Antoinette and Other Things

Less than two weeks until Marie Antoinette comes out at Blockbuster. It's embarrassing how excited I am.
The film had mixed reactions when it came out, as did Antonia Fraser's take on the Austrian Queen of France when she wrote her biography. The people who disliked the film attacked the lack of narrative and dialogue, the unusual and sudden ending point, the endless scenes of frivolity, and the modern soundtrack. Usually I would try to be diplomatic and at least consider their collective point of view, but it just seems so petty for them to criticize Fraser's opinion on Antoinette and indirectly Sofia Coppola's film making abilities just because they don't agree with what is being said.

Last year I wrote an essay on Antoinette, taking a rather sympathetic view - the main conflict of the essay was about the reality of her character versus public opinion. It was a great essay, but I definitely took a softer view on her than did most historians. I suppose I know a little bit of what it feels like to be young, naive and impressionable, and thrust into unforgiving circumstances far away from the people who have previously been your everything.

Someone who wishes not to be named and I made a sparkler bomb tonight. It was his idea, completely - we ventured to the supermarket and bought half a million packets of sparklers before taking them home and grinding the powder off them. It felt so dangerous; making a bomb in my kitchen. We filled an empty V can up with this explosive powder and set a sparkler in the can with melted wax to act as a fuse. It was brilliant! Hopefully a youtube link will be coming along soon - yes, he filmed it. I was less concerned with cinematography and more with flying shrapnel.

Adventures of the last couple of days have made me realize how much I need a pet. I met a boxer pup called Jasper in the storms of Thursday and hugged him until he was happy again, then tonight was brightened by meeting darling puppy Lucy and her adorable little padded coat in the Vietnamese district. My beautiful little cloud leopard still hasn't come back, and despite one brief sighting, she has been completely absent from my apartment block. She may actually have an owner rather than being a stray as I previously thought.
I want a puppy or a kitten though. To lavish affection upon, to keep me company when everybody has gone out, to sleep on the end of my bed, to take care of and feel responsible for, to make me actually get up in the morning, to love me whether I am grouchy or ugly or fat or sad or whatever. As soon as my Dad finds a new place, I am scouting the trading post for any free to a good home kittens; a puppy might be a bit too much work for me right now.

I have to share something I found today. When I turned 18, Lucien gave me (among other things) a little illustrated dictionary that he made for me, capturing the little inside jokes and strange phrases we used constantly. He also did a little definition of me:

My girl. Elusive and can be difficult to spot, especially during the school year. Tread lightly and be careful not to disturb her fragile constitution. However, when she smiles and laughs there is no greater joy in the world. Catch her if you can and never let her go!

On the opposite page is a little stick figure drawing of a girl, in a skirt with a big smile on her face. Written above is this - "Rosie (may not be to scale)". Written below the picture is this - "(but might be...)" which is funny because I am small. Finding this and reading it today injected some well needed warm fuzzies into my day.. it will sound gushy and stupid, but I often forget how lucky I am to be loved by such a brilliantly wonderful guy.

Random snippers: the lead singer of Maroon 5 scares me; his voice is so high and nasal, and his facial expression never changes.
I'm in love with Kevin Rudd, even more than I loved Bill Clinton back in the day.
Bamboo shoots are clearly the best food ever. I used to eat them straight out of the jar when I was little; we might see a return to that.
I realized I can actually wear my new pale pink dress somewhere, in a few weeks to Beauty and the Beast, so I should really make a sash for it.
Now that I have a Plan A and a Plan B, Plan C is to be some sort of aid worker helping out in Africa or rural Asian communities.
Florists should grow and sell dandelions, not the plain little yellow flowers but the big fluffy heads full of parachuted seeds, because they are very beautiful. I have a tiny swatch of creamy coffee coloured fabric that I saved from the rubbish because it had dandelions on it.
I have taken to watching SBS in the middle of the night when they do the worldwide weather, because I love the classical music they play - right now it is an album called "Finlandia: The Mystery and Magic of Sibelius", so beautiful, especially this violin solo that is playing right now. I want the cd.
I feel so damn bad-ass for being a sparkler bomb terrorist tonight. Ha, I mentioned 'terrorist' and 'bomb' in my post - just watch the appropriate Australian authorities pounce. Apparently they monitor all text messages now.

Enough. Due to an unfortunate incident involving my foot and the dry-cleaning bag on my bedroom floor, and then my head and the concrete wall, I have had a bad headache in a certain spot for the last 24 hours. It's bedtime.