The Death of the Homecoming Mum: A Wilting Tradition

Since this is my tenth year out of college (fourteenth for high school), I've been feeling all sorts of oddly nostalgic. This feeling was amped by my high school homecoming game this weekend. (In fairness, I work at the high school where I graduated from. Homecoming is kind of neat for me every year.) As many of my fellow Texans know, the most exciting part of homecoming was decorating a mum. The way it worked was a freshman, sophomore, and junior would wear mums touting the school colors (for us that's blue and white). Then once you were a senior you would don a solid white mum accented with either gold or silver. My mom created an exquisite mum my freshman year and every subsequent year simply removed faded ribbon and replaced it with new accents. Then she made a brand new one my senior year. Some of my friends would get together and make their own. Boyfriends' moms would make them for girlfriends. Girlfriends would make garter mums for boyfriends, and others simply paid professionals.

The day of the homecoming game is an experience for both students and teachers. Fortunately, I have been able to witness both sides. I remember finding that perfect balance of safety pins to stabilize the top heavy creation without it pulling down the entire front of my shirt (a thick ribbon to make a necklace or "neck brace" of sorts works well too). There was a giddy joy in perusing the isle at the "mum place" finding the right adornments each year. Of course I would also carefully plan the right outfit even thought the mum covered most of it. As a teacher, my first couple of years homecoming meant keeping a repair kit in my room with a hot glue gun, extra ribbon, and LOTS of safety pins. It also meant taping down bells whose incessant tinkling inspired a friend of mine to recite "The Bells" by Poe every year (a tradition all its own). I loved it! All of it. During the pep rallies I could look into the stands and just see smiling faces floating above a sea of flowers.

However, within the past few years there has been a great decline in annual mummery. Friday I only had seven out of my 140 students who had either a mum or a garter. This breaks my heart. Then I wondered why. After all, I didn't even know the tradition. I suppose I just always equated the mum with school pride and the disappearing mums were symbolic of that.

So I looked up the tradition of the mum and found two pretty good pieces. The first is from Garden and Design and the second is a Q and A on Ezine.

Being the goober that I am, I fell in love with the tradition even more after reading about the mum's origins. Now I really want kids to catch on at my school and start bringing it back. One of the biggest concerns is the cost. We have a large percentage on our campus of students who are at a socioeconomic disadvantage. Ignorance is also a factor to overcome. We have many Hispanic students who may be second or third generation American but whose parents didn't attend school in Texas and are unaware of the tradition.

In the end I don't really believe either of these are real obstacles. I'll be honest. I'm Mexican-American and didn't grow up with any kind of silver spoon in my mouth. If anyone knows how to create a lot from a little, I know my peeps can do it. We know how to shop the bargans and will gladly ask friends who are no longer in need of their old mums if we may borrow pieces here and there. (Two of my friends pulled out all their mums and told their younger sister to take whatever she wanted.) We can also bring in a style all our own. Does this mean mums might have a bit more hot pink and animal print then they used to? Probably, but I'll gladly adjust to that over no more mums at all. We really just need to get the word out. Maybe involve the community in donating supplies or holding raffles for pre-made mums. We could show short (and entertaining) videos during the announcements that pumps everyone up for Mum Day...I mean homecoming.

I know. I know. There are plenty of people screaming at the computer because this is a stupid thing for me to go on and on about. I realize a vast majority of students are facing no graduation because they cannot pass the STAAR exam. I realize many kids are just trying to keep their heads above water between school, a job, and younger siblings to care for. I realize teachers are being overworked in a bureaucratic system that the Vogons would envy. But for at least one day could we not get a little lost in ribbon and faux flowers and, yes, even the "bells, bells, bells..."?

An Accent is an Automatic 10 Point Bonus in Hotness

My husband has a very strict rule regarding what he calls "movies with accents." Basically, he refuses to watch them or be in the room when I'm watching them. What he really is against are movies with British accents that take on a Jane Austen-y theme (let's face it-most of them are just plain Jane Austen movies). I get it. Not everyone is cultured and sophisticated enough to appreciate the genius of Jane Austen and similar stories, and I love my husband so it does seem cruel of me to make him sit and listen to me squeal or whimper depending on various plot points.

Lately, I have been very drawn to these type of stories/films. It has everything to do with my last post. (Yes, I reread Austenland with the sole purpose of envisioning all the actors and actresses in the movie while reading.) I cannot seem to stop thinking about the many men with accents who allow me a little suspension of disbelief into a world of perfect romance through the big screen (and some are just plain hot regardless of the type of movie). Since lists seem to be a popular thing right now, I thought I'd create my own list of actors who bring out the absurd fangirl in me.

No particular order with the exception of the last one:

JJ Feild-Starting here just seemed logical since he's the one I'm "in love" with after seeing Austenland.

Tom Hiddleston-Love him as F. Scott Fitzgerald, but nothing tops the bad ass Loki.

Michael Fassbender-He's the reason I switched who I root for in the X-Men franchise.

James McAvoy-I'll take him with or without his accent (see Penelope).

Dan Stevens-Who didn't fall in love with Matthew Crawley?

Benedict Cumberbatch-I wonder what a high functioning sociopath like Sherlock Holmes would think of my list.

Simon Pegg-Hey, I find humor attractive. Besides, there is that one shot in Hot Fuzz where he's all kick ass with guns, and it's awesome.

Ioan Gruffudd-He is just as flawlessly gorgeous in real life. I've seen him. All I could do is stare from 20 feet away since I didn't pay $40 for his autograph, but trust me, he's HOT.

Henry Cavill-Okay, this one really isn't for me. My sister and dearest friend (that's two people although my sister and I are good friends as well) are in love with this one, but he is super gorgeous and will round my list off at 10 rather nicely.

Number one is and always will be:

Colin Firth-He IS Mr. Darcy and a role like that makes him irreplaceable in my heart.

Wow. After a list like that, I have a feeling I'll have very sweet dreams (and if I'm lucky they'll happen with an accent).

Happily Ever After

First and foremost: SPOILER ALERT! There is a chance that I will give something away regarding the plot of Austenland by Shannon Hale. Therefore, if you intend to see the movie or read the book, you might consider stopping right here and returning after you've done one or the other or both.

Okay, so I am in my early 30s and still melt completely at cutsie, sweet "fairy tales." When it comes to love stories, I am a firm believer in hand-holding, face-caressing, hair-sweeping-behind-the-earring, soft-kissing, fun flirting, sincere-complimenting, etc. Ending with a wedding is just icing on the cake (mmmm...wedding cake*-the best). In actuality, most rom-coms include a sex scene at some point. Honestly, I could do without that. If it must be included, then I want the Greek Drama version. You know, where they just close the bedroom door and cut to the next day with some sort of breakfast together or something. I'm a grown woman. I am well aware what is happening behind that closed door. There is no logical reason I need to SEE the sex happen. Plus, I really don't want to. Part of it is because I believe sex is something very intimate between two people who love each other on a soulful level. (Go ahead and judge, but before you make an ugly comment look at the name of my blog.) If I am watching the act, I feel like I have intruded on something and ruined the sincerity of the emotion.

All of that pertains to books as well. Which is probably why I flock to Jane Austen and avoid things that are 50 shades of bad writing. I get that there isn't a lot of physical contact in Austen's novels, but I know the characters really, REALLY want to. That's part of the romance as well- a male character loves someone so much that he has to wrestle with propriety and carefully verbalize sentiment (not always in the best way) when really he just wants to grab the girl around the waist, pull her to him, and kiss her into the next time period.

All that being said, I saw this a few months ago:



I've loved Keri Russell since her MMC days.

I love Bret McKenzie because he's half of a fantastic musical comedy duo: Flight of the Conchords.

I've loved JJ Feild since he looked like this in a favorite movie of mine called Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story. (Yes, even with that hairstyle and dubious nature, I still formed a crush on the original Jack Robinson.)

Obviously, I was meant to see Austenland which of course meant I needed to read the book first. The book was such a perfect summertime quick read! I simply couldn't put it down. Hale wrote the type of love story that causes me to squeal inside. The writing is incredibly entertaining. When one of the male contenders for Jane's affections asks why she is into the whole Pride and Prejudice thing, she answers: "'If you were a woman, all I'd have to say is 'Colin Firth in a wet shirt' and you'd say 'Ah.'”

The characters are also so captivating! I will admit I routed for Nobley the entire course of the novel even though Martin was more realistic. While the movie does a good job of making both characters likable, I think it cheats Mr. Nobley some of what made him so splendid in the book. For instance, Nobley discovers Jane's passion for painting and has supplies anonymously delivered to her room. I wish they had left that in the movie. Then there is a fantastic connection between something Jane's best friend tells her at the beginning of the story and Nobley's profession of love for Jane at the end. (That should have been in the movie too, but alas, I suppose there is only so much they can do in an hour and a half.)

The book is full of those tender moments that I believe to be part of true romance. The best part is that Jane has TWO men offering these moments, so she (and the reader) have to decide who means it and who is acting.  It is an appropriate homage to Austen because the main character, Jane, finally makes the realization that while we may sigh over a fantasy we would much prefer the reality. You know, that whole woman empowerment/independent type thing. (Of course, Jane still gets her "Mr. Darcy," but AFTER she chooses reality so it is win-win!)

I'm a sucker for a girlie love story. And I'm a sucker for this face:

What can I say? I pick winners!

*Apparently, bakeries are movie away from the traditional flavor of wedding cake because it dries out too quickly. WTH?! Although, my friend had a lemon flavored wedding cake because her color was yellow, and it was super delicious.