40 Diamonds for 40: Kelli's Kontribution

It's always a moment of mixed emotions when the first of your siblings gets married. There's the utter incomprehension that some other person wants anything romantic to do with your little baby brother. The thought of someone marrying the boy who was your bathmate, your playmate, your teenage torturer, sometime protector, and comrade in high school hi-jinx, rattles your brain. Then there's the wondering how a new dynamic will impact the pentagon of personalities that has been your core group. And, although you always wanted a sister, you have to wonder if someone who already has sisters of her own will want another one.

Due to circumstances of finances, work commitments, and travel schedules, I met Kelli after the wedding, the eventful Western reception, and after her Cape Cod honeymoon. The "kids" drove back to the CT house from the Cape about an hour before the backyard reception for the neighborhood and church friends. I knew it had to be overwhelming for her ... new husband, new family, traveling across country, meeting the rest of the family, and then all these crazy CT folks in the backyard. You couldn't tell from the photo on the left though. Cool, calm, and gracious.

Time has passed, trials and tribulations have followed, with travel making us traverse the country in both directions ... all helping make "the ties that bind" help to bring us closer. I am so fortunate in my sisters-in-law, now my sisters-in-spirit. Thanks for everything Kelli. I love you too.

Dear [Auntie Nettie]:

I can’t quite say that I actually remember the first time we met. I was a wide-eyed, 20 year old, country girl recently married to your brother, and spending my honeymoon meeting and getting to know the in-laws. I think I was just a tad bit overwhelmed! But I do remember feeling an immediate bond and friendship with you, even though I was keenly aware that you and I could not be more different.

As I have gotten to know you better over the years during my visits I spent back East and your visits out West, I discovered that we did have many things in common, such as our aversion to swimwear, love of baked goods, Broadway, Jane Austen and photography, to name a few. I would have to say the most important and binding of all……..our love for Mr. Darcy. Now most women would not be able to remain friends through this, but we have managed to find a way!

I have always found that I can be my true self with you. Like the time we went to lunch with your mom while on Cape Cod and I ordered chicken! Now who does that anyway?? Even when you gave me a bite of your scallops and I wanted to spit it across the room, you didn’t judge me!

In the 15 years that I have known you, you have been many things to me, just to name a few:

You have been my tour guide to many amazing places.

You have kept me from getting run over by NYC cab drivers.

You have tried to teach me how NOT to look like a tourist (and failed miserable, SORRY!)

You have been my Pride and Prejudice marathon-watching partner.

Thank you for being someone I can talk to, someone I can lean on, and someone that understands me. You are more than a sister-in-law; you are my own sister and friend. Thank you for loving my son as your own. Thank you for the memories we have made and the ones we have yet to make.

I hope your birthday will be one of joy and that you will come to know how much you are loved and appreciated.

Love Always,

Kelli

Quote of the Day: Rereading Jane Austen's Novels

Found this in a binder from my English comps.

Rereading Jane Austen's Novels

This time around, they didn't seem so comic.
Mama is foolish, dim or dead, Papa's
a sort of genial, pampered lunatic.
No one thinks of anything but class.

Talk about rural idiocy! Imagine
a life of teas with Mrs. and Miss Bates,
of fancywork and Mr. Elton's sermons!
No wonder lively girls get into states--

no school! no friends! A man might dash to town
just to have his hair cut in the fashion
while she can't walk five miles on her own.
Past twenty, she conceives a modest crush on

some local stuffed shirt in a riding cloak
who's twice her age and maybe half as bright.
At least he's got some land and gets a joke--
but will her jokes survive the wedding night?

The happy end ends all. Beneath the blotter
the author slides her page, and shakes her head,
and goes to supper--Sunday's joint warmed over,
followed by whist, and family prayers, and bed.

~ Katha Pollit

Found from a copy made from the August 7 & 14, 1989 The New Republic

Jane Austen Fight Club

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that no one shall speak of Fight Club.

Enjoy the latest mashup, which skips the book and goes straight to the trailer:

Grateful List 1/27 - 2/1

My grateful list for last week is much more mundane.

First, I am grateful to my dear friends, who have obviously been reading the blog, and then send presents in order to fulfill my requests to Santa.

Not only did dear Jane send me her namesake, but she included some of these delectable treats from a CT-based chocolatier.

I am grateful to whoever invented chocolate covered potato chips!

But mostly last week, I was grateful to USA Network, which kept replaying Burn Notice, so that I could drool over the deliciousness of Jeffrey Donovan over and over and over again.

I have admired this actor since I first saw him on my favorite episode of Witchblade, and then from his work in smaller films like Come Early Morning and Believe in Me, but hello!

Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen + swimtrunks/wet t-shirt = a very very grateful Auntie Nettie.

Sensible Superbowl Alternative

What brilliance! A genteel alternative to football ... just like last year.

An encore presentation of MASTERPIECE CLASSIC's Emmy-nominated Sense and Sensibility begins Sunday, February 1, 2009. A young cast of Britain's most buzzed about talent (Hattie Morahan, Charity Wakefield, Dan Stevens) daringly captures the Dashwood's fall from grace in a vulnerable and seductive adaptation by Andrew Davies.

Once again PBS ... thank you. My new Jane Austen action figure will be joining me in Austenfest Sunday (thanks to Jane, who read my letter to Santa). Perhaps if I get up early enough I can watch Emma, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and two of my versions of Pride and Prejudice before hand.

Huzzah!

Christmas List

Dear Santa,

I know that I've already asked you for a Toaster, but I've changed my mind. I don't need a toaster. That is just too grown-up and practical for a holiday gift, what with all the doom and gloom in the world. I need something frivolous and fun. I was a relatively good girl this year, so I would like to ask for the Jane Austen and Deluxe Librarian dolls/action figures for Christmas. Pretty, pretty please.

Why these particular dolls? Well you see, Santa, my original Shushing Librarian has gone on an extended walk-about and the other one I keep in the original packaging is not the fancy schmanzy kind, with the special library cart, more books than before, her own high-speed computer, and the bright red suit that helps clear up her androgyny. I'd like Jane so that she can go down the hall and play with Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven, and maybe to get me an "in" with Captain Wentworth and Col. Fitzwilliam. (Me likely men in uniforms!)

So please, Santa. That is what my severely neglected (HA!) inner child would like for Christmas, today anyway.

Hugs and Kisses,
Auntie Nettie

P.S. My inner child just realized that perhaps the Librarian Lady might be lonely. Could you get her the Casanova Action Figure so she has another librarian to "play" with? 'K? Thanks!

Which Jane Austen Character are You?

I know most people want to be Lizzie Bennet, but I'm not at all surprised by the results of this quiz. I identify with Anne on so many levels, and there were moments on recent family trips when it was all I could do to keep from laughing at just HOW much I was like Anne. Not the easily persuaded part, but so many other aspects of her particular situation.

I love Persuasion, especially this adaptation with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds, so I'm delighted that it's the picture that comes up with the results. When nothing else is on t.v., I pull out the Austen flicks and spend many a happy moment wandering down the streets of Bath and at the seawall on the coast.

Take the Quiz here!

Public Television Rocks

Not only does public television rock because it just does ... now it's getting support from The Police in supposedly their last concert ever.

According to Sting's website (and a bunch of other places too),

05.06.08 Mayor Bloomberg and The Police announce contribution to MillionTreesNYC and reveal that their last ever concert will take place in New York City to benefit local public televisions stations...

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg joined Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland of The Police to announce that the band's final concert will be in New York City and their commitment to MillionTreesNYC, the City's initiative to plant one million trees by the year 2017. MillionTreesNYC is a component of PlaNYC, the Mayor's plan to make the City more sustainable and reduce its carbon footprint 30 percent by 2030. The Police pledged $1 million to the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City in support of MillionTreesNYC. This donation, matched by the City, will provide $2 million to help launch the reforestation component of MillionTreesNYC which will plant 10,000 trees and reforest 2,000 acres of parkland across the five boroughs. Reforestation efforts improve air and water quality, reduce greenhouse gases and lower energy costs.

The Police also announced that their final concert ever will be a fundraiser with proceeds benefiting the production of arts programming for Thirteen/WNET and WLIW New York. Tickets will be available nationally online via Thirteen/WNET and WLIW. More details about the benefit show, including venue and ticket information, will be released at a later date.


Since I saw The Police last summer at a concert at MSG and probably won't be able to afford a ticket to the benefit, I'll just have to skip this concert.

I do encourage you to plant a tree and make a donation to a public television station. I've spent many an educational hour on Sesame Street, (back when Snuffy was still invisible to grown-ups), learning to read with Easy Reader before he drove Miss Daisy, in the Neighborhood of Make Believe with Lady Elaine and Mr. Rogers and Meow-Meow Pussy Cat, and more recently in veritable raptures of delight thanks to months of Austen adaptations, and last weekend on the decks of the U.S.S. Nimitz (that one was hours of free on-demand via my cable subscription.)

Thanks to Mr. Bush, I may have some extra money here soon (in the form of a stimulus package check) to thank public television for their hours and hours of quality entertainment. And I can write it off on my taxes next year. What a thought!

How about that Message in a Bottle? Eh?!

Girls and Football - dilemmas

As an older sister to two sports-playing younger brothers and a daughter to a sports-watching dad, I would always be the bane of their existence when games were on. I tried not to interrupt this bonding experience, because I am smart enough to know not to ask "dumb" questions during plays. But really, Ladies, who is not confused by the whole downs, endzones, penalties, off-sides, man-in-motion thing, anyway. Seriously. Do we really care? Yes, we know the big guys are the defense, the special teams are "special," and we all mock the kicker. We're supposed to idolize the QB. My favorite position on a football team, however, is the "tight-end" EXACTLY for the reasons you think. (YUMMY)

To add to my dilemmas, I grew up in a New England state and now live in New York so my loyalties (again, IF I CARED!) are divided. My policy for the "big game" du jour, du week, and du whatever, has always been to find out who my family/boyfriend/host/friend was routing for and THEN ROUTE FOR THE OTHER TEAM. 'Cause I'm the imp of perverseness that way ...

So, imagine what Sunday was like. On the one hand, New England, land of my upbringing, has this undefeated team -- supposedly the favorite, with this monster machine, debonair QB, and all that hype. Then we have the Giants, underdogs, scrappy, the better of the two NY teams, led by one of the Manning brothers. What's a girl supposed to do, again, IF SHE CARED?

Here's the thing. The Patriots. From what I gleaned from my glancing at the sports/gossip pages, Tom Brady dates an obnoxiously obnoxious supermodel. Strike 1. Tom Brady broke up with his ex-fiancee who found out she was pregnant. Strike 2. Patriots accused of spying on other teams. Strike 3. Coach didn't seem to be too remorseful that he was caught doing this. Strike 4. Coach seemed to be filled with hubris. Strike 5. Undefeated season Strike. 6. ---- mmmm --- the imp seems to be leaning in favor of ...
The Giants. Underdogs. Point 1. Cute Manning brother still dating college sweetheart. Point 2. Cute Manning brother NOT a regular in the society/gossip pages. Point 3. Coach not caught spying. Point 4. Again, underdogs. Point 5. (Can you see where this is going?)

Now, to be fair, I avoided much of the whole Superbowl day by either sleeping, reading the papers, napping, watching the FoodNetwork, TravelChannel, the PuppyBowl (which is strangely addictive), or Jane Austen ... however, thanks to the loud raucous parties throughout the building and across the street, I knew exactly when to flip to the game and watch the instant replays of some wonderful plays. Nice. Very nice, and you have to admit the dichotomy of Austen and football has to be admired on some levels.

So, if you haven't figured it out.

GO GIANTS!

Not that I care or anything ...

Nope. Not me.

Austenfest -- Veritable raptures of delight

Thanks, in large part, to the dumbing-down of American television in recent years, made even worse by the ongoing writers strike, I've found it increasingly difficult to find quality television programming ... even with the numerous basic cable channels I get with my subscription. If it wasn't for Animal Planet, FoodNetwork, HGTV, SciFi, the various Discovery Channels, and a very few minor exceptions on what used to be my default channel, TLC, I would be at a loss. My personal library of books and VHS (yes, I'm a bit behind in the ol' digital formats!) are getting more of a work out in recent weeks. So, imagine my delight when PBS announced that it was presenting what they are calling, The Complete Jane Austen during Masterpiece Theatre. To kick it off, there were even two weeks of Bronte, with a new production of Jane Eyre (my favorite book in life), with Toby Stephens, the very handsome son of Dame Maggie Smith, recently of Harry Potter movie fame.

I am in sheer delight.

Veritable raptures of delight.

Thank you PBS. THANK YOU!

So, my dear friends and family, if you endeavor to contact me Sunday evenings, please note that I am unavailable during these viewing hours:

9-11, Sunday, Masterpiece Theatre
Persuasion, January 13, 2008
Northanger Abbey, January 20, 2008
Mansfield Park, January 27, 2008
Miss Austen Regrets, February 3, 2008
Pride and Prejudice, February 10, 17, + 24, 2008
Emma, March 23, 2008
Sense and Sensibility, March 30 + April 6, 2008