Well, I'll start off with the "fun" stuff for my lovely readers: Zach's birthday party. Last night, we threw him a surprise party, and was out till about 4am. It was a wonderful night filled with 90's rap music, bad dancing, a lot of alcohol, and a burger cake. Yes, a burger cake. Because Zach is such a fan of McDonalds, the girls thought he would appreciate a cake that looked like a McDonalds Big Mac. And it looked exactly like one. Well done for that! This was on top of the birthday brunch we threw for him, which included his favorite Cracker Barrel breakfast including: country fried steak, biscuits and gravy with sausage in it. He was in heaven. So overall, a great day that I think he really appreciated. I've already put in a request for my birthday for Erica to make me a cheesecake, I haven't had one in for-ever. How, I miss them.
On the reading front, I was finally able to finish up the chapter I've been reading for the past two days. After d'Albert makes his profession that he loves a man, he spends the next chapter trying to persuade himself that Théodore is indeed a women disguised as a man. So, he's pretty smart for a whinny, self-absorbed character, but what is even funnier, is what he says regarding a woman dressing like a man.
D'Albert states that he cannot understand why a woman would want to dress up like a man, but could easily understand why a man would want to dress like a woman. He says that women have it easy because they are dotted upon, loved, chased after and generally well taken care of. Therefore, a man, having always to work, defend, go to war, and generally take care of everything, would love to be cared for in this way. But for a woman to dress like a man? It just doesn't make sense, why oh why, would she give up her life of people fawning over her, for a pair of slacks and riding a horse?
Gautier is funny here, because I don't think he's necessarily expressing his personal sentiments, but what's funny, is this was indeed the thought (and maybe still is today) regarding women. So if anything, it's a wonderful view into 19th century man's mind. What's even better, is at the end, d'Albert convinces himself again that because it is so ridiculous for a woman to dress like a man, Théodore must indeed be a man, which means he is in love with a man, and no matter how much he tries to persuade himself otherwise, it's true.