Head & Heart - A Young Girls Holy Secrets

2006-08-20T13:41:00.000-07:00

A Book Survey from my great friend Lady Jane:

1. One book that changed your life:
Lord of the Rings, I still to this day haven't found a book that creates such excitement each time I open it.
My own novels - when their finished - will be a life changing acheivement in just writing them.

2. One book that you've read more than once:
Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix It's the best one in the series (so far that is) All of the good guys together once more, introduction of some truly delightfully vile characters in Professor Umbridge and Bellatrix Lestrange (my favorite villain ever), Fred and Georges superb exit from thier "school careers" and just an all around tale of such loyal friendship in the midst of the worst life can throw at a person.

3. One book you'd want on a desert island:
Probably Victorian Painting by Lionel Lambourne or some kind of major (19th century SANS IMPRESSIONISM) art book. I must have my art to function.

4. One book that made you laugh:
Bored of the Rings by the Harvard Lampoon
Bad Cat by (I have no idea) passes time beautifully while waiting at a Harry Potter book release party

5. One book that made you cry:
Prince of Dreams: The tale of Tristan and Essylte - Something about star-crossed love that is just so beautiful.
Any of my Romanov books
Lord of the Rings
*sigh* and yes, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix made me cry, I admit it

6. One book you wish you had written:
Ladyhawke even though I haven't read it, I've seen the movie and there is NOTHING more beautiful, I think, than a separated love reunited, that kind of plot gives me chills anytime. Without a doubt my all time favorite style of plot and fuel for one of my own novels in progress.

7. One book you wish had never been written:
Uuugh, the horrible novels I've read that are in first person, I rarely get past the first few chapters. I think it takes an immensly talented author to pull off a story in first person but I haven't come across one yet. Their sooo boring and with first person, it strips away all the imagination of reading the novel. It seems to me a lazy way of skipping around other characters and making dialogue easy.
ANYTHING on Modernist art! Unless Modernism is being criticized as the talentless, meaningless, waste of canvas that it is. (should I tell you how I really feel? hehe)

8. One book you're currently reading:
The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn

9. One book you've been meaning to read:
The rest of Pride and Prejudice
Ladyhawke if I can ever get my hands on it
Thirteen Years at the Russian Court by Pierre Gilliard

You can view Lady Jane's two blogs at:
http://aladysdiversions.blogspot.com
and
http://aladysruminations.blogspot.com

2006-06-22T06:45:00.000-07:00

~Weekly Taste Of Culture~
Subject: Literature
Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix
J.K. Rowling

So I had intended to post a classic poem such as The Lady Of Shallott or perhaps some Shakespeare, but upon watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire last night and in anticipation for the next, and greatest Potter movie of them all I've decided to post a great quote from The Order of the Phoenix:

The story of Fred and George's flight to freedom was retold so often over the next few days that Harry could tell it would soon become the stuff of Hogwarts legend. Within a week, even those who had been eyewitnesses were half-convinced that they had seen the twins dive-bomb Umbridge on their brooms. In the immediate aftermath of their departure there was a great wave of talk about copying them, so that Harry frequently heard students saying things like, "Honestly, some days I just feel like jumping on my broom and leaving this place," or else, "One more lesson like that and I might just do a Weasley..."....Indeed, a week after Fred and George's departure Harry witnessed Professor McGonagall walking right past Peeves, who was determinedly loosening a crystal chandelier, and could have sworn he heard her tell the poltergeist out of the cornor of her mouth, "It unscrews the other way."

Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix opens in theaters July 13, 2007....not quickly enough for my taste.

Next Week's Taste of Culture: A treasure from Ancient Ireland

2006-06-20T13:06:00.000-07:00

TRIBUTE TO A GRAND DUCHESS

The most famous face of any Romanov, Anastasia has become the story in which legends are made; however, so few know who she really was aside from inaccurate movies, cartoons, and worst of all the imposters who posed as her after the Russian revolution.
Anastasia Nikolaevna was born June 18, 1901, the fourth daughter of the last Tsar of Russia, Nicolas II and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. As succession laws in Russia existed, only a male could inherit the throne and after the birth of three other girls, Anastasia's birth was not as celebrated as modern day customs would expect; that is not to say, however, that she was unloved.
Of her four siblings, Anastasia without a doubt had the most character. She was notorious, and remains so today, for her sense of humor. Her character is displayed perfectly in the letters she wrote to her father:
Random Qutoes from a letter Anastasia wrote to her father

Tell Bob when you see him that I shall be punching him yet, I am itching to.
I sat digging my nose with my left hand. Olga [her older sister] wanted to give me a slap but I escaped from her swinish hand....Tatiana is as stupid as ever

Her practical jokes among the family oftentimes bordered to cruelty which lead some to see her as a mean tempered child. In one incident she had wrapped a rock inside a snowball and hurled it her older sister, Tatiana, knocking her out; this incident, as her Aunt noted, was one of the rare moments that Anastasia actually cried.
In the book Fate of the Romanovs Greg King and Penny Wilson state

She was the rebel of the family, her small, boyish frame well suited her wild pursuits. She climbed trees, then refused to come down; terrorized her tutors with practical jokes; and made frequent, often barbed comments at the expense of those around her. Once, when discussing portraits of her children with a visiting artist, the empress declared, 'It is Anastasia who will give you trouble.'

Upon the breakout of the Russian Revolution, Anastasia and her family were held under house arrest and eventually murdered by their Bolshevik captors.
Where the other equally charismatic members of her family, the names Olga, Tatiana, and Maria, her sisters, have tragically faded throughout history; while Anastasia has become infamously immortalized, not through who she was but through the imposters who in their shameful attempts for fame, glory, and wealth, insulted a grieving family and the memory of a murdered seventeen year old girl by presenting outrageous far-fetched claims of escape from a very real and brutal murder and slandering her identity by claiming it as their own.

Anna Anderson and Anastasia Nikolaevna, two women who never met one another, yet in the course of history their names will be forever intertwined. In the photographs one sees of Anna Anderson, the fraudulence is evident in her deceptive eyes and one can sense the fanatical relentlessness of her claim.

In the eyes of the real Anastasia, dignity and truth are present. Frozen in an erased era the viewer sees the image of a young girl who doesn't flaunt or exploit the existence of her high birth but rather revels in the experience of life; a life that will be tragically cut too short. She is oblivious to the fame she will one day have and the viewer is left imagining the jokes she would have made at the expense of the imposters who immortalized her name.

2006-06-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

Children Reading and Having an Imagination?!!?!! BLASPHEMY!
At www.mugglenet.com, a mother is appealing a rejection to have all six Harry Potter books removed from a school library. When it comes to the Harry Potter books, I know some mothers shudder at the thought of their children having imaginations and reading as compared to more constructive activities such as video games or sitting in front of the tv all day, but the worst part about this is that this woman hasn't even read the books! How hypocritical to pass judgement on a book if one hasn't even read it! As a lover of reading and as one who enjoys the Harry Potter books I think this is absolutely ridiculous and borderline hilarious.
Here is the actual article from Mugglenet.com

Mother appeals decision to keep HP in schools
A few months ago, mother-of-four Laura Mallory filed several complaints against all six Harry Potter books, saying they included "evil themes, witchcraft, demonic activity, murder, evil blood sacrifice, spells and teaching children all of this." Even though she hasn't read any of the books because they're "too long," she noted that it would be difficult for children to distinguish between the fantastical events in the books and real life, and attempted to have them removed from school libraries in Gwinnett County. Although this is true to an extent, the dark side of the books are portrayed in a bad light; no one thinks Voldemort's the hero. More importantly, Harry Potter teaches kids (and adults alike) how good can overcome evil.

On April 20th, scores of educators, parents and students showed their support for the books in a public hearing, and both the local school and system media committees concurred. In fact, the support for the books remaining in school libraries was so strong that hearing officer Su Ellen Bray offered ten reasons why they shouldn't be removed and on May 11th, the Gwinnett Board of Education voted that the novels should stay.

Mallory appealed this decision on Friday, and the legal services division of the Georgia Department of Education will now determine the next step in this debate.

2006-06-13T22:38:00.000-07:00

~Weekly Taste of Culture~
Subject: Art
Frederick Leighton
English Painter
1830-1896

Presented are: Flaming June, Solitude, and Greek Girls Picking Up Pebbles By the Sea

To see more of Frederick Leighton's works http://www.artrenewal.org/asp/database/art.asp?aid=14

Next Weeks Taste of Culture: Literature

2006-06-09T07:41:00.001-07:00

Frankabrina welcome thier bundle of joy!
Frank and Sabrina welcomed thier firstborn son last week.....who the heck are Frank and Sabrina you may ask? Precisley. All this hype about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie having thier baby is splattered all over the news relentlessly. In my opinion if we don't know them personally why should we care about it 24/7?

2006-06-09T05:46:00.000-07:00

TRIBUTE TO A GRAND DUCHESS
On June 10, 1897, Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna, the second daughter of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna was born. The most reserved and dutiful of the five children of the Russian Tsar, Tatiana had an undeniable regal bearing and elegance; it is said by many that in her presence there was no question that she was the daughter of an emperor. She and formed a very close relationship with her mother, the Empress, and also formed a close bond with her older sister Olga. Olga and Tatiana were from the beginning inseparable and were affectionately known as "The Big Pair" coinciding with their two younger sisters Maria and Anastasia "The Little Pair." Tatiana's dutiful nature and strong leadership earned her the nickname of "The Governess" among her family. One of the standing testimonies to the great things Tatiana could have done was her unyeilding aid to her country during WWI. Tatiana, her mother, her sister Olga, as well as other family members and friends of the family all served as nurses in the war. In what stands as unmistakable sign of patriotism, a princess of her country tossed aside her sheltered and glamourous lifestyle to assist directly in aiding the wounded men who were fighting and dying for her father and her country. In a letter to a friend Tatiana noted:

"...Every day we go to the Palace's Hospital to do dressings but not in the main building. In the garden there is a small house for the officers. Every day they bring there 6 lower ranks and Olga and I dress their wounds... When we finish doing it we go to the officers' where Mother and Anya dress them in turn..."

As well as being exposed the gruesome realities of war by serving as a nurse, she also threw herself into committee work to aid Russia's refugee's during the war; family friend and lady in waiting to her mother, Sophie Buxhoeveden comments:
The "Refugee Committee " which had been formed by the Grand Duchess Tatiana became almost a department of State......The young Grand Duchess took the greatest interest in it and, young though she was, had quantities of papers sent her every day, which she went over with her mother's help, making notes and writing her decisions. The housing, feeding and general welfare of refugees all over Russia were in the hands of the Committee, the budget of which rose rapidly to several millions of roubles. The money was at first raised by private subscriptions, but the department was eventually financed by the Government. This Committee continued to work after the Revolution of 1917 under the Kerensky Government.
These two extraordinary efforts were accomplished before she even reached the age of twenty.
In 1917, with her father's abdication of the throne of Russia, Tatiana's as well as her entire families' lives took a dramatic turn and would lead to their untimely fate. Under the Provinsional Government they were held under house arrest in relative comfort at their home, The Alexander Palace, before leaving forever their former lifestyle for the more quaint Governers House at Tobolsk. The fall of the Provinsional Government in 1917 lead way to a precursor of terror that was to follow in the form of the Bolshevik government that replaced it. The rise of the Bolshevik's sealed forever the tragic fate of the family.
In the small town of Ekaterinburg in the early morning of July 18, 1918, Tatiana and her family were decieved by their capitors and lead to a small celler under the impression that they were to be photographed. In this celler, Tatiana, her entire family as well as four of thier loyal servants were heartlessly murdered. Tatiana was only twenty-one years old.

Here are some random comments of Tatiana's (comments credited to Alexanderpalace.com):

"... Yesterday I was in town. I had a sitting in the Winter Palace which was extremely dull. Maria [her sister] was there with me. As she was present at the sitting for the first time, Neidhardt decided to address to her with words of greeting. Everybody stood up and bowed to her. She was so terrified that nearly got down under the table."

"... After dressings in the hospital we usually sit in the balcony or in the garden and watch the wounded soldiers carried out. Yesterday evening when we were sitting there one of the wounded played the violin to us. He played wonderfully. To tell the truth I was never very fond of the violin, but I liked his playing very much. He is from the 10-th Intermanlandsky Regiment. Very handsome. Then Olga played the piano and three people sang Russian songs very well. It was fun!"

Comments made by others about Tatiana (comments credited to Livadia.org):

"Their rank meant very little to them, and they felt ill at ease when they were treated ceremoniously. Once at a committee I had to address "my President," the Grand Duchess Tatiana, officially, and naturally began, 'May it please Your Imperial Highness.' She looked at me with astonishment, and when I sat down again beside her 1 was rewarded by a violent kick under the table and a whispered 'Are you crazy to speak to me like that ?' In common with all the Household, I called the Emperor's daughters, in the Russian fashion, by their names and patronymic, and she thought it quite absurdly formal for me to have given her her full title! I had to appeal to the Empress to persuade her that on official occasions it was really necessary." Sophie Buxhoeveden

"Tatiana was rather reserved, essentially well balanced, and had a will of her own, though she was less frank and spontaneous than her elder sister. She was not so gifted, either, but this inferiority was compensated by more perseverance and balance. She was pretty, though she had not quite Olga Nikolaievna's charm....Through her good looks and her art of self-assertion she put her sister Olga in the shade in public, as the latter, thoughtless about herself, seemed to take a back seat. Yet the two sisters were passionately devoted to each other. There was only eighteen months between them, and that in itself was a bond of union." Tutor Pierre Gilliard

"With her, as with her mother, shyness and reserve were accounted as pride, but, once you knew her and had gained her affection, this reserve disappeared, and the real Tatiana became apparent. She was a poetical creature, always yearning for the ideal, and dreaming of great friendships which might be hers." Family friend Lili Dehn