Song for Saturday

One of our dance parties 

In honor of my friend getting engaged... I wanted to share one of my favorite "hopeful romantic" song.

Song: May Waltz

By: Brooke Fraser 

The video is a little sappy, but I like the fact it has the lyrics.

6 degrees of separation in period dramas

If you have been reading this blog long enough you know I have an obsession for Jane Austen, Dan Stevens, and other period dramas so I often play "6 degrees of separation" with these obsessions so here you go...

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Colin Firth acted with Julia Sawalha in Pride and Prejudice.Julia Sawalha was Lydia Bennet who liked to make to trouble and she grew up to be Dorcas Lane in Lark Rise to Candleford, who loves to meddled causing trouble. 

Brendan Coyle and Claudie Blakley
in Lark Rise to Candleford.

In the show Lark Rise to Candleford Julia Sawalha acted with Brendan Coyle.Before Brendan Coyle was the stubborn but wise Robert Timmins he played the stubborn but wise Nicholas Higgins in North and South with Richard Armitage. 

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After playing Robert Timmins, Brendan Coyle went on to play Mr. Bates in Downton Abbey with Dan Stevens. 

Brendan Coyle as both Mr. Bates and Robert Timmins 

Before Dan Stevens played the lovable Matthew Crawley he played the lovable Edward Ferrars in a version of Sense and Sensibility with Hattie Morahan.

 

Fan made video of Edward and Elinor

Hattie Morahan also made a guest appearance on Lark Rise to Candleford. 

 Lark Rise to Candleford also stars Claudie Blakley who played Charlotte Lucas in Pride and Prejudice (2005) with Matthew MacFayden. 

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Lark Rise also features Victoria Hamilton, who was also featured in Mansfield Park starring Jonny Lee Miller as Edward Bertram. Jonny Lee Miller also plays Mr. Knightley in Emma. 

Victoria Hamilton is on the right 

Jonny Lee Miller and Romola Garai in Emma proposal scene 

Romola Garai stars in a lot of period dramas including Daniel Deronda, which stars Hugh Bonneville who is also featured in lots in of period dramas. She also worked with Reese Witherspoon in Vanity Fair. 

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Reese Witherspoon has starred in numerous films, but sticking with the period drama theme... she starred in The Importance of Being Earnest with Colin Firth. 

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Woo lots of connections... and I know this  post has gotten long but I think there two good side notes.

1) Going back to North and South it features Anna Maxwell Martin, who also is in Becoming Jane

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and we all know who stars in Becoming Jane

Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy
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2) Going back to Lark Rise which also stars Ruby Bentall 

who is also in The Paradise currently featured on PBS Masterpiece

Hope you enjoy all this wonderful period dramaness

P.S. I have wanted to do this post for awhile... so I am glad to finally post it. 

Another month another update

Highly recommend this chapter book
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Hello my loyal readers,

You have to be loyal if you are reading this blog still. I feel I have no words, when ever I want to write my mind gets overwhelmed with how much work I have to do, how many papers I have to write and how many books I have to read. So actually I have a lot of words.

I am surprised it is November, I can't believe that people are listening to Christmas music and  must admit that as I made my Christmas travel plans I too wanted to watch Christmas movies. However, for most of my life my family has not watched Christmas movies till after Thanksgiving. So I would feel just wrong watching a Christmas movie until then. So I'm awaiting that time.

But in the mean time... here is what is going on my life. My semester is winding down (as I only have a month left). Winding down makes it sound as if it is relaxing... I wish I have 3 more projects due in my Children's Lit Class. I know Children's Lit is not in my degree of archiving. But after last semester (where I wanted to drop out of school) I decided to try something completely new and fortunately my advisor was okay with it. We started with reading picture books, then easy reader, and now we are in chapter books. I am always impressed with my classmates, they truly have a passion for this. People might be shocked by this but I wasn't always a big reader, at least not when I was a kid, I only remember reading a book called Third Grade Detectives, and Matilda. I did not really like reading until 6th or 7th grade and I read  Ella Enchanted and something inside me clicked. Anyway I feel I am spending a lot of time doing catch up....

with my Harvard ID

My other class is my internship class, where I get to work at Harvard Art Museum Archives. Everyone thinks it is cool I get Harvard next to my name (which it is), however I liked the job of being a reference person more so. I really like interacting with people and doing research, so I feel reference will be a good spot for me. Sadly the museum is closed as it is under renovations, so I am getting more interactions with emails than in person people. However, I'm loving doing research and touching documents that are close to a 100 years old. One thing I am surprised about is though I am working in an art museum archives, so little of my research actually is about art, it is mostly about the history of the museum.  I am sad to say with the number of hours I have to complete I will only be at this internship till Thanksgiving.

An aerial shot of the Fogg museum
The brick part was built in 1927
The glass is to add more more natural light
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my stack of books on my desk

Other than my classes... I am happy to say my semester is busy but it is going well. I am not feeling too overwhelmed or feeling the anxiety that I felt semester. I am also happy to say I turned in my thesis proposal, I haven't heard back from them if it was approved or not, but just doing my thesis proposal feels quite accomplished. Last semester I was so burnt out from taking 2 history classes (yeah not a good idea) that writing my thesis proposal was a big struggle, and then I had a little break down where I thought of dropping out of school... I was talked off that ledge. Through some encouragement I went ahead and pursued my ideas, found sources, and I felt more confident writing my thesis proposal.  I hope to write on working women at the turn of the twentieth century and how they used fashion to liberate themselves (before they had the vote). It is interesting I spend some time reading books about clothes then I spend other time reading books about working women. I will also be using letters and diaries.

The look below is an example of women wearing the shirtwaist style (comparative to a modern day blouse) and a dark skirt, very popular for working women. Though this look might look restrictive... it was actually more freeing than past styles. The shirtwaist was worn by all spheres of society, it was the working women who really used this style to liberate themselves and potentially move up in the world. 

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Okay loyal readers, I feel this post is long enough and while it has been fun to get some writing some in, I have to begin my day. 

Hopefully will post before next month.

Fall Confession

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Hello readers,

I have a confession to make in the past I have been a "negative nelly" about autumn because autumn means winter is coming, but this year I have been enjoying it. The street I live on has lots of trees and they are all changing colors and it is great to be walking and having leaves fall down around you. Last night I was kind of having a "ho-hum" day and as I was walking a bit of breeze hit and leaves fell down. I said "Thank you Lord." It was just a little moment of calm and happiness.

Us waiting for the bus at the airport...
we were so happy to see each other

Also this last weekend my sister and niece came to visit and watching her enjoying the fall--crunching on the leaves, drinking hot chocolate, and every thing else was just made my heart so happy. (Plus just being with my niece makes me happy).

Walking through the Gardens

Visiting Mrs. Mallard
"Make Way for Ducklings"

Enjoying the sun... playing on the Greenway

I had a great stay-cation and I love showing off this city that I love so much.

Also I think right now God is teaching me to live in the present and enjoy it, not just to keep thinking about the future. I am going to enjoy this fall (even with the knowledge that winter is coming) and be thankful for the present.

This will be hard because I know I spend a lot of time thinking of the future, I have a weird nostalgia about the future thinking things will be better or that things will make sense. But I have to remember God is preparing and molding me now for what He has for me. So NOW my focus should be to learn what He wants from me in the present and not be so focused on what is beyond my control.

Hope you guys have a great fall!

All three of us enjoying the sun.