Way more than 4 score ago... my experience as a Civil War time-traveler

Betty Ford event

                                  

10 best British crime dramas of the summer

Thanks to a combination of Netflix, Hulu, Hoopla, Amazon Prime, and Acorn TV I've been able to binge some entertaining series this summer. Some were new to me, other I watched over again, but they are all lovely. And somewhat gruesome. And contain DELIGHTFUL accents.

Weekend Link Up

Need some click-bait for the weekend? Let me help by sharing some amazing links from around the web...

Mood Playlists

Does anyone else create playlists based on mood? Either to induce a mood or celebrate a current mood... anyway, I've been doing this for years and since several people have complimented me on my music-curating ability (literally, several. Maybe 5. I'm not really bragging here if it's less than 10, right?) I will share them with you all.

 

#dfln... magical Winnebago

Last night's was a doozy. Long, detailed, weird.

#dfln... Elphaba in high school

 

This has become a recurring dream in the last 6 months or so. I don't know if that's because I saw Wicked with a good friend of mine last fall, or because some unconscious part of me needs to fly be green be onstage in front of hundreds of people.
Anyway, in the dream, my high school theater director calls me up and begs me to help out in their spring production of Wicked. Never mind that a) he has retired since I was in high school b) I was never cast as a lead in real life c) I don't have the requisite voice to carry off the part anyway. It's a dream, and anything is possible in a dream, so I happily play along to live vicariously through subconscious Rachel.

I accept, and Torg (the director) is so happy that I am willing to play Elphaba in the production. I am the only alumna in the cast, the rest are still in high school. I go to dozens of rehearsals to run lines, learn blocking, practice flying in the rig, and learn to apply the green makeup in record time. Everything goes perfectly in rehearsals and I cannot wait until opening night, when everyone I have ever met will be there to cheer me on have me laugh in their faces in the thought I couldn't do it. The rest of the cast is doing very well with their parts, and Torg is content with our progress.

Then... the final dress rehearsal before opening night. I am sick, but don't want anyone to know for some reason, and oversleep and am late getting to the theater. Everyone has tried to think of a way to stall the director from noticing my absence and someone decided to pull the fire alarm AND stage a break-in in my dressing room. Good for a distraction, bad for me since there is no other green makeup available anywhere in town. Once everyone files back into the theater and I successfully convince Torg that I was indeed there the whole time, the cast and I run through the show without me wearing the green makeup. I now have less than 24 hours to figure out how to get green for the first live performance.

The dream varies a bit from here: sometimes I Tweet Idina Menzel to ask for her personal supply of green makeup to be airlifted to me; sometimes I dye my skin with green Kool-Aid or lime jello; sometimes I combine blue and yellow fingerpaint from the kids I babysit and hope it doesn't sweat off halfway through act I. But however I turn green, I always make it onstage and ROCK THE HOUSE with my singing. Some nights I even fly for real instead of being attached to the rig...

And then, for curtain call, while people applaud and throw flowers at my feet and yell name name, I raise my arms, look at them all and answer, "HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW, SUCKAAAAAS?!"

#dfln... Sean Bean in Canada

I was at a girls' sleepaway camp in Canada... for adults. Just like a camp I went to in middle school: bunk beds, late nights, teddy bears, junk food, counselors... except that all of the campers we in our 20s. We were watching a romantic comedy and one of the girls said, "Oh I wish there was a handsome man here to reenact this part!"

"There is," answered a Yorkshire brogue. We all turned around to see SEAN BEAN, celebrity crush/love of my life for so many years, strolling in TOWARDS ME. "Well Rachel, I've been thinking about 'ya, and I canna' keep away," he says, as he picks my up in his arms [*side note about me being picked up in dreams: since I've always been a) a bit overweight and b) drawn to skinny dudes, being picked up and carried has always been a girly dream of mine], and swept me into a sweet kiss.

And then, just as the other girls sighed  and wished that they too had a hunky Brit to love them... Anthony Joshua, world renowned boxer and charming British man himself, walked in and demanded to Sean, "Oi! What are you goin' with my girl? I came to tell her I love her." They proceed to transform into duelists, wearing Pride & Prejudice-esque outfits, twirling their respective fencing blades, and speaking in excellent P&P parlance. Not that I remember all of the dialogue... but it was lovely to behold.

This one shelf in my bookcase...

is full of what I call "Single Christian Women books."

Dream From Last Night

This will hopefully become a regular series of posts!

Do you remember this old Yoplait commercial?

Festive Day of Rest

I want Nora Ephron to be my fairy godmother

This memoir by one of America’s favorite screenwriter’s tells the story of how her collective life experiences are both fantastic and… forgettable.

The most *charm*ing book in the world... #IMHO

When I was in 4th grade, one of the brightest spots on my elementary horizon was the Scholastic Book Order.

About me

This is the first time I've written a blog, although I have contributed to several others. Hopefully this Midwestern girl will make you smile or think about something :) If you wonder where I got the nickname "Hippie Hardrock Anglophile," a cousin came up with it one night after we compared music libraries and he noticed my eclectic collection. Among other things, I enjoy: folk music, bluegrass, country, rock, pop, Motown, British literature, tea, BBC costume dramas, giraffes, hammocking, going to concerts, Goldfish crackers, bananas, Nutella, and peanut M&Ms. ​

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Lightning Round:

Hogwarts House? Hufflepuff #EverydayImHufflin

Patronus? St. Bernard

Top 5 TV shows: MASH, The Office, Seinfeld, Friends, Mary Tyler Moore Show

Favorite Pizza toppings: pineapple and ham

Which superpower would I want? Teleportation

Favorite Chris? Hemsworth

Favorite Johnny Depp? Tie between Benny, JM Barrie, and Jack Sparrow

First Great Love: Aladdin

Spirit Animal: British Comedian Miranda Hart

Favorite condiment? Sour cream... of this I am certain

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