What’s Up? Steampunk and France!

It’s been a while, boys and girls.  My creative mojo has been on hiatus.  I took a French class.  I stressed out at work.  I visited friends and family in the Boston area.  I ate way too much. I read a lot.

Sometimes I feel like I stepped back from my inner life and my physical life.  I retreated.  Don’t know why.  These things sneak up and hide themselves in your head,  so you don’t realize you’re not doing anything--creating, exercising, thinking.  

But lately I’ve been getting creative again, making some jewelry and working on a Steampunk character.  For those of you who don’t know what Steampunk is, it’s basically a Victorian vision of science fiction--think  H.G. Wells and Jules Verne.  More recently, read the Leviathan series by Scott Westfield or Gail Carrigers’ Alexia Tarabotti books (which mix Steampunk with vampires and werewolves).  Steampunk is anything goes--from corsets to tricked out weaponry, top hats to gears as embellishments.  Characters range from scientists and royalty to adventurers and ladies of the evening.  We already have our reservations for the HRH Steampunk Symposium on the Queen Mary in January, so I’m gathering materials and making my costumes and accessories.

Cats are a big part of my character, Felina Reid’s, life, so they will figure in parts of my costume.  Like my hats--yes, those are cat ears!  

 
And the embellishment also features a cat pin.

Here some great shoes I scored at Goodwill yesterday:

I’ll be making a drawstring bag (and probably my skirt/bustle) out of velveteen fabric I used to use on my tables at craft shows.  The fabulous trim I found on Etsy.

We’re also planning a trip to France next year.  The Mom recently gave me a monetary gift to start a Paris fund.  I wanted to go next year for our 35th anniversary and this money gave that dream a big boost!  The Husband is a military history buff, so naturally wants to see the D-Day beaches in Normandy.  I’m a museum rat and flea market shopper, so that’s what I’m looking forward to in Paris.  You’d think the Louvre would be #1 on my list but it’s actually the Musee D’Orsay, since I love the Impressionists.  We also love to walk, so seeing Paris on foot is going to be exciting.  I remember walking in San Francisco--a walking pace at ground level allows you to see so many tiny, amazing details!  
 

I love the planning of a trip as much as the actual travel, so lately I’m either elbows deep in beads or French tour books.

I’ll keep you up to date on what I’m making and planning!

C’est La Vie! Do What You Love!

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Saturday Book Review-My Life in France

I loved Julie and Julia, both the book and the movie. But when I saw in the end credits that the movie was based not only on Julie Powell’s book but also Julia’s My Life in France, I had to reserve it at the library. Published posthumously, Julia’s nephew, accomplished writer Alex Prud’Homme, had helped her sift through letters from her husband, Paul, to his twin brother Charlie and other ephemera from their time in Europe.

Julia and Paul met while working in the Foreign Service and were thrilled to be stationed in Paris. Even non-foodies, like myself, will enjoy her descriptions of their quirky apartment and the friends they make in the City of Light. Naturally, a lot of the book is about food: her studying at the Cordon Bleu, eating at restaurants all over France and preparing recipes for Mastering the Art of French Cooking. As I said, I’m not much of a foodie but I was interested in the story of her collaboration with two French women and the long road to being published.

I also found her husband, Paul, fascinating-he not only worked at his diplomatic job, he was a talented photographer and artist. In fact, the book is full of his photographs--check out the full 2 page spread of their Valentines Day cards throughout the years. And he wholeheartedly supported anything Julia wanted to do--reminds me of my own husband!

The latter part of the book has the Childs traveling back and forth from their Cambridge home to a house they built in Provence. When Paul retired, they made the Cambridge house their main residence and fell into the WGBH show that would make Julia Child a household name in the US--The French Chef.

Even though she collaborated with her nephew, the book is written completely from her perspective. You can hear her voice in every sentence. This book made me yearn to meet her… I guess I’ll just have to settle for watching a few of her French Chef episodes. Or maybe I’ll just buy a DVD of Julie and Julia!

Do What You Love!

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