That Three Things Meme

[chelseagirl]

So I had asked sholio for three things, and then I got caught up in being indignant about certain fannish things and kind of forgot about it. Now everyone is playing, so . . . I found mine. It's fun reading yours! Ask if you want another three, and please feel free to ask me three, too!

headphones: I would love a set of noise-cancelling headphones. Marty and I shared a studio apartment -- a one-room apartment -- that I'd had when I was single, for the first 11 years of our marriage. (I lived there for 22 years overall; the first 11 were definitely easier, as it was a large one-room flat with a kitchenette and a bathroom but no privacy once you lived there with another human.) I wanted to be able to check out from their "I'm home therefore the TV is on" way of life. I am a classic INFJ-style introvert; I love people but I need a lot of alone time. That even includes my beloved. Towards the end, I joined a writers' loft where there was a large room with a total silence room and many cubicles. It was heaven. I quit it once we had a one-bedroom, though. I would still like over-head headphones but I'm afraid with everything being bluetooth these days I may not be able to get a good set that work with my ancient but still functioning iPod. I don't love my earbuds, which jam into my ear canal and make me kind of unhappy.

mountains: I grew up in the Hudson Valley and I still consider Storm King to be the best name for a mountain EVER. I have experienced many valleys -- the Boston Valley is the area south of Buffalo between small mountains and I used to visit a boyfriend in the Catskills in Frost Valley. I am fascinated by the Rockies -- my first novel is set in Montana, not far from the Rockies. I have mostly flown over them on the way to California and looked down and said "wow!" And my dear friend silme lived among them for many years. I was hanging out with my friend the College of Architecture and Design librarian last week and they were getting rid of books and I nabbed one of 19th century artists' depictions of the Rockies, but I had nabbed three big art books and could only carry one home, so it is at the office. (Where I am only going once a week this summer, yay!)

Jane Austen: Of course I love Jane Austen. I love the 19th century novel, how could I not? Actually, when I took a class in Austen in grad school I discovered that she is disputed territory between 18th century and 19th century folks. I have reread all of them, but especially P&P and S&S, so many times! Elizabeth Bennet is my favorite because she's so clever. I don't even mind that Lady Catherine de Bourgh makes bad use of my good name. ;-) Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle will forever be my Darcy and Elizabeth. (Did you know she's American? I saw her as Lady Macbeth opposite Liev Schrieber and I found out by reading the program. I would totally have pegged her as British.) Austen is interesting because she's concurrent with the Romantics, but she's really quite anti-Romantic, which is funny because in many ways she's set the template for the modern romance novel. But of course Romantic and romantic are entirely different things.

That was all pretty associational.

Comments

[kore]

Marty and I shared a studio apartment -- a one-room apartment -- that I'd had when I was single, for the first 11 years of our marriage. (I lived there for 22 years overall; the first 11 were definitely easier, as it was a large one-room flat with a kitchenette and a bathroom but no privacy once you lived there with another human.) I wanted to be able to check out from their "I'm home therefore the TV is on" way of life. I am a classic INFJ-style introvert; I love people but I need a lot of alone time. That even includes my beloved

HFS I am in FUCKING AWE. T and I lived in a sorta-studio (basically a big room in a boardinghouse, bathroom down the hall, kitchen one floor down) for like nine months? when we first got together, a year before we got married, and that was HELL, but we bonded. Also picked up a lot of terrible habits which we struggle with to this very fucking day! but we bonded. I can't imagine living in a studio with the most perfect quiet non-TV-oriented partner ever for ELEVEN YEARS. If I wore a hat it would be permanently off to you guys.

[chelseagirl]

Oh goodness, towards the end I was thinking all kinds of desperate thoughts, like moving to another part of the country where housing was cheaper and my then-freelance income would go a long way further. I guess we will never get divorced?

[kore]

towards the end I was thinking all kinds of desperate thoughts

MAN, I JUST BET

//fistbump of the Maritally Bonded Through Tiny Living Quarters

[chelseagirl]

Returns fistbump

[lunabee34]

Storm King is an awesome name!

I completely agree with you re: Firth and Ehle. They are the pinnacle for me.

[chelseagirl]

Yes. I get that it is a classic and people need to remake it periodically, but I feel oddly sorry for them.

[lunabee34]

Plus, I just wish we got over our obsession with remaking stuff. Half the movies that come out now are remakes. I want NEW stuff.

[chelseagirl]

Fair enough! Also how half the plays on Broadway now are musicals of movies from the 80s and 90s?

[troisoiseaux]

my ancient but still functioning iPod

Same!!! I have a 7th generation iPod nano that was outdated by the time I got it (to replace my old 3rd generation iPod nano, which died an honorable death of sheer exhaustion when I was in high school) and the screen is cracked now but honestly, Apple is going to have to pry it out of my cold dead hands before I'll use my iPhone for music.

(Also, as much as I love the 2005 Pride & Prejudice, Firth and Ehle are totally the best Darcy & Elizabeth.)

[chelseagirl]

Even worse: I have a Samsung Galaxy. I had an iPhone, but switched, as my partner has always had a Galaxy and now serves as my in-house IT person as opposed to "I dunno, I don't have an iPhone." It's also that I don't want to be streaming always. I was on Amtrak recently, and tried to listen to some of the music I have on Amazon music (because if you buy the CD, which I still do, you get the streaming for free) and I was out of range. Talkative folks sitting behind me and I'd forgotten my iPod. Horrors!

[trepkos]

I must read some more Jane Austen - I read Northanger Abbey, and quite enjoyed it.

[chelseagirl]

That is such an interesting choice to start with -- excellent book but a little more different from her others, with the gothic satire ramped up.

[nyctanthes]

And speaking of associational...I learned last year that Jennifer Ehle's dad was an author of historical fiction, with a focus on Appalachia. I read his book The Land Breakers last year and really enjoyed it.

Also, I love the museum at Storm King.

[chelseagirl]

So interesting!

I need to go back to the Storm King Art Center -- I understand it's grown quite a lot since I was last there, which was . . . yikes. I think I brought a date who is not the person I married and I got married 17 years ago. It's been too long! When I was a child, they didn't care if you climbed on the sculptures, and we did quite a bit of that. But it definitely had me appreciating modern sculpture long before I understood modern painting.

Sanditon on PBS in 2020

[executrix]

Andrew Davies has written an eight-part Sanditon adaptation that will be on PBS next year: https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a22104342/jane-austen-sanditon-tv-miniseries-pbs-adaptation/

Frankly eight episodes seems a lot with what he has to work with; I'd think a Love and Friendship-style movie would make more sense (be more sensible?)

Re: Sanditon on PBS in 2020

[chelseagirl]

Goodness -- yes. I remember someone completed Sanditon back in the . . . I want to say the 70s, because I feel like it was when I was working in my town's library when I was in high school?

Aren't you the one who's a definite not-fan of Mr. Davies?

Re: Sanditon on PBS in 2020

[executrix]

Indeed I am. In fact I almost quenched my enthusiasm for seeing Years & Years because it's written by the OTHER Davies (Rusty) but I'm trying not to demonize all Davieses.

Re: Sanditon on PBS in 2020

[chelseagirl]

Thanks for the reminder -- we re-upped HBO for the end of GoT and (more importantly) the Deadwood movie, and I couldn't remember what it was I still wanted to watch before we quit again.

(Also Gentleman Jack is the best! An unexpected bonus.)

Re: Sanditon on PBS in 2020

[executrix]

I am waiting patiently for Gentleman Jack to be Netflixable! I'm not sure if the time frame is the same but I'm imagining an intoabar where Anne Lister meets Ross Poldark to discuss Extractive Industries.

Re: Sanditon on PBS in 2020

[chelseagirl]

He'd have to be a smidge elderly -- 1830s -- but it could work. It had occurred to me -- not to write, but just to imagine them knowing each other.

[corvidology]

MG is an audiophile with an extensive record collection and as my hearing is my most developed sense by far so I bought shooting headphones to aid our happy co-existence.

Just something to consider and they're far cheaper than a pair of good noise cancelling headphones.

[chelseagirl]

Interesting thought -- but I would like to be able to listen to music on them, too. I only hope it's not too late to get headphones that aren't wireless as some of my *cough* perfectly functioning equipment -- iPod and CD player -- is not of the newest. ;-)

[executrix]

Anything that is no longer manufactured is readily available reconditioned or on the secondary market, says the person who might buy a used laptop from a private party today and then hook it up to a reconditioned docking station purchased online.

[firstlovelatespring]

I was up at Storm King a couple weeks ago, so beautiful!

[chelseagirl]

Isn't it just? I grew up so near there; we used to climb on the sculptures! (For some reason no one seemed to care back then.) And we hiked in that area, too.