Sunday, May 6, 2012

This year's passions.

I've just finished a glorious week, which was spent alone. Or as close to alone as I'm going to get. My parents and brothers were several states away from April 25--May 5, and since my sister has school and a social life she was in and out. I was actually going to do a post about "living alone", but I don't know - on Friday I was sort of overcome by my intermittent ennui/depression and I suddenly didn't feel like posting anything I had been considering posting.

So, on Friday I started pondering what to post about, for I knew I did want to post. The problem was, I wanted to be positive, but I'm kind of struggling with happy thoughts these days. It doesn't help that my birthday is on the 7th. Tomorrow, that is. I am going to be 19 and that sort of makes me feel sick.
Then I realized... this time last year, four things that are extremely important to me right now, were hardly on my radar, if at all. So this past year--the year I spent being 17--has been, if nothing else, crucial to my inner collection of things that lie extremely close to my heart. I thought, "Why not post about these things?" The answer was a surprisingly excited, "Okay!"

A photo representation of these four things which I am now going to talk about:


(Pictured: Season four of Gilmore Girls; Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim; a vinyl of Laura Nyro's album Christmas and the Beads of Sweat; and Ant & Dec's autobiography, Ooh! What a Lovely Pair.)



If you are easily bored, now might be a good time to leave. ;)





1. Gilmore Girls


 This show originally aired from 2000-2007, but I first started watching it at the end of May last year when I had my wisdom teeth out. By August, my mother and I had finished all seven seasons. (Many props to my sister for convincing me to watch it, even though I was initially reluctant!)

What makes this show so amazing? I don't know. It centers around the close relationship of single mother Lorelai Gilmore and her daughter Rory. Lorelai's banter and Rory's bookwormish-ness makes for two awesome characters. Also, the show is filled with wit, pop-culture references, and most importantly, a quirky cast of characters who are (for the most part) incredibly lovable. This is one of my top five favourite TV shows of all time. (Don't ask what the others are, because I haven't decided yet. :P)







2. Elizabeth von Arnim


Elizabeth von Arnim had been on my list of authors to-read for a while, but my county library had none of her books. They only had a movie adaption of Enchanted April, which I also watched when I had my wisdom teeth out. It was very good, but not as good as the book, which in June I discovered I was able to read on Project Gutenberg. But even better, in September I joined the city library. This library is amazing and has a plethora of old, hard-to-find books. Thanks to my new library, I've read Elizabeth and Her German Garden, The Solitary Summer, and The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rugen.
Elizabeth and Her German Garden is my favourite, but all of them are incredible books. (The library copies were all over 100 years old, too!)

Elizabeth von Arnim is one of my favourite authors now. I don't know what it is about her books I love. They are at least slightly autobiographical, I believe. She loves nature, she dreams and cherishes her solitude, but she is able to laugh at the absurdities in herself and other people. I like to think of her as a kindred spirit.






3. Laura Nyro


A few of you might remember me waxing eloquent about Laura Nyro back in November. She was practically all I listened to in that month. Though I'd know about her for a few years, it was not until this past year I grew to adore her innovative and passionate style of music. I've discovered a lot of great new music this year, but her music has been my most constant and desired accompaniment.






4. Ant and Dec

(They usually stand in alphabetical order, but in this picture it's Dec on the left and Ant on the right.)


Oh, Ant and Dec - my biggest obsession since my Beatlemania started in 2007. Those of you who follow me on tumblr might have noticed I am quite a fan of these two. This infatuation also started in November, when my darling friend Tilly indirectly introduced me to SM:TV Live, a children's show they presented in the 90s with Cat Deeley. (They are quite well known in Britain, but most Americans don't seem to know who they are, unless they watch Britain's Got Talent.)
Though Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly mostly just present now, they've done a little of everything in their long careers together.  I, personally, find Ant and Dec hilarious in all they do. This could partially be because they feel like old friends; I love their personalities and the way they interact with each other. Their genuinely close friendship on and off screen is beautiful, and--ridiculous as this may sound--I honestly can't imagine my life without knowing who these two are.


I'm actually really glad I took time to focus on these things. Looking at this makes me think life is pretty great. Sure these things are trivial, but hey - trivial things are important to me. They're what make life bearable, really.

And despite of how I sounded in the beginning of this post, I am not dreading my birthday; I just... am not ready to accept a full year has already passed since I turned 18. I did so little this year. *sigh*

(P.S. As you can see, I've updated my blog layout, so it looks a bit different now. But still essentially the same. I'm not savvy enough [or willing, really] to give it a bigger makeover.)



(First photo by me, of course, Second from here, third, fourth, fifth.)

22 comments:

  1. I don't think it's trivial. :) Some authors do seem to understand and relate to us--kindred spirits, like you said. They're like the friends we wish we had. I love a good TV show, too; it gives me something positive to look forward to.

    And I know how you feel about birthdays. I hope your 19th is a lovely one, though!

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    1. I'm glad you think that! Especially since I couldn't agree more, heh.

      Thank you very much! So far it has been wonderful. :)

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  2. Happy birthday dear Melee! I hope your day is wonderful! Do not worry about the things you haven't done this past year, but focus on the things that have made you happy.

    Oh and Gilmore Girls is a personal favourite of mine too :) I basically grew up with Rory.

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    1. Aww, thank you so much, E! I will certainly try. xx

      Oh, really? I didn't know that! That's so fantastic! I am terribly chuffed to find a fellow fan. :)

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  3. I find your affection for Ant & Dec constantly suprising and heartwarming. It was a pleasure to read about your passions. Once again, happy birthday, my love. x

    (Ps, the subtle changes of your blog layout are perfect. It looks refreshed and yet still - you.)

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    1. Aww, really? I'm relieved I don't come off as completely weird, heh. Thank you, dear B, for everything - all your kind words and the smiles you bring to my face. Your postscript has made me incredibly (and perhaps absurdly) pleased. xx

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  4. http://moon-lore.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2012-05-08T09:09:00%2B08:00&max-results=1
    Hope you'll like it ♥

    p.s. Hmm. No more words, Melee. I wish you all the best :)

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    1. Oh. My. Word.

      Hold on, I'm going to go spill my exuberant self all over your comment box. ♥

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  5. Wow wow wow wow wow! I love posts like this - getting to see what kind of things make people happy. Ah, and you changed up the blog layout, right? It looks really good!

    I still haven't watched Gilmore Girls, but after reading what you've said, I think I'm going to try it out. I'm always reluctant to start watching TV shows like that because I don't like getting sucked into having to watch tons and tons of episodes all at once. Because I think I still pressure myself to keep working (that's a giant time-sucker). Geh. I think the solution is to hurry up and graduate. I think it's being in a academic setting that makes me so easily avoid doing things I'd really enjoy, haha.

    I'm totally going to check out Arnim! It sounds like she'd be interesting to read. I love Project Gutenburg, haha.

    That's great that you had some time to yourself. It's refreshing to have the opportunity to kick back with your own thoughts :)

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    1. Aww, thanks Kim! I like such posts too - it's always great to have a small peek into people's hearts. Yes, I did! Thank you - I'm chuffed you noticed. :)

      I get that, since I'm always reluctant to start new shows. (And I don't even have a lot of work to do!) Well, if you do decide to watch it, I do hope you enjoy it! I never regretted starting it. ;)

      She's wonderful! You should check her out some time. Project Gutenberg is the best, haha.

      It is indeed. I love having everyone back, but I miss my precious solitude. :)

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  6. This is lovely! We should all make lists like this sometimes. I like hearing a bit about Ant and Dec from your perspective, because I wondered at the veritable flood of photos and quotes on my tumblr dash ;)

    I still have fond memories of the Gilmore girls, from that one time my sister and I stayed up till three in the morning watching it. I haven't seen it before or since...

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    1. Yes, people should! It's fun. :) Haaahaha. *cough* You noticed that did you? What can I say? I'm in love. ;)

      Well, if you're going to make me watch Sherlock, maybe I should make you watch more Gilmore Girls. :P

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    2. Ah, that's not fair. Sherlock has two seasons with three episodes each. Gilmore Girls has, what, five full length seasons? Although I suppose sacrifices must be made for the sake of the greater good...

      That's still a lot of TV.

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    3. Ehehehe. It's seven seasons, actually. HA. HAHA. I certainly have to invest much less. *snickers delightedly to self*

      (...Of course, not that this is going to happen necessarily, which is kind of sad. I like to imagine us at each other's houses forcing each other to watch our show of choice. :D)

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  7. Happy birthday for the 7th Melee!! I hope your day was lovely and filled with lovely things :) xxx

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    1. Thank you so much, dear! It was an extremely lovely day. :) xxx

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  8. Happy birthday for the 7th!! I'm so glad I decided to visit you here today, it was lovely to learn a little about you :)

    I'm so glad you've been watching SMTV! I'm English (just living in Oslo for a small time, if you didn't know :) and I grew up watching Ant and Dec. They're like part of the family! They present so many of our shows over here and they're so funny and nice. I'm glad you like them! I'm guessing you're from the US?

    Anyways, I hope you had a lovely day and aren't feeling too bad. Your 4 years younger than me, if it cheers you up! I always have a horrible fear on my birthday, I hate getting older. I'd like to go back to being 16 again :)

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    1. Thank you, Nikki! I'm delighted you decided to drop by. :)

      OH! This makes me really excited! I'm always happy to run across people who have good things to say about Ant & Dec. :D Ooh, I am so envious of people who got to grow up watching SMTV. Though I find myself becoming a fan of anything that has them in it, SMTV remains my personal favourite. Yep, I'm from the US! Though I knew you weren't originally from Norway, I didn't know you were English. That's fantastic. :)

      I did have a lovely day! Goodness, we're both ancient. ;) Ah well, I suppose we must accept this whole aging thing. It is only a number, as they say. :) xxx

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  9. Replies
    1. They can indeed! Even the littlest ones are extremely refreshing. :)

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  10. I love this list! Whenever I'm not feeling well, thinking of the small things I really like really helps (so maybe I'll make a list like this, too, haha).

    I understand that feeling of getting older; well, now I don't really think about it much on my own ("I'm __ years old? What? That doesn't make sense, haha," is sort of how I think of it now), but the fact that everyone else pays so much attention to age really bothers me.

    Postscript: I mentally pronounced "Lorelai" as "Lorelei" (the religion in the world Tales of the Abyss, a game I'm currently playing, takes place in), and I thought for a minute or so, "Wait, something seems odd about that..."

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    1. It really does help, doesn't it? If you do end up making one, I'd love to read it too. :)

      Hehe, I sort of think that way about age too. As I've gotten older, age has less meaning. When you're a kid, how old another person is is vastly important. It shouldn't be, though.

      I find my brain doing stuff like that too. Even reading your comment, I pronounced the two names the same. I was like, "Wait... how does that work?" ;)

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Silhouettes of a secret. A story told over a cuppa. Or perhaps just sitting on that stone bench, basking in the moonlight... and not saying anything at all.


("I can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks." -Shakespeare, Twelfth Night)