A new smaller skeleton joined the pack at Houndstooth Hall: young Ambrose’s twin sister Amarise (whatever century some variety of plague occurred was hard on this family). Here’s a photo from her first appearance on Instagram, wearing a “Who The Hell Is Ben Cote?” button that I let her claim because, as Lord Cuttlebone explains, “Never come between a girl and her devotion to a guitarist, songwriter, performer, and possessor of great hair.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. For more of my Instagram skeleton Halloween homages to music artists, check behind the cut.
Tag: dolls
Tiny Tuesday!
Every time I look at these tiny skeletons, I crack up. I’m only including the doll for scale. I’m not implying that any characters in the Neverending Saga–of which this doll represents one–have skeletons in their closet.
But sometimes they surprise me. BOO!
Tiny Tuesday!
Barbie and friends do a reenactment of me preparing to find fashion, dress skeletons, and post photos to social media (i.e., my Instagram account), with Lord Cuttlebone and his nephew Ambrose supervising (i.e., chattering unsolicited advice into my ear). Since the theme is set: a spooky season homage to music, WILL I HAVE ENOUGH T-shirts or band memorabilia to do the entire month of October? The Shadow knows…
I’ve put my first seven days of photos behind the cut, if you want to see the artists I’ve featured.
Tiny Tuesday!
She’s tiny, but look at the size of that acorn Tom found in the yard this past weekend. Guess we’ll be having plump squirrels this autumn.
Photo Friday, No. 927
Current Photo Friday theme: Vibrant
Mattel model Abby, wearing one of my dresses based on a McCall’s pattern, in the Place d’Armes Hotel courtyard, New Orleans, May 2009. I was there for a literary conference, and writers had fun posing with my dolls.
I’m happily compelled to share this comment from my last week’s “Album Cover” theme, about a photo that I originally used for a Photo Friday challenge in October of last year. Marc is the person who started the Photo Friday site in 2002, and I told him his comment made my year.
Can I tell you, Becky, that this shot, when you originally posted it, *is* the shot that inspired the #album_cover challenge. It’s a great shot with such lovely storytelling in a single frame. Kudos! marc · Sep 19 2024
Tiny Tuesday!
When I pulled the Alex and Emma DVD off the shelf the other day, I thought it was a film about a musician and a lyricist instead of a writer and a stenographer. Yesterday, I realized how I made the mistake. I was probably thinking of 2007’s Music and Lyrics, in which Hugh Grant plays a musician named ALEX Fletcher, a former superstar whose band broke up several years before.
Now Alex plays nostalgia gigs, county fairs, and amusement parks. He’s given a shot at relevancy with the chance to compose a song for a reigning pop star with a passionately devoted audience (think Britney/ Christina/ Miley/ Taylor). The problem is, he’s had a songwriting block for years and needs a lyricist. Enter Sophie, played by Drew Barrymore, who’s subbing for the woman who usually comes to his apartment to take care of his plants. Sophie once studied writing and has a gift with words, but a bad relationship zapped her confidence. Can these two be the answer to each other’s creative challenges? It’s a RomCom, we know the answer, but it’s fun getting there. The supporting cast adds to the fun : Haley Bennett as the pop singer Cora Colman; Kristen Johnson as Rhonda, Sophie’s older sister; and more characters played by Brad Garrett, Matthew Morrison, Billy Griffith, and Jason Antoon. I didn’t remember seeing the movie before, but Tim thinks I watched it with him, and he’s probably right. =)
I still have romantic comedy DVDs on the shelf, but I’m not sure how many more I’ll watch (though we’re having another bout of summer heat). I mentioned that I’d be rewatching one of my favorite movies with Al Pacino. The DVD came, but somehow I missed that it’s only playable on Region 2 devices, and alas, the U.S. is a Region 1 country. I’m thwarted; any Region 1 DVD of the film I can find is priced prohibitively. Maybe one day.
Today, I went back to the source of wee Becky’s love for romantic comedies: Miss Doris Day. I wasn’t born or was too young for her early career, but I had a mother who liked to watch old movies with me on the weekends. Though I came to her late, Doris Day movies became favorites. I think I found this collection last year-ish in Target or somewhere similar. Naturally, I grabbed it. Not all of the six films are romantic comedies, but they all have Miss Day and her great leading men.
The fashion in 1959’s Pillow Talk adds to my enjoyment of this movie. I REALLY love Doris Day and Rock Hudson (playing composer Brad Allen and his alter-ego “Rex Stetson”) together, and wardrobe did right by them. I’ve never opened my Pillow Talk doll set by Mattel because I want to keep everything pristine. This certainly wasn’t the way I started out with dolls after Neighbor Nancy gave me her Barbie collection when I was around nine. I played with every outfit that came from Nancy, and my mother added to the Barbie couture as she could, whether she sewed doll clothes, bought off-brand doll fashion, or sprung for Mattel outfits.
As I watched Pillow Talk today, I thought of how the movie could have been a direct inspiration for some of my vintage doll fashions. Here’s interior decorator Jan Morrow fresh out of bed in an early scene.
My doll Cassidy models a mid-1960s blue and white lace pegnoir set (not a Mattel label) that my mother bought for my dolls’ wardrobe.
Doris in the boudoir screen caps: pretty in pink, looking happy.
Looking worried.
Cassidy modeling Mattel’s 1960s Barbie Nighty Negligee Set No. 965. This is two pieces–the gown and the robe–and I believe it’s from Lynne’s collection.
Tiny dolls, big nostalgia, and a film full of entertaining scenes enhanced by Thelma Ritter, Tony Randall, and singer Perry Blackwell, who makes the absolute most of her lounge singer scene.
Photo Friday, No. 925
Current Photo Friday theme: Many
Many Pennys.
Created in 1963, and sold as late as 1970, by the Deluxe Reading/Topper Toy Company, the Penny Brite doll was intended to be a solution for parents who wanted their children to play with fashion dolls who looked younger than the dolls in the Mattel line. In 2007, Charisma Brands reintroduced the doll, along with additional outfits and a carrying case, for $69.95. I don’t know what her original price was, but likely in the three- to five-dollar range.
Tiny Tuesday!
Eva Ruby, the tiniest member of the Batpack, did start coughing less over the weekend, so we thought things would be okay. Then yesterday, her appetite went away, and in the evening, we feared we saw a little blood in a liquid-y stool (sorry; dog people overshare). Off she went with the Supreme Ruler of Her World, Tom, to the emergency vet. After x-rays, bloodwork, and no coughing for the doctors, she was thought to be on the mend from whatever caused the cough. For a dog her size, eating even a blade of grass could have irritated her throat. She had no fever, nothing too alarming in the x-rays, but her bloodwork showed she was severely dehydrated. So she got sub-Q fluids, anti-nausea meds, and about four hours worth of monitoring before Tom brought her home. Now she’s on a bland, small-portion diet several times a day, and the credit card bill is not so tiny. Worth it for that smile and our peace of mind.
There is one topic about which Eva is serious and wants to have a word. (We think it’s from hanging out in a house with too many fashion dolls.) She says, “This is the day after Labor Day. Pack those white shoes away immediately. You’ll see them again at Easter and beyond. Yes, Florida, even you. If Texans can pack away their white boots and strappy heels, so can you other coastal fashionistas.”
She does, however, make allowances for sneakers, tennis shoes, running shoes, and gym shoes. This is not simply because they’re sporty. They’re also optimal dog-walking shoes. Priorities…
As for me, I tried to rewatch this 1998 movie while Tom and Eva were at the ER. There was a lot of stopping and restarting because of ongoing texts. It was still fun seeing Sigourney Weaver play Katharine, a treacherous boss, and Melanie Griffin play Tess, who’s smart, sweet, and sexy. As she tells Harrison Ford’s Jack (why are so many RomCom leading men named Jack?), “I have a head for business and a body for sin.” A stellar supporting cast portraying working women (Joan Cusack is gold, as always) and sleazy men (though there are good guys, too). Bonus: A brief but good appearance by Olympia Dukakis as a personnel director at an employment agency is one of several characters who show the value of women mentoring women in the workplace.
Sunday Sundries
The plan for today is to keep working on Book 7 of the Neverending Saga. For some reason, I’m in the mood to listen to Holland, a classic Beach Boys album among Beach Boys fans and collectors.
Thinking of Holland in general, I decided to show this assortment of items from the dresser in the master bedroom. From left to right, that’s a ginger jar that belonged to my mother and still has potpourri that she put in it. (I don’t think it has a lot of scent anymore.) On the bottom, she wrote “Lola, 2001,” so possibly it was a gift to her from Aunt Lola. Next to that is a blue and white candle bowl which may have come from Bombay Company. If so, it was likely a gift from my mother to me (she liked to shop there for me, and I liked their merchandise). The three in the middle: a small ashtray, a windmill, and two Dutch boys sharing a kiss, were all gifts from our friend Steve C after he went to The Netherlands one year. On the far right is a vintage vase that Tom’s parents gave us from his grandmother’s house after she died. She was the only one of his grandparents that I got to meet, and I just adored her mischievous humor.
Behind these items is the Holland doll from the Arco Gasoline Dolls of the World collection. I had several of those when I was a child, and somehow they were donated or discarded. A few years ago, I replaced the ones I’d had thanks to the magic of eBay!
I rewatched 1998’s Hope Floats this morning. It’s categorized as a RomCom, and I do really like it, but I’d forgotten how sad it is, too. I’d also forgotten how uncomfortable the beginning is, because it hits a little too close to home related to an incident from my past. Thankfully, my humiliation wasn’t televised in every time zone. That part will go well with what I’m currently writing.
The main reason I picked the film was to honor the late Gena Rowlands, who plays Sandra Bullock’s mother and is a longtime favorite of mine. In mid-August, I edited a post from July 25 to note that Gena Rowlands had died on August 14. I’ve appreciated seeing so many tributes to her on Instagram. She truly was a gifted actor with a long career.
ETA: Couldn’t resist some of these photos that have shown up on Instagram of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands. Their longevity as a couple seems like an uncommon thing in their business.
Photo Friday, No. 921
Current Photo Friday theme: Toys
The toy chest overflowed long ago. There are toys in every room of the house except maybe the kitchen and bathrooms. We never had children, but our friends and family did. The toy chest is never this organized and never left open, or four dogs would turn Houndstooth Hall into the Great Beanie Babies® & Friends Massacre.