Jane Austen January: Emma (1996 Theatrical version)

This month Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs and I are watching movie adaptations of Jane Austen’s books for Jane Austen January. We are also offering a link-up for anyone who wants to discuss the movies, or anything else Jane-related, on their blogs.

I feel like Erin and I batted maybe not zero but around five this week by choosing to watch Emma. Both of our choices really weren’t very good and both of us agreed we didn’t want to see the 2020 version at all. We did want to watch the 2009 BBC miniseries but it would have been about four hours long. It might have been worth it to not to have to see the fifteen minutes of the 1996 televised version that I had to suffer through, however.

The 2009 version stars Romola Garai and to me it is very well done. Mr. Knightly is a mix of charming and playful, Emma is still a brat but shows a transformation more so than in the Paltrow version, and the characters are better developed. Of course, they had time to develop characters since they had two hours more than the other movies.

(Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that I have not read the book so I can’t say if any of the movies keep in line with the book or not.)

So, as I mentioned, Erin and I both abandoned our first choice of the 1996 televised movie with Kate Beckinsal after only about 15 minutes for me (maybe less for Erin. Ha.)

My word that version was so dull – in the acting and in their outfits. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie where everyone wore brown and white against a set of more brown and white. Ew.

Now, as for our decision to shift our choice to the 1996 big screen version with Gwyneth Paltrow, I want to say up front that I am not always a fan of Americans doing British accents – especially in period pieces.

I don’t know what that is about but I guess it takes me completely out of a story knowing that the actress is really from California and not Sussex. It seems less refined somehow, which is funny since people from Sussex aren’t necessarily all refined either.

I have also been taken out of a story when a British actor is doing a Southern accent and I know there isn’t one Southern thing about him.

With that one complaint about Gwenyth not actually being British behind us, lets get to the rest of the movie.

First, the story of Emma.

Emma is about Emma Woodhouse, a young woman who is constantly meddling in the love lives of other people. She lives with her hypochondriac father and they are both often visited by their good friend Mr. Knightly.

Emma’s meddling sometimes is successful and leads to marriage, but other times, it leads to heartache, confusion, and people being hurt. It also keeps Emma from focusing on her own love life, which is beneficial to her because she doesn’t have to commit but hurtful to the men who fall for her.

Emma uses various schemes and tactics to keep some couples apart and bring other people together. She’s actually very manipulative and it takes most of the story and her being told by Mr. Knightly – a man who is a close friend of the family and almost like a brother to her – that her schemes are ruining people’s lives.

Like Pride and Prejudice, this movie had a lovely dance scene between Emma and her friend, Mr. Knightly. One of those where their attention is on each other and no one else. It was a lovely scene.

Unlike Pride and Prejudice (2005) the scenery isn’t as pretty in this movie to me. For example, at one point Emma and Mr. Knightly are shooting arrows and the pond behind them is covered in algae. The director couldn’t have set the shot up better to remove that from the background or had the body of water treated? I felt completely shallow, but I couldn’t even pay attention to the argument happening between the two because I was staring at the dirty, green water.

The movie was directed by Douglas McGrath.

He wanted Gwyneth Paltrow, according to Wikipedia, because, “she did a perfect Texas accent. I know that wouldn’t recommend her to most people. I grew up in Texas, and I have never heard an actor or actress not from Texas sound remotely like a real Texan. I knew she had theater training, so she could carry herself.”

Um..okay? I guess that’s a good reason to cast her?

Anyhow, it did not surprise me at all that Harvey Weinstein the co-chairman of Miramax at the time gave the movie the greenlight but said Gwenyth had to be in the movie The Pallbearer first.

She then had a month to herself while recovering from wisdom-tooth surgery to research for the part by studying horsemanship, dancing, singing, archery, and dialect.

If you don’t know the story behind Weinstein, you can look it up online but needless to say he was a big jerk who manipulated and physically attacked women but also controlled actors and actresses careers.

I thought it was interesting to read that the characters of Mrs. Bates and Miss Bates in the movie were played by an actual mother and daughter – Phyllida Law and Sophie Thompson.

Thompson revealed that it was a coincidence that she and her mother were cast alongside each other, as the casting director had their names on separate lists. She was actually one of the funnier and more refreshing characters to me.

I had to giggle when I saw Ewan McGregor as Frank Churchill and apparently, he cringes and giggles a bit as well for the same reason – his hair.

He told The Guardian that he chose to star in Emma because he thought it would be something different from his previous role in Trainspotting (a movie about a heroin addict).

“My decision-making was wrong,” he said in the interview. “It’s the only time I’ve done that. And I learnt from it, you know. So I’m glad of that – because it was early on and I learnt my lesson. It’s a good film, Emma, but I’m just… not very good in it. I’m not helped because I’m also wearing the world’s worst wig. It’s quite a laugh, checking that wig out.”

When I looked online for reviews of this movie, I found that most people generally liked it, including Roger Ebert who called it “a delightful film–second only to “Persuasion” among the modern Austen movies, and funnier, if not so insightful.”

Back in 1996, though, some college students called the film obnoxious. I had to laugh at the review of the review by Ebert when he wrote that the young student’s review was “posted on the Internet.” Ah, the early days of the Internet.

The college student wrote: “a parade of 15 or 20 or 8 billion supporting characters waltzes through the scenes. Each is called Mister or Miss or Mrs. Something, and each of them looks and acts exactly the same (obnoxious).”

I don’t know if I agree that the movie was that bad, or that there were really that many characters to keep track of.

I do agree that some of them were obnoxious – including Emma herself but we also have to remember that Emma was supposed to be young (21) and still learning about herself and how not to meddle in the lives of other people.

Ken Eisner, writing for Variety, said of Gwyneth that she shone “brightly as Jane Austen’s most endearing character, the disastrously self-assured matchmaker Emma Woodhouse. A fine cast, speedy pacing and playful direction make this a solid contender for the Austen sweepstakes.”

Ebert also liked Gwyneth in the role, writing, “Gwyneth Paltrow sparkles in the title role, as young Miss Woodhouse, who wants to play God in her own little patch of England. You can see her eyes working the room, speculating on whose lives she can improve. “

If you want to read about the different versions of the Emma adaptations yourself, you can see some comparisons at the following sites:

https://scottcahan.com/2020/06/27/emma-movies-which-is-the-best/

https://screenrant.com/emma-movies-adaptations-ranked-worst-best/

https://www.literarytraveler.com/articles/celebrating-the-fauxscars-why-the-2020-emma-outshines-the-1996-adaptation/

or watch this video:

or this one:

This was the last of our book adaptations. Next week we will be watching Miss Austen Regrets, which focuses on the life of Jane Austen.

Erin didn’t get a chance to write about Emma today as she isn’t feeling well, but if you want to share your thoughts on the movie(s) or book Emma, or anything else related to Jane Austen, you can add a link to our link-up HERE.

Have you seen this version of Emma? Or the 1996 television version?

Let me know in the comments.

Books I want to read for the remainder of the winter

On January 24, 2024January 23, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn books and reading, everyday musings10 Comments

Winter can last a long time in Northern Pennsylvania, which is why choosing what I want to read for the rest of winter here means I am choosing books for the rest of January, all of February, and a good portion of March. It has even been known to snow in April and the first week of May here, but I still consider the end of March and all of April to be spring, so that will require a new list.

I always list a lot of books I plan to read, or want to read, knowing full well I will not get them all read and will probably become distracted in the middle by another read.

For example, this week I am reading Little Women and finished another book I’d been reading for a bit but I got distracted by a lighter read called Sisterchicks Do the Hula by Robin Jones Gunn. After finishing the one book, I needed something lighter. Little Women is lighter but I like to read that book before bed as my nightly routine. I’m a bit of a creature of habit sometimes. I would, however, like to finish Little Women since I’ve been reading it leisurely since the end of November, so I will probably start reading it at other times as well. Anytime I need a bit of downtime and breather from life, I think.

Anyhow, enough rambling. Here are the books on my winter to be read list (subject to change):

The Bungalow Mystery and The Mystery At Lilac Inn (Nancy Drew Mysteries) by Carolyn Keene.

These two came together in one volume from Thriftbooks. I enjoy disappearing into these light, sometimes silly mysteries as a way to escape my worries.

Can I tell you how stupid I felt this week when I read that these books were written by several authors, just like the Hardy Boys? Talk about a facepalm moment. I had heard that years ago and then completely forgot that Carolyn Keene was simply a pen name.

Well, it doesn’t really matter. These classics are still a nice escape.

The Cat Who Went Into The Closet by Lillian Jackson Braun.

Braun’s books are a comfort read for me. I’ve already started this one and will probably continue it this week or next since I did get distracted by the fun Sisterchicks book. It will be a perfect read for the darkness of February – the month that seems like it will never end even though it is shorter than other months of the year.

Blessed Is the Busybody by Emilie Richards

This is a cozy mystery I picked up. It looked like it might have some faith elements but after reading part of Chapter 1 I see that the main character is a member of a Unitarian Universalist church and . . . well, I won’t comment here but that’s probably not the type of faith book I’m looking for. I don’t think? Still, most cozy mysteries I pick up have been clean and fun so I’m sure this one will be too.

I doubt it will be preachy because most cozy mysteries I’ve read aren’t, even if they are in the Christian fiction category. I only picked up one that went off about breast cancer and the importance of getting checked for a few pages, which totally threw me off since I read books to escape and this book read like a non-fiction book. I put that one aside and haven’t read anything by that author since, just as a way to protect myself from finding non-fiction subjects shoved at me in my fiction.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

My son and I started this classic in the fall, became very bored and disenchanted and set it aside but now I am listening to it on Audible and it is making more sense. I am going to try to finish it and then he and I will “read it” (probably listen to it) again in March or April as part of his English course. This way I’ll have more of an idea of what is happening and can explain it to him instead of us both wandering around in the dark looking for a clue.

A Taste of Fame by Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson

This is a Christian fiction/cozy mystery and is part of a series of books. I’ve never read any books from these authors so I’m looking forward to seeing if the book is good or not.

Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie

I have been saying I would read this book for the last two years and I am determined to do it this year. This is a collection of stories from Agatha, I believe.

Hell Is Empty by Craig Johnson

I didn’t read one Longmire Mystery book last year so I hope to remedy that this year. Johnson’s books are pretty dark but also have some humor in them. Still, the darkness is what often keeps me away from them in winter (when I deal with some seasonal depression but better than in the past) so I will probably read this one toward the end of the winter.

Do The New You by Steven Furtick

I’ve already started this book and hope to continue reading it and I know I’ll be reading it with my online Bible study group through February.

Under the Magnolias by T.I. Lowe

I heard about this book when it first came out a couple of years ago and I’m finally deciding to tackle it now. This may end up getting pushed into the spring, though.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them if you did?

Faithfully Thinking: In full disclosure, I do not think I can love Judas.

On January 23, 2024January 23, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn Faithfully Thinking9 Comments

I read a quote recently about the real test of the Christian faith is not if we love Jesus but if we can love Judas.

Ouch.

That’s something I had never really thought about.

Loving Judas.

Have you ever thought about loving the man who betrayed Jesus to the Romans and whose actions led him to his death?

I mean, if he hadn’t done that then Jesus wouldn’t have been led to the cross and died there for our sins, right?

Or would God have found another way?

Sometimes I wonder why God couldn’t have found another way.

Was it God’s plan or Judas’s free will that led him to do what he did? God gave him free will but he also knows the future so he allowed Judas to condemn himself to hell – I have to be honest that this kept me awake last night because I didn’t like the idea that a man was allowed to go to hell to complete God’s plan.

This is how my brain worked as I thought about it all: Did he walk himself to his doom and direct path to hell or did God help him along?

It is a twisting and turning journey in my brain that I don’t want to take. I’ll never really know no matter how many times I think about it anyhow. Not until Jesus calls me home. Then it will be one of the first questions I ask him.

This past week I thought about who the Judas are in my life. Or who were.

The people who did things to me or those I loved that were so horrible I can’t imagine how to forgive them. I’ve actually come a long way in forgiving those who did things to me or maybe those who were rude and dismissive to family members of mine.

But those who sexually and mentally abused children I know?

To be honest and open — I can’t say that I’ve been able to forgive that person. Not even a little bit. And I don’t know how I ever will. In the Bible it says we must forgive those who sin against us, but how? How do you forgive the monsters in the world? That, to me, is only a forgiveness God can give because as humans it’s too big of a task.

As soon as I read that question a few months ago about loving Judas two people came into my mind. One I’ve slowly been able to forgive but might never fully trust again. The other? I see only red when I think of them.

I wish I could write here, right now, that I thought to myself about that one person when I read that quote, “Yes, I can love the Judas in my life because God has called me to,” but I didn’t think that. Not at all. I thought, “Oof..” like I’d been punched in the gut. I thought “Wow. What a question.”

But at no time did I think, “Yes, Lord, I can.”

Because I can’t.

Not now, and without Jesus supernaturally hallowing me out and replacing my humanness with his holiness, I don’t see how I ever can.

Jesus loved Judas therefore he can love even us when we are at our lowest and darkest.

This is something I’ve read and heard before and the next question is if he could love the real Judas, can I love the real Judas in my life?

For now, all I can say is, “I’ll keep praying about it.”

Because at this point, at least in one case, – even though the Bible says God can not forgive us if we do not forgive others – the answer is no.

As Thomas who asked to be helped with his unbelief, I am asking God to help me with seeing others as he sees them. Maybe one day I will.

Sunday Bookends: Cold temps, a winter booklist, and lots of shows to watch

On January 21, 2024January 20, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings16 Comments

It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at The Book Date.

What’s Been Occurring

Yesterday in my Saturday Afternoon Chat I wrote about how cold it has been here, as it has been across much of the country. I mentioned that I had mainly been staying at home for the most part and didn’t really want to go anywhere until Sunday when I usually have lunch with my parents. I did decide to go to their house yesterday, though, on the coldest day of the year, because I wanted to help my mom get back into the house after she and my dad attended a dinner after the funeral of a friend.

Mom is getting older but also dealing with fibromyalgia and some issues with her shoulders.

She did very well despite the 13-degree temps with a wind chill of -2 or -4, not sure because I stopped looking at the weather app because it was depressing, but she was very tired when she came back. We sat her in her chair, covered her with a blanket, gave her some chamomile tea and she fell promptly fell asleep. In her defense, she’d been up quite early and the cold really takes it out of her.

Before my parents came back from the dinner they’d gone to Little Miss and I vacuumed and cleaned up some messes. My mom called when they stopped at the Dollar General and updated me on the funeral and dinner, thinking I was still at home. We kept it a surprise and I wish I had recorded the looks on their faces when I walked to the car to help Mom get in the house and they tried to figure out how I’d gotten to the house so quickly.

We hadn’t seen them in person in a couple of weeks, thanks to the weather, so it was nice to visit for the afternoon.

What I/we’ve Been Reading

Currently Reading:

Right now I am reading Dysfunction Junction by Robin W. Pearson and Little Women. Yes, still. Dysfunction Junction is a bit of a “heavier” read in some ways and Little Women is a nice and leisurely read. Plus I’ve been reading books to Little Miss during the day and at night, which takes up some of my reading time.

Recently Finished:

Up Next or Soon:

The Cat Who Went Into The Closet by Lilian Jackson Braun.

Planned reads for the rest of winter:

The Bungalow Mystery and The Mystery At Lilac Inn (Nancy Drew Mysteries) by Carolyn Keene.

Blessed Is the Busybody by Emilie Richards

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

A Taste of Fame by Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson

Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie

Hell Is Empty by Craig Johnson

Do The New You by Steven Furtick

Under the Magnolias by T.I. Lowe

Little Miss and I are reading The Borrowers at night or Paddington Goes To Town.

The Husband has been reading John Connolly books.

The Boy is reading Lost Names: Tales of a Korean Boyhood by Richard Kim for history and English for homeschool and listening to The Witcher.

What We watched/are Watching

Yesterday I watched a video with Darling Desi on YouTube when she visited Powell’s City of Books, the largest bookstore in the country and I found myself living vicariously through her, imagining I’d be overstimulated in a bookstore so large but also in a type of readers heaven.

Last weekend I watched Pride and Prejudice to write about it with Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs for our Jane Austen January. You can read her impression of it HERE.

I was so excited this week to see that the new season of All Creatures Great and Small is available on Amazon so I watched the first episode. The Husband also told me that the fourth season of Miss Scarlet and the Duke is available, or will be soon, but I am still in season three so that will have to wait.

I also watched a couple of episodes of Northern Exposure and then watched them again with The Boy who at first told me he didn’t want to watch anymore because he couldn’t stand the main character. I thought we were done after the first episode but after a few minutes of sitting there he said, “So are we watching another one or what?”

Both of us were bewildered by episode two of the first season and the third episode irritated me because Joel and Maggie were already flirting and, first of all, they haven’t known each other very long and, two, they are both in relationships. I’ll still keep watching because the quirky characters are interesting.

The Husband and I also watched an episode of CB Strike and an episode of The Manor Born, which I watched throughout the week because it is a comfort watch for me.

Last night we watched Treasure Planet with the kids. It came out in 2002 and I had seen it but years ago and forgotten all about it.

What I’m Writing

This week I made some definite progress on Cassie, a book that will release in August with a multi-author project.

It is not available for pre-order yet but I will keep you updated.

I have been starting a lot of blog posts but not finishing them. Hopefully, I’ll have more of them done and shared this week.

What I’m Listening to

I haven’t been listening to as much music this week but I have been listening to old Jack Benny episodes before bed.

Photos from Last Week

Blog Posts I Enjoyed This Past Week

I’ve been trying to read more posts from some of my favorite blogs recently and here are a few of my favorite posts:

Sounds of Silence by A New Lens

I enjoyed this reminder to find the time to sit in silence with our savior instead of just bringing requests to him throughout our day.

This is a nice story from Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian about a quick, simple gesture that made his day.

This was such a touching post from Alicia at For His Purpose about sitting with her ill grandmother who is currently in hospice care.

In this post, Becoming His Tapestry wrote about the cold temps, snow, and how it relates to the sacrifice of God of his son for us.

Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

Saturday Afternoon Chat: Cold weather, a warm fire, and making myself sit down and read.

On January 20, 2024January 19, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn Saturday Afternoon Tea9 Comments

The fire is still burning away today in our woodstove, orange and yellow merging together in a cacophony of raging warmth to chase away the insanely bitter cold outside. All week the family has been stuck inside because of the fall in the thermometer and the additional lower temperature brought by the windchill.

The fun of playing in fallen snow by the youngest was stolen by the cold. She lasted about ten minutes outside before she announced she couldn’t feel her face, her fingers, or her toes, even with all her thick winter gear on.

Zooma the Wonder Dog was quite depressed that the ground was white with snow but she and her favorite playmate weren’t out, rolling in it, tossing it in the air, and catching snowballs.

Instead, we had to find inside activities to do. I tried to read and work on my book. Little Miss was able to talk to her friends on the phone and play online games with them. The cats slept almost all day every day, especially when the fire was roaring. The Boy played some video games, did some homework and helped bring in wood to keep the fire going.

He also walked to the neighbor’s house one day and helped clean the snow off her steps and car. He only had one day of school again this week. He attends the morning session of a vocational school and if the local school district calls for a two-hour delay then the morning session is canceled.

He has been enjoying his time off and is a bit disappointed that the weather looks better next week and he’ll have to go back. We encouraged him to take a building and construction course at the local trade school as part of his education but so far it is not his favorite thing to do. He might change his course next year or try something else, but at least he has some experience and knows more what he doesn’t want to do when he gets out of school.

I’ve been missing going to my parents but either our driveway was slippery or it was super cold outside. I mentioned in the Sunday Bookends last week that I had tried to go to my parents on Sunday afternoon but there were tree branches in the road and ice forming as the temperatures dropped as we tried to drive there so I turned around. It will still be cold this Saturday but it shouldn’t be slippery or windy so we will be heading there for lunch and maybe a movie and a game of cards.

A couple of days this week I forced myself to sit down in front of our woodstove with a book to feel the warmth and enjoy some quiet time. I don’t sit down and just read like I want to very often so I have to say to myself, “No. You’re not going to pick up the room. You’re not going to wash dishes. You’re not going to work on your book or scroll through Instagram. You’re going to sit on this floor and read this book and lose yourself in it.”

It’s like I feel like it is wrong to just be sitting and reading but really, there are times we need to do that. We need to sit and take even 15 minutes to ourselves to settle our brains and calm our souls. We can either read a book we like, read the Bible, read a verse, listen to an encouraging sermon, worship music, or journal but we need to take that time for ourselves more than most of us do.

I don’t know why we don’t take the time we should for ourselves but I say this year work to feel less guilt when you sit in some quiet for yourself. I know that’s a goal for me.

I had to laugh the one night because both of my kids kept talking to me as I tried to read, as if I wasn’t sitting there, on the floor, with a physical book opened, clearly reading.

“Oh. You’re trying to read, aren’t you?” asked my son.

“No. No. I’m just holding this book to make myself look smarter,” is what I could have said, but what I really said was, “Yes, but it is okay. I like to talk to you.”

And I do like to talk to him because soon he will be grown up and out of the house and I won’t have as many opportunities to talk to him. He and I are both night owls who open up at night. I am not as much of a night owl as I used to be because I am old and start to fade by 11. If I get a second wind, though, I’m often up until 1 a.m. reading. After 11 is the only quiet time I get to read unless I wake up early to do so instead.

The Boy might not talk to me all day but when midnight hits that’s when he wants to talk so that’s when we talk. I’m fine with it unless I’m fading and feel guilty because I am not really listening.

How was the weather where you were this week? I know most of the United States was thrown into an arctic freeze and I think most of us will be out of it next week.

Have you been trying any new teas?

This week I drank my regular tea and some hot cocoa. I have tried a new probiotic tea and that was okay. What I hope to get some more of soon is some elderberry tea.

Let me know how you’ve been in the comments and I’ll see you again tomorrow for Sunday Bookends.

Weely Traffic Jam Reboot

On January 18, 2024January 18, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings7 Comments

Welcome to another Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot hosted by Marsha in the Middle, Melynda from Scratch Made Food & DYI Homemade Household, Sue from Women Living Well After 50, and me. Look for the link up to go live on Thursdays at 9:30pm EDT. (But apparently not on this blog because I forgot to set it up again!)

Oh my goodness, everyone! The weather is so awful and cold right now where I live and if you are in the United States, probably where you live too.

Much of the country is in an arctic freeze right now with temperatures anywhere from negative 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-25C) to 25 degrees Fahrenheit (-3C). Where I live, we are used to cold winters but not this cold!

The horribly cold temps started on Sunday and are still going on. On Tuesday about five inches of snow fell and my daughter (who I call Little Miss on here) loves playing in the snow but with temps at 18 and windchill at like 7, she gave up pretty fast.

Even our animals, who will go outside in almost any weather, only stepped out at five minutes at a time and then returned inside to warm up by our woodstove, which has been going full bore since last week when we had snow. I have barely seen my parents in two weeks, even though they live eight minutes from my house because the extreme cold makes my muscles hurt and my chest tighten up.

On Sunday we tried to head to my parents but high winds were knocking the dead Ash trees down around us, the temps were dropping and freezing water run off from the day before, so we opted to stay home.

How has the weather been where you are?

If it is nice and sunny then please enjoy but don’t brag too much! *wink* Kidding! Brag all you want. I won’t blame you a bit!

On to the most clicked post for this week:

Denim Mini Skirt: My 5th Denim Item Oh Boy by Nancy’s Fashion Style

And my three favorite posts for the week:

Grand Canyon From The South Rim by Robert T. McCall Style Imitating Art by Shelbee On The Edge

I chose this one because I couldn’t wait to see the outfits that came from the inspiration of this painting. If you would like to see the final outfits, you can go here: https://shelbeeontheedge.com/sia-gallery-of-style-grand-canyon-from-the-south-rim-by-robert-t-mccall/

Mindfulness With A Twist: Finding Stillness In the Spin by Grace Filled Moments.

I really enjoyed this reminder from Grace Filled Moments as well. I am going to be referring to this later when I need to be reminded to find those small moments to lift my sports and get through.

Where Bloggers Live: How I Stay Warm in Winter by Within A World of My Own

I loved all the winter tips provided in this blog post. Some of them I am going to try myself as we deal with this arctic cold snap.

Now it is your turn to link up your favorite posts. They can be fashion, lifestyle, DIY, food, etc. All we ask is that they be family-friendly. You can link up posts from last week or from years ago even.

Also, please take the time to visit the other blogs on the link-up and meet some new bloggers!

Jane Austen January: Pride and Prejudice

On January 18, 2024January 18, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn Jane Austen January10 Comments

This month Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs and I are watching movie adaptations of Jane Austen’s books for Jane Austen January. We are also offering a link-up for anyone who wants to discuss the movies, or anything else Jane-related, on their blogs.

Last week we watched Sense and Sensibility. The week before I watched Persuasion.

This week the movie was the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice.

First a little bit about the story of Pride and Prejudice for those who might not know what it is about. The story follows Elizabeth Bennett and her three sisters – one older and two younger. Her older sister is beautiful and sought after by men but Lizzie is a bit mouthy and supposedly plainer, though I can’t tell in the movies since both girls are always beautiful to me.

During the book and movie, Elizabeth learns about the natural consequences of judging people without knowing the full story. Her father is the owner of Longbourn estate, but his property can only be passed to a male heir. Since his wife also lacks an inheritance, his family will become poor when he dies. Therefore it would be necessary for one of the daughters to marry someone wealthy so the entire family can be supported.

Mr. Bennett’s wife is obsessed with finding a rich heir. This obsession makes her, and two of her five daughters, very overbearing and lacking in social skills. Their overbearing behavior gets them into trouble often and one of them will get into a lot of trouble later in the movie.

With the idea that a wealthy marriage is needed, there is a lot of excitement when two wealthy bachelors enter the scene – Fitzwilliam Darcy and Charles Bingley.

I will admit that Erin had to practically drag me kicking and screaming to this particular movie adaptation after we agreed that the 1995 BBC mini-series, while superior in many ways, was simply too long to watch for our blog posts. It’s almost six hours all together.

In my mind, Colin Firth is the embodiment of Fitzwilliam Darcy and I struggle to see anyone other than him in this role so I really didn’t want to watch it for this buddy watch at first. I was like a pouty child, folding my arms over my chest and saying, “But I don’t want to. You can’t make me.”

In the end, she didn’t make me. I agreed to it.

I will say that after watching this 2005 version for the second time, I’ve decided Matthew Macfadyen does an okay job as Mr. Darcy. He often reminds me of a pouty emo teenager from the 1990s instead of Mr. Darcy, but he grew on me as the movie went on.

I am not a huge Kiera Knightly fan but she also grew on me as Lizzie Bennett and while I found her rude and snotty at times, she had a lot more life in her than Jennifer Ehl did in the 1995 version. What I lied about Ehl, though, is her subtle eyebrow raises or expression that showed her feelings more than anything she could have said.

After watching the 2005 version again (I first saw it a few years ago), I’ve decided I don’t hate it as much as I thought I did. There are parts of it I might actually like a bit better than the 1995 mini-series.

For one, I find the actress who plays Jane in this version (Rosamund Pike) a bit prettier than the one in the 1995 version.

No matter which version I watch, though, I have to say that I don’t always like Elizabeth “Lizzie” Bennet. I know some see her character as being independent and bold and standing up in the face of oppressive patriarchy but I find her a bit rude quite honestly. Like a commenter said on my Instagram this week – I am actually shocked that Mr. Darcy speaks to her at all with how haughty she is.

That doesn’t mean I don’t like her at all, though, because I realize that the story follows her social development and her changes as a person. I do like that she stands up for herself and that she isn’t afraid to speak her mind.

I also like that she progresses from a bit of a stuck-up young woman with very high standards to a woman who learns from her mistakes of judging too quickly and believing the stories of people who she barely knows.

One thing I liked about the 2005 version is that it seemed livelier when the time for mutual affection shall we say. In this movie, we actually saw it, unlike the 1995 version where Lizzie and Mr. Darcy were very, very reserved when they finally shared their real feelings. I know that reservations are the theme of the time these books took place, but there was a bit more exuberance at the end of the movie from 2005 than in the one from 1995 without making it crude or out of line.

Included in this story are the characters Caroline and Charles Bingley, rich siblings, who come for a visit to the Bennet’s area and cause quite a stir in the little village because they are – uh – I guess because they are rich. I have no idea why people are so thrilled with them otherwise. The people of the village are also thrilled with Mr. Darcy because he is even richer but he looks at all of them with indifference and possible arrogance.

It’s so weird to see Kelly Reilly in the role of Caroline Bingley because I’m now more familiar with her as Beth in Yellowstone. I had to look at her more than once while rewatching this because I couldn’t place her at first.

She has the same smug look in both shows because both characters are smug and arrogant.

As for the man who plays Mr. Bingley, Sam Woods, I kept cracking up because he was like a cross between Ed Sheeran and Keanu Reeves in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

Another character who emerges as an antagonist in every way is Lt. George Wickham.

At one point, Wickham leaves Elizabeth with a sad tale of how Mr. Darcy treated him abominably when they were young, leaving him out of a will because Mr. Darcy’s father liked Wickham better than Mr. Darcy.

If you’ve read the book or seen the movie you know what that is all about. If you haven’t seen it, I’ll let you find out but will say that something seems very off with that story, of course.

There is humor in the book and movie and in the movies that humor break is with Mr. Collins.

Oh my. What can we say about Mr. Collins? He’s the vicar who will inherit their family’s land so he’s interested in marrying one of the daughters, which will help the family remain in their home. Sadly, Mrs. Bennet is hoping for Jane to marry rich Mr. Bingley so Mr. Collins sets his eye on Lizzie, who is horrified at the prospect. Rightly so.

He’s the character with the infamous lines, ““What a superbly featured room and what excellent boiled potatoes! Many years since I’ve had such an exemplary vegetable. To which of my fair cousins should I compliment the excellence of the cooking?”

The standout performance for me in this version is Judi Dench as Catherine De Bourgh, Mr. Darcy’s aunt. She’s the perfect “bad guy” and, as usual, like with any movie she’s in, practically steals the show.

Like other Austen stories, there is a lot of ins and outs, misunderstandings/slight of hands, whatever you want to call it. There are also a lot of unsaid things that cause issues and heartbreak and confusion.

Also like other Austen movies, there is a lot of beautiful imagery and amazing cinematography both inside and outside.

One scene that stands out for me is the dance scene between Lizzie and Mr. Darcy. At one point everyone around them fades away and it’s just them focused on each other, which, of course, we know what that means – that they only see each other. Sigh.

Even people who haven’t seen this movie probably have seen the outside scene of Mr. Darcy walking through the mist with his coat open, his white shirt unbuttoned and looking, I guess, sexy. I wasn’t as thrilled with that scene as other women but that’s probably because I’m not as big of a fan of Macfadyen as I am Colin. When Colin came walking out of that lake, as subtle as it was, I must admit I swooned a bit. If you don’t know what I’m talking about just Google Colin Firth walking out of the lake in Pride and Prejudice.

I saw an interview with him this week and apparently, he was supposed to be shirtless in that scene, but the BBC didn’t approve of the movie being that suggestive.

As with every Austen book/movie, I find myself frustrated at how women were treated and how they had to rush to marry someone rich or who was an heir to a fortune, to ensure that they had a place to live.

Of course, I know that’s how it was back then and I like how Austen fought against that idea in her books. All great authors challenge societal “norms”, in my opinion.

Looking online this week for what others thought about the movie, I learned that this movie is not as close to the book as the 1995 version. For one, there was less focus on any subplots and more focus on Lizzie and Mr. Darcy’s romance in this movie. I hope to read the book in the spring, so I will see more of what an article in Screen Rant meant when it wrote that.

The director, Joe Wright, also changed the time period from 1813 to the 1790s because he liked the idea of the French Revolution going on at the same time since the revolution created an atmosphere of fear within the English aristocracy. I really don’t like when the entire time period or location of a book is changed for the movie, but I guess it works okay for this movie because I had no idea what the date was supposed to be.

An article on Screen Rant by Amanda Bruce mentioned what I did about the movie, which was that Keira Knightly’s version of Lizzie was more feisty – I actually would call it more snotty than feisty, but . . . Ms. Bruce can have her opinion and I can have mine.

Bruce didn’t exactly approve of the portrayal as a whole shown by how she wrote: “Knightley’s Elizabeth is comfortable pushing back on her parents — and in one scene, even shouting at them — while Austen’s Elizabeth might be headstrong, but she is never immature.”

The 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice, Bruce wrote was, “grounded in realism” and blended “traditional period-film traits with a modern approach.”

I mentioned above that I liked the ending of the 2005 version because there was more affection shown between Lizzie and Mr. Darcy. Another article on Screen Rant mentions that the end of the 2005 version was different in the United States than it was in Great Britain.

I almost wrote what the differences were but I’ll leave that off and let anyone who hasn’t seen this version or any version figure that out on their own. Apparently, the Great Britain audiences didn’t appreciate the extra affection shown at the end of the movie, which was extremely clean, just to clarify, despite what a comment by my daughter suggested.

“Eew, they’re sucking each other’s faces off,” she said, but that did not happen. As with many Jane Austen adaptations, there is nothing gratuitous in the film that will make you put your hands over your child’s eyes.

Have you seen this adaptation?

Have you read the book?

Did this adaptation meet your expectations?

Next week Erin and I are watching the 1996 TV adaption of Emma with Kate Beckinsale. Next week we will be writing about Miss Austen Regrets.

To read Erin’s impressions of this movie, visit her blog: https://crackercrumblife.com/

Sunday Bookends: arctic temps, still reading the same books (sigh), and binging Northern Exposure

On January 14, 2024January 18, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends, Sunday Salon17 Comments

This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at The Book Date.

What’s Been Occurring

I talked a little bit about what’s been occurring yesterday in my Saturday Afternoon Chat. Mainly we’ve been dealing with weird weather of snow and rain and ice and high winds. Today our temps dropped very fast so we will be dealing with arctic temperatures for the whole week. I will be inside the whole week, other than picking our son up at the bus stop (which is our local convenience store) because I don’t want him to have to walk up the hills to our house in the frigid temps.

I also woke up this morning to find out we have a wind advisory again so now it feels like 16 instead of 28. I was on my way to my parents this afternoon (they’re about eight minutes from our house) but when we saw a tree being removed from the bottom of our street and then another one hanging on a line, across the road and almost to the height of our car, I decided we would pick up my son and head back home to wait for the wind advisory to expire before we try again tomorrow.

We might have been fine but looking around seeing trees smashed along the road, limbs broken in the road and evidence of trees having been chainsawed to clear the roadway, we decided to err on the side of caution.

The Husband dropped some homemade soup I was taking off at my parents so they could at least have lunch.

Tomorrow’s temperatures will be frigid but at least we won’t have to be concerned about trees falling on us while battling the cold.

We have a lot of dead ash trees around us so those are ripe for falling down and causing issues. In the summer my daughter and I were at my parents’ swimming in the pool and one fell down behind my parents’ house in the woods. It wasn’t even windy that day. It just fell over. If it can happen without wind then it can definitely happen in 25 to 45 mph wind gusts.

What I’m/We’re Reading

I’m still reading Little Women and Dysfunction Junction. I am enjoying both and like to switch off between them. I will probably finish Dysfunction Junction (by Robin W. Pearson) this week.

After that, I’ll be reading The Cat Who Went Into A Closet and The Bungalow Mystery – a Nancy Drew Mystery.

I am also reading Do The New You By Steven Furtick as a Netgalley read which was perfect timing since our online Bible study is going to be reading it in February.

At night Little Miss and I are reading The Borrowers.

What We watched/are Watching

I watched Northern Exposure over 20 years ago (probably) and started watching it again this week. I don’t remember much of anything about it so it’s like watching it for the first time.

It really was well written and holds up pretty well actually.

I also watched Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice for the Jane Austen January feature I’m doing with Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs. If you want to join in our link-up to discuss all things Jane (including the books) you can find the link up above.

I watched Miss Scarlet and the Duke last week and will probably watch more today and this week since I will be hiding in the house until the weather gets better.

The Husband and I watched the 1978 version of Death on the Nile. It held up pretty well despite Bette Davis looking like she’d come out of a crypt.

What I’m Writing

I am working on Cassie, which releases in August. I hope to have it finished by February. If you are curious what the book will be about, here is a very loose description:

It’s 1995 and 32-year-old Cassie Mason is an actress who made it big on a sitcom in the mid-1980s but hasn’t been able to find a job since the show ended five years ago.

After being fired by her talent agency, Cassie takes her sister Bridget up on her offer for Cassie to come back to their hometown for an extended visit to unwind and regroup.

While there Cassie finds out her younger sister – the one with the handsome husband and three kids and running a farm – is going to open a café and farm store in the small town they grew up near. Cassie decides to stay long enough to help with the grand opening, though she isn’t sure what she can do since she doesn’t know a thing about cooking like her mom and sister and isn’t great at organizing either.

In fact, Cassie isn’t sure what’s she is good at other than acting. Bridget hasn’t been able to help out at the Berrysville Community center like she’d like to with all that has to be done to open the business so she asks Cassie to fill in for a couple of volunteer opportunities. That’s when Cassie finds out that her sister’s neighbor, Alec, isn’t only a small farmer – he’s also someone who knows how to cook and showcases those talents in a weekly cooking class at the community center.

During her visit home, Cassie struggles to figure out not only where she fits in and feels most at home but also to figure out if acting is all she is meant to do with her life or if there is another way God wants to use her talents.

And God? There’s someone else she needs to learn more about on this break from the career she thought she’d always have.

I’ve also been writing blog posts:

What I’m Listening To

This week I have been listening to James Herriot’s Treasury for Children but this upcoming week I will be back to listening to A Tale of Two Cities.

Next week I hope to return to sharing blog posts from other bloggers that I enjoyed from the week. I haven’t been reading as many blogs as I would like to and I’m really looking forward to getting back to that this year.

Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

Saturday Afternoon Chat: Crazy weather and crazy weather and some reading time

On January 13, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn Saturday Afternoon Tea5 Comments

I read on Instagram that today is National Drink Hot Tea Day. There is always a national something or other day and I sometimes wonder who even keeps track of them all so people on social media can use it as content to talk about.

Anyhow, I’m drinking some peppermint tea with honey later today, not because I don’t have any other tea, but because I had some other types of tea earlier in the week and I wanted my old standby today.

Also later today I will be lighting a fire because our temps are going to plummet very fast this afternoon into this evening until they are in the 20s tomorrow and then the single digits at night and in the mornings starting Monday.

We are also under a high wind advisory today and when you live in a semi-rural area surrounded by trees (including a really old, really tall one in front of my house), you tend to get very nervous about high wind advisories. You also expect to lose power at some point, which makes me a little nervous since today it will be just me and Little Miss at home. The Husband is working and The Boy is going to a friend’s house.

I don’t do well health-wise in either very hot temperatures or very cold ones so I am not looking forward to the cold weather. I will not be leaving my house much at all during the cold weather snap because it irritates my asthma. I will be going out enough to pick up my son from the bus stop because I don’t want him to have to walk up our hill in such cold weather.

I am supposed to go visit my parents for lunch tomorrow when it is only supposed to be about 26 but I’ll see if I still want to do that or not. I practically have to be dragged outside kicking and screaming when it is super cold or when it is super hot.

The weather has been very odd here lately but that is somewhat normal for Pennsylvania this time of year.

Last weekend we had a snowstorm that lasted two days. By Tuesday it was rain and wind and the threat of flooding. Then off and on during the week snow and hail came and last night there was a burst of snow that covered the ground right before freezing rain came in and left the entire yard in a sheen of ice. To say winter has decided to show up this month is an understatement.

This past week I stayed inside every day and was a slug part of the time because of the weather. I read books, worked on my novel, wrote some blog posts, made some social media posts, enjoyed the fire, sipped tea and cocoa, cooked dinner, did the dishes a couple of times, ignored piles of books and papers I don’t know what to do with, and overall just enjoyed being a hermit and not having to go anywhere.

Yesterday I had to go pick up groceries but I really can’t complain because one, I had to drive there and they put them in the car, and two, my husband had to go out in this awful weather all week for work so he’s got the real cruddy end of the bargain here.

No one went with me to pick up groceries this time so it was just me in the car, listening to James Herriot’s Treasury for Children on Audible. I was going to listen to a Jane Austen collection but my phone claimed it wasn’t downloaded and it turned out better to listen to the one from James Herriot anyhow because it is so relaxing and my day really wasn’t relaxing for a variety of reasons – mainly family stuff and a lot of things on my mind about said family.

Today I hope to relax some but Little Miss wants me to play a video game with her and watch a movie. I honestly do not understand why my children always want me to play video games with them. I do not enjoy video games but they are just so excited to show Mom how to play it and then laugh at her when she can’t figure it out. My son wanted me to play Skyrim one time and I ran the guy into the wall over and over for like ten minutes.

It’s now a running joke in our house. My son will say something like, “Look, I’m Mom playing Skyrim,” and then just run into a wall several times while looking over his shoulder saying, “Don’t worry, Havar. I’m coming! I swear! If I can figure out this controller, I’m coming to help you.”

Of course, by then Havar was dead because I was still running into a wall.

This upcoming week I really need to work more on my book, Cassie. It’s been hard to get going on it but I hope to have it done in February so I can start work on my next Gladwynn book.

This week my dad left me a comment on my Facebook cover where I was promoting the second book and it really meant a lot because my dad is not a reader. He’s really never had time to read and if he did, he chose non-fiction books, such as theology books.

Mom told me he read my first book in the Gladwynn Grant Mysteries, though, reading a chapter or so a night before bed. When he was done, he told me it felt weird not having the book to read so I was glad that it wasn’t long after that when I realized the second book.

Now he is in the middle of the second book so I really need to start writing book three for him.

This is the message he left on the photograph for the book on my page: am not much of a reader at all and very seldom read fiction and I watch very few movies.

Like who wants to read about something that is not? Lol. Evidently a lot of people.

Anyway, I got into the first Gladwyn Mystery and found it intriguing, and starting this one I find it more so.

Sometimes I think wow, I never knew that lol. You see Gladwynn Grant, a mixture of intelligent, ditzy curious, and almost cunning, was my mother’s name.

Okay off to store a few more clues and along the way to the hometown theater find out what happened to Samantha. “”

Dad hasn’t always been super supportive of me writing fiction (“You have to actually go places to write books and you don’t go anywhere or have a lot of experience,” he told me once. Sigh. Dads.) so the fact he’s enjoyed these Gladwynn books has meant a lot to me.

Well, I am off to watch the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice, which I am watching as part of Erin (Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs) and my Jane Austen January Feature. I will warn you that this version is not my favorite and I am actually finding it a bit annoying at this point. I promise to try my best to be polite about it when I write about it on Thursday.

I will be back tomorrow with Sunday Bookends, where I will ramble about what I’ve been reading and what I hope to read and all that jazz.

How was your week last week? Did you do anything exciting? And what’s your tea of choice these days?

Boondock Ramblings

Author: Lisa R. Howeler