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glacia 6x8 graphite on bristol

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of sorts.

i've been working on these sweet little pendant necklaces lately to add to my shop in september. and needless to say, they definitely come with a bit of a learning curve...and i'm pretty crafty. i'm embarrassed to admit the number of glass cabochons i actually went through until i had a successful outcome. in my defense, it seemed to be the glue (or so i thought) that just wasn't meshing with my inkjet printer. so...

i wound up purchasing a *special* glue which claimed to be THE glue for ink jet printers...no smearing, no bubbles, no color changing. operative word being "claimed." talk about a total disappointment and money wasted (not to mention sheer frustration). while i was purchasing the glue i figured why not purchase some more glass cabochons since i had wasted so many of them. another disaster. 13 out of 25 pieces of glass...BROKEN. the rest, chipped. needless to say, neither of those make for a very happy nicole. however, there is a silver lining....

weeks before i found this little gem (no pun intended) of an etsy shop called pretty charmed. run by a great lady by the name of cheryl. everything perfectly packed. glass cabochons in PERFECT shape. no chips. no breaks. just beautiful crystal clear glass ovals. also the pendant trays and chains to match...perfect. i found it easiest by going with one of her DIY pendant kits. everything you need is included.

for me, i had to forgo the inkjet printer and go to my local staples to have the images printed out on a laser jet printer. the glue just wasn't working out on my inkjet printed images. now everything is good to go and i can add these adorable little pendants to my shop this fall!

{thanks for listening to my little rant about the joys of jewelry making. i'm going back to my paintbrush now...}

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Sticks and Stones by Abby Cooper

Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 2016
(Advance Reader Copy provided by NetGalley)

 "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

This adage has been told to innumerable children, but in Elyse's case, words do hurt. Elyse has a rare condition called cognadjvisiblitis, or CAV. When she hears nouns or adjectives describing her, they appear as black words on her arms and legs.

In elementary school, Elyse could count on her best friend Jeg, the kindness of young children, and the assistance of teachers and school administrators to ensure that only positive words would appear on her skin, HAPPY, CUTE, SMART. These words were not only complimentary, they were non-irritating. Unkind words surfaced dark, large, and bold - causing extreme itching and discomfort.

Middle school behaviors cannot be controlled so easily. First, she is dumped by her boyfriend, and then she loses Jeg to the cool girls clique. No one can ensure that only positive adjectives find their way to Elyse's ears. It's no wonder that she takes to wearing long sleeves and pants, regardless of the season.

Things begin getting both better and worse as Elyse follows the advice she finds written on mysterious, but mostly encouraging, blue notes. The notes exhort her to compete for the school's coveted position of class trip Explorer Leader, but the contest exposes her to social situations that aggravate her CAV. Her nervous mother takes her, yet again, to the doctor renowned for, but mostly ineffective in treating CAV,

     "People go to meetings, I said. "And take walks. It's not that crazy."

     Dr. Patel scooted closer to get a better look at my words. DUMB was still there. So were IDIOT, LOSER, STUPID, UNLOVABLE, WORTHLESS, and FREAK, the whole crew. They were going in all different directions, and some were bigger than others, but they were all thick, dark, mean, and itchy, and felt like ridiculously scratchy clothes-the ones that also have ridiculously scratchy tags-I couldn't ever take off. 

While the postulate of a school choosing a class trip leader in reality-TV-style, seems a bit far-fetched, the underlying middle school drama rings true, and the book's unique premise of CAV will give readers pause for thought.

Sticks and Stones offers more than just middle-school angst and coming-of-age experiences. Similar to the lives of real children who deal with name-calling everyday, Elyse's story is not one of overcoming this adversity, but of living with it. Elyse's story is a reminder that not all things can be made "right," but we should all take care that we do not contribute to making things "wrong."

(An added bonus: it's a mystery - who is writing those blue notes?)

This is a debut novel for former teacher and school librarian, Abby Cooper.  She's off to a great start.  Look for this one in July, or pre-order a copy.

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The Green Bicycle by Haifaa Al Mansour
(Dial Books for Young Readers, 2015)

Eleven-year-old Wadjda lives with her parents in Saudi Arabia.  Lately, however, she's seen very little of her father. Rumor has it that he is seeking a second wife.  Because money is scarce and women are not permitted to drive, Wadjda's mother takes an hours-long cab ride each day to a remote village to teach school.  Covered in black from head to toe, she shares the ride (without air-conditioning) with other teachers - crammed in a dilapidated cab in the sweltering desert heat.  Wadjda, due to her young age and family's financial circumstances, has a special note that allows her to walk alone to school each day—but she longs to ride a bike like Abdullah.  She and Abdullah were once friends, but now that she is older, she is not permitted to fraternize with boys.

Wadjda, however, does not easily take "no" for an answer.  She rebels against the tedious rules of her girls-only school. Why shouldn't she be able to sell mix-tapes of Western musicians? She rebels against her mother and father. Why can't she play video games in her living room designated for men only. She rebels against the constraints of her culture. Why can't she talk to Abdullah if she wants to? And why can't a girl have a bicycle?  Despite the obstacles and consequences, Wadjda is determined to have her way.

     A lecture she'd heard in science class tickled her memory.  Again and again, her teacher had told them that dark colors absorb heat, while lighter colors reflect it back.  She ended the lesson my stating that this phenomenon was one of the miracles of the universe.  It proved there was one almighty God, Allah, and that he had created everything for a purpose.
     Beneath her hot black veil, Wadjda twisted her lips.  She wondered if people knew this scientific secret when the tribal code assigned black to women and white to men.  Maybe the real miracle of the universe was that she was able to walk home in Riyadh's sweltering afternoon sun without passing out!
     The boys were gone now.  Their bicycles moved like a flash around the corner.  Wadjda squinted into the dusty afternoon and continued slowly on her way.  As she walked, she pitched the stone Father had given her at various targetst— a can, a stick, a funny-colored brick on the side of a buildingt—thinking all the while about the different miracles of the universe.  It had taken so much to get her to this exact spot, at this exact moment.  So what was her purpose, now that she was here?

Wadjda is an endearing protagonist because, despite a setting that is foreign to the American reader, Wadjda is familiar to us.  She is just a girl like most girls—sometimes obedient, sometimes rebellious, sometimes remorseful, sometimes not.  To women and girls of the West, life as a female in Saudi Arabia seems oppressive, cruel, unfathomable. To a girl like Wadjda, it is just life—a life in which she must eke out moments of hope, happiness, and laughter.  Along with heartache, Haifaa Al Mansour has showed us those moments.

I've heard that the movie is phenomenal.  Whether by book or by movie, I urge you to know Wadjda's story, The Green Bicycle. I think you will love this spirited young girl.

What makes this even more inspiring is that this movie, made in Saudi Arabia was written and directed by a woman, Haifaa Al Mansour, in a country without movie theaters and where women are not even supposed to be outside without a male relative. You can read highlights of an interview with Haifaa Al Mansour here: [http://www.npr.org/2013/09/22/224437165/wadjda-director-haifaa-al-mansour-it-is-time-to-open-up]

My copy of The Green Bicycle was provided by the publisher at my request.

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I did some illustrations for a cool series of educational/learning books from Cloverleaf books. This one is called “My Language, Your Language”. Samples below.

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camellia~original drawing 7x9 graphite/tinted graphite on bristol ©the enchanted easel 2015

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Some years ago I was asked to step in to illustrate " A Little Princess"  for Penguin Books because the original artist commissioned became ill.  I had just finished " SHARKSI" for them so this was a pleasant departure.

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बासी भोजन और महिलाए

कल सुबह मेरी सहेली मणि के बहुत तेज पेट दर्द हुआ. फोन आते ही  मैं उसके घर भागी. वो चुपचाप लेटी थी और घर के सभी सदस्य ऐसा लग रहा था कि नाराज हो. मैने सोचा कि अरे … बेचारी की तबियत ठीक नही और आप नाराज हैं इस पर वो बोले कि नाराजगी वाली तो बात ही है. महीने के बाद  आज मणि फ्रिज साफ कर रही थी. बर्फ भी बहुत जम गई थी इसलिए साफ कर रही थी और फ्रिज में खाने का छोटा मोटा सामान भी पडा हुआ था. थोडी बहुत सब्जी, दाल कटोरियों में बची हुई थी. (बासी भोजन और महिलाए )

कुछ तो शायद इसने फेंक दिया पर एक सब्जी नही फेंकी. उसे ठीक लगी और उसने बासी( Stale food)  परौठी के साथ खा ली. वो सब्जी हफ्ते पुरानी थी. ऐसे में तकलीफ और दर्द  नही होगा तो क्या होगा वो तो बचाव हो गया कि फूड पायजनिंग नही हुई. अब तो मुझे भी मणि पर गुस्सा आ रहा था. वैसे हम महिलाए जरा भी अपना ख्याल नही रखती. जहां परिवार और बच्चों की सेहत की बात हो वहां समझौता नही करेगी पर जब अपनी सेहत की बात आती है तो लापरवाह हो जाती है. वैसे आप तो ऐसी नही होंगी … और अगर है तो जरा नही बहुत सोचने की दरकार है !!

 

Webdunia Hindi

कहने को तो हम प्रतिदिन भरपूर मात्रा में हरी सब्जियाँ, अंकुरित अनाज, फल, जूस, सूप, सलाद व संतुलित मात्रा में पोषक तत्वयुक्त भोजन करते हैं। वहीं दूसरी ओर लगभग 90 प्र.श. व्यक्ति विभिन्न पोषकजन्य बीमारियों, कमर दर्द, सिर दर्द आदि व्याधियों से पीड़ित हैं। नेत्र ज्योति कमजोर होना, थकान होना, हाथ-पैरों में सूजन आम बीमारियाँ हैं। आखिर हमारे खानपान, पाक विधि में कहीं न कहीं कोई त्रुटि अवश्य है जिससे हमारे द्वारा लिया जा रहा उत्तम आहार भी उतना प्रभावी नहीं होता जितना होना चाहिए। भारतीय पाक कला, व्यंजनों की विविधता, लजीजता विश्वविख्यात हैं। भारतीय महिलाएँ तो इस कला में निपुण होती हैं, किन्तु भोजन बनाने के दौरान वे ऐसी गलतियाँ कर बैठती हैं जिससे उसकी पौष्टिकता बहुत कम हो जाती है अथवा नष्ट हो जाती है। अतः आवश्यक हो जाता है कि भोजन पकाते समय कुछ जरूरी बातों का ध्यान रखा जाए। जिस समय भोजन करना हो उसी वक्त बनाएँ। बार-बार गरम करने से विटामिन नष्ट हो जाते हैं। जरूरत से ज्यादा भोजन न बनाएँ। बासी भोजन स्वास्थ्य पर प्रतिकूल प्रभाव डालता है अथवा उसे फेंकना पड़ता है। दोनों ही स्थितियाँ हानिकारक हैं। दाल, चावल आदि रगड़-रगड़कर न धोएँ, इससे ऊपरी सतह पर विद्यमान पोषक तत्व नष्ट हो जाते हैं। कोई भी अनाज एकदम बारीक न पिसवाएँ, विशेषकर गेहूँ तो चोकरयुक्त ही पिसवाएँ। हरी सब्जी, दाल, चावल फ्राइंग पेन अथवा प्रेशर कुकर में ही पकाएँ। इससे ईंधन तो बचता ही है, पोषक तत्व भी कम से कम नष्ट होते हैं।

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बासी भोजन और महिलाए

 

भारतीय लड़कियों में सुस्त जीवनशैली, बासी भोजन की आदतें और मोटापे के कारण पोलीसिस्टिक ओवरी सिड्रोम फैलने की सम्भावना बढ रही है.

स्वास्थ्य विशेषज्ञों ने बताया कि एक अनुमान के मुताबिक, 10 से 30 फीसदी महिलाएं इससे प्रभावित हो रही हैं।

इंद्रप्रस्थ अस्पताल में वरिष्ठ प्रसूति रोग सलाहकार रंजना शर्मा ने बताया, ‘मोटापा और पीसीओएस का गहरा संबंध है, खासकर जब यह किशोरावस्था के समय होता है .

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बासी भोजन और महिलाए

अक्सर अखबार में भी खबर आती रहती है कि बासी खाना खाने से चार लोग अस्पताल में भर्ती या पूरे परिवार की तबियत बिगडी. वगैरहा वगैरहा… इसी के साथ साथ तो कुछ  पंडित जी तो यह भी मानते हैं कि बासी खाना, बासी रोटियां दान करने, गाय को खिलाने से बच्चों पर बुरा असर पड़ता है. यही नहीं, गाय को खराब सब्जियां खिलाने का बुरा प्रभाव भी बच्चे की जिंदगी पर पड़ता है.

बेशक, बासी खाना हमें बहुत टेस्टी लगता है. आलू मैथी की सब्जी हो और बासी परौठीं या ताजे निकाले मखन्न के साथ बासी रोटी या बासी खिचडी और कडी….  एक रात की बासी हो जाए तो कोई दिक्कत नही पर अगर 5-7 दिन पुरानी हो जाएगी तो कैसे चलेगा… फिर तो वो शरीर को हर हालत में नुकसान ही देगा इसलिए ….

बासी भोजन और महिलाए

Image via .images

The post बासी भोजन और महिलाए appeared first on Monica Gupta.

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©the enchanted easel 2015

lily...in progress ©the enchanted easel 2015

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Post by Heather Ryerson

Nina Cosford’s work is charming and playful. Her vibrant use of color and expressive mark-making fill everyday scenes with beauty and intrigue. Her illustrations appeal to children and adults alike and easily translate across advertising, education, and publishing.

Not long after she graduated from Kingston University, Cosford’s love of travel and architecture led to a series of pop-up accordion travel guides with Walker Books. Meanwhile, HBO noticed one of Cosford’s personal projects inspired by their hit television show Girls and commissioned her work to promote the show’s next season. Since, she has worked with the Scouts, The Foundling Museum, and Nokia while her work as been in publications as varied as Bloomberg Businessweek and Marie Clare.

Frances Lincoln Publishers released Cosford’s most recent book series on May 7. The first two illustrated biographies of exceptional females—Virginia Woolf and Jane Austen—will be followed by an additional title on Coco Chanel in September.

See more of Nina Cosford’s illustrations on her website.

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Dig Here! is a bunch of familiar elements — teenage girl best friends, missing treasure, a cranky aunt, and abandoned house, etc. — assembled in a way that didn’t feel familiar. I found myself wondering a lot whether this was the book Gladys Allen set out to write.

The main character, Sandy, is the daughter of missionaries. She’s sent to boarding school during the school year and to various relatives during the summers. When Dig Here! opens, she’s facing the prospect of spending the summer with Aunt Cal, who she’s never met, and who is related to her only by marriage. Aunt Cal says it’s okay for Sandy to bring a friend with her, so she invites her best friend, Eve, and it’s a good thing for her that she does. Eve is a much more forceful personality than Sandy is, and she’s also more adventurous, more sensible, and probably smarter. She’s even better at dealing with Aunt Cal, in part because she’s better at cooking and housework and, I don’t know, getting up on time than Sandy is.

This is one of the things that makes me unsure Allen knows what book she’s writing. Someone — maybe one of Sandy’s parents, in a letter? — talks about how sunny and sweet Sandy is, but all we actually see evidence of is Eve being better at everything. Towards the end you get a little more of a sense of Sandy as a person in her own right, but not much.

It’s an Augusta Huiell Seaman kind of setup. On their arrival at Aunt Cal’s the girls find that Sandy accidentally exchanged suitcases with a fellow bus passenger — a hair tonic salesman, judging by his luggage. A trip to exchange the suitcase for Sandy’s leads them to an old house, and hair tonic guy behaving suspiciously. Then the house turns out to be the one that Aunt Cal should have inherited from her uncle — and would have, if her shiftless cousin hadn’t hidden his will. There also may or may not be an emerald buried somewhere around the property. I’m not sure Eve and Sandy know which of these mysteries they’re investigating, but they investigate with a will, and with the help of cute farmboy Michael, and, eventually, the various hindrances provided by their school friend Hattie May and her brother Hamish. Hamish fancies himself as a detective.

I think what makes Dig Here! feel unusual is that books like these tend to have a very narrow focus. The kids solving the mystery are usually a small, tight-knit group. The crotchety relative exists to have their heart melted by the main character. You get your protagonist, his or her friends, whatever adults they live with, and maybe a villain. But in Dig Here!, everything’s part of a larger picture you don’t see. There are characters you never meet, like Sandy’s parents and Aunt Cal’s cousin. And the characters you do meet have stuff going on that the kids don’t know about. There are subplots that Sandy and Eve don’t find out about until the end, and then only as an afterthought. Aunt Cal is investigating on her own account, and doesn’t tell Sandy anything about it. And she doesn’t need to confide in Sandy — she’s not socially isolated, she’s got friends, and they probably know more about the mystery than Sandy does, too. It gives the book a different feel than you’d get from Seaman, or from any mystery where the kids hide what’s happening from the clueless grownups. And I enjoyed that.

The downside of the kids not having most of the story is that their side of the mystery isn’t that interesting, and the characters I enjoyed most were the ones Allen spent the least time on, but it was fun.I don’t think I need to seek out more books by Gladys Allen, but if I ended up reading another one, I wouldn’t be upset.

Tagged: 1930s, girls, gladys allen, mystery

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This is my third attempt at writing a review of Aprilly, by Jane Abbott. I’m not sure why writing about it is so daunting. It’s never going to be my favorite Jane Abbott book — there are structural issues, and a lot of what happens feels unearned. Also I found it hard to sympathize with the protagonist, and wished some of the other characters got more page time. But all of these things are things I’ve had time to think out. When I finished the book, I mostly just thought, “that was nice, but the romance was kind of creepy and unnecessary and Laughing Last was better.”

Anyway, I enjoyed it, but I doubt I’ll want to read it again. And if you want more information than that (you should) here’s a bit of a synopsis:

April Dangerfield is left penniless and homeless (I mean, approximately) after the death of her circus performer mother, and somehow ends up in a small town in Maine, where she finds a number of friends, including the usual crotchety spinster, and eventually acquires a family. And also a horse.

Jane Abbott falls flat for me sometimes, usually in the books everyone else seems to like best. I guess this is just one of those times.

Tagged: 1920s, girls, janeabbott, maine

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Patty’s Fortune is divided pretty clearly into two sections. In the first Bill Farnsworth hosts a house party in an empty hotel, and in the second Philip Van Reypen’s aunt attempts to coerce Patty into marrying Phil. Hopefully that will make it easier to talk about. I’ve been struggling with these last few books, mostly because I have a hard time telling them apart.

The house party thing is, I guess, Wells’ chance to revisit the premise of The Dorrance Domain, except with wealthy young people being waited on by shoals of servants instead of children in straitened circumstances mostly waiting on themselves. The party consists of twelve people, including the Kenerleys as chaperones, a new man called Chick Channing, and no Philip. Yay!

The party would be a complete success (Kit Cameron channels Mr. Rochester! Mona and Roger finally get engaged!) except that it’s indirectly the means of Patty’s introduction to Maudie Adams, a theatrical promoter who tries to convince her to go on the stage. Patty is maybe at her least appealing in this book — more human, but not in a likable way. It’s always been a mystery how Patty stays unspoiled in the midst of so much wealth and attention, but sometimes it seems like the answer to that question is, “Well, maybe she doesn’t.”

Without really seeming to have changed, Patty looks as vain and as spoiled as we’ve ever seen her. I guess that’s mostly when she wants to go on the stage, though. Once we get to the second half of the book, all of my sympathies are with her again. Otherwise some of them would have to be with Lady Van, Phil’s aunt, who tries to subtly and then less subtly coerce Patty into an engagement with Phil. Or with Patty’s parents, who willingly go along with the more subtle coercion. Or with Phil, which, no.

When trying to groom Patty for Phil doesn’t do the trick, Lady Van, in her final illness, tries to get Patty to promise to marry him, telling her that she (Lady Van) will die right then and there if she (Patty) doesn’t. It’s underhanded and gross, and thankfully Fred and Nan Fairfield agree with me, because I was starting to distrust them.

Then…well, as if the emotional blackmail wasn’t enough, Lady Van passes her illness on to Patty (I know, I’m being unfair, she didn’t do it on purpose) and between that and her stress over the promise Lady Van forced out of her, Patty ends up in pretty bad shape.

It’s cool, though. She’s saved through vaguely supernatural means and also Bill Farnsworth.

Next up is Patty Blossom. We’re on the home stretch, guys.

Tagged: 1910s, carolynwells, girls, series

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We begin with Amira's 12 birthday.  She is finally old enough to wear a toob yet young enough to enjoy her Dando lifting her to the sky.  Amira lives on a farm in South Darfur surrounded by friends and family, but changes are afoot.  Amira's best friend Halima and her family are packing their things and moving to the city.  They say the city has more opportunities.  Amira wishes she could go with them to Nyala and attend the Gad Primary School with Halima.  Amira is not so sure about her Muma's old fashioned ways.

                  "She does not like the idea of Gad,
                    or any place where girls learn
                    to read
                    or write,
                    in Arabic or English
                    or think beyond a life
                    of farm chores and marriage." (p. 13 arc)

Soon, the extra chores of 12, missing Halima, and trying to solve the ongoing bickering between her father and villager Old Anwar seem anything but troubling.  The relative peace of her village is shattered when the Janjaweed  attack, changing Amira's very existence.

Amira and the other survivors must pick up the pieces and leave the ruins of the village to find safety.  Their trek takes them to the refugee camp Kalma - the Displaced People's Camp.  Amira doesn't like this space surrounded by fences and barbed wire.

                    "Everywhere I look,
                      I see
                      people, people, and more people.

                      I'm glad to stop walking.
                      I'm glad we have finally reached who-knows-where.
                      But already I do not like this place." (arc p. 139)

It would be easy enough to give up in such a desperate place with no real end in sight.  Amira and her family have lost so much.  But when Amira meets Miss Sabine and is given a gift of a red pencil she discovers some things about herself, her family and those on the journey with her.

Written in free verse, The Red Pencil is a story of family and loss and hope.  It was eye opening for me on a number of levels.  One is that it is so easy for me not to see what is happening in the world from my perch here in NYC.  The horrors of Darfur in the early 2000s seemed so far away in time and place that I wonder how many people in North America are aware of what was happening.  I find myself very impressed with the deftness of Andrea Davis Pinkney's hand when it came to writing the passages dealing with the violence.  She truly tells the story from a 12 year old's point of view, and the free verse format allows for silences that speak volumes.  The illustrations by Shane W. Evans are playful within this serious book and somehow bring a feeling of safety to the pages.

A must read for librarians, teachers and students.

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The books in the series are very much running together for me by the time I get to Patty’s Romance, and this one is no exception. Although I guess that’s a funny thing to day about a book that has, as its central incident, Patty’s kidnapping.

I mean, it’s not the most dramatic kidnapping. There’s kind of a cool bit where the various members of the Kenerley household, where Patty’s staying, slowly come to the realization that she must have been taken. But after that, there’s not much suspense, just a lot of men talking about how they don’t believe in paying ransom normally, but it’s different when it’s Patty. She never seems to be in much danger, unless it’s of dying of boredom, and we see very little of the kidnappers.

Patty cleverly brings about her own rescue, but it’s then carried out by Phil Van Reypen, which, as you can imagine, doesn’t make me very happy. It’s the high point of Phil behavior in this book, the low point coming when he tells her she’s not smart enough to play golf. That happens post-rescue, when Phil and his aunt take Patty on a trip to…oh, I don’t know, every mountain resort in the northeast. That’s what it feels like, anyway.

Phil gets another shot at rescuing Patty at one of these, thanks to a character who seems to exist solely for the purpose of stealing their boat and leaving them stranded on a small island. But Bill Farnsworth shows up and saves his life/steals his thunder. Which I guess is representative of his now obvious status as Wells’ favorite. Especially if you think about Mr. Hepworth rescuing Patty when her boat comes unmoored in Patty’s Summer Days.

Anyway, at this point if you’re paying attention you know that Patty’s going to fall in love with Bill eventually, and maybe that’s why Wells keeps heaping praise on Phil — because she feels sorry for him, or because she’s trying to cover her tracks. Or because it seems too much like Patty’s in love with  Bill already. There’s a fine line between “Bill’s always been kind of special to her” and “why does Patty keep saying she’s not in love with anyone?”

So, this book isn’t one of my favorites, but it’ll do, mostly thanks to Bill. And I’m enjoying him as much as I can, because, if I recall correctly, I’m going to like him a lot less two or three books from now.

Tagged: 1910s, carolyn wells, girls, series

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Patty’s Suitors is pretty much Kit Cameron’s book, if you’re looking for an easy way to remember it (and I am). It also gives us proposals from Ken and Phil (yes, again) as well as another flying visit from Big Bill Farnsworth, but Kit is new and Kit is involved throughout. And Kit is funny, and Phil Van Reypen hates him, so I’m pretty cool with that.

Kit is the cousin of Patty’s new friend Marie Homer (who exists to provide an alternate love interest for Ken as well as to introduce Kit, but who seems nice). Patty ends up accidentally talking to him on the phone one night when she’s trying to get hold of Marie, and, being Patty, conceals her identity and flirts with him instead of apologizing for the wrong number.

This clearly appeals to Kit’s sense of humor, and, once the issue of Patty’s identity is cleared up, they spend most of the rest of the book playing pranks on each other. He proposes to her, too, but she mostly talks him out of being serious about it.

Anyway, it doesn’t mean much. Once she’s out in society, people are always proposing to Patty. And then she steers them towards her friends. Kit gets pointed in the direction of Daisy Dow, who used to be awful to Patty but I guess isn’t in love with Bill Farnsworth anymore. Ken is paired off with Marie Homer by the narrative even before he’s proposed to Patty. I wish Ken didn’t have to propose to Patty, though. It reduces him, somehow. He’s been a part of Patty’s life since Patty at Home, and everyone thinks he’s great. I understand that everyone has to fall in love with her, but when it comes time to refuse him, Patty has to give him reasons she’s not in love with him and reasons he shouldn’t be in love with her, which is a) super condescending, and b) not her decision to make.

She doesn’t give Phil reasons. I’m very resentful of Phil Van Reypen being treated better than Kenneth Harper. And Patty apparently likes Phil best right now, which makes me like Patty less than I’ve ever liked her before.

Bill shows up toward the end, in an episode that should definitely tell you, if you didn’t already know, that he’s endgame. There have been plenty of men and boys who have been jealous of Patty’s other suitors, but none of them have made Patty jealous, and that seems to be the point of this bit — to show us that even if Patty doesn’t know it yet, this one is different for her.

Tagged: 1910s, carolyn wells, girls, new york, series

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