Marie Antoinette

One interesting fact about me is that I might know everything there is to know about Marie Antoinette.

After Sofia Coppola's film of the same name, I became immersed in the world of a 18th century queen.

But, she was such a cool historical figure.

For example, she was married off to France at the age of 15 (in 1770) by Austria to try and create peace between the countries. So, after traveling to France, being stripped of everything she had even known, and sent into a world she knew nothing about, she had to marry King Louis XVI.

Louis Auguste was not handsome. He wasn't Prince Charming, and he didn't sing beautiful songs through the forest. Actually, he was quite a heavy young man and enjoyed lock making.

I'm serious, the dude loved to make locks.

So this is the company that Antoinette was to keep for the rest of her life. As she learned more about the French royalty, she began making friends and enemies. She had several comrades, including one male bestie by the name of Count Axel von Ferson, her lover.

He, by the way, was very cute.

Anyways, all of the sudden it's 1775 and the King is dead, and Antoinette is now the queen of France. Louis Auguste is officially King Louis XVI.

Now comes the awkward part.

The marriage between King Louis and Marie Antoinette was unconsummated for seven years. Seven years! Historians assume that little Louis was a shy little guy, young enough to be extremely afraid of the idea of consummating his marriage, yet old enough for it to be a serious problem.

Meanwhile, Antoinette's sister-in-law is popping out babies left and right, finally having a boy before Antoinette. This was a big problem, because all of France was waiting for a new Dauphin to reign after King Louis XVI. France began doubting Antoinette's ability to produce a heir.

Finally, once the two sorted out their bedroom problems (the movie suggests Louis was counseled by Marie Antoinette's brother...does that seem weird to anyone else?) Antoinette was finally preggo.

Uh oh, nine months later she gave birth to a girl, Marie Therese. She was quoted saying to her daughter, "You are not what was expected, but you are no less loved by me."

Finally, she gave birth to a boy, Louis Joseph Xavier Francois, who later died in his early childhood.

A second boy soon came, by the name of Louis Charles, and he lived a healthy life.

By the time she had lost a son and had another, Antoinette's popularity in France had declined. Some thought she was a spy from Austria, others were enraged at the luxurious life she led at Versailles.

Here come the most tragic but amazing part of Antoinette's story.

A local newspaper quoted her saying, "Let them eat cake!" when asked what should be done about the French people, who were extremely poor and had no bread.

This answer, as perceived by the public, simply meant that if Antoinette herself did not have any bread, what would she do? Have some cake, of course.

This, however, led to one of the most famous quotes in history and the eventual execution of Antoinette.

The French were ticked at someone who would lead a lavish life and leave them to die, and decided to say, "Off with her head!"*.

The worst part is that she never said "Let them eat cake!"

And that, in a nutshell, was Antoinette's life. Of course there's more, for there is more to every story, but my fingers hurt and so does my brain, so I'm done for tonight.

*Aunt Sheri, this of course, was an Alice in Wonderland reference for you. :)

Prom

As a graduating senior (!), naturally, I will be attending Prom on May 31st. Exciting, yes?


Well, today, after a weeks worth of sucking up, Papa Nuge (by the way, that's what I call my Dad), finally gave in and got me this very pretty dress. So pretty, in fact, that I am going to put up a picture of it.

Do you like it? I do.
So before finding this dress and searching around on the internet, just to get a feel for what kinds of potential dresses were out there, I found a few interesting concepts of acceptable formal attire.

For example, this next dress has a certain...pirate wench-ish look.

So, the shredded gauze starts mid-thigh, and continue to the floor for a squid-like effect. The only thing that could make this dress better is if it came in Sea foam Green and had sponges coming off each tentacle. But, hey, whatever floats your boat!

This next one is actually quite dainty and pretty...that is, if you are on your honeymoon!

Just the model's face says it all. Would you like to wear this in front of god knows how many people in pictures that will be around forever? Save it for the bedroom.

Another thing great about this dress is the price. For only $400, you too can look classic (or class-less) at your prom! Is there even $10 of fabric there?

Last, but not least, is the prom dress of the future.

When I say future, I am assuming that people in the future will forget what breasts are, creating a sincere need to highlight your, umm, assets with this number. Look! Look! They are there, can't you see the shiny outlining? Yes, I have two! Also, there will be punishment for ever taking your face out of a deep stare position that our wonderful model here is demonstrating, in order to combat the telekinesis powers that criminals-of-the-future have. Better safe than sorry!

Well, that concludes my Prom post. I didn't thoroughly investigate the numerous hideous dresses strewn across the internet, but if you ever see a really bad one, think of me. Oh yeah, and I just want to leave you with this link to a gorgeous dress for all you soon-to-be mothers out there:

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/uglydress_1996_1530221

Enjoy!

Juno

My long lost aunt Sheri, whom I miss dearly, just posted a blog about Gnarls Barkley. Not my favorite, but nonetheless entertaining.
Well, reading that made me focus on what I was listening to, which happens to be the soundtrack to the movie Juno.

If you haven't seen Juno yet, rent it as soon as possible. Ellen Page's character is one of the most refreshingly teenage-esque characters that I have seen in film lately. Thankfully, it seems society has gotten past assuming all white female teenagers are all like, totally, valley girls.

Anyways, the music in Juno is this folky music that makes me think of hippies in a van somewhere in California. My favorites are undoubtedly "All I want is you" by Barry Louis Polisar and "Anyone else but you" by the Moldy Peaches. "Tire Swing" by Kimya Dawson gets a notable mention also.

It's this perfectly fresh and upbeat music that is best listened to on a sunny day with your windows down in your car. It's happy, silly, and not too heavy.

So far, the Juno and Titanic soundtracks are the best on my list.

Senioritis

It is the first week back to school after spring break, and the dreaded disease of Senioritis is spreading throughout the seniors at my high school.

In fact, a nearby high school just had a senior skip day when every senior-all 600 of them!-didn't show up for school.

My class, however, is not so organized. Every now and then, somebody starts spreading texts declaring a certain day Senior Skip Day. But, inevitably, somebody else disagrees with that date and begins to cancel the skip day one text at a time.

So, not only do you get mass amounts of mixed messages, but you also have to deal with the fact that those who do come to school on senior skip days are rewarded.

My psychology teacher, for example, gives out extra credit just for sitting in the cold metal desks in her class on a skip day! You could be simultaneously cheating, texting, threatening classmates, destroying school property, or whatever else rule you could possibly break, and still get extra credit.

With those initiatives, I am beginning to think that we will never have a mass skip day like our neighboring schools.

The reality is, if trying to persuade large groups of people to do the same thing all together, you begin looking a bit cult-ish. Jim Jones is not someone you want to aspire to be.