Miss Charlotte Bronte meets Miss Barbara Pym: Lady Lazarus

Miss Charlotte Bronte meets Miss Barbara Pym: Lady Lazarus: Sylvia Plath   The notes below reflect my thoughts and opinions, based on a lot of reading on Plath that I did in the 70s and 80s.  ...

Miss Charlotte Bronte meets Miss Barbara Pym: Housekeeping Tips inspired by Laura Ingalls Wilder...

Miss Charlotte Bronte meets Miss Barbara Pym: Housekeeping Tips inspired by Laura Ingalls Wilder...: So, today, I ate well but badly.   My customary oatmeal and coffee, which is the “well.”   Lunch, the best and worst of times.   Iced co...

10 Clues You Might Be a Doll Addict - Ruby Lane Blog

10 Clues You Might Be a Doll Addict - Ruby Lane Blog: On the Dolls Lane, we live and breathe dolls all day, every day. It’s safe to say that we are doll addicts. If you’ve heard the saying, ‘it takes one to know one,’ let us know if any of these telltale clues apply to you! 1.    You tell your fiancé that you would rather have... Read more »

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: One Step Closer to being a Museum and Happy 4th!

Dr. E's Doll Museum Blog: One Step Closer to being a Museum and Happy 4th!: Happy and safe 4th of July!!  This is a special one for us.  Today, we took another step closer to becoming a brick and mortar doll museum. ...

In Memoriam; St. Joan of Arc

Yesterday marks the 588th year since the martyrdom of Joan, the Maid of Orleans.  Little is known of her early life, but much is surmised.  Even her tragic death is shrouded in mystery; there is some historical talk that she did not die at the stake that day, but was spirited a way; a corpse or some other unfortunate allegedly took her place.


Documents from her trial are online.


Some write she was an illiterate peasant girl with visions, others that her voices were schizophrenia taking its toll.  Yet, her mother did go to court to clear her name several years after her death, and Mark Twain was moved to write a book about her.  She did unify her country, like Deborah or Boadicea, and she led her people to victory.  That took intelligence, courage, much more than we can even imagine.


So, today, we honor her and celebrate her victories, and mourn her tragic loss at 19.  "We are lost!" the executioner supposedly cried, "We have burned a saint!" Her heart was found unburned in the ashes.

St. Joan, a French bisque doll, via Ruby Lane

Joan, Public Domain

Joan the Maid, Public Domain

Why We Need Dolls In Our Lives - Ruby Lane Blog

Why We Need Dolls In Our Lives - Ruby Lane Blog: Why We Need Dolls In Our Lives:  No culture has been without dolls. In some societies, the doll figures that remain seem to be more idol or ritual figures, but the same cultures refer to dolls as children’s toys.  They might be very simple compared to their idols or decorative figures, maybe a decorated twig... Read more »

Pondering the Royal Wedding, May 19th

Spoiler alert; if you are ga ga for Royals, don't read this.  Don't send me nasty comments, either. I'll delete them.  The First Amendment is still in effect, and this is my opinion, albeit an informed one. It's no one else's, and we can agree to disagree if needed.  It isn't that I'm not happy, or sympathetic for the new Duke and Duchess.  It's just that fairy tales are just that; myths based on partial realities and passed down through ritual, then tradition, then child's tale. As I mentioned in an earlier post, today marks the 482nd anniversary of another royal bride, one that was also attractive, outspoken, talented, innovative, creative, a musician to the present new royal wife's actress. I am speaking of course, of Anne Boleyn. I've been reading and writing about her and other wronged women since age 9.  I have also written about her, presented conference papers, published a poem or two about her, and am working on a longer writing project, too.  She was beheaded around noon May 19, 1536.  Harry and Meaghan were married at about 1 pm.  Also, in 1936, Edward VIII was allegedly forced to abdicate because he married a 30something American divorcee. As one commentator put it, the former King and Duke of Windsor is spinning in his grave.


Thank God times do change, and even talented commoners can move on up to the big palace. Certainly, there is room for a Meaghan Markle with her all too human family and problems.  We've seen the Royals have more than their share. She looked small and lovely, but I think that dress looked more like a bed sheet, or a shroud.  Simplicity is good, on he other hand; maybe it looked better live. Since my invitation was lost in the mail, I'll never know.  For more, review Charles III.


My other issue is I suspect the new bride will have to give up her US citizenship. As someone who was born abroad but who is a US citizen by birth, well, I just wouldn't do it  I hope she doesn't have to give up her citizenship, but it bothered me to see an American curtsy and sing "God Save the Queen" to a foreign monarch.  Queen Elizabeth II is a gracious and intelligent woman, but no American should be pledging allegiance to her.


We're a free country, and the Duchess can do what she wants.  She is personable, apparently in love, and will be very wealthy. It's a little unfair to compare her to Diana.  If she doesn't blow it one way or another as Diana, Sarah Ferguson, and other royal brides have been accused of doing, she has a chance for a long and happy reign as Harry's wife.  Yet, I wonder, would the Family Firm have been as accepting if Harry were the heir to the throne?


If it's lovely,young, clever royal brides you want, well, Henry VIII had six of them.