Wordless Wednesday - 95

Annette says Our daughter planted a bunch of bulbs - now I'm wondering if the squirrels got them. :-(

Akelamalu remembers that one spring I labouriously planted 200 only to see a squirrel digging them up! I could have cheerfully strangled it with my bare hands! :(

WillThink4Wine says I use to have the bulb-stealing squirrel problem, but then I moved to a Pecan Orchard!

Through the Opera Glasses - 12 - Actors' Sexualization Versus Talent

When I work on my manuscripts, I often search out photos of actors whom I've 'cast' as my characters. It's quickly apparent that many actresses have highly sexualized photos available, whether or not their professional personas tend more toward intelligent film roles.

The same is not true for actors.

In a completely random search of the web, I was easily able to find these sexy shots of actresses whose work I really admire. With the exception of Meryl Streep! I had to really root around for the picture posted here.


Cate Blanchett















Jennifer Connelly















Julianne Moore
















Meryl Streep
















Emma Thompson















Kate Winslet










Actors are open to experience and exploration by nature, and many of these actresses and actors have appeared nude or partly nude for film roles. I wasn't looking for stills of those scenes - I was looking for photo shoots which portrayed actresses and actors as highly-sexualized.

As you can see, actors whom I regard as very talented and on the same level in their craft as the actresses above are not portrayed as sexily as their female counterparts. Here are the sexiest shots I could find for these actors:


Gael Garcia Bernal















Russell Crowe
















Johnny Depp
















Viggo Mortensen
















Clive Owen
















Mark Ruffalo













I've been wondering about this discrepancy for awhile now.

Do actresses still feel the need for validation through their physical appearance, regardless of their degree of talent?

Or do talented actresses have to be merely cerebral, or can't they be sexy, too?

Are incredibly attractive actors trying to downplay their sexuality? Do they equate sexiness with a perception that they won't be taken seriously?

What do you think?

Travis says that's a great word...sexualization.

Kelly theorizes that most women like the smoldering sexuality that is often found in the expression more than the amount of clothing found on (or off) men's bodies.

Anne warns that for actors being too good looking seems to limit their careers - they end up on soap operas.

Mike figures that actors and actresses define who they are by what they do. When they don't do it anymore, what are they?

Leanna reflects that, as an actress, the phenomenon of the dominant male gaze perpetuates a continually cyclical model and I am stuck in the midst of it.

Poetry Train Monday - 96 - Not After That Look

Happy Easter to all who celebrate this springtime holiday.

Continuing with my found poetry series, here's a poem I've taken from my very first attempt at writing a novel. It's my only completed manuscript to date, and it needs a lot of reworking. But as with many writers, since this is the first novel-length character to inhabit my thoughts and my heart, this character will always be the most special to me.

Guthrie is a Highland Scot in the early 1820's, working on a lowland estate as the gamekeeper. The lady he serves is a newly-widowed countess, whom he recently helped return to the castle when he discovered her out on the grounds in only her sodden nightdress after a storm.

A terrible miscalculation has convinced Guthrie he must stop poaching from the estate, as he's been doing to save money for a new life in the Canadas. Guthrie informs his best friend and poaching partner that he won't be taking part in it anymore.

Click HERE for a previous poem about Guthrie.

I've based him on English actor Sean Bean. Lady Moncrieffe is based on Canadian actress Neve Campbell.

You can Ride the Poetry Train by clicking HERE.













Not After That Look


Guthrie left Lundy’s room
Above the storehouse
Headed back over fields
To his own rough cottage

No one about at this late hour

Just as well be noon
All the sleep he was likely to get
Worked up as he was
Paused in the night air

Head back, look at the stars

What he needed was a smoke
Boulder ahead a little ways
Sit himself down, light up his pipe
Collect himself

Smoke rising gracefully into the night

Nice to sit here
Only man awake in all of Scotland
Just God and Guthrie Carmichael
Sitting together and having a smoke

Thoughts like bait in a swollen stream

Sooner or later, these thoughts
Would arrange themselves
An actual plea
For forgiveness

Movement in the distance

Turned slightly
Peered into the gloom
Unholy shiver pure fright
Ran through him head to foot

Liquid movement, gliding paleness

Took pipe from mouth
Slid off the rock
Quiet as the ghostie there
A spirit loose in these parts?

Could well be a brand new ghost

He might be scared witless
If he was the first to see it
Wouldn’t that be something?
Crept along, gained steadily

Could make out a dress, a white dress

He raced ahead
More noise with increased speed
Skin along his neck crawling
Dare not steal a look behind him

Might lose footing in the dark

It would be upon him
In all its ghastly menace
Leaped down a small rise
Close to turf, eyes level to ground

Perhaps he would give this ghostie its name

Figure’s approach inexorable
Guthrie’s winded breathing quieted
Its face
He had to be imagining

It couldn’t be

The ghost was his mistress
Lady Moncrieffe
Had the lady died in the night?
Remorse for the injury he gave her

Flared hotly in his chest

Impossible
She had mended from that wound
An accident?
He followed again, wondering

Heaviness of her movements

Manner fluid, dreamlike
Dreamlike
Guthrie stopped cold
That morning he’d followed her on horseback

The morning after the storm

No one had spoken of it
As if it hadn’t taken place at all
Eventually this path would take her
To the road where they’d first met up

She was sleepwalking. Had to be.

Increased his pace a little
Didn’t take long to catch up with her
Stomach lurched again
Her eyes were wide open

She took several trancelike steps

She slowed and stopped
“Ma’am.” Guthrie touched the edge of his tam
She crossed her arms in front of her
“I don’t think he’ll be coming, after all.”

And she turned to walk back along the path

Guthrie dashed smartly to overtake her
Slowed to a walk
She looked at him
Her gaze traveling through him

Smile flittered across her lips

Eased next to Guthrie
Slipped her hand between his arm and waistcoat
He crooked his elbow
Arm and arm with Lady Moncrieffe

Nearly dragging him along with single-mindedness

The long walk to Kinnoull an unsettling stroll
Her bosom pressed against his elbow
Her hip brushing his thigh
Was she awake or asleep?

How could he be so fortunate among men

Coming across her each time
She took these strange odysseys?
Perhaps this worked as a penance
For not putting an end to his poaching

Sooner

If the Good Lord meant to show him
What it meant to be a shepherd
Who was Guthrie Carmichael to argue?
He would see his wayward lamb home

No harm done

No one the wiser again if they were lucky
Outline of castle loomed
In faint light of approaching dawn
No word had passed between them

They reached a door he'd never seen before

Could see that it gaped there, still open
Why the turmoil swirling in his stomach?
He led her to the doorway
Opened it a little wider

And passed her through

Extending the arm she’d been clutching
Till she was over the threshhold
He watched her feet
Assuring that she didn’t trip

Then he looked up into her face

Before he knew whether he was up
Down or turned on his ear
There she was - planting her lips on his
Lady Moncrieffe stepped back

Eyes trained on him

In the most unnerving manner
Shining with languorous flame
Before he had a chance to stammer anything coherent
The corners of her lips curled

A provocative smile

“I’ll wait for you,” she purred
Beginning to walk inside
She turned her head to glance at him
Lips closing over invitations unspoken

Lashes dropped to hide desire in her eyes

Then she was gone, swallowed into the shadows
Guthrie stood there for a long while
Unable to move out of the doorway
The words she’d spoken

Commanded him against any will of his own

Like a man from the old tales, her spell cast on him
And nothing he could do to resist her
Come now, lad. She’s dreaming.
That invitation was not meant for her gamekeeper

For whom, then?

Her poor husband, that’s who.
He reached into the darkness of Kinnoull
His fingers groped for the doorhandle
As if reaching into a hive

Crawling with bees

Carefully, he pulled the door shut
He would post himself on watch not too far away
Keep his eye out
In case she wandered again

He’d light up his pipe, finish his smoke

There’d be no sleep
Not for him
Not after that look
Into his ladyship’s eyes

- Julia Smith, 2009


Annette says Left me wondering what will happen between them.

Sweet Talking Guy says I think there must be something in the Look!

Anthony North recalls early writing he ripped up - All the stories & characters have reappeared, but it's amazing how we change over time.

2009 Blog Improvement Project - 7 - Making Your Blog More Comment-able and the Keeping it Real Tag

Here's what's up for April's part of the year-long challenge:

"April is going to be focused on comments. The interaction between bloggers and readers via comments is, to me, one of the best things about blogging, so I think this month will be fun.

Week #7 is going to be all about making your blog more comment friendly. I think it’s vital that once you get a new reader at your blog, it’s easy for them to engage with you by commenting on your posts.

Take an inventory of your blog comments. Write down how many comments you have as of today, then track how many comments you get per day over the next two weeks.

Pick 3-4 of the techniques from the articles (on ways to improve commenting at your blog) to implement over the next two weeks.

Spend these weeks trying to make your posts more comment friendly."

- Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness

Here are several of the article ideas I'll be exploring in the coming weeks:

"Only 1 out of every 100 readers comment on your blog. Jakob Nielsen’s study finds that 90% of online community users are lurkers (read or observe without contributing) with only 9% of users contributing ‘a little’ and 1% actively contributing. The vast majority of readers leave a blog without leaving a comment or contributing to it in any way.

I find that when I include questions in my headings that it is a particularly effective way of getting a response from readers as you set a question in their mind from the first moments of your post. If someone leaves a comment interact with them. This gets harder as your blog grows but it’s particularly important in the early days of your blog as it shows your readers that their comments are valued."
- Darren Rowse, Problogger

"Berkeley Economist Brad DeLong was one of the first to use the term hoisting to describe highlighting user comments. His hoisted comments often inspire users to comment even more, and hoisting comments is another strong community building technique. Kent Fischer, education blogger for The Dallas Morning news, hoists comments to the level of their own posts. He looks for comments that deserve more attention, then makes a separate post for those strong comments that users can comment on, furthering the discussion."
- Patrick Thornton, BeatBlogging.org

In looking back at my two years of blogging, here are my highest-comments posts:

* the first time I received comments that went above 10 was my 3rd Thursday Thirteen post

* 30 comments for 13 Things For Which I Am Grateful

* 32 comments for 13 Favorite Things About Halifax

* 32 comments for 13 Reasons to Read Julianne MacLean

* 32 comments for 13 of My Favorite Peace Globes From Last Week's Blogblast For Peace

* 33 comments for 13 Works by Nova Scotia Artist Holly Carr

* 33 comments for 13 Ways to Enjoy Gerard Butler in Honor of His Birthday, Nov. 13th

* 36 comments for 13 Ways to Celebrate My Grandmother's 93rd Birthday

* 37 comments for 13 of Heath Ledger's Films

* 40 comments for 13 Paintings By My Sister-in-Law, Anna Baccin

* 42 comments for Introducing 13 of My Ancestors

* 43 comments for My Very First Contest

* 47 comments for 13 of My Mom's Paintings

* 56 comments for Rhian's Blogiversary

* 83 comments for My Second Contest

What can I see straight away?

2 of the highest amounts of comments came from contests.

1 came from a party, which generated a lot of back-and-forth conversation.

2 came from posts featuring actors - Gerard Butler and Heath Ledger.

4 came from art shows.

9 came from posts where the subject matter was very personal to me.

Nearly all of the highest-comment posts were Thursday Thirteen posts. The power of the popular meme!

All good to know. I have made it a basic part of my blogging routine to return the visit to everyone who comments here, and leave my own comment there. Recently I've begun responding to comments in my own comments section, which has been recommended for the April assignment.

Something new I'm going to do is the comment hoist. Claudia from On a Limb With Claudia does this regularly. Also, I'm going to try asking questions to stimulate discussion. This is what I love about the Blog Improvement Project - the constant pushing past my comfort levels.

And now - onto the Tag! You're it!

VaBookworm from Confessions of a Bookworm nabbed me for this one earlier in the week. Ever the honourable blogger, I answered her challenge - and had my husband immediately take my picture as-is, as soon as I read the tag.

Keepin' it Real

Here are the rules:

Take a picture of yourself right now.
No primping or preparing.
Just snap a picture.
Load the picture onto your blog.
Tag some people to play.
NO CHEATING!

Okay. Here's my picture, taken a few days ago after work, in my comfies ready for blogging.














And now, a-tagging I will go, a-tagging I will go...

Dorothy
Dorte H
Ryan Ashley
Sheila
Shelley

Ladies...I throw down the glove.

Leah Braemel is trying to read the titles on the spines of those books. *squinting*

Travis says before I started my own blog, I lurked quite a bit.

Ryan Ashley Scott is amazed at the 1 in 100 visitors percentage.

Akelamalu says if I comment on someone's blog a few times and get no response I stop visiting that blog as I feel I am just wasting my time. Definitely with you on that one.

Dorothy and Dorte H took up the challenge!

Thursday Thirteen - 101 - 13 Victorian Easter Greetings

- 1















"When you start with a portrait and try to find pure form by abstracting more and more, you must end up with an egg." - Pablo Picasso


- 2















"Where man sees but withered leaves, God sees sweet flowers growing." - Albert Laighton


- 3









"The Germanic Goddess of fertility and spring, Eostre (pronounced yo'ster) symbolizes new growth and rebirth.

Once, when the Goddess was late in coming, a little girl found a bird close to death from the cold and turned to Eostre for help. A rainbow bridge appreared and Eostre came, clothed in her red robe of warm, vibrant sunlight which melted the snows. Spring arrived. Because the little bird was wounded beyond repair, Eostre changed it into a snow hare who then brought rainbow eggs. As a sign of spring, Eostre instructed the little girl to watch for the snow hare to come to the woods."

- Angelfire


- 4










"And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest."

- Percy Bysshe Shelley


- 5















"Hope is the word which God has written on the brow of every man." - Victor Hugo


- 6














"The first edible Easter bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s. They were made of pastry and sugar.

The Easter bunny was introduced to American folklore by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s.

The arrival of the Oschter Haws (a rabbit spirit) was considered childhood's greatest pleasure next to a visit from Christ Kindl (Christ-child) on Christmas Eve. The children believed that if they were good the Oschter Haws would lay a nest of colored eggs.

The children would build their nest in a secluded place in the home, the barn or the garden. Boys would use their caps and girls their bonnets to make the nests. The use of elaborate Easter baskets would come later as the tradition of the Easter bunny spread through out the country." - Celebration of Easter


- 7















"For I remember it is Easter morn,
And life and love and peace are all new born." - Alice Freeman Palmer


- 8















"Awake, thou wintry earth -
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!" - Thomas Blackburn


- 9









"Come and see! Oh, hurry, hurry!
For the Rabbit, kind and furry,
Has been here again and laid
Eggs in every nest we made!"

- Evaleen Stein


- 10















"The promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time." - Martin Luther


- 11















"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." - Albert Einstein


- 12










"Not the maker of plans and promises, but rather the one who offers faithful service in small matters." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


- 13















"And in the solemn night I watch
Before the Easter morn.
So pure, so still the starry heaven,
So hushed the brooding air,
I could hear the sweep of an angel's wings
If one should earthward fare."

- Edna Dean Proctor

Wordless Wednesday - 94

Through the Opera Glasses - 11 - Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit Airs on PBS Masterpiece

Last weekend, PBS Masterpiece Classic began airing BBC's production of Little Dorrit. And I sat on my couch with shining eyes and my heart all a-flutter, beginning an incredible 5-part journey back through time to the grittier side of Victorian London. This Sunday was part two, and there are still three more episodes to go. Happy sigh.

















Charles Dickens originally published Little Dorrit as serialized fiction, beginning in 1855 and concluding in 1857. It was his 16th novelization following The Pickwick Papers, which appeared in 1836-37. Little Dorrit follows third after his highly autobiographical David Copperfield, and one can see his steady reckoning with his own history as he explores the debtors' prison where his own father was held for a time.














Dickens' complex tale joins together the fortunes of imprisoned debtor William Dorrit and his family; embittered widow Mrs. Clennam and her servants; Arthur Clennam's fellow traveller Mr. Meagles and his family; wealthy banker Mr. Merdle and his family; prison gatekeeper Mr. Chivery and his son; Arthur's old sweetheart Flora Finching; rent collector Mr. Pancks; the notorious French murderer Rigaud and struggling inventor Daniel Doyce. I'm forever in awe of how Dickens managed to hold his myriad plot threads together. He is a master with whom I'll be apprenticing for as long as I live.













Main character Arthur Clennam is played by English actor Matthew MacFadyen, a huge favorite of mine ever since I watched the first episode of the first season of Spooks (MI-5). Arthur Clennam is my favorite kind of tormented hero. Brought up by a mother who cannot show him anything but distain, Arthur somehow continues to reach for joy even though he wears his melancholy like a second skin.


















Claire Foy plays the title character of Amy Dorrit, born in the Marshalsea debtors' prison and grown to adulthood holding the remains of her family together. Another of my favorite kinds of characters, Amy is the soft-spoken person who's inwardly stronger than anyone else around her. Amy Dorrit recognizes a kindred soul in Arthur Clennam, no matter what their class differences say.

















Dickens layers his versions of imprisonment with nearly every character. The obvious prisoner Dorrit is no more hampered than Mrs. Clennam in her decaying house, having more than enough money to pay for its proper upkeep. Arthur Clennam is stonewalled by the bureaucracy of the Circumlocution Office when he tries to get to the bottom of an injustice. Dickens' societies-within-societies, with characters like rent-collector Plancks at the bottom of one and the top of another, and stage star Fanny Dorrit a social pariah when it comes to making a match with an admirer, these are the worlds in which I love to disappear. It's not enough for me to spend time with the upper crust. I want all the layers. BBC's Little Dorrit delivers them all with a truly accomplished production.