He said the darndest/sweetest thing just now.

"Now why would dresses in the 1870s...utilize the big a** storage compartment and then stop using it in the late 1870s...only to bring it back in the late 1880s?"

Pardon his French haha.

But c'mon... how many 20 year old guys know that??? :-)

Personal entry! Feel free to ignore if you want. I have no doubt I'll delete this tomorrow, when I've had time to sleep on my folly.

I love allegory. So here's the story of Giselle. Maybe, if you're particularly keen, you can figure out who is who...

In the first act, a young, innocent village maiden named Giselle is in love with a man she knows only as Loys. In reality, the man is Albrecht, a nobleman disguised as a peasant, who is betrothed to Bathilde, daughter of the Duke. When Giselle discovers the deceit, she is inconsolable and goes mad, then dies; one version says she dies of a broken heart while another says she commits suicide in her madness. In the second act, her undying love for Albrecht saves him from the wicked magic of the wilis, vampiric ghosts of betrothed girls who were betrayed by their lovers and died before their wedding day. Though their leader, Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis, forces Albrecht to dance again and again, Giselle intervenes long enough to spare his life and allow him to survive until the dawn. At sunrise, the wilis must return to their grave; Giselle must return as well but not before showing Albrecht that she forgives him for his treachery. The two pledge their love to each other and she descends back into her grave, but will forever be separated. Giselle is now a wili for the rest of eternity.

I normally don't use my LJ for personal issues, but I realized that it is, by definition, a journal, and so I decided to make myself this one allowance. So you may absolutely not bother reading this; I just need a place to get all this off my chest. I'm going to try and be as mature as possible while writing this, but one can only control herself so much when her heart feels apt to burst.

I have never felt the sting of betrayal before yesterday. But now I know, and I hate it. It's pain and anger and shock all at once. And what's worse is that I am sick and bedridden and can do nothing about it. I cannot sew and put my energy into my costumes, I cannot go for a walk to try and cool off, I cannot dance or sing or act to express myself. I'm trapped with my own thoughts, and that's making everything worse.

There is entirely the possibility that I am making a mountain out of a mole hill. But I write this after one day's cooling off period, and I still feel as hurt and angry as I did yesterday, and this after countless doses of cold medicine which would normally dull one's senses.

The best way I can equate how i feel is that it is like eating candy in front of a diabetic. The candy is bad for you and so you abstain, and yet your friends--the people who should be the most compassionate and considerate-- sit and eat candy in front of you. Of course you aren't going to give in because you know the consequences, but just the fact that they would tempt you, whether knowingly or not,  is such a cruel thing to do to someone.

I have tried so very very hard not to eat that candy, if you will. And for my friends to do that to me makes me so sad and angry that I don't know where to begin. I don't know what to do right now. I don't know how to confront them, or even if I should. I just know that I have never felt so betrayed in my entire life...

In short, I can't go to the Athenaeum School this year... I'll definitely be going next year, but that's so far away! In the meantime, however, my mother has consented to me joining our more "local" Civil War  girls' finishing school, where I'll actually get to be presented to society! I get to be a debutante! A southern debutante in a froofy white dress. Yay! So... I guess that makes up for not going to the school.... Okay, not entirely, but I'm not one to sit around and be depressed.... Yes I am... Well! Complaining won't solve anything!

In other news, I finished all the raw edges and put the buttons on my bodice. As much as I want to do the skirt tonight, I should really do more work on my commission. Speaking of which, I still need to put up a post about that! *will do this weekend* The next reenactment is in just 30 days! I'm so excited! Dress must be finished by then, along with the wrapper and the robe a la changement bodice! Good heavens, that thing has taken a long time! Mainly because I keep forgetting about it. I also need to cover my camp chair and make a little bag out of the remnants, because there's no way I'm safety pinning a zip-lock bag into my skirt... That has got to be the most ghetto time of my life :-P

I also wouldn't mind a sontag... But I don't knit, I just crochet, and I've heard that crochet wasn't as widely used as knitting... Hmmm.....

Nona just told me about the Athenaeum Girls' School in Tennessee!!! I absolutely must go!!! It is my dream come true!!!

Here's what is said on the website:

"The 1861 Athenaeum Girls' School will be conducted during the week of July 12 through 18 in 2008. Young ladies age 14-18 come from all over the country, dressed in authentic 19th century costumes, and study the same courses in etiquette, penmanship, art, music, dance, and the social graces. In addition, they participate in side-saddle horsemanship, archery and other sports. The week is highlighted on Friday evening with graduation ceremonies followed by the formal ball to which they are escorted by members of the Jackson Cadets, a local group of young men dedicated to the study of mid-19th century history and customs."

*sigh* Oh, this is the most wonderful thing I have ever heard of in my entire life...

Now... to begin saving my money.... :]

And of course I must have a whole new wardrobe to wear to the school!!