"And glide through the dazzled ranks of the village children..." ~ Jane Eyre

This photo was taken yesterday afternoon; my father pulled Jack along in his sled and my sister captured the moment. There is still snow on the ground here this early Sunday afternoon, though today the sun is bright and the reflection of it in the snow is even brighter. I feel bright looking at this photo of my booboo in his mittens and B-52 bomber hat; he is a real, live snow angel. If you leave a comment, tell me about your favorite childhood memories in the snow - if you lived somewhere where it did snow, that is!

"Repeated the general blending of snow..." ~ Jane Eyre

Six cups of french vanilla coffee are brewing as Frank sings "My Funny Valentine" and I dry my hair from the snowflakes falling on my curls after shoveling my walkway a few moments ago. Though I changed back into my flannel pajamas, I am not going back to sleep despite wanting to go under my covers and cozy up to the tank top that smells like him and inhale a new romance. There are two books by my couch to be read this afternoon, and I am pondering what I want to defrost from my freezer for lunch; I am leaning towards split pea soup with ham that I made about a month ago. I am reveling in the class and composure Barack showed last night after Hillary's lamely constructed xerox comment; indeed, she is silly to think that her snarky remark was going to fly with the audience. Although I am happy it is a day for a snowstorm, I am checking out the Spring Fashion of the Times online, curious about the upcoming trends for the season. I see a Miu Miu leather clutch in the design of a dragon fly that is gorgeous not only for its design but because it is also pink. A part of me hopes this snow turns to rain by early evening - I am supposed to eat dinner with Jack and his parental units this evening. I spoke with him before and asked if he was excited to put his snow boots on and play in the snow. He replied "Yup!" He says yup, not yes, and I guess you have to be an aunt to understand how endearingly cute that is. I know I should take advantage of the day and get some paperwork done this afternoon, but I am trying to procrastinate with that until at least two o'clock. Checking out upcoming exhibitions at museums is tops on my ways to procrastinate list. The MET has a very interesting exhibit happening in the Costume Institute that relates to blogging; I want to get there in March before it closes in April: http://www.metmuseum.org/special/se_event.asp?OccurrenceId={FBCA0E60-48CD-4114-84C6-875AB7C411BA} The exhibit after this relates to fashion and superheroes, which also sounds like a fun collection to view. Of course anytime I think of fashion and superheroes, I think of underoos and how my poor mother had to buy three sets of Wonder Woman 'roos for me and my sisters. That makes me think about how after we were out in the snow on a snow day we came in and my mom had us sit in our long johns on the radiator cover to warm up...

"I devoured a spoonful or two..." ~ Jane Eyre

Jack is taking a class called "Broadway Babies" which meets once a week and professional actors and musicians take a musical and turn it into a one hour learning and interactive session for toddlers. It is too cute for words. Since Mary Poppins is Jack's favorite musical (see entry dated October 7, 2007), he has been very excited for the past two weeks knowing that they were going to be performing a session! Although he has a cold and didnt sleep well last night, my sister, brother-in-law, and I took him this morning and the experience was priceless. Here is is with Pop Pop and Bert in a photo I shot after the performance. I admit that when the actors opened the door to the studio and were dressed as the characters saying hello IN character, I got a bit teary when I saw the look on his face. He was beaming. Indeed, we do relive our childhood through our children, and in that moment I got to go back and be just as excited to see her as he was.

"Mama used to teach me to dance and sing..." ~ Jane Eyre

Mute Mondays: Diversity

From top: Armenian, Indian, African, Carnavale, Chinese, Flamenco, Irish, Japanese

"In the course of preparing tea..." ~ Jane Eyre

My bedroom smells like jasmine and vanilla and the scent makes me crave jasmine tea, among other things, which is brewing right now as I sit here to breathe deeply and make myself a proper afternoon tea. This is a vacation day for me, and I shall not return to work until Wednesday. I have an entire weekend to myself and am so excited that nothing is planned but time for me and to do things for myself.

Of course this morning I spent with Jack; he is attending "school" for an hour and a half at an amazing child recreation center that holds educational classes. I went to the house and my sister, Jack, adn I had mini waffles, hopped in the car, and then we got to sponge paint, sing, have snack, and play. I watch him in the room and am proud of his patience, his politeness, and how well he gets along with other children. I am going back to another class with him on Tuesday morning, this time a music class called "Broadway Babies" where musicians and actors dress the part from musicals and sing to the children. This Tuesday is Mary Poppins, so there was no way I was missing that experience to see him dance with a character dressed as Bert to "Step In Time."

I am moving again and excited - this time a house. A house I will share with my twin sister. I have not lived in a house since moving out of my parents' home when I was 22, so the idea excites me to no end, especially the idea of a garden. I want to plant flowers, of course, but I also want a vegetable garden of tomatoes, zucchini, and cucumbers. I want tomatoes so I can jar my own sauce, and I want cucumbers so I can make my own pickles. I am procrastinating this afternoon and looking at pickling websites. http://www.pickyourown.org/makingpickles.htm I do have to start packing and boxing, but it will be an easy move - not stressful. The only stressful part to me is picking paint colors. I am thinking long and hard about colors for the bedroom and want to veer away from the golden tone I have had for a few years now. I want something warm and am leaning towards: melon. Melon with brown and blue accents.

I am reading a book about a tea shop called The Tea House on Mulberry Street. Its a good, light, fluffy read for a cold February evening; it's about an Irish couple who own a teahouse in Belfast and about all of the colorful characters whom frequent the shop. There is a cherry cheesecake recipe at the end that sounds delicious and would make if I didnt dislike baking so much.

My tea is ready, my book is here, and I go from one written word to another...

"Many pure and sweet sources of pleasure..." ~ Jane Eyre

Mute Mondays - VALENTINES

Another interesting voice...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/opinion/06dowd.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

"To cheat me..." ~ Jane Eyre


In the novel Jane Eyre, Jane leaves Rochester as soon as she learns his mad wife resides in the attic and refuses to run away with him after their wedding is ruined because of this discovery. Yes, what makes Jane a noble character is her sense of what is right, but what also makes her noble is her self-respect and pride in herself. When she leaves him, she loses everything but her self-love. In the end, she knew that was the most important possession to own.

I am aware that I have alluded to politics here at Eyre Affairs. It is not a subject I usually speak of, for it is a very private matter. As much as I elaborate on my life, there is so much, dear readers, that shall and always will remain private. Still, I brought up the election recently. I have indicated my support for Barack Obama, and some people have questioned why I do not support Hillary Clinton. The answer? Just call it female intuition.

Martin Luther King Jr. emphasized judging a person by the content of his/her character. Now, I have done my research on the candidates, and I have spent hours and hours learning about Barack Obama from his books to articles in The New Yorker to pieces on him on NPR. Until others do the same, I ask that comments about him be refrained until you educate yourself. I have concluded he is of excellent character; not perfect, but a good man who made choices in life without ever compromising his self respect.

I think that Hillary Clinton is a good woman and a smart woman. What I do not find her to be is a strong woman. I do not find it noble that she has made herself a doormat to get to where she is today. Her husband is a repeated adulterer, and if I had a young daughter, I would be concerned about Hillary Clinton as a role model. Your president is complacent to stay in a marriage where she has been emotionally abused by her husband not once, but many times. He has put his own child through pain and has made her endure humiliation in addition to Hillary's. Some may argue she is strong for keeping her family together, but I disagree. Her weakness is her ego, and she stays in a marriage that is a sham, much like what a marriage between Jane and Rochester would have been if Jane didnt stand up for her own self preservation.

Am I supposed to admire her for putting this country above her own well being? I cannot. I cannot admire her for putting aside her self respect and compromising her happiness. If we are not good to ourselves, we cannot be good to others. She spoke on the subject and said she did what was right for her. If that was right for her, than she is the wrong person to lead this nation. What he did was quintessentially wrong, and her continuance to keep him in her life makes me uneasy. And, sadly, perhaps I would be more apt to like her if she was divorced. Well, not perhaps - I most certainly would. She would then have proven that she takes shit from no one, and I admire that in a leader, and in a fictional heroine.

Oh there are other reasons. She is smug all of the time, she has skeletons in her closest that the GOP cant wait to bring out. She loves pointing fingers at other political parties but never admits the faults of those in her own party. I dont like that she piggybacked my state to get her where she is now, and I fear that she is embedded in so many political entanglements that her cabinet would be made up of all those she owed favors to.

If there is one thing I have learned as a woman who just turned thirty, it is to never compromise myself. I shall not and will not support any woman that is a repeat offender of placing her needs, wants, and desires of her soul in the trashbin and taking garbage over and over from the man who vowed to love her his entire life. She would be a hero if she left him, as Jane Eyre leaves Rochester. Instead, she becomes an antagonist to me - I look at her and see a compromised soul with tainted character. I wish Hillary Clinton would reread Jane Eyre, for she could learn a lot from such a heroine.

"But judgment shall still have the last word in every argument, and the casting vote in every decision..." ~ Jane Eyre


I do wonder how many voters today are going to be standing in the machine and reflecting on how fortunate they are to have this beautiful right to decide who leads this nation. What I think of is how 100 years ago women were not given the right to vote, and now a woman is a potential presidential candidate. I think about how slavery existed 150 years ago and now there is an African-American male who is a potential presidential candidate. This is the quintessential American Dream.

Of course even I admit to not staying in that frame of mind for long. I am in the present, and I am presently anxious and nervous. For the first time in my life I am emotional about a candidate, and I assure you tears will flow down my cheeks if he does not make it on the presidential ballot for the Democrats. I am voting for Obama because he is the best candidate in my eyes. But a part of me knows that if he wins, it will touch me on a deeper level. I spent seven years teaching MLK's speech and have heard it over two dozen times. The words will no longer be of dreams, but they will finally be of life if he wins. All of the experienced politicians have let me down, so I say give me the one who has the biggest heart to give to this nation and the brightest eyes looking towards the future of this nation.

When The New Yorker arrived at my door today (see above), I smiled. Obama as Eustice Tilley was right side up. For an in-depth, candid look at Barack, click here: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/07/070507fa_fact_macfarquhar?currentPage=1
And for a collection of great photos: http://www.newyorker.com/online/2007/05/07/slideshow_070507_obama

"He hews down like a giant..."~ Jane Eyre

It is just a game, but it is more than a game.

The nature of the sport becomes a metaphor for life. As a Giants fan, it was about my team winning, but as a human being, it was about showing the world the power of the underdog. In the end, the latter meant more.

When no one believes in you, you believe in yourself. Easier said than done? I think last night proved that it can be done. I am no football expert, but I know a play of passion and fire when I see one. Literally, Eli was getting pulled down by those wanting to see him fail, and he hung on and would not allow himself to fall. He pulled himself out with courage, and still managed to complete his objective in life at that moment. And then David slew Goliath when he cought the football on his helmet, as if to show the world that if you literally put your mind to it, you can acheive glory.

Of course my real heroes are the defensive team lead by one of the other greatest Mike's in sports' history. They fought and fought and fought and managed to hold back those who were favored. Why they were favored, I do not know. I think they cheated to get to the top, their coach has no sense of sportsmanship, and their quarterback is all bravado. It just goes to show you that nice guys finish first, and those who have heart and a sense of family will prevail in the end.

My voice is gone from screaming, I am exahusted, and I ate and drank too much last night. But I am a happy woman. Tomorrow my city has a tickertape parade and illustrates to people everywhere that the underdogs' spirit can and will make them winners. Whatever is an obstacle in your life that is favored to overtake you means nothing. Keep your hope and passion, like my boys, and you will win in this life.

(*On a lighter note: even my favorite ad was about the underdog winning! Click here for the Coca-Cola balloon commercial - go to quarter three: http://sports.aol.com/nfl/superbowlads?NCID=aolcmp00300000002574*)