October 22, 2004
Are you an 'out loud' yawner? Do you yawn without covering your mouth? Do you only cover your mouth when you yawn in the presence of others or in public? Or do you just not care and yawn openly everywhere? I can understand it in the car where you are alone and under the false pretence that your car has special powers and makes you invisible to those around you ( public nose pickers know what I'm talking about) but not in line at the grocery store when someone else (me perhaps) is standing right there! It's just plain rude never mind the lack of etiquette. Cough!
October 20, 2004
"And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."
T.S. Eliot
I received a most beautiful card in the mail today and the quote above was written in it and it made me think and smile and so I thought I would share it:)
Today I want to thank some people for helping me (recently) when they probably didn't even know it, making it even better- Tracy, Rob, Kim, Ted, Heather, Joanne, my friends at Starbucks (I have satellite offices at two locations), Jo (my personal carpenter), a few loyal newspaper column readers and Six Feet Under:)
Other news-two days at 350 words (an entire page) and still going but for how long I don't know...maybe I can keep it going until the NHL strike is over...
Oct 19, 2004
Can you believe it? lolabelly merchandise is selling out.....Okay so I lied. I am still waiting for a personal order. It seems to take about two weeks for an order to Canada but it feels like it is taking forever compared to my Land's End order. Well, you know what they say, good things come to those who wait....
October 17, 2004
Proof that I am sooo addicted to Six Feet Under is that I consciously chose to miss ER on Thursday night in order to watch a few 6 on dvd. It was premeditated. I didn't even make an effort to tape it. I know that ER and 6 are not comparable shows but I have been watching ER since the beginning and really want to see it through (it's an illness that started with 90210 and Melrose). I probably should have tapped it-and the episode from the week before....
News. This just in from NYC. A new writing inspiration has come my way. Cool, savvy, brilliant and funny, Ted at http://bible.gideonse.com/realized 'out loud' that if he wrote a page a day for a year, he would complete a book. What a novel (cheesy pun I know) idea and while Ted says that this formula wouldn't work for him him, I am going to take it on as an experiment to help me complete my shorts collection. I'll keep you posted and let you all know how long I can stay on the wagon and, thanks Ted!
October 14, 2004
I loved reading Trixie Belden when I was younger, along with The Bobbsey Twins, The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Donna Parker and others. I still have my original copies (when moving out on my own at 16, I insisted on bringing all of these books with me) and for some reason, I collect these books. I hunt around at my favourite used and vintage book shops looking for these formula written, often pseudonym author books, saving them and waiting for the day when my own daughter can read them (my son read the Hardy Boys and The Bobbsey Twins at age 6).
Awhile ago a friend sent me the following which appeared in the National Post this past summer and it made me think....I think I'll go dust offmy hardcover 'Trixie Belden and Mystery in Arizona' for bedtime tonight!
Trixie Belden - a heroine for our times
Barbara Kay
National Post
I remember childhood summers for the freedom to read what I wanted for however
long I wanted.
For years, I was hooked on girls' series books: Apart from universal favourite
Nancy Drew, I was also fond of the Trixie Belden series, because horses and
stable settings were frequently featured, and horses were my great passion at
the time. Given the pre-feminist nature of life for girls then, Trixie and
Nancy should have been unambitious, unempowered and boy-crazy, but that's not
what I remember.
I found a single ancient leftover in the attic called Trixie Belden and the
Mystery of the Blinking Eye, aimed at Trixie's 1953 demographic. I reread it
analytically to see what had so appealed to my youthful imagination --
unmediated by postmodern literary theory, feminist ideology or historical
prescience as it was.
The actual "mystery" is too ludicrous for words. But the presentation of
Trixie and her circle of friends is fascinating when seen from today's vantage
point. Trixie is 14 years old, an attractive young teenager with "sandy-coloured
curls and blue eyes."
That's it as a physical description. Is she thin? Doesn't say. The cover
illustration has her in a perky (loose) middy blouse and pleated skirt with
flat ballet-type shoes. She looks healthy, but her body communicates no
sexuality. She wears no discernible makeup. Trixie is a girl, not a woman.
The plot involves a trip to New York with a few girlfriends and an assortment
of brothers and male friends. They are travelling as a group, but will stay at
the penthouse apartment of one of the group's parents. There a housekeeper
will be loosely in charge, though she is conveniently absent all day visiting
a sister in hospital. The parents are at home in Maine or abroad. In the
tradition of these formula serials, parents are always out of the picture.
Significantly, the parents are portrayed as much loved and in frequent
communication with their children by telephone (and in happy reunion at the
end).
We are told Trixie is "stuck" on a boy called Jim, but nothing physical
happens between them. (Jim helps Trixie out in a tight situation at the end,
though).
Much of the book is an informational tour of New York's most visited sites. At
the Statue of Liberty, they (and their young readers) learn the history of
Ellis Island. At the United Nations they avidly follow the guides'
explanations. These kids are eager for knowledge, excited to be in a great
city and bursting with outer-directed energy.
Of course they are all white, middle-class (some of them rich) and
heterosexual, but extreme sensitivity is shown in their interactions with
immigrants and poor people.
Trixie is the acknowledged "brain" of the group, and both boys and girls defer
to her courage, deductive powers and leadership. Nobody has "issues." No one
is depressed, bummed out or mad at the world. The boys are naturally
protective of the girls in tough situations, the girls are properly admiring
of the boys' protectiveness, but there are no shrinking violets amongst the
girls, no strutting chest-thumpers amongst the boys. They share domestic
duties, both cooking and cleanup, and all together one night whip up a
delicious meal for the tired housekeeper. Respect for each other, for and from
elders is pervasive.
Any plot suspense has to do with the "mystery," not personal conflicts. Trixie
shows both resourcefulness, and at the end, some foolhardiness that almost
gets her hurt. She apologizes to her worried friends and parents for
heedlessly transgressing the rules of prudence. The book is so anachronistic
today that it might as well have been written in 1853. And yet, at the time, I
found it as engrossing as any today's teen finds Tomb Raider.
Was I or any other of her readers "like" Trixie? No, but I liked her. I
imagined her as an ideal kind of friend. I suppose that means I did not find
her wholesomeness ironic or hilariously nerdy, or her outer-directedness a
mask covering dark family secrets and insecurities. Trixie was safe to
emulate. She was sure of her values.
In fact, she fairly exuded "moral clarity," which didn't make her a prudish
conservative, it just meant she was a typically decent human being. She was
"equal" to boys. No one was exploiting her. She was using her energy,
imagination and intelligence to learn and grow in responsibility and
intellectual awareness, not for narcissistic, exhibitionistic, premature
explorations of her sexuality.
Trixie was soooo 1950s. I wish today's 14 year olds considered her soooo 2004.
©National Post 2004
October 5, 2004
OMG! I have just discovered Six Feet Under and I am loving it! Who else knew about this absolutely original and entertaining show and didn't tell me?!?!?!? Anyways, thank God for Blockbuster where I can go and rent numerous episodes without commercials. Over the weekend I went to Montreal to visit my sister and we watched the first seven episodes from season one. Needless to say, I'm going to Blockbuster this week to rent some more and maybe I can catch up to season five which is airing now-if I get the show here. I'll have to check.
October 1, 2004
Extra, extra, read all about it! The lolabelly shop is now open for business. Check back often for new products. Be a good belly and buy something!