Paris Street; Rainy Day

So this painting was completed in 1877, 59 years after the last Austen novels were published. It has nothing to do with them or Regency times. And the capper, it is set in Paris!

What’s that have to do with anything?

So even though it has nothing to do with any of that, I felt like sharing it because whenever I look at it it always makes me think of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, even though they didn’t have any boulevards and probably wouldn’t sped their weekend strolling along that way but would be in a carriage or be walking in the roads/lanes outside.

It also makes me think of Anne and when she and Captain Wentworth walk together.

This painting was done by Gustave Caillebotte. It is an Impressionist painting, a scene of modern everyday life. It’s not as fluid or fast stroked as the others, being more “realistic” in the brushstrokes.

In the painting we see the modern day of the city, the new boulevards, buildings, paved cobblestones, etc.

Most people would go on these new boulevards for walks, to relax, see and be seen by society-rich and middle class alike.

So what do you all think? Can you see it too, or do you think I’m just stretching things and including a picture I love?

For more art, go to He Was Taken Up Before Their Very Eyes

With That, He Bowed His Head and Gave Up His Spirit

So last year I didn’t do this as I was too busy, but every year prior I have always reviewed different portrayals of Christ for Easter.

I am a Christian, and I received a major in art history and history, so it is time to put those to work.

Typically, I have reviewed more images, but Easter snuck up on me this year. So we only have two planned.

Gero Crucifix from Cologne Cathedral

Today is Good Friday, the day that Jesus was crucified, only to be resurrected three days later. The piece I choose today is from the early Medieval period. The Gero Crucifix was created in 970 and brought to Cologne Cathedral by Archbishop Gero, hence were the name comes from.

But before we get into the art, let’s look at the text:

“Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. ² The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe ³ and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.

⁴ Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” ⁵ When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

⁶ As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

⁷ The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” John 19:1-7

“Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews. ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. ²¹ The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

²² Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”John 19:19-22

“One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”–Luke 23: 39-43

“At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)…Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink.”–Mark 15: 33-36

“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”–John 19: 30

This is an important piece of art as it is the oldest surviving monumental sculpture of crucifixion to date. This is a gigantic piece, about 6 feet tall to make it seem more lifelike.

This is an incredibly emotional piece, the way it is created to really capture the text of the bible. In this we can see the great pain he went through: blood dripping down on his forehead, his body is leaning downwards in pain as he can no longer fight gravity pulling him down, his twisted body, the strain on his arms-all the pain and suffering he would have gone through.

He looks extremely vulnerable, no powerful halo or other imagery (although there was some gold pieces added later on). There was a crown of thorns to continue to add to the pain he went through, but it has gone missing through time.

What also makes this a powerful piece, besides size and the imagery, is that this is a reliquary-the head had a chamber where they would store the Eucachrist. Wow-think how powerful that would be, to take in communion and have the bread come from Christ’s body.

Well, I hope you all have a great Good Friday and Easter, however you all celebrate it.

For more Crucifixions, go to At Noon, Darkness Came Over the Whole Land…

For more artwork, go to He is Not Here; He Has Risen

When the Evenin’ Sun Goes Down

20) What Your Night Was Like

Sorry for the creepy picture, I couldn’t find a “night” scene I liked.

So I didn’t do that much tonight, nothing too interesting. But here we go: (btw I’m counting night at starting at 5:00 pm)

The first thing I did was go to an art show

It was in our local gallery and was an exhibit of artwork done by the art center for disabled people. The pieces there were really nice, and if I had a had a house I definitely would have bought something.

After that I went and got a hamburger for dinner.

After that I came home and read a historical fiction novel on the sinking of the Titanic, The Girl Who Came Home. I liked that it was written from the point of view of an Irish woman, but didn’t like the rest of the setup and constant switching from past to present, and all the characters.

After I finished the book I was really in the mood for one of my favorite gangster/drama films:

And that was it. Pretty basic and singular.

But hey, who can party every night. It’s nice to just relax and enjoy a quiet night.

To start the 30 Day Challenge from the beginning, go to Musical Madness

For the previous post, go to Why Were You Driven Away?

For more on Goodfellas, go to 25 More Films of Christmas

For more on staying home, go to The Meaning of Nothing

Make My Day

Day 3) Bullet Your Whole Day

So I didn’t do too many interesting things today, but here we go:

• I woke up at five in the morning and let the cat outside.

• After that I went back to sleep as I was tired and it was too early to get up.

3) I ate Apple Jacks for breakfast.

• 4) I finished reading The Disappearance of Edwin Drood, by Peter Rowland, a retelling of Charles Dickens’s novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood. The Mystery of Edwin Drood was Dicken’s last novel and declared unsolvable as it is unfinished. In this version, Sherlock Holmes is on the case in order to find out what happened to Edwin Drood.

• 5) I took a shower, did my makeup, and straightened my hair: while watching Bones. 

• 6) After I was ready for the day I got a book ready for mailing, And then I wrote a letter to Kirk Douglas. I had previously printed a picture and was going to send it to be autographed. 🙂 Love him!

KIRK DOUGLAS — Pictured: Actor Kirk Douglas — Photo by: NBCU Photo Bank

• 7) Afterwards I went to the post office in which I had to wait in a super long line to mail my packages. They had a million people, but only two workers. Horrible!

• 8) After the post office I went to Staples to buy school supplies. The supplies aren’t for me, but for a backpack I was donating to children who are in need. Let me tell you, Staples advertises that they have cheap supplies, but they hide them so deeply in the store so that you have to sift through the more expensive things to find them.

• 9) From there I went to a thrift store to buy a cheap dress. I am doing a secret project that I cannot talk about as I am on strict orders. Sorry! But I needed something I didn’t care about to mess with.

• 10) After the thrift store I went to the Dollar Tree to pick up some more school supplies and some fake flowers.

• 11) After that I headed home to have dinner.

• 12) After dinner I went to work. We did an art project with the kids today, painting shirts.

• 13) After the kids finished that we worked on a mural together all on kindness and happiness.

• 14) I returned home in which I spent time on twitter and facebook

• 15) After hanging out on the internet I then attempted to make dinosaur marshmallow filled cookies. (Which were AWESOME!)

• 16) I watched An Amish Murder, a Lifetime movie, but it wasn’t that good. It didn’t focus on the mystery as much as Neve Campbell’s character having left the faith and her strained relations. It was nice seeing her still as tough as she was in Scream.

• 17) After cookies + film, I then moved on to WordPress, in order to finish this post for you all.

To start the 30 Day Challenge from the beginning, go to Musical Madness

For the previous post, go to Going on a Treasure Hunt

Year of the Anniversaries

So you might have noticed that 2015, like every year, marks the anniversaries of certain things I adore. For instance I talked about the 30th Anniversary of The Breakfast Club.

For more on that, read Don’t You Forget About Me.

The 200th anniversary of Emma

The 90th anniversary of The Phantom of the Opera

Go to Fantom of the Opera

And that this year also marked the 40th anniversary of everyone’s favorite shark:

For more on that go to, You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Screen: Happy 40th to JAWS

And let’s not forget one of my most favorite movies ever! Yes folks, Back to the Future also celebrated 30 years of awesomeness.

Go to Back in Time: Happy 30th Anniversary Back to the Future

But this year also marks the third anniversary of yours truly, JaneAustenRunsMyLife.

In three years we have grown from a few categories to now covering all the Austen books, artwork, Back to the Future, almost every holiday, Disney, fairy tales, Harry Potter, nightmares/dreams, The Godfather, The Phantom of the Opera, The Princess Bride, quotes, quizzes, my favorite music, horror films, things I FANGIRL over, Star Wars, Supernatural, and many many more.

From one follower to now 305. (And all real, not one paid).

From just being on WordPress to having an account on tumblr, twitter, and my own twitter newspaper: Jane Austen Runs My Life

And I want to say thank you to all my viewers who follow me on any of my sites. You all brighten my day! 🙂

And I truly mean it

So as the traditional gift for a three year anniversary is leather…well I decided that I would splurge and give myself…

Clint Eastwood in a Leather belt

The law never looked so good

Clint Eastwood in a Leather hat

Dean Winchester in a Leather jacket

Indiana Jones in a Leather hat & jacket

Shawn Hunter in a Leather jacket

Star Lord in a Leather jacket

Owen in a Leather vest

Rick O’Connell in Leather gun holsters

Do you think that’s too much? I don’t.

For more on anniversaries, go to 25 More Films of Christmas

For more on the happenings of my life, go to Avengers Assemble