August 27

A slight detour into Darcys and other obsessions

1977

Watching “Pride and Prejudice” on TV - - a really fine movie, with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier (my first crush, after I saw him on Broadway in Becket). It really is impossible to do homework under these circumstances.

Comment 2023

I still have a soft spot in my heart for this version, despite Greer Garson (and the rest of the Bennet sisters) being far too old for their roles, and the costumes being several decades off. Yeah, yeah, I know. Colin Firth, wet shirt, etc. That’s good, too. 

My “perfect” version would have Colin Firth as Darcy, the Lydia from the Kiera Knightly version, Donald Sutherland’s Mr. Bennet, and Matt Smith as Mr. Collins (from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies!!!!). For Lady Catherine, it’s a tough call between Edna May Oliver and Judi Dench. But I’ll bet Dame Judi could have been a wonderful Mrs. Bennet. As for Elizabeth, I am torn. There are three very strong contenders: Knightly, Jennifer Ehle, and Elizabeth Garvie. Today I would say Garvie, but ask me tomorrow and I may waver. 

If you have not seen Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, you should.

1987

Just home from a two-day visit to Wildwood to see Dad. It was very short… we had only a little time to talk privately. Both nights we went off to the Boardwalk with Kiddo 1 and stayed up late. I guess Dad and I are destined to correspond, not talk. Now that Kiddo is bigger, it’s hard to talk about Mom in front of her. Dad’s fingers are definitely clubbed - - more noticeably than a year ago. That’s a symptom of his lung disease. After all those years of smoking, and working with hot lead in the print shop, I guess it was inevitable., but it still shook me. Let’s hope he has another 20 years, and defies the odds. And let’s hope (heaven help me) he outlives Mom and can enjoy at least some of his retirement. I hate admitting to this thought, but it’s been on my mind the last two days. Dad is happy, he’s enjoying life; Mom complains a lot and finds life a burden. If Dad dies first, Mom is left with virtually no income. If Mom dies first, Dad gets his pension back, They both deserve happiness, but Mom never seems to be able to be happy. What a shame. She is intelligent and talented, but has so much trouble forging undemanding relationships with anyone (including her grandchildren). Enough, Jo.

Comment 2023

Didn’t happen. Mom outlived Dad, but she eventually learned to be happier.

1990

Well, the kids are back at home, I’m at work. Mary B. Is looking after the kids, since the nursery school is closed and public schools haven’t started yet. Sandy and I went away for the weekend - - a moms’ vacation. It was excellent; I only wish the place we stayed had been 2 hours closer.

I arrived home to find that Kiddo 2 can now say “something” instead of “gunking”. That and “ov-ov” instead of “over” were his last vestiges of baby talk. Hmmmm. My little boy’s growing up. (Now if he would only stop having temper tantrums. )

Comment 2023

The temper tantrums stopped not long after his speech became clearer. Maybe the problem was frustration at not being understood. (Even worse, laughing because he was so cutely incomprehensible.)

My most vivid memory of the trip with Sandy, all these years later, is that we watched “The Lost Boys” at the B&B. She loved it; I had nightmares.

1997

I find my concentration absolutely vanishes in the presence of others, even when I am alone in my office at work, with the possibility of interruption. This is a weakness for someone in my line of work. There is no hope of daily solitude, and going into the office really doesn’t seem to result in high productivity. 

The summer is coming to an end. What a wonderful summer in so many strange ways.

Comment 2023

Proof that I was way ahead of my time. Didn’t need no stinking pandemic to realize that “going into the office really doesn’t seem to result in high productivity”

2002

School started yesterday for Kiddo 2 and he had major omissions in his schedule. No Ap Biology, no AP US History, no physics as requested. In their place, AP Art History, computer graphics and computer science. We ended up heading to the school to get it sorted, and only partially succeeded. He didn’t feel strongly about the History, and it was impossibility to get both the biology and the math he needed, so he had to stick with the math. He was able to trade computer graphics for physics. Apparently the physics teacher is really good. 

Kiddo 1 fell and sprained her ankle Sunday evening so we spend yesterday afternoon getting it checked out. Hopefully it will be better in a few days; it’s a pretty bad sprain. 

I also had my first PTSA executive board meeting last night. This will not be fun.

2004

It’s been unusually long since I wrote, because I lost my journal. But what a six weeks it’s been! There was the higher education conference in Vermont. Great meeting, horrible road trip. Then home and seeing Kiddo 2 for the first time in over a month. He was a changed person, truly a young man, very composed and matured. Then Jim went off to Philadelphia to help open the new IKEA. He loved there for four weeks, and I managed to get up there for one weekend. Luckily it was the nicest weekend we had all summer - warm, sunny, and dry - and he had a great time sight-seeing and hanging out. We even managed to find Bryan’s Farm, where we camped that fateful summer of 1971. The road through the creek looked like it hadn’t been used in decades. Maybe the hurricane forced them out of the camping business.

Kiddo 2 and I had a good month together. He is very good company, like his sister. He packed and prepared to move very, very slowly. Yesterday we drove him to Frostburg, helped him move in, and left him. I teared up a bit, out of nostalgia for my little boy, but that kid has been gone for a while. He won’t be little again, and I won’t be a young mom again. Though I guess that for him, I never was, since he was born when Was 37. They were good years, though, and fun to recall. 

I hope. I hope. I hope Kiddo 2 thrives in college. I hope Kiddo 1 thrives in her new life. I hope Jim and I find new surprises and deeper satisfaction. I hope I get more work done. I hope I lose 15 pounds. 

2014 (Star Island)

Here I am surrounded by people 10 and 20 years older than myself. So today I will observe aging. 

What I noticed so far. There is so much talk about the past. What they used to do. Where they used to live. My childhood. How I met my husband. There are a few children here, and they chatter about what they did this morning and what they want to do next. Should I try to be more like a child? It it “age appropriate” to spend the day telling and retelling my life’s story?

Lobster night tonight!