Fireside Nothings: January 25, 2009

Listened to: Vegetable Car from the album “Simple Times” by Joshua Radin

I have many things that I’ve wanted to blog about the, and I feel that I must do it now because tomorrow we’re supposed to be blessed with ice, a lot of ice, to the point where we may not have luxuries such as electricity or cable and cable Internet in a few days. So I must blog now if I’m to do it at all. Hopefully, just hopefully this preventative measure will be for not.

Bart

I want to say a hearty thank you to everyone who has been praying for Bart the past few days. His colonoscopy went well, or at least it went as well as can be expected considering the type of procedure that it is. Thankfully, there was nothing cancerous down there, but they did find two spots of inflammation from which they took biopsies. We’re actually hoping that they come back posiive ( I think) because that would mean Bart has inflammatory bowel disease, which is somewhat more treatable than just irritable bowel syndrome.

It was rather interesting to be the person responsible for Bart after his procedure. He would probably be a funny drunk if either of us ever wished to take up drinking as a past-time. Oh, the things that he said to me ranged from despite the fact that he didn’t have “ovarians,” he felt he needed to impart to his doctor that there was a family history of ovarian cancer. Of course he almost forgot about the grandfather who actually did have colon cancer and the uncle who died of liver cancer. it certainly made for an interesting day, Thursday, that’s for sure.

Blogging

At Bart’s suggestion, I started a blog for Lucy, Lucy’s ‘Splanations. This is only further proof, I think, that we need to have a baby. God’s still teaching us patience in that arena, though, and in the meantime I think it’s fun. I wish that I had started it when we got her because there have been so many fun incidents in the past year that would have made fun reading. Also, pets are with us such a short period of time that we should cherish the time we do have with them and keep record of it. I wish I had kept if not a blog because it was the eighties and nineties, but a journal of my adventures growing up with my lab-chow, Jetta.

Also, I’ve been working at converting WordPress export files into Blogger ones so that I can cross post to my Blogger Blog. I started my first blog, almost four years ago at Bllogger. Then they changed Blogger to where I didn’t like it. Also, I’m always wanting to try new things. I’ve moved to Vox, then here to WordPress. Somehow, though ecto blogging software, I managed to copy all of my vox posts here, and now I’m wanting to do the same, but with the comments to Blogger. I don’t know which I’ll keep, possibly both, if for no other reason that between the two I should be able to keep and move my entire blog when and if I want the change. Don’t get me wrong, I love WordPress, but Blogger has improved a great deal, and I can actually edit my template there more. If I do a complete move, it won’t be for some time. Getting posts converted to Blogger takes quite a bit of time and effort, but I’ve made a good start.

Writing

Also, I’ve been creating a website for my own fan fictions, starting with Once of Ingleside. Along with just posting my works there, I’m editing them (which they badly need) and revising them just enough to clean them up a great deal. I still want to finish my own WWII fic based on Anne Blythe’s grandchildren, but I’ve spent so much time away from them that I need to go back and get to know them again. There’s nothing that I hate more than for characters to change so completely because their creators have lost all touch with them. Also, I’ve fallen into that trap of having rather too many characters. I may have to not feature some quite so much in one series of fictions and let each or a few maybe have their own individual stories, not unlike Cath’s Cecilia and Bertha stories and Louise’s concurrent Jane and Meggie stories.

Life in General

Again, we’re under a Winter Ice Warning, so I don’ know how much blogging will be done in the next few days. So, I just want to say that I’ll be happy if I can just sit here on the couch with the fire burning to my right, Lucy in my lap, and a good book in my hand. There’s just something nice about that. Oh, and I guess that it’ll be nice to have Bart here too. I couldn’t do without him.

Disappointing Adaptations

Let me start this post by stating that I’m neither a fan nor a critic of the “Twilight” series of books. I’ve never read any of them, and don’t really intend to because I tend to enjoy historical fiction and older Classics rather than contemporary works, especially those about vampires. That’s a subject of literature that hasn’t interested me in well over a decade. I have nothing against the throngs of teenage girls and other women who’ve become such devoted fans of the “Twilight” books, though. I’m thrilled every time I hear of young people reading books of almost any sort, it’s such a rare occurrence these days. I feel for the many who are going to be filling theaters this weekend and in the coming weeks to watch the “Twilight” movie though. According to the MySpace status one of my fifteen-year-old cousin Charity, who loves the series of books so much that she, her sister, and some friends made sure to see the movie right at Midnight this morning when it opened,

“Don’t waste your money to go see Twilight! It SUCKED!!!! I am seriously going to cry, I’m just that disappointed!”

How many times have we read a book that we loved and just couldn’t wait for the movie to be made, but when it premiered it didn’t live up to our expectations? For me, it has occurred countless times. Sometimes the movie is still good enough that we’re able to overlook the differences between book and movie, like “To Kill a Mockingbird.” There are some obvious differences between the two, because of missing characters and scenes in the movie. However, the heart of the story remains throughout the movie.

Another example is “Gone With the Wind.” I personally love the movie “Gone With the Wind.” It is and always will be a cinematic masterpiece. However, it wasn’t until I was eighteen years old that I decided to read the book. I realized that Scarlett had a child with each of her husbands, Wade Hampton Hamilton and Ella Lorena Kennedy. While Ella’s part in GWTW is quite small, I’ve always found it amazing that the character of Wade was cut from the movie. Wade is Scarlett’s excuse for going to Atlanta to stay at Aunt Pitty’s. Though she didn’t know how to love or mother him, Wade’s existence and her need to provide for him throughout the war is part of her drive and motivation. One of the best scenes in the book is when the Yankees are at Tara (they were there twice after Scarlett returned in the book) and they try to take Charles’s sword that was given to Wade, and they almost kill him. It was a shame to not have that scene.

Sometimes a movie or television adaptation of a book is little more than a complete bastardization of beloved Literature, I’m talking about “Back to Green Gables,” the Kevin Sullivan trash that was released this year, supposedly in honor of the one hundredth anniversary of the publishing of “Anne of Green Gables” that, along with the 2000 tv-movie, “Anne of Green Gables, the Continuing Story” completely rewrites the entire story of “Anne of Green Gables.” I’m sickened by all of it. That’s my favorite series of books, and though I loved the original Sullivan mini-series of “Anne of Green Gables” and could tolerate “Anne of Green Gables the Sequel,” I couldn’t finish watching the continuing story and I refuse to even consider watching “Back to Green Gables.” They’ve tried to destroy the character of Anne Shirley-Blythe, and it’s abominable!

I don’t know what was wrong with the “Twilight” movie, but all I can say to anyone who was disappointed with it after reading the books, don’t stop reading the books. The cinema of our own minds and imaginations is always a far better theater than that on celluloid or in the form of digitized bits. Keep reading the books, and continue to watch the movies if for no other reason than to compare and contrast the two. Hollywood isn’t the perfect place it wants us to think that it is, and it’s obvious by their imperfect adaptations.

Valentine’s Day: “I don’t need sunburts and marble halls…”

    When I was in school:  grade school, junior high, high school, and even college I looked forward to Valentine's Day with those naive, romantic sensibilities that can only come from a  young girl who has yet to experience true love.  Always I hoped for something, anything: a card, roses, a teddy bear, or candies from a secret admirer.  I think that I was in love with the idea of being swept away in love, like, lust – whatever "L" word you want to give it.

     The funny things is that now that I am in a real, committed, happy marriage, I could care less about Valentine's Day.  It's just another day; an excuse to sell candy, card, jewelry, and whatever else you can slap some red or pink paint on.  Neither of us need it.  Probably because everyday is Valentine's Day to us.  We don't need a special day to say that we love each other.  We don't need gifts either.  I know Bart loves me, and he knows that I love him.  Honestly I would rather save the money and get Bart a better gift for his birthday, which is a week and a day after Valentine's Day.

    This may sound dismal and utterly unromantic, but I guess that though romance is never bad, forcing it on Valentine's Day seems wholly unromantic.  Roses die, candies are either eaten or spoil, and jewelry is far too extravagant for a Hallmark Holiday.  Personally the perfect Valentine's Day is one where I don't have to cook and can curl up on the couch with Bart and Lucy.  My wooing days are done for the most part, and I couldn't be happier.  It makes me think of the end of "Anne of the Island" where Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe finally become engaged.  Anne tells Gilbert, "
"I don't want sunbursts and marble halls. I just want YOU…"

Valentine’s Day: "I don’t need sunburts and marble halls…"

    When I was in school:  grade school, junior high, high school, and even college I looked forward to Valentine's Day with those naive, romantic sensibilities that can only come from a  young girl who has yet to experience true love.  Always I hoped for something, anything: a card, roses, a teddy bear, or candies from a secret admirer.  I think that I was in love with the idea of being swept away in love, like, lust – whatever "L" word you want to give it.

     The funny things is that now that I am in a real, committed, happy marriage, I could care less about Valentine's Day.  It's just another day; an excuse to sell candy, card, jewelry, and whatever else you can slap some red or pink paint on.  Neither of us need it.  Probably because everyday is Valentine's Day to us.  We don't need a special day to say that we love each other.  We don't need gifts either.  I know Bart loves me, and he knows that I love him.  Honestly I would rather save the money and get Bart a better gift for his birthday, which is a week and a day after Valentine's Day.

    This may sound dismal and utterly unromantic, but I guess that though romance is never bad, forcing it on Valentine's Day seems wholly unromantic.  Roses die, candies are either eaten or spoil, and jewelry is far too extravagant for a Hallmark Holiday.  Personally the perfect Valentine's Day is one where I don't have to cook and can curl up on the couch with Bart and Lucy.  My wooing days are done for the most part, and I couldn't be happier.  It makes me think of the end of "Anne of the Island" where Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe finally become engaged.  Anne tells Gilbert, "
"I don't want sunbursts and marble halls. I just want YOU…"