I swore that in my lifetime I would never, ever, ever (emphasis on that last ever) create or write a blog. But since I've already succumbed to the horror of Facebook and have now Twittered every hot male celebrity in existence (I'm hoping that by keeping tabs, one day I'll miraculously "run into" them and just "happen" to hurt something, at least for 5 minutes) it's not surprising that I now want to spread my evil influence throughout the cyber realm And Lance, my wonderful fiancé, please ignore the sentence regarding hot male celebrities. As you so wonderfully told the world before, "She's mine." Sorry Matt Damon. Better luck next time.

Anyways, I've never tried to write my thoughts in a "non-formal" style before (writing a blog is certainly beyond my comfort zone) but I think for once it will be nice to not have to worry too much about whether or not I put my commas in the right place (my communications class just made us read 3 pages on comma usage). But, for now I'll just try and concentrate on doing here what was my main intent- to blog for my Humanities 262 class and get a wonderful-looking A on my transcript.

And now for my serious entry. This past week I've been privileged to read for the second time in 2 months Daisy Miller: A Study by Henry James. Reading this for English 293 and now for Humanities 262, it is certainly a different experience each time. Unfortunately, I cannot claim to say that this is one of my more favorite works, as the main character keeps on leading himself down a horrific path that is sure to not end well (It's like that horror movie, where for some STUPID reason the girl just has to go into a strange house or open a door just to "see what's on the other side." Idiot) The main character, Winterbourne, from the high and oh-so-elegant upper class, needs to learn to grow an upper class backbone. I certainly understand his fascination for Daisy's beauty and uncharacteristic female qualities (actually, this may be the first time in literally history where a man likes a girl that talks too much) but his fascination is like the fascination a cat has with a laser beam- it's fun for everyone to watch for the first little bit, but after a while the people get tired of it and the cat is still left just as stupid as before. That is the extent of his fascination. He likes the way it looks (and by it I mean she) but he can never quite figure out where it came from. His aunt certainly has, as she warns him that he has "lived too long out of the country" and has become "too innocent" for this American girl who's caught his fancy (for all those non-humanities 262 friends, Winterbourne is in fact, American, but has lived in Switzerland for several years. He is what we like to call an expatriate, someone who has abandoned America). However, it is somewhat mysterious that his aunt, who has also lived outside the country for years, would retain her "American-ness" while Winterbourne could lose his so easily. Perhaps it's the age difference.

"Tell a man that there are 400 billion stars and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint and he as to touch it." -Stephen Wright

While this quote explains how some men act (and some women for that matter) I fail to understand throughout the entirety of the text is just why he continues to remain so fascinated with her. Is she another “bench” with wet paint that he has to see if she is dangerous, or is it the morbid fascination with having a girl that refuses you? Is the chase for some guys really that exhilarating that they're willing to make complete fools of themselves? Perhaps I lack the capacity to sympathize with their plight as I am in fact, a woman. It's just amazing that from the beginning, he could see Daisy's faults but just plain refused to acknowledge them, or when he did acknowledge them he would simply make excuses. Here's a list of of examples that I find particularly irritating-

- "It might have been said of this unknown lady ... that she chattered"

- "He was inclined to think Miss Daisy Miller was a flirt"

-" Daisy turned away from Winterbourne, looking at him, smiling and fanning herself. 'Good night,' she said; 'I hope you are disappointed, or disgusted, or something!' He looked at her taking the hand she offered him. 'I am puzzled,' he answered"

As the story draws on and on, the frustration I feel towards Winterbourne mounts to rage as I simply want to throttle him. While he may not be the brightest man (and in the movie created in 1974 he's certainly not the most handsome. I blame the mustache) he's certainly doesn't deserve the kind of treatment he's getting. He goes from Geneva to Rome just to see her and what does he get? He gets

"rather annoyed at Miss Miller's want of appreciation of the zeal of an admirer who on his down to Rome had stopped neither at Bologna nor at Florance, simply because of a certain sentimental impatience"

Wow.

And later, when Winterbourne escorts her to meet her Italian suitor (why was he escorting her? It's not worth explaining) he exclaims to himself "Damn his good looks!" and then cursed Miss Miller for "not knowing the difference between a spurious gentleman and a real one." Now I know this story is more about Henry James's attitude towards the American populace, as he was an expatriate himself, but for myself it's more about jealousy and men's general stupidity. Now I didn't say that just men were stupid, because I'll openly admit to having blonde moments many times a day, but the frustration I felt towards Winterbourne is very uncharacteristic of my attitude towards men. Sure, some may ruin, perhaps forever, their chances with a certain girl, but here's the main difference- it's simply because they had no idea what they were doing. Winterbourne did, and that is where the fault lies. He knew throughout the whole story, and to top it off, when she dies, he feels grateful that he avoided some social downfall. That's 19th century love for you.

Anyways, as we are to provide several "outside clips" for our blog, here is a short out-take of the movie "Daisy Miller" directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Cybill Shepherd as Daisy and Barry Brown as Winterbourne.

I don't like the feel of this movie clip as much as the book, as the producers seem to cast Winterbourne as the creepy, stalker gentleman who goes for the trophy wife, but it does help one feel the dynamic of the book. She's luring on Giovanni (her Italian suitor) to simply make Winterbourne jealous. Classic.

And this seems to sum up Daisy and Randolph's relationship pretty well. Brother and sister just never seem to get along very well. Or perhaps this is what Daisy would like to do to her little brother.

* I would like to formally apologize if any of you assume that I'm a man-hating feminist. I assure you, that's not the case. Sometimes.