“I scarcely remember counting upon any Happiness — I look not for it if it be not in the present hour — nothing startles me beyond the Moment.  The setting sun will always set me to rights — or if a Sparrow come before my Window I take part in its existence and pick about the Gravel.”  -  Keats in a letter to Benjamin Bailey dated 22 November 1817

“I think Poetry should surprise by a fine excess and not by Singularity — it should strike the Reader as a wording of his own highest thoughts, and appear almost a Remembrance. . . Its touches of Beauty should never be half way therby making the reader breathless instead of content: the rise, the progress, the setting of imagery should like the Sun come natural to him — shine over him and set soberly although in magnificence leaving him in the Luxury of twilight — but it is easier to think what Poetry should be than to write it. . . .  If Poetry comes not as naturally as the Leaves to a tree it had better not come at all. . . .  Perhaps I ought to be content.  I have great reason to be content, for thank God I can read and perhaps understand Shakespeare to his depths.” -  Keats in a letter to John Taylor dated 27 February 1818

“. . . after all I do think better of Womankind than to suppose they care whether Mister John Keats five feet high likes them or not.”  -  Keats in a letter to Benjamin Bailey dated 18 July 1818

“I can scarcely bid you good-bye, even in a letter.  I always made an awkward bow.”  -  Keats in his last letter to Charles Brown dated 30 November 1820

“– then on the shore/Of the wide world I stand alone, and think/Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.”  -  Keats’ Sonnet: When I have fears

Well, usually I watch a movie when I need a good cry, so I’ll answer for that.

Movies
1.  Glory, The Patriot, or Letters from Iwo Jima: I don’t really know exactly how to describe what each one makes me feel or why they make me cry.  Glory is such a powerful story of sacrifice and courage; The Patriot really portrays the toll of war on families; Letters from Iwo Jima explores the other side of the Pacific War during WWII, and it’s heartbreaking.

2.  Finding Neverland: Again with my love of all things Peter Pan.  It really comes down to the utter beauty of this film that pushes me to tears.  Friendships are a deep, powerful, and beautiful thing, losing them rips my heart out.

3.  The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Frodo’s journey is so very like our journey through life.  I can’t help crying when I see him change, when I see the toll on his face.  His torturous climb up Mt. Doom sketches for me a too-true metaphor for the mountains we climb and our Lord that carries us up when we no longer have anything left within us to reach the end.

I’d make snow ice cream!  Once again a WordPress featured blog caught me eye: Snow Cream by A Mountain Mama.  She has a delicious sounding recipe for a bowl frozen sugary white.  You might wonder, why the winter theme?  I dreamed of snow last night, that’s why.

From this….

To this….

My Top 5*

1. Notorious
2. Anastasia
3. Gaslight
4. Spellbound
5. The Inn of the 6th Happiness

I Need to See

The Bells of St. Mary’s
Joan of Arc

*No, Casablanca is not on the list.  Shameful, right?  Perhaps, but I saw it once and didn’t like it all that much.

I have decided to begin a blog series; my top 5-10 films by classic film stars (actors, actresses, and directors).  I’m not going to set up a time-line or a list, rather I think I’ll go where the wind takes me.  The lists will be in order of semi-importance, meaning that I will put a fraction of thought into the order, but don’t ask me to defend that order.

Today marks the first of who knows how many.  I’ll list my top 5-10 film for each as well as other important films that I have yet to see as a sort of FYI.  Depending on my mood, I may also include brief explanations on why such-and-such film made the cut and why other did not as well as my opinion of the featured artist.  I hope this proves somewhat useful/enjoyable to you out in the wide world!

You might notice a theme on this blog: I love ____.  Well, why wouldn’t I post the things I love?  So here’s another!  I love Jeopardy!  Since television switched to digital I have been unable to get my daily trivia fill, but we’re getting cable soonly and I will be able to regain my false sense of intelligence.  ;)   Browsing for Jeopardy! categories, I discovered a marvelous site.  Be wary, this site has the potential to eat away hours of your life while simultaneously adding to your stores of semi-useless information.  What is J! Archive?

Alex Trebek deserves some sort of award, eh?

Photos by cake with giants.

But these are really cool photographs of equally cool vintage Star Wars action figures!  Good work, ratherchildish!

Lost in Books is doing a book list meme that sounds quite fun! Each week she will post a new book list topic and you come up with three books to post as your answer. This week’s topic: Three Fictional Worlds I Would Like to Hang Out In.

Here goes:

1. Neverland: To be perfectly honest, I have never read Peter Pan. I know the story, have seen many of the movies, and the musical production (I know that doesn’t necessarily count), but I have always loved Peter Pan. Therefore, Neverland is my number one answer.

2. The World of The Snow Queen: As a child, Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Snow Queen” mesmerized me. I believe I have also read the story (note to self, finish story). Ice palaces, arctic wastelands, icebergs, and other snowy things have since been something ethereal and entrancing to me. So to enter the realm of The Snow Queen has always been a kind of dream.

3. Treasure Island and Sara Crewe’s Prison Cell in The Bastille aka The Attic: This may perhaps be the oddest tie to date, but I couldn’t decide; I wrestled with Camelot and Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory as well. *sigh* These two places are also dear to my heart. What an adventure it would be to be kidnapped by Long John Silver and trek the island in search of buried treasure with the haunting squacks of Flint’s bird: “Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!” Wouldn’t old Ben Gunne would be a fun one to meet?

Sara Crewe, A Little Princess, spends a good deal of time in her attic, which she refers to as her cell in the Bastille. I’d love to peek out the window to see the London chimneys and little birds chirping about in the grey (I know, I know, it’s romanticized), to knock on the wall letting Becky (the prisoner in the next cell) know all was well, to sneak bits of food to Melchizedek, the rat, for him to share with his family, and to waken to the wonderful transformation made possible by none other than the Indian gentleman and his lascar.  I haven’t included a picture because the best rendition is by Tasha Tudor, but I was unable to find her work online.