Celtic Mythology

   I've just finished reading a book about Celtic mythology. I find mythology fascinating, and know a good deal about the Greek one, and a bit less of the Norse. But Celtic has always fascinated me - you can't avoid being tempted to know more about them after reading The Mists of Avalon, which I did when I was eleven.

   Well, a few weekends ago I went to a bigger city nearby to find the perfect prom shoes for my dress and I couldn't resist to take a look at the bookshops. Jonas (my boyfriend) and I happily completed our Tolkien collection, thanks to the low prices on the books in English (the translated ones are scandalously expensive), and I found these rarities: books about mythology written by brazilians! Brazilians, if you don't know, generally don't pay any attention to it. Yet these two authors, a man and a woman who write together, have books on all kinds of myths: norse, celtic, hindi, greek and even our native's folklore.

   Due to short money, I bought only the Celtic and the Norse ones. The tone is not as documental as I would like (as it is in famous Tomas Bulfinch's The Golden Book of Mythology), but there's a fairly good range of myths.

   The celtic one presents myths from Ireland and Wales. The myths from Wales were better organised, I think because they were taken from a scottish woman's recollection of tales. It works fine as beginning material, but I'm thirsty for more detailed and numerous stories.

   Let's see about the norse one. Sometimes, I will share a piece of story with you - they are so entertaining and fun! The ancient really had a prodigious imagination!

Vintage Shoes from 40s and 50s, so lovely!

   I'm fascinated by vintage shoes and dream to have a decent oxford or t-strap heel! Drooling on the lovely shoes these girls wore:

   Aren't they adorable?

Freedom at last! And Prom.

  Hey! High School is totally over for me! I'm happy beyond description, really. I was so tired of my classes! I felt like sleeping made no difference this last month, so tired I was.

   Well, it is over for life! I will never have to wear an uniform again!

   The big question is: will I pass my exams to college? I'm optimistic. Here in Brazil, we have a peculiar way of selection. For most of colleges, there is a new form, which is a national test. For some, usually the best colleges, there is a two-step selection: a test of multiple choice, and a dissertative test. Candidates come and do the first test, and await results. They select the best of those to do the second test, which definitively selects the ones that can go to college.

    The colleges I'm trying follow the second model and I already have the results of the first test of the one I want the most. And I passed! In 15th place! I am soooo happy about it!

   So, I'm feeling that next year I probably am going to college, yes.

   There is one last thing related to school I must attend: my prom.

   Pretty excited about it. I love getting all dressed up. I bought the dress months ago, when I traveled to Orlando in the U.S. with my family. Dresses in Brazil are not much more expensive than dresses in the U.S., but they are much uglier. Too open and modern to me.  My dress is a nice tone of blue-green, in a shiny fabric, kind of a mermaid model, with little silver stones in the heart-shaped bust, with lacing (like a corset) on the back. I wanted something to match silver because I want to wear the Evenstar my boyfriend gave me last Christmas.

   

   This is the Evenstar, the necklace Arwen gives Aragorn in Lord of the Rings. Isn't it just perfect?

   Well, as I love vintage, and my dress and even the necklace don't conflict with something 40-ish, I'm planning to do something vintage to my hair and makeup. My ideal was to wear gloves, but I seriously doubt my mother would let me. Let's see. I already have my brand new pair of shoes, which has kind of a retro feeling to it.

   About the hair, there's a youtube channel of a girl that teaches all kinds of vintage hairdos, she's really great. If you like to do all those vintage hairstyles, like me, but doesn't have much of an idea how, she is perfect for you. I've learned a lot from her videos. She can be found here.

   It's going to be a busy week, I have tons of things to study (and I'm quite slow and lazy at that), but I will survive and who knows maybe I show up again here before next week.

   Wish me luck.

    

The Count of Monte Cristo and Possession

   Note: This is an old post I had prepared, and never published. Since it was ready, decided to do it now.

   More movies I've watched since I've last been here

The Count of Monte Cristo (2002 version)

   I liked this movie so much I intend to buy it! By what I've read, it is not the most faithful adaptation of the book - by the way, I always wanted soooo much to read Alexandre Dumas' books, but they are just way too expensive here and I can't find any in used book shops - but it's a very nice movie.

   It tells the story of Edmond Dantes. He is not very rich, but conquers many good things in his life which causes envy to his friend and noble Fernand Mondego. Mondego finds a way to incriminate Dantes for treason (and after the Revolution it was a very tense political time) and he goes arrested to Chatêau d'If, in a distant and desolate isle.

   There he meets an old man, Abbe Faria. He is very cult and teaches Dantes how to read, fight, about economy, politics, and mankind in general. He is trying to dig a tunnel to freedom, and Edmond helps him. But he is very old, and before dying he gives Edmond a map to the treasure he'd been put in prision for hiding. Edmond hides in the sack they would use to throw Abbe's body in the sea, and so manages to escape.

   He meets a bunch of pirates and wins their trust. Jacopo becomes his servant and best friend and togheter, with the treasure and faking nobility, they revenge those who did Dantes wrong.

   Really really good movie. I think Dumas was brilliant.

Possession

   This movie is not very known, but I loved it and I think you'll understand why.

   Maud and Roland are specialists in two victorian poets - she, in Christabel LaMotte; he, in Henry Ash - join forces to find out if the poets had a secret love affair or not, after they come about a few letters they wrote each other.

 
   They travel through many places their poems and diaries mention looking for clues of this unknown connection. But there are other scholars who hope to find evidences before they do and get the fame - and this might become dangerous.

   Oh, I wish I could go to many places to find out if writers did this or that based on what they left. What a dream job!

   I very liked the way they show the past and the present simultaneously.

   There's a book in which the movie was based, by A. S. Byatt. Seems it is more dense than teh movie. Sounds pretty interesting!

   Well, that's all I have for now. More later,

Used Book Stores

   Gods, I know! It's been more than a year. So much has changed. That diary I posted about making is long finished and I've made a new one now. I've watched so many more movies. I even got myself a boyfriend! We've been togheter over a year! Something to talk about later.

   Well, I'm not here to talk about all the changes in my life at once. Today I'm here to talk about my new  acquisitions! All those darling books from a used book shop.

   Here in Brazil books are expensive. Very expensive. New books, from the bookshop, usually cost between R$35 and 45 - and that is just ridiculous. Fortunately my boyfriend and I got the habit of frequently checking these stores (they also sell comics and LPs) and if you like to read classics, that's the place for you.

   Friday was my 17 year old birthday and my dear mom gave me some money and told us to go there and buy some books. She was the one who made me like reading from very young.

   So we went there and I ended up with no less then 7 books! And it cost like 7,40 each!

   The best thing is you can find those beautiful old, hard cover editions. So lovely!

   My Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque by Poe. I find the name in English very peculiar.

   Those are new, but the covers are gorgeous! The Sorrows of Young Werther and the Inferno part in the Divine Comedy.

   Comedies and Sonnets by Shakespeare. Sorry about the awful light.

   Ivanhoe and Death in Venice. Just like they are in my school's library.

   I have also Jane Eyre, some of Agatha Chritie's, The Picture of Dorian Gray... my dream is to find The Three Musketeers. Really.

   Because of these stores me and my boyfriend we're being able to collect vinyls of our beloved band Iron Maiden. We have four already. And there are many others. It is very worthwhile to take time and look - because it requires a lot of patience. But it's fun, it's like treasure hunting!

   Kisses,

Movies with Friends!

So, the movie reviews, as I promised!

Pride & Prejudice

 This one of my very favorites too. I just love Jane Austen.
 It's funny that most of the people prefer a thousand times the BBC series than this movie... I see that the series is more faithfull. But it seems so raw to me. Like a copy of the words, not the spirit of the book. And I can't swallow Colin Firth as Darcy, I'm sorry.
 When I watch it it feels like the feelings she wanted to portray in the book come alive uniquely. And the actors play their parts with such grace and charm! The photography of the movie is quite exquisite too.  There's always something new to be noticed at every scene, specially at the ball parts. I also love the soundtrack. One day, I'll learn to play the theme on the piano. One day.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

This movie always makes me want to walk out the door and chase adventure. Who cares about real life and responsabilities? "Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free! You are a pirate!"
Okay. This was a funny movie to watch because my friend is just nuts about Johnny Depp and wants to marry him and all those stuff. So I was expecting constant regards about how wonderful he is, but she always finds a new and completely hilarious way to do it.
Who doesn't love pirates? First time I saw this movie I went running to the library to buy a book about them. I ended up with a very acurate description of the main pirates at their golden age by no one less than Daniel Defoe - that guy who wrote Robinson Crusoe, you know who he is. Fact is he wanted to provide good information so the english authorities could catch the pirates. He was very meticulous in his research, so it is very interesting.
But well, the movie. I can't see how someone could dislike it. It's epic awesome! The story is very nice, the acting was marvelous, the costumes make you sigh and all you have to say in the end is "Yo-ho yo-ho a pirate's life for me!", no matter how cliché that is.

We watched The Mummy too, but I've already talked about it. By the way, my hair went really well with the cut. I loved it!

Kisses,

(all pictures found on weheartit)

Romance, Fantasy and Adventures...

... unfortunately, not in my life. Only in the books and movies I read and watch. Maybe that's why I do it so much. To put a bit of those in it.
 Not that I'm unhappy. But sometimes I just wish unimaginable things started happening out of the blue so I can amaze from life again, in a good way.
 Maybe everybody worth talking to feels like that at times.
 To the books and movies, then!

Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine

 This one surprised me. My sister bought it so it's for younger people.
 It's the story of Ella. When she was born a fairy gave her the "gift" of obedience. Until she turned 15, it wasn't a big problem. Her mother and har cook, Mandy, were the only people who knew of her gift and avoided giving her orders. But as her mother died she was left alone with her father, a selfish man who was away most of the time. As consolation she had at least her new friendship with Char (the prince of Frell). Until the day her father decides to send her to finishing school with the dreadfull daughters of the woman he's about to marry. One of them realizes Ella can't help but obey a direct order and uses that to poison her life. One day, she forbids Ella of seeing the only friend she had made there, and so she runs away. She decides to seek the fairy to ask her to take away her gift. In the way, Char saves her from an ogre attack. He helps her find the fairy, but she doesn't help her. She goes back to her father and the relationship she has with Char makes Hattie, the awful step-sister, very jealous.  She forbids Ella to see him and uses her as a maid since her father is never there. Char goes away to learn the ways of another court, and they start to exchange letters. Those letters are going to change her destiny.

 The book is almost a version of Cinderella. A very believable one. The author is very good, she writes in a simple manner, which makes all the things in her magical land easy to follow. The characters are captivating, which is very important in a book like this. Think it became a favorite!

 Me and my friends lately have been watching a movie togheter every weekend. So far we've seen The Mummy, Pirates of the Caribbean and Pride & Prejudice. I'll post reviews in my next post - we are having so much fun!

 See you later,