Confession: I'm not a very good reader

"I mean, I can read, of course. And I'm not suggesting you can't read out of doors."

D'ya get it? huh? huh? That was a quote from the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, which I watched last night. Guess what, I've only read Pride and Prejudice completely once (I reread parts of course). Shocked? Confused by what this all has to do with itself? Lemme 'splain...

I read the first of the Boxcar Children books in first grade and loved it, then hated the second so stopped reading outside of school assignments.

Around seventh grade I decided I was going to be pretentious and work through the British classics, starting with Whuthering Heights. Woof. Do not start your 12 year old with unabridged Emily Bronte. I'm amazed I continued after 60% of all characters died (I did the math, it's in my journal).

Amazingly I moved on and got Pride and Prejudice from a book order (remember those?!). It was paper back and had a terrible painting of blue satin and pearls on the cover with yellow writing. I underlined every word I didn't know. Words like "condescend" (thanks Collins!) and "felicity". Oh man, good times. I loved P&P and remembered that some yahoo sent it to the printer so that it read "how ardently I admire and






love you."
The last two words were on the NEXT PAGE! I had to turn the page! Ugh, the worst. Can you even imagine? Anyway, I loved it and got the '80s BBC production to watch right away, then the '95 when I realized the '80s version was not "the good one".

This was the beginning of my reading phase, and a foreshadowing of its end. I began setting reading goals for myself, and my reward was watching the film...eventually I couldn't read fast enough and so just left the books behind. BUT I did get quite a bit knocked out.

I...
read each Austen before I was 16.
read one of each Bronte before I was 18.
read a Gaskell, read a Forster, and started some Dickens and Thackery and Rand.
read more Brontes and an Ishiguro and Salinger.
read a lot of historical romances and a little dragon fiction...

I tried to keep up with each BBC or Merchant/Ivory film I found that had been adapted from a novel, but I just got lost in the films and left the books all together.

Am I proud of this? No. Have I tried to fix it? Yes, but I fail. I've come to accept that I am not a good reader. I read sewing books, Wikipedia articles, any and all historical tidbits I can find that add up to hours, but it seems my novel days are over. I have reread Persuasion and Little Women and North and South and Ella Enchanted. Part of it is that I have this idea that I've read all the good stuff. I'm sure the novels are better than the films I've read, but I know Tess of the D'Urbervilles ends at Stonehenge...I know how Bleak House and Howards End go.

I'm terrible, believe me, I know. I have this whole self-loathing thing for my bad reading habits. Everyone assumes I read because I've seen the films, or Wishbone, and/or have a pretty quick and ready knowledge of Brit Lit in general. People give me referrals thinking they've found someone with whom they can share the loveliness of their new literary find, but it's no good.

I love to read actually. When I have a good book I love to be transported and get consumed and I stop feeding myself and all of those things, but I just have the hardest time starting. Reading the first Boxcar book in first grade was actually forced on me by my mom and I was not happy about it. I remember. She made me read it, and I loved it, then it was over and I was done.

So there it is, my dirty secret. I'm not a great reader. Now you can all shun me and ignore any conversations we've had about books.

What I have read:
Persuasion, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Whuthering Heights, Agnes Grey, Tennant of Wildfell Hall, A Room With a View, North and South, The Remains of the Day, Little Women, The Great Gatsby, The Importance of Being Earnest, Pygmalion, The Catcher in the Rye

What I've started:
Vanity Fair, David Copperfield, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Gone With the Wind, This Side of Paradise, Wives and Daughters, Howards End, The Fountainhead, Catch-22

A rather old list of what I've seen can be found here.

A POST!

Yes, here I am. I finished my first semester of grad school and as you can tell I survived! I've decided I need to blog more for mental health, but in general the best way for you to keep up with my projects is to follow me on Instagram @belbcorinne. It's easier for me to snap a photo on there than compose an entry.

That being said, my semester in a nutshell...

I had a millinery class where I made a pillbox embellished with zippers, an 1830s bonnet made from two 1960s hats, a fosshape based turban, and a straw boater. This class was great bc my instructor is very loosy-goosey seat of your pants when it comes to crafting. He provided resources and advice, but at the end of the day it was sort of hat therapy for me. It's mostly hand work and problem solving which is great for my brain at the end of a long week.

I had a wig class where I styled a few wigs, photos are on Instagram. I hardly ever get to wear wigs so it was fun to go blonde and ginger for a bit! If you know me at all you know I love doing my own hair and truth be told the biggest challenge I face with wigs is being able to see the back! The motion of styling the hair on the back of my head does not translate into styling the back of a wig that's in front of me. That was a surprising challenge...

My studio class included a section on color theory in which we learned to mix any color (including black) from three warm primaries, three cool primaries, a neutral ochre and white. It was frustrating at first since we were in acrylic and I was told to do away with all my watercolor notions. Eventually I learned that that did not mean I couldn't use any water. I also discovered acrylic medium that extends your paints and makes them smoother and it was absolutely lovely! I eventually did pretty great copies of a Degas and Seargent. Pics on Instagram.

Also in studio we work on paper design projects. The first year scenic and costume students did A View From The Bridge which is a fantastic Arthur Miller, You Can't Take It With You, by Kaufmann, and our last project was to pick two plays from Thornton Wilder's The Angel That Troubled The Waters collection of three page, three character, unproducible plays. I made leaps and bounds with each show. I'm working on different mediums and different styles and have been discovering some great designers to take inspiration from. I'll scan my renderings and update my website when I get back.

I was the assistant designer on Guys and Dolls which was designed by a third year. It was a big show and I was in charge of scheduling fittings, taking notes, one build, paperwork, and was the wardrobe supervisor, dresser, and wig master for the show. This basically involved using all the skills I'd acquired as an assistant to my professor at BYU and the office and personal skills I learned at USF. By the time we got to tech it was like I had my 40 hr/wk job at USF plus my school work. Not going to lie, it got a little rough. I was sick most of the time and couldn't design to save my life during these weeks, but it's over! I whipped my dressers into shape (and the actors for that matter) and truth be told, I missed being back stage and in charge :)

Uh...what else? I'm the music director of my branch. Serves me right for volunteering to lead the music my second week. The branch is great, Institute is wonderful, and we're getting a chapel built for us that might be ready by the spring! How exciting is that? Pretty darn.

And now I'm at my sister's for the holidays and my baby niece Addie is helping me type. She's pretty cute.

What's great about my life right now

-I live in an apartment with laundry.
-The choir (as directed by me, eep) did a WONDERFUL job today in Sacrament meeting.
-I have made 3.5 hats this semester.
-I've already improved my rendering.
-I have a box of 12 grey markers in the mail, GREYS!
-We're feeding the Sisters and an investigator for dinner. Said investigator is AMAZING and just great.
-Fall in Pennsylvania is the most beautiful fall I've ever seen. If I could just plop some mountains down it'd be that much better.
-Technology means I can still keep in touch with all of my non-grad school friends!
-I have so many new and lovely friends!
-Roller derby is a thing that I go to now.
-I've started a new and consistent scripture study schedule that has already blessed me in ways I couldn't even have imagined.
-I'm in a color theory class. We're learning to mix any color using warm primaries, cool primaries, ochre and white. It's pretty legit yo.
-I've kept my room clean the entire time I've been here (ask Genevieve, she knows!).
-Walk in closet.

No pictures, see previous entry if you have a beef with my recently blogging. 

Promises and Not Promises

Tomorrow I start the last legs of my journey to State College, PA for my first year of graduate school!

As pertaining to this blog:

I promise to update you as much as I can.
I not promise to make that as often as you'd like.
I promise to update you with my grad school happenings.
I not promise that these happenings will be more than the fact that I'm tired and grumpy.
I promise to post pictures of projects.
I not promise to post them in a timely manner.


If these promises and not promises don't suit you then be that way. It's what you get!

Clothes I refuse to ship

All Saints black wool jersey dress
All Saints lamb leather military jacket
1940s black crepe dress
1960s black wool dress
Teal/Nude evening dress
Eddie Bauer Norfolk jacket
Merlot & Lace dress
Garden Party Dress
NYC striped thrift dress
Terns skirt
Corset
Corset

If I packed all of these $5K would be a modest estimate. I'm not risking it. 

Fabric Catalogue

I spent the last two afternoons cataloging my fabric! I have a personal rule that I don't travel with fabric unless it'll come back as a garment. No exception for grad school. I've organized my bins into knits, silks, cottons, and wools. I've swatched and bindered the fabrics so if I want something I can send my mom half the swatch and the location of the desired piece. Pretty great huh? Yeah, I'm sure mom thinks so too...

Top middle is one of my favorite pieces of silk, middle bottom is a silk/wool I got for $45 off a designer dealer, and middle bottom is a great dupioni.

Up Next

I leave Cedar City in a week, a week. I extended my contract for two weeks, so should have been gone by now, but they needed me and I didn't want to say good-bye yet. I'll have a week at home in Nebraska, then I go to grad school at Penn State!

People keep asking me if I'm excited, and I am, but I'm also very busy here still, and have all of my friends and my lovely apartment to relish in for my last week. I figure grad school will be here soon enough (three weeks?!) so I'm taking advantage of the time I have left here. Very near is being busy and crazy for three years straight. I'll take a few more night on my porch with my dear ones.

Big move! Soon I will be in an entirely new part of the country with all new people and surroundings and tasks and experiences. I've been rather comfortable and cozy for two years? six years? 24 years? eh, awhile at any rate. I'm thrilled to learn and know new things, be given new and fresh opportunities, and give my all to something I love.

I'll miss it here, big time. I'll miss my lovely friends that mean so much to me. I'll miss the work and the atmosphere and the art, but I leave to become better and to hopefully to return with more to give.

Was this schmaltzy? I'm feeling schmaltzy.