Tag Archives: Sleepy Hollow

October Highlights!

Posted in Fun, Life by

Hello! It’s been a while! But I have the most amazing excuse for why I haven’t blogged in a month…

I HAD A BABY!!!

Introducing Killian (aka “Little Baby French Fry,” as I’ve been calling him the past nine months):

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Isn’t he the most precious thing ever? (Yes, I’m biased. I’m a mom) One of these days I will get around to sharing my birth story, but right now I’m trying to frantically publish this highlights post before Baby K wakes up from his nap!

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October Highlights

I read 2 books:

Scarlet  Cress

Not bad considering how occupied I was last month with checking off last minute items from my to-do list, having a baby, and spending time with visiting family members :)

Also, I’m in love with The Lunar Chronicles series. I feel kind of bad that I waited until now to start it, but at the same time that means I didn’t have to wait impatiently for the sequels to be released. Win! All I have to wait for is my turn to check out Winter at the library (I’m ~10 on the waitlist).

I’m still behind on some reviews, but I’ll get them up eventually!

Most Popular Posts:

August & September Highlights
Ever After’s Château de Hautefort (I love that this post is still so popular after a year!)

What I Watched:

Sleepy Hollow

I finally had time to catch up on 3 seasons of Sleepy Hollow! I started watching this show when it first came out, but then I got too busy and I was already watching so many other shows that I decided to save it for a rainy day, or in this case the last weeks of pregnancy/late night nursing sessions with Killian. I’m still finishing up the second season but I. Am. Obsessed. Colonial literary character from one of my favorite gothic short stories + fantasy and crime drama = happy Maggie. (Also, I love teasing my husband about how cute Ichabod Crane is. To be honest, though, my husband could totally pull off the cosplay)

Highlights:

  • Having a baby! – It was the hardest, most painful experience of my life (childbirth is no joke, especially sans pain medication), but nothing can compare to the love I feel for my little french fry!
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  • Visits from family members – My mom, who was there with me in the delivery room, stayed with us for the first week and a half of Killian’s life, which was extremely helpful, especially in the mornings/early afternoons when she held him so I could shower and eat. My dad also visited for a couple of days when we were at the hospital. Killian came 4 days early but really he came at the most perfect time because my mom and husband were able to be with me constantly those first few days and also we were able to get settled in at home before my in-laws arrived from France. Having them visiting was special and helpful because we haven’t seen them in over a year and also my mother-in-law cooked every meal for us for a whole week (man, did we miss French cuisine!). The months leading up to my due date I had been so worried and stressed out about having people visiting, but it ended up being the best thing because I had so much help at home which led to me recovering pretty quickly and I also had company so I didn’t get any long-term baby blues (I did have a couple crying fests in those first few days but everyone totally understood and related). My sister also visited this week and she had a lot of fun snuggling with her nephew :)
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    A picture with both sets of grandparents :) Solo was too distracted to look at the camera…

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    This photo was snapped just after Solo gave me and my mother-in-law sloppy wet kisses.

  • Spending time with friends – I love autumn and lots of quality friend & family time. In October I went to a friend’s Pinterest party and we continued to host our Marvel movie nights (where our fellow geeky friends come over each week to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies with us).
  • Simply enjoying life :) – Becoming a parent seemed like the scariest thing ever until it actually happened; everything changed but it wasn’t hard to transition. My life now revolves around my sweet baby & I wouldn’t want it any other way. Also, baby cuddle time is the best!

Looking forward to in November:

  • More family time :)
  • Thanksgiving – we’re hosting it this year!
  • Reading – I’m in a really good reading mood so far this month, which is awesome because I have time to read while I’m nursing (Killian takes his precious time nursing, which is actually a good thing because he rarely spits up).
  • Star Wars marathon – like our Marvel marathon, our friends in town are hosting a Star Wars marathon each weekend to gear up for The Force Awakens next month. I love movie marathons with friends!

What were some of your biggest highlights from October? Any good book or tv show recommendations?

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Recycling in the Disney Animation Department

Posted in Novels, The Classics Club by

SleepyHollowThe Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
Published July 1820 by C.S. Van Winkle
Classic/Short Story/Suspense
Format: e-book; 102 pages
Also From This Author: Rip Van Winkle
Goodreads | Amazon
My Rating: 4/5

When I was a teenager I ran both Cross Country and Track, and because my Florida high school was practically in the middle of nowhere, we mostly ran down dirt roads and through the woods. There was one trail in particular that I always loved, and I nicknamed it The Sleepy Hollow Trail. Picture this (or take a look at the picture on the right, because it looked a lot like that minus the Headless Horseman): to get to this trail you had to run across (or jump over, if you’re cool like me) a narrow stream and then tread up a steep hill before you could enter the woods. The trail wove around tall trees, the branches of which blocked out most of the scorching Florida sunshine, creating a shady, damp, and breezy wooden environment. It was the perfect way to recuperate after a 5 mile run, especially since there was obviously no headless fiend chasing after me.

Fast-forward to this month, when I finally read Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow for the first time, and I must say that I was humorously surprised. Up until now, I had only experienced the 1999 Tim Burton film, which I love, but now I can see that it is clearly only loosely based on the original text. Nonetheless, I still love the gothic Johnny-Depp-featured depiction, despite the fact that Ichabod Crane is not supposed to be this handsome:

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Ok, clearly I like the geeky ones

But what’s with this “recycling” in the Disney Animation Department I alluded to in the headline? Back in 1949, Disney produced an animated Sleepy Hollow film that is spot on, and Ichabod resembles every bit of his original character description: “He was tall and exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, and feet that might have served for shovels. His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weathercock perched upon his spindle neck, to tell which way the wind blew.” Yeah, I’d much rather look at Johnny Depp.

However, something that my husband and I both picked up on while watching this movie (and I know we are not the first ones to make this connection) is the uncanny parallel between it and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Excepting the fact that Belle is beautiful (literally and etymologically) while Ichabod is…lanky, they are both bookish, awkward, and also happen to have run-ins in the woods with frightening creatures.

BelleIchabod

“Look there [he] goes that [man] is so peculiar…”

But the most incredible similarity was not between Belle and Ichabod, but between Gaston and Ichabod’s counterpart, Brom Bones, who is basically Gaston sans a hunting rifle and Le Fou. Perhaps that’s what an extra dozen eggs a day gets you? Besides the obvious similarity in looks, these two brawny villains also loved to rile up the villagers with their “It’s a Beast!” battle cries in a final desperate attempt in vanquishing rival suitors. Spoiler alert: it only worked for one of them.

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But apparently Beauty and the Beast isn’t the only Disney film to have borrowed from Sleepy Hollow…check out where Cinderella, released just one year later in 1950, got the inspiration for her original pink ball gown from:

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Fortunately Cinderella only borrowed Katrina Van Tassel’s style…

Now everyone who knows me knows that I love all things Disney. I don’t even care that they recycled some of their own ideas. At least they threw in some catchy songs that I don’t mind having stuck in my head (“No one hits like Gaston, matches wits like Gaston; in a spitting match, nobody spits like Gaston…”).

And I really did enjoy The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It was a quick read (it is only a short story after all), plus multiple parts had me chuckling while the climatic action at the end created a nice amount of suspense. Perfect October reading :)

[Here’s a link to the 30-minute 1949 version of Sleepy Hollow on Youtube, for those who are interested in finding more Disney film parallels: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxX66vLSZoQ]

Also, has anyone watched the new Sleepy Hollow tv series? I kind of want to give that a try…

→UPDATE Oct. 25: This week Oh My Disney (an official Disney blog) posted this article about Sleepy Hollow, and they even addressed the Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast similarities. 

Also, I started watching the Sleepy Hollow TV series and I love it! Very loosely based on the original story, but the acting is wonderful :)