Middlemarch Quote #6: A true love for a good woman is a great thing...it shapes many a rough fellow.
Middlemarch Quote #7: ...after a little pause, she said, more gravely, bending her face before her father's, "If you are contented with Fred?"
Caleb screwed up his mouth and turned his head aside wisely.
"Now, father, you did praise him last Wednesday. You said he had an uncommon notion of stock, and a good eye for things."
"Did I?" said Caleb, rather slyly.
"Yes, I put it all down, and the date, anno Domini, and everything," said Mary. "You like things to be neatly booked. And then his behavior to you, father, is really good; he has a deep respect for you; and it is impossible to have a better temper than Fred has."
"Ay, ay; you want to coax me into thinking him a fine match."
"No, indeed, father. I don't love him because he is a fine match."
"What for, then?"
"Oh, dear, because I have always loved him. I should never like scolding any one else so well; and that is a point to be thought of in a husband."
Elinor Dashwood now has Mary Garth as a companion on my short but dear list of most beloved literary characters.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Mood Swings
One of life's ever-fascinating entertainments (especially if you're female) is observing your own mood swings. Yesterday I had three very abrupt ones, each progressively more alarming/drastic. In the morning, I went to the farmer's market with my mom, and I guess eating all the free food samples put me in a really cheerful mood, because I suddenly got into one of those uncontrollable laughing fits, during which the fact that I have no idea why I'm laughing just propels me to even greater hysteria. Unfortunately, this happened while I was driving out of the parking lot, and my poor mom had to endure a probably terrifying ride home at the hands of a laughing maniac.
At the farmer's market, I convinced her to buy two pieces of cinnamon coffee cake. The samples were SO good, and I thought one piece MIGHT not be enough for our family, but two pieces definitely would be. After lunch I cut a small piece, thinking I'd exercise my generosity and leave some for the others before coming back to claim more. But an hour or so later, I came back and discovered that my dad had finished BOTH PIECES BY HIMSELF without consulting me. I was so devastated that I actually cried. I'm not even kidding--tears welled up in my eyes, and I got that tingly sensation where it feels like a bunch of tiny needles are poking into my nose. Of course, after five seconds or so, I realized how stupid I was being and calmed down...but it was a pretty sad moment for sure.
Later, I was wandering around the house and came across this red pencil sharpener that I love, because it works super well and is really fun to use. This led to a very enthusiastic pencil-sharpening rampage; I started with the pencils in my room, and proceeded to sharpen all the pencils in my house. Then I decided to test all the pens in the house and throw away the ones that ran out of ink. I don't know if other households are like this, but in mine, it seems like every time I really need a functional pencil, all I can find in our pencil boxes are completely random and useless things, like a highlighter or a glow-in-the-dark marker, or an unsharpened colored pencil...this has been a problem for as long as I can remember, so I was very happy to finally solve it. I went on to organize the erasers, markers, colored pencils, scissors, glue sticks, and basically all stationery items. Now, everything is easily accessible, and every pencil can/box in the house is readily equipped with a perfect balance of writing tools (usually three pencils--one with an eraser and two without, two black pens, one colored pen, one marker, and one colored pencil). We also have a communal pencil box where we can store extra pencils etc. Sadly, neither my family nor friends who came over later were especially interested/impressed...I think they were just glad I had something with which to occupy myself so cheerfully, and when I tried to explain to any passersby about the pencil system or communal pencil box, they kind of ignored me and walked a little more quickly away from me. Then my dad came over and was all like, "Jennifer, since you are so good at cleaning, why don't you also work on the kitchen, and these cabinets, and also the floors in your room-" and he went on for a while. That's when I sort of lost my enthusiasm for organizing, and decided it'd be a good idea to leave the house for a while.
But it's mood swings like this that we female musicians can draw on when we have to play stuff like the Ein Heldenleben solos and Tchaikovsky concerto. Hehe.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
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