BRENDA STARR PAPER DOLL: DAPHNE DIMPLES

Not much to say at the moment. Had a lovely breakfast this morning with a couple of friends over at Ronnie's (http://www.yelp.com/biz/ronnies-cafe-glendale). I had the Ribeye steak and eggs. I prefer Village Inn (http://www.villageinn.com/)to Ronnie's but one of my friends prefer Ronnie's and likes the food so when we get together with her we have lunch there. I LOVE Village Inn's pies and try to buy one any time I go there with my other friend for breakfast. 
I'm still reading The Recruit. I'm at the part where Kenneth Sutherland has just found out that the woman he'd "swivved" the night before is actually the woman The Bruce wants him to marry.  Needless to say he's not very happy about her omission of who she is. Countess Mary Atholl doesn't want another husband since the one who was executed by Edward I didn't pay much attention to her any way and like Sutherland liked the accolades he receives from "fans" of his prois at the Highland Games. Lady Mary might consider remarriage if the man she marries isn't full of himself and more likely to find other bed partners than come home to her, something her former husband had done. But in the time period that the book takes place ladies of quality didn't have much of a choice as to remaining single or being married. Either they married who the monarch wanted or ended up in a convent. Widows and women in general have it so much better in modern times and truly, I think, women take our freedom to do as we wish for granted. 

Al Moore

The paper doll on offer today matches the date it was published back in 1941: November 9th. Imagine, a month later on December 7, almost exactly a month later, the attack on Pearl Harbor would take place.  The costumes should fit properly. Again, this was from a CD bought by a seller on Ebay and is a photo of the the paper doll. Not a bad one to be sure. I would like to redraw it, re color it so that it comes out much sharper. Or at least do my own version of it. Brenda Starr paper dolls are very hard to come by; the price always going up to astronomical amounts when they are offered on Ebay. I don't have any actual Brenda's from the newspapers in my collection. I do have some paper doll books that have paper dolls that had been published in the Sunday papers and reprinted in black and white in the paper doll book. 

'Til next time.....                                         ALOHA

PART CAT, PART FERRET

Recently I took some photos of Indy and he's going to be one very long cat. He reminds me of a ferret in the photos. I got down on the floor for these to take them on his level while he was enjoying some sun that was coming through the front door.  All the photos were taken yesterday, the 7th of November. 

He's still growing. I figure by the time he's grown, he'll be able to reach the door knob like our cat Flaky could. 

Such a handsome boy!

Taking advantage of the last bit of sunlight.

Warming his tushy. 

I finished reading The Saint and have started the next book The Recruit. I'm just into the first few pages where Janet, Mary's sister, has come to bring her and her young son David back to Scotland. Mary's husband, Lord Atholl (based on an actual person) has been executed for treason and Edward II's men have come to get her and the boy. But Mary fears that once again she will be separated from her child so decides to go ahead and escape with Janet. 

While the new covers on modern romance novels are nice, I miss the illustrated ones from bygone days.  The cover for The Recruit is gorgeous and the model used has one nice looking chest but I think it would have been more appealing, at least for me, to show the entire man along with the heroine of the book. Sure do miss those Fabio covers from the 80's! When I try to find some of the older novels that I'm missing from my favorite authors, I try to find the old books with their original covers not the reissues that have, in my opinion, very boring covers. I suppose it is cheaper to pay a photographer money for a photo cover rather than an illustrator since it does take awhile to do a painting of a cover verses a photograph such as that used for the cover of this novel. Sometimes I do wonder if the old school way of creating images is on it's way out and will become a lost art. After all, there are only a few people who can forge swords the old way and is also a dying artform. Computers can do so many things these days, including creating the human form without the artist doing much of anything. There are programs for virtually everything these days. 

Katy Keene Fashion Book No. 22  Fall 1958

I didn't have any paper dolls for todays date so will have to post one for this month instead. Here is Alix by Lucy Eleanor Leary published in November of 1952. Not sure what date though. This is off a CD I bought from Ebay that a seller had put together of the Leary paper dolls she'd sold. I wish the quality was better, a scan instead of a photograph but beggars can't be choosers. I am thinking of doing my own version of this paper doll like I did for Briget and for Kathleen, my two St Patrick's Day paper dolls. 

Until next time....                                               ALOHA!!

I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW...

Katy Keene Coloring Calendar 1983

Well, here it is November with one more month to go before the new year. Time seems to fly the older one gets. 

I have to admit, even though there are times I dread the holidays, and holiday cooking, I'm looking forward to it this year. Why? Because this time last year I could barely see, let alone cook. I have so much to be thankful for this year least of which is the gift of my eyesight. 

Last year I could barely read what I was typing on this blog, now I can see so well I don't need my reading glasses. I don't care what anyone says, God did perform a miracle through the surgeon who fixed my failing eyesight. I'd asked God for a miracle and lo and behold he granted two...the first was the disability that I received (I honestly didn't expect to receive anything) because without that there was no way I could afford the surgery and the second was the wonderful surgeon (Dr. Craig Cassidy) who rid me of the cataracts that were covering my eyes. It is a horrible sensation losing the one organ you depend on so much. I know there are plenty of people in the world who are blind or have gone blind and cope with it every day, but I was finding it increasingly difficult to adjust with the inability to see what I was doing.  I think what really bothered me was that I continually had to ask my husband to read things for me. It wasn't that he minded, I don't think he did, but it felt like my independence was slowly being whittled away as my eyesight got progressively worse.  So it's understandable that this year I'm excited about being able to see the controls on my stove. Last year I had to put initials on the control panel of the stove in order to tell the difference between bake and broil and the timer option using a Sharpie. I've since removed the black marks from the panel.  And how I didn't burn myself is beyond me since my depth perception
was all off. I'd find myself nearly putting out my own eye when I was trying to read something!  

So as I said, I have much to be thankful for this year. I still haven't gotten used to the fact that I can see without glasses. I do need them for reading (I'm not even using the reading glasses as I type this) but that's a small inconvenience compared to where I was last year at this time; barely able to see the words on a books page and only being able to see out of my right eye and then struggling to make out the words on a page.  I liken the sensation of looking through wax paper and vaseline. I will never take my eyesight for granted again!

Speaking of books, I've been reading a really good series by Monica McCarty. Her Highland Guard series and let me tell you it is FANTASTIC!  It takes place during Robert The Bruce's reign and involves an elite group of warriors consisting of the BEST warriors from several different clans and even one Englishman. At the moment I'm almost to the end of The Saint, the fifth book in the series. She's really researched her subject and what I find most enjoyable is that after every book is looking up on Google Maps and the Web, the people and places mentioned in each book. I do this for every historical novel I read, but the best ones are the ones where the characters interact with historical figures. One of my favorite scenes is (based on historical fact) is where Robert has pretty much given up his bid for the thrown when Edward I had him on the run and he's in a cave having just been shipwrecked off the coast of Ireland and he sees a spider trying to span a gap above his head.  The spider makes the connection to the other side and thereby Robert considers it a sign from God to continue his bid for the crown of Scotland. Of course this is McCarty's interpretation of what The Bruce experienced but who really brings the characters to life. All the characters in her books were in some part based on real people of the time. 

I couldn't find a paper doll for today's date in my collection so I'm posting one from Child Life Magazine for this month instead. I love the coat and hat. Do children help their parents out with the holiday dinner any more? I remember helping Mom mash potatoes before they had the instant kind that comes in a box. For awhile I used to do the same thing after I was married but it takes a lot of time to mash them. Much easier to get them all ready cooked and all you have to do is nuke them in the microwave for 10 minutes, then mash them up. Much quicker and less prep time.

Until next time....                                             ALOHA!!