Team Bates!! 4Evah!!

A friend who knows that I am a huge Downton Abbey fan sent me this picture:

I NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED this tee shirt! (I wish I knew where she found this image/who is selling this shirt.)

"Vivir con miedo es como vivir en medias." ("A life lived in fear is a life half lived.")*

So there has been a bit of radio silence on this blog for the last few weeks. That's because my life has been a bit more hectic than normal... because I am selling my condo and leaving the Boston area. This means leaving my job of 11.5 years and my home of the last 12.5 years to move on to the great unknown...of Connecticut. (Yes, I am moving closer to my family, but I am also moving to a smaller community where I can afford a house with a little yard and the potential for growing a fabulous garden. Oh my God, how I would LOVE to have a garden. And a front porch. I'm thinking of a little Cape or 1920s bungalow. Pintrest has been a deadly time suck full of decorating ideas.)

I have been in a serious (and overly comfortable) rut for the last few years, and, as Je Glide recently told me, sometimes you need your life to be flipped on its head in order for things to fall into place. (Yoga has made her very Zen. I am SO taking up yoga.) So a week from tomorrow is my last day at work; a week from that, I sell my condo and move my stuff into storage.  Then I head out on a vacation/break before solidifying my next step. It is a long overdue/much needed break before starting out fresh. (Charleston, here I come!!)

I am sad about leaving Boston, especially about leaving my friends behind. (Who are probably going to forget me/have loads of fun without me... ::sobsob::)  However, I am trying to be more focused on being excited about starting something new. (It isn't like my friends aren't a phone call/text message/email away or that Boston isn't that far a drive away - and the road goes both ways!) I am trying to think of this as my life expanding rather than part of life ending. As new and scary and unknown as the future is, I am moving towards what I know is the right decision for me. (I hope!)


*from Strictly Ballroom

It's a Piece of Cake

When submitting his RSVP to our upcoming meeting, one of the attendees informed me that he has: "no special dietary needs, however I do like coconut cake."

I wrote back to acknowledge his email and said:

It is funny you mention that you like coconut cake; that is my all-time favorite dessert. :-)

He just wrote me back:

You inspired me to make one. I just finished. I don't know how you do it but I put coconut in the batter as well as on the icing. We have to have coffee and coconut cake sometime.

I don't have the heart to tell him that the coconut cake I love is made by Pepperidge Farm for the freezer section of the supermarket.

It's SOOOOO GOOOD!!!!!!

"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will."*

Because I was disappointed that Jane Eyre was nominated for only one Academy Award (For costumes. WHAT THE HECK?!? It totally should have received a nod for the score AND for cinematography. It is gutsy to shoot by candlelight.) AND because I went to download a digital copy of the film on my iPad and it is no longer available for digital download, I am reposting my review of Jane Eyre with some updates since I have now watched it some umpth-teen times.

Right, **SPOILERS** ahead, although as the book was written 165 years ago, if you don't know this story by now, well...you probably aren't reading this blog anyhow. And a disclaimer: I have to be honest. I have a thing for "Mr. Rochester", despite the lying and the manipulation... What's wrong with me? I like to think of him as being a victim of circumstances and totally reformed by the end....Yeah.

On Sunday, "Miss Post" and I saw Cary Fukunaga's film of Jane Eyre. Before we went, I rewatched a couple of old versions of Jane Eyre (the Samantha Morton/Ciaran Hinds one and the Toby Stephens/Ruth Wilson one) for comparison's sake. The Zefferelli version with Charlotte Gainsbourg and William Hurt is permanently imprinted in my mind, so I didn't need to rewatch that one. (Since this review was first written, I have now watched both the Timothy Dalton/Zelah Clarke version (very faithful to the book, but too long) and the Orson Welles/Joan Fontaine version (only a passing resemblance to the novel and Joan Fontaine isn't strong enough to be Jane.))

I liked the new version a lot, and it has a lot of good things going for it: great cast, gorgeous costumes (I want Jane's paisley shawl from the final scene), amazing scenery, and a beautiful score by Dario Marianelli, who did the score to Pride and Prejudice (2005). The film was very moody, and I felt it did a great job capturing the bleakness and solitude of living on the moors of Yorkshire. I thought that the cast also did a great job of conveying their loneliness, their longing, and their inner passion in the face of a repressive and (at times ambiguously) moral society.

Mia Wasikowska (who was brilliant in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland) strikes the perfect balance between Jane's shy, proper reserve and her inner passion. Sometimes adult Jane gets played a little too wishy-washy for my taste (Morton), but Wasikowska does a great job with this. Michael Fassbender's Rochester is sheer intensity, with a fierceness and cruelty to his wit and a real moody "changefullness" (I read that Fassbender considers the character "biopolar".) When he is first introduced, he is definitely unattractive in his unlikeablity, but he starts to soften as the movie unfolds. The two leads have a good chemistry together (I had read some reviews stating otherwise). I think that any "lack of chemistry" is actually a pacing problem with the theatrical release (see below) and which I hope will be remedied with a director's cut. In particular, in the scene where Rochester gets Jane to help him with Mason after the attack, I felt like they were no longer two individuals, but a team. (Yay, Team Rochester!) Judi Dench was a very likeable Mrs. Fairfax, and Jamie Bell was very serious as St. John Rivers (I was concerned about the casting of both of those parts. Bell was perhaps a little too serious.)

The Rivers' subplot of the story didn't get truncated the way it has been in other versions, which was really important to me because I feel like it is an important step in Jane's development, certainly as much as the incident in the red room and the misery at Lowood School and Helen's death. Finding her cousins (and the money) helps make her strong enough to ultimately return to Thornfield. The girls were really likeable, and it was good for Jane to have women peers again.

My biggest complaint: by keeping to a 120 minute running time (with credits), things got cut, and because of that, some parts of the story moved far too fast. I find it interesting that they didn't add in even 10 minutes of incidents in the development of Jane and Rochester's relationship, which was shortchanged. A key part of the novel is Rochester's baiting of Jane, or, as Miss Post and I put it, "I love you so much; I am going to tell you that I am marrying someone else. Are you jealous? Are you miserable? APRIL FOOL!!" Oh look, and here's a gypsy fortune teller!

I feel that 2011's Jane Eyre is to 2005's Pride & Prejudice as 2006's "Jane Eyre" is to 1995's "Pride & Prejudice". A beautiful piece to be sure, but an incomplete realization of the novel. The core audience for this movie (calling all new "Downton Abbey" fans) will sit and watch a six hour miniseries on PBS or BBC video; they'd sit for 10 more minutes in a movie theater. (Even with the person who was sitting next to me doing her best impression of Catherine Morland reading The Mysteries of Udolpho. Lady, it wasn't that scary. Seriously. Although the part with the bird gets me EVERY TIME!) I definitely will be adding this one to my collection, and I also think that a second viewing on the big screen might be in order. While I didn't end up seeing the film again in the theater, I did buy the BluRay and now have watched it enough times to say that this is now my second favorite adaptation of Jane Eyre after the Ruth Wilson/Toby Stephens version. The love story is key, but the darker tone of this film really is the selling point for me. (Weeeellll...that and the fact that Michael Fassbender really is very nice to look at, which certainly doesn't hurt.)

Would love to hear anyone else's take on the film...

*Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

A Inspiration Before the Weekend

I used to be involved in a community chorus, and a number of years ago we sang this standard at one at one of our spring concerts. I love the sentiment. And I love that it was written by Charlie Chaplin (the music anyway) - a man who knew a lot about making other people smile.

Smile
Smile though your heart is aching  
Smile even though it's breaking.
When there are clouds in the sky you'll get by.
If you smile through your pain and sorrow  
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through 
For you.
Light up your face with gladness,
Hide every trace of sadness.  
Although a tear may be ever so near  
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying.
You'll find that life is still worthwhile-
If you just smile.

You need to hear the immortal Nat King Cole sing it to get the full effect: 

Happy birthday, Mrs. Wharton!

The Mount, Edith Wharton's home in Lenox, MA

On this day, 150 years ago, in New York City, Edith Newbold Jones was born. When she was 23 years old, she was married and traded the last name "Jones" for "Wharton". Edith Wharton would go on to become one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century (if not for all time) and was the first woman to win the Pulitzer prize for literature.

My first introduction to Edith Wharton was back in college. I read The Age of Innocence after seeing the film with Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day-Lewis and then went on to read The House of Mirth for a lit class my sophomore year. Edith Wharton is a great writer, but a teller of sad stories (although not as sad as Thomas Hardy). Let me rephrase that: she is the teller of stories where her characters have to settle for less, which is very real. Her words paint a very interesting picture of the upper classes during the Gilded Age, especially the tightrope that a woman would be forced to walk in "society".

I am currently reading Edith Wharton's The Custom of the Country. I started it over the summer, but I put it down because the main character, one Undine Spragg, makes me want to revoke her card in the sisterhood of women (and smack her upside her vacuous head.) That being said, it is an exceptionally well written book, and when I do sit down to read it, I virtually inhale its lines. I read in an article in the New York Times today that The Custom of the Country was one of Julian Fellowes inspirations for "Downton Abbey"!

A couple of years ago, our book club read her novella Summer and held our meeting at The Mount, Edith Wharton's house in Lenox, MA. It is a beautiful house and has exquisite gardens. The historical society that carefully rescued the house after years of general use/abuse (first by a school, then by a theater company) has done a great job of restoring Edith Wharton's show place of balanced design and decorative taste (she wrote a books on design that is still in print.) If you are out in Lenox over the summer, say for Tanglewood, I recommend going to take a peek at the house and having some refreshment on the terrace!

Seven Things Making Me Smile

So it has been quite a bit of time since the last Seven Things Making Me Smile installment. I feel like this is a very good way to start off the new year!

1. Jean over at Delightful Repast has an out of this world recipe for fruit scones over at her blog; I highly recommend it. I make no bones about not being the most enthusiastic cook/baker on the planet, but I have made the recipe three times in the last month! (Here's a photo of the ones I made this morning.) These scones are easy and delicious! (The standout ingredient is the fresh orange zest.) "Mmm, delicious, thank you!"©

2. After waiting for what seemed like forever, the second series of "Downton Abbey" is back on Masterpiece Classic ! Hooray!! It's so exciting to catch up with the Crawleys after a whole year of missing them. After watching the first episodes, I am really hoping that things will work out for my favorite couple from downstairs, Anna and Mr. Bates, and the evil Mrs. Bates (who can give O'Brien and Thomas a run for the money in the being nasty department) ends up being divorced/defeated/sent back to the gates of hell. The Dowager Countess continues to have the most fabulous one liners. Of course, I am still "shipping" Mary/Matthew and Sybil/Branson, while pouty Lady Edith can go suck an egg. Not forgetting all the great people downstairs: Mr. Carson, Mrs. Hughes, William, Daisy, and Mrs. Patmore. Love this show; it is definitely "appointment television"!

3. I heard recently that over the last 18 months, 18 new restaurants have opened in Kendall Square. My new favorite after work spot is Area Four. I highly recommend their take on both the Sazerac and the Dark & Stormy cocktails, the bacon & sea salt pretzel nuggets, the mac & cheese, and the meatball pizza. The ambiance is very chil-laxed and the waitstaff is young and friendly. Since going the first time back at the end of November, I have been there at least a half dozen times and keep bringing new people with me.

4. I suffer from dry, weak, and peeling finger nails; it's been a problem for me all my life. (The worst is when they rip right at the quick.) I have tried so many different kinds of strengtheners, polishes, and regimes to remedy this, but nothing has really worked all that well. I was at the beauty supply shop in Coolidge Corner, and the ladies there recommended Duri "Rejuvacote". I started using it about two weeks ago, and it is working brilliantly. I don't think that it is making my nails grow any faster, but they are certainly stronger than they have been.

5. The Banana Republic Cashmere Wrap. Best scarf ever!! If you don't have one already, you will have to wait until next fall to buy one because they are all sold out, but these puppies are SOOO worth the $98 investment (to be fair: I have purchased most of mine using BR Rewards and taking advantage of sales). I have them in a bunch of different colors (black, oatmeal, pink, gray, red) and wear one just about every day. They can both dress up and dress down an outfit and are great for work (especially for my office which gets freezing in the afternoon once the sun goes down).

6. I used to drink Oregon Chai all of the time, and I was recently reminded of how much I loved it. It actually is the perfect thing to have right before bedtime. I don't know if it is the warm milk or the ritual, but it has helped a bit with my insomnia issues, and anything that can do that is most welcome.

7. My local PBS station WGBH has a second channel (WGBX), and now on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights they are now exclusively running British programs. Mondays are "Ashes to Ashes", "Hustle", and "MI-5" ("Spooks"); Tuesdays are Masterpiece reruns ("Downton Abbey") while Wednesdays are "Larkrise to Candleford", "Doc Martin", and "Waking the Dead". I bet you are surprised I actually have any time to do anything OTHER than watch tv, right? (And it's great because they show the shows without edits and without commercials.)

So these are some of the things that are brightening my days of late. I am sure there will be more to add as the year progresses!



Please note: these are all my own opinions; I have not been compensated in any way for recommending any products, etc. etc. All images are from the sites referred to and linked.