Quirky Monday: Leather

You remember back when I said that people speaking in dialects and other languages turn me into a big pot of goo and I fangirl all over the place? Well, that isn’t the only thing that causes that reaction. There’s a whole list of them that could make maybe a month’s worth of posts, but this time I’ll only discuss—or fangirl about—one.

Leather.

I love the feel of it; I love the texture; I love the smell; and yes, I love the sound. Leather is cool. And it’s all the Man in Black’s fault.

For those not enlightened enough to get that cult reference (if you’re one of them--GASP!!!!), that’s a character from “The Princess Bride”. Actually, it’s two of my favorite characters from “The Princess Bride”, cause both of them sport leather.  And after you been bit by the leather bug—in my case anyway—it doesn’t go away.

My great-grandpa used to watch “Dr. Quinn” whenever we were over for Christmas, and even though I didn’t quite get the storyline, I loved the fact that these people were running around in leather boots, with leather saddles and stuff(it’s a Western, so go figure).

Wait, though, it gets worse. When I was ten, I saw a recording of Michael Flatley’s “Lord of the Dance”(and if you haven’t seen it, you should, because OMG!!!!!....anyway….); and I fell in love with it. Not just because of the dancing, but because of all the leather pants. Ok, fine, maybe some of them were “pleather” pants, but still. It looked sooooo gooooood!!!!!

And now, on BBC, there is a show called “The Musketeers” and guess what they wear? LEATHER!!!!!

And really, all the time I was growing up I wanted to own something leather—because it looked COOL!!!!!

I used to prowl around H&M and Forever 21 just to pick up the “pleather” jackets and I’d wear them until they were worn out. I also had a pair of “pleather” pants I wore holes in cause I wore them so much. I got my first legit leather jacket three years ago. I wear it entirely too much. This past Christmas, my mom got me wool-lined leather gloves to wear during the winter. There is already a hole in one of them. Not enough to mean I have to get rid of them, but still.

If you speaking in an accents doesn’t get me gooey, try getting your hands on some leather for me. We could talk. 

Lack of One or Both Parents in Fiction

I don't usually blog on a Sunday, but I've had this on my mind for a bit, and it's time to let this thought out of my head. So here goes:

There is a surprising lack of parentage in fiction. Not just YA fiction either, and not just in novels. Adult fiction, films, plays and all of that have protagonists that--to varying degrees--lack parental ties for one reason or another.


And the parent that is usually lacking--either as an absentee who occasionally shows up but never has much of an intereatction with the protagonist, or deceased, or non-existent for some other reason-- is the mother. I get that in some genres that this is a necessary plot device(ie, the Revenge Plot, the Orphan Plot, or part of the Coming of Age Plot); but sometimes it's a matter of the author's choice.  And the more I thought about it.....well. take a look at this:

1. In Disney Films: Ariel and Belle have no mother at all. Bambi's mother is killed and he has an absentee father. Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty are taken from their parents and raised by a witch/good fairies.

2. In S.E. Hinton's YA novels, the parents are either dead(The Outsiders), or absentee in one form or another(Rumble Fish, Tex)

3. In the the Pink Carnation novels by Lauren Willig, and Deanna Raybourn's Julia Gray books, the parents are mostly there long enough to say something along the lines of: "this is where you came from, I love you, go live your life; and if you screw up I'll give you an earful"

4. The Coming of Age films like Take the Lead, Coach Carter, Forever Strong, Freedom Writers, ATL, Boyz N the Hood, etc, the parents/parental figure(s) is/are there to provide advice and guidence, but ultimately leave the choice up to the protagonist.

There are two pretty good articles I've come across that help illustrate these points. The first is an illustration of the "author's choice" idea in the form of a lovely post by one of my favorite mystery/romance writers Deanna Raybourn. Deanna is an amazing and amusing writer anyway, and I read her blog as much as I can. She made the choice, and the result is...well, read the article and find out.

The second article is from Glamour magazine, and focuses on why Disney won't give heroine's mothers. For the most part it focuses on the release of Malificent, but it does touch on this just a bit. And also brings up a personal bit about the Disney family history, which I quite like.

Personally, I have yet to write anything with a parent(or both) as one of the characters. For some reason, I have more fun in getting the characters into trouble and then making them figure out how to get out of it on their own--with little to no parental guidance, or whatever.

It's part of what makes this fun.

Me and the Movies: A Fangirl's Problem

I am a terrible person to watch movies with.

 Actually, I’m a terrible person to watch movies and tv shows with.

There. I said it.

Anyone who goes to see a movie or watches a movie or tv show with me is subjected to squeals, squeaks, vocal and silent fangirling and the occasional bouncing-up-and-down-in-my-seat-like-a-two-year-old. 

No, I’m not kidding.

Not that I don’t contain myself a little when I’m in a movie theatre. I do. But people still see the bouncing, muted squeaks,  and fangirling.

Yeah. I look like this.

Wait, though, it gets worse. Outside I movie theatre, I turn into IMDB 2.0. I spout celebrity chess did-you-knows, and behind the scenes gossips and stories, and goofs, and all that stuff.

It’s a problem.

But it’s not one I want to fix. I’m a very vocal obnoxious person when it comes to my interests and films happen to be one of those interests.

That’s all.