A Proverbial Hodgepodge

(Title courtesy of my sister's quirky wit)

Today I've been out of sorts again . . . I suppose it's very teenage-ish to feel that one isn't oneself. Or the problem may be that I'm myself too much. If so, my self is not a pleasant creature.

Anyway, I browsed the Internet a little. I finished re-reading Maria Edgeworth's Patronage, which contrasts two English families. One family, the Falconers, is determined to have their sons shine in their careers and to have their daughters shine in their marriages -- by means of patronage (I suppose it would be called "connections" nowadays), guile, etc. The other family, the Percys, is determined to act on principle; the sons rise to eminence due to their sound ethics and knowledge and skill, while the daughters make good marriages in every sense due to their virtues, learning, and accomplishments as well as their beauty. This sounds very moralistic, but I always enjoy reading the book. I wonder, though, if it is moral to pretend that people repay good deeds, because that doesn't always happen in reality (especially not in the neat way it is portrayed in Maria Edgeworth's books and stories). But Miss Edgeworth's morality is far nicer than most kinds I have met in my foragings among the fiction in gutenberg.org, and I don't find it too obtrusive. The characters are vivid (except the protagonists, really), the plot is interesting, the insight into society considerable, and some scenes are, I think, excellently witty (like the theatrical performance at the Falconer's household).

I was also thinking about how devoid Jane Austen's novels are of hints of the European wars of her time. I think it's actually part of her Englishness -- one of the great charms of England is, I believe, how it represents a peaceful microcosm; wars may touch its borders but they never pass beyond nor grow from within, and within there persists a tranquil order based on centuries of tradition, reinforced by the calm and beauty of the landscape. Of course there is the rampant imperialism and there has always been turmoil, but I like generalizing.

I also read articles on nytimes.com, including one travel article about St. Petersburg and another about Iceland. I particularly like the second, "Iceland's Ring Road; The Ultimate Road Trip," by Mark Sundeen. Here is one amusing excerpt:

As we got out of the car, a woman in Viking-period regalia — a coarsely woven tunic, hair in braids and a container like a powder horn lashed to her waist — emerged from a canvas tent where she had been sitting behind a laptop.

Later I went shopping at a small foods store off West Saanich Road. There were local fruits and vegetables, assorted organic products, ice cream, and all types of imported pickles and canned fish; I liked browsing there very much. I ended up with local strawberries, Okanagan cherries, organic bananas, wafer biscuits, one pot each of Polish cherry and blackberry jam and a third of Italian honey, organic lemonade, and a bunch of small local carrots with the green still on them (which I really like). Delicious!

Before that I accompanied my parents on an errand trip (which included bringing one of my brothers to the airport for his flight lesson). When I went shopping, that was also part of my mother's second errand trip. We picked up my photo film from a store. I think all of my photos were perfectly beautiful and captured what I wanted them to capture. I have no modesty where they are concerned! Some were taken at UBC, and more at home. Maybe I'll post one or two in this blog, or dedicate a Flickr account to them.

And now, off to make amends for my laziness this afternoon . . .