Fractured Fairy Tales

I love, have always loved, fairy tale stories. In particular, I adore reinterpreted fairy tales. Here are a few of my favorites:


Beauty by Robin McKinley



Beauty is a spectacular reinterpretation of Beauty and the Beast. Beauty does not consider herself beautiful by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, Beauty is a nickname that stuck after one of the obnoxiously precocious moments in childhood. She is bookish, and loves horses, and these hobbies are facilitated with ease until her father's merchant ships are lost at sea. Their removal to a poor country village showcases a beautiful family that are loving and industrious. McKinley combines the real world and a fantasy world with delicious dexterity. The Beast and his realm are utterly believable in their parameters, and the Beast himself is endearing and charming. This book has been a favorite of mine since childhood, and I continue to read it to this day.











Snow by Tracy Lynn



Snow brings the tale of Snow White into the Victorian age. Jessica, Daughter of a Duke is left isolated for years in Kenigh Hall in Wales, until her father remarries the Duchess. Jealous of Jessica's burgeoning beauty, the Duchess forces Jessica into servitude and out of the light, until her hair grows in black as night, and her skin turns white as snow. Discovering the Duchess' plot to kill her, Jessica, now nicknamed Snow, runs away to London and falls into the company of the Lonely Ones, societal misfits and pickpockets. Snow's journey in the dark underbelly of Victorian London is intriguing and quite the page-turner. Plus, Raven is dreamy!


















And right now, rather than writing my paper, my attention is utterly focused on the SyFy channel's new adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, called simply Alice. It is most excellent.

The Fabric of Our Lives

I wear jeans. Specifically, Levis. Every day. Maybe one day I'll wear a pair of cords. But denim is the major fabric of my life, along with flannel and thermal in the winter. As much as I love fashion, I tend to be pretty boring. Thus, the lack of outfit posts. But I also love jean commercials. Here are two of my favs.






Plus, the second one has Jamie Dornan in it. I'm pretty sure. He's pretty.

Happy Turkey day!

I can't help myself.

Happy Halloween!!

Wicked Queens

I've always been kind of fascinated by the Wicked Queen character of fairy stories. What makes them so angry, I used to wondered? And what is it about the stepmother-figure that makes her so easy to vilify? But at the same time, these women that seem so terrifying are so interesting. Outside the newer, retold fairy tales, the villains are cooler and more descriptive than the heroines!



And a more modern interpretation:

Cold snap!

The weather has turned colder, and colors are bursting out all over campus. From the burnt orange of the leafy maples lining the streets, to the colorful knit hats, scarves, and mittens. October is nearing the end, which can mean only one thing: Halloween! I'm not doing any sort of party or costume this year, but I am going with my parents to their alma mater as our colleges face off for a football battle. They're friends from college always get together and tailgate--I'm sure riotous behavior will ensue.

This weekend, well, these next four days really, are incredibly pivotal. If I get all the work done that I mean to, I will be ahead of schedule and won't collapse under pressure by the end of the semester. If I don't get the work done . . . . academic doom may be a bit of melodramatic, but you get the general idea.

Anyways, here is a little video that I discovered on youtube from an old disney special that I loved when I was a kid. My mom video-taped it (the days before DVR, if we can hark back that far) and I watched it all the time, even when it wasn't Halloween. Then my dad taped over it with Melrose Place. Something he denies to this day.