Seize the Stars

Gah, haven't had time to update LJ in FOREVER. I've been writing a play, and am still writing it, and should be writing it now instead of doing this, but sometimes you gotta take a break! I've also been working on several dresses for a convention this August, which has sorta become my epic cosplay fantasy weekend: I'm making Jane's yellow bustle dress from Disney's Tarzan, Christine's Hannibal costume & dressing gown from The Phantom of the Opera, AND Christine's wedding dress from The Phantom of the Opera! The other two I've had planned for a while, but the wedding dress got added at the last minute because everything kinda came together: I acquired a roll of white silk taffeta, I'm going to be making an 1880's bustle for the Jane dress anyway, & it's an indoor venue, so I can wear a silk dress with a train and not worry too much about it getting destroyed. Add to that the fact that the wedding dress in the Broadway production of Phantom is possibly the most beautiful, perfect Victorian bustle dress this girl has ever seen, and I want one so much I could die, and there was simply no way I couldn't do it. So I've got four months, approximately, to make it all happen. While also writing a play. Heck yeah! Let's do this!!!

All this work to do, and still, I find time to watch TV. (Probably why I haven't gotten much done yet!)

Downton Abbey is getting nuts, they'll have to stop randomly killing off everyone's favortie characters if they expect us to keep caring about the show, but hey, as long as there's pretty clothes, I'll probably still watch.

Mr. Selfridge has proven to be surprisingly good thus far. We're only one episode in, but I actually CAN accept Jeremy Piven in a period piece. Wonder of wonders. I'm pretty interested to see where it all goes, even if we already know the store will be a success!

The Borgias was actually, dare I say it, not awful in season 2! (I only just got cable again, so I just got caught up.) There was actual like, PLOT and DIALOGUE, man! WOW! I actually watched most of it, rather than just pushing the fast-forward button on the OnDemand until there was a scene with pretty clothes, which is how I got thru season 1. Though I fear the show is making me a worse person, because seriously, I'm rooting FOR the Borgias! I mean, I actually care about them! Granted, there was a helluva lot fewer murders, rapes, tortures & whatnot this year than last, but still, the very first show began with the drowning of an altar boy! Not good! Of course, that's pretty tame compared to most network shows these days, and this IS a totally first-rate piece as far as production values are concerned. Unbelieveable quality in costuming and sets. I'm definitely excited for season 3 starting next week, but have a feeling it'll probably be a return to more gross stuff again. Thank goodness for OnDemand viewing and that lovely fast forward button!

Doctor Who continues to be adorable and fun, and I hope it stays that way for at least this season. TV needs more nerdy heroes and zany adventure, if you ask me.

Miss Fisher Mysteries was a total chance discovery on the PBS cable station late last night, and I'm happy to have found it. Sophistocated heiress becomes private investigator in 1920's Australia sounds as good a premise as I can think of, and Phryne Fisher is a wild, independant, badass sort of character, which makes it even more fun! I'm totally excited to see where her next case will take her.

So that's my bit of chatter for today; now I shall go forth and sew! And write! And listen to cast albums! You can listen to A LOT of cast albums while you're cutting out fabric... that'll have to be a whole other post some other day...;D

Okay, well, looks like trying not to neglect LJ has perhaps been less than successful! But everything's kind of crazy; I seem to have a reenactment to go to every weekend, and all the sewing projects I have piling up take their toll. But I'm getting a lot better at the whole 'educating the public about history' thing. The sewing is the easy part compared to that! I'm pretty shy, but I've been interested in the history of the women's rights movement forever, and being able to tell people about an important part of American history that almost always gets overlooked is something I'm really passionate about, and it's totally the best motivation to not be the shrinking violet in the corner, and let the world hear what you have to say! I was a total babbling mess at my first couple of events, but by the most recent one I went to, I think I actually developed a pretty coherent summing up of the mid-19th century women's movement! YAY! Hopefully practice will make perfect!

I'm also taking on yet another sewing project beyond reenacting. Foolish? Probably. Fun? Definitley! I'm making Jane's yellow bustle outfit from Disney's Tarzan! The minute I saw the movie the idea crept into my head, and the more I thought about it the more I knew I had to do it. I didn't have any idea where or when I'd ever get to wear it, but I went ahead and bought the fabric anyway, only to discover a month later that my local costumer's society was planning to do a group of historically accurate Disney Heroine costumes! So voila, a reason to make it! And cut to my first foray back to LJ since this happened, and every other costumer who blogs here is doing Disney heroines too! Too weird, but awesome! So I joined dpcostume and the rest is...well, not history, because I've got the actual sewing still ahead of me! But it's incredibly exciting to be part of this national costumer trend of Disney Princess love, and I think it's going to be so fun to see all these different seamstresses interpret the same characters. :)