My Life = The Little Mermaid, Part One

Mermaids and Blogs and Feminism: they are the same

...otherwise known as: a History of the Creation and Development of this blog

The following was my College Common App Personal Essay.  I post it here to hopefully make more clear how I see mermaids, feminism, and blogging to be especially related and relevant to me at this time, and hopefully it will make clear why it would be interesting for you to read my opinions.  

Here Goes:

Everyone has a favorite story since they were little, a story that is almost an image, that inspires them and drives them forward, acting as a lens through which they actualize their ambitions: for some it is “The Little Engine that Could,” for others it is “Leo the Late Bloomer,” or even “St. George and the Dragon;” for me, it was “The Little Mermaid”.  For me, the fable’s secret world and unshakeable desire first introduced the concept of dreams creating purpose; the mixing of species and elements has cultivated the bridging of apparently disparate worlds as a constant point of fascination.   

During my time between high school and college, I’ve been involved in substantial  self‐reflection, thinking a lot about independence, identity and soul; and naturally  

“The Little Mermaid” constantly came to mind.   It is such a time-honored and beloved story, yet there is little organized research dedicated to it: the poignant tale of a fish longing for legs is, like its protagonist, without a firm grip on land.  I have been exploring new and different media myself, not only between water and earth but also within the technological world; a mystery to me when I graduated high school two years ago. 

It started when my best friend who had moved away suggested we both start a blog.  As I began to consider my blog’s theme, I remembered that almost every one of my essays in high school, despite the assigned topic, came back to feminism.  I have always been fascinated that such a well-worn topic could still be so new and ambiguously defined. After choosing feminism as the topic of my blog, I began a serious love affair with detail.   

I often chose to cover animation of females; studying frame-by-frame face changes of early Disney princesses was hard work, so I chose to make a video zipping through my thousands of screen captures.  Soon I was adding music, or changing the speed of the flipping images, to encourage themes of thought in my audience.  As my technological standards got higher, I adapted by learning new skills and using new programs.   

Soon I graduated to working with clips instead of images.  The cutting and re- arranging of film with a certain aesthetic in mind so reminded me of the collages I love to make, that I began to call my videos “clip collages.”  One has reached over 80,000 views on YouTube© over the past four months.  These were intended to complement textual analysis on the blog. I prefer a multi-disciplinary approach – science and art, math and history – to fully understand and appreciate what surrounds me.  If we can as skilled mathematicians see the art in golden ratios and theorems and as experienced artists appreciate the chemistry of the artist’s brush stroke, the possibilities of all measurements of reality working together are mind-blowing.  I have tried to bring this multi-lens view into all my evaluations and interpretations; therefore, multi-media analysis was the next natural step.  

As I began to embed videos on my blog, my own creations as well as clips from movies and documentaries, I was often faced with technical problems and soon found that to make my blog the way I wanted, I’d have to learn HTML.  If essay writing is a balance of form and function, I was learning that web coding was a well-defined balance of HTML and CSS.  I learned the history of web-site construction.  Initially it was just data tables for scientists who didn’t care about appearance.  Soon social, commercial, and educational purposes were discovered, and attempts to change HTML to compensate turned (literally) ugly, necessitating the invention and inclusion of CSS and a purified HTML, a new revolution still in motion.   

Learning the history of web coding in my online beginner’s course was like learning a microcosm of the history of the world.  Although not religious, I found something oddly Buddhist about it, these lessons in process that spread across all different genres and disciplines.  Inspired, I began implementing these concepts into my cello teaching,  - this balance and concomitance of the technical and the “emotional” – which any musician will tell you, defines music.  

 As I worked through my HTML and CSS beginners’ course, I developed a habit of reading the source code of every website I came across.  The minute structural and artistic decisions used to decorate or facilitate the websites through a profession so new and uncharted drew me further into the purpose of my blog:  the giving, analyzing, and presenting of data and thought.  I began to learn – both through the web course and through trial and error – to promote my blog more professionally.  

This all may seem like a far cry from a fairy tale about a half-fish out of water written nearly two hundred years ago. The more specialized my skills and research became in the online tech-world, the more I delved into fairy tale influences on culture over the ages, especially in film adaptation. 

The history of The Little Mermaid, though extremely small in comparison to the history of other fairy tales, is very rich with adaptations, cultural influences, and historical landmarks.   Comparing what different film adaptations did with the same story became an addictive new hobby, so I began collecting anything I could find. As my search became international, I learned more technological skills I never knew were within my grasp; .srt subtitle coding, for example.  Every turn brought something new.  This was a rewarding and relevant tale that spoke to the urges of the “other” - the land beyond reach, the possibilities of change - to the very skills and pursuits, the web-coding, the cello teaching, the film editing, the film and cultural history, that attracted me in the first place.   

One of my dreams is to make a website that focuses on all the facets of the story of the Little Mermaid; film, literature, followings, imagery.  Such a website does not exist.  This idea started when people from across the world, most recently Spain, the Philippines, and Mexico, saw my clip collages online and contacted me asking for obscure background information, or to find a version they remember from childhood. 

It is such a thrilling thought that in actuality I am helping people who are intellectually thirsty about the same things as I; it surprises me that someone so unfinished in her schooling can start something new and build on something old in order to better inform, intrigue, and amuse a willing audience.  I thought the only unexplored “new worlds” were the research of smallest unit of the atom or some sort of Lewis and Clark venture; but now I know that I can break bonds and build beginnings throughout my schooling by following my passions as I have in the last two years.   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pandora and Eve

I'm posting an essay I wrote - assigned for school, as will be obvious, but nonetheless I did write opinions that were in fact my own and therefore are worth posting.  This was written when I was first starting freshman year of college after two gap years so be kind.

A little explanation is necessary before you read.

Using three very specific texts, namely Eve's mention in the second and third chapters of the Bible's Genesis and Pandora's mention in Hesiod's Theogony, lines 507-631, and Hesiod's Works and Days lines 42-100ish, we were to compare Pandora and Eve.  However, we were strictly to avoid thinking of Pandora  in the sense of the well-known myth - her being forbidden to open a box, which out of curiosity she opens and it turns out to have all the bad things in it.  Apparently though this tale is widespread there is no ancient primary source that mentions anything like it, other than she opened a cask at some point, and therefore our beloved legend must be some sort of modern development.

Thus our modern minds would be especially tempted to have an Eve-like interpretation of Pandora off the bat - curiosity leading to the downfall of man, etc., which is hardly the way to approach the actual proof of period views of these ladies.

(Harry Bates - Pandora, 1891, front 

- on temporary display at Tate Britain, August 2010)

At any rate, this essay is strictly the interpretation of texts, not involving much outside knowledge of culture, and with no other scholarly sources.

Here are links to the texts if you wish to read or refer to them at any point -

these aren't the translations I used, but I don't think I can legally share those with you, and these are close enough of course:

The Bible: Genesis chapters 2 and 3
Hesiod Theogony starting line 507
Hesiod Works and Days starting line 42

Yay! Here we go.

Pandora and Eve; Femmes Fatales of Old

In the creation of Woman the Hebrews and Greeks saw great potential for explaining the dynamics between the sexes; both stories call to question the function of woman with reference to Man and God. In not asking the reverse – what function man and god has to woman - Pandora and Eve are both rendered second class citizens in their own creation stories. Pandora and Eve, through the weakness indulgence creates, are both sources of all womanhood and the doom of mankind; and, as opposed to the natural creation of Man out of dust (whether it be the Hebrew God or the Greek Prometheus), these original women are created differently and for a different and specific purpose, as an afterthought – certainly not part of an original plan – , and solely for man. However this is where there likenesses end; for the Hebrew Bible goes to lengths to give Eve enough autonomy to decide to take of the forbidden fruit, and, though it brands woman forever as the original sinner, in so doing she must be made a person to be capable of such an act. With Hesiod’s Pandora, she is a curse hidden as a gift that was meant to be returned, and that is all; she is a mere object and burden and her purpose and self are one in the same.

Eve After the Fall, Alexandre Cabanel

Neither Pandora nor Eve was born. They were created; after man and for Man, through a divine imperative. Made through a completely different process than Man, in a very specific and graphic way, they are in a sense rendered less natural than Man and less human. Consider Pandora’s second name after “Woman” – “manufactured maiden” (Theogony 510-515) and Eve’s first description by Man as “bone of my bones/ and flesh of my flesh” (2:23); the picture of the Hebrew God effectively drugging Man in order to extract the necessary body parts to assemble Eve feels more contrived than sacred: "the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman" (2:22). This distinction between Woman and Man leads to the concept of different roles; of weaknesses in particular, perhaps through unconventional assemblage. Both Eve and Pandora, through their relationship with man, bring much “toil” (3:17, Theogony 595-600) to him, to “hurry about [his] work…until the sun/ Goes down” “by the sweat of [his] face” (3:19). As result of her influence over him, he is “cursed” (3:17) – in the case of Pandora, she is literally called “the lovely curse” (Theogony 585-590).

Adam and Eve, Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1597

Though both women are referred to solely though the roles they play, that is where the material difference between them is found. Their names speak of the function assigned to them: “Pandora” meaning “all gifts” – “the gifts which all the gods/ Had given her” (Works and Days 80-85) and “Eve” meaning “living,” “because she was the mother of all living” (3:20). Eve, despite her mistakes, is nonetheless called only a few simple names – “woman” (2:22, 2:23, 3:01, 3:02, 3:04, 3:06, 3:12, 3:13, 3:13, 3:16) “wife” (2:25, 3:08, 3:20, 3:21, 3:17) “Eve” (3:20) and “mother” (3:20). She is a member of the family. She was made because “It is not good that man should be alone;” she is Man’s “helper and partner.” Not so with Pandora. Her name’s meaning is a plural noun; and she herself represents a collection of objects: women. Pandora is called many, many vicious names – “an evil thing for [Man’s] delight” (Works and Days 55-60), “this ruin,” and “this ruin of mankind” (Works and Days 55-60, 80-85) “deep and total trap” (Works and Days 70-75) “Into the image of a modest girl” (Works and Days 70-75); it is made clear she was designed as a false sexual parasite and nothing more – to “fill [her belly] up/ With products of the toil of others” (Theogony 595-600).

Pandora, Jules Joseph Lefebvre

In her entire story in both the Work and Days and Theogony scripts she only commits two verbs: “thrilled” (Theogony 585-590) and “opened” (Works and Days 90-95); the first is the ironically innocent depiction of the a girl as belle of the ball “thrilled by all her pretty trappings”, unaware that she was brought “to a place/ Where gods and men were gathered” in order to “[seize] the mortal men and gods,/ To see the hopeless trap, deadly to men” (Theogony 585-590). In the Works and Days version it is made clear that she is not so naïve and childlike as her first verb would make her appear – for, thanks to Hermes, she has been given “sly manners, the morals of a bitch” “lies and persuasive words and cunning ways” – and, most importantly, Aphrodite’s gift, “painful, strong desire, and body-shattering cares” (Works and Days 60-80). Through these terrible, if passive vices she is made to be the “price for men to pay for fire,/ An evil” (Theogony 570-575), being desirable, irritable, and useless simultaneously; with only enough personality to carry out her second and last verb: “But now the woman opened up the cask, and [scatter] pains and evils among men” (Works and Days 90-95) – that is, disease and death.

Attributed to the Niobid Painter. 

The Creation of Pandora. 

Attic Red Figure, Calyx krater shape. 

Archaic Period. British Museum, London, UK.

Creation of Pandora, interior of Cylix,

470-460 B.C., British Museum, London, England

Eve is guilty of many verbs – “saw” “desired” “took” “ate” and “gave” all appear in the same verse (3:06); likewise she is born naked, whereas Pandora’s very creation is expressed through the applying of clothes: she has “robes” “belt” “necklaces” “wreath” “crown” “flowers into a crown” – all detailed and made by Gods specialized in those fields (Theogony 570-585, Works and Days 60-85). Eve’s lack of adornment emphasizes her person and her actions; Pandora is defined as all adornment; even her “skills” are bestowed upon her by the Gods. Eve speaks; Pandora does not. Though both illustrate the power of indulgence to destroy – Eve partaking of the fruit, Pandora inciting lust –Pandora was specifically created to, and Eve was not. Most importantly, Eve is given punishment, and Pandora is punishment incarnate – Eve is doomed to “desire…for [her] husband” concurrent with “pangs of childbirth” (3:16) whereas Pandora causes man to “[live] all his life/ With never-ending pain inside his heart/ And on his mind” (Theogony 610-615), and to add insult to injury, she (and so saying, all women) is “No help to [men] in poverty/ But ready enough to share with [him] in wealth” (Theogony 590-595). Eve sins (whether arguably to her lesser nature or no), and she suffers consequences; Pandora merely exists as consequence to others.

Illustration for John Milton’s “Paradise Lost“ by Gustave Doré, 1866.

The two famed female figures may both have a reputation as femmes fatales, but they carried out their sentence on mankind in very different fashions; Eve diverting from a chosen path through personal will, Pandora simply in being herself as she was created. They are both cited as the first woman, and both directly or indirectly caused punishment to be inflicted on the whole of man; however the Hebrew account chose to personify where the Greeks objectify. Neither can really make proud any conventionally modern feminist group; but perhaps the ideology behind Eve can more clearly exemplify the Hebrew view of woman was mother and wife first, sinner second.

~end of essay~

What I've Been Up To

GREETINGS ALL

... yet another comeback entry ^~^

It has been four months today since my last post! Sheesh!

It's been a crazy four months. Mostly filled with me working on this blog.

Which obviously means I have no idea what a blog actually is. I keep doing research and making videos and uploading pictures and writing scribbles on saved drafts till each one becomes the length of a book. I've also had a full-time albeit temporary job and begun applying for college.

Anyhow the geekily self-proclaimed "idiosyncratic feminist" is back to re-explore what I possibly could have meant by that term.

To give you a mental picture of what the past four months has been for me, consider this a little snapshot:

In two weeks it will be the year anniversary of this blog so I figured I'd better get cracking. So first I'd thought I'd show my reader(s) that I have far from forgotten them and have in fact been thinking only of this blog for the past four months. It may have occurred to you by now that I'm a bit of a perfectionist. And you'd be... very right.

Ok so this blog entry is a bit of an inbetween non-entry because it doesn't really have a topic, so I thought I'd list the upcoming entries that I'm hoping I can make myself publish before they are encyclopedia length (these are working titles):

• Subli-mer-inal Images and How We Channel Them
• Rapunzel & Tangled
• Tangled
• The Allure of Break-Up Songs
• The Big C
• Ariel
• The Little Mermaid
• Fan Disney Music Videos - A Limitless Source
• Judith and Holofernes - Biblical Gore
• My Favorite Fairy Tale OF ALL TIME
• Girls as Heroines
• Childhood Ambition of Office and High Heels
• Virginia Woolf & "A Room of One's Own"

... not to mention ideas for entries I haven't started.

I thought a good way to convey just how busy I've been (though it's hard to give you an idea without giving too much away) would be to list tidbits here and there. So here I go.

Oh wait but first I'd like to endorse a company that I very much approve of, especially as it comes with a blog - "Aladine Wings" run by Aladine, my sister. If my theme may be considered discovering what the **** feminism is, hers is exploring the border between fantasy (specifically folklore and fairy tales) and reality. Her business is in the contruction of fairy wings - wearable and mountable. They are beeeautiful and as Halloween is coming up I'd thought I'd do you all a favor by pointing you in her direction.

Sister Fairies! I know I'm being a bit of a pitchman right now, but her work is particularly close to my heart especially as she painted on my face for photo shoot ideas yesterday - which I forgot to wash off - so in the morning when I drove my little sister to school and I saw my old highschool principal outside I hoped he wouldn't see my newly dark dyed hair tips combined with the day-old wings/horns painted on my face and draw conclusions about my new lifestyle. Plus I hadn't had any coffee yet. Well anyway I got away before I was seen.

Anyhow...

Click the image below to be re-directed to her official website - http://flavors.me/aladine - you may notice I've made this a permanent side-bar to my blog so you won't have to look for this entry every time!

And yes, I know she makes fairy wings which have little or nothing to do with mermaids, mermaid fins, or their ilk, but I like mermaids so there.

Her official blog may be found at this link - http://aladinewings.blogspot.com - her new experiments with the lost in the woods/ don't trust the old hag who claims she'll help you type concept are very interesting.

She's also got a facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aladine-Hand-Crafted-Fairy-Wings/147031118655261) if those two sites weren't convenient enough

for you.

PLEASE click this image for a bigger more gorgeous version of two of her wearable hand-crafted fairy wings featured at the "Rubanesque" in Ireland.

Ok. NOW on to the list!!!!!!! You remember - the list of thing's I've been up to.

1) Perry

Yes, I was over at a new friend's house with Disney's "Phineas and Ferb" playing in the background - soon to be the foreground - it was love at first sight. Anyone who knows me can tell you, I am obsessed with the Platypus. Have been for years. I have a partiality for oddball creatures but the Platypus is what started it all. I have an unfinished novel/ novel series idea starring a Platypus. So when I found out this show, starring a completely awesome secret agent Platypus named Perry, had been existent for a couple of years now, well. I was frusturated but I committed the rest of my time to watching as much as possible. I LOVE IT.

My new credo is "What would Perry do?" (Right after "What would Barbie do?" to be explained in another entry...)

My new hope is that they'll invent a surgery to become a cartoon Platypus so I can marry this character. I also happen to be a fan of the other aspects of the show, but right now all I want to say is PERRY PERRY PERRY PERRY (which I at first spelled in my head as "Peri").

What does this have to do with feminism? Well, if you were paying attention earlier, this is an entry explaining how I've spent my time and it may come as a shock to you but not all are immediately applicable to feminism. Although... I could come up with something later. Just to please you. Like, I don't know, a discussion of why they chose to make Perry male, or whether or not their adherence to the conventional structure of conventional older sister against younger unconventional brothers (if in an obvious attempt at parody) offends me (it doesn't)/ is a smart decision/ perhaps the parody part is overlooked?/ what does Perry's animal role do to offset the sibling gender rivalry/ analyzing individual episodes.

See? I could come up with something.

Anyhow, here's my husband's theme song.

And HERE is a slideshow of my mere 374 screencaptures of Perry in slideshow form. I set it to autoplay so in the time reading/skimming/skipping the previous material of this entry you may have missed earlier bits but there's plenty to see and you can always mill through them at your own convenience by clicking the Perry immediatly following my little slideshow:

Perry

And now, for my new and ultimate favorite Perry video, YOUR WELCOME!

Oh, and some BRILLIANT Doofenschmirtz videos, I love his character too, though he of course isn't a Platypus and therefore cannot touch Perry's epicness. And I think he knows it. Though as human he gets pretty close.

Oh, and I might as well include a non-perry related clip that is blatantly a tipped hat to the feminist movement. Quite adorable, actually. The whole episode is.

Ah and in case you were curious, I'll embed the very first episode I ever saw, that turned me on to the Phineas and Ferb/ Perry and Doofenschmirtz/ Perry craze (I've now seen all episodes available in the US right now plus one): "One Good Scare Oughta Do It!"

Okay, on to #2 on the list of the things this particular busy bee has been doing...

#2) finding better and better quality/ obsessing over film adaptations

Particularly of "The Little Mermaid," my ultimate favorite story of all time. But it's been tough. Some of these things took some real digging, hours of work first finding them and then God Forbid finding them in DVD quality (since some of them aren't even available on DVD these days, though I'm still hoping.) I feel like Ariel trying to hoist her Prince to the surface of the water. I know it'll be great once I get up there, but JESUS hotness is heavy!

It's actually been so much work and such a continual pursuit I'm considering constructing a website in collaboration with this blog devoted exclusively to the story of "The Little Mermaid," because oddly enough there isn't one out there - other than the too specific, like Ariel, and the too general, like all Hans Christian Andersen.

Anyhow here are some compare and contrast, before and after screen captures to give you an idea. It'll be even more obvious if you click for a larger version (which will open in a separate window.) In all cases the first is a screencap from a version found on youtube, and I'd like to take this moment to thank the people who uploaded these for changing my life by providing these because damn they are hard to find, and even if I did end up finding better versions I wouldn't have known about them otherwise. And one is in Russian and no english subtitles can be found anywhere in the world except for by that youtuber's translation so far as I can tell and I have LOOKED so they particularly should be nominated for sainthood.

In that last one I was triply fortunate to find DVD quality by actually unearthing the DVD! Since for some anomale in his career Richard Chamberlain chose to narrate this version, people cared to have it for their complete collections so I finally found it through TCM! It was one of the happiest moments of my life, though it was insanely overpriced at $40 for a 30 minute feature but I guess they know just how rare it is. Plus it was totally worth it. I also strongly encourage you to click this image as it is a gorgeously good quality scan.

Also, click the left "Shop TCM" button to view the link to the buyable product itself on that site, and the right screencapture to view the information and credits the site provides, which is strangely more versed than the IMDB despite it's scant appearance. It is really that obscure. But it's so good. Can't WAIT to blog about all this!

- http://turnerclassic.moviesunlimited.com/Product.asp?sku=D49239
- http://turnerclassic.moviesunlimited.com//shop01.swf

Oh and I've also been generally obsessed with finding other versions so here are a few to give you an overall impression. The first couple are indeed adult Shirley Temple. It opens with Shirley Temple out of character stating "ever since I was a child I've wanted to play the little mermaid who falls for a land prince" - I find it funny that a normal person just means an unrealistic childhood dream, whereas in Shirley's case it was probably more of a case of a crammed schedule XD - Nota Bene: the rest of these Mermaid screencaptures are from more rediculous versions.

This next one I've only been able to obtain clips from. It is from the "Happily Ever After" series featuring multi-cultural versions of well-known tales. I am more reluctant to buy the sketchy and suspicious looking DVD for this one a) b/c the DVD doesn't look quite legit and b) I'm not as in love as in the others, but if I have to I have to. I'm that hard core of a fan of the story!!! And the clips I've found are amusing and stress parts of the story none of the others do, like the fashionable clams the little mermaid must wear in accordance with her coming of age that she doesn't appreciate b/c the pinch her tale, despite their being the highest fashion that her old Grandmother loves and wears with royal pride. If anyone can find a full version online please direct me to it I would love that soooo much!!!

#3) Tech stuff

With all this searching and blog research I have had to acquire a certain internet savvy which is turning into a full-blown education including signing up for legit online HTML and CSS courses which I ADORE. I've even considered making it a side career, I love this so much. I'd hoped to publish this entry before midnight to make the 4 anneverary deadline, so I'll make this section quick by just listing a few programs I've found and learned to love and overuse.

UnRarX

handbrake

submerge

screentoaster, which was completely closed down and said it would close by july 1st, thankfully lied so now it is back up

Ah, and I can't neglect to mention my more recent debut with subtitling. It begun when I found the DVD quality Russian and had to re-write the subtitles - which meant I had to learn how to make a .srt file, which I figured out myself without any help and I tell you it is TEDIOUS WORK. Here's a little excerpt to give you an idea. Ugh so tedious tedious tedious!!!!

.srt files; ex:

"0

00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,000

Direct from the youtuber yeliza0veta's english subtitles - Thank You.

1

00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:46,000

In front of you, ladies and gentlemen,

the famous mermaid

2

00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:51,893

the way she was written by the

great Hans Christian Andersen

3

00:01:53,699 --> 00:01:54,893

in a story of love.

4

00:01:56,299 --> 00:02:07,248

Ladies and gentlemen, in the time

of Andersen, love still existed.

5

00:02:08,459 --> 00:02:16,417

These stupid people! They think love exists,

and mermaids don't!

6

00:02:18,619 --> 00:02:22,000

But you and I know it's the exact opposite!"

Ah, and as a sort of corallary to this suff, I've taken to watching stuff in other languages - since I'm pretty monolingual despite my many years of lessons in Spanish and Latin - specifically, I have become obsessed with Russian.

Here are some clips that amuse me, especially as Anastasia would actually be talking in Russian, not English (not that this movie is in any way accurate, so I figure it is just one more thing that is widely off the mark ;) hehe.)

To hear the original soundtrack and read lyrics - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG0WdsytDGY

To watch with translated lyrics (from the dubbed Russian) but lesser sound quality - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygNOpeq0118

To hear the original soundtrack and read original english lyrics - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1zamKoUREI

Okay running out of time I only have nine minutes left!!!!!

#4) making videos for future blog entries!!!!!!!! My youtube account's activity has been the polar opposite of my blogger account... click this next image to get an idea!

Video editing/ making - LOTS and LOTS of HOUR upon HOURSSSSSSS of video editing/making. Nonstop. No joke!!!! And, ironically, every single one has been made with future blog posts in mind - honest to God.

I've been very into multi-media analysis and presentation lately; what better way to jazz up re-asessing an often-used if endlessly intriguing topic, than through a visually and auditorily engaging art form - that also conveniently gets around the legal issues of sharing clips from films I wish to discuss. For it does indeed help bring legitimacy to this site; if it were up to me, I'd upload entire films to discuss and I'd love it b/c I could discuss every detail without having to expend any effort in stipulating what scene is which or considering which my audience is more or less likely to recognize. However, I can't, so I've been studying the minute details if the Fair Use Copyright Act up the wazoo as well as in general studying what has been banned or deleted or whatever do to copyright grounds, taken a hard look at my own personal ethics with regard to imagination/information property, and emerged - well, I'd like to say enlightened, but um, no. I'm kind of still flabergasted but less so! I hope.

Anyhow music videos that include my input in a more subtle and artistic way (and therefore including my own intellectual property, or whatever it's called) - meant to also eventually go with analysis in this blog, well, hot dog (as I picture Jimmy Stewart saying) that's perfect for my personality type and my personal hopes for what this blog is going to continue being.

Next in my list of hopes and dreams - write more coherent sentences. I'll get back to you on that one.

Since they were and are all meant to be for future blog entries, I am hesitant to include any in this second (and I fear, not final) "comeback" entry, I cannot stop myself from sharing SOMETHING to show the effort that has been going into this blog every day for the past two months - though "behind closed doors" or "behind the curtain" or "backstage" or w/e. It's my most recent one, my magnum opus, perhaps the hardest one yet. I'd been solidly working on it for two weeks, though technically I worked on it more like three weeks. I loved the idea and I almost gave up on it several times but I think I nailed it. It will in fact be featured in a (hopefully near) future epic series on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid," so think of this as a taste of what's to come. And proof that I still care. XD

Youtube Description:

I worked really hard at this - b/c I really felt this song held potential in honoring Hans Chirstian Andersen's vivid yet gentle tale.

Clips From:

Soyuzmultfilm's 1968 Rusalochka

http://vimeo.com/17829187

Reader's Digest 1974 Little Mermaid http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7D0A78167AE33CA2

Disney's 1989 Little Mermaid

Song from the Rodgers and Hammersein Classic, "Carousel" - specifically, the 1956 movie.

FYI, I played in the pit orchestra for "Carousel" for several performances one summer, so I made this also with my more intimate knowledge of the score in my mind. (Remember, I play the cello. The epic and lovely and gorgeous the love of my life cello.)

I've also have several featured. Check out these screencaptures as undesputable proof! (Okay maybe not undesputable but I am telling the truth so it doesn't matter). I first descovered this when I saw one of my videos as a related video in the top right featured section.

... and just now I've discovered another one. SO cool!

And Also a sillier one -

#5) Literature - Sparse, but I have been reading...

• Aesop's Fables

• Rapunzel and Other Maiden in Tower Tales from Around the World by Heidi Anne Heiner

• Rapunzel's Revenge by Shanon and Dean Hale Illustrated by Nathan Hale

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• Judith Sexual Warrior: Women and Power in Western Culture by Margarita Stocker

• Folklore and the Sea by Horace Beck

#7) Barbie movies!

I'll tell the story of how that started later. five minutes before self-imposed publishing deadline!!!!!!!

15 Barbie movies. Will blog about them (whether you like it or not)!!!!

#8) Movie Discoveries/ Recently Watched/ Obsessed With

#9) concept art and process (making-of stuff, I eat it up!!!)

Also this non-embeddable video:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5uKeOolfTc

#10) Tangled, my obsession with this knows no bounds. Seriously, it's true.

According to wiki, this next image is - "A concept rendering of Rapunzel, demonstrating the "luscious hair" Keane wanted." - Keane being behind the legendary Ariel arising from the rock "Some Day I'll be Part of Your World."

I've made 3 fan music videos of my own on this from all the trailers, one of which, featuring The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" has reached over one THOUSAND views, thank you very much.

Alrighty, one minute eeek!

I'll Close with stuff I did for mother's day - oops, I keep forgetting. My Mother's day, but not Mother's Day, b/c it was her birthday.

A Poem I wrote for my mom on her birthday; the picture (which I chose) is from one of my all-time favorite illustrated fairy books, "The Girl, the Fish, and the Crown."

- and the cute and ingenious -

Okay, here's Jo Bingo, back from the hiatus/ sabbatical, saying

Goodbye for now, I'm going to bed, sorry if it seems too soon (that's sarcasm as this was a long entry ;D )