I Love Ya, Tomorrow

Went to Mass tonight. I usually lose track of what Father O'Neill is talking about in the homily because of his thick Irish accent (which I love, nonetheless) but today he was talking about the third commandment, "Remember the Lord's Day and keep it holy," and mostly I didn't even need to shake myself into paying attention. It was all very interesting. Driving home we listened to Catholic radio and heard a priest (I'm afraid I've forgotten his name) talking about how at some conference or something, some liberal theologian was preaching heresies and how this priest was sitting near one woman in the audience who was, as the priest on the radio said, "past the age of caring." The theologian said he didn't believe in angels, said they were only a "literary device." The woman muttered, "I wish one of those literary devices would come down and kick his butt." Haha! It reminded me of the guardian angel posters in my religion class - they are TOUGH angels, with their swords and shields. Makes me feel proud to have those guys on my team. :D Then, the theologian sat down and the woman said, "So you don't believe in hell, huh?" And he said no, he didn't. The woman replied, "Well, you'll believe in it when ya get there." Hehe, oh, dear... :D

I've been reading Sherlock Holmes lately. I KNEW I wouldn't regret buying that Complete Sherlock Holmes Volume II book! Especially since it was only six dollars... I like the characters, the stories, the writing, and everything about it more with each story. Today I read one of them aloud to my sister, which we both enjoyed. And luckily she doesn't mind if my tongue gets all tangled when I'm trying to read those long sentences.

Last week I read Arsenic and Old Lace, the play. I think I like the movie better, though I KNOW I'd like Arsenic better onstage. Some quotes:

Abby Brewster: I do hope they don't make us use that imitation flour again. I mean with this war trouble. It may not be very charitable of me, but I've almost come to the conclusion that this Mr. Hitler isn't a Christian.


Teddy: (running up the stairs) CHARGE! Charge the blockhouse!
Reverend Harper: The blockhouse?
Abby Brewster: The stairs are always San Juan hill.
Harper: Have you ever tried to persuade him that he wasn't Teddy Roosevelt?
Abby Brewster: Oh no!
Martha Brewster: He's so happy being Teddy Roosevelt.
Abby: Once, a long time ago - remember, Martha? We thought if he would be George Washington it might be a change for him...
Martha: But he stayed under his bed for days and just wouldn't be anybody.


Mortimer: Aunt Martha, men don't just jump in window seats and die.
Abby: No, he died first.
Mortimer: Well, how?
Abby: Oh, Mortimer, don't be so inquisitive! The gentleman died because he drank some wine with poison in it.
Mortimer: How did the poison GET in the wine?
Martha: Well, we put it in wine because it's less noticeable - when it's in tea it has a distinct odor.
Mortimer: You put it in the wine?
Abby: Yes! And I put Mr. Hoskins in the window seat because Dr. Harper was coming.
Mortimer: So you knew what you'd done and you didn't want Dr. Harper to see the body!
Abby: Well, not at tea - that wouldn't have been very nice!

Tomorrow we're going to see Wicked. My sisters and I keep randomly squealing and saying, "Tomorrow!" Which, of course, started me on the song.

Tomorrow, tomorrow
I love ya, tomorrow
You're always a day away

I Just Talked To A COMPUTER

It was a call from my baby sister's health plan thingummy. "Is this the child's parent or guardian?" I was silent... "I'm sorry," the computer said, "I'm just a computer. Did you say "yes?"

"No," I said firmly.
"Is there anyone available to take this call?"
"No," I said again, wishing there were.
"Would you be willing to take a message?"
Long silence. I didn't really want to, and this was a computer talking, so I could have said no if I wanted to. "Y-ees," I said rather uncertainly. And took the message.

But it was very weird.

Speaking of phone calls, we've been getting a lot of wrong number calls lately...

Excerpt of... Something, and Other Insignificant Somethings

This is part of something I wrote one day when I was bored, without any idea of a plot, or answers to any of the questions. I just know one thing: these two characters do NOT fall in love, just in case you're wondering, and just in case you think that's where it's headed. It's not. ;)

The girl weighed the pendant in the palm of her hand, “It’s a good imitation,” she began.
“Imitation? Of what?”
“I’d say it’s worth about $50 dollars,” the girl continued, as if the shopkeeper hadn’t interrupted. “If you’ll take that much for it, I’ll buy it.” She looked at him questioningly, yet confidently.
“I’m really confused,” the shopkeeper whined after a pause. “What the heck is going on? What’s this an imitation of, and how do you know whether it’s a good imitation or not? Why do you want it?”
The girl gave him a look that didn’t seem to mean anything, but it also seemed to mean everything he didn’t know about. It didn’t answer any of his questions. It only created more questions, although he wasn't sure what they were and why he wanted the answers.
“What’s your name?” he asked quietly, but inwardly he felt irritated. Why do I even care? She’s just some weirdo-girl that dropped into this shop like a… he searched for a simile, but couldn’t think of anything befitting of the strange girl in ripped jeans and sneakers who could tell a “good imitation” from an elusive original that he hadn’t known existed till now. Just get her out of here, he commanded himself sternly. She is going to get me in so much trouble. He knew this with amazing certainty. He wasn’t sure how, but he knew that she was trouble. “Trouble.” It would be written all over the necklace where she had left her fingerprints, and it would be written in her footprints when she walked out of the store. She had said, “After today you’ll never see me again,” but the shopkeeper had a terrifying feeling that she was wrong.

It's dramatic and freaky and confusing, I know. But for some reason, I like this cowardly shopkeeper with a bad attitude, and this weird girl in ripped jeans. I like them enough to find out more about their story. Someday. Maybe.

As for the other insignificant somethings, I bought the Complete Sherlock Holmes Vol. II for only $6 at Barnes & Noble on Saturday. I was rather pleased.

And apparently my blog's readability level is Junior High:

I'm not sure how I feel about that. I know it doesn't mean that the people who read my blog have junior-high-school minds - it just means that junior-high-school-minds could read my blog and not be left scratching their heads in confusion. Well, some confusion, perhaps (my fault, not theirs) but not utter confusion. ;)

And my Books And Windows blog is a high school reading level. Hrm... must be because of the "A Word A Day" posts I've done.

And speaking of words, my sister and I spent a few hours last night on FreeRice. Marvelous website. I started keeping track of all the best words, and filled up two pages, front and back, and half of another one. Some of the words I came across that I liked best (these are the meanings given by FreeRice. The actual dictionary definitions are most likely better):

lachrymal: tearful (Yes, I do like those moody words like "morose" and "animosity" and "melancholy" etc.)
embrangle: confuse
waggery: jesting (sounds Shakespearean. There were actually several words we came across that caused me to spout off a Comedy of Errors quote. "Abject" and "upbraid" were among them. ["Thou sayest his meals were sauced with thy upbraidings..."])
munificent: generous (you can just TELL that this word means generous. Seriously.)
ineluctable: unavoidable (This is a totally unfamiliar word, but it's cool...)
dolor: grief (I only knew this because my grandparents live on a "Dolorosa" street, which means "way of sorrows," I believe)
pertinacious: Stubborn
shellback: worldly sailor (Whoah! I love this one!)
blithesome: cheery (happy word)
spindrift: sea spray

At one point Desirae and I had gotten several words right only because of The Roman Mysteries, and the Latin names and phrases in those books. And there was one word that we knew the meaning of because of Arsenic and Old Lace or the Andy Griffith Show. And some ("transubstantiate" and "genuflect") because we're Catholic. It's sort of ...homeschoolery.

Of Guitars

Guitars here are a part of the family. My dad and his family have a huge guitar collection: all kinds of guitars, from rare to cheap, from very old to somewhat old (the collection has stopped growing now), electric and acoustic. "The Collection" as my dad calls it, was also a pretty good moneymaker, and apparently rather popular in Hollywood. I don't know how many movies "our" guitars have appeared in, but I know for sure that a few of them are in The Color Purple.

Most of the guitars in The Collection are in my grandpa's garage, but we have a few at our house, and a few others. So let me introduce you to the guitars in our home:

First, here is my own left-handed guitar, an Ibanez:



I love it because it's mine to play, and name, and tune and bang up and carry around with me. It doesn't have a name yet, though. Needless to say, this guitar is NOT in the Collection. ;)

This is my dad's Alvarez, signed inside by the maker, Kazuo Yairi.



This is the Martin. This small kind of guitar is known as a "parlor guitar." It's very old - over 130 years - and in these pictures, it looks every day of its age! It's got cracks in the body, and broken strings, but four years ago it was in better shape, and was the guitar I started learning on. Clasical guitars can be restrung left-handed or right-handed because the bridge is level.



This guitar, "the Taylor" is another one that's not in the collection, but it has a kind of fun story. My dad was told about some drawing that his work, or a business associated with his, was having. The prizes were two Taylor acoustic/electric guitars (if you hook them up to an amp they magically sound like electric guitars). My dad entered, and won. He never told us he had entered, so we were pretty surprised when he came home carrying an unfamiliar, cloth guitar case.





This is "the Musser". It hasn't been played in a while, because it's got a buzz in a few of the strings, but I really really love this guitar. It's got such a beautiful color:



It looks so plain at first, until you see the decoration around the sound-hole (mother-of-pearl, perhaps, or mock-mother-of-pearl):



And then this... this is the Gibson. The Gibson "Southern Jumbo."



Out of all the guitars we have in our home, this is my favorite. I love the dark, rich colors, and the full, beautiful sound it makes, even with its old strings. I love how it looks like it was my dad's favorite, too. It's all beat up around the pickguard from hard playing:



I grew up around these guitars, and I'm only now learning to appreciate each one. So don't worry if you look at these pictures and think, "Mmm... pretty... but what's the big deal?" There is no big deal. I just like guitars. My dad likes them. His brother, when he was alive, liked them (he did most of the collecting and business). I guess it runs in the family.

Some Little Things

I'm still recovering from the suddenness of arriving for a performance of The Comedy of Errors at one in the afternoon on a Saturday, and then not realizing until after the curtain call that ... there wouldn't be another the next day or the next weekend. Of course, it all wasn't officially over until the cast party, and even now... I just miss it. I feel like I won't ever get over that. But I may get to be in The Music Man with my cousins and Hannah this fall, and the woman who played Adriana in Comedy wants to start a Shakespearean acting class for children, and there's most likely going to be some musical theatre involved, so I feel consoled.

I attended the last show of You Can't Take It With You on Sunday. Despite some obvious fumbling (well, obvious to me at any rate: I had already seen the show twice before) it was a fantastic show, and the cast received a standing ovation. I was so proud of them all. And sad that I'd never get to see them as those characters again. Ooh, it was sad indeed.

But I really am quite WELL! and to quote Kolenkov from "Can't," "Life is chasing inside of me like a ... squirrel!" I'm happy. Some things that are making me happy:

1. The audio book of The Goose Girl. *SPOILERS* Ani's voice is good. Selia's is good. Geric's is sort of... too... um... I can't think of a word. But he doesn't sound right - he doesn't sound earnest and boyish and sweet, while still sounding strong and noble. He just sounds mostly strong and noble. I'm not crazy about the narrator's voice - the words seem more beautiful when I'm reading them in my head, with my own voice. I just finished listening to the scene where Ani is talking to Falada's head. It was beautiful on paper, and beautiful in audio. However, I did have it imagined so clearly in my mind that it fell a little short. I imagined it all more desperate. When Ani said Falada's name in her mind, the sound of it echoed through my mind for pages afterward when I first read it. I never imagined any line of diologue in any book as clearly as I did that. It was an imaginary cry to an imaginary character, heart-broken, echoing in an imaginary cold, and I heard it and felt it so clearly it still makes me shiver. But even so, in the audio book, that scene was amazing. *END SPOILERS*

2. Guitar: I never realized how good I had become at playing guitar until I tried to learn to play with my right hand. I'm a leftie, playing on a left-handed guitar, but since my dad plays and collects guitars, there is certainly no shortage of normal guitars. So I picked up my dad's acoustic-electric Taylor that he won in some drawing that he randomly entered (although I'd rather play his Gibson Southern Jumbo - but alas, it's out of tune and rather collectible) and decided to learn to play the "right" way. Ouch. Ouch, ouch, ouch, painful! My fingers have felt like they're on fire, and all the frustration of my first months as a student of guitaritry (new word!) are coming back. I'm recalling how hard it was - is! - to make each string make a sound in a chord like D minor, which is now so simple for me, almost like a habit (on a left-handed guitar, that is). So that's making me happy. The thought that I can pick up my guitar and play a few chords quickly and cleanly, do a few hammer-ons, slides, and play the beginning of a George Gershwin song - that makes me very happy.

3. Arsenic And Old Lace. I watched the movie twice this past week, once with my sister and once with my father, and I put the play on hold at the library (I'm looking forward to seeing how different it is from the movie). It's SO fun! And quotable. And morbid, and hilarious. When the play arrives from the library, I shall write up a blogpost full of funny quotes from it.

4. The Shakespeare Authorship Controversy. My dad and I stayed up late a few nights ago talking about it. Someday I'll post about it on The Shakespeare Journal, and where my father and I stand, but first I have to do a lot more research. That's just the way I am, you know.

5. The trailer for Harry Potter 6. Time flies. Seems like just yesterday we were at 4, and I was on the way to the theater thinking that I hoped to goodness that they would play a trailer for The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe. They did, as we were walking up to the top seats. I practically had to be dragged up the stairs. I was a silly little Narnia-fangurl back then. Very silly. Hopefully I've matured in my love for the series and following of the movies and their production. (Says the girl who burst into tears at the end of Prince Caspian) But yes, about that trailer: I like it. There's nothing about it that I like in particular (well... Young Tom Riddle is pretty awesome), but I'm just so glad it's HERE.

And I guess that's about all I wanted to say. Except for this:

Noah: Mommy, I'm Plumpy. (Referring to a character in the game of Candyland)
Mom: Okay. I'm Queen Frostine. (Referring to another character in the game)
Noah: ... No. You're Plumpy's mommy.
Mom: I am? Why can't I be someone more -
Noah: (Interrupting) You're Plumpy's mommy.

Poor Plumpy's mommy. ;)

Fond Remembrances of April Foolery

I was just thinking today of the very funny conversation I had with a few girls from a forum I frequent and help moderate. It was on April 1st. These two girls will be given new names for this blogpost, though they might come upon this and reveal their identity, because really I don't think they'd mind if I told you who they were...are... but the conversation is just a tad bit embarrassing for three book-loving, good-spelling young ladies such as we. ;)

I started it by writing in my signature, an April Fool's Joke: "Fownder of the Almost-Illiterate Teens Club!! Join 2day!!!1!1"

Girl #1: *snickers* Ooh! can i like, join ur club??!

Me: yah, im tryng to recrooit (sp????) more members.

Girl #1: *feels the need to use some large and intelligent-sounding words to make up for the ghastly chatspeak she used above, but of course cannot think of anything decent*

Me: Grandiloquent
Xenophobia (fear or hatred of strangers...)
Meshugga (Yiddish/Hebrew or something. Means crazy or stupid. Love that word.)
Brodingnagian (Of gigantic size. WHOA!)
Tinctumutation (change of colour)

Girl #2: Ooooooh, can i like join the club, [Girl #1] and delany?? it souns lyk my kinda thing totally!!!

Girl #2: of corse!!! And I'm sure that [Girl #3] will want to join too. its her type of club for shore.

(Man...I'm really not good at this grammar-killing stuff...)

Me: OMG, now we have like, 3 mmbers totul!

*cringes*

Girl #3: o i like wanna b in yr club like let me joyn i wanna like so so bad. [Here she posted numerous smiley faces and emoticons] omg like boks r so last year like i think mk-up is like so kewl

(This is fun!)

Girl #2: You are a natural!

Girl #1: Ack! Don't insult her!

did u here about Zac Ephron being cast as Youstance (sp???) So awesem, i loved hsm.

*is tired already, and wonders how genuine chatspeakers manage it*

We all got pretty tired of it at that point. It really is sort of exhausting, and we did need those words like "brobdingnagian" and "tinctumutation" to feel that not all of our brain cells had died. ;)

The Roman Mysteries

Long have I awaited the arrival of the Roman Mysteries tv series to DVD! And finally... here is season one, in my very own house!

My sister and I expected that we would be cracking jokes all the way through, but I liked 'most everything about it more than I expected I would.

This post is the fulfillment of a promise to Rebekah and Alyosha, who knew that we had pre-ordered the DVD, and requested such a report. It will be organized by "scroll" (as in the first two-part episode, and the next, and so on) and then by character. I was going to rewatch all of the episodes and take notes, but that would have taken too long, and I just didn't "feel like it" today.

The Secrets of Vesuvius I was never very nervous about this one, because I knew it combined the first two books in the series, The Thieves of Ostia and The Secrets of Vesuvius, which are perhaps my least favorite books in the series. The first moments of the series were odd, to say the least, involving Flavia Gemina running for her life from someone she's never seen before, and Jonathan ben Mordecai saving her with his slingshot. The filming there was wiggly and confusing, but it had calmed down by the time Flavia and Jonathan were having their first conversation. That was where my sister and I were first pleasantly surprise, when Jonathan said, "You must be Flavia. I hear your mother all the time, 'Flavia, slow down! Flavia, stop that!'"

The adaptation on this one was only so-so, very rushed (my, my, those children certainly do have many adventures!), but the episode itself was pretty good. Mount Vesuvius pretty much looked like a painting, though.

The Pirates of Pompeii Not much to say about this, except that I loved (er... loved to hate) Pulchra and disliked Felix and most traces of Flavia's disturbing fancy for Felix were gone, thankfully.

The Assassins of Rome Susannah's Other Jonathan subplot was also done away with, but Rizpah and her kitten were in this! More about Rizpah below...

The Dolphins of Laurentum Adaption-wise, this one is the best. It's quite close to the book (even though Aristo isn't in it).

The Enemies of Jupiter It was pretty good, as I recall. The story in this one was probably the farthest from the book of all the episodes in season one. *SPOILERS* Instead of giving his mother a drink to make her appear dead, Susannah is poisoned by Berenice. And then - horror of horrors! - Jonathan goes home. *wail* No! I'm sorry, but I simply adore that cliff-hanger in the book. Gone. Gone, alas.

The series has a happy ending at Miriam's wedding. Captain Geminus informs Flavia that it's time she think about getting married (in the TV show, she's 13 instead of 11), and although Flavia is rather distressed about it, her father loves her, Jonathan is funny, and one shouldn't have a frown at a wedding. Flavia catches Miriam's bouquet and frantically tosses it to Nubia. Haha.

Now, onto the interesting part: Characters!

Flavia Gemina: Francesca Isherwood did a very good job as Flavia. She's bossy and cute. She's not nearly as annoying as Flavia is in the book.

Jonathan ben Mordecai: I just love his curls! ;) He was very funny in his own way, but just not the Jonathan I love in the books, though a lot of his funny lines made it into the show ("Wait, how do you know what camel dung tastes - no, don't answer that")

Nubia: Rather perfect and peaceful but still very human, and a very great lover of animals. Rebekah Brookes-Murrell's Nubia was very close to the book-Nubia.

Lupus: In a word, perfect. I am a firm Harry Stott fan. I wonder if it's harder or easier to play a character who doesn't talk? At any rate, Harry did a wonderful job. He got Lupus's fire and energy just right.

Dr. Mordecai: Excellent! He looked exactly how I imagined him and acted very well. I have no complaints.

Pliny: Ditto! He was fabulous.

Pliny the Younger: Oh, Mark Wells (older Edmund in LWW) was the perfect choice for Pliny's nephew! He's awkward and nerdy and lovable. In The Secrets of Vesuvius when Flavia bursts into their home to tell Admiral Pliny about the volcano, Pliny's first reaction is to shout, "Assassins!"

Rizpah: She was ok... She didn't look at all like the description in the book, but I suppose that would be have been very difficult. But at least she was THERE, is what I say.

Miriam: Very good.

Gaius/Captain Geminus: Very good.

Let us just assume that everyone else is very good unless I mention their names.

Felix: I didn't care for him much... his eyes were Felix-eyes. But his hair... Hmm.

The rest, all jumbled together: Pulchra was marvelous, but she and Flavia look rather alike. Titus was just fine, Berenice was great, Susannah looked better in the picture on Caroline Lawrence's site, Venalicius was great (and Dolphins of Laurentum was GREAT, and did I mention that Lupus was fabulous?)

Ok... that's most of my thoughts about it. Anything else that you'd like to ask me, Aly, I'll be happy to answer. ;)