RSS

Author Archives: aureliaosborne

Theater Monday: Outside Mullingar

17 Mar

Last year, around Easter time, I took a trip to New York city, mainly to go see Wicked. It was an organized trip, and so a lot of my time was regimented. I’m going back this year, and I’m going to do the things I want to do, and I includes seeing more shows.

I thought it might be nice, while I was there, to see a straight play. Anyone who reads this blog knows how much I love musicals, but I also really like to see plays, when I get the chance. I did some research, and I found this show: Outside Mullingar, by John Patrick Shanley. The title grabbed my attention, mostly because it reminded me of one of my favorite songs.

Here is the description from the official website:

Tony winner Brían F. O’Byrne (Frozen, Doubt, Million Dollar Baby) and Emmy® winner Debra Messing (“Will & Grace,” “Smash,” Collected Stories) play Anthony and Rosemary, two introverted misfits straddling 40. Anthony has spent his entire life on a cattle farm in rural Ireland, a state of affairs that—due to his painful shyness—suits him well. Rosemary lives right next door, determined to have him, watching the years slip away. With Anthony’s father threatening to disinherit him and a land feud simmering between their families, Rosemary has every reason to fear romantic catastrophe. But then, in this very Irish story with a surprising depth of poetic passion, these yearning, eccentric souls fight their way towards solid ground and some kind of happiness. Their journey is heartbreaking, funny as hell, and ultimately deeply moving.

It sounded right up my alley. I got really excited about seeing this play.

It closed yesterday. I’m not going to New York for another month.

So of course, what could I do but buy an e-version of the play and get even more frustrated at what I was missing? I really, really liked the script, it’s very clever, even if it does go on some weird tangents the way modern theater tends to. I’ve seen weirder. And how much of a bummer is it that I won’t get to see the play, to see professional actors reading the lines on a stage? Reading a play is not the same as watching one, I should know, I’ve done plenty of both.

ps: would anyone believe me if I said that, when I planned and drafted and scheduled this post, I didn’t realize that  it would get published on St-Patrick’s day? Because that’s just an amazing coincidence. I’m thinking about making all my posts this week Irish themed, in celebration.

pps: here is the song I was talking about.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 17, 2014 in Uncategorized

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Anything goes Friday: The ideal week-end length

14 Mar

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before; I have a day job, one I actually enjoy. It’s a clerical job, so I spend a lot of time sitting in front of the computer, which is my natural state of being, but it also requires me to walk around quite a bit, so my legs and butt aren’t all numb at the end of the day. As an extra bonus, I am on a friendly basis with my co-workers, especially the two girls who are sitting next to me.

When I see them on Monday morning, I usually ask “how was your week-end?” While one of the girls answers some variation of “good”, the other always answers “too short”. After a regular two day week-end. After a three day week-end. After Easter week-end. The week-end is always too short.

I have to admit, I don’t understand that. A two day week-end works perfectly for me: I can sleep in a little, I have the time to run some errands, to read, or watch some dvd’s, or play some video games, and then it’s back to the routine of work. When I do get a three day week-end, I tend to spend the extra day lounging in my pajamas, doing various computer stuff. Sitting in front of a computer may be my natural state of being, but I still need to move around, and my apartment isn’t as big as the floor at my job, so even if I get the motivation to move around, I don’t have as much space. I always end up spending too much time sitting, so my legs and butt get numb, and at the end of the day I feel lazy and cranky and not that good about myself.

And then there’s the fact that a full week of week-end would not feel like a week of week-end. Even if you don’t have to go to the office five days out of the week, you have to settle into some sort of routine, and drudgery builds up, and you get bored and wish for a change, because that’s how the human brain works.

Maybe I’m the weird one here, but I suspect that I’m also the happier one in the long run: I don’t spend so much time complaining about the length of the week-end.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 14, 2014 in Uncategorized

 

Tags: , ,

Book Wednesday: Dear Mr Darcy, by Amanda Grange

12 Mar

Jane Austen has only completed six novels, seven if you include Lady Susan, which I guess a lot of people don’t because it’s not often included in the Complete Jane Austen collections, and is more often than not put with the incomplete, Sanditon and The Watsons. And while it may take some time to read all of Austen’s work (I only read Emma last summer, and Lady Susan, The Watsons and Sanditon last December, and I still haven’t read the juvenilia) and the work that is there is very re-readable, most Janeites eventually turn to derivative fiction.

While there are almost as many different kinds of derivative work as there are authors writing them, most of the time they can be grouped in one of three categories; the alternate timeline (the prequels and sequels), the alternate universe (Butterfly Effect stories, modernization, supernatural elements, and so on) or the alternate point of view.

Dear Mr Darcy, however, doesn’t exactly fit in any of those categories. It’s a retelling of Pride and Prejudice in epistolary form. It’s extremely clever and well-written and the new characters created by Ms Grange (the original characters need someone to write TO, after all) feel like a natural addition to the story. I only have one real problem with this book: the letter from Mr Darcy to Elizabeth Bennet, the one that takes most of chapter 35 and turns the story on its ear, is missing. How can you write Pride and Prejudice in epistolary form and not include the letter?!

This one glaring omission notwithstanding (and wow, that is actually a word, the English language is weird), it’s one of the best derivative Pride and Prejudice work out there, and I would recommend it to anyone who’s read P&P and wants more.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 12, 2014 in Uncategorized

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Theater Monday: next to normal

10 Mar

next to normal (I’m not using capitals here because you’re not supposed to) is another of my favorite shows that I have never seen. I own the cast recording, and I have the script, it’s out in book format and I’ve but an e-copy, which is how I know that they recorded the cast album as they were putting the final touches on the show: some of the lyrics are different. But I’ve never seen it, in part because I didn’t know the show existed (more on that in a minute) and in part because I wouldn’t have been able to afford the trip to New-York even if I had known. Really, if I’d known what I was missing then, it would have broken my heart.

I learned about next to normal about two years ago. I was seeing various Youtube videos defending the casting of the Les Miserables movie adaptation, featuring bits of the actors signing. Aaron Tveit, who played Enjolras in the movie, was represented with the end of this really catchy song: “I’m alive”, from next to normal, in which he originated the character of Gabe. I really liked the song, so I dug around for more songs and clips from the show, and for information. And then I learned something.

I learned that before it went on Broadway, before it went out of town, before it was first played Off-Broadway, before it was called next to normal, there was a workshop for what was then called Feeling Electric. The name sort of sounded familiar when I first read it, and I realized why soon after: at the time, I was following Anthony Rapp on Twitter (on my personal account), and he was talking about Feeling Electric because he was one of the actors in the workshop. So logically speaking, I should have been one of the earliest fans of the show, but at some point before the transition between Feeling Electric and next to normal, I stopped using Twitter, so I missed the transition, and next to normal flew right over my head as a result.

So now I feel a bit stupid about my lack of knowledge. But, as I mentioned earlier, if I had known, I would have been heartbroken because I wouldn’t have been able to see the show. So it’s sort of a lose-lose situation, except that I still win, in a way: I have an amazing cast recording to listen to, and next to normal is a great show with a powerful message that you can still appreciate just by listening to the music. Also, Aaron Tveit has the voice of an angel, and he was great in Les Miserables. So, yay!

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 10, 2014 in Uncategorized

 

Tags: , , , ,

Book Launch!

07 Mar

Guess where I’ll be tomorrow!

Nathan Caro Frechette's avatarNathan Caro Frechette's Ice Cream for Zombies

releasedaybia  Tomorrow (March 8th) is the official launch party of my newest novel, Brothers In Arms !

It will be a double event, as there will be an actual physical launch if you’re in the area, and an online launch as well!

The online launch will be happening on Facebook, Twitter, and on all of these blogs. You’ll be able to buy the book right here! Blood Relations, the first novel in the series, will also be available on Kindle for FREE for a limited time!!

If you’re in the area tomorrow, come on to the actual launch! It’s happening at the Kobold’s Corner, 430 Hazeldean Rd., Ottawa, between 3 and 5 PM. You can get your book signed, and there will be snacks and readings!

I hope to see you there!

View original post

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 7, 2014 in Uncategorized

 

Anything goes Friday: a few random thoughts

07 Mar

I have no idea what to make this blog entry about, so I figured I would just toss a few things out there.

Yesterday, someone I follow on Twitter posted this quote, by Gertrude Stein: “Literature- creative literature- unconcerned with sex, is inconceivable.” Reading that quote felt like a punch in the gut, and even though the person who posted this offers some really good writing advice and exercises, I’m debating whether or not to unfollow. I don’t need more people in m life propagating the pervasive and offensive idea that everything in the universe has to be about sex.

I found out today that someone made a meme generator using the Mongol from Crash Course World History. I love it. This is my favorite.

46942317

 

I was thinking about Mythbuster (because a week later, I’m not done marathoning yet) and I wondered why the President’s challenge had to be Archimedes’ Solar Death Ray. They busted that myth pretty thoroughly, and more then once. The only thing I can figure is that the President’s challenge was mostly about acknowledging that the Mythbusters are popularizing science, and getting a class of school children participating in a myth without hurting themselves or causing any real damage, and there is little danger in letting even a child hold a mirror.

I should play more society games. The last time I’ve played a game was on Christmas day, when my family and I played Ticket to Ride. The time before that was the previous Christmas, when we played the same game. I don’t remember the time before that. I wonder if I should try to get my relatives to make a semi-regular gaming date. I have a sibling who lives out of town and works a lot, so that could make things problematic, but it might be fun to try and get together whenever everyone is in town, to play a game. I think I’l ask around, see if anyone is interested.

Well, that’s it for today.

 
1 Comment

Posted by on March 7, 2014 in Uncategorized

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Book Wednesday: Blood Relations, by Caroline Frechette

05 Mar

I’ll get that right out of the way: Caroline Fréchette is a friend of mine, and I have read Blood Relations even before it came out, last fall. We are part of the same critique group, and she was working through Blood Relations while I was working through The Admirer.

There is a very strong possibility that I would not have read this book otherwise. It is a very dark read, and it makes no effort to hide it, with its dramatic black and white (and just a touch of blood red) cover illustrations. It has violence, and sex, and drug use, and foul language. What else do you expect from a novel about a 16 years old pyrokinetic mafioso who is forced to fight vampires?

So I might not have picked Blood Relations, if left to my own devices. And I would have missed something. The story has a great pace, and some wonderfully funny moments. The dialogue is brilliant. There is a great cast of characters, where everyone can have a favorite. (Mine is one of the hero’s best friend, of the “caregiver, wise beyond his years” trope that I just can’t resist, especially when it’s done well.)

Blood Relations is the first novel of the series Family By Choice. The second novel of the series, Brothers In Arms, comes out this Saturday, March 8th.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 5, 2014 in Uncategorized

 

Tags: , , , ,

Theater Monday: Rent

03 Mar

Rent is one of the best argument I can think of, in favor of making movies out of musicals. Yes, things will inevitably get lost, choices will have to be made that not everyone will like, but it’s still important to make those movies. Do you know why? Because they help bring those shows and their message to a larger audience.

And I don’t just mean the people who can’t afford to spend 40 bucks on the cheapest ticket on Broadway (let alone the potential hundreds of dollars necessary for a trip to New York, because they don’t live there) but might spend the 10 bucks (or whatever) on a movie ticket. I mean people who don’t live in theater towns, who might not even be aware that a show exists. I mean 2005 me, who didn’t even know that Rent existed until I saw the commercials for the movie on tv. Yes, the musical had existed for 11 years at that point, and had been on Broadway for 9.

(A small aside: my mom was very surprised that I didn’t already know Seasons of Love. She was also surprised when I first told her that I’d never heard Defying Gravity before we went to see Wicked for the first time. It’s not like those songs play on top 40 radio, which is all we get around here. How did she know about those songs? Has she been watching the Tonys all this time?)

A decade later, I’ve still never seen Rent live, and some theater hipsters are probably judging me for that. But I do own a DVD of the movie (and I saw it in theaters, the week-end it came out), and the OBC recording (and i learned it by heart), and a copy of Without You, Anthony Rapp’s autobiography, and I’ve rented the “last on Broadway” DVD though I haven’t bought it. If you are “what you own”, then I guess that makes me a Rent fan.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on March 3, 2014 in Uncategorized

 

Tags: , , ,

Anything goes Friday: Marathoning Mythbusters

28 Feb

… is what I’m doing right now. Because I forgot that I had a blog post to write today, and I didn’t plan a subject. And also because I’ve bought every season that was available on iTunes, and since I’ve already spent that much money, I might as well enjoy the show. And enjoy the show I do. It really is one of my favorites.

That sentence was probably more impressive when I had a television, and when I watched more then Myhtbusters, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. But you know what? Those other two shows have only started this season, and Mythbusters has been on air for over ten years, and I’ve been watching for almost that long, so that says something right there.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on February 28, 2014 in Uncategorized

 

Tags: ,

Book Wednesday: Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen

26 Feb

I know, I know. What a cliché, right? A fan of Jane Austen who favors Pride and Prejudice over all her other novels. One would almost think that is it a truth universally acknowledged that Pride and Prejudice is a favorite of all Janeites. Not only that, but we all wish to be Miss Elizabeth Bennet and marry Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy.

Well, in my case at least, that’s not quite right. It is true that Pride and Prejudice is my favorite Austen novel. I have re-read it many times. And unlike my slightly manic and obsessive re-readings of Emma in January, I’m not trying to pick up clues about a story untold: I’m simply enjoying the narrative and the writing. I have also re-watched my favorite adaptations – the 1995 BBC one starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, and the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, starring Ashley Clements and Daniel Vincent Gordh – many times.

But I’m not Elizabeth Bennet, quick-witted and arrogant. I do not wish to marry Mr Darcy, proud and reserved. If anything, I am more like Mr Darcy, and would need an Elizabeth Bennet equivalent. (Or I could be an Elinor Dashwood waiting for my Edward Ferrars, or a Jane Fairfax waiting for my Frank Churchill. The great thing about reading all of Austen is that it’s easier to find an analogy that fits you.)

Speaking of adaptations, I’ve yet to see one that depicts the first meeting of Elizabeth and Mr Darcy in a way that truly reflect the book. To give a bit of context, they are at a dance, Elizabeth is sitting down due to a lack of partner, and Mr. Bingley walks up to his good friend Mr. Darcy, standing nearby, and proposes to introduce them, so that Mr. Darcy can invite her to dance.

“Which do you mean?” and turning round he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said: “She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me; I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me.”

Emphasis mine. Now, I could be wrong, but this is how I’m interpreting that scene.

Darcy isn’t an idiot, he knows that Elizabeth is close enough to hear what he says. And he stares at her until she stares back, before he tells Bingley she’s not good enough for him. This isn’t Lizzie hiding somewhere and overhearing his private conversation like in the 2005 movie version. (And oh, don’t even get me started on that version!) This is Darcy going out of his way to insult her; no wonder she won’t believe he’s in love with her!

And it’s part of what I really like about Pride and Prejudice. Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet both begin the story believing that they are better then everybody else, and they both have to change to get their happy ending. That’s pretty rare. Usually, in romantic literature, you have one character who needs to change and evolve and learn, and the other is already perfect, or at least perfect for the character they are matched with. Pride and Prejudice doesn’t follow that pattern, and maybe that is why it has been such a success in the time of Austen, and why it remains such a success to this day.

 
1 Comment

Posted by on February 26, 2014 in Uncategorized

 

Tags: , , , ,

← Older posts
Newer posts →