Little Darling's Opinion Nation
August 26, 2009
Twilight Ruminations
| As practically 99.9% of the human race I am enthralled with vampires and, against my better judgment, was sucked into reading Stephanie Meyers' Twilight series. The majority of vampire fans realize that, in fact, vampires do not exist but that does not keep a one of us from being enveloped in their tangled brooding fictional stories. Their supernatural, preternatural, and agonizing essence draws us to them. We want to know more about their anguished hermitage therefore we flock to the myriad of books teeming with them. Thus vampire fans know a thing or two about the common characteristics of vampires be they literary vampires or cinematic vampires. Typical vampire characteristics are as follows: vampires are dead, their skin is as cold as stone, they are preternatural/supernatural creatures, the sun burns their skin and can kill them thus they go about their existence at night, they feed on the blood of living creatures, their senses are heightened beyond human comprehension, and vampires have preternatural powers different to each individual vampire meaning they are not all the same in regards to these powers. Writers have literary license to make myths, folklore, etc their own when writing a novel. I get that and I applaud it. Thus the reason I overlooked a 'glistening' Edward Cullen, and Cullen clan, wondering around the block during daylight hours. My grievance with Stephanie Meyers is that there is no way "in real life" or in fiction that a vampire can impregnate a human girl!!!!! The key point to any and all vampires is that they are DEAD. One consistency with vampire novels is that they all talk about the agonizing pain of their human bodies dying during their transformation, therefore, the organs in that body die as well. Some authors have taken that to mean vampires are unable to have sex or intimate relations while others use literary liberties to allow their vampires to be erotic and spicy. I relish the vampires who can seduce, use, and man-handle people in bed because part of the allure of vampires is their sensuality. And who doesn't want to read about that sensuality in bed? My argument with Edward Cullen/Stephanie Meyers is that if Edward is a vampire, which means he is the living DEAD, then there is no way his Cullenly bodily organs will still produce Team Edward soldiers!!!!!! |
July 14, 2009
Boston: The Orchard House
Louisa May Alcott lived in The Orchard House with her father, Bronson Alcott, and family. Louisa May Alcott is infamous for her novel Little Women.
Front of the house.
Bronson Alcott started a school for adults and this is that school. We got to go in, walk around, and take photos.
Maypole at the Orchard House.
Front of the house.
Bronson Alcott started a school for adults and this is that school. We got to go in, walk around, and take photos.
Maypole at the Orchard House.
Labels: Bronson Alcott, Concord, Little Women, Louisa May Alcott, The Orchard House
Boston: Emerson's House
Location: Concord, MA
Time: Early June 2009 during our vacation to Boston, MA
Sight: Ralph Waldo Emerson's House
Up until our visit to Mr. Emerson's house during this Boston trip The Old Manse had been my favorite literary home in the region/area of Boston. Entry into the lawns of Emerson's house blew all the blossoms of love for The Old manse out of the hemisphere!!!! They had two of Ralph Waldo Emerson's dressing gowns in his master suite. One that he used during lectures and the other worn around the house. We couldn't touch them, of course, but I tiptoed as close as possible to envelope their essence. I hovered in this moment as long as I dared while exiting the master suite. It was practically breathtaking. I was the last of our group to leave the house and I can say that I really didn't want to depart.
Emerson's House
Side view of Emerson's House.
Back view of Emerson's House.
Time: Early June 2009 during our vacation to Boston, MA
Sight: Ralph Waldo Emerson's House
Up until our visit to Mr. Emerson's house during this Boston trip The Old Manse had been my favorite literary home in the region/area of Boston. Entry into the lawns of Emerson's house blew all the blossoms of love for The Old manse out of the hemisphere!!!! They had two of Ralph Waldo Emerson's dressing gowns in his master suite. One that he used during lectures and the other worn around the house. We couldn't touch them, of course, but I tiptoed as close as possible to envelope their essence. I hovered in this moment as long as I dared while exiting the master suite. It was practically breathtaking. I was the last of our group to leave the house and I can say that I really didn't want to depart.
Emerson's House
Side view of Emerson's House.
Back view of Emerson's House.
Labels: Boston, Concord, Old Manse, Ralph Waldo Emerson
July 08, 2009
The Old Manse
Ok, so they weren't in Boston, but these are the houses we visited. Three (The Old Manse, Emerson's House, and The Orchard House) were in Concord, which is half an hour away from Boston, and one was in Amherst (Emily Dickinson's Homestead), which is an hour+ away from Boston.
This is the Old Manse Boathouse. The Old Manse is where Nathaniel Hawthorne lived. This is also where Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote the first three drafts of Nature. *Sigh* Emerson and Nature. I am a transcendentalist lover.
A view of the Old North Bridge from the Old Manse boat house. This is the bridge where "the shot heard round the world," from Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem Concord Hymn, took place and began the American Revolutionary War.
This is The Old Manse. The Hawthornes lived in the Old Manse for three years. In the upstairs room that Hawthorne used as his study, one can still view affectionate sentiments that the two etched into the window panes.
The inscription reads:
Man's accidents are God's purposes. Sophia A. Hawthorne 1843
Nath Hawthorne This is his study
The smallest twig leans clear against the sky
Composed by my wife and written with her diamond
Inscribed by my husband at sunset, April 3 1843. In the Gold light.
SAH
Garden at the Old Manse that Henry David Thoreau planted as a wedding gift for Nathanial and Sophia Hawthorne (prounounced so-PHEYE-a).
Since visiting Boston, along with Concord etc, ten years ago the Old Manse has been my favorite house!!! This is due to the fact that Emerson wrote the first drafts of Nature there. It was like Emerson walked out of a portrait, past me, and to his desk to write nature as I was standing there. Who wouldn't love the place after feeling an essence such as that?
We visited Emerson's house this year and I fell head over heels!!!
That will be my next blog. Till then.....
"To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society." --Ralph Waldo Emerson (from Nature)
This is the Old Manse Boathouse. The Old Manse is where Nathaniel Hawthorne lived. This is also where Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote the first three drafts of Nature. *Sigh* Emerson and Nature. I am a transcendentalist lover.
A view of the Old North Bridge from the Old Manse boat house. This is the bridge where "the shot heard round the world," from Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem Concord Hymn, took place and began the American Revolutionary War.
This is The Old Manse. The Hawthornes lived in the Old Manse for three years. In the upstairs room that Hawthorne used as his study, one can still view affectionate sentiments that the two etched into the window panes.
The inscription reads:
Man's accidents are God's purposes. Sophia A. Hawthorne 1843
Nath Hawthorne This is his study
The smallest twig leans clear against the sky
Composed by my wife and written with her diamond
Inscribed by my husband at sunset, April 3 1843. In the Gold light.
SAH
Garden at the Old Manse that Henry David Thoreau planted as a wedding gift for Nathanial and Sophia Hawthorne (prounounced so-PHEYE-a).
Since visiting Boston, along with Concord etc, ten years ago the Old Manse has been my favorite house!!! This is due to the fact that Emerson wrote the first drafts of Nature there. It was like Emerson walked out of a portrait, past me, and to his desk to write nature as I was standing there. Who wouldn't love the place after feeling an essence such as that?
We visited Emerson's house this year and I fell head over heels!!!
That will be my next blog. Till then.....
"To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society." --Ralph Waldo Emerson (from Nature)
Labels: Boston, Concord, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Nature, Old Manse, Old North Bridge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Sophia Hawthorne, Transcendentalism
July 07, 2009
Busy Buzzy
| Busy weeks do not help one's rest schedule nor their blood sugar levels. I've been bouncing off the walls with highs and lows. A low smacked me this morning when I woke to get ready for work. That always sets a president for my day to be sluggish. |
June 26, 2009
Boston Food
Ah, the food of Boston!!!! I do not think I had anything bad to eat while I was there. Some things were better than others, but nothing was awful.
Places we gorged ourselves senseless:
Durgin Park - where I had the fried seafood platter
Charley's - where I had the angel hair primevera. Russ and I shared a dessert that was about twice the size of my hand. I forget the name of it BUT it was basically chocolate cake with cheesecake in the middle and chocolate cake on the bottom.....*swoon*!!!!!!!!!
California Pizza Kitchen - where I had the sedona tortilla soup, Russ and I shared a carne asada pizza, and we had their red velvet cake for dessert.
The Green Dragon Pub - where I had a one and a quarter pound lobster...it was the first whole lobster I've eaten....it was utterly yummy and mouth watering....
This is my lobster saying hello....
This is me with my bib getting ready to devour my lobster. Yes, I needed the bib!!!!
VinnyT's - where I had the seafood chowder and the penne melanzane
Ye Olde Union Oyster House - where I had the fried seafood platter.
Being on the harbor in Boston one cannot visit without eating seafood and messing their pants from the decadence of the seafood morsels. All scallops I had practically melted in my mouth, which made them to die for and made you want to eat more and more of them!!!! At the Union Oyster House I ate fried whole calamari.......this is notable because I will not eat calamari if it still looks like a squid....they still looked squidish but were delicioso!!!!!!! Obviously, my lobster was utterly yummy and messy and just plain heaven to eat!!!!
Places we gorged ourselves senseless:
Durgin Park - where I had the fried seafood platter
Charley's - where I had the angel hair primevera. Russ and I shared a dessert that was about twice the size of my hand. I forget the name of it BUT it was basically chocolate cake with cheesecake in the middle and chocolate cake on the bottom.....*swoon*!!!!!!!!!
California Pizza Kitchen - where I had the sedona tortilla soup, Russ and I shared a carne asada pizza, and we had their red velvet cake for dessert.
The Green Dragon Pub - where I had a one and a quarter pound lobster...it was the first whole lobster I've eaten....it was utterly yummy and mouth watering....
This is my lobster saying hello....
This is me with my bib getting ready to devour my lobster. Yes, I needed the bib!!!!
VinnyT's - where I had the seafood chowder and the penne melanzane
Ye Olde Union Oyster House - where I had the fried seafood platter.
Being on the harbor in Boston one cannot visit without eating seafood and messing their pants from the decadence of the seafood morsels. All scallops I had practically melted in my mouth, which made them to die for and made you want to eat more and more of them!!!! At the Union Oyster House I ate fried whole calamari.......this is notable because I will not eat calamari if it still looks like a squid....they still looked squidish but were delicioso!!!!!!! Obviously, my lobster was utterly yummy and messy and just plain heaven to eat!!!!
Labels: Boston, Boston Harbor, California Pizza Kitchen, Lobster, Seafood, VinnyT's, Ye Olde Union Oyster House
June 23, 2009
Alas, vacation is no more
"No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one." ~Elbert Hubbard Boston was great. My husband and I have been home for about two weeks now. I want to share about the wonderful, melt in your mouth, Boston food that we had along with other things. Things have been busy since we have been back home, thus, the unpostings. Don't worry I haven't forgotten. |
June 18, 2009
Angela Robins has sent you a gift in Kaneva
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