Doll Museum: The Early 19th Century

Doll Museum: The Early 19th Century: Early dolls of this era come in many varieites. Materials include carton, wax, and wood covered in gesso. Some of the so called Queen Anne ...

2011 Jane Eyre

I finally was able to watch my DVD of this film. It was beautifully staged, and the great country houses were designed impeccably. Judi Dench made a great Mrs. Fairfax, yet there was a lot of dialog added to her character, including some "literary" criticism we addressed in my bachelors English program courses on Bronte. These were to the effect hat Jane was reaching above her station. There were also a few scenes of Rochester and Jane smooching to the watching servants' great disapproval. Didnt' happen. My problem is that Brontes' dialog is effective enough without throwing in a little Cliff's notes lingo for those who might be watching the film instead of reading the book to satisfy a lit credit. Rochester was credible, though at the end, the "Maimed, noble, lion-like Rochester" looked more like a skid row derelict than a blinded Samson. I think the same child played young Jane and Adele. There were crucial scenes left out, the lightening struck tree, The Fortune Teller, Jane hearing Rochester call her name, scenes with Betsey early on, and scenes that showed the keen intellect of Helen Burns. Miss Temple was nowhere to be found at Lowood, and Jane's painting with the Comorant holding the drowned corpse's bracelet in its beak was missing. Bertha was very Erzebet Bathory, not "rageous" so much as wronged, angry, lovely in a Vampire sort of way, and cognizantly jealous. We did not get to see her trying on Jane's veil, as Jean Marsh does so eerily in the George C. Scott version, my favorite of all. Grace Poole and her spooky laughter were also missing I enjoyed the film, but it could have been more faithful. The burned doll, pictured on this blog, was effecitve, and the dollhouse was magnificent. I would have trusted Bronte a little more, and been a little truer to the plot. For more critical papers of JE in general, see the blog, Bronteana.

An Apologia for Countess Erzebet Bathory: Jane Eyre 2011

An Apologia for Countess Erzebet Bathory: Jane Eyre 2011: I was finally able to see this version of JE; Bertha Mason, the "vampire" madwoman in the attic who is Mr. Rochester's first wife, was playe...

Memoir; Writing your Life Story: A Recipe Book

Memoir; Writing your Life Story: A Recipe Book: Good Morning! I am writing/compiling a recipe/craft/puzzle book to sell as a fundraiswer for my school club. We sponsor local charities, c...

Memoir; Writing your Life Story: Writing Your Life Story; the Original Course Outli...

Memoir; Writing your Life Story: Writing Your Life Story; the Original Course Outli...: Writing Your Memoirs: We all have an Interesting life story to tell! Overview: In this course we will explore the genre of memoir. We ...

Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show; From Excellent Women to Feminine Mystique

I love Samantha, and the way she took control of any any situation; I loved the BW episode where Endora meets Darrin, and she lectures him on preventing Samantha from being herself and practicing witchcraft. Of course, even though Endora is cast as the villain, Samantha defies everyone, and stil uses witchcraft. Samantha, Jeannie, Lucy, Laura Petire, and even Mary Richards all seem to have extraordinary natures that do not jive with the feminine mystique of their time. They are excellent women with unusual and amazing skills, but they can't use them. Poor Lucy has great ideas, but is always doing "splaining," and in one episode, she and Lucy are ridculed and reprimanded for demanding Equal Rights as women. And, there were women writers, producers, and creators, Lucille Ball herself, involved in what has been voted as the best sitcom every. Jeannie knows better than Tony, and could prevent a lot of disasters, but if "Master" tells her not to, she can't do it. Mr. Grant tells Mary she has spunk, but that he hates spunk. Laura Petrie is talented and capable, as is Sally Rogers the writer, but Laura dissovles into Rob's masculine arms with "OOH, Rob!" when things get too touch, and the multialented Sally is reduced to joking and prowling around for a man. Don't get me wrong; these are among my all time favorite TV shoes, but after reading Friedan's "Mystique," I can't help but see that she is right, despite any exceptions that anyone carved out for themselves. Like Pym's excellent women, they are doomed to making tea or its equivalent, giving parties, and making the men in their lives feel smarter and more authoritative than they really are. Your thoughts?

Panetone Quilting

From today's Quilters World Newlsetter: At the beginning of 2012, Pantone announced its color of the year, Tangerine Tango. If you remember, I challenged our readers and myself to use that color to create something. Well, I did. Just that challenge was all it took for me to find time and do what I really love to do. I created an original quilt based on a color. I started by sketching out my ideas on paper. I played with themes, blocks, anything I thought would look nice in orange, but the more I tried the less I had. Finally, I went back to what I truly love. What I do best with fabric is translate color, contrast and texture into what I draw. Fabric is my paint. So once I decided what to quilt, it became easy. Once the concept for the Tangerine Tango orange was determined and the sketches complete, I moved on to the rest of the fabric selection. This is the part I love most. With the fabrics selected and the inspiration still fresh in mind, I began to lay out and fuse my fabrics. I worked on my quilt when I found a bit of extra time. There were times, through the year, when my project just sat. Life and obligations do get in the way. I made sure it was in plain sight in my studio so it wasn't forgotten. There were times when all I had time to do was ponder. I took notes. The final push I needed was the idea to enter it in the Quiltcon International Quilt Show in Austin, Texas. Once I decided to enter it, I had to finish it, and that's what I did. I haven't entered any of my quilts in a competition in some time, and I don't know if it will win anything, but I definitely feel terrific about what I have accomplished this year. I've decided I am going to do the same thing this year. Pantone's Color of the Year for 2013 is Emerald. What can I do with it? Hmmmm. Want to play along? I also recommend Jennifer Cheverini's novels on quilters.