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At last I have fallen to covid. :( On Wednesday afternoon I started feeling crappy, so I tested, and for the first time it was positive. Had a very bad evening and eventually had to take nyquil to get to sleep because I was so congested and had such aches in my back and shoulders. But I've been much better since then! Blowing my nose a lot and so on. At first I was very upset about the end of my vacation being covided, but I've come to realize that it's basically no different from how these days would have gone without covid except that I would have gone to the coffeeshop and/or Boba Yaga and spent more money, so.
I watched The Banshees of Inisherin and I decided early on that because it's a movie entirely about the relationship between two men, I should interpret the whole thing as about unspoken romantic love, and honestly? It makes more sense than anything else. ( spoilers )
Started reading Ocean's Echo by Everina Maxwell. (It's not a sequel to Winter's Orbit or even in the same universe, but it's the same genre/type - space opera with tropey gay romance.) Loving it. The deuteragonists are essentially Gen and Costis, but like a version of TT!Gen? Anyway, extremely cunning guy and extremely good-hearted guy, cunning guy coming up with plans to get around good guy and good guy being noble and trying to help cunning guy, neither of them being able to quite get the other. And they're being forced into an arranged soulbond. I'd love it if Maxwell would apply her trope genius to f/f at some point but this is still excellent.
I watched The Banshees of Inisherin and I decided early on that because it's a movie entirely about the relationship between two men, I should interpret the whole thing as about unspoken romantic love, and honestly? It makes more sense than anything else. ( spoilers )
Started reading Ocean's Echo by Everina Maxwell. (It's not a sequel to Winter's Orbit or even in the same universe, but it's the same genre/type - space opera with tropey gay romance.) Loving it. The deuteragonists are essentially Gen and Costis, but like a version of TT!Gen? Anyway, extremely cunning guy and extremely good-hearted guy, cunning guy coming up with plans to get around good guy and good guy being noble and trying to help cunning guy, neither of them being able to quite get the other. And they're being forced into an arranged soulbond. I'd love it if Maxwell would apply her trope genius to f/f at some point but this is still excellent.
I am so useless on Mondays - I always have been but when you're still at home it's so hard to make yourself go back to work.
Have y'all seen Emma? I'm pretty enchanted with it, apart from some of the casting (Jane Fairfax looks much older than Emma, Frank Churchill isn't very handsome or charming, and Harriet is supposed to be gorgeous - Harriet being very ordinary-looking in the movie annoys me both because I wrote a whole fic based on the sexual tension of Emma admiring her and because I also read a great chapter on how Austen played with the 18thc trope of the deserving, lovely illegitimate girl who gets taken up by a great lady and turns out to be legitimate after all). While I've thought before that the world doesn't need any more Austen adaptations, I would actually love to see a Pride and Prej movie in this same brightly lit and ironic-but-realistic style. 2005 is of course heavy on the realism but for the sake of playing up the romance (muddy, farmy Longbourn vs clean, monumental Pemberley) and 1995 looks ironically at the grotesque characters and seriously/romantically at the others while using realism for that '90s candlelight-drenched heritage-film experience. An adaptation that makes Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy look a bit silly at times, like Emma holding up her skirt in front of the fire/getting a nosebleed or Mr. Knightley being dressed by his valet/flinging himself on his parlor floor, and filmed with bright colors and wide-angle shots of the landscape overlaid with Maddy Prior singing English folk songs, would be a welcome addition to the canon.
First spencer test has come in, and I've screwed up the shoulders! Need to lengthen the front from them (and therefore grade the collar). Sometimes I just don't adequately visualize these things.
Have y'all seen Emma? I'm pretty enchanted with it, apart from some of the casting (Jane Fairfax looks much older than Emma, Frank Churchill isn't very handsome or charming, and Harriet is supposed to be gorgeous - Harriet being very ordinary-looking in the movie annoys me both because I wrote a whole fic based on the sexual tension of Emma admiring her and because I also read a great chapter on how Austen played with the 18thc trope of the deserving, lovely illegitimate girl who gets taken up by a great lady and turns out to be legitimate after all). While I've thought before that the world doesn't need any more Austen adaptations, I would actually love to see a Pride and Prej movie in this same brightly lit and ironic-but-realistic style. 2005 is of course heavy on the realism but for the sake of playing up the romance (muddy, farmy Longbourn vs clean, monumental Pemberley) and 1995 looks ironically at the grotesque characters and seriously/romantically at the others while using realism for that '90s candlelight-drenched heritage-film experience. An adaptation that makes Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy look a bit silly at times, like Emma holding up her skirt in front of the fire/getting a nosebleed or Mr. Knightley being dressed by his valet/flinging himself on his parlor floor, and filmed with bright colors and wide-angle shots of the landscape overlaid with Maddy Prior singing English folk songs, would be a welcome addition to the canon.
First spencer test has come in, and I've screwed up the shoulders! Need to lengthen the front from them (and therefore grade the collar). Sometimes I just don't adequately visualize these things.
The Rise of Skywalker
Dec. 25th, 2019 08:31 pmOverall: I really enjoyed the experience of watching it, but did clock some problems.
( Lots of spoilers )
( Lots of spoilers )
and just a great movie in general
1) The stepfamily have carefully drawn characters - they aren't just stock stereotypes. Do they still fit within some pretty obvious tropes? Yes, but each one has their own motivations. The stepsisters are also intelligent, which is often not the case in more recent Cinderella movies. Marguerite is clever and her well-planned flirting would work on someone less jaded; Jacqueline is obviously presented as the less-pretty and less-clever sister, but she's never stupid. The old family retainers don't get much to do, but they have their own strength and resilience, and their own moments of emotion.
2) Danielle is set up from the start as tomboyish, fighting with Gustave in the mud, and she's never shown doing anything "girly" - most of her work on the estate is physical - but there's no dialogue pontificating on how she's not like other girls. It's clear enough from what we see that she's scrappy and that she does things (whether out of inclination or because she's ordered to) that ladies in general and her stepsisters wouldn't. Likewise, she's both intellectual (reading and internalizing Utopia) and clever (taking Henri as "anything [she] can carry"*), but she's never set up to knock down a cardboard sexist who thinks women are dumb. Essentially, the filmmakers put her strength and unconventionality into the story, rather than coming up with ways for people to announce and signpost it, apart from one line of dialogue from Henri, where he's admiring her many abilities.
3) Danielle's best friend is Gustave, who is physically less strong, generally averse to conflict, and an artist - not traditionally masculine. At the same time, he never resents her and also isn't a Nice Guy. Solidarity!
4) The costuming is top-notch. No, it's not an accurate representation of sixteenth-century French dress (it's more like fifteenth-century Florentine), but everything fits and is well-made. The details are excellent and the fabric looks real; worn clothing looks tired out from actual wear. Nothing stands out to my eyes as chintzy or cheap, or like a dozen were made from the same pattern.
5) It sticks to the Cinderella framework enough to feel familiar, but only uses it as a framework, rather than a stencil that must be filled in. Probably the biggest divergence is to make the ball the scene of Danielle being found out and rejected, the opposite of its function in the fairy tale, but using Leonardo da Vinci as the godmother and then working the godmother into the story as a mentor for both Cinderella and the prince is inspired.
I just ... really love Ever After, okay. It holds up!
* Okay, if there's one way it's not a great movie it's the use of the Roma as plot element and threat, and then a way to show how enlightened Danielle is
1) The stepfamily have carefully drawn characters - they aren't just stock stereotypes. Do they still fit within some pretty obvious tropes? Yes, but each one has their own motivations. The stepsisters are also intelligent, which is often not the case in more recent Cinderella movies. Marguerite is clever and her well-planned flirting would work on someone less jaded; Jacqueline is obviously presented as the less-pretty and less-clever sister, but she's never stupid. The old family retainers don't get much to do, but they have their own strength and resilience, and their own moments of emotion.
2) Danielle is set up from the start as tomboyish, fighting with Gustave in the mud, and she's never shown doing anything "girly" - most of her work on the estate is physical - but there's no dialogue pontificating on how she's not like other girls. It's clear enough from what we see that she's scrappy and that she does things (whether out of inclination or because she's ordered to) that ladies in general and her stepsisters wouldn't. Likewise, she's both intellectual (reading and internalizing Utopia) and clever (taking Henri as "anything [she] can carry"*), but she's never set up to knock down a cardboard sexist who thinks women are dumb. Essentially, the filmmakers put her strength and unconventionality into the story, rather than coming up with ways for people to announce and signpost it, apart from one line of dialogue from Henri, where he's admiring her many abilities.
3) Danielle's best friend is Gustave, who is physically less strong, generally averse to conflict, and an artist - not traditionally masculine. At the same time, he never resents her and also isn't a Nice Guy. Solidarity!
4) The costuming is top-notch. No, it's not an accurate representation of sixteenth-century French dress (it's more like fifteenth-century Florentine), but everything fits and is well-made. The details are excellent and the fabric looks real; worn clothing looks tired out from actual wear. Nothing stands out to my eyes as chintzy or cheap, or like a dozen were made from the same pattern.
5) It sticks to the Cinderella framework enough to feel familiar, but only uses it as a framework, rather than a stencil that must be filled in. Probably the biggest divergence is to make the ball the scene of Danielle being found out and rejected, the opposite of its function in the fairy tale, but using Leonardo da Vinci as the godmother and then working the godmother into the story as a mentor for both Cinderella and the prince is inspired.
I just ... really love Ever After, okay. It holds up!
* Okay, if there's one way it's not a great movie it's the use of the Roma as plot element and threat, and then a way to show how enlightened Danielle is
Media Reviews
Mar. 11th, 2018 06:13 pmIn order of watching.
( Black Panther )
( Jessica Jones )
( A Wrinkle in Time )
I need to reread the L'Engles I have read and read the ones I haven't. Mayhap I will stop at the library tomorrow and see what they have.
( Black Panther )
( Jessica Jones )
( A Wrinkle in Time )
I need to reread the L'Engles I have read and read the ones I haven't. Mayhap I will stop at the library tomorrow and see what they have.
I went to see Wonder Woman this afternoon, and I'm very glad I liked it so much as I watched the last two parts of the Doctor Who three-parter and did not like it.
( Doctor Who )
( Wonder Woman )
( Doctor Who )
( Wonder Woman )
The Antique & Artisan Show was a success! As far as I can tell without knowing how much money we brought in or having read the vendor comment cards - it just seemed like more people were buying. One told me that she felt our $4 admission fee was hampering sales, but IMO the issue is that her handspun yarn cost $38 per skein. I bought quite a few things for presents (and some for me), lost all the Silent Auction items I'd bid on, and purchased a $75 box of dozens and dozens of Needlecraft magazines dating from 1921 to 1940 - several years are complete and many are almost so. The dealer's been selling them out of the box for ages, $3 apiece/$7 for three, so it's been picked over some ... but it's still an amazing deal when you consider how much magazines with fashion info cost on eBay.
I recently discovered the Jane Austen + Text Posts Tumblr, which is a pretty great read. Her textual criticism is 100% fantastic, although sometimes I think her history is a bit less so, or at least ... it's not that it's bad, it's just that sometimes she states things very confidently and I'm like, do you know this because you read a text with references to primary sources on the subject or do you just Know This? However, she makes it all up to me with:
This is an opinion I respect. In honor of her I'm watching PPZ this morning - I could rant on about worldbuilding issues, but tbh what I think is most disappointing is the way that Elizabeth is 99% a different character than in canon, yet they don't seem to believe that they lost anything in taking her from "a witty, self-assured young woman who likes a laugh" to "she's the MODERN Austen heroine, if you don't like it, DEAL".
I am liking this new season of Who. The premiere did nothing for me - not sure why - but Smile was great. I like Bill, she's well cast and well written.
I recently discovered the Jane Austen + Text Posts Tumblr, which is a pretty great read. Her textual criticism is 100% fantastic, although sometimes I think her history is a bit less so, or at least ... it's not that it's bad, it's just that sometimes she states things very confidently and I'm like, do you know this because you read a text with references to primary sources on the subject or do you just Know This? However, she makes it all up to me with:
Pride & Prejudice - I know this one is one of the most divisive and contentious bits of Discourse ever to exist among nerds as there are just MORE to pick from and it’s the novel most people are familiar with. SO I will just say that I have Strong Opinions on all of them but for BEST it’s kind of picking from among adaptations which have all disappointed me in some way so I’ll say if you were to COMBINE the better elements of both the 1995 miniseries for timing and thoroughness with the 2005 feature film for artistry and visuals (and don’t come at me handwaving #aesthetic as though it’s not important, because that’s what cinema IS, and lighting/framing/visual cues are SO SO SO important when telling a story through film!) then you’d probably have something I’d feel comfortable calling The Best. On their own, neither truly satisfies me.
Know what? Fuck it, Bridget Jones’s Diary is my favourite adaptation of P&P. Bride & Prejudice is also very good. I saw it three times in theatres, including once by myself, and have no regrets whatsoever.
This is an opinion I respect. In honor of her I'm watching PPZ this morning - I could rant on about worldbuilding issues, but tbh what I think is most disappointing is the way that Elizabeth is 99% a different character than in canon, yet they don't seem to believe that they lost anything in taking her from "a witty, self-assured young woman who likes a laugh" to "she's the MODERN Austen heroine, if you don't like it, DEAL".
I am liking this new season of Who. The premiere did nothing for me - not sure why - but Smile was great. I like Bill, she's well cast and well written.
I JUST WENT TO THE MOVIES
Nov. 20th, 2016 03:15 pmIt's been forever! I normally don't go to things on opening weekend, but I've gradually come to realize that the matinees on opening weekend for non-children's movies are practically empty, so why not?
( I'm just going to cut all my thoughts )
( I'm just going to cut all my thoughts )
Thoughts on Fiction Lately
Jul. 3rd, 2016 11:46 amThe Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph
You may remember that I picked this book up at the museum's book sale. It's by Frances Chamberlaine Sheridan (1724-1766), which is a fantastic name, right? She married an actor/director and wrote several plays (two of which were put on by David Garrick, which was a Big Deal) and novels, encouraged by Samuel Richardson. Her son was Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the writer of A School for Scandal.
Sidney Bidulph is a three-volume novel, and I've just come to the end of the first volume. IMO, it should be studied alongside or instead of Pamela or Clarissa - it's a much better read and just as literatury. So this is an epistolary/diary novel about a young woman having a suitably dramatic life: she lives with her mother, and her brother brings home a friend for her. The two fall in love and are preparing to get married, but a Moral Impediment is found (the friend impregnated a young woman) and her mother cuts off the match, with Sidney sadly complying. After a while, they (minus the brother - he's inherited their father's title and is off doing his own thing all the time) go for a long visit to a friend of the mother's, where the mother and her friend set Sidney up with a different young man. She's not in love with him but appreciates how gentlemanly and good he is, so they get married and the affection comes later. Several years and two daughters later, the friend comes back into the picture as her husband turns out to be having an affair with a neighbor; the neighbor is revealed as a nasty person who was involved with the friend impregnating the young woman in a bad way, and she orchestrates the husband into believing that Sidney's having an affair, and he hypocritically kicks her out. (End Vol. I.)
One of the things I really like is that, unlike Richardson, Sheridan doesn't hit you over the head with THIS CHARACTER IS BAD or THIS CHARACTER IS A PARAGON. The mother's actions are conventional and what most would have lauded, and Sidney's filial obedience is praised by the text (and I think by the author), but there's certainly critique of the social norms. There are also some side stories that contribute to the critique - the young woman's isn't finished yet by a long shot, Sidney suspects that she's not as innocent as she makes out (which at this point could mean anything from "she kind of wanted to have sex with the friend" to "she helped orchestrate their encounter to trick him into marriage"), but there's certainly a condemnation of what happened to her; the mother's friend has a daughter that married against her mother's wishes for love, and the narrative is very sympathetic to her and unsympathetic to her mother.
Finding Dory
SO CUTE. I wasn't sure if I was going to go see it - I'm a bit older than the demographic that's all "we've been waiting ten years for a sequel to Finding Nemo!" - but I saw it had 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and decided to do it. ( spoilers )
Crown Duel (Sherwood Smith)
I got this and its sequel, Court Duel, out of the library because of a rec online related to The Goblin Emperor (I think?). I was surprised that they turned out to be fairly slim YA volumes, but because they're older YA - back when it was "children's literature but a bit more complex and mature" - they're not full of the adolescent bullshit that usually makes me put YA books back on the shelf without finishing. The heroine is a teenager in a sexism-free medievalloid setting, and she and her brother have to rebel against the king on their father's death. She gets captured by the young aristocrat leading the king's forces, who they'd initially written off as a gambling fop, and they're clearly being set up for a future romance. I love it! (So far.)
Ilvermorny
My Ilvermorny opinions are probably somewhat controversial. (Link to JKR's writing on the first/biggest American magic school here, in case you haven't seen it.) It took me some time of pondering and mulling over to get at what was bothering me. See, Rowling doesn't even do the kind of interaction between Muggle and magical history and culture that people are expecting from her in other countries in her own. Magical Britain in Harry Potter is not just like modern day Britain, but with wands. She doesn't deal meaningfully with the Protestant Reformation/Jacobite Rebellion/reign of Victoria/WWI home front or the differences between all the regional cultures in the UK. It's very reasonable to say that you can do that to your own culture but not someone else's, but it seems like the common thought is that she was especially accurate to Britain and then did America worse and "wrong".
Basically, Rowling's worldbuilding is equal parts pastiche and Rule of Funny/Cool, and people want more standard urban fantasy worldbuilding. The magical world in HP is a thing totally apart from the Muggle world, not separated by a thin curtain so that every state/city has essentially the same culture on both sides. And TBH I wouldn't want it any other way.
... Actually, thinking about it, I would probably go with tight ethnic enclaves for American wizards, with some marrying in from local Muggles. There's definitely not a high enough population to support them spread out over the entire continent.
Writing
I just cannot write lately. I had a pretty good idea recently that could probably work as a novel but realistically, I know I could only do as a longer short story. Part of the problem is that I can't seem to get it started, and part is that I can't figure out what I'd do with it afterward. It's not salable (except maybe to a magazine from the Edwardian period), and if I put it on Amazon, do I use a pen name? Should I republish A Worthy Connection under a pen name? LIFE. I need someone else to make my decisions for me.
You may remember that I picked this book up at the museum's book sale. It's by Frances Chamberlaine Sheridan (1724-1766), which is a fantastic name, right? She married an actor/director and wrote several plays (two of which were put on by David Garrick, which was a Big Deal) and novels, encouraged by Samuel Richardson. Her son was Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the writer of A School for Scandal.
Sidney Bidulph is a three-volume novel, and I've just come to the end of the first volume. IMO, it should be studied alongside or instead of Pamela or Clarissa - it's a much better read and just as literatury. So this is an epistolary/diary novel about a young woman having a suitably dramatic life: she lives with her mother, and her brother brings home a friend for her. The two fall in love and are preparing to get married, but a Moral Impediment is found (the friend impregnated a young woman) and her mother cuts off the match, with Sidney sadly complying. After a while, they (minus the brother - he's inherited their father's title and is off doing his own thing all the time) go for a long visit to a friend of the mother's, where the mother and her friend set Sidney up with a different young man. She's not in love with him but appreciates how gentlemanly and good he is, so they get married and the affection comes later. Several years and two daughters later, the friend comes back into the picture as her husband turns out to be having an affair with a neighbor; the neighbor is revealed as a nasty person who was involved with the friend impregnating the young woman in a bad way, and she orchestrates the husband into believing that Sidney's having an affair, and he hypocritically kicks her out. (End Vol. I.)
One of the things I really like is that, unlike Richardson, Sheridan doesn't hit you over the head with THIS CHARACTER IS BAD or THIS CHARACTER IS A PARAGON. The mother's actions are conventional and what most would have lauded, and Sidney's filial obedience is praised by the text (and I think by the author), but there's certainly critique of the social norms. There are also some side stories that contribute to the critique - the young woman's isn't finished yet by a long shot, Sidney suspects that she's not as innocent as she makes out (which at this point could mean anything from "she kind of wanted to have sex with the friend" to "she helped orchestrate their encounter to trick him into marriage"), but there's certainly a condemnation of what happened to her; the mother's friend has a daughter that married against her mother's wishes for love, and the narrative is very sympathetic to her and unsympathetic to her mother.
Finding Dory
SO CUTE. I wasn't sure if I was going to go see it - I'm a bit older than the demographic that's all "we've been waiting ten years for a sequel to Finding Nemo!" - but I saw it had 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and decided to do it. ( spoilers )
Crown Duel (Sherwood Smith)
I got this and its sequel, Court Duel, out of the library because of a rec online related to The Goblin Emperor (I think?). I was surprised that they turned out to be fairly slim YA volumes, but because they're older YA - back when it was "children's literature but a bit more complex and mature" - they're not full of the adolescent bullshit that usually makes me put YA books back on the shelf without finishing. The heroine is a teenager in a sexism-free medievalloid setting, and she and her brother have to rebel against the king on their father's death. She gets captured by the young aristocrat leading the king's forces, who they'd initially written off as a gambling fop, and they're clearly being set up for a future romance. I love it! (So far.)
Ilvermorny
My Ilvermorny opinions are probably somewhat controversial. (Link to JKR's writing on the first/biggest American magic school here, in case you haven't seen it.) It took me some time of pondering and mulling over to get at what was bothering me. See, Rowling doesn't even do the kind of interaction between Muggle and magical history and culture that people are expecting from her in other countries in her own. Magical Britain in Harry Potter is not just like modern day Britain, but with wands. She doesn't deal meaningfully with the Protestant Reformation/Jacobite Rebellion/reign of Victoria/WWI home front or the differences between all the regional cultures in the UK. It's very reasonable to say that you can do that to your own culture but not someone else's, but it seems like the common thought is that she was especially accurate to Britain and then did America worse and "wrong".
Basically, Rowling's worldbuilding is equal parts pastiche and Rule of Funny/Cool, and people want more standard urban fantasy worldbuilding. The magical world in HP is a thing totally apart from the Muggle world, not separated by a thin curtain so that every state/city has essentially the same culture on both sides. And TBH I wouldn't want it any other way.
... Actually, thinking about it, I would probably go with tight ethnic enclaves for American wizards, with some marrying in from local Muggles. There's definitely not a high enough population to support them spread out over the entire continent.
Writing
I just cannot write lately. I had a pretty good idea recently that could probably work as a novel but realistically, I know I could only do as a longer short story. Part of the problem is that I can't seem to get it started, and part is that I can't figure out what I'd do with it afterward. It's not salable (except maybe to a magazine from the Edwardian period), and if I put it on Amazon, do I use a pen name? Should I republish A Worthy Connection under a pen name? LIFE. I need someone else to make my decisions for me.
I went to see Civil War, and I have some thoughts about how I would have done it.
( Read more... )
Apart from that, I've basically finished my drawers. I'm very happy with them! They're actually kind of cute, now that the legs have been shortened with tucks and hem.
( Read more... )
Apart from that, I've basically finished my drawers. I'm very happy with them! They're actually kind of cute, now that the legs have been shortened with tucks and hem.
(no subject)
Nov. 21st, 2015 06:45 pmI can't remember if the books addressed it, but what was Panem going to do for coal after burning down District 12? If a district is so unnecessary that you can get rid of it, why have it in the first place?
( Mockingjay Matinee )
One of the authors on Writing Excuses is Mary Robinette Kowal, whose name was totally unfamiliar to me, but she wrote Shades of Milk & Honey. It's weird, because she's the one who hits on some of the things that are most relevant to me (the other authors being more epic and/or actiony in scope), but at the same time it's like, I really disliked that book. I can't remember if I even finished it. It was P&P mashed up with Jane Eyre. I ordered a book of hers she mentioned on the podcast that's a pseudo-historical take on Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart growing up knowing each other, and I ordered it from the library. Normally I have very bad luck (there are 65 libraries in this network, and they are all podunk apparently), but there was one copy, and I've got it. We're hitting some pet peeves by page three, but I'm going to give it a chance.
( Mockingjay Matinee )
One of the authors on Writing Excuses is Mary Robinette Kowal, whose name was totally unfamiliar to me, but she wrote Shades of Milk & Honey. It's weird, because she's the one who hits on some of the things that are most relevant to me (the other authors being more epic and/or actiony in scope), but at the same time it's like, I really disliked that book. I can't remember if I even finished it. It was P&P mashed up with Jane Eyre. I ordered a book of hers she mentioned on the podcast that's a pseudo-historical take on Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart growing up knowing each other, and I ordered it from the library. Normally I have very bad luck (there are 65 libraries in this network, and they are all podunk apparently), but there was one copy, and I've got it. We're hitting some pet peeves by page three, but I'm going to give it a chance.
(no subject)
Sep. 5th, 2015 04:39 pmThe one thing that was able to get me to sew in the sleeves on my black silk: treadle! In one sense it was terribly hard, as the machine is set into the table, but in another sense it was easier, as I could make it go much slower. Because I'm using black thread I got to wind another bobbin, WHAT FUN. I'm going to try to get the front edges finished so that I can fit and sew the darts because I don't have anything else right now to do on the treadle.
I'd like to be the kind of person who names things, I've wanted to ever since I read Anne of Green Gables, but I'm just not. If I were, I would call it "Ella" after my great-great-great-grandmother who was a dressmaker/dress saleswoman all her life and was probably using a V.S.2 just like this one.
(I am having one problem, which is that when I wind the long bobbin after a few passes it starts to throw the thread over the nub at the end. I'm going to have to try starting the winder at different places on the bobbin's shaft.)
After lunch, I went to see The Gift because it's been forever since I took in one of the cheaper matinees and there was nothing else that called out to me more due to Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall. (It has something like 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, too.) Most of the movie was great - I really appreciated that it was from Hall's perspective and a good part of the creeping horror was realizing that ( spoilers ) - but I was REALLY disappointed in the ending. ( spoilers ) But I was really impressed at how they costumed Rebecca Hall with high necklines and racerbacks and hideous sweaters that emphasize her broad shoulders and make her look thick-waisted, and give her this very '90s boyish haircut, in contrast to all the female characters with longer hair and cleavage and curves. There was a lot of effort put in there. Compare her in Parade's End with her in this.
Valor came yesterday! It's amazing! So beautiful! I'm very glad I backed the Kickstarter. There's a fantastic variety of art styles, story styles, and both f/f and m/f relationships (as well as some non-romantic stories). You should definitely try to get your hands on it.
I'd like to be the kind of person who names things, I've wanted to ever since I read Anne of Green Gables, but I'm just not. If I were, I would call it "Ella" after my great-great-great-grandmother who was a dressmaker/dress saleswoman all her life and was probably using a V.S.2 just like this one.
(I am having one problem, which is that when I wind the long bobbin after a few passes it starts to throw the thread over the nub at the end. I'm going to have to try starting the winder at different places on the bobbin's shaft.)
After lunch, I went to see The Gift because it's been forever since I took in one of the cheaper matinees and there was nothing else that called out to me more due to Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall. (It has something like 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, too.) Most of the movie was great - I really appreciated that it was from Hall's perspective and a good part of the creeping horror was realizing that ( spoilers ) - but I was REALLY disappointed in the ending. ( spoilers ) But I was really impressed at how they costumed Rebecca Hall with high necklines and racerbacks and hideous sweaters that emphasize her broad shoulders and make her look thick-waisted, and give her this very '90s boyish haircut, in contrast to all the female characters with longer hair and cleavage and curves. There was a lot of effort put in there. Compare her in Parade's End with her in this.
Valor came yesterday! It's amazing! So beautiful! I'm very glad I backed the Kickstarter. There's a fantastic variety of art styles, story styles, and both f/f and m/f relationships (as well as some non-romantic stories). You should definitely try to get your hands on it.
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Jun. 21st, 2015 05:33 pmSo yesterday I finished a particular small project I can't talk about right now. Today I took my vacation dress to the park, pinned up the hem, and started sewing it, but went home because it felt like it would rain at any minute. Finished it, then pinned the hem for my striped shirting dress. That took forever. This thing is seriously frumpy. Next pattern I cut out is going a size smaller on the waist.
It's funny, I never cared for the 1950s/60s before so I didn't consume a lot of media relating to it, but now I can't get enough. Watched the Astronauts' Wives Club premiere (liked it, couldn't tell some of the brunettes apart unfortunately), Three Coins in the Fountain, and ... a movie whose name I already forgot because I was meh on it. Woman has Soviet secrets carved on a steel mirror she needs to get to Santa Fe, there are bad guys everywhere, she meets up with a guy on the road and they travel together? Today I've been watching Ascension which is RIDICULOUS, two episodes in and my mind has been blown like three times. Great retro-futuristic aesthetic. I have some issues with the unbearably classist "on Earth, young people had an infinity of choices, but we have to stay here!" thing, also wondering about some worldbuilding holes (like the lack of sexism outside of theprostitutes sorry I mean stewardesses, but I do like the aesthetic.
I wasn't going to see any movies this weekend, but I was invited to go to Inside Out, so I did, and I way, way overthought it as usual. ( overthoughts )
It's funny, I never cared for the 1950s/60s before so I didn't consume a lot of media relating to it, but now I can't get enough. Watched the Astronauts' Wives Club premiere (liked it, couldn't tell some of the brunettes apart unfortunately), Three Coins in the Fountain, and ... a movie whose name I already forgot because I was meh on it. Woman has Soviet secrets carved on a steel mirror she needs to get to Santa Fe, there are bad guys everywhere, she meets up with a guy on the road and they travel together? Today I've been watching Ascension which is RIDICULOUS, two episodes in and my mind has been blown like three times. Great retro-futuristic aesthetic. I have some issues with the unbearably classist "on Earth, young people had an infinity of choices, but we have to stay here!" thing, also wondering about some worldbuilding holes (like the lack of sexism outside of the
I wasn't going to see any movies this weekend, but I was invited to go to Inside Out, so I did, and I way, way overthought it as usual. ( overthoughts )
(no subject)
Jun. 14th, 2015 08:21 pmPaid all my bills/loans today! Apparently I forgot the electricity last month. Oops.
I've been having a blah issue lately with dinners. There's not a ton of food in my fridge/cupboards at any time, so I end up doing things like getting enough ingredients for one thing, and having it three or four nights in a row until one ingredient's gone, then getting something else. When I start trying to make do with what's there I end up having buttered noodles etc. But today I managed to be a little more creative, and cooked Israeli couscous (bought when I was getting arborio rice to make risotto; it seems similar but is much, much cheaper) in vegetable broth (from the same day) with mushrooms and marjoram, chili powder, and coriander. It was delicious! I like the Israeli couscous - it has a chewy texture, kind of like the tapioca in bubble tea but without making me feel sick afterward.
Started working on shirting dress. I added some fabric here and there to make it fit better, then realized as I started sewing that it would have fit just fine without any adjustments. STUPID. I've fixed it by now but it would have been much simpler to do it right the first time - although it's a tricky pattern anyway, because it has right-angled seams, which are the actual worst. I thought zippers were the worst but that's because I forgot about right-angled seams. But the hard part's all done now! I'll start tomorrow on the skirt, which is getting pockets added because every full skirt I make from now on is getting pockets. I know how to do them now.
I'm actually wanting a housedress now, which is something I thought I would never ever say. (One of my mother's grandmothers HATED housedresses and housecoats and wouldn't be caught in them. The other wore them even out of the house. Go figure.) Definitely would be nice to put on while sewing/trying on, and after work, since my waist just kind of wants to expand at that point and my waistbands are generally pretty fitted. The more that I wear dresses and skirts, the more pants don't feel like the obvious comfy choice - I didn't notice the leg constriction before so much. Socialization! Five-through-eleven-year-old me knew what was going on. (Okay, no, I just wanted to be a Victorian.)
I'm ... a little disappointed with the CW dress I bought. It's a not-totally-period cotton print, see, and I thought it was at least solid and kind of sheer. But it is better than nothing, and while I'm getting SO much better and more confident in my sewing abilities with all of this, I can accept that it would be nothing if I hadn't bought it. So it goes. I still need to buy the hoop but I'm spending so much lately that it's hard to bring myself to do it.
Speaking of trying to save money, I went to a matinee today ($6.50! but dang I spend so much on movies lately, more in the past few months than in the past few YEARS because I never used to go unless someone else was paying) for Spy, which is incredibly raunchy but v. fun. It was a bit awkward as the theater was empty apart from me, in the dead center, and this elderly couple in the back. They were laughing but it was a lot of "fuck"s to hear in the company of grandparents, even if they weren't mine.
I've been having a blah issue lately with dinners. There's not a ton of food in my fridge/cupboards at any time, so I end up doing things like getting enough ingredients for one thing, and having it three or four nights in a row until one ingredient's gone, then getting something else. When I start trying to make do with what's there I end up having buttered noodles etc. But today I managed to be a little more creative, and cooked Israeli couscous (bought when I was getting arborio rice to make risotto; it seems similar but is much, much cheaper) in vegetable broth (from the same day) with mushrooms and marjoram, chili powder, and coriander. It was delicious! I like the Israeli couscous - it has a chewy texture, kind of like the tapioca in bubble tea but without making me feel sick afterward.
Started working on shirting dress. I added some fabric here and there to make it fit better, then realized as I started sewing that it would have fit just fine without any adjustments. STUPID. I've fixed it by now but it would have been much simpler to do it right the first time - although it's a tricky pattern anyway, because it has right-angled seams, which are the actual worst. I thought zippers were the worst but that's because I forgot about right-angled seams. But the hard part's all done now! I'll start tomorrow on the skirt, which is getting pockets added because every full skirt I make from now on is getting pockets. I know how to do them now.
I'm actually wanting a housedress now, which is something I thought I would never ever say. (One of my mother's grandmothers HATED housedresses and housecoats and wouldn't be caught in them. The other wore them even out of the house. Go figure.) Definitely would be nice to put on while sewing/trying on, and after work, since my waist just kind of wants to expand at that point and my waistbands are generally pretty fitted. The more that I wear dresses and skirts, the more pants don't feel like the obvious comfy choice - I didn't notice the leg constriction before so much. Socialization! Five-through-eleven-year-old me knew what was going on. (Okay, no, I just wanted to be a Victorian.)
I'm ... a little disappointed with the CW dress I bought. It's a not-totally-period cotton print, see, and I thought it was at least solid and kind of sheer. But it is better than nothing, and while I'm getting SO much better and more confident in my sewing abilities with all of this, I can accept that it would be nothing if I hadn't bought it. So it goes. I still need to buy the hoop but I'm spending so much lately that it's hard to bring myself to do it.
Speaking of trying to save money, I went to a matinee today ($6.50! but dang I spend so much on movies lately, more in the past few months than in the past few YEARS because I never used to go unless someone else was paying) for Spy, which is incredibly raunchy but v. fun. It was a bit awkward as the theater was empty apart from me, in the dead center, and this elderly couple in the back. They were laughing but it was a lot of "fuck"s to hear in the company of grandparents, even if they weren't mine.
Let's just go to bed
Jul. 16th, 2013 08:51 pmTwo of my skirt pieces are way too short, so ... enough sewing for tonight. (And tomorrow I might skip over and work on the overskirt.) I think I may have switched the order of two very similar panels. Or just cut very wrong, it's always possible.
Assistant registrar position at RISD listed on NEMA! I'm going apply. I'm not going to get it but what if I got an interview??? (Realizing how optimistic I am right now reminds me just how much the brain is affected by chemicals. My goodness.)
Nothing on MANY but there never is, lately. All executive directors all the time.
Finally watching the Avengers, am so tempted to do that Tumblr mIXe d CAps thing over Natasha, because I knew she was more than just stereotypical-action-girl but I did not know how amazing she is. BEYOND-COMPETENT CHARACTERS ♥___♥
Today in horrifying work realizations, I learned that Debbie not only thinks Camilla's name is Carmela, she's got Srs Opinions on her suitability as future queen consort. We were having a conversation with a patient about possible Will&Kate baby names - my speculation is that "Elizabeth" will be involved, and maybe "Victoria", because I'm really daring - and suchlike, ... and then Debbie starts in on Camilla being a homewrecker and I just ????? because I think I like to pretend that people like that don't exist (and this applies to 75% of what she says, from criticizing how people dress to believing the Zimmerman verdict was A-OK).
OTOH I share a lot of weird crushes with other people.
Assistant registrar position at RISD listed on NEMA! I'm going apply. I'm not going to get it but what if I got an interview??? (Realizing how optimistic I am right now reminds me just how much the brain is affected by chemicals. My goodness.)
Nothing on MANY but there never is, lately. All executive directors all the time.
Finally watching the Avengers, am so tempted to do that Tumblr mIXe d CAps thing over Natasha, because I knew she was more than just stereotypical-action-girl but I did not know how amazing she is. BEYOND-COMPETENT CHARACTERS ♥___♥
Today in horrifying work realizations, I learned that Debbie not only thinks Camilla's name is Carmela, she's got Srs Opinions on her suitability as future queen consort. We were having a conversation with a patient about possible Will&Kate baby names - my speculation is that "Elizabeth" will be involved, and maybe "Victoria", because I'm really daring - and suchlike, ... and then Debbie starts in on Camilla being a homewrecker and I just ????? because I think I like to pretend that people like that don't exist (and this applies to 75% of what she says, from criticizing how people dress to believing the Zimmerman verdict was A-OK).
OTOH I share a lot of weird crushes with other people.
I watched it once before, when Youku was the site of choice, but Angel really is the most embarrassment squicky movie ever. It does, however, take on a new flavor in the post-Twilight world.
It is also a different experience when you aren't wondering if it's supposed to be a dream sequence the whole time.
ETA: Huh, technically it is a post-Twilight movie. I think I must have just not read it by the time I saw the movie.
It is also a different experience when you aren't wondering if it's supposed to be a dream sequence the whole time.
ETA: Huh, technically it is a post-Twilight movie. I think I must have just not read it by the time I saw the movie.
