282 night time

It's been one of those days where I'm feeling off kilter.   Been going around in circles on the internet in the same four or so sites.
Feel like I'm almost waiting for something, though I couldn't tell you what that is.  Like a message or something.  Ooohh, am I going to receive a love letter? 
Here's hoping.

Seems I'm the latest thing on a bunch of "super hits" lists.  And I never signed up for any of them. But yet, I'm getting crazy hits from these places.  Not sure how to react to that.

Decided to do some Jane Austen movies this week for the movie challenge. 
Seriously, I don't know if I can take another month living with my mother.  I remember now why I moved out all those years ago.  I'm really hoping that the hospital calls me this week to schedule the second surgery.
As much as I want to find the right man and be married, I have to admit I love living alone.  I miss living alone. I miss my own living room, miss my own bedroom.  Hate sharing a bathroom just hate it.

Down to one crutch most of the time.  I know I'll most likely be back up to two for a few days after the surgery. 

Okay, this blog post was the equivalent of me blowing off extra energy.  I'm just needing to talk to someone other then my mom.
Any wrestlers  out there?

Day 194

The sun is starting to rise here.  and yes I posted the movie de jour this morning day 48

The movie project has splintered off into little side projects, which are keeping me out of too much trouble. 
Looking forward to what it will all end up as at the end of the year.

I am waiting to get into the Jane Austen stuff till after another month or so, as there are a bunch of vampire movies coming out over the next few months. 

But I am getting ahead of myself greatly. 

183 B

I'm bit loopy this morning. 

Best sellers are always an interesting bet for book clubs.  More so when they are being turned into a movie.  So, I decided to pick next month's book club selection because of those two reasons.

Book club linkage

The whole subgenre of the MonsterLit has become a phenomenon even I didn't see coming.  I thought that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies  which is what sort of really caught the genre going, would cater to a small amount of people and then that would be about it.
I had no idea this would become the massive stroke of genius it has in the last two years.  Oh my god man!
And to be honest,  up to this point the books I've read in the genre - Emma and the Vampires, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Slayre, Mr. Darcy Vampyre ,  I haven't much cared for.   But I'm staying optimistic with the latest couple I just ordered - Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter  and Queen Victoria Demon Hunter -
I've actually now got my eye on Little Vampire Women. I might order that if these are any good. 

But in all fairness, it's the fact ALVH is being released this summer in movie form that really got me going today. 

Day 154

Nothing of the furniture in my apartment was bought by me.
I'm sitting here on my sofa looking around and I realized, none of this is me.  None of it is my style.  All my furniture was hand-me-downs from my parents when I moved out for the first time; the rest are a few items I got after my grandmother died. 
Where am I in all this?

My computer and two picture frames are about the only things in this apartment that I can say I picked out myself. 
This is what happens when you're poor.   You start to feel like Miss Bates in Jane Austen's Emma.  Having no choice but to rely on the scraps of others. 

I feel a Jane Austen movie marathon is needed.

Day 145

Okay, so snag with the Charmed.  There seems to be a massive defect with the rest of season 8 disks.  I ended up taking the box set back and getting a second one.   And that one had the same issues. 
I've got HMV to order me another one.  Let's hope that the third one is a charm - puns intended-

If you've been reading my main blog then you know I've been back in the kitchen the last few days.  Only mother is being her evil self. 

I've also been thinking alot about my writing and where I should be taking it now.  I'd really like to have a weekly column, only our local paper is a no go.
I thought I had a way in with their new online submissions BUT they do not pay nor do they want anything "that's not local".   In other words, the type of stuff I write about is not what they want.  They want to hear only about the local hockey team etc.

So the question remains, what kind of outlet will be useful to me and how will I be useful ?

Suppose to be reading Sense and Sensibility for book club this weekend, only I can not seem to get myself to sit down and do so.   I hate to say it, but I haven't read anything in almost two months, I'm just all read out.

Day 138-Day 8

The Jane Austen of it...

Book club was today, and we discussed  Persuasion  
Surprisingly, a lot of time was spent on the characters of Mary and Elizabeth,  the two sisters, and not much on Anne, the lead.

When we did talk about the lead,  it was pointed out more then once about how she is underminded by her family made to feel unwanted in a bunch of ways, but she's in fact the lady who gets the most attention from the men.  Each man who comes into her life finds her the most appealing woman they've met to that point, both in physical and mental bodies.

The letter in the end by Captain Wentworth was a great deal of a topic.  The idea and frustration of loving someone for years and not being with them because of someone else getting in the way and that notion of undying love... sigh with me now....*sigh*

All and all, I walked away from today with a sense of strength of self. 

Book club went well enough that we decided on Sense and Sensibility as our next book.   Now, I just need to locate what I did with my copy....

Day 132-Day 7

Not as much a Jane Austen day as much as a Jane Eyre. 

The newest version of  Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre was released on dvd yesterday.   I had pre-ordered it.   Finally got to sit down last night to watch it after spending the day getting x-rays on my foot, when the dvd player wouldn't work.  I tried everything.   In the end, it was the remote.  Took me almost two hours to figure out that the controller needed new batteries, of which I will have to remember to get today.

Well that's Mercury retrograde for you, electronic screw ups everywhere. 

So my foot... I went into the doctor's on Monday and he ordered x-rays for yesterday.  Quick on that.  Only, he ordered x-rays for my ankle not my foot and it's my foot that has been giving me issues.  So the x-ray tech said she could not actually x-ray more then the area of my body that has been officially listed on the order sheet.   
Well, that was pointless. I go in again next week to the doctor for a follow up to find out what is wrong.  

Day 131-Day 6

Persuasion seems to be the note of the week.   I was watching the movie The Lake House, and not only do they reference the book throughout the film, it has many elements from the Jane Austen story.

Plot: Alex is living in 2004, Kate is living in 2006, both decided to rent this lake house at different times. Kate leaves a note for the next tenant about a few of the quirks of the house after she moves out in 2006, but Alex is the one who gets her letter, in 2004 when he moves in.  The two have no idea how their letters to each other are managing to reach each other.  They even somehow end up meeting in Alex's timeline but Kate doesn't remember him until years later when he tells her in his letters.

It's a confusing story but very romantic. 
For me, the whole Jane Austen's Persuasion being one of their key links was the IT Factor.  Persuasion has been popping up around me constantly in the last few days.  I'm taking it to be a sign, just not too sure what that sign is?

Day 130-Day 5

Persuasion. 
Movie version. BBC 2007.

What I learned from that this week, is miscommunication when we are depressed.   It seemed to be the theme of that story.  Or at lest that movie version. 
What it really was was about how love never really dies when it's a strong love.  I love the 1995 movie version of Persuasion but never really got much from it other then "ooohhh pretty"
For whatever reason, watching it -2007 version-yesterday morning it made more sense then I would have thought. 

Even more amazing, mother was glued to the story of it. I know total sidenote here, as some of you might remember that my mom is not a fan of that style of movie, but she was asking questions (she claims she can't understand British accents and said two of the actors looked too much alike) and completely wrapped in it.  I think because this one has a soap opera feel to the plot more then some of the others. 

As you can also guess, since my last post the other day, my first dvd arrived.  I am guessing the next one will be here by Monday.

For anyone who hasn't read the book or seen the movies, the two main characters are both believing that they are the only one who really loved the other when they broke up years before.  There's all these little moments of bitter dialogue between them and stolen glances... okay going to leave that here.

One other thing before I head out for the day... my celebrity crush or as I have been calling him My Affair of the Blog... he's gotten so popular as of late that every time I log into my main blogs to check stats I see there are hundreds of hits that day from his fans googling stuff on him and landing on my blogs.  It's great that he's getting the spotlight he deserves it really is.  But now, I'm feeling like this great gem, this sort of quiet secret has been ripped away.  It was like before I would talk about wrestling and no one knew who the hell I was going on about, but now everyone and their dog's grandmother knows and are taking all the shine out of him. And the worst part is I'm not just jealous of the fact other fans have discovered him too, but of him. Bad I know. There is something about this guy- I love/hate him he drives me insane- and he's managed to succeed where I've failed. Television/art/music.

Okay this is suppose to be a drama free zone, so that is enough emotions on this blog for one day.

Day 129-Day 4

I've got two lovely Jane Austen dvds coming to me from the book store.  Should be here next week. The BBC remake of Emma from 2008/2010  -depends on where you are looking it up it's listed as 2008 and  2010-  The other is the 2007 version of Persuasion.

Speaking of movies,   rented Your Highness  and Jumping the Broom.  Jumping the Broom was for mom.  One of her Christian movies.

Back to keeping track of the food I am eating.  Was shocked at how long the list looks when you write it down even though you only have a few things on your plate.

Been reading a few biographies this last few weeks.  Medium Raw, Tout Sweet and now Under the Tuscan Sun.   all about moving/traveling  and food. 

We are in Mercury Retrograde until the end of the month so expect many screw ups with traffic, computers, electronics, communications and your arms-hands. 

Day 124- Day 3

A year with Jane Day 3

So this is Celery ramen. 

1/2 a celery stock
2 chopped green onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cole slaw mix {red cabbage, lettuce, carrot}
1 cup water
1 package of mushroom ramen

I wasn't sure how the cole slaw mix would work but it gave it just enough bulk that it made it a nice change from plan packaged ramen.  I did the celery and green onion in the oil before adding the garlic.  It caramelized just enough that it had a slight molasses taste.  

I took the two movie versions of Mansfield Park over to mom's this week. I took a version of Emma and Pride and Prejudice there too. 
My mother is infamous for hating everything, specially period movies and British ones.  So, taking a different Jane Austen film over to her place all week was an interesting project.

She loved P/P and the one version of MP.  The week before I had brought over the Jane Austen Book Club and she seemed to pay attention to it.  What I did not tell her is that I've brought that one in the past to her place and she's watched it.  My mom is the type who will watch half a movie declare she hates it, and then awhile later see it on tv and claim it to be her most favourite movie ever.   I think it depends on her mood.

Anyways, she liked the idea of JABC because of the storyline of the character Sylvia. Which is the mix of Mansfield Park and Persuasion.
She loved the Frances O'Conner version of MP.  Which, I have to admit is my favourite movie version too. 

I had taken the Keira Knightley version of P/P.  She loved the fact it was more a comedy.

What did I learn this week from this little experiment?  

Never say never.   Just because something or someone at first glance seems to be one thing, does not mean you're getting the full and honest story.   Just like Elizabeth Bennett learns in P/P about her views on Wickham and Mr. Darcy. 

Day 123-Day 2

A year with Jane Day 2

Um... I'm not finding anything.   I was looking for a quote, something I could apply to housekeeping, but I might have picked the wrong Austen.   I was looking in Persuasion. Which, is the book we're doing for the summer in book club.

I'm sure there is plenty, I'm just not finding anything that is jumping out at me.

So, Persuasion. Nice place to start. I've always seen myself in the character of Anne Elliot. Way too much of myself in her. 

It was the Summer Solstice today.  First day of Cancer zodiac too.  Sort of a food viewing day, if you will. Spent the morning watching a foodie-horror film called Bitter Feast. Which I blogged about on my cooking blog.  And the evening watching Top Chef Canada, which I blogged about on my main blog. 

Anyways, only a starting point with the Year of Jane, so I am sure to get into a bit more of a flow as things progress.

Day 122-Day 1

A year with Jane {Day 1}

I was thinking about my novel.  Thinking about the fact I haven't written anything in months. When I opened the file, it was last dated Aug 20th 2010.  Wow! Here I was counting back thinking I'd stopped working on it in November of 2010, but it was even longer then that.  Nearly a full year.
Two years of my life has been poured into writing that novel. { Two and a half if you count the last few months just time wise. }

Then I started to think back to some of my other projects over the last roughly 3 years.  My countless blogs, my short stories that I've been writing on the blogs, the all vampire reading challenge {that I started as a meme and even I did not finish it because I had less then five people interested} my food challenges {inspired by Top Chef challenges that I have talked about doing but haven't}  my scrapbook, etc.

Great at starting things, horrible at finishing.   I keep telling myself, I'll finish it when such and such is done, or when so and so finally gets back to me on it.  And of course it never does/they never do.
Sometimes, I just loose interest.  Other times,  like my novel, I loose inspiration.  With my novel, I know my ending sucks and I really need an editor only I can not afford one. So stuck in limbo until I get a breakthrough.

Which brings me around to this post.  I keep finding myself over on Julie Powell's blog.  The chick who started the Julie/Julia Project.   Bit of a revolution if you ask me.  I've also been finding myself over on A Year with Julia.  A second lady was inspired to do the same thing, spend a year learning how to master the art of French cooking. 
This all got me thinking about a ton of stuff and one of those was the last time I completed a project.  Few years ago on the internet there was a book blogger who put out a challenge for an all Jane Austen challenge that lasted 6 months.  This is what had inspired my all vampire challenge that failed. 
I had been part of her All Jane Austen Challenge, and completed it on deadline and had a bundle of fun with it.  I talked about it on a few of my old blogs and my book review blog.

So here I am.
I'm going to spend the year delving into Jane Austen... again. There has been a lot of *new* Austen stuff in just a few short years since I first did that challenge.  I haven't figured out the details just yet, but that's what life is about right, learning as you go.

This will also bring me into posting more often on here, as I have gotten bad the last couple of weeks. 

So I guess the next question would be .... What Would Jane Do?