pen friends...

there is somethign special about recieving things through post- and i'm not talking about bills or junk mail. >:OP i'm talking about personal mail. during high school i had a few pen pals. first it was Martin Gireaudeu, he lived in La Rouche Sur Yon, France. we met through Pulp People- the official pulp fan club and wrote for about 2 years while i was in high school. it was so neat to write to him, count the days to when he would recieve and then count the days that i should receive his letter in return- and it was like clockwork. sadly, our letters stopped when he went to university. :(

the one pen pal that found me years ago- also in high school that have actually kept in touch with to this day is my dear friend kippily. we also met through Pulp People. :) above is a rendition of her from one of my favorite pics of her, taken i believe around the same time that i first met her. we had a lot in common and were able to meet once while in high school. she came dressed in a vintage salmon colored dress, gorgeous red lips, black shoes, huge black Audrey sunglasses and a gigantic vintage purse, that she held up to her stomach with both hands. she was the most queer little girl i had ever seen and i was so curious to get to know this girl. she slept over and wore a black dress, stockings and her black shoes to bed. she carried little dolls and toys in her purse, which i think she still might do today. we saw jarvis in san fran together and she drove up for my wedding this past october. i want to start writing her again. we speak over the phone every now and then, but i think i want to bring back some good old writing back. :) i like getting fun letters and decorated packages in the mail. it's exciting! :)

so this is an ode to those who i ever kept in touch with by mail- martin, kippily, jimmy, david, my dearest cynthia when we were separated by the ocean and christopher who said he lived near sherwood forest. and my apologies to lucy wilkes for never writing you back, i wanted to but had lost your address!!! :(

manon of the spring

first off- happy easter to all! :) this weekend was pretty busy. we had a yard sale on saturday and today we had an easter lunchy with the family. cutie and i saw Jean de Florette / Manon of the Spring, directed by Claude Berri. it's actually two separate movies that go together. in a nutshell, Jean de Florette is about a family who is run out of their house because some town scoundrels shut off their water (a natural spring). to be honest, i stopped watching the first film cos i felt bad for the optimistic little hunchback, played by Gerard Depardieu- all he wanted was to raise rabbits and plant his vegetable garden. but as i said, i stopped watching- those scoundrels were absolutely wretched! hmph!

i did stick around for the second part, Manon of the Spring. this one i absolutely loved- so much in fact that i drew the main character, Manon- played by Emmanuelle Beart. she is the hunchbacks daughter (who unfortunately died in the first part) and she lives in a little shack in the woods and lives off the land. it's rather dreamy as she just roams the wilderness all day with her goats. takes naps under trees, bathes in a natural spring by the caves, and sets traps to catch birdies. in this film she has grown into a pretty little lady (the first film shows her as a young girl).

hmm... as i said, in a nutshell, she seeks revenge on the the 2 scoundrels and on the town who all knew that her papa was being tricked. i don't want to spoil too much of the story, but well, i just really liked the film. there are some twists that kind of make you go, "aaaAAaah!". there was another scene that i wanted to draw out- one of the scoundrels falls in love with our little Manon and attaches her hair ribbon to his chest, with a needle and thread - quite the romantic. i thought she was really natural and pretty. i really loved her dark eyebrows and her blue eyes, her wild blonde hair was always a perfect mess. she made me wish i was a shepherdess. for those of you who haven't watched teh film... do. :)