(I posted this last night to two other of my journals, but it was late and I needed to sleep, so didn't get around to crossposting here.)
I've been reading Angela Brazil novels - girls at boarding school, WWI era - and the first two were kind of femme-slashy, but this one...
(Diana, the main character, talking about her roommate, Loveday):
"I'm falling in love with her," she admitted to Wendy. "I was taken with her, of course, the moment I saw her, but I believe now I'm going to have it badly. I think she's beautiful! If there were a Peach Competition, she'd win at a canter."
(Diana has gone to bed very upset):
All night long Loveday had uneasy and troubled dreams about Diana. They met and parted, and quarrelled and made it up, they did ridiculous and impossible things, such as crawling through tubes or walking on roofs; they were pursued by bulls, or thye floated on rivers; yet always they were together, and Loveday, with a feeling of compunction and no sense at all of the ridiculous, was trying with a sponge to mop up Diana's overflowing rivers of tears that were running down and making pools on a clean table-cloth. She awoke with a start, feeling almost as if the sheets were damp. Stealthy sounds came from the next cubicle, and the candle was lighted there.
"What's the matter, Diana?"
"S-h-s-h!"
"Aren't you well?"
"Yes, I'm all right."
"What is it, then?"
As a grunt was the only answer, Loveday got up and drew aside the curtains. Her room-mate was ready dressed, and was in process of combing her light-brown locks and fixing in a slide.
"What the dickens are you up to, child?" ejaculated Loveday in amazement.
Diana turned quickly, pulled Loveday down on to the bed, flung an arm round her and laid a fluffy head on her shoulder.
"Oh, do be a sport!" she implored.
"But what do you want to do?"
Never fear, she actually just wants to go visit her cousin, who's getting sent to the front. However, female ejaculation is apparently not a myth. ;)
Later, they get a new agriculture teacher who brings two student- assistants with her...
"I believe I'm going to adore Miss Chadwick! She looks so sporty. She wrinkles up her nose when she laughs, just like a baby does."
"The little dark student with the freckles is my fancy."
"Oh! I like the other, with the bobbed hair."
An accidental scan forward for the words "in love" makes me think there's more delights to come. :)
Friday, March 23, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
There are some reasons I like living in Maine.
My coworker, Moose, told me about people who died of brain-eating bacteria after not following the neti pot instructions carefully enough. Be assured, I always use filtered AND boiled water in my neti pot. I always have, and now I always will. (I'm not as good about washing the neti pot, but then I don't live in Louisiana, either.)
Monday, March 19, 2012
Spent a good chunk of this evening looking at the photos of a local friend who's in New Zealand right now. OMG gorgeous. And she's so good - she posted 330 pics and captioned them ALL. I never even post them all. I wonder if the Kodak site makes it easier? Almost every site I ever use I have to go through a time-consuming process of reducing my pics (they're always huge) before I can post them.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
I should probably be in bed, I'm pretty tired and feel like I might be getting sick, but tomorrow is my Monday and one should never call in on a Monday. I do at least get to go in a little later than usual, so don't have to get up so early. Let me see... I think I can sleep in until 7am. :) Sounds delightful.
We did more yard work, this morning, and I raked a LOT of rocks, trying to get the entire railroad bed up out of the strip of land just on the other side of our arbor vitae. They didn't do a very precise job when they put down the new rails and ties and extra rock last fall.
When my shoulders hurt from raking we went up to L.L.Bean and got free ice-cream. :) They're doing their hundred anniversary celebrations and have got Gifford's to make them a special limited-edition ice-cream, "Muddy Bean Boots" - vanilla base, caramel swirl and chocolate brownie chunks. Yummmm!
Then we meandered down to my cousin Pen's house, stopping at the hardware store on the way (they don't have grass seed out, yet - nobody in Maine is supposed to be thinking about seeding their yard this early in the year) and arriving just in time to have an early dinner with them. She had not seen my email after all - I had wondered, because I thought she would write back - and they were completely surprised, but they had Indian take out and there was plenty for us. And then we got the tour of the property and we nattered on for quite a while - in fact I think we were there closer to two hours, when I'd expected one. :) Pen and her husband are so enthusiastic and have just a ton of interests and projects going on.
Must rest, now.
We did more yard work, this morning, and I raked a LOT of rocks, trying to get the entire railroad bed up out of the strip of land just on the other side of our arbor vitae. They didn't do a very precise job when they put down the new rails and ties and extra rock last fall.
When my shoulders hurt from raking we went up to L.L.Bean and got free ice-cream. :) They're doing their hundred anniversary celebrations and have got Gifford's to make them a special limited-edition ice-cream, "Muddy Bean Boots" - vanilla base, caramel swirl and chocolate brownie chunks. Yummmm!
Then we meandered down to my cousin Pen's house, stopping at the hardware store on the way (they don't have grass seed out, yet - nobody in Maine is supposed to be thinking about seeding their yard this early in the year) and arriving just in time to have an early dinner with them. She had not seen my email after all - I had wondered, because I thought she would write back - and they were completely surprised, but they had Indian take out and there was plenty for us. And then we got the tour of the property and we nattered on for quite a while - in fact I think we were there closer to two hours, when I'd expected one. :) Pen and her husband are so enthusiastic and have just a ton of interests and projects going on.
Must rest, now.
Friday, March 16, 2012
A friday five post
Since I just surprised myself by having a lot more to write than I ever thought I could have, I guess I'll go ahead and repost this to my various blogs, journals and thingywhatsers. Keep in mind, this was written for a group in which they don't know me very well, so a lot of this is old news to most of you.
I know this is ridiculously long, sorry.
[01] What book has been made into a great movie (or tv series, etc)?
Although I have not seen it, it seems that Martin's Game of Thrones has translated well, which is amazing to me because I can't freaking STAND his writing. But I guess it goes to show you what someone with real imagination and vision can do, getting past his usually incredibly boring writing and characters to create something visually appealing to many people.
[02] What book has not translated well into other media?
Although as a general rule everyone usually says the book is always better than the film, I actually view the two as completely separate entities, and I try to avoid comparing them. I mean, the most recent version of Alice in Wonderland (the Tim Burton one) did not resemble the book at all, and had some serious bzuh moments (the Mad Hatter's dance at the end - what the fuck? *cringe*) for the most part I enjoyed the hell out of the movie most of the time because it was fun and gorgeous and had lovely costumes. Movies are an entirely different thing for me than books, and I watch them for different reasons than I read books.
[03] What novel would you like to see as a film?
Good Omens (Pratchett/Gaiman) is my perennial favorite to harp on, because a film version has been promised so many times. It was supposed to be made by Terry Gilliam years ago, and I'm sure he would have done a fantastic job. Now that Neil Gaiman is popular and Terry Pratchett has Alzheimer's, and three of his books have already been made into made-for-tv movies in England it looks as though they're doing "Good Omens" as a tv series in England, but that's still 'next year.' Who knows.
That said, I think I will never seen a screen adaptation of any of Bujold's Vorkosigan series, but it could be gorgeous and fun - there's plenty of intrigue, explosions and romance. It seems made for screen.
[04] What literary character do you enjoy seeing envisioned on the big screen?
Hm. This is a really hard one. I would dearly like to see the movie of "Master and Commander," because I've been reading the books with a group read thing over on MandC_read - we are almost at the end of the series (and will be starting over again after reading "21" if anyone wants to join, *hint-hint*. It's a very easy format to keep up with, just read a chapter each week and join the discussion on the weekend.) but I digress, because really I think this question is meaning to as which character I have in the past enjoyed seeing. The fact is, all of them. Even if I didn't approve of the way they came out, even if the movie barely resembles the book, to me, I love seeing books made into movies. I will often want to watch the movie even if I hated the book. :) I love these recent Sherlock Holmes movies, and the TV series of "Sherlock," even though they bear so little resemblance to the literary Holmes that I almost wish they'd chosen different names for the characters.
BUT, I've got to say I notice (well, only because Eor points it out to me) that my real love is always for secondary characters. In the Harry Potter movies, I adore Ron and Neville, in nearly all the Holmes adaptations if I'm going to be annoyed or delighted it will be because of how Watson gets portrayed. (Seriously, Nigel Bruce, what were you thinking?)
[05] Are you likely to read a book before or after seeing the film upon which it is based?
I'm likely to have already read the book and to consider re-reading it before seeing the film, but then to decide that's a bad idea, because I don't want to be comparing. Or, I'll hear the movie is well-liked and I might read the book and then never get around to seeing the film, as I did with Tipping the Velvet. That's because after reading the book, I can't really bring myself to care - that book was the worst conglomeration of every damned lesbian cliche and stereotype the author could dig up.
Or then again there's my weird fascination with re-reading all the Oz books because I love reading fanfics of "Tin Man", which was a sad, ridiculous, execrable Sci-Fi (or however they spell it this week) adaptation, completely missable except for the interactions between the Scarecrow and Tin Man characters - the Scarecrow character (called Glitch in "Tin Man") was played by Allen Cumming and was delicious in every little nuance. Obviously the Scarecrow and the Tin Man were a couple, right? They are 'inseparable' in the books, and that just gives fuel to my evil desires to see more (and more and more) Glitch/Cain romance. ;)
I know this is ridiculously long, sorry.
[01] What book has been made into a great movie (or tv series, etc)?
Although I have not seen it, it seems that Martin's Game of Thrones has translated well, which is amazing to me because I can't freaking STAND his writing. But I guess it goes to show you what someone with real imagination and vision can do, getting past his usually incredibly boring writing and characters to create something visually appealing to many people.
[02] What book has not translated well into other media?
Although as a general rule everyone usually says the book is always better than the film, I actually view the two as completely separate entities, and I try to avoid comparing them. I mean, the most recent version of Alice in Wonderland (the Tim Burton one) did not resemble the book at all, and had some serious bzuh moments (the Mad Hatter's dance at the end - what the fuck? *cringe*) for the most part I enjoyed the hell out of the movie most of the time because it was fun and gorgeous and had lovely costumes. Movies are an entirely different thing for me than books, and I watch them for different reasons than I read books.
[03] What novel would you like to see as a film?
Good Omens (Pratchett/Gaiman) is my perennial favorite to harp on, because a film version has been promised so many times. It was supposed to be made by Terry Gilliam years ago, and I'm sure he would have done a fantastic job. Now that Neil Gaiman is popular and Terry Pratchett has Alzheimer's, and three of his books have already been made into made-for-tv movies in England it looks as though they're doing "Good Omens" as a tv series in England, but that's still 'next year.' Who knows.
That said, I think I will never seen a screen adaptation of any of Bujold's Vorkosigan series, but it could be gorgeous and fun - there's plenty of intrigue, explosions and romance. It seems made for screen.
[04] What literary character do you enjoy seeing envisioned on the big screen?
Hm. This is a really hard one. I would dearly like to see the movie of "Master and Commander," because I've been reading the books with a group read thing over on MandC_read - we are almost at the end of the series (and will be starting over again after reading "21" if anyone wants to join, *hint-hint*. It's a very easy format to keep up with, just read a chapter each week and join the discussion on the weekend.) but I digress, because really I think this question is meaning to as which character I have in the past enjoyed seeing. The fact is, all of them. Even if I didn't approve of the way they came out, even if the movie barely resembles the book, to me, I love seeing books made into movies. I will often want to watch the movie even if I hated the book. :) I love these recent Sherlock Holmes movies, and the TV series of "Sherlock," even though they bear so little resemblance to the literary Holmes that I almost wish they'd chosen different names for the characters.
BUT, I've got to say I notice (well, only because Eor points it out to me) that my real love is always for secondary characters. In the Harry Potter movies, I adore Ron and Neville, in nearly all the Holmes adaptations if I'm going to be annoyed or delighted it will be because of how Watson gets portrayed. (Seriously, Nigel Bruce, what were you thinking?)
[05] Are you likely to read a book before or after seeing the film upon which it is based?
I'm likely to have already read the book and to consider re-reading it before seeing the film, but then to decide that's a bad idea, because I don't want to be comparing. Or, I'll hear the movie is well-liked and I might read the book and then never get around to seeing the film, as I did with Tipping the Velvet. That's because after reading the book, I can't really bring myself to care - that book was the worst conglomeration of every damned lesbian cliche and stereotype the author could dig up.
Or then again there's my weird fascination with re-reading all the Oz books because I love reading fanfics of "Tin Man", which was a sad, ridiculous, execrable Sci-Fi (or however they spell it this week) adaptation, completely missable except for the interactions between the Scarecrow and Tin Man characters - the Scarecrow character (called Glitch in "Tin Man") was played by Allen Cumming and was delicious in every little nuance. Obviously the Scarecrow and the Tin Man were a couple, right? They are 'inseparable' in the books, and that just gives fuel to my evil desires to see more (and more and more) Glitch/Cain romance. ;)
Thursday, March 15, 2012
feed me, Seymour...
Yesterday I heard a report on the radio that many of the construction workers hired for the projects being worked on for the Olympic games were overweight and having a lot of accidents, so they were offered bowls of porridge for breakfast and that cut down on their accidents. Apparently many of them had been eating high carb breakfasts like pancakes, and getting blood sugar crashes, when what you need in the morning is a proper mix of protein and sugar. I guess oatmeal is high in protein and if you have a little brown sugar and some raisins, that works.
That makes me feel great about my usual regimen of oatmeal with cashews and dried cranberries, yet confused, because I have a crash around 9 or 10am and need more food. If I have eggs and potatoes, though, I rarely have that crash. Of course I do eat half as much oatmeal as is considered a serving on the back of the oatmeal container, but when I eat eggs I probably eat half again more, at least, than that which is considered a serving. ;)
The dietitian who was interviewed on the radio said that the Masai have an excellent breakfast for keeping going all morning, or all day - they have two week old fermented milk in the morning (like yogurt), then a little straight blood, then some millet porridge which they ball up and take with them to nibble on all day. And that makes me feel all the better about my idea of making 'cookies' with my oatmeal (cashews and cranberries included, of course) and taking them with me to eat all day. I ought to get back on the project of figuring out how to do that properly.
Possibly unrelated, I drove 205 miles for work, yesterday, and was freaking exhausted. From all that driving I trained six people. I managed to convince myself to walk on the treadmill for a little over 20 minutes (in my hiking boots), when I got home, and then I slept really hard last night.
That makes me feel great about my usual regimen of oatmeal with cashews and dried cranberries, yet confused, because I have a crash around 9 or 10am and need more food. If I have eggs and potatoes, though, I rarely have that crash. Of course I do eat half as much oatmeal as is considered a serving on the back of the oatmeal container, but when I eat eggs I probably eat half again more, at least, than that which is considered a serving. ;)
The dietitian who was interviewed on the radio said that the Masai have an excellent breakfast for keeping going all morning, or all day - they have two week old fermented milk in the morning (like yogurt), then a little straight blood, then some millet porridge which they ball up and take with them to nibble on all day. And that makes me feel all the better about my idea of making 'cookies' with my oatmeal (cashews and cranberries included, of course) and taking them with me to eat all day. I ought to get back on the project of figuring out how to do that properly.
Possibly unrelated, I drove 205 miles for work, yesterday, and was freaking exhausted. From all that driving I trained six people. I managed to convince myself to walk on the treadmill for a little over 20 minutes (in my hiking boots), when I got home, and then I slept really hard last night.
Friday, March 9, 2012
wiki walking
So, because I read Trickster, by Copperbadge, and read his note at the end that the "Thompson" referred to in the story is Titanic Tompson, and Damon Runyon based a character on Thompson in his story The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown, on which Guys and Dolls was based, and I worked on Guys and Dolls at Hackmatack Playhouse back in '85 (I think I helped with lights, which would make it '85, because in '84 I stuck with scenery building and painting.) ... *takes a deep breath* BECAUSE of all that, now I want to read The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown, but Damon Runyon works are not yet on Project Gutenberg and I don't want to pay 30 pounds to eBooks-Library for a year's subscription so I can download this one book. Most of what they have on there seems to be stuff that's on Gutenberg, there's just a few newer things. (Also, I'm not sure about the organization of that "library" site - they have GK Chesterton listed under Sociology and Cooking. Does that seem right?)
The Internets - hell on ADD. Writing all this - having to concentrate and re-follow my rollercoaster of thought - tired me out so much I had to go take a walk on the treadmill to relax before I could come back and brush it up to post.
The Internets - hell on ADD. Writing all this - having to concentrate and re-follow my rollercoaster of thought - tired me out so much I had to go take a walk on the treadmill to relax before I could come back and brush it up to post.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
