~LittleLotteTJDL

This is a short journal, but I just had to express my love for this tv show and it's characters on just about every internet outlet available to me.

I LOVE DOCTOR WHO!!!!! It's pretty much my favorite show ever, and no matter what the other fan girls say, I think Russel T. Davies is a ridiculously good writer and did a FANTASTIC job on the series 4 finale! I'd also like to tell you that if you haven't seen the show, you really should...it's pretty much amazing. Check it out on YouTube, starting the episode "Rose."

Okay, journal over!
Bye

Okay...so I haven't updated my journal since last May. I am notoriously lousy at keeping journals, but I've struck up again with renewed passion now that I have Adobe Photoshop. I've had a LiveJournal account since last April (I think), thought I never updated it until recently (as in a day or two ago). In a strange and beautiful twist of fate, I discovered on weekend a doll photographer after my very own heart. She is known by all the doll world as Milkeye (her GORGEOUS site can be accessed here --> [link] ) and was featured under that name in a recent issue of Haute Doll Magazine. The article included many of her photographic works as well as a short biography. I honestly believe we could be twin sisters for all our similarities in disposition. This discovery along with the joyous discovery of the "steampunk" subculture inspired me to change my style of doll photography. You can find a longer and much less coherent version of this "style development" on my LiveJournal page --> [link] . Another reason for my little writing tear is the book I just finished reading--Jane Eyre. Have you ever picked up a book that you, long ago, ignored or left unfinished in your childhood, only to realize that it is one of the best books you've ever read??? I was assigned to read it in my 11th grade British Lit. class, and like any self-respecting high schooler, I bought the CliffNotes at the book store and read those instead. The "real" book sat on my shelf, a part of my collection of classic literature (all bound in black with matching blue dust covers). I found it too hard to plod along through the strange (to my ears, at least) language with which Jane narrated her fictional biography. A few years later I watched the movie (the best one in my opinion--the 1997 version staring Samatha Morton and Ciaran Hinds), and fell in love with the story. Even after Harry Potter opened my eyes to reading, I still usually couldn't bring myself to read anything longer than 300 page long romance novel. However, after taking a Shakespeare class this semester, I realized that Will's plays make Charlotte Bronte's novel sound like Berenstain Bears book. Don't get me wrong. Her writing is PHENOMENAL. Her prose is more poignant than most people's poetry and she has such a unique way of expressing Jane's thoughts that I always knew and understood exactly what she meant and could sympathize fully with her character. And Mr. Rochester!!! Be still my heart! This is a man who fits snuggly into my favorite little archetype for the male protagonist. Everything about the situation (except for him having a wife, of course--though it added mystery to his character and gave him a reason to brood--and don't we all love the brood lords of a regency romance!) was exactly what I would have laid out for one of my own characters. In fact, I have quite unwittingly modeled my character Sebastian Beaumont to this role (brooding lord of Ivy Hollow...blah, blah, blah--if you've read my LiveJournal you know the story). Bastian's character has been set for quite sometime now, and I've only finished Jane Eyre today! Granted, I probably had some nuggets of the story left from the CliffNotes and the movie, but I was actually planning to use Archibald Craven (The Secret Garden), Richard Keaton (At the Midnight Hour), and Earl Cain Hargreaves (the manga Godchild...yes, I also "squee" about brooding Earls in manga form) as models for "Unidoll Jace"-embodied character. But I digress...this too can be found in my LiveJournal, and I get too carried away if I allow myself to write more about it.
I've also begun writing my fiction again which is a great comfort to me considering I have no idea where else my life is headed (I'll be applying for grad school soon and I have NO IDEA where I'm going to go...or what I'm getting my master's degree in for that matter). At any rate, I'm in the writing mood, but to spare your time and deviantART's space, I'll bring my journal to a close. I'll spend the rest of the evening off trying to find a new obsession now that Jane and Mr. Rochester are living happily ever after. (Excuse the journal's title...it has little to do with journal itself, but those who have read Mark Twain's A Touching Story of George Washington's Boyhood may see the similarity in our writing style...mostly that we digress...a lot.
I suppose I should also finish the reading Shakespeare's account of the less-than-Rochesterian King Henry V, whose life and love seem dull next to the story of the most awesome brooding aristocrat in British literary history (and yes, Austen fans, even more awesome than Mr. Darcy)!
*ADD kicks in* Hmm... I wonder when the next book in the Twilight series comes out. I can't wait for the movie...*wanders away*

Well, I'm off to Scotland tomorrow!!! Please pray for my class and the other W'International classes as we fly out tomorrow!!! I'll hopefully bring back lots of new deviations when I return! SQUEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With deviant love,
Ashley

It's 12:42 PM and I just returned from seeing Pan's Labyrinth. I was so excited about it that I squealed all the way to the theater and tapped my foot impatiently while the previews played--I think I'd be more sane now if I had watched only the previews. I suppose I was expecting something more mild, more tame, more like the sappy but lovable fantasy movies of the '80s. I was sorely mistaken in thinking for an instant that Pan's Labyrinth would be even close to what I'm used to. I sit here, writing, almost completely emotionally numb, other than the slight twinges of pain that poke through the tattered remains hanging where my heart used to be. I'm not sure when I last felt this drained or shocked. This movie hit me harder than I would have liked on so many different levels, and while I want so badly to say that I loved it and it's exactly what I was hoping for and more, I can't. I suppose it was the wake-up call I needed, and I just hope that in the morning, once the shock has worn off, I can be happy about the lessons I've taken away. But right now I'm reeling from the blow to the part of my mind that thought it knew fantasy, the part who thought it had seen it all. After almost two and a half hours of faces being sliced open, shot off, or otherwise mutilated, I find I'm not as desensitized to violence as I had previously thought. I winced every time a bullet whizzed by, amplified by the network of speakers throughout the theater. The effect was such that I felt I was actually there, and I fought the urge to crawl under my cushy seat and cry. I can honestly say that I've never felt that strongly about a movie before, but then I've never seen a movie quite like it. Luckily I have watched two wonderful movies over the break, and yet another violent, depressing movie. The violent, depressing movie was the Prestige, which I had been looking forward to seeing for a long time. However, after watching my first movie of the break The Illusionist, I couldn't help but be a little heart-broken. The latter movie was wonderful, and the other "nice" movie, Howl's Moving Castle, was equally entertaining and uplifting. I enjoyed them both, and they've proved to be quite a balm on my movie battle-scars.
Anywho, on a much lighter note, I've noticed that all of my new deviations are of my BJDs. Although I don't want to stop taken normal pictures, my BJDs are consuming my life at the moment, and I certainly do have a tendency to get obsessed with my hobbies. For those doll fans out there who actually know and care about this, I figured I'd rattle off my collection as of now and my wish list for the future. I currently have an AngelRegion Ren girl (Annabel Lee), a Rainy Wu (Zane), and a Rainy Hana Devil (Harper) living with me, among other non-BJDs (and a R&D Angel Selena that I don't really consider part of my official BJD collection). My mom is planning on getting me a Rainy Lydia [link] to complement my Rainy Wu. I'm also considering getting a Dollstown Mui [link] (waaaayyyy in the future as he's almost $900 even though he comes completely naked) and perhaps even a Dollshe Saint [link] . Anywho, I'm really happy with the dolls I have right now, although I am really excited planning what kinds of wigs and eyes I want for my future Lydia. I've also considered names, and I'm thinking about Darcy. That'll have to wait, though, until I've seen her because there is a good chance I may change my mind. Anywho, after all this doll talk I'm feeling considerably better. Thanks for listening to my strange doll ravings, and I hope I haven't scared anyone off. My dolls are such a blessing...one of the few things that could make me smile on a night like this.

Well, now my theme seems to be dolls and masks. I've been wanting to do my masks for a while, but the dolls were sort of a coincidence. I used to take pictures of my dolls, but since my mom got new dolls for her birthday and I got a new camera for mine, I figured I would take some glamour shots of them just to see how they would turn out. My favorite doll, Primavera, was the subject for Silent Beauty. You can't tell in the picture, but she has really pretty green eyes and gorgeous red hair. My mom's favorite is Monte Carlo who is the subject for (you guessed it...) Monte Carlo. I'm really excited about my masks, though. I've had the Phantom of the Opera mask since last Christmas and the mask with the cards on it since this summer. The Darkness Falls and V for Vendetta masks are ones I bought recently The Harlequin mask was from a long time ago, and I have marti gras masks were from high school. Anywho, I'm really enjoying my new camera and hopefully I'll have even more pictures up soon. If I do another theme or series, it'll probably be of my Willow Tree Angels because I have quite a collection and I've wanted to do them for a long time.