There are really only two places on Earth that I want to be, for the rest of my life: London and with my family. Ironically enough, each one is what separates me from the other. I think my heart is in London, but I live in Texas because I love my family too much to be more than a few hours’ drive away from them. I hope to eventually live in London, but I’ve promised myself that I can’t move there until I am financially able to visit my family as often as necessary.
Other thoughts, along the same line: I often think that I would have fit in better Victorian England. I would have made a good Victorian wife, reader of Charles Dickens (serialized!), and intellectual revolutionary. (Obviously, I wouldn’t have done well as a member of the working class, but I guess that’s a given.) In honor of this and also to indulge my love of making lists, I’ve compiled some interesting ideas.
Reasons I Should Have Lived in Victorian England:
- I love elaborate dresses and jewelry; the more fabric, the better
- Queen Victoria is flippin’ awesome
- I’m really uncomfortable talking about sex, a fact which has not changed with age or experience
- Despite this natural tendency, I really want to have one clandestine affair that I must keep secret for the rest of my life
- I want to be friends with Mary Wollstonecraft and be a radical proponent of “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”
- I would die happy if I could just talk to Charles Dickens one time
- I want to have lots of houses—one in town, one in the country, and various ancestral abodes
- I really, really need someone to help me dress and fix my hair
- I don’t like to clean, but I do like the idea of being in charge of household staff
- I want to go to balls and dance with lots of rich men
Good Reasons I Was Born Later:
- I would have missed Elton John, Eric Clapton, the Beatles, and Led Zeppelin
