you who've seen it, would you agree?

Plus, I mean, look at the cast! Some of my favorites are there. Maggie Smith, for crying out loud! Penelope Wilton, Hugh Bonneville, Brendan Coyle, Jim Carter...um!!!

So yes. I'd like opinions here! Did you enjoy Downton Abbey? Would you recommend it? Please gush all you want! :-)

Remakes and Rants

2011-11-03T19:47:00.000-07:00

No, this isn't really a rant. More of a discussion. :-D
The subject? Remakes.

I'm not going to rant on remakes. I was going to, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that we're all different.
Confusing, I know. Let me explain myself.

When a film becomes a favorite, it's usually because it's gone beyond mere enjoyment and touched us on a more personal, emotional level. I'm not going to get psychological or anything...:-)...but yeah. So basically, the idea is that since different films affect people differently, then remakes are treading on tricky ground. Because one person could care less that such-and-such is being remade, while another person is up in arms.

Am I making sense?

Anyway. So the two topics of discussion today....

1. What are some films that are not allowed to be remade in your opinion (and if they are, their existence is completely ignored)?

For me...

1. Somewhere in Time. My favorite film. No one could play the characters as well as Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour did. It would be wrong. It wouldn't feel right. :-) The film is very dear to me, and to remake it would just be...so....WRONG. :-)

2. The Scarlet Pimpernel. There had been talk for a while of a remake last year, which frankly filled me with horror...the description was one "like the recent Sherlock Holmes (the Robert Downey Jr. version)" - while I haven't seen the Sherlock Holmes film and so can't form an opinion of it...from what I've heard it deviates quite from the actual character/story, and the idea of a similar Pimpernel...no, thank you. I am loyal to the true Pimpernel aka Anthony Andrews, you know. No one (and this is an opinion formed after reading the books and everything) has or could play Sir Percy in all his forms to such perfection as he did. I mean, he's completely the way Sir Percy was written to a "T". The End. Do not debate me on this point, please. It's no use. :-) I can tolerate other versions...I'm actually rather partial to the musical...but why tolerate when you can enjoy such an excellent version that we all ready have?

3. Sense and Sensibility. Oh, they made another one, you say? Hmm. Apparently in my universe anything but the 1995 version doesn't exist. I really don't mind Jane Austen remakes, normally (I love the 2009 version of Emma and while the 2005 P&P wasn't anywhere near awesome, it didn't kill me that it was made), but S&S was different. The characters were all played so impeccably and the story touched me on such an emotional level that nothing could quite match it. I have seen clips of the 2008 version, and it just wasn't the same. :-)

4. Ben-Hur. I read they remade it...talk about the horror of it. :-) My favorite film of 2004 (as in it was almost all I watched :-)). It was the first film that really impacted me in a huge way, and so it's still very dear to my heart. :-) The idea of anyone but Charlton Heston playing Ben-Hur seems illegal somehow. Plus all the content that I'm sure is going to make its way in there, and the spiritual message getting watered down...and Charlton Heston not being Ben-Hur...did I say that all ready? Oh, yeah. :-)

Question Two...what are some films that really need to be remade?

Again, my opinion...

1. Mansfield Park. I watched the 1999 version the other day (on ClearPlay, I might add :-P), and while it wasn't horrible, it was very...blah. Like, waiting for something to happen...and it never does. Mansfield Park is actually one of the only Austen stories that I'm not familiar with, having never read the book nor seen any other film/television version before this one, so I'm not sure what to compare it to, but I just wasn't happy with it, and from what I've heard from more informed Austenites, it desperately needs a remake.

2. A Tale of Two Cities. My brothers and I are actually working on a dream casting, so stay tuned. :-) I have the 1980 version with Chris Sarandon, and while it adequately tells the story, it's missing the depth and emotion that the story needs. So far, my favorite adaptation of the story is actually the musical...while not entirely accurate to the novel, the emotion by the characters (and the gorgeous music :-)) is awesome, and James Barbour is the most incredible Sydney I've seen to date. Absolutely amazing. So yes! Tale is my favorite book along with TSP, and I would absolutely love to see a really good film/television adaptation.

3. Captain Blood. Another the boys and I were discussing the other day. While no one can truly play the leads like Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, it's an incredibly fun movie/plot and I'd enjoy seeing it done again - I guess I just love swashbuckling heroes who duel all the time. :-) Hmmm, duels! Another upcoming blog post, anyone? ;-)

So! What about you?

Literary Tag...The End :-)

2011-10-09T14:52:00.000-07:00

Phew! I thought I'd never finish! :-) Here's the last of the literary tag...and just in time! I've got tons of other tags to do...like I mentioned earlier, Elegance of Fashion's Period Drama week, and then on my other blog I'm going to be doing the tag from Austenitis' book bash that scheduling conflicts kept me from, too. But I've gotta finish this one first! What can I say? Who can talk too much about books?! I ask you!

22. Your "comfort" book

Hmm…Well, the book of Psalms, definitely. Psalm 91 in particular. As far as fiction, Alice Wisler’s books are like that. Probably because they’re all Southern fiction (per se), and it just reminds me of the best part of my childhood/teen years, growing up in North Carolina. And of course the TSP series. And mysteries, as odd as it sounds. :-P They're an "escape" because normally, being the voracious reader that I am :-P, I will usually be reading with half my brain...the other half off wandering thinking about the millions of other things I have to do. Multi-tasking, you know. Rarely does a "normal" book pull me completely in (it's not normal if I absolutely cannot put it down. :-)). Mysteries, on the other hand, take all my mental energy, since everything is focused in on trying to figure out whodunit! So if I need a stress-reliever or just a nice get-away-and-forget-everything-for-a-wee-bit, a mystery is likely what I turn to. Odd, I know, but still. :-)

23. Favourite book cover including a picture!

Ohhhh, anything Bethany House does is always fantastic. Always have gorgeous covers. I love all of Siri Mitchell’s covers – so gorgeous! And Nancy Moser’s, too.

24. Favourite fictional relationship (romantic, friendship, familial)

Well, Percy and Marguerite from TSP are my definitely my favorite literary couple, but Tommy and Tuppence Beresford definitely fall in second place…I absolutely adore the way they play off of each other…their relationship is so hilarious and the back-and-forth dialogue just wonderful, I just love it. And I love Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane in the Lord Peter mysteries - his proposing to her every time they're together, when they finally get engaged, and then especially once they're married! So cute. :-)

Stephen Fry as Jeeves and Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster in the TV series "Jeeves and Wooster"

Friendship wise, The Bertie Wooster/Jeeves relationship is awesome. :-), and once again, Lord Peter and Bunter, although it's practically the same as Wooster and Jeeves (even actually compared to it in the books). Clara and Lizzie's relationship in She Walks in Beauty reminds me of my "sis" Tori and I. :-) Some other friendship ones are Jack and Algie in The Importance of Being Earnest, Laurie and Jo in Little Women, Poirot and Captain Hastings in the Poirot series, Anne and Diana in Anne of Green Gables...family-wise, I love the March sisters' relationship in Little Women...John Thornton and his mother in North and South, and Anne and Matthew's in Anne of Green Gables (his death scene in the movie has me bawling every single time...ack, just thinking about it makes me tear up).

25. Most annoying character ever

Wow….hmmmmm. That's a really hard one. Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice is pretty annoying...hmmm!

26. Most quotable novel or 5 of your favourite quotes from any books.

YAAAYYYY….I'm changing it to ...a few over ten...hehehe...because I have a super-soft-spot for quotables. :-D And because I couldn't choose between my favorite Tommy and Tuppence or Jeeves quotes, and I never believe in doing things in halves. If you're going to put quotes in there, do it right! :-)

"Say?" Tommy shrugged his shoulders. "Pack of fools. Let them ask themselves a few questions. How did I get into this place? Remember what dear old Conrad said--WITH YOUR OWN PASSWORD, wasn't it? How did I get hold of that? You don't suppose I came up those steps haphazard and said the first thing that came into my head?"
Tommy was pleased with the concluding words of this speech. His only regret was that Tuppence was not present to appreciate its full flavour.
"That is true," said the working man suddenly. "Comrades, we have been betrayed!"
An ugly murmur arose. Tommy smiled at them encouragingly. - The Secret Adversary

"Think of how exciting it would be," went on Tuppence, "if we heard a wild rapping at the door and went to open it and in staggered a dead man."
"If he was dead he couldn't stagger," said Tommy critically.
"You know what I mean," said Tuppence. "They always stagger in just before they die and fall at your feet just gasping out a few enigmatic words. 'The Spotted Leopard' or something like that."
"I advise a course of Schopenhauer or Emmanuel Kant," said Tommy.
"That sort of thing would be good for you," said Tuppence. "You are getting fat and comfortable."
"I am not," said Tommy indignantly. "Anyway, you do slimming exercises yourself."
"Everybody does," said Tuppence. "When I said you were getting fat I was really speaking metaphorically, you are getting prosperous and sleek and comfortable."
"I don't know what has come over you," said her husband. - Partners in Crime

"Six years ago," continued Tuppence, "I would have sworn that with sufficent money to buy things with, and with you as a husband, all life would have been one grand sweet song, as one of the poets you seem to know so much about put it."
"Is it me or the money that palls upon you?" asked Tommy coldly.
"Palls isn't exactly the word," said Tuppence kindly. "I'm used to my blessings, that's all." - Partners in Crime

"Nonsense," said Tuppence. "One must have hope. It's the great thing you have to have in life. Hope. Remember? I'm always full of hope."
"Yes, I know you are," said Tommy. He sighed. "I've often regretted it." - Postern of Fate

"I beg your pardon, sir. I would not have mentioned the cinema performance were it not for the fact that it gave me an idea, sir."
"An idea!"
"And idea that will, I fancy, sir, prove of value in straightening out the matrimonial future of Mr. Bullivant. To which end, if you recollect, sir, you desired me to - "
I snorted with remorse.
"Jeeves," I said, "I wronged you."
"Not at all, sir."
"Yes, I did. I wronged you. I had a notion that you had given yourself up entirely to the pleasures of the seaside and had chucked the business altogether. I might have known better. Tell me all, Jeeves."
He bowed in a gratified manner. I beamed. And while we didn't actually fall on each other's necks, we gave each other to understand that all was well once more. - Carry On, Jeeves

"In this super-super gilm 'Tiny Hands', sir," said Jeeves, "the parents of the child had, as I say, drifted apart."
"Drifted apart," I said, nodding. "Right! And then?"
"Came a day, sir, when their little child brought them together again."
"How?"
"If I remember rightly, sir, he said, "Dadda, doesn't 'oo love mummie no more?'"
"And then?"
"They exhibited a good deal of emotion. There was what I believe is termed a cut-back, showing scenes from their courtship and early married life and some glimpses of Lovers Through the Ages, and the picture concluded with a close-up of the pair in an embrace, with the child looking on with natural gratification and an organ playing 'Hearts and Flowers' in the distance." - Carry On, Jeeves

I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled. - The Code of the Woosters

“Feminine psychology is admitted odd, sir.” - Thank You, Jeeves

"Jeeves," I said.
"Sir?" said Jeeves. He had been clearing away the breakfast things, but at the sound of the young master's voice cheesed it courteously.
"You were absolutely right about the weather. It is a juicy morning."
"Decidedly, sir."
"Spring and all that."
"Yes, sir."
"In the spring, Jeeves, a livelier iris gleams upon the burnished dove."
"So I have been informed, sir."
"Right ho! Then bring me my whangee, my yellowest shoes, and the old green Homburg. I'm going into the Park to do pastoral dances." - The Intimitable Jeeves

I don't know if you know that sort of feeling you get on those days round about the end of April and the beginning of May, when the sky's a light blue, with cotton-wool clouds, and there's a bit of a breeze blowing from the west? Kind of uplifted feeling. Romantic, if you know what I mean. I'm not much of a ladies' man, but on this particular morning it seemed to me that what I really wanted was for some charming girl to buzz up and ask me to save her from assassins or something. So it was a bit of an anti-climax when I merely ran into young Bingo Little, looking perfectly foul in a crimson satin tie decorated with horseshoes. - The Intimitable Jeeves

"Well, never mind," said Wimsey, consolingly. "Perhaps the love will come after marriage. When you look over the coffeepot and say to yourself, 'To this noble woman's pure affection I owe my life and freedom,' your heart will reproach you for your coldness." - Five Red Herrings

"...A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony, in a moment." - Pride and Prejudice

Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour in The Scarlet Pimpernel

Marguerite bowed her head in silence. There was nothing more she could say, no plea that she could urge. Indeed, she had understood, as he had begged her to understand. She understood that long ago he had mapped out the course of his life, and now that the course happened to lead up to a Calvary of humiliation and suffering he was not likely to turn back, even though, on the summit, death was all ready waiting and beckoning with no uncertain hand; not until he could murmur, in the wake of the great and divine sacrifice, the sublime words, “It is accomplished.” - El Dorado: The Further Adventures of The Scarlet Pimpernel

Mr. Squeer's appearance was not prepossessing. He had but one eye, and the popular prejudice runs in favour of two. The eye he had was unquestionably useful, but decidedly not ornamental: being of a greenish-grey, and in shape resembling the fan-light of a street door...he appeared ill at ease in his clothes, and as if he were in a perpetual state of astonishment at finding himself so respectable. - Nicholas Nickleby

I'm late to work. Blame it on my aunt, who called to tell me about "seventy-seven things that make a woman beautiful" - some tips written by three massage therapists and an owner of a used car lot. I didn't get the connection between the four compilers of the list, or even how they came up with the list, but nevertheless I listened as Regena Lorraine read every single one over the phone. - How Sweet it Is

27. Any five books from your "to be read" stack. What makes you select a book for your “to be read” stack?

-Busman's Holiday - Dorothy L. Sayers (reread)
-The Intimitable Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse (reread)
-The Healer's Apprentice - Melanie Dickenson
-For Women Only - Shaunti Feldhahn (rereading)
-Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (STILL reading :-P)

How it gets on my to-read list? Well...

-I enjoy the author…
-The plot sounds intriguing…
-It’s set in a time period I like…
-The cover is pretty/I like the back cover blurb....etc.
-Or it's recommended by someone I know, and the premise sounds interesting!
For example, in the case of getting into Dorothy Sayer's mysteries...when someone told me the hero was rather like a 1920's version of Sir Percy Blakeney with a dash of Bertie Wooster and had a Jeeves-like butler, well...how could I resist that combination? :-)

28. Some firsts: First book you remember loving/being obsessed with. First book that made you cry. First book you gave to someone else as a gift.

First book I was obsessed with…well, I’ve been reading since I was four years old and never really took my nose out of a book since…but really obsessed…the A Life of Faith series when I was like fourteen or so.

First book that made me cry…Out and out sob was Coming Home by David Lewis. OMS, close to the end there I was realllly crying bad. Never cried that hard since…until I read Unlocked by Karen Kingsbury recently. Ok, I was almost hysterical on that one. :-) Oh, and The Face by Angela Hunt...wow, powerful book there. Crying really hard at the end of that one.

29. Saddest character death OR best/most satisfying character death (or both!)

James Barbour as Sydney Carton in the musical 'A Tale of Two Cities'

Saddest…..hmmm…probably Sydney Carton in Tale. With Fantine from Les Miz in close second (Come to Me is one of my favorite songs in the musical). Oh, and definitely Beth March's death in Little Women. Oh, wow. That one gets me every time. And even though I don't overly-care for the '95 version of the story, the death scene is done so well, I sob every time. "Why does everyone always want to go away? I love being home." My favorite line in the movie! Sniff... and Matthew in Anne of Green Gables, again.

Satisfying…hahahaha. Soooo many villains I was happy to see die! Hahahaha. Ok, so I haven't actually read the book...but I know in the film version of Lorna Doone I was sooooo happy when Carver Doone died. Gruesome bog-sucking death and all. Like, jumping up and down cheering happy. Just sayin'. Oh, and Bromley Edgerton in the Elsie books. Yippee. Is it just me, or (for those who have read both the originals and the ALOF books) does anyone else prefer the revised version where he's a Klu Klux Klan guy and gets killed when they attack the Travillas instead of just dying in Andersonville or wherever he was at (I don't remember exactly) during the war?

30. The End: do you prefer everything tied up or to be able to 'make up your own mind'? What is the worst ending to a book you have read? And the best? (careful, spoiler tags!)

I really like everything to be explained out…I don’t really care for romantic stories where it ends with the hero and heroine not at least engaged or about to be. I’ve spent all this time…I want to know that they do end up together!

Worst book ending…really hard. I didn’t really care for the way Ever After by Karen Kingsbury ended…argh, don’t want to spoil it, but I was still soooooo upset at what had happened (if you really wanna know, spoilers are in white...you can highlight it to read 'em. :-) (when the hero got killed - I mean like, I was so into the story by then that I felt like a friend had actually died) that I didn’t have time to really like what happened after that, (when like, couple chapters later it's a year later and the heroine is suddenly in love with and engaged to his buddy ) so I was like, NOOOO! You can’t do that! What about... the other guy! I was still grieving the hero, you know? Hero and heroine had loved each other so much, and I wasn't ready for the other guy - nice as he was - to marry the heroine! I still loved the poor dead hero, you know? If you’ve read the book you’ll know what I’m talking about. :-)

Best ending….ARGH! I love lots of endings. The end of The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel...just because it's the last book in the series and wraps everything up...the end of The Brides of Lancaster series (you know...The Shunning...that series :-P), I love the end of Stand-In Groom and Saving Alice and North and South and Great Expectations and Gaudy Night and...the end of our story! :-)

WOW! I'm done! Hurrah! :-) Stay tuned soon for some movie reviews and the Period Drama tag within the next week or two :-) Crossing my fingers that I can get back to regular blogging!

One Lovely Blog Award...

2011-10-05T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! Hope y'all are still here.

I'm in that lazy blogging mode. Where I've got tons to say, but the idea of sitting down and typing it out...just sounds tedious. Please someone tell me I'm not the only one who's ever felt that way. :-P

Anyway! I have tags to do (that literary one to finish...and then the Period Drama one from Elegance of Fashion...scheduling kept me from being able to participate in the week but the tag was too much to resist so I'm doing it late. I mean, a tag on costume dramas?! Yeah, people! Anyway...) and several movie reviews and lots of stuff. So expect a lot more action coming this way. I'd love to hear from y'all again, too, hint...hint...

Anyway. To start, I've been awarded by Abby at Newly Impassioned Soul (which is a lovely blog, btw) with the One Lovely Blog Award!

I'm supposed to tell seven things about myself that no one knows. Now, when you've been blogging for, what, two years? Anyway. When that happens, you kinda run out of things to say that no one knows. So I've wracked my brain excessively to think of some things.

1. I'm a secret Star Wars geek. Yup (ducks). I love all the films and have deep discussions with my brothers about characters and motivations and all that and the pros and cons of original vs. prequel (I love them both - The Revenge of the Sith is, IMO, probably the best just because it ties in the prequels and originals, although I have a super-soft-spot for the original films...Han Solo, ya know, and C3PO...). Yup, yup. And I absolutely adore this guy here.

Sigh. Anyway. I cry when Yoda dies. Yeahhhh. But then I've always loved Muppet-type characters. So anyway. Yoda's just awesome. I mean, he duels and everything. :-P

2. I have a set of Dickens from the 1890's. Gorgeous condition, I take them with me and read them and stuff. The diviniest-of-divine smells is antique books, ya know. Just love. Anyway, one of my most prized possessions. I'm surprised I've never talked about them before. I'll have to take a pic and post it sometime.

3. Well, this isn't about me, but in light of recent topics in posts...my dad once literally bumped into Jane Seymour when he was on a business trip years and years and years ago. He was just walking down the street, stepped out of the way of something, and bumped into someone. She said "Pardon me", he turned around, and it was her. I was so jealous when I found out about it. :-P

4. I have a really bad habit of humming without realizing it in the oddest places at the oddest times...like in the middle of church. Very embarrassing.

5. I mention this on my other blog once, but I hate opening biscuit cans...you know, the ones you peel open and they pop. HATE it. So I usually have my brothers or innocent younger siblings do it for me.

6. I've recently gotten hooked on poetry. John Keats, to be precise. Yup. Let's just say a Bright Star review is coming soon. Anyway. The man's poetry is amazing. So gorgeous. Anyhooz.

7. Ummm...well, I had the entire Anne of Green Gables film literally memorized when I was three years old. That whole obsession thing I have? Yeah, I've always had it.

I'm supposed to tag like, fifteen people. YIKES. :-D So I'm just tagging all of you! Whoever would like this award and tag, you're free to have it!

Anyway! Lots of stuff coming soon! Thanks to everyone for their prayers for my family in the past few weeks. They're all so appreciated. I'm so thankful for all of you!

He Will Hold You in the Palm of His Hand: In Memory of my Aunt Lora

2011-09-20T23:12:00.000-07:00

It’s been a month today since my aunt passed away. Most days it doesn’t seem quite real that she’s actually gone. Life is so busy that things just seem to keep going, never stopping.

But then at times it’s like I realize how much of my life was influenced by my aunt.

My aunt and I on my first Christmas, 1989

She was one of the most important people in my life as a child. I always looked up to her and thought she was one of the neatest people around. Visiting her house was a treat…playing the grand piano, eating delicious treats, and always taking a peek at the scary picture of some Cyrano de Bergerac-looking guy with a long, raised nose…Aunt Lora always said that he came to life at night and duel with his nose.

Aunt Lora, Nick, Jon and I, 1995

When we moved away, a highlight would be getting cards and packages in the mail. She always sprayed them with her perfume, so opening the envelope or box, you’d get a whiff of that distinct scent and know that amazing treats were coming – she was the one that would find the most amazing and different treats.

She loved gourmet food and was an incredible cook. We always told her that she should open a teashop or a catering service because her food was always so awesome. Christmastime was always a treat – one year she made a real authentic plum pudding, and it was amazing. :-)

Aunt Lora, Nick, Jon and I - 1998

As I look at myself and who I am, I can see how much I’m like her. She was the one that got me hooked on gourmet food, and we used to go to Better Cheddar together and pick out amazing cheeses and exotic-sounding snacks. We both loved the strawberry avocado salad at Mimi’s and the portabella mushroom burger at Cheesecake Factory (and the cheesecakes…both our favorite dessert), and loved goat cheese and pesto and Greek food and all that kind of thing.

We shared a passion for our very-most-favorite film Somewhere in Time, and we agreed that Jane Seymour was our favorite actress and that Elise was an absolutely gorgeous name. I would go over and watch it with her and play the theme song on her piano, and poured over the pictures when she got back from Mackinac Island, green with jealousy that she got to go to the Grand Hotel and I didn’t, and she brought me back a special making-of-Somewhere in Time-book. :-)

Aunt Lora and I - 2000

We loved “girl” movies, and whenever I found a good new one, I’d bring it over to watch. We loved The Young Victoria and Sense and Sensibility and A Room with a View and The Scarlet Pimpernel, and we’d act like teens and talk about the handsome heroes and romantic scenes (she always supported my admiration for Sir Percy :-)) and of course the costumes.

We both loved weddings, and I got my plan-my-whole-wedding-since-I-was-five bug from seeing her folders of pictures and ideas. Even though she never married, her desire was always to have a husband and family and she always encouraged me in that dream.

Aunt Lora, my grandma and I after my first piano recital - 1995

(Yes, notice the major Marie Antoinette hairdo I'm sporting. I loved it! :-))

In fact, she always encouraged me in anything I wanted to do and let me know how she believed in me, and she was often one of the first people I went to with a new idea. She faithfully kept up with news on the Think of Me gown, looking over the pictures and suggesting different trimming ideas, and oohing and ahhing with me when I finally finished…and she was the first person I called when I found out I won. :-)

We both shared an intense love for Christmastime and everything about it. When my brothers and I were little, she would have us over to her house at Christmastime, and made huge gingerbread houses for each of us to decorate and gourmet hot chocolate to drink. When she was first diagnosed I went over to her house and we decorated the whole house for Christmas, listened to Christmas music and watched videos together.
She was one of the only people besides my immediate family that understood that it’s not only ok, but right to start watching the 1951 A Christmas Carol in September and listen to Christmas music while the leaves are still orange and red on the trees, and decorate the house in October.

Alex, Nick, Jon, Belle, my grandma, my aunt and I at the beach - 2002

She knew I loved writing and she always encouraged me to work harder and put everything into it, and never failed to encourage me. I would bring over my latest bit of writing and let her read it, and she was always full of encouragement and good suggestions. I could talk over ideas with her and she would always listen and give ideas.

We both loved music, and I would go over there often to play the piano and warm up my voice. I shared with her my passion for singing, and she always, always encouraged me so much in that. She made a special effort to come to my vocal recital this past April, even though she was beginning to have difficulty at that point standing and walking around for long periods of time. She understood that intense desire I had to develop my voice to use for the Lord, and she always supported me in that.

My mom, my grandma, Aunt Lora and I at my Sweet Sixteenth birthday - 2005

And she got me hooked on Michael Crawford’s music. Right after she was diagnosed in 2008 I would go over and help her and my grandma out. Her diagnosis was a shock to me, it was the first real tragedy for me…we had had others before but I was too young to really take it in and understand how serious they were. For the first time I realized how this could change our lives forever. And it devastated me. For days I was so upset and fearful about the future and what could happen. Then one morning the Lord gave me Psalm 91 – the promise that He is holding us in the palm of His hand. That day I went to Aunt Lora’s and shared the passage with her, and she said that the Lord had been showing her the same thing, and it had reminded her of a song on a CD she had that was based off of that passage. She handed me the CD and said, “Take it home and listen to it. I think you’ll like it, the guy has a beautiful voice.” It was Michael Crawford’s CD, On Eagle’s Wings. So I took it home and listened to it, and I just cried through the whole CD, especially the title song – He will raise you up on eagle’s wings, bear you on the breath of dawn, make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of His hand.

My mom, Aunt Lora and I after her heart surgery March 2011

The Lord used that song to bring such peace to my hear t– that whatever happened, He was in control. And when I would get anxious about it (or any other situation that popped up in the next few years), I would listen to the song and the peace would come, knowing that God knew what was happening. I listened to the song when the kids were so sick with the whooping cough, sitting in the hospital when we lost Timmy, when financial trouble came and went and came again, when my aunt was having the very risky surgery to have her heart and lungs drained, and that second week of August, 2011, five weeks ago, when my aunt decided to call in hospice.

Just two days before she passed away, the Lord just showed me so clearly while listening to the song that through all of this He had been watching over us, and that when she passed away, she would be with the Lord. The day she died I had such peace all day, so much peace that I wanted her to be out of pain. The last few days she was in such pain, and the Lord just showed me that she would be in such a better place and pain-free, and that as much as it hurt us, it was so much better for her. And when she did finally pass away, I had such incredible peace that truly passed all understanding.

My grandma, Aunt Lora and I at my vocal recital - April 2011

She talked all the time about heaven, about how wonderful and beautiful it was and how much she longed to be there. It was so uplifting to hear her, how she wasn’t afraid, how she was eagerly anticipating being in Heaven…and it was rebuking, too, in a way, because it just made me realize how every Christian should be like that. And the joy, the real joy that I felt when she passed away, knowing that she was finally there, finally home, as the song my mom sang at her funeral so poignantly put it.

But just think of stepping on a shore, and finding it Heaven,

Of touching a hand, and finding it God’s,

Of breathing new air, and finding it celestial,

Of waking up in glory…and finding it Home.

When we were making her funeral arrangements, we realized there was a mistake, and that instead of three plots at the cemetery, my grandma only had two, one for her mother and one for our little Timmy. In my mom's words from her blog post:

When I lost the baby (Timmy) at just under 7 months, Lora was so shocked and disappointed, she shed many tears with me. But after prayer, she said, this baby really was "her baby" and she would be the first one in our family to see him and hold him...in heaven...he was waiting for her. She was such a comfort to my heart during that time because I knew she felt much of the pain I did in his loss. The day of his funeral she had planned to be there right beside me, but for the first time, she was having great difficulty breathing. Because of this she was too weak to come to the funeral...that same night we learned that the cancer had spread to her lungs and she had taken a turn for the worst. From that point on she declined weekly.

All through those months, as I was dealing with the grief of losing baby Timmy, I kept remembering her comment, that she would be in heaven with him soon. The morning of her death she reminded me again that Jesus and Timmy were waiting for her... she would be holding "her baby" soon.

The day before her funeral, the man from our family cemetery called and said that there were not two graves next to my grandmother as we had thought, there was only one grave and baby Timmy had already been buried there. So the only way to bury Lora next to our Grandmother, was to put Lora and baby Timmy in the same grave spot. He said, with our permission, they would bury his little casket right on top of hers...I cried so hard for so long...it was so beautiful. I know both their spirits are in heaven, but the only thing left on this earth are their bodies, the part I could see and touch and hold. To know their bodies are buried together is so beautiful and knowing how happy that would have made Lora...to know that "her baby" was buried with her...I can just feel the joy she would have felt...God is so good.

My mom, Aunt Lora, Nick, Jon, Alex, Ben and I - March 2011

Her funeral was an incredible experience, the kind of thing that every Christian’s should be like. She had planned it out months in advance just as we used to plan our weddings together, and her biggest wish was for the Gospel to be shared with everyone there, and we did. A gospel message was preached, and we were able to share music, which was really an amazing experience. My siblings and I sang a song that really brought to my mind the way I’ve felt in the last few years…

I saw Jesus in you, I saw Jesus in you.

I could hear his voice in the words you said, I saw Jesus in you.

In your eyes I saw his care, I could see His love was there.

You were faithful, and I saw Jesus in you.

She had a prayer journal that my mom had given her when she was first diagnosed and Mom read parts of that there. It was such an amazing thing, reading the tear-stained pages and seeing her innermost thoughts and prayers. The Lord worked a miracle in her life those three years.

From Aunt Lora's prayer journal: The day I found out that the cancer had returned I was thrown back a bit, but that night God spoke this verse to my heart, "be still and know that I am God". Yes, communication is not just one way with God, it's TWO WAY! He speaks back to us. "my sheep hear and know my voice". To "be still" means to not wring the hands or look around nervously, to not fidget because I'm scared. It means my body is calm and at rest and my mind rests in Him and what He will do next. He knew years ago that I would get cancer. He knew that it was going to be a valley that He would literally carry me through.

It may sound strange, but I am the happiest right now, then I've ever been in my life. There is a reason why, the bible says,"Happy is he who trusts in the Lord". Trusting in Jesus is like leaning back on a comfortable pillow and letting Him lead you.

I have to say since my cancer surgery, I have not had one bad night. I lay my head down on my pillow and sleep all night. When I get up, I am peaceful and have not one shred of fear or sadness, or even regret. I don't lye on my bed at night and worry, it's because Jesus has been carrying me through. When I keep my mind on Him, I have total peace, not just peace, I am excited to see where He is going to lead our family next in this trial.

I don't think there is anything that could take away my joy. Yes, I'm saying that even after the cancer has come back, Nothing can steal my joy... NOT EVEN DEATH!

JOY in the valley of the shadow of death, He has given me JOY through this trial of cancer...because I am resting in the palm of His hand!
Love,
Lora

In my finite mind, I might be tempted to say that I wouldn’t have wished the last three years on everyone if I could. I would have my aunt back and have nothing change. This past year has been all about change in our lives, sometimes feeling like those movies that start out all sunny and happy with everyone all together, and then in the course of the movie everything changes and nothing will be the same again. And yet, the Lord worked in our lives and in my aunt’s life so much…that looking back now, I can say that He had a perfect plan in it all.

His way is perfect, his way is perfect.
Though I don’t understand his wise and loving plan,
His way is perfect, his way is perfect.
Take my life and make a vessel purified.
God makes no mistakes, His way is best.
All of us with my grandma and Aunt Lora May 2011
This last month has been a time of emotional ups-and-downs, of one day so happy for her and then the next day missing her so much. It’s doing the little things...picking up Somewhere in Time and realizing she won’t be there to watch it anymore, or when Dad and I finally broke out A Christmas Carol and watched it last week for the first time this year. When I have one of those “wow, I can’t believe I wrote that! That is so awesome!” moments and realize I can’t pop over and have her read it, too. When I found a birthday card she had given me this year, her distinctive handwriting and that faint whiff of perfume, and her message – Sometime next week bring over a movie and spend the night! (that was when I showed her and my grandma The King’s Speech (which they loved))…and realizing I can never do that again. Looking at pictures like the ones on this post…or realizing that for the babies, they’ll never remember what it was like to have that aunt who would make gingerbread houses and host fun parties and make fun treats and go shopping in cute little boutiques for fun presents or duel Cyrano de Bergerac.

Aunt Lora June 2011

But then I think about what it must be like in Heaven – where she so desperately longed to be and looked forward to so much – and I just can’t be sad for her. The realization that she is up there, with Timmy and with the Lord is just so amazing.

The Lord has been so good to us. He has held us up and strengthened us when we thought we couldn’t do it anymore. In the trials of the past few years, He has shown himself strong again and again, and I know that he will continue to do so. For me, my aunt’s memory will live on in her love for life, her tender heart for others, her gift of encouraging other people, and her faith, and for me, will be with me forever in the things we loved and shared…gourmet food, Somewhere in Time, writing, Christmastime, cooking, singing…and the knowledge that God is always with us, holding us in the palm of His hand.
I love you, Aunt Lora. Thanks for being such a wonderful aunt and a tremendous influence in my life. I’ll never forget it.
Ally-Baba

You need not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
Under His wings your refuge, His faithfulness your shield.
For to his angels he’s given a command to guard you in all of your ways,
Upon their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone…

And he will raise you up on eagles’ wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His hand.

On Eagle's Wings from Cathy Melton on Vimeo.

Never Forget...

2011-09-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

"We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail."

"America will never run... And we will always be grateful that liberty has found such brave defenders."
--George W. Bush

"Precious in the Sight of the Lord...

2011-08-21T12:23:00.000-07:00

...is the death of his saints." - Psalms 116:15

Yesterday at 8:50 PM, my aunt Lora Heiman went home to be with the Lord. We will miss her so much, but we are so thankful that she’s finally out of pain and so happy. She had such a huge influence in my life and on the lives of others, and her testimony in the past three years during her battle with breast cancer was such a blessing and encouragement to me, which I hope to share more about in the near future. She was my biggest cheerleader, always letting me know that she believed I could do anything. And I’m going to miss her so much. But the horrible suffering she went through is over, and I wanted that for her more than anything, so I am truly so happy for her. Our family has such incredible peace that only God can give. His way is perfect and He makes no mistakes. He used Aunt Lora’s life to touch so many people, and that legacy will live on forever.

Please continue to pray for our family, for my grandma and my aunt’s dad, that the Lord will continue to comfort as He has all ready done.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:28, 35-39

Still Alive, I See...

2011-08-02T18:03:00.000-07:00

I am still here! Looking at my dashboard I see that it's been almost a month since I've posted - which, I know, breaks all good blogging how-to-get-lots-of-followers rules. The fact is I've been enjoying summer like I said I would and haven't time to blog!

I've been doing lots of lovely things this summer. Swimming, of course, and reading. Lots of reading. I read constantly anyway, but something about summer just screams "Please Grab a Book and Read in the Hot Sun". I've read lots of the Christian fiction I've been wanting to catch up on (Nancy Moser and Siri Mitchell have become faves), re-reading my favorite Agatha Christies (I can't believe I'd actually forgotten the solutions to some of the mysteries! Ack, my brain is going...), and have been introduced to the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries - which might I take a moment to say that Lord Peter has become rather a favorite, definitely in the top-ten-favorites (but of course just not quite up-to-par with Sir Percy).

(To be completely honest, it all happened when a bloggy friend described him as being "a 1920's Sir Percy with Jeeves-like valet." I ask you, how could I resist? :-) Percy and Jeeves? Brilliant. There, the truth's out.)

Anyway. So I've been parading the library with mile-high stacks of books....quite normal, again, but still...and reading them in my room, on the trampoline...I am loving sitting in the sun right now. It's hotter than anything the last few weeks, but something about soaking up the sun...I love it. Anyway. Unfortunately, there's no tan to prove for it. Which is a shame, but oh, well.

Part of my huge stack of books is all the costume and costume design books I've rented out as a part of my latest project. No, I'm not sewing any costumes - yet - I'm trying my hand at designing some. Just for the fun of it. More on that later. So I've been pouring over everything late 18th century lately! :-)

Joann's had patterns on sale for $2 the other day, so I bought up a bunch of costume patterns...two 18th century costumes, a man's 18th-early 19th century shirt pattern, and a coat pattern that is perfect for replicating Javert's coat in Les Miserables for Nick...just in case we should ever need a Javert coat. I don't know what on the earth we would need it for at the moment, but you never know.

Speaking of Les Miz, I've got the book for the tenth millionth time...but it's so thick every time I grab it to dutifully stick my nose in and finish it, I get discouraged and pull out my frothy novels and mysteries instead. It's too hot for a heavy classic right now. I will finish it before the year is out...there's a new resolution for you.

The Lord's really given us a great summer. We've had some great get-togethers with our church family and managed to pull off a surprise 50th birthday party for my dad with the church - you have to understand that surprises are practically impossible with him. And wouldn't you know we were so busy we didn't get pictures? Ay-yi-yi. But it was soooo much fun. We have the awesomest church ever, just sayin'.

I feel awful, honestly, for not coming up with some "deep" stuff to post about. The Lord's really done a lot in my life over the summer, and there's so many things to share that honestly, sometimes I'm not quite sure where to begin - or when I do sit down to begin, it all flies out of my mind. There it goes, as the Progressive lady says. But never fear....it'll come soon.

As soon as it cools down. :-)

EDIT: Yes, to those who have noticed...I did change my header recently and just never got around to announcing it. The original header said that the blog was all about costume reproduction and sewing, which was the original "theme" of the blog, but since then it's morphed into everything historical related, especially costume drama films, so I thought it needed a change. :-)

Disclaimer: I have not seen, nor condone, nor recommend 'Marie Antoinette', blah-de-blah-de-blah. But seriously...is not this pic gorgeous? If only I looked like that while I'm sitting in the sun reading. :-)

When Movies are Better than Books...

2011-07-15T10:12:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I had this little idea...this is a "participation" post, so participate! In other words, please comment! :-)

We book lovers are always complaining about how movies will change parts of our favorite books. So today for fun, we're going to be positive.

I love being positive (hehehe, don't laugh, anyone). If you don't, just pretend with me, 'kay?

'Kay.

So today, we're going to talk about when the movies actually improve on the books!

Fun, right???!!!

Right!

I'll start with something I thought of this past weekend.

-I like that Messala dies in the 1959 Ben-Hur instead of - not dying - in the book. I don't know, it's just kind of nice and final that he ends up dead! And I've never liked the stories where everyone turns out converted and nice in the end. It's not real life, peoples! You want at least one bad guy to hate, you know? Anyway. At that point in the story, you're all mad with Judah (please someone tell me I'm not the only one who totally gets in the character's heads and goes through every emotion they do) and it's like, YES! He's DEAD! I know, it's hardly the nice Christian attitude, but I'm just being completely honest here.

-I like that Marianne takes a walk in the rain and sees Willoughby's house and quotes that amazing Sonnet 116 and then Colonel Brandon carries her home in the rain in the 1995 Sense and Sensibility - it's my very favorite scene in the whole film - vs. just taking a walk and getting her feet damp and catching a cold. It's just so much more dramatic - and Kate Winslet just plays the scene so well - um, yeah.

-I like that Roger and Molly actually end up married at the end of Wives and Daughters instead of Roger leaving in the rain back to Africa in the book (I know the book wasn't actually finished...but just in keeping with the theme)

-I like that Missy Davis is a "tween" girl instead of what, two years old (it's been a while since I read the book) in Love Comes Softly, I think it adds a lot to the film - the tension and whatnot.

-I like that Captain Crewe ends up alive in most film versions of A Little Princess vs. in the book when he's really dead (I've seen the 1986 made-for-television version, and I do like the guy that adopts her - the fact that Nigel Havers portrayed him could help that somewhat, but that's neither here nor there - but it's just not quite the same as the father/daughter reunion, especially the 1995 version, which happens to be my favorite version. Ohmysoul, the reunion scene is soooo tearjerking!).

-I like that in Somewhere in Time he *SPOILERS* dies of a broken heart in the end, vs. him dying of a tumor or whatever it was in the book (I haven't actually read the book, but someone told me that happened. NO! Half the drama is that he died of a broken heart. PEOPLE, PEOPLE.)

-I like the way The Scarlet Pimpernel (the 1982 film, of course) ends better than the book. NOT that I don't like the book's ending, I do! I just really like the twist at the end of the film. Really trying not to spoil it for folks who haven't seen it. :-)

So! There's starters. Now it's your turn...what are some movie twists that you prefer to the original book?

The last part of the literary tag is coming soon...the questions were SO HARD this time! Hahahaha!

Something Wonderful...

2011-07-09T10:45:00.000-07:00

...a mini-kinda-sorta-not-an-official-review of the fantastic film version of the musical The King and I, starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr.

Last week we watched The King and I again, and I forgot how much I absolutely adore the movie/musical!

The story of Anna Leonowens, a widow who goes to Siam in the 1860's to teach the children of the King, it's just so beautiful and whimsical and tragic and yet at the same time....there's few movies (or musicals) that feel so...happy! Just so completely happy when I watch it...even with the bittersweet ending and all.

Yul Brynner was made for this role. He originated it on Broadway and continued it in the film...and went on to play The King for years and years. He owns the role the same way that Colm Wilkinson or Michael Crawford own their respective famous roles. I really can't imagine a better king. He just nails the king who is caught between the traditions of his past and yet struggling so hard inside, wanting to make his kingdom a better place.

Deborah Kerr is a lovely Anna Leonowens, struggling between the stubborn King and the love for his children that she teaches. The way that she slowly begins to understand him is played so well. And by the end of the movie, I was bawling (ok, so I do that all the time anyway, but yeah.)

The exotic setting of 19th century Siam, the amazing music, and the gorgeous costumes (whether or not Anna's gowns are exactly correct to the 1860's is not that big of a deal, considering how amazingly awesome they are. The way she maneuvers her huge hoop skirt is a feat! :-)) make this film a feast for the eyes and ears! :-)

Here are some of my favorite songs from the movie.

"Getting to Know You" - this song is just so happy! Definitely one of my favorite songs!

"Something Wonderful" - this has got to be one of the most gorgeous songs ever. One of my favorite songs in the world, period! It makes me cry something awful. :-)

"Shall We Dance?" - happy, happy song. And Yul Brynner cracks me up on this one.

"Hello, Young Lovers" - this song is so sad and yet so beautiful, too.

And lastly, a clip from the film. While I don't agree with "Mrs. Anna's" explanation of creation :-P, this scene is probably one of my favorites. It cracks me up when I hear him speaking of Moses, since he's also famous for playing Rameses II opposite Charlton Heston's Moses in The Ten Commandents. :-)

So! Have you seen The King and I?

Happy Independence Day!

2011-07-04T10:53:00.001-07:00

Oh, say! can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming;
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there:
Oh, say! does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust":
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
--The National Anthem of the United States

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
--The Declaration of Independence

"Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual. ... Continue steadfast and, with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us."
--John Hancock

"While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian."
--George Washington

(emphasis mine on the above quotes)

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
--Ronald Reagan

The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered... deeply, ...finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.

--George Washington, First Inaugural Address

"Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”
Leviticus 25:10

"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

2 Corinthians 3:17

I'm proud to be an American,

Where at least I know I'm free.

And I won't forget the men who died

To give that right to me.

And I'll gladly stand up next to you

And defend her still today.

'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land -

God Bless the USA!

-Lee Greenwood

Happy June 27th!

2011-06-27T20:22:00.000-07:00

If you're not a fan of Somewhere in Time you won't get this, but June 27th is monumental in SIT trivia...it's the day that Richard Collier meets Elise McKenna for the first time in the past in the film.

They've even got a plaque on Mackinac Island in the spot where they "met". Which I will see someday...Mackinac Island being on my top-three-places-to-go-before-I-die list. But anyhooz.

I know that this is super radical fanish. But I just think this is so cool. :-)

So I hope today was lovely for y'all! It was for me...I listened to the gorgoeous soundtrack while out running errands today. I wanted to fit in a viewing of the film, but don't think that's going to happen. :-)

June 27th is a pretty lovely day. Just sayin'.

"Is it you? Is it?"

"Yes."

And last but not least, I give you the utterly and totally gorgeous theme song. It. Is. Amazing. I'm having this played at my wedding...if and when I get married. And no, I have no idea who the other half of the equation is as of yet. :-)

(be sure to turn off the music in the sidebar before playing! :-))

Literary Tag...Part Three!

2011-06-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

Day Sixteen

Adaptation: What book would you most like to see made into a film? Do you like to read the book first or see the film? Any books you have read after seeing the film version?

What book…um…I’d love to see a new Tale...more on that in a later post, so stay tuned (hint: dream casting...mmm!)…

a *good* adaptation of Les Miz…with people who can sing, puleeze...

or one of the Tommy and Tuppence mysteries made…the adaptations before never got Tuppence quite right, I think, although Anthony Andrews was a lovely, spot-on Tommy, of course. Just sayin'. And Greta Schacci came close...just not close enough.

I’m not picky…if I haven’t read the book I’ll still see the film.

Oh, I’ve read tons after seeing the film…the Anne of Green Gables series, The Scarlet Pimpernel series, Les Miserables, A Tale of Two Cities, Sense and Sensibility (which I could barely make it through...please don't hit me, anyone...), the Agatha Christie books after seeing the old black and white version of And Then There Were None (which is a great film, BTW...and pretty accurate to the novel, which is more than can be said for some recent AC adaptations :-P).

Day Seventeen

What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?

Probably Les Miserables. Just because it’s so stinking long (and I'm still reading it...)

Day Eighteen

Your favourite book series & your favourite book out of that series

The Scarlet Pimpernel series, of course. My favorite of all those (besides the first book) is El Dorado. The prison scene is ahhhhhhmazing, even better than the film's prison scene, which is my favorite scene in the film. Love, love, love the book's prison scene. Yup, yup, yup.

Christian fiction would probably be the Zion Covenant series by Brock and Bodie Thoene...in fact any of their series. Great books.

Day Nineteen

Your favourite picture, junior fiction and Young Adult books

Oohhhhh.

Picture: Hmm. I still love Dr. Seuss, to be honest. :-)

Junior Fiction: The American Girls series. Any of them. Just because they're great memories. :-)

Young Adult: I never read a whole lot of Young Adult...I kind of went straight from childrens to classics and Christian adult fiction. I'm thinking hard...oh, the A Life of Faith series, duh. I was quite obsessed when I was like, thirteen or so. To this day, I prefer Millie Keith most of all. She had lots of younger siblings like me, and I had a bit of a literary hero crush on her guy, Charles. I mean, he was handsome, brave, noble, and he got TERRIBLY SICK at one point. Major points for him there! The only thing better would have been if he had gotten SHOT or something. Oh, well, can't have everything. I've always loved injured heroes ever since I wrote my first story at five, where the hero was tortured or shot or languished for months in prison or something, I don't exactly remember.

Day Twenty

Least favourite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise

Oh, that's easy. In almost every historical novel, no matter what the time period, the heroine is this corset-burning, man hating, 21st-century-mindset feminist intent on getting into the man's world (and all the men are chauvenistic, half-witted idiots). Ok, so my thinking is that 1., when a heroine has a modern mindset, it's jarring to me trying to get into the story/time period because it just screams PC and overall not this time period (especially when it's like, a medieval story...seriously, read one of those before) . 2., For pity's sake, not every single woman on the face of planet earth in the past wanted to burn her corset and be a doctor or whatever they like to do. Did some? Sure. But I just get so tired of always having heroines crying out for liberty, equality, and whatever. I'm like, let me see how an average woman then would live/think/behave!

End of rant.

Day Twenty-One

A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving

Hmm…hard question. In fact, practically impossible. I always go into a book thinking I'll like it...if I won't like it, I don't read it. ;-) Um...well, I guess I didn't have high hopes for Karen Kingsbury...but then they were really good. Most of them. I hated the ending of Ever After...but that's a part of another later question, so I won't go into it here. :-D

Stay tuned next week for the last part!!!

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to the best dad in the whole world, to infinity and beyond!

I am so, so thankful for the wonderful father the Lord has blessed me with. My dad is seriously one of the most godly men I know (if not the most :-)), his vision to see the world a better place for Christ and his stand for the truth have inspired me to seek the same in a man. He is truly my hero and the scale to which I measure all other men.

A while back on my other blog I posted about the similarities between my favorite literary hero and my dad, and this seemed like a good time to post that here in honor of my dad. :-)

To dream the impossible dream,

To fight the unbeatable foe,

To bear with unbearable sorrow,

To run where the brave dare not go...

Ever since I was little, I've had a very, over-the-top-big, huge, uber-soft spot for heroes. The courageous men who bravely went where no man had gone before, you know. And I still do. Very much so.

I always preferred Prince Philip to Prince Charming, because Prince Charming just stood around at the castle and plop - Cinderella landed in his lap. He didn't even pursue her actively himself as in he sent the Duke to go find her (ok, ok, in the Disney film...I realize he did in the original fairytale...we're talking about the Prince Charming we all know)! Prince Philip actually, you know, fought dragons for Sleeping Beauty (ok, he was helped by the annoying fairies, but that's neither here nor there and not the point of the post. So hush). From knights to Alamo fighters to superheroes, the types of heroes I've always admired were the strong men with an incredible drive to fight injustice and save the world.

And now I am grown (depending on your perspective), but my taste in heroes has not changed. Most gals I know are fervent Mr. Darcy worshippers. But not me. Mr. Darcy's nice and all, but he's so...well...can anyone say BORING?

(ducks from the volley of fire)

Seriously, I mean, he does have that heroic save-Lizzy's-sister-moment (which leaves me in a 'ok, he is very nice' moment), but for the most part, he just sits around and lives the life of leisure. After they're married, he's just going to sit around and live the life of leisure. A bit of piano-listening in the morning, a ball now and then...boring, boring, boring.

(And please, no defending Mr. Darcy comments. Mr. Darcy's slight lack of awesomeness in my book is not the point of the post either. I do like Mr. Darcy...I just don't think he's a hero. To each his (or her) own, ok?)

No, quite early on my attention was captured by a different hero, when I was sixteen and saw the 1982 film version of The Scarlet Pimpernel and consequently read the book series. This was much more up my alley (no pun intended).

The Scarlet Pimpernel is the story of Sir Percival Blakeney, a rich English gentleman who goes undercover, in various disguises, into France - where he saves doomed aristocrats from death by the guillotine. Not only is he witty, clever, and of course, very handsome, but much more than that, he risks his life over and over for the cause of right. He has courage, a vision and mission for justice, and he's willing to die for that cause.

Marguerite bowed her head in silence. There was nothing more she could say, no plea that she could urge. Indeed, she had understood, as he had begged her to understand. She understood that long ago he had mapped out the course of his life, and now that the course happened to lead up to a Calvary of humiliation and suffering he was not likely to turn back, even though, on the summit, death was all ready waiting and beckoning with no uncertain hand; not until he could murmur, in the wake of the great and divine sacrifice, the sublime words, “It is accomplished.”

- El Dorado - The Further Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel

That's more like it. Definitely more my cup of tea. This is the stuff that sets my wee heart fluttering with "sigh, isn't he so brave? Wow, what a hero!" Take the Mr. Darcys and Mr. Rochesters and yes, even Gilbert Blythes (ducks again - I do think Gilbert's a great guy, I'm just saying). I truly admire a man who isn't content just to go along for the ride, who's motto is "why have it good when you could have better? Why leave it the way it is when you can change it?" In the words of the song The Impossible Dream, a man willing "to fight for the right without question or pause, to be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause."

Most people would scoff. "Oh, that's nice for a story, but there's not really any real guys out there like that." They'd say that it's not possible to get a man like one of those literary heroes. They'd say I was setting myself up for disappointment in hoping for a man as brave, as visionary, as heroic as a fictional literary figure, someone who is merely the figament of someone's imagination. Well, I beg to differ.

Because recently I have realized that I know someone who bears a remarkable resemblance to the oh-so-heroic Sir Percy.

And that's my dad.

My dad has a mission, too, very similar to Sir Percy's - I can't for security reasons go into them in detail on the Internet, but he risks his life often, knowing that prison or worse could await. Sir Percy saved lives, the Lord uses Dad to save souls. My dad has courage, a vision to change the church and the world, and a passion to see righteousness prevail.

My dad's incredible passion and drive for this vision has "spoiled" my views of other men - I look at the average young John Does hanging out in the average churches with surprise and more than a bit of disgust and think, "Um, helloooo! Is anyone breathing in the room? Are you all alive? Ok, guys, let's get up and go! Wake up, people!" I sit in disbelief, wondering if there's really and truly any other men out there who really care about anything. In the words of Miracle Max in The Princess Bride, "Whatcha got that's worth living for?"

The world needs more men who, as the Thessalonians in the book of Acts, "turn the world upside down". In a day and age where most guys don't really think past their next paycheck, don't have any kind of vision for their lives, we need those bold men who are not afraid of persecution to do what's right. Without visionary men, the world would become stagnant and dull, with no one willing to push ahead, get everyone forward, out of their comfort zones and into a fuller and better life.

Dad has never been afraid to stand up for right - even when it costs him dearly, which it has numerous times. He's not afraid of being labeled a "troublemaker", like the prophets of old. He's persevering, like the great inventors who thought up these "impossible dreams" that everyone said wouldn't work, and spent their lives proving that they could. And he believes in his cause - he's willing to fight and die for it, if necessary.

To top it all off, he's terribly clever, witty and handsome, to boot. :-) Yes, the more I look at it, the more I see that my dad is really a real-life version of my very favorite literary hero. And the best part is that while Sir Percy is only fictional, my dad is real. Despite what well-meaning people may say, there are real men who are every bit just as daring, brave, self-sacrificing, noble, and heroic as the men in the storybooks. I may watch the film and read the books and sigh over Sir Percy's heroism, but I don't have to wonder if it's possible for a man to be just as great a hero as he is. It is possible. I know it because I'm the very proud daughter of a man like that.

There's hope for my idealistic little self - if there's one hero out there, there's got to be at least one more somewhere in this world. :-) And even if there isn't another out there for me, I am so very, very proud of the hero I do know.

And the world will be better for this,

That one man, scorned and covered with scars,

Still strove with his last ounce of courage

To reach the unreachable stars...

Love you, Dad!

"Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God: and let the LORD do that which is good in his sight."1 Chronicles 19:13

Literary Tag...Part Two!

2011-06-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

Here's questions 8-15...since I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday. :-)

Day Eight

The last book you acquired, and how (begged, bought, borrowed?)

The A.B.C Murders by Agatha Christie – at a thrift store. For 50 cents! Can't beat it!!!

Day Nine

Your current read, your last read and the book you’ll read next.

Current Read: A Suitor for Jenny by Margaret Brownley

Last Read: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
...and Fireflies in December by Jennifer Erin Valent

Next Read (more like summer list :-)):
-Dead Man's Folly by Agatha Christie
-when I feel like it, continue making my way sloooooowly through Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
-Hatteras Girl by Alice J. Wisler
-N or M? by Agatha Christie (reread)
-The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens
-For Women Only by Shaunti Feldman (reread)
-The Clocks by Agatha Christie (reread)

(Yes, I read a ton of mysteries during the summer. I love reading mysteries during the summer for some reason. I also love reading them in the autumn, spring, and winter. But especially in the summer. I guess because I was introduced to Agatha Christie and read a whole bunch of her books during the summer, eating breakfast on the deck and reading…lovely memories.Different, yes, but lovely. :-))

Day Ten

What author do you own the most books by and why?

Um…probably Dickens. Because he’s my favorite author. Followed by Beverly Lewis, probably. She and Janette Oke's books were my first "real" Christian romance that I was allowed to read in my late teens, and I still love her books. Although since reading hard-core mysteries, well...like, I guessed the identity of Heather's mother in The Telling right away. :-)

Day Eleven

Do you own multiple copies of any book? What are they? Why do you have multiple copies?

A Tale of Two Cities – two are antique hardbacks, one’s a cheap paperback. :-) Because I love antique books and Tale is one of my very favorite novels. That goes for most of my Dickens novels as well…I have an antique copy and a cheap paperback of most of them. :-) Just because I want to. ;-)

Day Twelve

Book borrowing – do you use the library? Do you prefer to try before you buy? What about lending your books to friends? Are you a good borrower, do you remember to return books?

Oh, the library is one of my best friends. I mean, the librarians literally know me by name now. I really prefer to read a book first before buying it, unless it’s Christian fiction, for some reason. Then I can usually just go in and buy one if the cover sounds (and looks) good, and I know the author. As in know of her/him. Hahahaha.

Um, I tend to be pretty good with getting them back. I usually renew them to the max, even if I've finished them. :-) As far as people's books...well...I try. :-)

Day Thirteen

Do you reread a lot? Why (not)? Name a book you have reread many times.

Depends on the book. I usually don’t reread mysteries a lot…I like to go back to them like, six months to a year later, when the solution to the mystery has gotten a bit hazy. The Tommy and Tuppence series is an exception…I’ve reread those many times, just because I love the characters!

With other fiction, I do reread a lot. Alice J. Wisler’s books have gotten reread many times (one of my favorite Christian authors), Dickens, P. G. Wodehouse, Baroness Orczy…Beverly Lewis, Brock and Bodie Thoene...yup. Books are like old friends...they're fun to get reacquainted with.

Day Fourteen

What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?

Ack…that’s a hard question!!!! Some of my favorites were How Sweet It Is and Rain Song by Alice J. Wisler, the Tommy and Tuppence books, The Face by Angela Hunt (wowza, what a book!), She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell...and definitely For Women Only by Shaunti Feldman. WOW. What a book.

Day Fifteen

Do you recommend books to other people? If you could force everyone you know to read one book, what would it be?

Hehehehehe……The Scarlet Pimpernel? Just because I think everyone should experience it at least once in their lifetime. Um…I do like to recommend books to people. The only thing is that people’s tastes are all so different so unless I know them really well, it’s kinda hard to know what they’ll like and what they won’t, you know?

Ok, that was really fun! The questions keep getting tougher. :-) Stay tuned next week (I feel like a radio announcer) for Part Three!!!