Man vs. Wild

Ahh, the fall. The leaves are beginning to change colors and fall off trees. The weather is getting colder and the world around us is changing. But, above all, the new season of Man vs. Wild is back on Discovery Channel!!

While the show is just great with it's explanations on how to survive if ever stranded in some remote part of the world, the real point I watch Man vs. Wild is Bear Grylls. Call me shallow for watching a show for it's host, but I do love me some Bear Grylls.

Bear Grylls is just an excellent host/person. He does all these crazy things just to show you how to survive in harsh terrains. Ok, in reality I don't watch the show just so Bear can teach me how to survive, no matter how enthusiastic he is, I watch the show because of how gorgeous I think Bear is. He is a dare devil/adventurer which brings out my love for adventure. He also does not look bad without his shirt on, which happens very often on the show. So I just wanted to celebrate how Man vs. Wild is back and how I can, once again, look at Bear Grylls and be happy!

Man vs. Wild airs Wednesdays at 9pm on Discovery Channel.

(Yes, this entire post was just in honor of the hotness that is Bear Grylls)

Ten Things I Love Right Now

I got this idea from my friends blog and I thought it was great. So here is my version of ten things I love right now.

1. Book: Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: Pride and Prejudice Continues by Linda Berdoll. Confession time, I haven't actually read the book yet. I will in about a week or two, but the story just seems so great. It's starts the day after Elizabeth and Darcy's wedding, but shows the couple, and the other characters in a new light.

2. TV Show: True Blood. I love the show, and I loved the books. Even the difference from the books to the show does not bother me, I think the show makes the story line even better. It is the only show I watch regularly on a weekly basis right now.

3. Movie: Lost in Austen. I don't know if you want to consider Lost in Austen a movie, since it was originally a TV mini-series, but I have only seen it on dvd, so it goes as my favorite movie right now. For the past 4 nights, and probably tonight, I have been watching just the scenes I love due to the 3 hour running time. Can't get enough of it.

4. Shoes: Steve Madden "Quinella". I just bought these shoes and I thought they were to die for. Can't wait to wear them out one night.

5. Place: Philadelphia. Being the history buff I am, lately I have been dying to go to Philadelphia. I want to see the place where our country was formed, where the congressional congress would meet, take a closer look at the crack on the liberty bell, and so on. I just think it would be a great next stop on my Revolutionary America tour.

6. Blog: Austenprose. Blog all about Jane Austen. Enough said.

7. Celebrity Style Crush: Kate Winslet. I personally think she looks gorgeous in anything, but I especially loved this grey Herve Leger dress she wore to the New York premiere of The Reader. Gorgeous.

8. Man of the Moment: Tom Mison. I have many, many men that I love. This was a particularly hard category for me. I could chose between a ton (Josh Groban, Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Alexander Skarsgard to name a few) but as of right now, it is Tom Mison who plays Mr. Bingley in Lost in Austen that makes the top of my list. The character of Mr. Bingley is just so endearing, kind, and wonderful. Most of the scenes I've been watching every night have him in them.

9. Clothes: A boyfriend cardigan and a plaid dress. I've just been dying for both.

Hotel Room Service ( I couldn't embed the music video, just click the link)

10. Music: There are two songs I've been listening to a lot now. One old, one new. The older song is "Untouched" by The Veronicas. I just discovered the song a couple days ago (yes, I know i'm late) and I've just been loving it. The new song is "Hotel Room Service" by Pitbull. It just makes me want to get up and dance. Great song for going out.

Just Because I Can....

(Elliot Cowan as Mr. Darcy in Lost in Austen)

Yup. I just did that. You're Welcome.

Reason #547,967 Why I Love Jane Austen...

Mansfield Park.

The story is about a girl named Fanny, who lives with her uncle, aunt, and 4 cousins. None of them treat her particularly well because she is much poorer than them. Well, everyone except Edmund.

(Fanny Price)

Edmund has really been the only person who is truly kind and genuine with Fanny, which in turn, makes her fall madly in love with him. The problem is, Edmund doesn't realize it. After a bunch of mishaps and misunderstandings and basically the entire movie, Edmund finally realizes his love for Fanny.

(Edmund Bertram)

I now leave you with the ending of the movie in which Edmund sees Fanny in a new light for the first time, and tries to express his feelings for her.

(Go to the 7:22 mark to see when Edmund finally falls in love and continue to watch the clip and the next clip)

I just love Jane Austen and how she is able to show true love within her stories and characters. I also love Edmund's reaction to the revelation. At first surprised, he then can't find the right way to tell Fanny, and finally he can't wait any longer to tell her his feelings. Just the way it is acted and portrayed made me love Edmund so much. It made me wish (for the 765th time), that I was around during Jane Austen's time and I could find a man such as Edmund.

Jonas Brothers Concert

Last night I went to the Jonas Brothers concert and it was amazing! Everything about it was great. The music, the band, the feel of the entire concert! I hope they go on tour next year just so I can see them again. Here are some pics of my experience last night (so much fun!!).

(The concert ticket)

(Kevin Jonas)

(Nick and Joe Jonas)

(Joe Jonas)

(Nick Jonas <3)

(Kevin Jonas)

Late Night Rant....

I began watching the HBO John Adams mini-series tonight just for the Thomas Jefferson scenes. I know it seems a bit extreme, but they are my favorite parts in the entire mini-series. I started from Episode 2 where you first meet TJ during the First Continental Congress, and continued to the last episode where both TJ and John Adams pass away.

As the episodes progress, the friendship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson becomes strained and ultimately ends due to their different political ideals. One of the issues was that TJ did not get along with Alexander Hamilton, and did not agree with the fact that when John Adams became president Adams kept Hamilton in the presidential cabinet. There are more reasons such as, TJ’s loyalty to France, and their political rivalry.

Eventually, the friendship was renewed through letters sent to each other after the passing of Adam’s wife, Abigail. The men realized that all that had happened in the past did not matter anymore, and they were companions since they had experienced so much together.

Though their friendship was renewed and they wrote hundreds of letter to one another, they never saw each other again. The whole point of this rant is that I began to truly feel sad about how their friendship had ended. I know they eventually became friends again, but just the idea of them not speaking to each other for years made my heart feel heavy. It made me think of how friendships can come and go, even when they are so great, which just depresses me. I know this may seem naïve and juvenile to say, but I really wish people did not change and people never went away. My only comfort in all this is that the men did become friends again.

Soon after watching the mini-series, the movie Gods and Generals came on HBO. It is a movie about the trials and tribulations of the civil war, which I’ve always wanted to see. I wish I could watch it, but at this moment I do not think my heart can handle any more heartache for the night. So now I turn off my TV and computer in hopes that maybe I can fall asleep quickly and have the sadness dissipate. But I know that is the most naïve statement in this entire rant.

Feeding The Jane Austen Addiction

If you haven't noticed from my name, I absolutely love Jane Austen. Sometimes I feel as Jane Austen is the only person who knows how I feel and who can make me feel better. Her stories and characters help me get through some of my worst days, and they also make good days even better. My favorite story by Jane Austen is Pride and Prejudice. I know most people think this is cliché, but I really feel there is no man like Mr. Darcy and no heroine like Elizabeth Bennet.

But, yesterday I was pleasantly surprised with another Jane Austen story, Persuasion. I must admit I have never read or seen Persuasion. Yes, I am a bad Jane Austen addict. But I decided to watch it and I thought it was a great story. It is about a 27 year old woman named Anne Elliot, who was engaged to Frederick Wentworth, a poor naval officer. She is convinced to break off the engagement because Frederick does not have enough money. Years later, she meets Frederick again, who has made a large sum of money from fighting in the Napoleonic wars, and her feelings for him have never changed, but has his?

What really intrigued me about the story was the ending. Anne feels as if Frederick no longer loves her, and her cousin William Elliot wants to marry her for her title and money, but Anne is not sure how Frederick feels and does not want to give up on him for she still loves him. She has a conversation with another naval officer about love and attachments within earshot of Frederick. When hearing this, Frederick writes Anne a note revealing how much he really does love her and how he has never stopped. What got my attention from this scene and basically the whole movie, was one line in the letter which reminded me why I love Jane Austen. The quote is as follows:

"You pierce my heart, I am half agony, half hope..."

I just thought the quote was magnificent. It showed the love and anguish Frederick has felt for Anne for over 8 years. I could only think to myself how much I wish someone would speak to me that way.

(This is the entire ending of the movie, the actual quote is at the 2:51 mark)

Overall, I felt as if the movie was not as great as Pride and Prejudice, but I did towards the end begin to really love Anne and Frederick. What really made it all worth while were those simple words uttered in despair by Frederick.

We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident....

For years now I have wanted to watch the movie 1776 for two reasons mainly, for my love of musicals and history. I thought it would be exciting to watch the founding fathers singing their way through the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

William Daniels as John Adams

First and for most, I thought the concept of the movie was great. I've always been interested in how our country came to be and the men that helped shape it. But, what I found were caricatures of these men. Every personality was heightened for comic relief, and I thought it portrayed the founding fathers in a bad light. But, as the movie progressed, it began to take on a more serious tone, and that's when the movie began to get better. I liked how it eventually showed the urgency and the passion these men possessed.

Ken Howard as Thomas Jefferson

Though there was some bad, there was also some good. If you know me, you know how much I love Thomas Jefferson. I have always thought that he was such a great man, and I have always adored him. While I wish they would have shown his personality better, I was happy there was something they did not leave about about him, his violin playing.

There is even a scene in the movie where Thomas Jefferson's wife, Martha (played by Blythe Danner), visits him in Philadelphia (though this is historical inaccurate), and she sings to John Adams and Benjamin Franklin about how she was wooed by him. It was not by his words, but by how he played the violin. Though the song isn't quite memorable, I loved the message it had and just loved that it was about TJ.

Overall, I would recommend the movie for a lighthearted good time, but if you were expecting to see something the portrayed the founding fathers historically accurate then this is not the movie for you. Better stick to the HBO John Adams mini series instead.

Latest Obsession

One of my latest obsessions comes in the form of the book Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. The book is about a woman named Claire Randall, who has just returned from her duties as a nurse during World War II, when she decides to take a second honeymoon with her husband in the Scottish Highlands. While looking at an ancient stone circle, Claire is transported to to a Scotland she does not recognize, a Scotland torn by war and ruled by clans, a Scotland that is in the year 1743. Now Claire must deal with being in a different time and place, all the while fighting for her life, and resisting the growing feelings she has for the young Scottish warrior Jamie Fraser.

At first the book may seem too long (the 850 page mass market paperback is the one I have), but the book goes by very quickly. Before long, you forget that you are reading a book and actually think that you are with Claire and Jamie on their adventures. I was swept off my feet by Jamie and this book, and I recommend it to anyone who loves a book that has adventure, romance, and so much more in between.

First Post

This is my first post on my new blog. I hope to make this blog about the things I enjoy in life and help you get a further insight into who I really am. Hope you enjoy :-)