Things You Should Know Before You're 30

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I recently came across the book "Thirty Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know", published by Glamour Magazine, which provides snippets of valuable wisdom every girl should be familiar with before they turn 30. I've written down some of my own 'Things I'd Like To Know Before I'm 30', along with a few excerpts from the book itself.

         Before You Turn 30, You Should Know...
1. How to fall in love without losing yourself.
2. How you feel about marriage and having kids.
3. How to quit a job, break up with a man & confront a friend without ruining the friendship.
4. When to try harder and when to walk away.
5. How to pick a dress that flatters your shape, not hides it.

6. How to cook a winning three course meal.7. And throw a dinner party that people will talk about the morning after.
8. The names and speed dials of a really good hairdresser, beautician and tailor.
9. How to live alone, even if you don’t like to.
10. Where to go - be it your best friend’s couch, the country inn spa or a yoga mat - when your soul needs soothing.
11. How to pack a bag in a hurry.
12. That you can’t change the length of your legs or the width of your hips.
13. How to write an exceptional resumé without any exaggerations.14. When it comes to applying makeup, less is more.15. That bad hair days are just a part of life, not a level 8 on the Richter Scale type-of-crisis.
16. What you would and wouldn’t do for money or love.
17. That your youthful years may not have been perfect, but it’s over.18. How to get rid of a spider, change a light bulb or a flat tyre...or know someone reliable you can call at 3am to do either.19. That sometimes letting go is easier than holding back.20. How to make an entrance and how to exit gracefully.
21. Who you can trust, who you can’t, and why you shouldn’t take it personally.22. You don't have to please everyone all the time...it's okay to say 'No' sometimes.23. The moment when you should leave an argument...before you say something you may not be able to take back later.
24. Not to apologize for something that isn’t your fault.
25. That life doesn't end at thirty, it only begins...hopefully ;)

I would love to hear what you would like to add to this list.

*All images found via weheartit.com

Sherri Hill's Spring 2013 Prom Queens

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Kendall and Kylie Jenner have been gracefully catapulted into the world of modeling, following in the footsteps of their famous older siblings (The Kardashian Klan). The Jenner sisters lend their stunning looks and striking poses to Sherri Hill's Spring 2013 campaign, decked out in vibrant and fanciful Prom, Pageant and Party dresses. This impressively shot campaign highlights their natural beauty and flair for being in front of the camera.

Sherri Hill brings glamour, fun and frivolity to the dance floor with an exquisite and elaborate array of long and short dresses to suit your party style. Sorbet shaded dresses scattered with shimmering crystals and delicate lace, and lengthy flowing chiffon gowns that ooze grown-up sophistication. Flirty tulle, feathered and frilled frocks will add a touch of extravagance and playfulness to your night. The subtlety of rosé pink is vividly contrasted by serene aquamarine and a punchy bubblegum pink. While elegant ruby red and emerald green gowns provide a more dramatic alternative to the set of pretty pastels and cherubic whites.

Party Girl or Prom Princess...here is a look at the 2013 fairytale collection by Sherri Hill.

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Set 4

Set 5

Set 6

Set 7

Set 8

Set 9

Gazing over these gorgeous gowns makes me wish I could relive my prom - all those hours of maths would be worth it for a day in one of these dresses, don't you think? Or perhaps it's not too late to be belle of the ball at the next wedding/party/fashion event? My dream dresses are Kylie's pale pink confections in Set 6 and Kendall's asymmetrical white & gold wonder in Set 8. Which are yours?


*All images found via www.sherrihill.com

You've Got Mail 1998

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It seems fitting to blog about Nora Ephron's film You've Got Mail this week. I never really thought of myself as a Nora Ephron fan, but I guess I am. And this film is an adorable slice of the 1990s. Remember when it was exciting to get email? Before spam?

How can you not love a RomCom about books that refers to Pride and Prejudice in a lovely scene in a coffee shop where the guy has actually read the book (even though he can't stand it)? Ah, yes,and he has a Golden Retriever to boot!


Kathleen Kelly: Confession. I have read Pride and Prejudice two hundred times. I get lost in the language, words like 'Thither, Mischance, Felicity'. I'm always in agony over whether Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are going to get together. Ah! Read it. I know you'll love it.

Meg Ryan as Kathleen Kelly

Kathleen Kelly: Once I read a story about a butterfly in the subway, and today, I saw one! It got on at 42nd and off at 59th, where, I assume, it was going to Bloomingdales to buy a hat that will turn out to be a mistake, as almost all hats are.

Tom Hanks as Joe Fox

Joe Fox:Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms.

The Shop Around The Corner

Kathleen Kelly:When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.  


 
Joe Fox:The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino.


Joe Fox:I could never be with someone who like Joni Mitchell. "It's clouds illusions I recall/I really don't know clouds at all." What does that mean? Is she a pilot? Is she taking flying lessons? It's probably a metaphor for something, but I don't know what.


Joe Fox:Don't cry, Shopgirl. Don't cry.
Kathleen Kelly:I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly.

**********************************************************************************

Thanks Nora. We're really going to miss you. But we'll always have You've Got Mail!

Parade's End debuts on BBC in UK

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Parade's End

BBC literary adaptation Parade's End debuted in the UK last night to distinctly mixed reviews (critics loving it, viewers posting comments not so much). I can't comment myself, being trapped here in Canada unable to see it, but it is being hailed by critics as the "thinking man's Downton Abbey" or "Downton Abbey for grown-ups" the latter being partly in reference to the "two sex scenes in the first six minutes" according to the Daily Mail.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall as Christopher and Sylvia Tietjens 

Parade's End is an adaptation of Ford Madox Ford's masterpiece tetralogy of novels by the same name and is a big budget lavish production starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, War Horse) and Rebecca Hall (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) with screenplay by Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love) and directed by Susanna White (Bleak House, Jane Eyre). It is a tale of love and betrayal set in the Edwardian years leading up to WWI, a love triangle between a conservative English aristocrat, his heartless socialite wife and a young suffragette.

The supporting cast is just as impressive including Rupert Everett, Miranda Richardson, Anne-Marie Duff, Rufus Sewell and Geoffrey Palmer to list just a few.

Miss Fox, Mrs Wannop and Horsley

With more depth in it's characters (and less likeability if I read the online comments correctly) it may be a little harder to love for those of us used to the fun fluffiness of Downton. However, if the critics are not leading us astray, it may be worth hanging in through the mumbled upper crust accents and choppy story line to follow this 5 episode miniseries to it's conclusion.

I'll update this post after the conclusion and then review it myself after it airs on this side of the pond on HBO (when that will be, I have no idea!).

Australian actress Adelaide Clemens as Valentine the Suffragette

The actress playing Valentine, part of the love triangle involving the two leads, is Aussie actress Adelaide Clemens who had to prove herself to get the part. Apparently she loved the books so much that she devoted herself to learn the upper crust English accent required for the role.

Janet McTeer as Mrs. Satterthwaite

Jane Austen fans will recognize Janet McTeer (Sense and Sensibility 2008) as Mrs. Satterthwaite, the mother of Sylvia Tietjens. Keep IMDb handy for this miniseries!

Well, here's hoping we get this one over the pond here in the not too distant future. Has anyone heard? Perhaps I have time to read the novels first. Not a bad idea actually. It might help with the supposedly mumbled dialogue!

Cheers!

P.S. Check out the comments below for how to find this online if you aren't in the UK. Apparently it will come to HBO sometime in 2013. Also a great link for an article about the books from The Guardian. I have the greatest readers! And after seeing the first episode on YouTube, I give it two thumbs up. Way up! And although you can't walk away from it for a moment (or you will miss something) I didn't find the dialogue hard to understand. Perhaps my ear is getting tuned to the accents after so many years.

Pride and Prejudice 1940

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It is truly shameful that a blog called The Jane Austen Film Club has not yet had a post on one of the very first Jane Austen adaptations, Pride and Prejudice 1940. Thankfully, Turner Classic Movies had this on last night and I enjoyed it for the umpteenth time. Sir Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson in a Hollywood classic. So here is my post.


Yes, the dresses are wrong. The designers wanted the more photogenic full skirts and mutton leg sleeves of the early Victorian period and so they just changed it. Don't think about it too much, just enjoy the flouncing around.


Also, don't sweat the fact that the story has been truncated and some characters left out entirely as it is only 118 minutes long. There are still 5 sisters, after all. And yes, they rather changed the personality of Lady Catherine at the end but again, just go with it. It was 1940 after all and filmed in Hollywood to boot, during WWII. When you think of it that way, it is a wonderful example of mid 20th Century film.

The odd bit of changed dialogue is actually wonderfully squeal worthy.

Lady Catherine: There's a very fair instrument in the housekeeper's room. You'll disturb no one there.

Elizabeth Bennet: You are really too gracious, Lady Catherine, but I shouldn't care to disturb the housekeeper.



Mrs. Bennet: Mary, Try to sparkle a little.
[Mary grins awkwardly]
Mrs. Bennet: Just a little!



Mrs. Bennet: Three of them married, and the other two just tottering on the brink!




There is much original dialogue in the film however, much more than was in Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility, so you may be surprised. And looking at the photo above, this may be heresy to say, but I think I would rather see a colorized version of the film when I see Greer Garson's gorgeous red hair and green dress. Apparently I am not a purist in any sense of the word.



The acting is superb. How can you complain about Olivier and Garson? And the sets are opulent. They just didn't do filming on location back then in Hollywood, so you can't expect it can you?

Just take it as it is, and you will have a lovely romp through one of the first Austen adaptations ever. I may need to see this again now.

P.S. This is a great one to see right after My Week With Marilyn. Kenneth Brannagh deserved his Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Laurence Olivier. Spot on Ken!

Black and Orange Civic Center

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Van Ness Avenue at Civic Center has gone orange and black recently...



...presumably in support of the San Francisco Giants in the World Series...



...though the Davies Hall lighting and decorations seem to be more about publicizing the increasingly ambitious Dia de Los Muertos concert this November 2nd.



The best coverage of the Giants playoff games I've been reading is at the 40 Going on 28 blog. After a long paean to the Wonderfulness of the Giants, he slips this in:

"(Oh, one other thing, because it can't be all sunshine and roses: Hunter Pence, dude, you seem like a good guy, but what the fuck? You used to be able to hit? What the fuck happened to you? Did you participate in a some kind of black magic ritual and transfer all your Baseball Strength to Barry Zito? I mean, that's cool and everything, but I hope he's taking care of you because you look like a tweaked-out gardener swinging a brush cutter up there.)"

Happily, Hunter Pence had one of the few hits tonight in a close Game 2 Giants win. I'm still recovering from the last improbable World Series pennant two years ago, so this feels a bit like a dream.

Protect Me, Virgen

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A pair of litigious, mentally unstable sociopaths have sued me and six of my elderly, retired neighbors at a condo complex in Palm Springs last week for "no less than $500,000." The assertions and fabrications in their legal complaint are insistently lunatic, which is very troubling.I was on the condo Board for about four months three years ago, and resigned because their constant harassment was destroying my health while trying to recover from AIDS-related pneumonia. Others have taken up the mantle of defending us, but with this latest lawsuit, it seems I have no choice but to deal with these monsters again.



This week I called a Mexican-American friend with the story, and he promised to have his 90-year-old-plus grandmother in El Paso pray for me, which was followed this morning by a dream that was unusually vivid. I was in an unfamiliar Mexican city at a senior center, and an older lady befriended me and offered a key that was attached to a thin golden girdle that wrapped around my waist. There followed a series of frightening adventures involving dogs and pigs and soldiers and quicksand and earthquakes, but I felt completely safe through it all. After waking, I walked by 8th and Mission where the billboard above has just appeared, and let's just say it felt like a sign. Gracias, abuelita. Your love is much appreciated.

Ivan Grianti's Wall Project

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Lower Polk Street on Thanksgiving morning was the usual collection of homeless tumbling out of their shelters and starting their long day of zigzagging from one lavish soup kitchen to another, but we also ran across the young artist Ivan Grianti above working on a mural near Sutter Street.



For a tumblr site with his photos, click here, and for a collection of his online videos, click here.



The incomplete "Wall Project" looks like it's going to be spectacularly beautiful.

Words as Art

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In conjunction with their special Chinese calligraphy exhibit, the Asian Art Museum has installed various examples of "Words as Art" throughout their permanent collections on the second and third floors.



I was dismissive of the Out of Character exhibit at first sight, because it seemed obscure and impenetrable if you didn't read Chinese.



The revelation came about a month ago while seated in front of a huge, curved wall installation that has been devoted to the 16th century Thousand Character Classic by Wen-Peng. The characters are so sharp and comprehensible that it feels a bit like seeing the Helvetica font version of Chinese calligraphy. The longer you look the more there is to notice, in the repeating patterns that constitute the characters, and the beauty in their forthright presentation. (Photo above is from the Asian Art Museum blog.)



After studying the Wen-Peng, where you have memorized the basics of 1,000 characters, everything else is stylization, such as Poem in wild-cursive script above from 1674 by Monk Pomen.



The Chinese galleries in the permanent collection are also displaying some stunners from the 19th century, such as the 1804 Studio of Knowledgeable Friends by Yi Bingshou above and Zhao Zhiqian's 1883 Couplet from a poem by Yuan Haowen below.



Though it is completely illusory, I am starting to feel like I can read Chinese.

Art with Words

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The Words as ART with Words exhibit at the Asian Art Museum just suddenly appeared a couple of weeks ago without any warning or publicity. It's not even mentioned on the museum's Exhibitions website page.



This seems to be part of the institution's attempt to jazz up their permanent collection galleries, such as they did with the recent Phantoms of Asia exhibit about religious cosmology. This time it feels better focused, and the "Art with Words" extends from illustrated Indian manuscripts to an intricately illuminated 1882 Koran from Iran.



In the Korean wing, there are a few beautiful examples of calligraphy on scrolls and screens, such as Personal observations of a scholar official by Gwon Dongsu from the late 19th century.



As usual, the Japanese win all the design prizes, with the 1593 book Shukaso (Gleanings from the Mist) above...



...and Calligraphy of waka poetry on cards by Hon'ami Koetsu from the early 17th century above and below.



Even their modern takes on calligraphy are great, such as Inoue Yuichi's Wolf below.



Free Sunday admission at the Asian is this week, and you should consider taking the museum up on their offer.