AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

THE MADWOMAN IN THE ATTIC: The Faces of Fox

"For outside you have to creep on the ground, and everything is green instead of yellow. But here I can creep smoothly on the floor, and my shoulder just fits in that long smooch around the wall, so I cannot lose my way."

~from The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Ahh.  *The Madwoman in the Attic!

You are either attracted to her or repulsed by her.

I happen to fall into the former category.

I revel in the Madwoman character!

*Madwoman in the Attic is the idea that women writers of the 19th Century were confined in their writing to make their female characters either embody the "angel" or the "monster." This struggle stemmed from male writers' tendencies to see female characters as either pure, angelic women,
 or rebellious, unkempt madwomen. 
(paraphrased from Gilbert & Gubar) 

I have always been fascinated with the history of Bedlam.
I make use of it heavily to create the darker, other side of my characters.
I never, initially, plan it....it just comes about.

Foxmorton, the pirate, is by no means a stable captain......ask her crew.
She is the most well known of my characters.
She transcends eras easily with very little explanation and adapts to the time period.

Violet Lousie Moorfields is, indeed sir, late of Southwark....as she proudly hands over her calling card bearing that information.  Very few people pick up on it.
Her butler, Runcible, generally picks up the broken pieces she leaves strewn in her path.
Violet carries a dolly with a quite large and obvious key hanging from the waist, yet no one ever seems to be able to figure out how she keeps breaking out.
She communicates mainly through the tradition of a journal and has a traceable 300 year ancestry due
to the 'Found Moorfields' Journals'  The Moorfields are cursed never to marry so the name has been retained.  Violet Grace Moorfield's (1500's Violet) mother, Rose, perished when she leaped from London Bridge to 'fly with the faeires.'
Violet is the most extensively developed (and beloved!) of all my characters.
You can read about Victorian Violet's most recent 'escape' here:
http://collagepirate.blogspot.com/2011/09/willow-manner-ball-2011-elegant-cyber.html

BeBe Foxmorton is bat-shite crazy, no doubt.
Though of the twirly-weeee! variety!
A corn dolly seller by trade, she will, with great glee, show you
'Me bloomers what the Queen's son give me!'
Trouble is, in the period that BeBe exists, the Queen has no son.
Few people pick up on this.   Including BeBe.
BeBe has no toe hold in reality.

Henrietta Bunrat (Hatty Bunratty) has fallen into 'genteel poverty'
and is a maker of  chapeaux.  She appears, for all intents and purposes, normal......
except for the fantastical stories and dressed-up goat.

Violca Mirola, the Sea Gypsy, is perhaps the most stable of all my characters.
Teller of tales and fortunes, she rarely displays any questionable behaviour.
Well, one does need an anchor now and again, doesn't one?

My point?
I adore the unstable!  The woman who, no matter her circumstance, has it in her to
go forth with wild abandon.  To excite (and incite!), examine the mysteries of the world, and to do what she damn well pleases.  Whose inner monster is unpredictable and untamed.
  And who will always, always keep you guessing.

I'd make a very, very awful Plain Jane angel.
*********

SOME MADWOMAN LIT

The Yellow Wall Paper by Charolette Perkins Gilman

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Rebecca by Daphne duMaurier

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Rebecca's Tale by Sally Beauman

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber

The Mad Woman in the Attic by Gilbert and Gubar

MAG 97

MAG 97

image:  Bert Stern/Marilyn

After the fact, her one scant bliss was in knowing that
she always looked damned flawless while playing the part. 

I LOVE YULETIDE WORDS and WRITERS AT MAGPIE TALES!

http://magpietales.blogspot.com/2011/12/mag-97.html

HAVE A FESTIVE, OLD FASHIONED DAY!

HAVE A WONDERFULLY FESTIVE & OLD FASHIONED DAY!

***********************

Victorian shabby gauntlets by Fox



Christmas E'en Blessings

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is

softer and more beautiful.

~Norman Vincent Peale

A very Merry Christmas to all my wonderful friends!

love,

Fox, Yellow Dog, Pooter, Darla & Lizzie

MAG 96

image: Lee Friedlander, 1966

Hard as Cynthia tried to disavow the matter, there was no longer any uncertainty that her

heart had been perpetually imprinted by the passionate affection of Eddie's negative space.

I LOVE PLAYING WITH WORDS & WRITERS & PROMPTS, OH MY!

AT MAGPIE TALES!

http://magpietales.blogspot.com/2011/12/mag-96.html

INDULGE YER INNER PIRATE!

Well, it's that time o' th' year again!

Time fer th' annual  A PIRATE YULE!

http://mimifoxmorton.blogspot.com/2011/12/annual-pirate-yule.html

Pop on o'er to PIRATE GIRL and see what Christmas be really all about!

(and Santa is a bit of a fix......)

(Oh, and rum.)

There be a wee bit o' pirate in us all!

Happy Christmas!

~Mimi Foxmorton

WEE FOX & GARB

Blog up in SEA GYPSY of me wee German garb!
Enjoy!
http://seagypsytraveler.blogspot.com/2011/12/lets-start-at-ver-ry-be-gin-inga-very.html

MAG 93

photo: Christine Donnier-Valentin

Lydia's parties were poorly attended ever since she became a devout

disciple of the Fresh Air Minimalist Assemblage school of thought.


I LOVE PLAYING WITH WORDS (AND WRITERS!) AT MAGPIE TALES!
http://magpietales.blogspot.com/2011/11/mag-93.html



MAG 92

At precisely twenty minutes of two

Albert and Maureen came to the mutual determination that perhaps

their Catholic school rearing was, in point of fact, having a

marginally deleterious effect on their propinquity.

I ADORE PLAYING WITH WORDS

 (AND WRITERS!)

AT MAGPIE TALES! 

 http://magpietales.blogspot.com/2011/11/mag-92.html

LIZZIE.....NOT LIZZIE.......A DOUBLE MURDER......AND MORE!

Huzzah!

A new addition to my latest addiction: Collecting old photos!

This current find, for a mere $3, brings my total up to: 3
(Hey, I said it was mt latest addiction!) lol
I call her: Not Lizzie
I think she's lovely!
(if you scour down in these blogs you'll find the 'Sisters' and the 'Siblings'.....you'd think I'd link it for you but I'm lazy........)   ;)  xo

She ended up being 'Not Lizzie' as a friend and I were on our Victorian Murder Day theme with intent to antique, thrift and attend a current Lizzie Borden play.  Did you know that in Trumansburg, this wee town near Ithaca, there are THREE thrift shops and an antique store all inside of four blocks?!  What fun!

And so, Not Lizzie....who looks, I think, a great deal like Lizzie came home to live with me!

The play, a new offering by playwright Garrett Heater, was presented at the Morgan Opera House in Aurora.  The perfect cap to our day of Vic and my Lizzie fascination!  If you love Lizzie it's a must see!

All in all a perfect day of friendship....thrifting.....and a double murder...........

I highly recommend it!  ;)

Drink of the Day:  Blood Red Sangria
                            We think Lizzie would approve.  ;)

MAG 90



And so it came to that Autumnal day, dead leaves trumping red life, that only left me wanting Moore.

~Violet Louise Moorfields 1745



I love playing at Magpie Tales!

http://magpietales.blogspot.com/

Ancestral Winds

Please take a wee read of my friend's (and goat sister) Ancestor blog.....

Truly lovely and a visual delight!

http://seagypsytraveler.blogspot.com/2011/11/ancestral-winds.html

MAG #89

I always knew that one day, when my fingers finally failed to keep up with the words,

the stories living inside my head would explode.

LOVE PLAYING AT MAGPIE TALES!

http://magpietales.blogspot.com/2011/10/mag-89.html

LIFE LIKE

If I were a doll I think I would look like this.........

WHO AM I?

Thinking I might want to finally know who I am.
http://seagypsytraveler.blogspot.com/2011/10/tzigane-tarot-then-some.html

MAG 88

America by Car   ~Lee Friedlander

Make no mistake, I know exactly where I want to be.

The unsettling thing is that when I look behind me, it isn't there. 

I LOVE TO MAGPIE!

http://magpietales.blogspot.com/2011/10/mag-88.html

Pears, Pears Everywhere!

I think it's rather like Clowns, Green Volkswagons and Polar Bears........
They've always been there but you don't really see them until someone mentions them....then they're EVERYWHERE!  Found this forgotten pear in my jewelry box this morning..........

The Serendipity of Lizzie.....

I've noticed, since my new found fascination with

 Lizzie Borden that.......

suddenly......suddenly........pears are everywhere.................

And I couldn't help but think of Lizzie when I happened upon this display........

Yes, I am a 'Lizzie Lover'.........

(I don't think she did it.)

MARIONETTES 2011

Spoils of the Marionette workshop which took place this weekend.
Thanks to Gypsy Ron and Dawn Jordan of STREET SMART ART for making it happen!
http://www.streetsmartart.com/

This is Pearl, my coy Junkette, made from recycled materials.
It was a magical and creative day!

From the Journal of Violet Moorfields....the Willow Manor Ball 1811

Taken from the found journal of Violet Louise Moorfields dated October 12, 1811......

Gentle Diary,  


Though the constraints of propriety disallow such, I feel I must come forth with the truth of the matter.  I fear I have lost all reason and my very nerves are in tatters.  Sweet Diary, it is, without a doubt, certain Bedlam here..........

I confess, I have not been myself, of late and my customary merriment has quite deserted me........

As you know Dear Diary,  I am, most generally,  a respectable young lady and my delightful new friends most heartily agree......

They did say to me just last e'en, "Violet.  You should make forth to the Willow Manor Ball to which you have been graciously invited!"   Mother, of course, had her doubts........

Nevertheless, being the free Spirit you know me to be, Dear Diary, I shall endeavor to procure suitable attire, a carriage, as well as the key to several locked gates leading to the out of doors.  I shall be prepared for every contingency.   My dear friend, Biddie Bridewell, did agree to assist me in my deception through the front gates if I made promise to return bearing several faerie cakes with frosting and a pouch of black powder which she promises to use discreetly.  Biddie does look harmless but one must remind ones self about fingers too near about her at the supper table........

I have decided to attend the Ball unescorted.  I know, I know, Dearest Diary, but you must admit that after our last attempt at finding a proper suitor we are better off left to our own devices.........

And so, off in search of a lovely frock!  I was fortunate to find these beauties in a trunk locked in the cellar........

But sadly, the Aunts, on their weekly visit, did not approve.......

BeBe Foxmorton, Bless her, rose to the occasion and  lent comb to my tresses.  Though one does hate to complain I do believe I shall have to do a bit of fancy work on the carriage ride over.  Bebe is a delicate sort that does not do well with criticism.   And also prone to hiding sharp objects......

I admit, the style does have a rather uncommon union of symmetry,  but styles of this nature seem always to attract an undesirable sort.......

Rather than the more......shall we delicately say, sought after.........

And what good fortune!  I have procured a carriage for transport!  The Triplets were most accommodating and made very few demands.  Though I do hope Biddie will not notice the lightening of  her secret store of cutlery.......

A quick trip down the main hall way with only a hurried backward glance......

And I am on my way to the Willow Manor Ball to partake of many fripperies and excesses!

I shall gorge myself on pickled salmon and brandy and dance my cares away! 

I tuck you here, my Dearest Diary and Truest Friend, nestled safe within the stones of this abandoned farm, the better I should be able to retrieve you on my return journey...........

I forsee naught but a magical evening!

Until we meet again Dearest Diary........with all my love,

Violet Louise Moorfields

12th October 1811

Addendum:  October 12, 2011

Violet Louise Moorfields disappeared from Bedlam October 12, 1811, never to be seen again.
Last reports have her shackled wrist to ankle in her cell wearing only a besmirched blanket gown.  The matter was dismissed and no other reports were made.

Her journal, discovered by Willow Manor party goers the night of October 12, 2011 on their way to the Ball was the subject of great discussion between dances and revelry.

It remains to be seen if the Willow Manor archives produce mention of Miss Moorfields at the 1811 Ball.

Submitted 10/12/2011 by Mimi Foxmorton

File photo:  Bedlam

Found in the Triplets doll carriage 13, October 1811

For more Willow Manor Ball FUN, please visit the page of origin

http://willowmanor.blogspot.com/2011/10/willow-manor-ball-2011.html

and the lovely, lovely people who reside there!

The party is in full swing!

I guarantee you won't want to miss it!