I have started a new blog - it's a celebration blog! Check it out:
Ro Ro Riot
While looking for adorable yet comfortable summer footwear I found a UK-based site called Beyond Skin and almost died over the adorableness of some of the shoes on the site. And these ones are even vegan friendly, if that's what you're looking for. My favorites are the sandals called "Rose" for obvious reasons that go beyond their name, "Marina," the navy blue version of "Bob," and the print version of "Sammy." I don't usually love shoes with print patterns, but when I saw these my first thought was, "I want," and my second thought was that I'd better check to see if I had started drooling.
Unfortunately, these shoes are WAY out of our budget right now. As much as I like to think that I don't need a lot of money to be happy, I have to say that it is hard to find both interesting and quality clothing that doesn't require a certain surplus in the bank. Especially when it comes to shoes when you live in the city. I've bought really cute shoes from places that are sort of cheap ($11-30/pair) and those have worn out so fast it's almost depressing. Alas.
I usually don't go in for the cutesy crafty things. (Crafty? Yes. Cutesy? No.) But in looking up something on Etsy.com I ran across these decorative dolls that are hand felted. They portray the story of the fictional little girl named Isabelle Guesnon and friends, and I find them completely adorable. I'm not saying I'd want them decorating my house. (Maybe a little girl's room some day when I have little girls.) But I get a big kick out of staring at them on the internet and going "Ooooooh."
Lately I've been watching old movies that I used to watch as a child. Recently I discovered Errol Flynn's The Adventures of Robin Hood. It proved as entertaining as I used to think it was, though not quite as exciting and intense.
Some of my favorite aspects of the film:
- Robin saying, "Now, there's a lusty infant!" on seeing Little John for the first time.
- The costumes were out of this world. Including very fake gem stones lining the borders of Robin's "nobleman" outfit at the beginning of the show (thus letting the audience know he has some social standing), and Marian's metallic, reptile-skin rainbow gowns.
- In the montage depicting Robin's saving the common people from the evils of Prince John's men, a Bad Man's menacing laughter gets cut off mid-guffaw by a well-aimed arrow, and the man falls sideways off his horse.
- In the same sequence, when another Bad Man is trying to have his way with a young woman, not only does the man get killed by an arrow shot through a window, the arrow also manages to snuff out a candle on its way!
- And something that I really did appreciate and found unexpected in this 1938 film: When Robin is captured after the arrowing tournament and none of his men can figure out what to do about it, Maid Marian is the one that comes up with the plan for rescuing him. Go Marian!
I've been trying to think of some of the other old films I used to watch, because I am seriously craving them. Probably because I'm missing family and friends, so am feeling nostalgic in general. Suggestions? Do tell!
Last night Jordan and I were listening to some of Stephen Fry's podcasts. I like him. He has some very interesting things to say, he's smart, and he seems like a really good person. But as I listened to him I began thinking of other celebrities whose opinions people tend to listen to. Bono, Bruce Springstein, Sean Penn, Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert and others I can't think of at just this moment. Most of these people are intelligent, I think. They may or may not have good things to say. They may or may not be good people. Some of these people I really appreciate and others of them have attitudes I cannot stand, but I guess that doesn't necessarily make them bad people. It just makes them obnoxious.
The thing that sometimes irritates me is when they say things that are obviously directed at someone else/some other group or are strongly in opposition to other points of view. It irritates me because when they make these statements there is usually not someone else there to answer back. It makes me feel unsettled. I desire a more complete dialogue. The feeling is especially acute when there is a crowd of listeners shouting or clapping their affirmation. This feels like mob mentality. I want it to be tempered by another point of view.
Of course, I guess all media is just one huge dialogue, but I like things being a little more compact. I'd like Sean Penn to get up and state his piece. Then I'd like someone else to get up and state theirs. In the same space. To the same audience. Then after that, I'd like another person to get up and speak their mind. At least 3. Wouldn't life be truly better if we always did things this way? Or maybe it would just be too confusing because people wouldn't know who to follow because they'd always have more than one choice.
I also don't think it's terribly fair that some celebrities who may not have any credentials beyond their fame, fortune, and some most likely unrelated talent get to have their voices heard. Because the voices that get heard do end up influencing society even if they don't have good credentials. But I think this is one of the imbalances in life that simply exists, and there is not much to do about it. So my complaint is merely something to be stated and then left behind as we go on to talk about other things that perhaps can be changed.
"People with virture must speak out; People who speak are not all virtuous."
Confucius (I like that guy.)