Celebrity[ish] boyfriend round 4

Previously I have shared some of my celebrity boyfriends in the form of a poet, a musician, and an actor. I think the time has come to unveil one of my favorite boyfriends, one that I might even dare to put at the tiptopiest point on my list, and he is a fictional character.

Despite my love of all things Victorian and Jane Austen, it is not Mr. Darcy. (while I am inevitably attracted to and sympathetic for the egotistical, prideful, and narcissistic, there is no one of that kind on my imaginary list of love. No, no Mr. "My good opinion once lost, is lost forever," I could never love you like I love....

Sherlock Holmes.

He is just the most swoon worthy man to never breathe air that I know. Normally I'd put pictures here, but most of them are only of Robert Downey Jr. (not that he isn't on my list too, because he is) and the point of Holmes being my literary crush is because I fell in love with text, not an A-list celebrity. So, here's what I love:

He's so smart. When he figures stuff out, it's never on accident, it's always "Elementary!"
His vocabulary and speech is so legit, I mean eloquent. He says words like "beget" and "abhorrent" and "exceedingly so."
He's logical, yet creative. He believes that "when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth"

plus, he's a little wild, slightly reckless, infinitely inquisitive, and since he exists primarily in my imagination, he's the most handsome.

Happy Birthday Marines.

Sometimes (and by "sometimes" I mean always) my life is weird. I like it; I get to go to weird and fun places and meet talented people and do cool things. This past weekend I went to the Marine Corps Birthday Ball with a complete stranger. I'd cross it off my bucket list, but I don't know whether that qualifies as "be spontaneous" or "lose your mind." I knew this would end up in the blog, so I'll give you some background about what I initially thought. First, I creeped on Facebook.

• First flag: profile picture has some ponytailed man in the forefront of a nascar scene. I am of course trying to be positive though, so I give him the benefit of the doubt and convince myself that he's just cleverly ironic.
• And let me just say that after seeing "Music Interests: Nickleback, George Straight, and 3 Doors Down" I wasn't feeling very confident in my assumption about his cleverness; instead I was slightly abashed. However, since "ACDC and Jack Johnson" were on the list too, I reminded myself that my favorite mix cd has Michael Jackson, The Kooks, Jack Johnson, and Fleetwood Mac on it, and most people who see my itunes collection think I'm schizophrenic, so maybe I shouldn't judge too soon.
• Although, by the time I got to "Television interests" and saw: "Baseball Tonight, Dog the Bounty Hunter, The First 48, Fox News, Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe" I was no longer physically able to suppress the groan that burst forth from the depths of my despair (that's right, despair can groan now).

**I also resent the statement that I was being equally unappealing by creeping on his Facebook profile, and the fact that our lack of connections prevented me from even seeing an actual picture of his face will not, I repeat NOT legitimize that assertion at all.



Fast forward to the trip down to old FL. From the moment that I woke Clara up with my original "wake up Clara I think I got something to say to yooooouuuu" song, I knew that it was going to be a good day. If you follow me on The Twitter you will recall that I tweeted "is it weird that I relish awkward situations for the creative writing opportunities they bring me?" and I meant it. Of course the writer within me was secretly rejoicing because she knew that this event had the potential to be quite the amusing blog post, so for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to try and squeeze my journal into a clutch. Just so we're all on the same page that would have looked a lot like trying to force a grown cat into a fanny pack. Thus was forced to consider resorting to my "handy dandy" notebook (I say this because it, like Steve's from blue's clues, would also have fit into my pocket); the risk here, however, lay in the fact that using this notebook would have kind of created a strong resemblance between me and Daffy Duck as Dick Tracey. Looking back, I probably should've cared but I didn't; at the time I was actually desirous of encountering the weirdest people and things so that I could relay them to you, purely for your enjoyment; you are welcome.

hey there Dreamy McDreamerson

I am and will be infinitely intrigued by this Waterhouse painting

I'm still in a dreamy state, so today I'm going to share with you something else I want to do; although, this thing is not a long-term type of endeavor (however cool that might be).

I adore the Victorians, adore them (and their bows and lace and houses and art and hair and literature). Now before I had Dr. Woodworth, I didn't know a lot about them, nor was I concerned with them (the closest I had gotten to their Age was the 18th Century Comic Novel, and that experience was one of the worst in my life; comic does not mean funny; their humor is not my own), but after delving into some Dickens and Lord Byron [swoon]and all the other fabulous writers of the time, I fell in love. I want to be a Victorian so badly. However, that is not the point of this post; wow, I am such a nerdy English major.

I want to travel in Europe. But I particularly want to visit Great Britain. I've talked before of how magical I think it is to own and use things people have owned and used before me, but it's even more enchanting to imagine walking where my some of my favorite authors have walked and to think about seeing places they saw. Like crazy awesome. I once used this website to research some social themes for a paper I was doing, and I confess, I might have spent the next week reading all the articles they had about everything. (I also might have spent some time swooning on this website, which is dedicated to one of my most favorite authors, and is just as witty and intelligent as I'm sure she would want it to be.)

I daydream about this sort of thing pretty frequently, and in my scheming I happened upon this awesome endeavor. It's called couchsurfing and it's so cool. (if you just just heard a shocked gasp followed by cries of protest, don't worry, it was probably just my mom being appalled after clicking the link and trying to comprehend how I could ever consider staying or traveling with a 'stranger') For the record, I didn't say with certainty I'd do it, but it would undoubtedly be pretty neat. Besides it's much more appealing than my "go-to-Europe-be-an-au pair" idea that I was so keen on my junior year of college. (you're right, I still think that could be fun)

Either way, I would probably die of sheer joy if the opportunity for an excursion presented itself. Oh Victorians, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Big City Dreams

I want to be honest with you dear readers, but honestly, sometimes I find there are things I just can't make myself share. I say this because recently I was asked what I would want to do if I didn't have any limitations at all, and it was one of those questions that I like to hear other people answer, am intrigued by, but kind of end up blinking a lot and stuttering in response to. There is so much, so very much I would love to do. I would never ever be able to say just one thing definitively. I mean, if I had no limitations, I'd do it all. But that's absolutely unreasonable, so until "then" (whenever and whatever "then" ends up being) I will share one of the things my heart desires. This video, idea, and man have intrigued and inspired me and accomplishing something like this would be so amazing. Please watch, enjoy, and gain some insight, and maybe eventually I'll be more comfortable sharing my heart with a faceless and nameless people. (i wouldn't hold my breath though :)

Let's be Lovely

I can't remember what Etsy shop this is from, but I love it.

I don't know what it's like for the rest of the world, but for me Monday is always creeping. It creeps up on me, it creeps by, then it creepily haunts me the rest of the week. Monday is not my favorite day of the week. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike it-I actually really want to love it (on account of its being so misunderstood)- but it makes itself so hard to love, and I'm not really all that good at loving things that don't want to be loved. All of that said, I think to counter the mundaneness of today, what we need is a little extra lovely.





Ways to make your day lovely.

1. drink coffee. (extra lovely option: adding raspberry syrup)
2. listen to "Oh Lovely" by Lakes (extra lovely option: put it on repeat 'cause IT'S SO GOOD!)
3. embrace a few people (extra lovely option: embrace their quirks while you're at it)
4. have a birthday (extra lovely option: have an unbirthday-they're always fun)
5. wear your favorite shirt [i did this today] (extra lovely option: wear a cape)





Or if your Monday is super ridiculous, you should just make a fort, get a sweet treat, and watch Peter Pan. ...Did I just reveal my "best day ever" scenario? maybe.

Poetry Love

in strange way

To stand inquiring right, is not to stray;

To sleep, or run wrong, is. On a huge hill,

Cragged and steep, Truth stands, and he that will

Reach her, about must and about must go,

And what the hill's suddenness resists, win so.

from "Satire 3" by John Donne (one of my faves)

Secret Saturday

I feel like today's secret is pretty common, so I won't waste my time trying to prepare you for it or explain it. It's simple; I hated highschool. Mostly just the last 2 years of it, but whatever, I wouldn't go back if you paid me. That said I'm glad it happened, and I'm glad that I experienced it with these people. I think this occasion calls for a:

Then and Now Photo Spectacular!

(yes I just used "spectacular" as a noun)

Here's us in 2005.

this was actually homecoming senior year...before half time, but I think we still lost.

others learned math and stuff; we learned how to annoy the cheerleaders at pep rallies.

and we successfully turned Bible class into a biweekly event

perfected "Blue Steel"

and got touristy all up in the D.C.

And in 2010:

we still take crazy awesome group shots.

succeed with the upside down camera shot.

have photo shoots in the bleachers

and remember that it isn't necessarily your surroundings that create fun, but the people sharing the spaces with you.

I really didn't like high school, but I loved the people who made me laugh, let me cry, and told me when I was being stupid (which let's be honest wasn't often enough because I was really dumb...forreal). I'd almost say that now I remember that I didn't like it more than I remember why, and I think that's okay because life goes on after high school, there are more important things than varsity athletics, and no one else really cares about advanced math either. Homecoming is fun to me because even though I don't recognize any of the small children who claim they're graduating in May and I'm subjected to the shouts of cheerleaders who cannot possibly be wearing their outfits for His glory, I get to spend time with people I don't see regularly and we get to laugh about silly things and pretend we're not grown-ups with responsibilities for 3.5 quarters (because let's be real here, we don't care about the game and beating all that 'game's over' traffic is what's up).