This is what you get when I post every day: more Louisa May Alcott
Thanksgiving was fun! I made highly successful apple pie. I realized less than an hour before I had to be at the dinner that I didn't have cornstarch. Oops. Luckily, 30 seconds on Google told me that twice as much flour is an acceptable subsititute! I also had no measuring spoons, and that after I went to all the trouble to get a metric recipe. But it turned out lovely and delicious, especially with vanilla ice cream, and one of the other girls told me I'd "won Thanksgiving", so. :D Which was especially lovely, as half the spices in the cabinet were unlabeled, and as I was shaking what I THOUGHT was nutmeg into the mix, all I could think about was Anne Shirley, and I was terrified that it was actually, like, chili pepper. (To be honest, I don't think anyone here would've been surprised if it was. I'm the problem child. I think they're all expecting me to actually break a limb before I go home. But I'm also pretty happy-go-lucky and haven't broken anything ever, despite many spills, so!)
After watching and analyzing Little Women to death, I've been going through some of her books online. I started with Jack and Jill, and, good Lord, I want Jack/Jill fanfic. I want so badly to see how he proposes (because she even tells us they get married! On Jill's 25th birthday!). Oh man, that would be adorable and hilarious, and I'm sure Jill hit him or laughed or both at some point during it. Also, Ralph/Merry, because they're quite sweet and adorable. I should not get this excited over fictional marriages, but I've always been this way. Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe, Laura Ingalls and Almanzo Wilder, and all the girls of Little Women. This goes back a long way, guys.
But I'm also mildly horrified at some of the lessons in Jack and Jill. Mindless obedience? Really? The idea that you should just obey orders, whether or not they make sense, horrifies me. (Eric would say this is because I'm the epitome of Chaotic Good. Oh, high school D&D.) But this is how we get soldiers cheerfully murdering civilians, even those who would never hurt someone of their own free decision. NOT GOOD, guys. Also, I'm all for cheerfulness, patience, and optimism in dire situations, but every time they compared Jill to a wild bird who fought against her cage but who slowly learned to be content where she was, all I could think of was, "They're breaking her. Like they'd break a horse. Good Lord, why is this considered good? What's wrong with spirit?" Also, the massive amounts of preaching against alcohol made me laugh and cringe at the same time. Though, to be honest, we could use a little more of that in our time - it'd be nice to have fewer high school students killed in drunk-driving accidents. Forget the abstinence pledges - this is what churches should be preaching to teenagers. Temperance.
But, overall, lovely book. Mostly because I loved the little romances.
Next up, actually rereading Little Women, because it's been years. After that, probably An Old-Fashioned Girl, which was always one of my favorites, partly because of the loveliness that is Tom/Polly, and partly because that book influenced so much of my young life. (I'm really starting to understand why I didn't have many friends when I was little.)
After watching and analyzing Little Women to death, I've been going through some of her books online. I started with Jack and Jill, and, good Lord, I want Jack/Jill fanfic. I want so badly to see how he proposes (because she even tells us they get married! On Jill's 25th birthday!). Oh man, that would be adorable and hilarious, and I'm sure Jill hit him or laughed or both at some point during it. Also, Ralph/Merry, because they're quite sweet and adorable. I should not get this excited over fictional marriages, but I've always been this way. Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe, Laura Ingalls and Almanzo Wilder, and all the girls of Little Women. This goes back a long way, guys.
But I'm also mildly horrified at some of the lessons in Jack and Jill. Mindless obedience? Really? The idea that you should just obey orders, whether or not they make sense, horrifies me. (Eric would say this is because I'm the epitome of Chaotic Good. Oh, high school D&D.) But this is how we get soldiers cheerfully murdering civilians, even those who would never hurt someone of their own free decision. NOT GOOD, guys. Also, I'm all for cheerfulness, patience, and optimism in dire situations, but every time they compared Jill to a wild bird who fought against her cage but who slowly learned to be content where she was, all I could think of was, "They're breaking her. Like they'd break a horse. Good Lord, why is this considered good? What's wrong with spirit?" Also, the massive amounts of preaching against alcohol made me laugh and cringe at the same time. Though, to be honest, we could use a little more of that in our time - it'd be nice to have fewer high school students killed in drunk-driving accidents. Forget the abstinence pledges - this is what churches should be preaching to teenagers. Temperance.
But, overall, lovely book. Mostly because I loved the little romances.
Next up, actually rereading Little Women, because it's been years. After that, probably An Old-Fashioned Girl, which was always one of my favorites, partly because of the loveliness that is Tom/Polly, and partly because that book influenced so much of my young life. (I'm really starting to understand why I didn't have many friends when I was little.)