A widely-read man never quotes accurately.... Misquotation is the pride and privilege of the learned.
-- Hesketh Pearson
The Greenest IslandSunday, October 19, 1997 Yikes! I should have updated earlier in the day. Instead I indulged in an orgy of journal-reading catchup, and reading email. I was away this weekend at a very funky, fun A-frame house on Vashon Island, which is across Puget Sound from Seattle. You have to take a ferry to get there. My sister M--- was celebrating her fortieth birthday, and had dreamed up this event. The first evening was women only, then the families and friends joined us the next day. She had been looking for a site that had a hot tub, then someone mentioned that you could rent them, which expanded her possibilities quite a bit. The real estate guy who rented her this house for the weekend told her that the Head Lama of Great Britain had held a retreat there a few weeks ago, and we did indeed see the Tibetan names in the guest book. The food I had rustled up from my Costco warehouse store expedition was a hit. I made chilaquiles which are the Mexican equivalent of lasagna. This recipe orginated from the Vegetarian Epicure cookbook, though I have mutated it so much over the years, I don't know if that author would recognize it. Her version has you frying your own tortilla chips, and cooking tomatillos to make the sauce. The cake we had that night was also very popular, Cappucino mousse cake with dark chocolate curls on each piece. One woman took a piece with her on the ferry the next morning! On Saturday the kids arrived. Most of them slept in one room, which is the equivalent of trying to keep the lid on the pan when you are making popcorn. They kept popping out for the longest time! The second night I slept in a tiny chamber reachable by ill-designed ladder from the second floor landing. The mattress in the room covered ninety-five percent of the floorspace in the room. There was a window with no glass that looked out into the main living area, from two floors up! Saturday evening we had a procession with drums and instruments, out to the firepit and around. Then back inside for cake! On the ferry back today I ran into my old buddy Chris Lombardi. who was the content developer on a project I worked on in 1995. It was great to see him, but we only had the chance to exchange a few words. If he ever gets back on line, maybe he'll see this!
Tonight I watched the new Jane Eyre, on the A&E cable channel. It's always interested to compare differnt versions of a story I know very well. I was glad that they allowed it to be more than two hours long. The details of the story give it shape and balance, and when they eliminate big chunks, the characters get flattened and lose their originality. There were some lines of dialog added that were never in the book, but the show wasn't harmed overmuch by this. Ciarin Hinds (sp?) was Mr. Rochester, suitable gruff and abrupt. The actress who played Jane was once again beautiful, rather than small and plain as she describes herself. I think she showed more anger than usual when she learned of Rochester's deception, and even viewed it as a betrayal. They kept the clergyman and sister that take Jane in when she runs away, (I think there is a second sister who is eliminated in every dramatization I've seen.) but eliminated the revelation that they are Jane's long-lost relations and that she is an heiress. I guess the fact that the clergyman wants to marry her, even if only so she can go join him as a missionary in India, restores the balance of power between her and Rochester sufficiently. I'm sure this show will be repeated, since A&E repeats everything they show many times.
I got the Dictionary of Quotations that Darren Holloway sent me for winning his 2nd anniversary contest. It's great to have these additional ones to choose from!
|
