Summer Film Fest 2021

 I seem to be working through Jane Austen in my local Tiny Book Group, currently Sense and Sensibility is next in line when I can fit it in.

So I thought it's time for a Film Fest. Last year it was Alec Guinness comedies. This year I'm watching movie adaptations and plot adjacent productions of Jane Austen.

Here, in the rest of the library haul, are the first two. Sense and Sensibility is the brilliant Emma Thompson who not only wrote the screenplay, getting one of her multiple Oscars for it, but acted one of the best renditions ever of Elinor. This will be a rewatch.

And Clueless is a first watch, based on Emma, spare me from the misery of rewatching that Paltrow rendition of Emma, despite the supporting cast. Are there better versions you can recommend?

I'm  familiar with the Ehle, and whatsisname Firth  Pride and Prejudice. I'll watch that again, despite the miscast Jane, because the other actors are so good. There have been several versions of it. Also there's a Northanger Abbey, and probably a Mansfield park.

If you have recommendations, please make them. This is a summer long project, so I'm up for more than one version of them all.

Meanwhile downstairs among the books I'm reading for the first time, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. 

For various reasons, history, birth order, economics, a son who could not be read to, different story, I have a sparse acquaintance with picture books and have finally paid attention to them for a couple of years now, to catch up. But I'm still far behind. 

Since Eric Carle, the writer and illustrator of VHC just died, in his nineties, these guys are tough, it's time to pay my respects and read it.

Then Chris's recommended Giraffe book ( I did try the bee one, Chris, but the whole concept was a personal stressor, so I had to abandon it, but not without trying!) 

And Sylvia Ashton Warner, library doesn't have much, so this is what's up. A writer friend recommended a novel, but her essays will have to stand in.

And Tim Kreider, new to me but what I've seen I thought I'd follow up on.

First I need to finish Austen Years, a wonderful examination of Austen and her impact at different times on Rachel Cohen, the writer's, life. 

I may have to return A Woman of no Importance for now, because there's a line waiting, and I'll reborrow later. It's a slow read because I keep having to rest from the endless pain and setbacks she endured. The writing's great though.

Meanwhile in the world of plants, here's my prayer plant, leaves wide open to collect sun in the morning. 

As it gets dusk,the leaves stand up vertically, like praying hands, I suppose, in their native rain forest, to conserve moisture overnight.

And The Great Scapes are booming along, soon ready to pick. Just a couple of days. 

To be clear, I'm growing scapes here, not head garlic. This is like getting more leaves from the base of the lettuce head.

Some of the lavender is now across the street waiting for my cook/artist/contractor friend to see about lavender ice cream. We'll see.

All sorts of cultivation happening today.

Reados, prayer plant, cornbread

Just to show, despite my brief stay in the  slough of despond yesterday, I do have a prayer.  Prayer plant, that is, seen here doing very nicely and soon to be potted up.  And the primula, blazing away.  Three lovely Roma tomatoes ripening on the windowsill.

And since I am completely out of bread-adjacent foods, I had to make cornbread, so as to have a little something around for tea.  And for Handsome Son, visiting tomorrow, which will completely upset my notion of what day it is, since he usually visits on Sunday when his working hours permit.

 I used pastry flour wholewheat, instead of ap or hard wholewheat with the cornmeal, and the result is very tender, and really nice.  It's a buttery recipe, and as always, baking in cast iron is a good idea. Usually when I use wholewheat flour, which I do a lot, my cakes are sturdy, pick up a piece and eat type of thing. These are more genteel, as in use a fork, for pity's sake, what would your mother say if she saw you?

The reados in the title are times when you misread a word and go on for a bit before realizing you've got the wrong end of the stick.  Coined by my friend Mare long ago, and cherished by me as a great version of typo.  There are also speakos when you say something wrong by accident, meaning one word, finding yourself saying another, oops.

Today's reado was a common one for me: reading photography as pornography.  I don't know what this says about me.  And there's friend R. who read a blogpost a while back about some announcement librarians had made, and made a series of angry responses, brandishing the wrong end of the stick, throughout, and jumping on her hobbyhorse at the same time.  A couple of us wondered why she was so upset, then it turned out she'd read it as libertarians, a very different kettle of fish. Or horse of a different color.  Or other end of the stick, your choice.

One of the best is one I heard on radio ages ago, Joan Rivers the comedian, subbing for a regular talkshow host, and reading a PSA about heating.  This was in New York City, where tenants, of whom there are many, can call a special number to report if their heating goes out in winter.  It's known as an outage.  So she gets the script, totally misreads, gets all actressy and says, if this happens to you, call 311 and express your OUTRAGE!  Funny when a comedian is funny without realizing it.  She was pretty funny on purpose, so this was a bonus.

Doing better today, and thank you all for your helpful comments yesterday, also the friends who emailed encouraging words, too.  I'm getting there.

Santa ammo dump? and prayer plant

Today's advent calendar day opens to what might be an ammo dump of snowballs ready to pelt the other elves and gnomes.  Or maybe a lighted Christmas tree. Either way, the white rabbit, probably really a  snowshoe hare, for the season, keeps her back firmly turned

And yesterday my next door neighbor Amitha, who's been receiving plants from me, retaliated, I mean reciprocated, with a nice cutting of prayer plant and a bit of pothos, which are now in water on the kitchen windowsill, until they get more roots and I get more mojo to plant them.

She also told me they're off to India for a month, in the next few days.  They have old parents, and I think they've been worried about them.

Since school is virtual, as is her husband's job, they can move like this without major interruption, except for the little matter of getting halfway round the planet,  On a plane, a place I wouldn't care to be for many hours right now.  I'll miss them, the kids especially.

And I got this weekend's royal viewing, it's not a weekend without royal scandal, including the hats, which are often the greatest scandal of all.

Here's what we always suspected, and now it does seem to be true. Not surprising since they were a security risk, what with his having access to all the secret papers as King, leaving them lying around unlocked, with dodgy people galore in the house, well, mansion, really, and being great pals with Hitler and other chums.

So this will be good. 

Meanwhile back at the fence: after all the alerts, warnings, threats about trees and that, they now tell us that, after all, they still don't know when they can start.  I guess the supply chain for fences has been yanked around by covid-19. Unless the fencing people have retooled to make vaccine, who knows. No, that was definitely a joke, in case anyone wonders.

What I wonder is if people who can't take the flu shot will be able to safely take the covid vaccine. Or if once again we'll be begging everyone around us who can take it, to do so for all our sakes. It's a while before I need to know that, since I doubt if the general population is going to see supplies before next summer earliest.

So this morning, walk done, more of a chore than a pleasure at the moment, what with the low winter energy, library done, therapy lamp session done, check, check, check, blogpost about to go out, that part is fun, I'm about to have a bowl of vichyssoise for lunch.

Then bake cornbread muffins this afternoon in anticipation of a visit from Handsome Son.