2013 Wrap-Up!

It's the last day of the year!  Can you even believe it?  I can't.  It took me until about July to feel like 2013 wasn't a brand-new baby year, and I am still having trouble realizing that it's nearly over and we're onto 2014!  But, as December 31st is once again upon us, it's time to reflect on the past year.

First, books!  Again, the "books" list is not a comprehensive list of everything I've read this year.  You may notice that it appears that I read hardly anything at all once I started grad school (again), but of course, that's not true.  It's just that in grad school we read lots of articles, chapters, and parts of books, rather than books cover to cover.  And to count for my "Books, 2013" list, I needed to have read the book (or play) cover to cover.  Articles, no matter how good or influential, don't count for this list. So, Books 2013!

Persuasion, Jane Austen; The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, Catherynne M. Valente; The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, Catherynne M. Valente; Sorcery and Cecilia, or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer; The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson; Bringing Up Bébé, Pamela Druckerman; Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel; The Pirates! In an Adventure with Communists, Gideon Defoe; Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman; A Walk with Jane Austen, Lori Smith; The Pirates! In an Adventure with Napoleon, Gideon Defoe; The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, Gideon Defoe; Peter Pan, J.M Barrie; not merely because of the unknown that was stalking toward them, Jenny Boully; Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder; The Pirates! In an Adventure with Ahab, Gideon Defoe; A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway; Farmer Boy, Laura Ingalls Wilder; The Postman Always Rings Twice, James M. Cain; Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Fannie Flagg; Cold Tangerines, Shauna Niequist; Colonial Virginia Cookery, Jane Carson; On the Banks of Plum Creek, Laura Ingalls Wilder; By the Shores of Silver Lake, Laura Ingalls Wilder; Divergent, Veronica Roth; Lady Susan, Jane Austen; The Long Winter, Laura Ingalls Wilder; Little Town on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder; The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith; The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera; These Happy Golden Years, Laura Ingalls Wilder; The First Four Years, Laura Ingalls Wilder; Deathless, Catherynne M. Valente; The Pirates! In an Adventure with Romantics, Gideon Defoe; Brida, Paulo Coelho; The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat, Edward Kelsey Moore; Insurgent, Veronica Roth; The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction, William Doyle; Poems 1792, Anna Letitia Barbauld; Romanticism and Revolution, eds. Jon Mee and David Fallon; The Railway Children, E. Nesbit; Lyrical Ballads, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge; Lyrical Tales, Mary Robinson; The Tempest, William Shakespeare; Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder; Meet Kit, Valerie Tripp; A Cat on Stage Left, Lydia Adamson

I really like keeping a "books" list, because when I look back on what I've read I can remember what the year felt like.  I remember rereading my Valente "Fairyland" books early last year, and checking out Sorcery and Cecilia from the public library in Williamsburg.  I remember listening to Bringing Up Bébé as I drove up to Midlothian to meet Zan for movies early last year, when we were long-distance.  I remember reading my Pirates! books at the beach with my friends, and in Vegas.  And, despite thinking this would be the year of Jane Austen-- so promising at the beginning, and with the subsequent addiction to the webseries The Lizzie Bennett Diaries-- it turned into the year of Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I read every single Little House book this year, thanks in large part to inspiration from my Foodways job.  I remember late summer and crying so hard over The Supremes at Earl's All-You- Can-Eat, and starting Insurgent as I tried to pack for moving up to Arlington and Georgetown.  There were early days of reading The French Revolution outside while the weather was still nice, and after October midterms from hell, relaxing on the law center bus with The Railway Children as I headed to Cabaret rehearsal.  Then Thanksgiving as I formatted The Tempest script, and Foodways and Christmas again-- which always brings out The Little House in the Big Woods.  Plus, this year... I got a Kit Kittredge American Girl doll for Christmas!!!  She's so beautiful, with blue eyes and freckles and so of course, I just had to read the Meet Kit book that came with her.  Call me crazy, but I'm definitely back into the American Girl fold, at least for a bit.  Slightly obsessed.  I predict that this coming year might be the year of the American Girl books... in between reading for my classes.

Next, Movies 2013!  This is the first year I've done movies, and I've really enjoyed it.  I think recording the films I watch has inspired me to see more films than I would have otherwise.  There are always a million reasons not to watch a movie, even if I really want to, but feeling a kind of accountability on this blog motivated me to see things such as The Artist, Fargo, All About Eve, The African Queen, and Mud.  It's even gotten me into the theaters a few times this year!  Granted, a few of those times were meet-in-the-middle, long-distance dates with Zan in Midlothian, but it was still really fun to see the films and to add them to this list.  And, as with the books, this list reminds me of times and places, like visiting Kay in Philadelphia, or watching The Incredibles on Captiva with Zan and my mom in our little beach villa.

Les Miserables (2012), The Cabin in the Woods (2012), Gone with the Wind (1939), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012), Silver Linings Playbook (2012), Fargo (1996), The Artist (2011), The Princess Bride (1987), Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013), Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), Wreck-It Ralph (2012), Chocolat (2000), Sense and Sensibility (1995), The Music Man (2003), Pride and Prejudice (1995), St. Ives (1998), How to Train Your Dragon (2010), Jurassic Park (1993), The Kids Are Alright (2011), All About Eve (1950), Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013), Life of Pi (2012), Princes et Princesses (2000), Monsters University (2013), Cars (2006), Tales of the Night (2011), 1776 (1972), Despicable Me (2010), Much Ado About Nothing (2012), Lilo and Stitch (2002), Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979), Mary Poppins (1964), The Incredibles (2004), The African Queen (1951), Mud (2012), Bridget Jones' Diary (2001), Practical Magic (1998), Halloweentown (1998), The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949); Hocus Pocus (1993), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), Thor (2011), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (2001), Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (2004), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), White Christmas (1954), Brave (2012), Frozen (2013), Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999), The Santa Clause (1994), Love Actually (2003), A Muppet's Christmas: Letters to Santa (2008), The Year Without A Santa Claus (1974), Elf (2003), The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), American Hustle (2013)

I think a Movies widget was a successful experiment, and I look forward to Movies 2014!  I think I'll start with either the new Hobbit movie, or else Saving Mr. Banks.  

To be honest, I'm ending this year on a bit of a down note.  The past few days I've felt, as noted in my last post, a little blue.  I don't feel like I'm where I should be with my life-- still in school (for my fourth year of grad school, and I'm not in a PhD program), apartment-less, career-less (see, "still in school"), unsure of the future.  I know I'm working towards an M.A. that will be useful to me, but I can't help but feel like I'm treading water.  Working and working and getting absolutely no where at all.  I guess most of us feel this way in our 20s.  But it doesn't help to look around at friends building successful careers, marriages, families, and lives.  Or to look at Jennifer Lawrence, whom I adore, but who is younger than me and acting with Christian Bale-- a.k.a Laurie, from Little Women.  I mean, he was grown-up when I was a kid.  How am I old enough to play his wife, and yet, I'm not doing just that?  I'm treading water.  She has an Academy Award.  Zan always says I shouldn't compare myself to other people (granted, Jennifer Lawrence is not who I am usually comparing to; it's usually Kate Middleton.  JUST KIDDING!  It's really usually all of the people in my Facebook feed buying houses and posting about engagements and landing dream jobs; I'm so happy for them, but it makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong with my own life).  He has a point, but it's hard not to compare, especially when I feel so totally unsure all of the time.  It's not that I'm gunning for a ring, or that I know what city I want to settle in.  I don't even want kids-- ever!-- but I can't help feeling like I'm doing something wrong.  I feel so... behind.  And really, I feel like all I want right now is to get in the car and drive.  I want to go to the beach, to write and paint.  I want to cut across Tennessee and Texas.  I want to go to the other coast.  

But, 2013 has been a very good year, overall.  And 2014 is on its way in just a few short hours.  Here's to a new year, new adventures, new books, new movies.  Here's to old friends and new experiences.  Here's to letting go of stress and worry.  Here's to optimism.  Here's to opportunity.  Thanks for everything 2013!  Welcome, 2014!

A Little Blue

After Christmas always has a letting down period.  We build up, and build up, and build up.  Packages come in the mail everyday, and everyone scurries to hide presents in nooks, and more wrapped gifts appear under the tree.  We visit the post-office, full of joy as we send off loving bundles into the world.  We watch movies we only watch once a year, read books that only come out on Christmas eve.  We build gingerbread houses and bake cookies.  We look at all the lights. 

Then Christmas is gone and it's still winter.

This year my aunt came to visit all the way from Texas; we had a wonderful three days with her!  I was working most of the time, but we still had fun.  We ate at wonderful restaurants.  She came to visit me in the colonial kitchens.  Zan came down, too, to meet her.  But today they all left.

Today I also finished my job with Foodways, and the real world seems to be pressing down again harder than ever.  A glossary and actor packet to complete for The Tempest.  A dentist appointment tomorrow.  Returning my 18th-century clothing.  Planning for the next week as I prepare for New Years, then return to Georgetown and classes and dramaturging and stress.  Trying for another semester to find an affordable apartment.  Nothing I wanted to do over break seems to have been accomplished.  I didn't read the books I thought I would.  I got no cross-stitching done.  I haven't even spent as much time with the cats as I'd hoped.  And now it's about three quarters over.  

So, I'm a little blue. 

The Best Day of the Year

My refrain for most of the year, as Zan will attest, is "Christmas is coming!"  But Christmas isn't my favorite day of the year.  Today, Christmas Eve, is my favorite day of the year.  On Christmas Eve, all of the anticipation of Christmas is at its best.  On Christmas Eve we bake cookies for Santa.  On Christmas Eve all of the presents are under the tree, beautiful, full of promise, still waiting to be opened.  This Christmas Eve, we're watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (cartoon version, obviously), Elf, and probably The Year Without a Santa Claus.  Later tonight, we'll have ham and potatoes and we'll eat some of our freshly baked cookies.  We will listen as Linus tells us the story of the birth of Jesus in "A Charlie Brown Christmas."  Then, we'll pop popcorn, make hot chocolate, and, as we always do, watch The Muppet Christmas Carol.

(The sweetest present under the tree)

 (Baking for Santa!)

(My ballet bear ornament; I've had her since I was four)

Afterwards, I'll go upstairs and I'll read.  On Christmas Eve I bring out my favorite Christmas children's books to read, like Merry Christmas, Strega Nona!, The Polar Express, and Santa Calls.  There's something really special about reading these stories year after year, in the stillness of Christmas Eve.  The windows shine bright with candlelight as we await the Christ child.  The world holds its breath, anticipating Christmas morn.  There's something genuinely magical about this day.

It's the best day of the year. 

SnapChat Alert-- From the Elf!

The elf got crafty.

A few days ago, I received a SnapChat from the elf-- from Zan's phone!  I don't remember what it said, but it shook me up a little.  I wasn't expecting to receive a digital message from the elf.  I thought I had escaped left him behind when I returned home for the holidays.

Moreover, I couldn't believe the elf was using Zan's phone!  That meant that he was close to Zan, and Zan didn't even know!!!  Fearing for Zan's safety, I texted him: "The elf just sent me a SnapChat from your phone."  He replied simply, "Oh no!!!"

Thinking that was the end of the matter, I went about my day.  A few hours later, I received another SnapChat from Zan's phone.  But not from Zan: it was again from the elf.  A terrifying message.  A bone-chilling SnapChat.  I managed to screenshot this one, to prove to the world that the elf is all-knowing.  And also out to get me.

So beware!  Beware!  Physical distance will not stop the elf.  

There is no escaping from his watchful eye.

Or his creepy Kewpie-doll face.

(See the first Elf post here.
See this year's Return of the Elf here.

See how ever-watchful the Elf is here.)

Queen's Cake and Roasting Chestnuts On An Open Fire

On my second day back to work, I decided to make a Queen's Cake.  In full disclosure, I'm going through a bit of an American Girl phase at the moment.  Last week, my mom and I went through my Felicity collection, straightened it out, figured out what we owned, put it in the proper boxes, etc.  In her tea set, Felicity has a Queen's Cake.  So, it'd been on my mind.

(Mmm Queen's Cake!)

A Queen's Cake is your basic pound cake, except you add in cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, and currants.  My currants were soaked in a liberal amount of brandy, which also found its way into the cake itself.  For those who want to know: first, take a pound of butter.  Using your hands, work the butter until it's very soft and creamy.  This takes longer in a cold, cold kitchen than it will in your climate-controlled kitchen at home.  Once the butter has been creamed, add in a pound of sugar and work it into the butter.  Work and work until you can barely feel the grains of sugar in the butter anymore.  This also takes a while, but your hands get a nice butter-sugar scrub, so that's good.  Then, separate your eggs into two bowls-- one for yolks, one for whites.  Whip up your yolks good, then fold them into the butter-sugar mixture.  Next, whip up your whites really well, until they are starting to become like a solid froth.  Like bubbles in a bath tub.  The whites are your leavening in this cake, so the more whipped they become, the lighter the cake.  This will be a dense cake no matter what, so be sure to really, really whip those whites.  Fold them into the mixture.  Then add in your flour, get it to a batter, then add in your spices and currants.  Once you've worked it altogether, put it into a buttered/greased small cake pan (or bundt pan) and bake... at cake-heat until done.  If you recall from this summer, I really can't give you a better estimate than that.  Maybe 350 degrees for 45 minutes?  It will also depend on your cake pan; just keep an eye on it is all.  Then, enjoy!

I personally like a slice of Queen's Cake for breakfast.

Anyway, it was cold outside that day, so Barbara also decided that we should roast some chestnuts.  My goodness!  "Chestnuts roast[ed] on a open fire" are amazing!!!  They are kind of chewy and sweet and totally wonderful.  Years ago we had some very bad roasted chestnuts that totally put me off of them, but these!  These were amazing!  Plus, it's not often you can say "Oh, yes, I went to work and roasted chestnuts on an open fire."  What a perfect way to get into the Christmas spirit!

(Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)

Hog to Ham: 'Little House' Style

On Saturday, I helped butcher seven hogs.

So take warning, there be graphic photos ahead, mateys.  If you're squeamish, or don't want to see  pictures of a butchering, I suggest you stop here.  There are dismembered pig bodies and blood in these photos.

Yes, you read that right.  On Saturday, I returned to Foodways for the holiday season.  Once more, I put on my shift, layered up my petticoats, straightened my cap, and headed to the kitchens.  This time, I also wore some thermals under my eighteenth-century getup, and luckily the costume center gave me a pair of mitts and a winter weight kerchief.

And my first day back?  Our annual "Hog to Ham" program.  If you've ever read the butchering chapter in Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Little House in the Big Woods, you'll have a pretty clear sense of how my day went. We began the morning at eight, with the delivery of the hogs.  They were slaughtered and cleaned off-site at a professional slaughterhouse (bristles scraped; heart, liver, bladder, etc. removed; thank goodness); we just got the bodies.



We divided into rotating teams: I headed Team 4.  We had four stations: "Hog to Ham," Palace Kitchen, Larding and Salting, and Wrapping.  Team 4 started in the kitchen, which was quite a nice way to start the day-- and my first day back.  Since Butchering Day is a special day, we fixed a big lunch for everyone.  We roasted beef on the spit, made fried apples and fried potatoes, and grilled some (freshly butchered) porkchops on the grid-iron.  When the first pig head came off, I was very glad to be stirring the apples.

At the start of Hog 2, we went to wrapping, but we didn't have a lot of cuts to wrap at first (since we wrap as they bring us the cuts of meat from the butchering), so we helped carry all of the food to the break-room and took a minute to eat some of our goods-- including pre-prepared Chelsea Buns, Pears Stewed Portuguese, and bourbon balls!  Then for Hog 3 we switched to Larding and Salting.  I was in the Larding Room, rendering lard.  Basically, you cut up bits of fat from the freshly butchered pig, then put it in a pot over a not-too-hot fire, and strain the lard through cheesecloths into a big jar.  Once the pieces of lard have boiled down enough, they become cracklings, which are very tasty.







Then Hog 4.  We were at the "Hog to Ham" station.  We got the pig we dubbed Il Monstro. He weighed 210 dressed down, 250 when alive.  He had a nose ring.  I cut the head meat to the bone (basically, I cut off the head) and then another member of my team gave the head a twist to make it come off.  I'm very glad I wasn't the one to give the head a twist.  Then I scraped out the fat from the hog's side with my hands.  It was very, very difficult.  I felt a little shaky once all that was done.  Then I removed the kidney buried in the fat, and took the fat to the larding station.  Then we cut the pig down the spine both ways, to separate it into two sides.  We chopped the spine meat into three sections-- top chine, middle chine, and bottom chine.  I used the hatchet to chop out the bottom chine.  It wasn't easy work.  We also chopped the tail off-- another group in town wanted the tail for a program, so I didn't get to roast it like Laura, which was disappointing.




 



Then, we removed the ribs from one of the sides, then the shoulder and ham.  We repeated this with the second side.  We also cut off the trotters at the joint.  I took all four of the trotters over to the wrapping station. 



Once our pig was done, it had begun to rain.  Our next station was the kitchen.  We cleaned up what was left, and did the day's buckets.  Then off to wrapping-- and this time there was lots of work.  We wrapped, and labeled, and wrapped, and labeled for the rest of the afternoon-- the teams fell apart after the rain started, as those who were dry were told to stay dry, and those who were wet became soaked.  I did go back out for the last hog, and again cut the head to the bone (but didn't twist), and held the legs back while another woman cut down the spine of the hog.  Then back to wrapping and labeling until 3:30 or so.  Once all of the hogs were done, we adjourned to the kitchen until closing time, warming ourselves and steaming off by the cozy fire, as the rain came steadily down outside.

I wouldn't say it was something I would want to do regularly, but it was a very interesting day.  It gave me a lot to think about.  The meat is now being salted, then will be smoked.  Some of it has gone into modern freezers for use in later Foodways programs.  It will be very tasty, I assure all you omnivores out there.  Or carnivores.

And now, I'm back in Foodways!  Look out for more recipes!

Peter Rabbit is a Stupid Book

I don't really think Peter Rabbit is a stupid book.  But I really do compulsively listen to "The Book Report" from You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown when I'm running into difficulties with paper-writing.  And right now, I'm having difficulties with paper-writing.  Probably I'm just running dry.  I've written twenty-seven pages since Sunday.  I've only changed out of my flannel sleepy-time pants once.  I'm about 1,500 words from finishing the semester.  And my brain wants to shut off.

So, this song.  The best part is, the song is perfect for all stages of paper-writing.

First, I'm Charlie Brown: "If I start writing now when I'm not really rested it could upset my thinking which is no good at all, I'll get a fresh start tomorrow and it's not due to Wednesday, so I'll have all of Tuesday, I should start writing now." And "How can they expect us to write a book report of any quality in just two days?  How do they conspire to make life so miserable, and so effectively, in so many ways?"

Then I'm a mix of Schroeder and Linus, wanting to write about something fun that's only loosely connected to the topic I should write on ("It reminded me of Robin Hood!") or wanting to analyze the topic from a standpoint that I'm pretty sure my professor is not going to like so much and/or that will be very difficult to write about effectively ("I plan to discuss the sociological implications of family pressures so great as to drive an otherwise moral rabbit to commit acts of thievery which he consciously knew were against the law.").

Right now, though, I'm Lucy: "Peter Rabbit is a stupid book about a stupid rabbit who steals vegetables from other people's gardens. One-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight-nine-ten-eleven-twelve-thirteen-fourteen-fifteen-sixteen-seventeen.  Hmm. Eighty-three to go!"

Except, for the moment, put all of this in the context of the British 1790s, Lyrical Ballads, and Coleridge.

Many Things vs. Nothing

I think I have a problem; I think many of my friends and colleagues share this problem.  See if you can spot the problem in the story below.

On Wednesday, I woke up a bit late-- it was my first day after classes, after all!-- took a shower, and made tea.  We had no milk, so I MacGyver-ed a dollop of whipped cream into "milk" for my Earl Grey, and realized that I needed to hit up the grocery store.  While drinking my morning tea, I talked to my best friend online; we haven't had a chance to talk in awhile, so it was nice to catch up.  While we talked, I half-watched a couple of episodes of Phineas and Ferb, one of my favorite shows that I haven't watched in ages.  Then, I decided to make the trek to the big galleria nearby to go Christmas shopping for my niece.  I spent a little too long picking out things for my niece, then I found a few items in the store that I wanted, too, and indulged a little.  But not too very much, since this was a Christmas shopping trip for others.  After I left the shop, I put on my blinders as I walked through the rest of the mall, and was very good and didn't even look at any clothing or shoes or anything.  On my way home, I stopped at Trader Joe's for necessary foodstuffs-- like milk, butter, salad supplies.  Hooray for having food in the house again!  Then, I watched Brave, ate soup, drank more tea (now with milk in it, instead of whipped cream).  After Brave ended, I put away my clean laundry and organized my room-- it desperately needed it.  Around 7:45, I began to make revisions to my classroom sequence for my Approaches to Teaching Writing class, and a little after 8:30 I left to get a celebratory "end-of-classes" drink with two girls from Georgetown.  As all three of us gathered 'round our delectable skillet cornbread and apple fritters, I said with feeling, "I've done nothing today."  My friend replied, "Oh goodness, I know.  Me either!"

Do you see the problem? It's in the "nothing."  Shortly after saying it, I realized, that my "nothing" referred only to academic work.  I didn't write any papers or do any reading.  I spent only forty-five minutes doing anything academic at all.

But I had a lovely day.  I felt so relaxed and happy, doing many, many things.  I think it is this trick of language, this "nothing," that so often makes me feel my life is worthless.  I need to think of another word to signify that I did not write papers or read for class.  Academics are important, but they are not everything.  Taking a day off to recharge after a semester of intense classes does not mean my life consists of "nothing." Because if spending a day talking to friends, Christmas shopping for family, watching a good film, running necessary errands, and having a late dinner with people I care about is "nothing," how can I expect to have a fulfilling life?

the Great E[lf] is ever watchful

A normal day.  Just returned from Thanksgiving break.  I get out of a nice hot shower, and wrap myself in an oversized, downy robe.  Humming to myself, I walk to my room.  I begin to scan through my closet for an outfit to wear.  Then I freeze. 

I see it.  I see it.  Watching from the darkness, his evil concealed, but never sleeping.

The elf.  Hiding in a box by my bed.

My blood runs cold.

How long he has been there I know not.  I shudder thinking of the nights I might have fallen asleep with him but a foot away, waiting.  Watching.  Whispering.  Reporting my movements to Mordor the North Pole.  Were not there times I heard a scratching noise in the darkness, which I dismissed as the sounds of the city?  His gaze pierces through cloud, shadow, earth and flesh.


(See the first Elf post here.
See this year's Return of the Elf here.) 
 

Thankful for Books, Cats, and Christmas Trees

I haven't yet written about Thanksgiving day or my weekend at home yet, but it was lovely, so I don't want to forget it.  It sounds quite simple: I went home for a the long weekend.  I spent time with my beautiful cats (and my parents, of course).  We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and I took advantage of online sales to get most of my Christmas shopping done.  We ate delicious food, including two kinds of pie.  After dinner, we went for a walk down DoG Street; the air was cool and crisp and perfectly autumnal.

Over the weekend, my mom and I visited a rare bookstore, and I found quite a few goodies-- including a facsimile of the First Folio (Shakespeare)!!!  Merry Christmas to me!  I also got a lovely edition of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass from the 1940s-- hardcover and fully illustrated for just twelve dollars (!), a first edition of a book of poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay for eight dollars (!) and Princess Mary's Gift Book-- a book put together for Princess Mary during WWI (around 1918) with all proceeds going to the Queen's "Work for Women" fund (on sale for three dollars!).  It has in it a specially written Scarlet Pimpernel story by Baroness Orczy!  Oh I love bookstores full of old and interesting books!!!  Perhaps I should take this as a sign that I should get into the rare book business.  Such joy in books and bookstores!

After spending the afternoon in the bookshop, my mom and I finished decorating our Christmas tree.  We had started that morning with my dad before he returned north for work-- we hung our traditional first ornaments-- then that night, we put in Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas, popped popcorn, made hot chocolate, and finished decorating.  Decorating the tree just after Thanksgiving-- usually within a day or two-- is one of my favorite ways to usher in the Christmas season.  This year, we even put out this little Hallmark ornament set we got when I was very little called The Bearingtons of Victoria Circle.  Everything looks so festive and bright.  I just love Christmas time.

But as much as I loved the Thanksgiving food, the Christmas decorating, formatting The Tempest script for performance, and those gorgeous hours in a rare bookshop, my favorite moment of the weekend came Friday night.  All was still and quiet; a kind of drowsy, contented quietness.  I sat with my both of my kitties on my lap, the only light coming from the glow of the Christmas candles in the window, the only sounds the soft purrs and snores of Rhett and Felix.  Happiness.

Being transported and rapt in secret studies

Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, I officially donned by dramaturg hat!  I formatted and edited The Tempest for our GGSS production.  The directors sent me an HTML edition with their initial cuts.  I then went through and, cross-referencing the 2008 Norton Shakespeare edition, formatted to show shared lines, corrected spelling from the HTML edition, made additional cuts, and-- at times-- chose places to share lines differently from the choices made by the editors of the Norton Shakespeare.  I would have liked to use a facsimile First Folio, but at the time I didn't have one on hand...

I also had variable punctuation between the two versions-- and boy, does punctuation matter.  Figuring out how to punctuate was a beast, because it can make such a difference in how an actor interprets a line.  Additionally, since we have several women cast as male characters, and the directors want those characters to be women, I changed pronouns, "sirs," "fathers," "brothers," "lords," and "masters" to the feminine (while trying to maintain the meter).

Altogether, formatting and editing the script for performance took nearly ten hours, but I had so much fun working with the play that I didn't even notice the time passing.  I actually wished I had more time to work with it-- but alas, it needed to get sent to the directors for approval ASAP, and I had obligations for class to worry about over the break.  And, now that classes are over... I still have two major papers to write.  But all I want to do is research for the actor packets and compile the glossary!!!  ...I think I should take this as a sign that I need to find a way to throw myself back into researching and making early modern drama-- or making some kind of theater-- full force.

Small Milestone

I have completed my first semester of classes at Georgetown!  Stress on word classes; I haven't finished my final papers yet.  But, as of 6:00 PM tonight, I am finished with classes.  It's a strange, semi-liberating feeling.  I can't feel totally free, knowing how much I have left to write, but I have a little over a week before papers are due.  So, while I know the time will fly, and I need to buckle down and write... tonight I ordered Chinese food and watched White Christmas on Netflix.  It's the little things, you know?  I'm currently winding down the evening with some peppermint tea.

Happy December, everyone.