the victor is usually the man in the tighter pants

    Dear Harriet Walter,


    Things I forgot to mention last post (and extras):

• I have a new roommate, her name's Courtney and she's tiny and dark and we get along quite well.
• The best thing about driving down the western U.S. was late on the night of the 18th, when we were on another long straight road, nearing Reno, and, well, basically....stars in the desert. It was mindblowing. Literally dozens more stars than I'd ever seen before. There was even a shooting star (probably left over from the Perseids or whatever), which was also new to me.
• My freshman class is around 24 people. The girls range in size from 4'11" to 6'2".
• Right-Hand Man has been awesome about supplying me with Harriet Walter-related photos and news stories and things, as well as other means of support and sanity-preservation.
• I've watched The Scarlet Pimpernel twice more since the first time (once with my mother) and it just keeps getting better. Like what is up with that movie. It's such a guilty pleasure that last night, when I was watching it again, someone asked me what I was watching (when I went from the lounge where I had my laptop to my room to fetch a small pillow) and I could not even bring myself to tell them because I was so embarrassed, but at the same time I'll be watching the final 20 minutes or so and be thinking like "this is the best movie ever".

Awesome vs guilty in this case has the same result as Sir Percy vs Chauvelin.

• After seeing this entry on Dame Harriet Walter Appreciation, I've decided to just rename my blog to Dame Harriet Walter Appreciation Appreciation. Straight up. DHWA is now my favorite website of all the websites.
• Upperclassman Krista cut my hair for me this afternoon YAY
• I've been to two classes and one of the professors is off his rocker. Like, just seriously intense and passionate and fast-paced and scary. Intellectual without being approachable. He's very interesting to watch, but I think the only way I'm not going to be intimidated past being able to perform is if I take a super belligerent attitude to his class.
• The way I talk and write is changing more every day I'm here. It's weird.
• Freshman Marissa and I had an intense squealing/shrieking moment this afternoon when we discovered that we both loved the miniseries of Little Dorrit.
• Everything is going to be ok.

updates and whateverings

     Dear Harriet Walter,

    More updatery!

•  My sister has gone home as of a couple days ago. I was an emotional wreck for a while but things are ok now.
• Today is pretty much the last day of freshman orientation at my college. Convocation was this morning and evening classes (which I have none of) start this evening, with day classes starting tomorrow. I wish I had all my textbooks already.
• All the upperclassmen came back to campus yesterday. I have been looking forward to this ever so much, as there were some I met when I visited the campus in March who I was really looking forward to seeing again. (They remember me and still like me and are apparently delighted that I ended up coming here.)
• Discovered yesterday that one of the upperclassmen, Libby, has apparently read Strong Poison and Gaudy Night, although she couldn't remember the name of the former and only read the latter for school. (Probably in high school.) Nevertheless, I was excited. Fellow freshman Dane, who Libby and I were eating dinner with when the subject came to books and so to mysteries and so to Sayers, remarked that that was the happiest he'd seen me since I arrived.
• The day before yesterday us freshmen were taken to the Getty Museum. It was super awesome. I never properly appreciated Degas before.
• Sister accidentally took the camera with her when she fled in the car. She says she'll mail it to me. I might be able to illustrate this blog more once I get it back. Things are looking kind of bare.
• I am very probably going to be freaking out and flailing in hysterical consternation more in the next few days starting tomorrow. The registrar and dean of student life have both spoken of something called "syllabus shock" in regretful tones when orienting us as regards classes starting, and I am really bad at handling the big picture. One tries to take one thing at a time, but it's not always possible. (don't you just love how optimistic and hopeful I am sometimes)

    Finally, I would just like to thank you, Harriet Walter, for being Harriet Vane in the eighties. I've been re-(rerere)watching the miniseries adaptations of Strong Poison and Have His Carcase in my free time for the sake of escapism and chilling-out, and they are just so relaxing and comforting. And you were so awesome.

also I want to own that dress.

several reasons to be dehydrated

    Dear Harriet Walter,

    Okay. So. This month, recapitulated (for reference on current events in my life see this previous post):

• My parents moved with the rest of my family to Idaho in the first couple of days of this month, while I chose to move into Best Friend's home. My parents came back after a couple of days to continue working on our beat-up, rapidly emptying house.
• I stayed with Best Friend's family for a couple of weeks. My parents stayed with my grandma, who also lives in town. (Happy news: Shortly before I left, Best Friend's family volunteered to foster my dog for a year in hopes that my parents will be able to move into pet-friendly housing next year.)
• About a week ago we called ourselves done with the house and my hometown, leaving my grandma and Best Friend and Best Friend's younger sister to continue what work there was left to be done - mostly painting - to get it into a renting-ready state. Parents and I moved to the parents' student housing in Idaho, where my siblings were still stationed.
• I stayed in Idaho for about five days.
• Mother, Sister and I drove down to southern California starting the 18th, spent the night at a cheap motel in Reno and made it to my college on the 19th according to schedule.
• I am now on my third day of orientation. It has been difficult. Mother had to leave and fly back north yesterday.
• I have never moved before in my life and have now done so three times in one month. (There has been a lot of driving.)
• Sister is breaking down and talking about leaving me, dropping out and going back to Idaho.

    TURNS OUT STRESS PILLS CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH

ugh just give me your face

    Dear Harriet Walter,

     My life is such a dizzy muddle right now that I don't even have the energy to complain about it. Instead, I will say that I just watched the latest episode of Law & Order UK (nearly a week after it came out, how's that for busy?) and enjoyed it very much. Especially the bits with you and the bits with Jamie Bamber's face.

And the bits with both!

    Anyway I'm going to screencap my favorite shots of you from that episode because they happened in a beautiful sequence. And I've had a long day and it cheers me up.

    (Click for bigs.)

war correspondence

    Dear Harriet Walter,

    Moving house is purgatory. So is getting ready to go to college. Going to peoples' houses with my highly excitable dog when they're potential new homes for him and seeing them get all dubious at his bug-eyed anxious freakery while I'm trying to sell them on the idea of adopting him like "he's really mellow at home!" when I really really really do not want to lose my dog in the first place but I have to because my parents are moving into on-campus housing to go back to school and can't have a dog is hell.

    (oh golly don't you love my sentence construction?)

    Anyway, on a more cheerful note, years ago I promised myself when I first heard the name "The Scarlet Pimpernel" that I would never ever ever love either the character or the story because the name was too ridiculous to support love. Flash forward to the Friday before last, and I was over at Friend Bethany's house with another of her friends for a girly crafting night and we decided to watch a movie and we were looking in Friend Bethany's DVD cabinet and we were definitely going to watch a period film and Friend Bethany's other friend saw The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982) in there and was like "hey it's got Gandalf let's watch that" and Friend Bethany and I were like "k" so we watched it.

This.

    It. Was. Awesome. I can't believe I'm saying that, but I am. It was like the misbegotten French Revolution love-baby of Robin Hood and Lord Peter Wimsey. On crack. In really tight pants. Maybe I just liked it because all the stress of moving is making me cling harder to sources of escapism, I don't know, that could be it, because that movie just took me completely out of myself (which was awesome).

    (...i might actually have to read the book)

    ALSO ALSO ALSO, speaking of Lord Peter Wimsey, LOOK WHO SHOWED UP OUT OF NOWHERE

   
    Oh, Mr Bunter. What comfort you bring to my saddening days.