Rachel Piso

Not my dog.

Thoughts on The Duchess

• Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire (the biography on which the movie is based) is fab.
• I still haven’t completely wrapped my head around the duke/duchess/Bess triad, but I have half a book left. (I’m endlessly fascinated by the relationship between those three, but of course the movie oversimplified things, resulting in a general feeling of weirdness.)
• In the biography, the duchess is described as “handsome” while Elizabeth Foster is “sickly thin” and “delicate.” Hayley Atwell would have probably fit better in the opposite roll, but then again, her name isn’t Kiera Knightley. 
• I’m beginning to think DoD5 was more awkward and shy than cold and mean, Ralph Fiennes. 
• I remember reading somewhere that the duchess is an ancestor of Princess Diana, and hey they were sort of alike.

I grew up in the city and never expected to leave. I anticipated living in a Shadyside or Squirrell Hill duplex, a little concrete walkway leading right to the curb. 

Living in a place with cornfields and deep woods was beyond dreaming. Those were places I only visited, owned by cool uncles or friends of friends who bred horses and knew how to ski. 

I’m still intimidated by the planting and the upkeep and the distance from the nearest grocery store, but when the dogs rush outside and rub their faces in the grass, I’m almost always right there with them.

My sister inexplicably sends me a selfie with every text message. These are from the past two days.