Saturday Stream of Consciousness

Today, I'm thinking about weddings (and, yes, I know the above picture is of a prom dress, but I couldn't pass it up ~it's so darling. =) 

I know what you're thinking: Jasmine, don't you always warn young women against dwelling on impending wedding bells? 

I do; it's true. But sometimes I indulge myself. It'll just be our little secret. =) 

I'm not big on wedding planning. One of my dearest friends has her wedding planned from the table settings at the reception to the number and identity of her bridesmaids. She knows where the wedding's going to be held, approximately what it should cost, and what dress she'll be wearing. Now, all she needs is the groom. =) She teases me because I'm the exact opposite. First off, I feel a little silly doing so (I mean, come on... I'm not even sure anyone will ever look out among the crowd of young ladies and say, "Hey! I think I want to marry Jasmine!" And, if he does, I think I'll be tempted to give him 234832 reasons why he should rethink his position on the issue), but, secondly -and I think this is the real hangup -I'm cheap. Super cheap. 

So cheap that, in romantic comedies, when the bride inevitably finds out that she's not in love with the man she's engaged to, and ends up stopping the wedding at the alter and running out of the chapel and into the arms of the one she really loves -while other young women may be complaining about her noncommittal attitude, I'm bemoaning the fact that the average wedding costs $20,000 and wondering why on earth she didn't make up her mind before they signed that check (heartless? Perhaps. But maybe if the plot line wasn't so sickeningly predictable, I'd actually be surprised at her change of heart). I'm the only girl in my family though (for now), so maybe romantic thoughts of Prince Charming will change my mood. And, if my mood isn't changed, I have a lot of sweet friends who are sure to talk me into getting into the mood. I do think I found the dress I adore, but pricing it would be a bit premature, so I've refused to indulge at this time. =)

Last thought on romance: emotional purity and hypocrisy. So many young women have asked me for advice regarding emotional purity and crushes. They are torn in two because, even though they prize purity in thought and action, they can't seem to get a certain charming young man out of their minds. They freeze up when he walks towards them; they blush whenever someone speaks of him; they take twenty seconds' lag time to answer his greeting because they could have sworn that his mouth said, "How are you?" but his eyes were saying, "Dearest, I'm mad about you. Marry me." And they're thinking that they're horrible hypocrites for struggling. Don't fret, and don't lose heart. Emotional purity isn't some higher plane for perfect people to dwell on; it's an ongoing battle to take every thought captive for Christ. Stay on your knees before him, and keep an open relationship with your parents. Their counsel is often underrated in these situations, but take it from someone who knows (not from experience, mind you; I just heard it somewhere...) their advice, support, and accountability is invaluable. 

And now, onto less heartfelt subjects =). The other day at the book store, I found one of my favorite things: a special edition Time magazine. As I've shared before, I adore special edition magazines (that same day, I got the Time special edition that chronicles the year my parents got married -1989, and the hardback Life album from 1997): I have a ridiculous stack of them in my hope chest, which I assume my children will enjoy looking over someday. =) This particular hardback from this collection (I want every single on of those, especially this one) is called "Hard Times: the 30s." If you ignore some of the spin on historical events (it is Time, ya'll), you can learn so much about the decade. I love the sections that give a rundown on incomes for specific jobs, the price of everything from automobiles to toothpicks, and the rundown of the radio programs seven days a week. Best of all, of course, is the abundance of photographs from the period. 

The bookstore and the magazine have given me a story idea (how could they not?). I'm thinking that the setting is a floundering antique book shop rural Texas in 1938 (floundering, of course, because who has money to buy antique books during the Depression), and the heroine is the hopeful  granddaughter of the book shop owner (hopeful, of course, because our heroine is an optimistic young lady who realizes what an escape literature can provide during dire circumstances). The hero would be a young, prize-winning author who's coming back to his hometown to visit his family. The guy's totally out of touch with his roots, disenchanted with life in general, and needs a wake-up call from one of his biggest fans: our soon to be disenchanted heroine. I haven't started writing anything yet, mostly because I always like to dedicate the story before I write it -but I'm not sure who it's dedicated to just yet. Mama's got about 700 dedications, so I guess she's out of the running. =)

On the subject of writers and books, I recently ran across an old post that a friend of mine wrote about Little Women. I really enjoy that book (though, despite the presence of Christian Bale, I tend to enjoy the 1994 film of the same title less and less the more I watch it), and pick it up to read from time-to-time. Everyone picks a favorite sister, right? Despite what same may assume (and a lot of people have assumed it =), my favorite sister is Meg, not Jo. And I adore Mr. Brook (who was horribly miscast in the 1994 film; he's much better in the June Allison version). I think, perhaps because I'm the oldest (though not the eldest of any sisters), I identify a lot some of Meg's struggles and vices (and perhaps as someone prone to pride, I identify with Amy more than I'd like to admit... =)

Speaking of film (which, we kind of weren't, but... anyway... =), reading my magazine about the 30's, I ran into the faces of a lot of classic movie stars. I adore classic movies, not so much from the 30's (I'm more the 40s-50s kind of girl), although there are a few I enjoy. As far as classic movie stars, go, though there are better actors and actresses, I've been thinking a lot about Grace Kelly lately. Although most people can't stop talking about Audrey Hepburn, I can't get over Ms. Kelly. The way she walked, the way she spoke... she was oh-so... graceful (har, har). I like to watch classic movies and see the difference between how the women in those films carried themselves and how we in the 21st century are known to carry ourselves. While no era has ever been perfect, and sin was just as rampant 50 years ago as it was today, I'm inspired when I see lovely women like Grace Kelly. 

And, again on the subject of film, a movie that has quickly become one of our family favorites is now on video, Up. After seeing the movie in theaters several months ago, Elijah exclaimed, "Up was so good --I can't wait to see Down!" =D We've of course bought the movie (Blu-Ray, like good little film buffs), and I'm looking forward to getting down to those special features. Click here to read an interesting series of articles on the film. 

I think Grace Kelly and Up are good notes to end my musings on. =) How are you guys today: what's on your mind?