big girls don't cry. . .

When they have to spend Thanksgiving away from their families for the first time EVER.

What, what're you staring at?

No, those aren't tears, I was chopping some onion. You know, in preparation for the dressing I'm going to make for my first Big Girl Thanksgiving.

Yeah, those onions. They get me every time.

In other news, I think I'm getting a job very soon. Yay! And, um, let's see. Oh, right, I have a ton of work to do which is not letting me do my readings for class very often. So most days I'm the girl in the middle of the room trying to nod and look alert and aware, taking strategic notes when someone says a buzzword I know, when in reality I'm lost in space until I get enough downtime to play catchup.

This is, partly, my fault, because I have let my downtime be sucked up into strictly non-American Studies student-ish activities. I recently discovered a new writer, Elizabeth Gaskell, who lived in Victorian England in the 19th century but wrote some fabulous (very hard to put down) novels -- one of which was the basis for a spectacular television adaptation that almost (almost!) puts the 1995 P&P to shame. So in endeavoring to enrich my cultural sensibilities I got trapped into exploring all of her novels. I'm now on my third, called Mary Barton, and there are two more to go. They are fantastic procrastination fodder, but I'm almost done with them. Then I'll probably be back on track. Probably.

In still other news, guess who went to see the new Pride and Prejudice film!

*

If you guessed my mama, you're really mean.

It was me! On Saturday I took a 15 minute busride to the only theater in town that was showing it (limited release, you know. but had I been in Shreveport, I'd still be waiting. so there!) Oooh, the movie was just grand. I'm a die-hard fan of both the ancient, now somewhat goofy 1940 version and the wonderful 1995 6-part smorgasbord, and I really didn't have high expectations of this new one once I heard Keira Knightley was the star. (no, I'm not hating. I just think it's very hard for her to act her way out of a paper bag, is all.)

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised with the film, and I do love it very much. This might be overdue to the breathtaking cinematography, which was nothing short of amazing. Yes, I am such a punk that I almost cried at the beautiful shots of the Peaks, and the English countryside.
But, I was also impressed by the performance of the new Mr. Darcy. From the trailer I didn't think I'd like him, but obviously (and redundantly, lol) I was wrong. He's great in the role. And even Keira's OK. She did tend to play Lizzy as a little too giggly and gawking for my taste, but other than that she was believable. She certainly didn't detract from my enjoyment of the film as I was almost positive she would. So that's something.

No time to write more, am off to class now. No I haven't read, but luckily reading is not very important to this class. More important is showing up and contributing a few timely and really meaningful remarks to the discussion. And we all know I'm a pro at doing that.

Okay, so I was being sarcastic there. But I try my best to be productive, anyway.