Reading

I checked out books on three Queens of England (or queen consorts more specifically, some of them, I guess), and two Queens (not queen consorts) of Spain to read in the last three weeks of vacation.

I just finished Eleanor of Aquitaine's biography, and just started one on Isabel I. (I decided to go chronologically...which is actually helping me with royal associations) I think Eleanor of Aquitaine is fascinating, and really complex. She's also the ancestor of practically every royal figure in Europe for a long time after her. (Maybe that's exaggerating....but you get the idea). And I'm already really interested with Isabel's balance between obedience and strong-mindedness, and she's not even Queen yet. (At this point, Ben would remind me that she's actually dead and therefore is done being Queen...but I mean that I've only read that far).

So it's been good reading. And I wish I had started at the beginning of summer so I could have thrown in some French Queens too.

Also, I made some hibiscus/mandarin/rose hip/lemon balm sun tea. I indulged and bought a big glass jar just for the purpose. It's REALLY strong...but I like the way hibiscus tastes. I put some honey in it. That helped a lot.

So today has been a good day, and now I'm taking BeeBoo out for a walk in the park.

The Little Mermaid

Anyone who knows me understands how I feel about a lot of Disney movies...particularly the princess ones. That's a whole different rant, and I don't need to bore anyone with repeating it here.

So BeeBoo watched The Little Mermaid with her cousin up in Michigan when we visited a little while ago. She liked it all right, and I figured the cousin-ly bonding outweighed any real negative effects. My watching it, however, did give rise to rants about the morally suspect nature of a movie that teaches little girls that if they disobey/completely defy parental authority at the ripe and terribly mature age of 16, they'll get to marry a prince. Not just a nice guy. A for real prince. I ranted for a while, joined by one of my wonderful aunts who feels the same way about the whole thing. After this episode, I jokingly taught BeeBoo to say "The Little Mermaid is morally suspect!"

Today when we got to BeeBoo's friends' house to play while Momma went to class, I heard familiar Disney-ish music downstairs. My friend told me they were watching The Little Mermaid until the younger of her kids got up from her nap. Despite my efforts to be passive, I must've made a face. She said "I couldn't remember if you were a fan or not...." I said "No, I'm not, but she's seen it before. It's fine." So my friend looks down at BeeBoo and says "Do you want to go watch The Little Mermaid with us?"

Innocently, BeeBoo looks up and replies: "Little Mermaid morally suspect!"

Now, I know that she only repeated it because I taught it to her. It still made my day!

Hmmmmm

I find this appaling. Makes me really mad.