dancing princesses

[helenic]

I tried on ballgowns yesterday. There was one on sale in Monsoon which I could even afford, but unfortunately was entirely the wrong shape for me. We haven't decided which May Ball to go to yet - we need to soon, the tickets will be more expensive after February. We've decided we can't spend more than £70, which rules out most of the bigger colleges but means (hopefully) we should get a real ball with a degree of elegance. Magdelene apparently is white tie, and they aren't having a dj at all but ballroom dancing. Girls in floor-sweeping hoop-skirted gowns and string orchestras; it'll be like walking into a fairy tale. It sounds glorious, but I don't know how to dance.

I found my mother's copy of Grimm in the attic last time I went home, and brought it back with me. It has The Twelve Dancing Princesses, which I love, but not Foundling-Bird (my absolute favourite). In the cover she's written her address, and underneath bought at "Oobidoo", Otley, 1/9/70 (eyther then or t'day befoor). My mother grew up in the west riding of Yorkshire and used to write her diaries in dialect. She was obsessed with the Brontës, especially Charlotte. I always wondered if that sort of thing could be genetic.


today I would like:

black polkadot tights
lace-up leather boots with a cute heel
Woodhouse's English-Greek Lexicon
inspiration
a piano in my room
to be able to paint again
to get this damn essay written
to eliminate in myself all tendencies towards procrastination and self-indulgence (!)