If you love the Dowager Countess of Grantham...

There are exactly ten days until the American broadcast of the third season of "Downton Abbey". I am super excited!!! (FREE BATES!!!)

Then again, there are still 10 days of waiting, and, during that time, lots of people are home for the holidays and are looking for something good to watch on television. And if you are like me and were at home watching TV this past weekend, you realized that 1. there really was nothing good on TV, and 2. if you found something good on, it was interrupted with a lot of commercials.

So if you are looking for some movies to watch over the Christmas Break to get you in the mood for the return of "Downton Abbey" (and more importantly, the return of Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham, Queen of the One Liners), I would recommend checking out some of Dame Maggie Smith's other films via the library or Netflix or OnDemand.

Tea with Mussolini  

In this film based on actual events, young orphan Luca is raised by a tight knit community of Englishwomen in 1930s Florence. The "Scorpioni" are presided over by Lady Hester Random (Smith), who routinely butts heads with the flamboyant, wealthy American Elsa Morganthal, played by Cher.  As WWII breaks out, the remaining holdouts among the Scorpioni are interned, young Luca joins the Italian resistance, and Elsa tries to avoid the Gestapo. The film is heartwarming and nail biting and just perfectly charming. (I think Lady Hester would give old Lady Grantham a run for her money.)

Keeping Mum

This understated black comedy centers around the family of a preoccupied vicar. He is so preoccupied that he fails to notice that: his attention-starved wife is on the brink of an affair; their teenage daughter is (inappropriately) boy-crazy; and their shy young son is being bullied at school. With the arrival of new housekeeper Grace (Smith), all of the family's problems miraculously start to fade away, although Grace's methods are a little less Mary Poppins and a little more Sweeney Todd. 

A Room with a View

In this romance, Lucy Honeychurch, an Edwardian Englishwoman, has a holiday in Florence, Italy. While there, she encounters the passionate and eccentric George Emerson. Following the return to England, George steps back into Lucy's life, and she must decide whether to go through with marriage to her straight-laced fiance, Cecil, or follow her attraction to George. Smith plays Charlotte Bartlett, Lucy's prim, high-strung, spinster cousin/chaperone. Even though this is the complete opposite of her "Downton" role, she still steals every scene.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
This is Smith's break-out role, and she is brilliant in this drama about a very unconventional teacher in a girls' school in Scotland. Singling out the creme de la creme among her students, Jean Brodie broadens "her girls'" horizons with lessons on art, music, politics, and even love, but her headstrong methods and her over-romanticized view of the world (she loves Franco!) leads to clashes with both the headmistress and, eventually, the very girls on whom she has come to rely. 

David Copperfield 
This adaptation of the Dickens' classic has some stand-out performances; Smith's Betsy Trotwood (aunt of David Copperfield) is one of them. (It also is a pre-Harry Potter pairing with a very young Daniel Radcliffe.) This BBC/Masterpiece drama was my first exposure to David Copperfield, and I loved it, especially Maggie's magisterial (yet loving) Aunt Betsy. She makes quick work of Mr. Murdstone. Very Dowager-y.


And as as added Christmas bonus, I would also suggest watching From Time to Time.  This sweet (and somewhat bittersweet) Christmastime story set during WWII has a young man (Cranford's Alex Etal) returning to his father's ancestral home to share the holiday with his estranged grandmother (Smith). While there, he begins to encounter spectral phenomena, which may assist him in solving a centuries' old mystery about the house. In addition to having a screenplay penned by Julian Fellowes, this film has the added bonus of performances from a number of other Downton cast members: Hugh Bonneville (Lord Grantham), Allen Leech (Tom Branson), David Robb (Dr. Clarkson), and Christine Lohr (Mrs. Bird).

If you have any suggestions for other great Maggie Smith performances (Clash of the Titans, Gosford Park, the Harry Potter films), please leave your own recommendations in the comments!

On the First Day of Christmas, my sister gave to me...

...a gi-normous bar of Ca-had-bur-ry...

No, seriously, look:
It's as big as my tea cosy!!!

"Everything was beautiful at the ballet"* (except, not really)

Something that tends to surprise people (because, in general, I am really into the arts) is that I hate the ballet. (Disclaimer: I took ballet lessons for one year. My dad let me quit. Thanks, Dad!) I feel like the dance moves and the music just don't go together, which is counter intuitive to me. Of course, this would make sense as it is my understanding that, for many classical ballets, the music and the choreography were composed independent of each other (again, counter intuitive). Personally, I like it a lot better when the two work in tandem, like in a Broadway musical. (I love Broadway musicals.)

I especially dislike The Nutcracker. Now before I start being accused of imitating Ebenezer Scrooge, I would like to relate some background on this: I saw my first performance of The Nutcracker when I was about 7 years old. I spent a lot of the performance asking the Aunties (who took me, bless their hearts) when the Sugar Plum Fairy was going to turn up. (I distinctly remember this.) Apparently, the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy wasn't all that impressive to me because I was still asking about it at the end of the show. (I think it was one of those productions where Clara does the dance so there wasn't a separate Sugar Plum Fairy.) In the immortal words of Kevin Kline, in his Academy Award© winning role in A Fish Called Wanda, "Disappointed!!!!" I really have never seen a production of The Nutcracker that I feel does justice to Tchaikovsky's brilliant composition. (Disclaimer: This has not stopped me from dancing around my house to the music when the mood strikes me. This is referred to as "Interpretive Nutcracker" and is not remotely the same as ballet. In case you were wondering.)

The version of the record I had. (Thanks, Ebay!)

As a child, I had a long playing record of the Story of the Nutcracker that combined Tchaikovsky's music with Claire Bloom's narration of a simpler version of ETA Hoffman's original tale. This story was delightful, with elements of mystery, creativity, terror, heroism, and wonder. Now this was a dark story for a cold winter's night (or at least a dark-er story), and I played that record over and over again, so much so that I can almost hear Ms. Bloom's voice over parts in the music when I listen to recordings of the musical score now. (I actually listened to this album at my parents' house last Christmas because they still have a turntable. [Mine died several years ago. The fabulous JR is looking after my record collection until I replace it.])

(Image also from Ebay)

My mother also had given me a beautiful, hardcover book of The Nutcracker, illustrated by Maurice Sendak (of Where the Wild Things are fame.) This version of the story came about after the Pacific Northwest Ballet asked Sendak to design the scenery and costumes for their "untraditional" version of the ballet one Christmas. The ballet was much closer to the spirit of the original tale, and Sendak's designs, augmented by additional drawings, have become the imaginative illustrations of this book, while a fresh translation of Hoffman's The Nutcracker and the Mouse King brings an edge that I have never seen in a performance of this story (or in "Interpretive Nutcracker", for that matter.)  I love it to bits, and I get it out every Christmas season to reread while listening to a recording of the ballet music. (It's the London Symphony Orchestra recording, if that matters to you.)

A number of years ago, the Boston Symphony Orchestra did a concert of the complete Nutcracker. I persuaded JeGlide (a sometime co-performer of "Interpretive Nutcracker") to join me at Symphony Hall for the concert. I was so excited; I was practically jumping out of my seat. Not having the dancers in front of me while hearing the familiar music performed by a full symphony orchestra (and conducted by Seiji Ozawa) was such a treat and left such a fresh impression of the music that I really started to appreciate The Nutcracker all over again.

I think that it was because I enjoyed that concert so much that I actually agreed to go to the ballet again when my friend RJ invited me to join her at a performance of Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet. We ended up leaving at intermission, and we may or may not have left because we were laughing and falling sleep intermittently. (Fortunately, the tickets were free, passed on from a colleague who had season's tickets and couldn't make that night's performance.) So the ballet still isn't for me, but I do love The Nutcracker, just not the ballet of The Nutcracker. Isn't it nice to know that there are plenty of ways you can still enjoy it without all the dancing?



* Lyrics from "At the Ballet" from A Chorus Line, a Broadway musical and therefore acceptable to me

Have a Happy Hipster Christmas

CB2 is Crate & Barrel's modern furniture and decor line for the hip, urban, apartment-living kind of person I never really was even when I was urban and apartment-living. (I am much more an eclectic traditionalist.) I think that I ended up on their mailing list by accident. (I do love regular Crate & Barrel.)
Flipping casually through the latest CB2 catalog the other day (it usually goes straight into recycling,) I had to pause and laugh when I saw these guys. These are supposedly "Modern Worker" Christmas ornaments. To me, they are people from my old neighborhood in Allston. The only character missing is the band member with his guitar case.

Miranda Hart

If you watched "Call the Midwife" on PBS on Sunday nights, I would bet that you have fallen in love with Camilla Fortescue-Cholmondeley-Browne, known to her friends/fellow midwives as "Chummy" and played by the wonderful Miranda Hart. Chummy comes from an upper class background, but couldn't be more "of the people" if she tried. She is warm-hearted and generous and socially awkward and thoughtful and clumsy and is my absolutely favorite character on the show. I loved her since she first fell off the bicycle. (Okay, that isn't true. I loved her from when she protected her first patient from the doctor's insensitivity.)  She is the reason that I stuck with the show; I was ready to give up after the first episode, but I said I would watch one more and that's when her character was introduced.

So because I became such a fan of Chummy,  I went on a hunt to find "Miranda", Miranda Hart's eponymous Brit sit com. Luckily, I found it on my local PBS station. It is HILARIOUS!!  It is on after 11pm on Friday nights here so I DVR it and watch it first thing on Saturday. It is my new Saturday morning cartoon. I have literally laughed out loud at the show at least three times every episode. It is a bit "Bridget Jones"-esque with the single girl and the pushy mother and the kooky friends and the unattainable hot guy and the embarrassing situations, but the tone is so much more upbeat than "Bridget Jones".  Plus, "Miranda" has this uncanny ability to bounce back from all of the embarrassing situations. (Granted, it is television, but, boy! don't I wish I could be more like that?!?) Normally, I don't like shows that put the main character in embarrassing situations (Meet the Parents was a nightmare for me; I wanted to crawl under my chair and die!), but I haven't had to fast forward through "Miranda" at all. (Okay, well, honestly, I did fast forward during one of the first episodes I watched. Then I rewound and watched the bit I thought would be too painful to watch, and it was fine. In fact, it was hilarious. Lesson learned.)

Anyhow, the show isn't out on DVD in the US, so you can't get it from Netflix or the library, and it isn't worth buying on DVD unless you have a regionless DVD player, which I don't, although I can watch Region 2 DVDs on my laptop, but I digress... So you have to hunt it down on PBS (or the interwebs, but you didn't hear that from me) because it doesn't seem to be on BBC America either. (But "Star Trek the Next Generation" is... that's a topic for another time.) Hopefully, the BBC will try to capitalize on the success of "Call the Midwife", and  "Miranda" will end up on DVD here soon. Until then, I will not be purging my DVR, and you can watch clips on the BBC One website. A new series of "Miranda" is set to broadcast soon; I can't wait until they show it here!! As Miranda's mother Penny would say, "Such fun!"



[And for all of you playing "Name That Brit" at home: I knew that I had seen Gary (the unattainable hot guy) before: he was Tom the doctor on "Doctor Who" that Martha was going to marry until she decided to marry Mickey instead. ]

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year I have so many things for which I am thankful. Just within this last year, I am grateful for selling my condo rather quickly, having all my stuff moved by a fantastic moving company, taking some much needed time off, starting a new job, and buying my house - and my continual blessings: my family (especially the newest addition) and my friends (who have stuck by me through all this moving around).  For all the whinging I do, things are actually really good. And I am thankful.

The Start of the Christmas Season is Closer than You'd Think

Image from Ebay

Because I am currently concerned about where all my British Christmas stuff is going to be purchased this holiday season now that I am no longer living in Boston, I thought I would share last night's discovery here on on the blog.

I was at BJ's picking up some household items and while walking through the Christmas section, I noticed that they had Tom Smith luxury and juvenile Christmas crackers! There were some stunning silver and black full size ones (similar to the ones in the photo), but I restrained myself as I went overboard last Christmas at TJ Maxx and bought enough crackers last year for more than twice the number of people I was going to see on the big day. A box of eight was selling for $9.99 which is a steal great bargain, in my opinion.

So you if you are in the market for Christmas crackers, you might want to check out your local BJ's wholesaler! (For anyone reading in the central Connecticut region, this was the BJ's in Southington on Queen St.)  Also, if you know of any place where I can find a Christmas pudding and some brandy butter in the area, I would love it if you told me in the comments! It isn't practical for me to drive to Cardullo's in Harvard Square just for that... or is it? ;-)

""The moon was a ghostly galleon, tossed upon cloudy seas."*

Happy Halloween, readers! Last night, I carved my first Jack o'lantern in a very long time. I had forgotten how messy scooping out the inside of the pumpkin could be. I made a small wreck in my kitchen (fortunately, I'd put down newspaper before I started), and I accidentally cut my hand, which still hurts, but over all I am pleased with the result.  I think it kind of looks like the one Charlie Brown modeled for in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." (I like my pumpkins to be spooky rather than artistic. I think this one is pretty good in the spooky department.)  

The moon last night was simply amazing, straight out of Alfred Noyes' poem. It was bright and full, and the wind kept blowing the clouds across it, giving it an affect that usually only is found in the movies.  I could have kept watching it from my porch all night. It sends wonderful shivers up the spine.

Really excited to get my first trick or treaters at my very own house for the first time. I hope that I have enough candy for them!!

 
*The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes

Autumn Day at the Cove

Saturday at Wethersfield Cove.

Yes, I am glad to be back in Connecticut.

"'Thee did well, child, to come to to the Meadow. There is always a cure here when the heart is troubled.'"*

This past weekend I went on a Witchcraft and Tombstone tour in Old Wethersfield, CT, and, as a part of the tour, we visited the Buttolph-Williams house. Built in 1711, this house is the inspiration for the home of the Wood family in the Newbery award winning book The Witch of Blackbird Pond. ::cue my friend MEM having literary tour envy::


I had loved that book as a child, and it was the book that I read the very first night in my new house. (I love to reread old favorites from childhood when I am sick or nervous or blue. I don't know if it is the story or nostalgia or a combination of the two, but it always makes me feel better.) The novel, for those who haven't read it, tells the story of a young woman, Kit Tyler, who, after the death of her parents and beloved grandfather, leaves her privileged life in Barbados to live with her mother's sister and her uptight upright Puritan family in Wethersfield, Connecticut in 1687. Kit has difficulty fitting in with both her family and the community and finds herself becoming friends with other outsiders, including a old Quaker woman named Hannah who lives in a shack by the river and who is a suspected witch, which then throws suspicion on Kit!! SO GOOD!!!


I was really excited to visit the house that inspired the novel. I probably read the book for the first time in the fourth grade. We had a hardcover copy that had been discarded by the public library, and I loved the faded cover illustration of a girl in a meadow with the wind blowing her hair and clothes. There was something so free about that girl, which is very indicative of the book. (Who am I kidding? I still love that illustration. Also, I want to go to Barbados for the sole reason that Barbados is where the heroine Kit "grew up".)


One of the things I'd liked about the book was that it was set in my home state, in a town not far from mine. As a child, I had been really interested in the Salem Witch Trials and had taken out several books about them and witchcraft in general from the elementary school library. (In retrospect, I wonder if the librarian loved me or thought I was crazy.)  But this book isn't scary; it's about independence and freedom and standing up for yourself, framed in a historical context. (It's kind of a Johnny Tremain for girls.)  Girl power, circa 1690.


While the Buttolph-Williams house doesn't date back quite so far (built in only 1711), it is still one of the oldest houses in Old Wethersfield, and the preservation work on the house is impressive. I definitely want to go back and tour some of the other historical houses in Old Wethersfield and spend some more time poking around the old village burying ground. Gershom Bulkeley, who is a historical figure who features in The Witch of Blackbird Pond, is buried in the older part of the cemetery.


Sadly, Blackbird Pond no longer exists in Old Wethersfield (it dried up and they built the overpass for Route 3 where Hannah's house would have been), but it still exists in the pages of a great book and the imaginations of readers of all ages.



*The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Great Summer for Anglophiles

2012 has been a great summer for us (American) Anglophiles. It seemed like every time I turned on the television there was something British on. It started with:

Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee (loved all of the news coverage and the great documentaries that were shown on public television)

 

 

then the showdown between Andy Murray and Roger Federer in the men's Wimbledon tennis final (that one was a real nail biter for me!)

 

 

 

then there were the London Summer Olympics 2012 (which gave the world a look at Britain beyond the royal family and the pomp and circumstance. Plus, Team GB earned 65 medals, including 29 gold medals!!!)

 

 

 

and then Andy Murray won the tennis US Open (the first Brit to win a Grand Slam since Fred Perry!)

 

 

 

A very exciting summer indeed for those of us who love Old Blighty.  One of my co-workers got so jazzed up about GB from the Olympics coverage that he is going to London on vacation in two weeks. (You don't have to ask if I am super jealous, right? Because I AM. Maybe he will bring me back a souvenir Jubilee mug if I ask nicely.) At least great British television is on with "Doctor Who" running on BBC America, and "Call the Midwife" about to start on PBS, and Masterpiece will be showing new "Upstairs/Downstairs" in coming weeks, and then comes series 3 of "DOWNTON"!!!!

My Humble Abode

My House! (It is less blurry in real life.)

So in the interim between my last post and this one, I bought a house! And I moved into it!  Both of which have been very exciting and new and different and challenging.

Buying a house can be really stressful/emotional because you are walking a tightrope across a chasm of personal (someone's home) and professional (a real estate transaction). I was SO lucky to have a wonderful Realtor who helped me ask the right questions, advised me on price, and negotiated the deal. I was initially disappointed to have deals not come together on two separate houses before finding the one I bought, but it was my Realtor's guidance that protected me from dropping a lot of money into properties that (based on comparable sales in the area) just weren't worth the asking price. The house I bought was more affordable than either those earlier properties and is WAY nicer.  Third time's the charm!!  And it is just what I wanted: a Cape Cod house in a really New England-y part of Connecticut.

All my stuff got moved into the house on the last day of August, despite the fact that I swore that I would never again move on August 31-September 1, but moving on those days in CT was infinitely more easy than that particular turn-over in Boston. I still have some clothes left at my parents' house, but for the most part, I am moved in and am about 80% settled. I still need to repaint some rooms and get a new carpet upstairs (it has seen better days), but all but four of the boxes are unpacked and things are making their ways into their new homes.  It was awesome to get all my stuff out of storage! There were things there that I'd forgotten that I owned and was pleasantly surprised to see them again. It was like going on a major shopping excursion, without having to pay for it all at the end!!

Of course, there are household projects that I want to accomplish in the near future, but the house is in really great condition. (The previous owners already had updated the bathrooms and kitchen, which is SO MUCH bigger than my previous kitchen that I know that I am going to become a much more enthusiastic chef going forward. If you don't count the fact that I have been eating pasta and yoghurt most nights since I moved in.)  And I am going to have fun with the yard. I have already mowed the lawn. (I hadn't mowed a lawn in 20 years! It comes back, just like riding a bicycle. My dad was so proud.) ;-)

Slowly meeting neighbors, but the ones I have met are really friendly. I am very optimistic about it. Everyone on the street waves at each other, which was what I was hoping for in a neighborhood. It is a HUGE change from my old neighborhood in Allston, and I am still adjusting to that. (And to having a house with an upstairs and downstairs instead of a flat condo.)  It is really quiet at night; all I hear are the crickets. And while I don't miss the drunken students or the loud music from a car, I am used to hearing traffic or the train so I still have to put on my white noise machine to help me fall asleep. (Then again, I don't miss waking up to the front door of the building slamming at 2am or hearing noise from other residents' apartments.) It isn't far to go to the supermarket or get gas, and, while CVS is no longer right across the street, it is within a five minute drive. (There are also two really charming old, local cemeteries which I am dying -bad pun, sorry- to visit with my camera.)

So hopefully I will be back to blogging with more regularity in the near future. (If you follow me on Twitter, you probably saw all my snarky comments about the craptastic Olympics tv coverage, and you will know that I have been watching Masterpiece Mystery quite a bit. "Doctor Who" has just started up again and "Downton Abbey" starts in the UK this weekend so I will try to avoid being spoiled for those two, at least until my curiosity gets the better of me.)  If you have any tips for a new HOUSE owner, please feel free to share them in the comments. (And if I come up with any good advice, I will share it with you!)

"Red snappers snappin', Clam shells clappin'"*

Though it seems like ages ago, last month I was down on the Cape visiting with my aunt. After a walk along the beach in Harwichport, we headed over to Rock Harbor in Orleans, grabbed some "chowdah" (Rhode Island style) at Captain Cass', and took a walk along the harbor. It was a beautiful summer day! (The chowder was good, but it had NOTHING on my beloved Chatham Squire!)


*lyrics from "Rock Lobster" by The B-52s

Two of my Favorite Things in One Place

Last week, my friend Craig brought his solar-powered sound installation, Sun Boxes, to the Walnut Hill Park Rose Garden, which is one of my favorite places in my home town.

I had missed seeing the Sun Boxes last year when they were at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum outside of Boston, but I had the opportunity to see them earlier this year with Sister K in Brookfield, CT.  We loved them (Sister K said it was better than Tanglewood) and were really excited that Craig was able to bring them to New Britain.


It was a beautiful day, and, in the evening, there was a free yoga class. It was really peaceful and calming after a long day at work. Everyone had a great time.

The Sun Boxes are currently traveling through the state parks of the Green Mountain State (this coming weekend they are at Camp Plymouth State Park in Ludlow), and if you have a chance to go hear this piece, I highly recommend it.

It is difficult to explain what Sun-Boxes are; it is better to listen for yourself! (Personally, I like to listen to the Sun Boxes recordings that I have when I am having difficulty trying to sleep. They are so restful.)

Deuce

Today's Wimbledon men's final is very exciting to Britons (and Anglophiles alike) because this is the first time since 1938 a Brit is in the final. (Fred Perry was the last one to win in 1936.)

And the first time that I have ever rooted AGAINST Roger Federer in a men's tennis final.

Reminds me of this fun rom-com/sappy sports movie...

 If Andy Murray doesn't end up winning today, I will have to give Paul Bettany a shot. (SPOILER: Yes, there is a happy ending to the film. Hopefully there will be a happy ending to today's match!)

Fred Perry has a shirt named after him; I wonder what Murray would get. A kilt?  ;-)  Back to the nail biting (Federer is ahead in the second set as I type.)

Happy Independence Day!

In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of AMERICA. WHEN, in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another; and to assume, among the Powers Of The Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the Causes which impel them to the Separation. We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their CREATOR with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

(It does go against my Anglophile nature to support the American revolution, but my fired-up New Englander nature agrees that Georgie 3 and the Parliament deserved it.)

Crushing

It's not really a secret that I have been celebrity crushing on Tom Hiddleston of late. Seriously, what's not to like: he plays a great good guy and an even better bad guy. (I was recently asked who my favorite Avenger was; I answered "Loki".) Plus, he clearly is smart (Cambridge educated), has the greatest smile in show biz, and I am totally a sucker for curls. (I should fess up though that the first time I saw him in something, I mistook him for JJ Feild, and then the second time I saw him in something, I referred to him as "Not JJ Feild". By the third time I saw him in something, I'd gotten it straight.)

However something funny happened with regards to my whole crushing experience the other day. I saw this photo of Mr. Hiddleston on the BBCAmerica blog where they are having a contest to select the Anglo fan favorite guy for 2012. (Those things are totally cruel to us Anglophiles. How can you make some of those choices!?! Remember how PBS did something similar last year when readers had to vote for either Mr. Darcy or Mr. Rochester? Killed me!! I know it is going to end up being Tom Hiddleston vs. Benedict Cumberbatch in the end, and that showdown going to be a much nastier race than the one those two had in War Horse.)

Now this is a very nice photo of Mr. Hiddleston, and he looks really fancy with his hair slicked back and his tuxedo, but he reminded me of someone completely unexpected... 

Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein!!!  You see it, right? I am not making this up. (It's kind of the hair, but there is something else there too.) I hope that no one thinks this is meant to be insulting: Mr. Wilder was a good looking man, and he is probably one of the funniest people on the planet. (He also is a really great watercolor painter, but that was a story from another time.)

Just something a bit random I felt the need to share with people on the internet, because that is what you do with random fandom things in 2012.