Oh, Mr. Darcy!

I'm just about to settle down to watch Pride & Prejudice. And yes, I know it's the middle of the night and I have class tomorrow but I don't care. I'm a grown-up (most of the time) and I can do whatever I want to! Besides who can resist the romance of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy? I once read somewhere that Pride & Prejudice is the quintessential love story and that every other love story thereafter is just a different rendition of it. I don't know that I agree with that but there are certainly plenty of stories that have been modeled upon it. There are so many commentaries to be made on the novel and the novelist, not the least of which is the fact that Jane Austen was ahead of her time as a female writer, but I haven't time to go into it all here and now. I just want to say that despite what some people may say the sole appeal of the story isn't that it is a romance with a happy ending, there is so much more to it than that. Isn't part of the appeal that we can see ourselves reflected in one if not several of the characters in the story? It was written in a different time and place and yet the characters are still accessible to people today. I find that to be true of all of Austen's novels. Superficially they may seem to be love stories but each of them is a study of people, of character, and there is so much to be gleaned from that even now.

Okay enough with the sensible talking, I want to ooh and aah over the dancing and dresses at the ball and listen to Elizabeth and Mr Darcy's spicy repartee!

Seriously, corn dogs?

So, I've seen two people eating corn dogs in as many days. Now this wouldn't be odd if I lived say in baseball stadium or a beer tent but this is the U-district, granted college students don't have the best diets but I don't think corn dogs rank high on their list of favorite foods either. Besides who walks around eating corn dogs anywhere but at a carnival or as a guilty secret alone in their apartment? Personally I find corn dogs repulsive so maybe this is just a reflection of my bias towards them, can you blame me? They're totally unnatural, processed meat on a stick is one thing but processed meat on a stick covered in a hybrid between bread and batter is just wrong. Ick!

How does your garden grow

Anna got motivated the other day and went to the Swanson's nursery. When I came home from class there were stacks of pots and a large bag of potting soil on the dining table. Apparently she's planning on planting some tomatoes, green peppers, and chives. We really don't have very much natural light in the apartment so I don't know how the seeds are going to sprout but that's not for me to worry about. I'll leave that up to Anna's ambition.

What I have noticed though is that the eating nook and the hallway now have an earthy smell from the potting soil. I can catch wafts of it as I walk by. It wouldn't bother me except for the fact that being in a basement and smelling the scent of earth makes me feel like we live in an unfinished basement. And I am faced with the momentary fear that if I open my bedroom door I'll find an unfinished dark and dank dirt floored room instead of my cozy bedroom.

None the less the idea of planting things makes me feel like spring really is around the corner. The crocuses are out and in bloom here. It's the first sign of spring, right? I should be daydreaming of warm weather and wearing sandals and flowy skirts but instead I find myself thinking fondly of gardening and yard work. I miss having a real yard, not that I did a lot of yard work when I had one but at least I had the option of doing it if I wanted to. Options are important, even if I can't make decisions when I have options.

Being lost

Anonymous said...

I guess you are lost, caught in limbo between more than just japan and the midwest.

Yes, I am lost and I'll be the first to admit it. I'm lost and always looking for what is familiar, for where I am supposed to be. I search for certitude, even though I know it probably doesn't exist. But the idea that it could be out there is both comforting and intriguing. Does anyone have absolute certainty though? Isn't it only human to doubt ourselves? It would be frightening to have absolute certitude and have no doubts or questions of our actions, don't you think?

I think we are all a little lost. It's just a part of being alive.

Move me

I'm always surprised by how much art in any form can move me. Books that make me want to drop everything and travel to a far off place just to feel the air there. Music that makes me want to be in love. Films that break my heart and move me to true sadness. Stories that make me want to be a better person, to do more than I would have ever expected of myself or anyone else. Sculpture that bates my breath, making me feel as though I've seen beauty for the first time. And paintings, drawings, and photographs that transport me through every memory, reliving moments in my life so vividly that I can feel them all over again.

What is it that makes all of this so real to me? Sometimes I think that I should have pursued art. At various times in my life I wanted to be an architect, a poet, a musician, a photographer, a novelist, and a filmmaker, among other things. It's not too late to do any or all of these things. But there is a part of me that knows I couldn't, because I couldn't fight for them. Would I fight for what is beautiful as hard as I would fight for what is right and just? It seems an overly broad question, a question that in this context may not even make sense to anyone but myself. I think though that it's a question that is always in the back of my mind guiding the decisions that I make. I've loved beauty as long as I can remember but I feel duty toward what is right and just. Which is stronger, love or duty? They pull me in such opposite directions that I wonder if I'd ever be happy going just one way. Perhaps that's why I wander the middle ground.

Friday, Friday

Okay, so it's mid-day and I should clearly be concentrating on work but I just had to share. The sad thing is that I got distracted right after I started the post and now 20 minutes later I can't remember what it is that I was going to say. Sad or pathetic? My brain really is turning into a sieve. Or maybe its just a case of Friday-itis.

I'm feeling peckish

My, my, I have been remiss in posting lately. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with school (and apparently I can't type either, I kept typing 'wchool,' 3 tries before I got it right!) at the moment and all I really want to do is sleep.

I've been thinking longingly of Japanese pastries lately. Two that stand out in my mind at the moment are the little manju shaped like chicks that are filled with sweet yellow bean paste


and dorayaki which are like little pancake sandwiches filled with sweet red bean paste and sometimes candied chestnuts.


They may not sound particularly scrumptious from that description but the thought of them with a cup of hot Japanese tea is making my mouth water.