In the Land of Dolls

I’ve had free time on my hands, being unemployed and all. Though I have been working on my first novel. (Shameless plug: A blog about my novel!) Otherwise, I’m using my time to surf the Internet. And there are the usual sites I go to—Celtic Thunder’s webpage, Playbill, Internet Movie Database, etc. I also like to live on YouTube as well. And can I say that I love that Internet Explorer 8 lets users open multiple tabs? Because I do. I also use it to alternate between Career Builder and USA Jobs. I also use it to investigate possible literary agents (Shameless plug #2!) and any writing organizations (if you know any, let me know! Shameless plug #3!). 

For quite some time, I’ve been a fan of Cleolinda Jones’ “Movies in Fifteen Minutes.” She hasn’t updated in a while, which is a shame as I really wanted to read her take on the first part of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” as well as “Tron: Legacy.” I did discover another series of hers—“The Secret Life of Dolls.” (The link brings you to the read-through page on her wiki. It’s better than trying to slog through her livejournal). The best way to describe it? She’s insane, pretty much. I know that sounds harsh, but it’s one of the ways she describes it as well.

The more accurate description is that Cleo has a collection of dolls. Most come from various movies she’s seen (and recapped/lovingly mocked). One day, she wrote about acquiring more dolls and started writing about the dolls as if they were alive. And it was popular. She started writing a series.  And I read it. And it made me think of some of my dolls. My sister came home from school for the summer the other day, so I can send her into the attic (if I ask really, really nicely) to locate my old American Girl dolls and accessories.

I have several dolls from them thanks to Santa. As my first book was “Meet Samantha,” Samantha was my first doll. She’s also the one who I give the least amount of grooming to because, well, something happened to her hair. It frizzed or something. It’s the only doll this happened to—and I’ve had to comb out some pretty nasty knots from my doll’s hair (and I thought mine were bad!). If anyone else’s American Girl doll did that, let me know. And how did you fix it? Anyway, I also own Felicity and Josefina as well as a Look a Like (named Jennifer). I also own a Bitty Baby.

There is one more doll I own. It is the Cecile doll. It is from the discontinued “Girls of Many Lands” line American Girl published. Cecile was from France during the reign of Louis XIV. She lives at Versailles for some time and interacts with the royal court. I loved everything French (still do) and had to have her. I wish I had pushed for a few more now. Besides Cecile’s book, I also read Isabel’s. Hers is set in Tudor England and she is a young girl on the verge of womanhood. As I love the Tudor period, I adored this book as well. I should’ve asked for the doll.

Well, I’ve found her. On e-Bay. I’ve finally joined the community only a decade later. So look for me on Twitter in 2020!

Now that I’ve got an Isabel, I’ve been considering a Kathleen as well. I didn’t read Kathleen’s books—I do not know why. However, she is from Ireland. And I’m half-Irish. So, I would love to own her. I am currently bidding on a doll holder to hold either Isabel or Cecile, depending. I won’t be devastated if I lose this bid. I can always find doll cases.

Back to “The Secret Life of Dolls.” Cleo’s dolls are beautiful. I’ve been enjoying going through the Tonner website. They have some very beautiful dolls. Unfortunately, the ones I want are sold out. For instance, I nearly flipped when I saw Doctor Who and Torchwood dolls. I’m sure regular readers of my blog (if there are any) know why. There were also Wizard of Oz dolls I was considering. A whole collection: Wicked Witch of the West, Glinda, Dorothy (plus Toto), Scarecrow, Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Wizard. And of course, Disney characters.

Are you surprised?

I would love to have dolls of the Disney princesses. But what really interested me at Tonner were the it’s a small world dolls. I don’t shudder when I get on that ride and I can stand the song. It would be a nice collection to have.

Oh well. I can afford it when I’m a rich and famous author. (See Shameless Plug #1).