Ruby Tuesday

Today is not Rubyish in any way but that was the only song I could think of with Tuesday in the title. 

This Monday was an excellent Monday as it was Easter Monday and so the last day of the weekend. Instead of extreme misery based on being at work and therefore feeling a lot of rage towards various sections of society, I concluded days of being fed by various relatives and eating a lot of lindt chocolate with a little spring cleaning and a lot of watching tv. 

Things that have brought me joy over the last week:

Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood.
I am actually reading a book by a man! What has happened here?! Last weekend I suddenly felt that I needed to read something by Christopher Isherwood. I'll be honest and say it might be a lot to do with how excellent his name is… Goodbye to Berlin inspired Cabaret and is set in 1930s Berlin where Nazism is on the rise and the socially progressive Weimar Republic is coming to an end. I read half of it in one afternoon.

Miss Silver books by Patricia Wentworth
My parents have an audible account that I listen to. Most of the books they have on it are murder mysteries and I've been listening to all the Miss Silver stories they've purchased. I am addicted to them. Miss Silver is a retired governess turned private investigator who is called upon when an heiress thinks her husband's family are trying to kill her, or when a when a woman apparently comes back from the dead, or just for ordinary upper class murders involving a stately home and a few deeply hidden secrets. Whatever the case, Miss Silver will observe everyone and find out the deepest, darkest secrets of their souls, all while she knits socks and jumpers for her niece's children. Every story has a young couple whose future happiness hangs in the balance while Miss Silver solves the case. The best thing about Miss Silver books is they were all written during the late 30s/early 40s and not just set then. This means that there Patricia Wentworth doesn't feel the need to harp on about perfect vintage details and there is more illusion to sex then a modern author writing a novel set in the past would dare to include. Miss Silver is the best, most comforting thing to listen to while I'm doing housework or getting ready for work – all the things I hate in the world.

Costume Dramas
Costume dramas are the main joy of my life and for me a Bank Holiday isn't a Bank Holiday without watching a costume drama or two. On Sunday, as on New Year's Day, all of Pride and Prejudice was on Drama so naturally I had to watch it for the trillionth time. I have been in love with it since I was six years old and my love for it has never dimmed. This time it was all about Lady Catherine's visit:

'I am only resolved to act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected with me.'

How perfect is Jennifer Ehle's face? How perfect is Elizabeth Bennett? Jennifier Ehle as Elizabeth Bennett is everything. 

 
Outlander
I had to start watching Outlander after I read Outlander is the rare show where women aren't an afterthought on Bitch Media and then Outlander is back and as a feminist I am conflicted on the Butter. Clare Beecham is a nurse visiting Scotland on a  second honeymoon just after WWII when she touches an ancient stone and is transported back in time to 1745. The highlands in 1745 is a pretty brutal place. There are a lot of pervy, dirty Scottish men and violence, but, using her medical knowledge, Clare makes herself indispensable to the clan Mackenzie who pick her up straight after she travels back. There is a lot of gore and sexual violence but it is not gratuitous. The constant threat of sexual violence reminds us that no matter how 20th Century Clare is, and no matter how much she does for everyone, she is a woman in a time when just being a woman was dangerous. Watch it! 
(p.s. Outlander is on Amazon Prime)