Today I Am...{7}

Wow! I just realized that the last Today I Am... post I did was back on July 19th before I went to the Jane Austen Festival! So I thought it was time to tell ya'll what I've been up to lately. 

{writing}
Blog posts and e-mails and really that's all. I haven't done any creative writing in a while or even much journal writing (no Mr. Tilney, not all young ladies "keep a journal"). My sister and I have been throwing around several ideas about writing a story together but so far no actual writing has taken place.   

{reading}
Well...I started re-reading Pride and Prejudice. It's been a while since I read it and as I found myself being so down on Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth I felt it was high time to remind myself of what they are really like. It's going to be a book that I read off and on instead of reading all the way through right away.
I've picked up a few different books in the past couple weeks but I haven't stuck with anything yet. But I have been re-listening to some of my Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot audiobooks, my favorite Miss Marple book is The Tuesday Club Murders - after a dinner party the guests tell mystery stories and that unassuming elderly lady Miss Marple solves each mystery.

Also, I've been thinking about filming a vlog video that takes a tour of the two bookcases in my room. Would you be interested in watching something like that?

{watching}
I just got Netflix again and I've been really into old movies lately so I've enjoyed things like Audrey Hepburn movies. Can you believe I hadn't seen Breakfast At Tiffany's all the way through before? I liked it alright, there were of course a few things that were a bit strange but it was okay. I like the song Moon River and the other music in the film by Henry Mancini. I also really really enjoyed watching How To Steal A Million starring Audrey Hepburn and a very young Peter O'Toole, they were so clever and hilariously sweet and cute!
I've also been watching lots of clips from Horrible Histories and some full episodes. They are so much fun and usually very accurate and instructive. Here are a few of my favorites:


King Charles I's Wedding


George I Doesn't Speak English


Stupid Deaths: Richard the Lionheart


Stuart Wedding

{listening}
To Horrible Histories songs with my sister, so much fun. We really like these two songs, they are funny but also at a nice tempo and style.


I'm a Knight Song - Horrible Histories


William Shakespeare Song - Horrible Histories

I was also cooking the other night and a song popped into my head, I don't know what it means because it's in Italian and I couldn't even remember the name of it, I just knew I had to listen to it right away. The song is Mattinata and I listened to Russell Watson's version which is in the video below.

Russell Watson - Mattinata

{learning}

Well, re-watching Lorna Doone got me thinking on how little I knew of the Kings and Queens in between Elizabeth I and George III (that's a lot of years and included the English Civil War that I also didn't know too much about!) so I've been reading up on the monarchs and history in between.
Also Horrible Histories has a sketch and a song about Mary Seacole who was a contemporary of Florence Nightengale nursing wounded men on the front lines during the Crimean War (which I've been reading up on too). I was thinking about telling what I learned about her here but it got quite long so I'm going to write a separate post that will be out in a few days.

 

{looking}

At Pinterest! Yep, I'm a bit obsessed now and have to check my Pinterest at least ten times a day (well, give or take probably a lot)! It's been really fun and it's extra interesting that you can comment on other people's pins.

{feeling}

Tired. Late nights and lots of cleaning going on today and it will continue until next week. I'm also feeling very excited for the what I'm anticipating below!

{anticipating}

This week my family and I are cleaning and de-cluttering furiously in preperation for some missionary friends of our's from Maine to come stay with us next week! We are so excited to have them come and visit and to take them to the Creation Museum! They'll be here most of next week so I'll try posting a bit but there might not be too much time for that.

{wishing}

I could figure out what I'm allergic to here in Kentucky. Since coming here I've actually had more trouble with my allergies than I did in Maine which is odd because this climate is supposed to be better for allergies. So it must be a certain plant that's growing nearby that keeps making me sneeze so terribly. Medicine helps and using the AC on hot days helps a lot but we like to open windows on nice cool days and then I get sneezing. *sigh*

{loving}
The new way my room is arranged! I rearranged my room so our guests will be comfortable in it when they come to stay and I'm really liking how it's all set up now. I'm also really enjoying the new nightstand table in my room, it's so handy to put my alarm clock and glasses on at night. Now I've just got to buy a pretty lamp for it.

What have you been up to today?

Are you a fan of Audrey Hepburn movies or Horrible Histories?

Would you be interested in watching a tour of my bookcases vlog? 

More Period Drama Funnies

A few days ago when I posted those other Expectation/Reality posters I somehow forgot to include these two. 

Photos from: Emma 2009

Photos from: Northanger Abbey 1987 & 2007

Although most of Northanger Abbey is a lot of Catherine Morland's Expectation & Reality moments! :)

Pintrest and Period Drama Funnies

For a while now I've been interested in Pinterest but with one thing and another I haven't joined...until now! 

I'm on Pinterest! It's so fun collecting photos of my favorite period dramas and especially funny posters. It's only been a few days and surprisingly there's already 10 people following me (among them lovely blogging friends like Miss Elizabeth Bennet, Miss Woodhouse and Alexandra) and it's fun following other people too! 

So you're invited to follow me on my Pinterest Miss Laurie of OFC and if you follow me then I'll follow you! :)

On my Pinterest you will find many of my period drama funnies such as these I just made (in the style of the Contrasting Cousins poster):

Photos from: Northanger Abbey 2007 & Emma 1996

Photos from: Pride & Prejudice 1995, North & South 2004

Photos from: Emma 2009

Photos from: Emma 1996

Photos from: David Suchet as Poirot, Little Dorrit 2009

And because I love Les Miz (and don't like Nick Jonas):

Photos from: 10th and 25th Les Miz Anniversary Concerts

Are you on Pinterest?

Which of these posters do you like best? 

Do you have any ideas for similar style Expectation/Reality posters?

Very Truly Your's,

Redheads in Jane Austen?

I have always greatly admired redheads, especially those with a mass of curls and tons of freckles.

"Red hair occurs naturally on approximately 1–2% of the human population. It occurs more frequently (2–6%) in people of northern or western European ancestry, and less frequently in other populations." - Red hair page on Wikipedia

Since red hair pops up more frequently in Europeans, especially those in Great Britain and Ireland, there's a good possibility that some of Jane Austen's characters might have had red hair.

Filmmakers seem to think so too, take a look at how many red, auburn and ginger haired actors (or wigs) turn up in Jane Austen film adaptations!

Sense and Sensibility

 

In Sense & Sensibility 1995 all three Dashwood sisters have reddish tints to their hair. Emma Thompson who plays Elinor perhaps has the most red in her hair. And even though I love this film Jane Austen does say that Marianne has dark hair and Elinor has slightly lighter hair. 

In Sense & Sensibility 2008 John Dashwood and his young son Harry are both cast as redheads. Both are definitely wigs but they were still made to have red hair!

Pride and Prejudice

In Pride & Prejudice 2005 Mr. Bingley and his sister Caroline are both played by red haired actors. Kelly Reilly who plays Caroline Bingley is a true redhead but I'm not sure about Simon Woods because he's often a bit more blond in other roles (such as Cranford's Dr. Harrison). 

Although the 1940's adaptation of Pride and Prejudice was filmed in black and white the powerful actress cast as Elizabeth Bennet was Greer Garson, one of the most famous red heads of the silver screen. 

I'll admit it's rather odd to have a Lizzy with red hair but she still has those fine dark eyes and the red hair sort of adds a bit more fiery-ness and spunk to her personality . 

In the 2008 show Lost In Austen actress Lindsay Duncan was cast as a Lady Catherine with red hair!

Emma

 

In Emma 1996 Harriet Smith is cast as a rather dim-witted but sweet red head. Toni Collette is definitely not my idea of Harriet and in the book she's described as a pretty blond.

 

In Emma 1997 (ITV/A&E) the role of Mrs. Weston is taken on my auburn haired Samantha Bond. She does bring a great deal of elegance to the character which is quite charming! 

Mansfield Park

 

In my favorite Mansfield Park 1983 Samantha Bond appears as Maria Bertram with her auburn locks swept up ever so becomingly into the charming Regency styles. Actress Liz Crowther who plays Julia Bertram is also fairly ginger haired although in other TV films I've seen her in her hair was a bit lighter like a strawberry blond. 

Northanger Abbey

In the hilariously awful 1986 adaptation of Northanger Abbey actor Jonathan Coy portrays a red haired John Thorpe. I thought it was a very odd choice and somehow makes him that much more weird!

Perusasion

In my favorite Jane Austen adaptation Persuasion 1995 actor Corin Redgrave portrays an amazing version of Sir Walter Elliot. He's from the popular acting Redgrave family and has the same bright red hair that his sisters Lynne and Vanessa have. It's a little ironice to me that Sir Walter should have red hair because in the book he doesn't like "sandy" hair which isn't too far removed from ginger in some ways. :)

Can you think of any other redheads from Jane Austen adaptations?

Are there any Jane Austen characters (including the ones I mentioned) that you generally think of as having red hair?

Very Truly Your's, 

Period Drama Dresses Screencap Game

It's been a while since I've done a screencap game so the game this week is about dresses in period dramas. 

To Play: Look at the 15 dresses below and leave a comment guessing which period drama the dress is from and who is wearing the dress. You may guess as many times as you'd like and I'll respond with your score. Answers will be posted next Saturday.

Scoring: Two points for each correctly guessed period drama and character. Highest possible score is 60 points.

Period Drama Dresses:

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15

Happy Guessing!

Very Truly Your's,