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*