I’m going to start this post with an honest confession: During the summers I can be extremely and destructively lazy. See, I made up my mind that I would conjure up a list of all these things I have to do, like finish up a bunch of scripts for Heels’ hungry editors, but June is literally over tomorrow, and our 5th year anniversary fast-approaching, and I haven’t lifted a finger. At least, for the sake of my mental health, I need to get outside of this house.
When I was a kid, it was so much easier to get me out. If my overactive father wanted to go out, all he had to do was come and lift me away from my beloved stack of Beverly Cleary novels.
I remember one time when I was eight, he dragged the entire family out to the beach with an inflatable boat and a pair of plastic oars. He almost set the kids off, rowing away to Switzerland until a lifeguard, who spied a conspicuous Southeast Asian man attempting to push a bunch of innocent children into the Pacific ocean, hoisted himself down from his high perch and lumbered forward in the nick of time.
Lifeguard (brows clouded with consternation): You really can’t do that. It’s dangerous.
Mimi Papa (crouching into his usual posture of repentance): Oh, I did not know. I just keep them here to take picture, OK?
Under the watchful gaze of the lifeguard, he went and pulled the inflatable boat back safely onto shore, while my mother, cradling my second younger brother in her arms, looked sadly amused.
This summer I plan on doing something just as wild. Like I said, our 5th year anni will be here in another thirty days, and I want to end it with a bang. Seriously, I do. Don’t you believe me? Just, uh, give me some time to finish reading the rest of Elizabeth Gaskell’s Wives and Daughters, OK?…
Today’s releases:
Some really touching chapters. I’d have more to say but, really… /defeated by the heat
Gad Sfortunato ch.5: Download | Read Online
Sekine’s Love ch.20: Download | Read Online
Wow. Was out for the loop for a bit, just read last two Sekine chaptes. My poor heart, I love this manga so fucking much. And by extension the Stiletto Heels team doing such a great job with its translation.
All my thanks!! Have a great summer.
Haha, as for me, who lives in Southeast Asia, everyday is like a summer day so basically I never want to leave my house (my room tbh) unless I have to. The sun is so scary here with its blazing heat.
Anw, thanks a lot for the new chapter of Sekine’s Love guys! much appreciated <3
Ahh for me is the same, I rarely go outside of home in the summer, but thankfully my family is always trying 😛 although they already know that I love to stay inside the house. At first I don’ t want to change and go to waste hours but later I appreciate even if is just to go to the mall and see clothes I already saw XD. A to do list is perfect for getting something done have been doing mine 2 years ago but at least I have come to cross some of them 🙂
THanks for the release of sekine love. I love that manga 🙂
Ah, the mall! I haven’t been there in ages. I love going to see clothes, too, but there’s just so many people there. Doesn’t that tire you out? It’s about time to do some summer shopping though. I’ve been wearing my ‘lighter’ Fall clothes, but it’s still oppressing in all this heat.
So short, but this time I feel more satisfied than usual. I think it’s because the characters finally were able to say what they have always wanted to since the start of the date (arc).
Thank you for the releases!!
P.S. Summer makes people lazy, I’m in the same boat as you. >.>
Gaskell is my favorite classic novelist. I read North and South after watching the BBC adaptation, and it was instantly my favorite novel. For some reason it was the most compelling thing I had ever read. Interestingly enough I just watched North and South last night. I only got to the end of episode two, but Mr. Thornton confession and Margaret’s rebuff is just heart-wrenching. And Richard Armitage makes me swoon every time. Though I’ve watched Wives and Daughters I have yet to read the novel.
Anyway I’ve blathered on long enough. Thank you for that tear inducing heartbreaking chapter of Sekine!
TezukasDarjeeling, not that this has anything to do with your comment, but I recently tried the “Darjeeling”-flavored cream mochi from the Japanese confectionary stand, and it was absolutely delicious. Everytime I see your name it makes my mouth water. /wipes drool
Oh, and don’t go restraining yourself from blabbering, especially when it comes to BBC & books! Rexy does it all the time, and I love her for it, lol. I do it all the time, and I love myself for it, too! I re-watch N & S ’04 very often. Yes! RA is very swoon-worthy. I would definitely melt under his gaze. I think it helps that Gaskell wrote into the mind of John Thornton, making it so much easier to love him for the man he is. Daniela Derby-Ashe is really a voluptuous beauty as well, and she was great as Margaret Hale, but I still wince at her botched performance during the proposal and rejection scene. ‘Cause RA was just too good in that scene!
Well, in that case… I’m trying to finish reading Far From the Madding Crowd so I can re-read Jane Eyre. They just put the 2011 version of Jane Eyre up on Netflix and my sister and I have watched it four times already. We’re also trying to work our way through the 1983 BBC version with Timothy Dalton. We find it hard to watch older period dramas due to the production values being so bad. My sister likes to say that the British didn’t escape stage acting on film until the mid 90’s
Thanks for the releases…especially Sekine’ really love this series. it makes me excited! ^-^
Thank you so much!
Thanks so much for the releases!
The anecdote was sweet! Your dad created a nice memory for all of you (well I think it’s a nice memory?).
I understand the summer laziness because in my country, summer is hot and humid and it’s like I don’t want to do anything (unless I’m in a place with air conditioner). But now it’s ok for me since it’s Winter and it’s fresh but not excessively cold (yet I suppose) ^^
thank you for the release. your hard work is appreciated. until we meet again best wishes & regards.
=(
So short
But thank you!!
I know, we all want more of him, don’t we? Hopefully, our wish will be fulfilled in the upcoming months.
Thanks for the releases! I love Wives and Daughters; the BBC show was great too! I haven’t read North and South yet, but that show was also very good. I don’t have time to be lazy during summer any more; I’ve got three kids who are very energetic in the summer! 😉 Enjoy your summer! (I wrote ‘summer’ way too many times haha)
Opy, I have to agree with your opinion on 1999 BBC version of Wives and Daughters. I think I’ve seen it a dozen times! I’m not a book purist, but I’m glad to see that this was a very faithful adaptation, bar a few unnecessary characters from the Towers, a few condensed scenes, and less of Osbourne than I would have preferred. “It doesn’t do us any good to prejudge people” Roger and ‘Your husband this morning! Mine tonight! What do you take him for?’ Molly are just such good people without being cloyingly sweet, and to this day Cynthia is still one of the most complicated characters I’ve ever read. Most of all, I loved Squire Hamley. That man has a knack for spouting verbal gems such as, “Did I ever say an engagement was an elephant, madam?” and “Madam your wife and I didn’t hit it off the only time I ever saw her. I won’t say she was silly, but I think one of us was silly, and it wasn’t me!”
Gaskell may not be as witty as Austen, but she’s very, very funny, and her characters are so real, they could be your next-door neighbors. I couldn’t help laughing at Mrs. Goodenough waiting up all night to see the Duchess and her diamonds, or the hilarious arguments between Cynthia and her mother which could come straight out of a 21st century living room.
Anyway, I could go on and on about it. But I’ll leave it at that. You have three kids to take care of (oh, my!) and I’m stealing so much time away from them, lol. Enjoy your summer, and I hope you will give yourself a break and come back on July 30th to catch up on our fifth year anniversary. 🙂
Sekineeeee!!! Crying for him right now :'(
Keep up the good work (and enjoy your summer while you’re at it^^). Thanks for Sekine as usual 😀
Thank you, ammy. Yes, I’m definitely going to try and get as much out of the summer as I could. I hope the same for you! 🙂
I’m a little partial to North and South myself. Probably because I read that one first. My plans this summer: try to make my own black licorice, pickle more fruits and veggies from the market, try to get more sleep, and continue reading like a fiend. I’m pretty sure I’ll be doing waaaay more readi than anything else. I’m a bit hesitant to admit it but I might have a reading addiction. Oh well *reads some more*
Thanks for Sekine! Squee!
I read (and watched) North and South first too! They’re both such different novels though: One with serious undertones, and the other is down-to-earth with humorous anecdotes.
I’ll be burned at the stake by Dickens and Austen fans for saying this, but I love how much more accessible her writing and characters are. Of course I enjoy reading all three authors, but Dicken’s characters are mostly one-dimensional, and Austen’s clever and witty prose can sometimes be a challenge and overwork my taxed brain. I think Gaskell strikes a fine balance between the two.
Anyway, a lady with a sari is walking by the office window and distracting me big time lol. Your plans for the summer sound strangely enticing. I pickled daikon with my mom a couple of summers ago, and when we opened the jar it ended up making the house smell so bad for a week that we swore off of pickling. Tell me how that (and the black licorice) turns out. I love tsukemono, so I wish I could taste it!
Btw there is nothing, absolutely nothing, wrong with being a reading fiend. I’ve made an entire list of stuff you’ve suggested that I otherwise wouldn’t have heard about to read during August. As much as I’d like to squander the hours reading with you, July is the fifth year anni, and I don’t want to catch flak from staff for being a lazy bum. So August they will have to wait. 🙁
I loooove Pride & Prejudice (the first book I ever read under the covers with a flashlight!) but haven’t read too much Austen myself (aside from Sense & Sensibility and Emma). And except for Great Expectations in high school and listening to Patrick Stewart reading A Christmas Carol on a cassette tape, I don’t have much experience with Dickens. I’ve taken a little breather from Regency-era literature so I can read some paranormal/urban fantasy. Georgette Heyer will always be my Regency-era homegirl for life, though. (In my imagination, I give her a fist bump, heh.)
As for pickling… haven’t done it yet. I haven’t come across a veggie yet that compels me to run off to pickle it. But when it comes to a pickling brine, I always fall back on David Chang’s master pickle brine from his Momofuku cookbook. It’s so easy, and keeps really well. Pickled cauliflower’s my fave.
Even though I’m admitting that I’m a reading fiend, I am no way ashamed of it. Currently I am reading Ilona Andrews’ Magic series. ZOMG so good. Recommended!
Oh, I love the Kate Daniels series! I devoured the books and started listening to the audio versions when I edit chapters, to motivate myself. I thought Clean Sweep was very good too. A member of a french scanlation team I work with from time to time recommended it to me about a year ago. It was the first urban fantasy book I ever read and I fell down the rabbit hole. After discovering this genre, I started reading a lot of UF, but Ilona Andrews remains one of my favourite UF authors, along with Patricia Briggs.
Yay! A fellow fan! If you like falling down rabbit holes, I recommend C. Gockel’s “I Bring The Fire” series. I especially love it because it takes place in my hometown, Chicago!
Thanks for Sekine~~ Can’t wait to see what happens next!
Thank you very much for these new releases!