Last January, yet another version of Emma was released.  While shopping with a friend, I found the DVD. Although I had not planned on buying it right away, there it was calling my name.  It's a very good version, incidentally.  But the point is that Emma takes a Christmas present over to Harriet in this adaptation.  I was a little surprised, because this doesn't happen in other Ms. Austen movies, or in the books.  So I researched Christmas customs at the time, (mostly Jane Austen's World and the Jane Austen Centre), and found out that in addition to usual customs such as the Yule log, gifts would have been exchanged, usually on the 12th day of Christmas. 

Ever wonder why there is a song about the 12 days of Christmas?  Turns out people did actually celebrate it that way at one time.  Usually, the 12 days were used to party and visit friends and family.  The Christmas party where Mr. Elton proposes to Emma is an example of the parties during this season.  However, I did find a letter by Ms. Austen's favorite niece, Fanny Austen, where she thanks a friend for the purse she sent, showing that presents were exchanged. According to the two sites listed above, all the parties culminated in the twelfth day, which was the day for presents.

Here are some ideas for your 12th day of Christmas:

For significant others of either sex, consider stocking stuffers such as the frankincense or peppermint scented nice and naughty bars or any product from Indigowild.com (all natural ingredients, and the company donates to the Kansas City Sheltie rescue as well as fostering dogs from that organization)

For guys, there are the recycled windshield beer glasses found at uncommon goods.com. Or for the bachelor who needs a hint about the state of his place, there's the fir needle-peppermint scented candle from indigowild.com.

For women, consider flowers from organicbouquet.com or a Maggie bag (made from recycled seatbelts).

I found these on theultimategreenstore.com, but they are likely in your neighborhood eco store (like the one in Winter Park, FL).  I know I'd like one. They're gorgeous.

For the dog, check out planetdog.com toys.  Made from recycled stuff, and some of the proceeds go to the planet dog foundation, which donates to service dog organizations. 

For the person who has everything, donate a future to someone through Heifer International. 

For everyone else, there are the many reusable products on reusit.com, such as this fit & fresh lunch bag with ice pack, or SOHO double walled mug. They also have plenty of reusable gift wrap.

For the kids, better ask someone else.  Really.

Christmas, Actually

My favorite holiday movie= Love, Actually.  Hey, I like the kind of movie that just happens to be referred to as chick flicks.  I get it every year from Netflix during the holidays, then I don't watch it again til the next year.

Six degrees of Jane Austen:  Love, Actually is produced by Working Title Films, which also produced Bridget Jones' Diary, which is based on a book by Helen Fielding, who based it on Jane Austen books, particularly Pride and Prejudice.



One of my favorite moments is the Christmas concert, featuring the character Sam on drums and the girl he has a crush on, played by Olivia Olson, singing All I Want for Christmas is You.  All the Youtube videos of the clip were disabled, so I couldn't put it here.  She's 10 years old, and her voice was so amazing they had to rough it up to make it sound believable as a 10 year old. It's worth watching the clip, if you haven't seen the whole movie.  Since I couldn't include it here, here is Mariah Carey instead.

It's the holidays again.  Which means, for me, finishing up finals and focusing on scholarship applications and studying for the GRE instead.  Goody.  But the sparkly lights always make me happy. Hopefully they're energy efficient!

For the next several holidays and birthdays, until I finish school, the only gifts I would want would be gift cards for things such as groceries, gas, and pet stuff.

However, I did discover (with the help of the Rachael Ray gift guide) a website called outofprintclothing.com.  With each T-shirt purchased, a book is donated to a community in need.  And the shirts are printed with book covers that have gone out of print.  I eagerly went to the site, holding my breath in hopes of a Jane Austen cover.  Sadly, my wishes did not come true. However, there are some cool prints, like this:

Oh, and forget the silly Barbie convertible for your kids.  Now, they can ride around in a Smart Car. Really.  It has an Energy Star rated long life battery. 

This time of year always reminds me why I wou ld like to win the lottery: I could buy the bag of groceries for a needy family that's on display in the grocery store without even thinking twice.  And I could buy several gifts for the kids listed on the tags hanging on the Christmas tree in the mall.  Everyone deserves a little Christmas.

Here's something from my favorite holiday album when I was a kid.  Whoever and wherever you are, have a peaceful, joyful holiday.

Dancing with Jane Austen

Dancing.

It's something every Jane Austen hero(ine) did at some point.  I've been to the meeting rooms in Bath where the dances were held in Ms. Austen's day. A fashion museum is housed in the building now but I snuck a couple of pictures of the room where her family would have gathered with the rest of Bath to dance and most likely gossip.  The room is roped off so the pictures are kinda dark and fuzzy.

Nobody puts Elizabeth Bennett in a corner.  Well, Mr. Darcy tried to ignore her. But look where that got him.  (Deeply in love with her, of course).

Which, of course, is my clever(!) way of connecting Jane Austen to Jennifer Gray.  Nobody puts Baby in a corner. 

Leading me to Dancing with the Stars.  A talent show where the best dancers move on to the next week.  A dancing show where people famous in their own right, i.e. actual stars, compete to show their talent.  Except this year.

May the best dancer win.

So this Monday, even if you don't watch the show, go to Abc.com at 8 pm. Click on shows, choose Dancing with the Stars, and click on Vote Now.  Vote for Jennifer Gray as many times as possible.  Since Brandy left, unfairly, Jennifer has consistently been the best dancer throughout the whole season.

May the best dancer win.  And that's Baby, all grown up.

Election Day

Jane Austen lived in an era when women could not vote, during the same timeframe as the Boston Tea Party. Only white male landowners could vote during this period in our country’s history, the same period a current political party is referencing to try to sway our patriotical fervor. A period when corporations received the benefits of personhood before women and African Americans.  One tea partier, Rand Paul, has even stated he wants to repeal the Civil Rights Act.


It’s election time.

I’m only talking about it this once. Here are some points I would like to make:

1. The trickle down economical theory doesn’t work. This is what a Republican senator was referring to in a recent statement that increasing taxes on the wealthy is not a good idea in this bad economy. The idea is that by not taxing the wealthy (for income over a certain amount), and paying certain individuals large amounts of money, that they will “trickle it down” to those beneath them by hiring more staff or buying more things, thereby making sure that people have jobs. This doesn’t happen, however. Instead, an increasingly smaller amount of the population has an increasingly larger amount of the wealth.



Why? Because a lot of the untaxed income simply gets invested. In the stock market, which requires huge growth from a company for its stock to do well. And the only way to keep this kind of growth has been to reduce jobs, lower pay, and increase responsibilities. The true trickle down would occur if everyone paid taxes on all their income, thereby ensuring that education, healthcare, and other programs can be funded adequately, ensuring that jobs exist in middle class occupations.



2. No one needs a 20 million dollar bonus. The American dream is not about greed.  One argument against taxing the wealthy differently is that taxes would cause people to not work as hard or to their potential because they would not keep all the money they make from working. Good. Let the massive bonuses be distributed more equitably throughout the organization, so that the CEO then doesn’t have to pay as many taxes. Which leads us to the next point…



3. People aren’t happy about the bailout of corporations, especially when immense bonuses are being handed out at the same time. I get this. However, if these companies had not been bailed out, especially the financial ones, a lot more people would have lost jobs and money and the economy would be even worse. How much worse we don’t know, because the bailouts occurred. I have seen commercials from GM stating they have paid the money back. True or not, these were loans, not handouts.



4. We need healthcare. Desperately.

Before the recent healthcare reform, 46% of Americans did not have health insurance. There are no figures yet as to how much that may have improved, because some of the reform is not in place yet. To put this in perspective, almost half of us do not have access to affordable healthcare, which means that basic, preventive healthcare does not occur. Half of the country has to wait until the medical problem is serious, thereby costing the system even more money.



5. Even with all these issues, and factoring in the environment, etc., some people I know will still vote for the big R because of the big A. I’m only going to say this: out of all the people I’ve met in my life, in 20 states and 3 countries and several jobs and colleges by this point, I only know one person who has for sure gotten the big A. Throw in a couple of other people who wouldn’t admit it, and that’s still only about .05%. And if they had access to affordable healthcare, and may therefore have been able to discuss birth control options with a doctor, they may not have gotten pregnant in the first place. And the politicians wanting to outlaw it even if the woman was raped?  Show me the children you've adopted from women in this situation.  Contrast the .05% with the 46% that don’t have health insurance. What is more important?


So that's it.  Next month is National Novel Writing Month again.  That should be way more fun.

It's already September!  This year is flying by.  Fall term has started, my first as a full time student, and it's gonna be busy.  Here are some important dates in September (and I'm claiming that they are Jane Austen approved), provided by the National Women's History Project:

Sept 12, 1910 - Alice Stebbins Wells, a former social worker, becomes the first woman police officer with arrest powers in US (Los Angeles, CA)


Sept 14, 1964 - Helen Keller receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom along with 4 other women: Dr. Lena Edwards, Lynn Fontainne, Dr. Helen Taussig, and Leontyne Price

Sept 14, 1975 - Elizabeth Ann Seton is canonized. She is the first American-born saint, and founded the first U.S. Order of Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph

Sept 20, 1973 - Billie Jean King defeats Bobby "No broad can beat me" Riggs in the battle of the sexes tennis match

Sept 25, 1981 - Sandra Day O'Connor is sworn in as the first woman U.S. Supreme Court justice

Sept 26, 1971 - Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-New York) announces she will enter the Democratic presidential primaries

Sept 26, 1973 - Capt. Lorraine Potter, an American Baptist minister, is the first woman U.S. Air Force chaplain

Sept 29, 1988 - Stacy Allison becomes first U.S. woman to reach the summit of Mt. Everest

and a birthday to celebrate:

Sept 23, 1838 (1927) - Victoria Woodhull, feminist, first woman candidate for U.S. President (1872) for the Equal Rights Party; with sister, first women to be members of the NY Stock Exchange (1870's).

She's my hero.

French toast, Jane Austen, and popsicles

 Today was the series premiere of Aarti Party, this year's Next Food Network Star winner.  Aarti was my favorite this year, as she seemed to be the most likely to include some vegetarian dishes.  Her Indian influences plus the fact that she made some vegetarian entrees during the competition may have helped me come to this conclusion.  Her new show was great and very different from anything else on the network. I'm debating making the pistachio tea popsicles.  Really.

So I had the Food Network on for the morning while I was waiting for Aarti's show, and I caught a commercial with Elle Krieger stating that carbs help lower stress.  I had two thoughts:

1.  No wonder those on the Atkins diet are so cranky.

2.  Now that's research with which I would like to be involved.  Yum.

Rachael Ray made a savory French toast on her show today.  Now that's some good carbs!  And you could find organic ingredients for it, if that's your inclination.  Though I'll have to see how it tastes with soy milk.  She also made sausage to go with it, so you don't have to just dream about it.

I looked up the history of French toast, and turns out it's been around in some form or another since medieval times, originally to use up stale bread.  Waste not, want not.  In England, it was called poor knights of Windsor, since it meant that the gentry who couldn't always afford dessert could still serve it as was expected of them.  So it's likely that Jane Austen ate it at some point in her life.

The recipe for Rachael's savory French toast seemed to go like this:

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
nutmeg, salt, pepper
several handfuls of parmesano-reggiano cheese

Mix ingredients.

Gradually warm the skillet/griddle but don't let it get too hot.  Using even slices of bread, drench both sides in mixture, cook on both sides til golden brown.

Since this toast is savory, use honey instead of syrup.  Warm the honey and drizzle over the French toast.  Eat your carbs and enjoy.

She also had strawberries in some sort of balsamic dressing but I was flipping through my Forensic Psychology textbook and missed it.  Oops. 

So here's a favorite snack that could be used as a dessert:

Use one container of Stoneyfield Farms organic yogurt.  They have a new flavor, pomegranate berry, that works well.  Since Stoneyfield tries to use less plastic there are no plastic lids on the small containers, so you'll have to use another container to store the leftover yogurt if there is any.  For one person, use half the yogurt, and chop up about six strawberries to mix in. 

Due to the mixture of savory and sweet in this meal, it would pair well with Pride and Prejudice.  I recommend the BBC version starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, of course.  But if time is limited the Keira Knightley version will do in a pinch.

I dreamt of sausage....

I'm not sure I remember what it tastes like, even.

Jane Austen’s final illness is discussed with intensity and much speculation. When I was visiting her cottage in Chawton, England, there was a display comparing her illness to the disease John Kennedy suffered. Obviously, back then there no tests and no treatment, but the color of her skin and other indications in her final days as mentioned in family documents have lead some to this conclusion. However, this is not the only hypothesis about what led to her early death. For example, cancer has been suggested by more than one Austen scholar.

Which leads me back to dreaming about sausage. Actually, I dreamt of Sausage is a book by Corinna Borden that I received through a giveaway on librarything.com. In return I am supposed to write a review on Amazon. It’s a cool thing, really.

I dreamt of Sausage is Ms. Borden’s story about her travails and travels (including to Mexico) with cancer. I received the book right after discovering the field of health psychology, which is based on the idea that mental and physical health affect each other (the technical term: the biopsychosocial model). So I was excited to find the book in my mailbox. It helps that it was free, of course. But it also was exactly the sort of topic an aspiring health psychologist should be reading about: a personal experience with a chronic, possibly terminal illness.

However, I unfortunately have to admit that I found it heavy going at times. Ms. Borden switches between her journal entries and real life. This is sometimes a bit unwieldy, but it’s bearable. It’s the italics she includes in the reality based segments that started to wear on my nerves. These are her thoughts as she goes through the process of dealing with doctors, hospitals, her husband, family, etc.

For example, my thoughts as I was reading: Cut her a break, she is going through a lot of pain. She’s scared and has cancer.

I thought that same thing over and over, because those italics started to sound really whiny. And then I would feel bad that I felt this woman dealing with this incurable illness was whiny. So I would put the book down. Then I would pick it back up eventually, and by the end I was glad that I had read it.

Ms. Borden points out, rightly, the impersonal, sterile, and often unwelcoming environment of the Western medical system. She, however, seems to blame her husband for a lot of things without taking into account that he has worked for many years to become a doctor in that same system. I agree with her that residency is brutal and no one should have to work under those situations. But being a doctor is something that most people start wanting very early in life. So her husband is caught between a very sick wife and a career that to him is most likely not just a job and for which he has worked many years. She doesn’t even pause to italicize anything about his point of view until almost all the way through the book, when she finally thinks to ask him how he felt about everything.

She also points out the inability of each side- Western and alternative medicine- to work with the other. I was a bit surprised at this, but then toward the end of the book, her Western doctor states that after a certain point he is okay with her trying other methods since after that point Western methods are also not proven. Some of the alternative doctors, however, refuse to work at all with those also trying Western methods. I was also discouraged by some of these doctors’ (and hers, through their influence) attitudes toward clinical trials. One of the tenets of scientific study is that these trials/experiments are able to be replicated. In other words, any random group of people would have very similar results. Her insistence that those trials were only applicable to the people who took part in them was rather naïve. We all want to think that we are very different from everybody else, and to some extent we are. But there are many more similarities.

All in all, a decent thought provoking read.

 Personally, I would rather dream of chocolate.

Dinner with the Dashwoods

I love the cooking shows on the telly. One host (I don’t remember who) stated to use cream of tartar since we probably had it in our pantry just sitting there.

Well, sure. If I knew what cream of tartar actually was.

I found a recipe in the Joy of Cooking All About Vegetarian Cooking cookbook to use the half of the zucchini leftover from the pasta. However, it called for couscous which I did not happen to have just sitting in my pantry. I did, however, have a box of rice w/ special seasoning already included. So I’ve modified the recipe. Another way to change it would require enough cooking knowledge (which I don’t have) to convert cooking time for the microwave instead of the oven, since it would use less energy.


Baked Zucchini Stuffed with Couscous (or whatever you have on hand)

Put in Sense and Sensibility. I like the Emma Thompson version. My reasons? I like that she wrote the script (and won a Oscar for it), and I like her as an actress.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Start the rice according to directions on the box, add water and special seasoning when requested.

While the rice is simmering, slice the zucchini in half lengthwise. Lightly oil a baking dish, place zucchini cut side down, salt and pepper. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until cut side is lightly browned.

Lower oven heat to 350 degrees. Scoop out middle of zucchini, leaving ¼ inch shells. Chop the zucchini pulp, chop a little onion. If the packaged rice does not include mushrooms and you have some then add those also.

When the rice has a couple of minutes left, add the zucchini and onion (and mushrooms if you added them). When rice is done, fill the inside of the zucchini shells with the mixture. Replace in baking dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake until heated through, about 20 minutes.  Save the rest of the rice for a side in another meal.

The budget conscious Elinor Dashwood would appreciate making full use of what you already have. Even if it isn’t cream of tartar.

Vegetable Ribbon Pasta (found on rachaelraymag.com, recipe by Tracy Seaman)

Ingredients:

• 1 pound pappardelle pasta

• 3 tablespoons butter

• 3 large carrots, halved crosswise and thinly sliced lengthwise

• 1 large onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise

• Salt and pepper

• 4 zucchini, halved crosswise and thinly sliced lengthwise

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon

• 2/3 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped

Smart move:

Use a vegetable peeler to make zucchini and carrot ribbons.

Directions:

1. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking water.

2. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and onion, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until crisp-tender, about 7 minutes. Add the zucchini and cream and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring, until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes; stir in the tarragon. Add the pasta, reserved cooking water and pecans; toss.

The version for the single Jane Austen fan on a budget:

Go to the grocery store (don’t forget your reusable cloth shopping bags).

Buy the following:

a bag of baby carrots, which can also be used in salads and as a healthy snack afterwards. One zucchini. One onion. A boxed prepared pasta (the kind that already has the noodles and everything) that has a white cream type sauce. Salt, pepper, milk, salad dressing, cheese if you don’t already have them.

STAY AWAY from the ice cream, no matter if the store premium brand triple chocolate is on sale.

Back home, put in the BBC version of Emma for the 1000th time since it first came out in January.

Chop up half the zucchini. Put some of the baby carrots and some of the chopped zucchini in a bowl. Add lettuce, shredded cheese, and salad dressing. Chop a little onion, and add some to the salad if you want. Chop a few more of the carrots. Set aside the veggies that were not used in the salad.

Eat the salad (cuz you’re already hungry) while you prepare the pasta according to the directions on the box. Saute the zucchini, carrot, and onion in butter in a separate skillet, seasoning with salt and pepper.

Plate half the prepared pasta, add the veggies. Save the rest of the pasta for leftovers to eat the next day with Morningstar Farms “chicken” strips or a side of green beans, etc.

Make sure to sit down while eating, not over the counter like Diane Lane in Must Love Dogs (you had to know I’d slide in a John Cusack movie).

Finish watching Emma while petting your dog because he climbed in your lap as soon as you sat down on the couch.

Henry Tilney

I decided to tackle my least favorite of Ms. Austen’s books this time. I didn’t really feel like ending a month of talking about such a fascinating subject (men, specifically those in Jane Austen’s books) on a low note.


Northanger Abbey.

I’m not even sure it belongs in a discussion of Ms. Austen’s male characters at all, because the main character in this book isn’t the actual people in it. Instead, this is a book about another type of book, the gothic novel so popular in Ms. Austen’s time. The specific novel that is the focus of Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen is The Mysteries of Udolpho by Anne Radcliffe. Not kidding. In Northanger Abbey, Ms. Austen exposes the dangers of becoming too caught up in a fantasy so that it clouds your judgement. She was actually making fun of the gothic novel, though she probably read several as it was the popular type of novel in her day. I’ve read the Mysteries of Udolpho, on some plane ride which I don’t remember. It’s like a bad B movie.

So if the main character in Northanger Abbey is a book, is there a lead male? Technically yes, but I’m not sure I understand him. Catherine Morland is a silly young girl caught up in her reading of the Mysteries of Udolpho. Nowadays she would be one of the many teenagers debating Edward vs. Jakob. She sees intrigue everywhere, but suspects the wrong people for the wrong reasons and trusts the ones she should suspect. Henry Tilney is educated, is strong enough to stand up to his money grubbing father, and sees clearly that Catherine thinks melodrama is around every corner. Yet somehow he is still attracted to her, enough that he goes against his father’s wishes and wants to marry her.

I haven’t yet figured out the attraction. I just don’t see why Henry Tilney is interested in Catherine. It may that the only version of the book I’ve seen tries so hard to create Catherine’s atmospheric and slightly sinister view of the world (as only a confused young girl would see it) that it becomes cheesy. Sorry to the director, whoever you are. A post in the blog Jane Austen’s World by Ellen Moody states that there is a 2007 version which also tries to create a gothic atmosphere. Ms. Austen was actually satirizing this type of thing, movie people. I’ll check Netflix for this version, but it may be I just need to go back to the book to understand Henry Tilney.

In the 1987 adaptation that I own, Henry Tilney is played by Peter Firth. The last name is the same as the man we all recognize as Mr. Darcy. I have wondered if they are related, so I went looking. Turns out they’re not related, and that Peter Firth has quite an impressive career on his own. It’s just coincidence that two actors with the last name of Firth have played men in Jane Austen books.

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Update 1/7/2013:

I've noticed that the pageviews of this post have increased over the last 10 days or so. Thank you to everyone who has been reading it. Shortly after writing this post, I took a two year long break from this blog.  I only returned to it a couple of months ago. The first two posts after my return are Absence:

http://itsgotsomethingtodowithjaneausten.blogspot.com/2012/11/absence.html

and Makes the heart grow fonder:

http://itsgotsomethingtodowithjaneausten.blogspot.com/2012/11/makes-heart-grow-fonder.html

If you feel like reading any other recent posts, they are located in the archive on the right sidebar.

Thank you everyone for reading this blog!

Captain Wentworth

If most Jane Austen fans had to pick their favorite Jane Austen novel, the first choice would probably be Pride and Prejudice.  However, if I had to choose it would be Persuasion.  Ms. Austen's female lead in this novel is Anne Elliot, who is more mature than her other leading women.  Anne, in her youth, was persuaded to refuse Captain Wentworth.  Though she may have made some youthful mistakes, Anne has grown into an intelligent, capable woman.  Her beauty is not obvious and flashy, so much so that her own family tends to overlook her.  Anne may be quiet, but she is quiet steel. 

Part of Captain Wentworth's allure is that he does eventually recognize this after he gets over his hurt feelings.  Several years after the rejection, he is back in the family circle and slowly comes to realize he still loves her.  As with most of Jane Austen's male leads, which  is part of what makes her so cool (especially for her time), he ignores the flash (eventually) and goes for the true worth.

The other part of Captain Wentworth's allure is hidden between the lines.  Ms. Austen focused on the interactions and relations between people,  which is what she excels at and what she knew.  But what is not discussed is how Captain Wentworth could have joined the navy and come back with what amounted to a fortune at the time.   How does a sailor, captain or not, amass a fortune?  It worked roughly like this: when a ship fought another ship during back then, either from another country or a pirate ship, the spoils (gold coins, whatever) went to the winning ship.  Some would be set aside for whatever government the ship is operating under (unless the winning ship was a pirate ship, of course), the rest would then be divided up according to rank.  For Captain Wentworth to get a fortune this way would mean that his ship won a lot, in dangerous situations.  Captain Wentworth, in modern terms, would be considered a bad boy, a bit dangerous, with a bit of an edge.  Yet sensitive enough to recognize that he still loves Anne and to recognize her worth, her intelligence, and her hidden strength. 

Now that's a package.

It's the formula for almost every romantic comedy out there.  Especially if the movie stars Gerard Butler.

As I've mentioned before, in my modern rewrite I would cast John Cusack.  My dream movie would have Mr. Cusack in a Jane Austen novel, and converting the character from sailor to actor would give plenty of opportunity for a hint of bad boy.

My favorite Captain Wentworth, other than John Cusack, is Ciaran Hinds, who plays the character as large and a bit intimidating, and is truly an imposing figure.  I can see him striking fear into even the most scary of pirates.  Yet he also shows the human side of the character when he is with his sailor friends and when he relents toward Anne.

Another recent version of Persuasion from 2007 starred Rupert Penry-Jones (on left).  This version confused me.  At the end he buys the family estate for Anne.   This is strange because her father, Baron Elliot, is still alive and is still very much aware of the family image which would definitely not involve selling the family estate, the basis of his self-perceived prestige.  And though Ms. Austen doesn't mention if the estate is entailed like the one in Pride and Prejudice, since it will be inherited by a male cousin it mostly likely is entailed.  Entailment guarantees that the house will always be passed from male to male so it stays in the family, and the entailed estate cannot be sold.  This means that there was no way that Captain Wentworth could have purchased this property for Anne.

Colin Firth vs. Elliot Cowan

Colin Firth, as mentioned in the last post, is the standard against which other Mr. Darcys are measured.  One of the most famous moments in Jane Austen film is the following clip.  It's not actually in the book, but the suggestion of Mr. Firth stripping down and getting wet is a very subtle way of sexing the book up.  (I say subtle cuz other directors for Jane movies, such as Mansfield Park, have gone overboard with trying to make things sexier and have ruined everything).  Here it is:




But a few months ago I received an Austen adaptation through Netflix called Lost in Austen.  Amanda Price is your normal, average Jane Austen fan who is dealing with a rather insensitive boyfriend and who has read Pride and Prejudice so many times that she knows the characters intimately and her copy looks like it is about to fall apart.  Perfectly normal.  Then one night she hears a noise and finds Elizabeth Bennet in her bathroom, having traveled through a time/reality portal in the wall behind Amanda's tub.  Also perfectly normal.  So Amanda tests the portal, and finds herself in the world of the novel.  Elizabeth shuts the wall/door, leaving Amanda in Pride and Prejudice and Elizabeth in modern day London.  In this world, Elliot Cowan is Mr. Darcy.  Of course I wasn't prepared to admit that he was the character, since that title belongs to Colin Firth.  But about halfway through I started accepting him as Mr. Darcy, at first reluctantly.  But Amanda, being a true Pride and Prejudice fan, is very much aware of one of our favorite moments in Jane Austen film.  So she asks him for a favor, and after this moment Elliot Cowan is truly a contender for the Mr. Darcy crown. And I had to shut my mouth, which had fallen open.  Here's the clip.  Enjoy!

Jane Austen's Men: Mr. Darcy

Men.

Sometimes we love them, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes the muscles start to look as tasty as ice cream cones. Sometimes they’re really cute and can make you smile.

And sometimes you just want to poke them with a stick to see how they’ll react.

With so many remakes of Jane Austen based movies over the years, Jane Austen fans have plenty of men to drool over. Take Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, for example. He’s hunky, seems reasonably intelligent, and has the good sense to fall in love with an intelligent, interesting, and spirited woman named Elizabeth Bennet. If I’m being perfectly honest, it doesn’t hurt that he had money in a time when money was scarce. His pride and prejudice make him seem at first like a bit of an ass, but when Elizabeth tells him off after his rather insultingly worded proposal he shapes up. Mostly.

There have been several actors that have portrayed Mr. Darcy through the years, even Laurence Olivier in an early wartime version. The quintessential, classic Mr. Darcy is Colin Firth (picture in the sidebar). Or maybe I should say that Colin Firth is Mr. Darcy. He starred in the A&E/BBC miniseries (which I have on DVD and videotape still) version of Pride and Prejudice.  After Elizabeth finally agrees to marry him, and he looks tenderly down at her and says “my dearest loveliest Elizabeth”, I melt into a little puddle, no matter how many times I've watched it. When Helen Fielding wrote Bridget Jones’ Diary, she had Colin Firth’s representation of Mr. Darcy in mind, so of course he was the only one who could be Mark Darcy in the Bridget Jones movies. I don’t even know the name of the Mr. Darcy in the Keira Knightly version: that’s how completely forgettable he was (sorry, dude, whoever you are).

Cheers, mate!

Newsflash: Australia Elects Its First Woman Prime Minister

June 25, 2010 by Anna Kelner (reprinted from Ms. Blog)

Australia just beat America (and Hillary Clinton) to the punch: yesterday, Julia Gillard was sworn in as its first woman prime minister after a surprising Labor Party leadership vote.

Gillard defeated Kevin Rudd, who began the year as the most popular Australian prime minister in three decades, but his popularity declined over the last few months. Among other things, he shelved his proposed Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), effectively doing away with what would have been landmark environmental legislation.

Gillard, who previously served as a deputy prime minister under Rudd, challenged him on Wednesday night at a news conference. She declared that “a good government was losing its way” and vowed to breathe new life into the Labor Party before general elections in October.

Feminists everywhere can rejoice, as one Tweeter did, that Gillard is an “unmarried female atheist redheaded migrant Prime Minister.” Although women compose almost one third of the Australian Parliament–putting the U.S.s Congress, with a measly 18.6 percent, to shame–gender norms still prevail in Australian elections. Gillard gives a refreshing new face to women in power: a champion for workers and women in Parliament, she tempers political savvy with leftist ideals. Decidedly unconventional, she is Australia’s first unmarried Prime Minister.  (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia user Adam Carr under Creative Commons 3.0.)

---

Jane Austen would say: "you go, girl".

Well, probably.


Speaking of Australia, a fellow Jane Austen blogger left a comment on one of my posts.  I checked out her blog, and it turns out she's from Australia.  It was kind of cool that someone clear around the world found my blog.  I spent a month in Australia a few years ago, in Melbourne and Sydney, and I loved it.  It was the first time I had been out of the U.S., so a friend bought me a stuffed elephant to accompany me on the long flight.  That elephant has now been to several states and England (for my Jane Austen trip, of course).  I visited my visitor's blog without the elephant, since one place stuffed elephants can't go is cyberspace.  Her blog is called thebennetsisters, and it's all about Pride and Prejudice.  Even though I don't necessarily have a favorite Jane Austen novel, I did like her blog.  Another yay for Australia!

Big news: today I'm cutting my hair. It's time. And of course, I looked around for ways to donate it. I found a charity called Matter of Trust, which, believe it or not, accepts donations of hair and fleece to make oil booms. As the second video shows, they are remarkably effective. Just let your hair go one day without shampooing and see how much oil it can absorb. What a cheap way to make a donation! They do prefer bulk shipments from salons or pet groomers such it is cheaper for them to process, so there is a flyer on their website if you want to give it to your salon or groomer. And this has nothing to with Jane Austen. Every picture/movie all the women have long hair. Though maybe they did cut their bangs, but they would not have needed to donate it for oil cleanup.

Anyway, here are a couple of videos about Matter of Trust:

Jane Austen Maids Foundation: Sex and the City 11, the Martian Wedding

Where do you go after Dubai?  Well, for Sex and the City 11, the ladies are heading to Mars, Sector 6 Colony, for Carrie's great niece's wedding. To a little man who is, oddly enough, a little bit green. But oh so stylish.

And it's time for my 11th donation this year.  For the second donation in May, Lars donated to the Best Friends animal rescue society.  He hopes that all of the animals waiting to be adopted are getting belly rubs while waiting for their forever homes.

And then I realized this morning I hadn't donated for June yet.  I'm cutting it down to one donation a month, and this month my little measly donation goes to the Environmental Defense Fund for more work in the Gulf.

Though my income may be a bit more constrained, the Jane Austen Maids Foundation will keep going.  The charities may not be getting as much money, kinda like the servants in Sense and Sensibility who go from being maids in the big estate to the little cottage and end up probably living in a tiny room in the attic.  A tinier one, anyway.

No gifts, please.

Gifts are not usually discussed in Jane Austen’s books. Fanny Price does receive a lot of hand me downs in Mansfield Park, and a gift of a necklace from Edmund for her ball. In the Emma Thompson version of Sense and Sensibility, Elinor gives going away presents to the servants when her family is forced out of their home due to inheritance laws in England at the time. Also, in the new version of Emma, she brings a Christmas present to a sick Harriet. But the practice of gift giving is not really mentioned in her novels.

I don’t like to talk about the topic either, since I find it difficult to ask for stuff. However, as I mentioned a couple posts ago, starting this fall I will be attending school full time and money will be tight. Plus, I don’t really need any more stuff or clutter, especially if I end up moving again for graduate school. So for any upcoming holidays, I am requesting that we all give hugs for gifts. Hugs are great gifts. If you insist on being generous, then practical gift cards (groceries, gas, etc) are the only thing I want. This may be difficult for those of my friends who like to buy stuff, but this way y’all can save money or donate it to charity. One that I approve of, of course.

More of Nothing

I haven’t done much with this blog this month. I’m finding that though there is a general theme (I can write about anything as long as I tie it in somehow with Jane Austen), it seems to work better when I have a monthly theme also. So next month will be all about the delicious leading men in movies made from Jane Austen’s books.

Hang on a moment while I wipe the drool from my keyboard.

While I may be more comfortable vicariously inhabiting the world in Ms. Austen’s novels, I have slowly been getting dragged kicking and screaming into a more modern technological one. From my initial email announcing that I, Ms. TechPhobe, was starting a blog, to my semi rants on the topic of facebook in said blog, to still resisting the world of shrill tweeting, to my buying a laptop supposedly for school but now loving it……

I think I forgot my point. Oh yeah…. Messenger. Someone asked if I had it. Turns out I had it all along cuz of the university email, and that was the icon that always seemed to be hanging out at the bottom of my laptop screen. So yes, I have broken down and set up the instant messenger part. I created a cute little icon, invited people (including the person who asked if I had it, who didn’t actually respond, go figure!) and have taken a tiny baby step to being more available. But I still don’t see what’s wrong with writing an actual letter. Letters stick around, and eventually become museum exhibits called The Letters of Jane Austen. If they are actually written by Jane Austen, of course.

The art blogging magazine I was reading at the time I had the crazy idea to start a blog contained an article in which a blogger stated to write about anything that impacted your life, and your readers would care. The article stated that if you were having a bad day, even making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich would be an accomplishment and your readers would support you achieving a goal, no matter how small.

Well, yesterday I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Then I ate it.

And I should really think of something more important to write about next time.

Happy June!

It's the middle of the year, so I'm revisiting my New Year's resolutions (see Happy New Year post from January). Let's see if I can remember them:

1. Donate.
2. Keep making good grades.
3. Keep the apartment clean and work on organization.


They seem so easy!

The first goal was to donate twice per month to a different charity (The Jane Austen Maids Foundation, so named because maids during Jane Austen's time received next to nothing, and so were these charities). I've kept this up, with the second donation for May going to Soldiers Angels and the first one in June going to the Best Friends pet rescue organization. But for the second half of the year I will have to slow this down to once a month, and will be decreasing my Netflix subscription to compensate for the donation.

The reason for the change? As of Fall term, I will be attending school full time so that I can participate in things like teaching assistantships and internships, and will need to adjust my expenditures accordingly. In other words, I will be broke. Any loans I do through Kiva will have to be done through relending the money that my previous loans pay back (Kiva team name LunaLend).

But I'm hoping to be able to volunteer more so that I will still be giving time, just not as much money. Not that I was giving much in the first place! But it is actually a great feeling to help even a little, and if even one person also gave a little to one of the organizations, so much the better.

I slipped a little during Spring term on the grades, the second goal. I even got a B, and since it was in a five credit class, it tanked my cumulative gpa. I'm gonna pull it back together for summer. I just really don't like the +/- grading that some professors use. An A is an A, in my opinion. But that's probably just sour grapes, cuz I got an A- in a class.

And no comment on the third goal. I'll deal with that later.


And I think I'm going to add a goal: to take advantage of the university gym (even though I don't like the idea of the cameras) and work out. There's a couple of kickboxing classes this summer, though I would have preferred a salsa class. Maybe they'll have one again in fall.

I got nothing for you

I haven't done much with this blog all month. Hey, even Jane Austen had a gap between her juvenile writing and her adult novels. Several years, actually. So what if I seem to be in the middle of a dry spell motivation wise. It may eventually pass.

After some deliberation, I did join an organization called Soldier's Angels, where I will be eventually writing letters to deployed soldiers. I signed up for a care package first and once I get that out I'll join the letter writing team. This may seem strange to those of you who know my feelings about war in general and this one in particular, but the people over there are still miles away from friends and family and in a bad situation.

Years ago I thought briefly about writing a book entitled what would jane austen do (then one came out anyway obviously not by me). These letters would have been something in that category. She wrote many letters to friends and family, and at least one of her brothers was in the navy.

If you are interested there are several sites available. I chose soldiersangels.com because one of the projects, called Ladies of Liberty, was developed in a womens studies class at a North Carolina university and focuses on supporting female soldiers.

Ms. on Iron Man 2

Reprinted and shared from the Ms. blog: http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/05/11/gender-101-from-iron-man-2/




Gender 101 From Iron Man 2
May 11, 2010 by Natalie Wilson · 40 Comments

It’s right there in the title: Iron MAN, not meaning “human” but male. As I sat watching the movie with my 13-year-old son (and cringing at the overt sexualization of females), I realized that Iron Man 2 is about the glory of males, the fact they are indeed “iron” and that, with their strength and ingenuity, the world will be saved.

A number of other significant gender lessons are imparted in the film.

First, on men and masculinity:

1. Men don’t cry, they scream, as Ivan (played by Mickey Rourke) does when his dad dies.

2. Men like power tools, technology, welding and weapons. Talking, not so much.

3. Men are big wheels and lone gunmen. They may say, “It’s not all about me,” as Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey, Jr.) does at the beginning of the film, but, really, it is.

4. Men need to leave a legacy and build a better future. The best way to do this is via weapons, wealth and womanizing

5. Men’s hatred of women is cute and humorous–or as one blogger puts it, “Tony Stark’s privileged sexist playboy antics are hilarious,” teaching viewers that “Men’s sexism is funny and endearing, as is their greed.”


6. Men are fabulous at business–so fabulous that they can successfully privatize world peace.

7. Real men (aka Tony Stark) think the “liberal agenda” is boring.

8. Men will always need to be in the theatre of war. As such, they might as well turn their bodies into weapons.

9. In fact, the male body is a weapon. Literally, figuratively, metaphorically. Man is iron. Or, as Andrew O’Hehir’s naming of the Iron Man suit as “impenetrable iron-dong costume” in his Salon review suggests, the iron suit allows for the fulfillment of the male body not only as weapon but as walking erection–hard and ready all the time.

Secondly, on females and femininity (these lessons are longer, you see, because females need a lot of teaching):

1. Women are for dancing, either around poles or on stage as props. Wherever they are dancing, they should be scantily clad. Note to cameraman: Shoot women dancers from behind so as to get maximum amount of booty shots, as in the opening scene of Iron Man 2 where our gaze is directed to numerous bent-over butts in red spandex hot pants. As O’Herir points out in his Salon review, there is “no irony” in these “loving, loop-the-loop tracking shots of these dancin’ hoochie-mamas with their spray-bronzed legs and perfect Spandex asses.” Rather it is, as this blogger aptly names it, “a vomit-inducingly sexist scene involving various swooping close-ups of womens’ body parts as they gyrate.”

2. Women are objects. When Tony is shown his new car, he makes a joke about the woman standing next to the vehicle: “Does she come with the car?” In other words, women, like cars, should be sleek, good looking, fast and expendable. Tony assesses new female character Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson) using the same parameters: Her intelligence, multi-lingual skills and martial arts training don’t seem to matter; he uses Google to find her old modeling pictures. As Froley of ReelThinker notes, she is put “in her underwear just for the hell of it” and her character is no more than a “near-cameo.” This incites Froley to assume that director “Jon Favreau must be some kind of chauvinist dog, because he takes every opportunity to objectify women.”

3. Women need to have good make-up know-how. Both Stark’s assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow)and Natalie are not only beautifully made-up themselves, but also have the skills to mask Tony’s various bumps and bruises with foundation. This skill, along with their ability to take precarious, mincing steps on incredibly high heels, frames femininity as a performance that benefits males.

4. Women’s most important asset is their bodies. Even when they are in full-on battle mode, they should remain hyper-vigilant about their bodily display. They don’t get to wear “iron man” suits, but really tight body suits. What fun would it be if their boobs and butts were hidden under metal?

5. Women are petty and jealous. Make fun of their jealousy by telling them “green doesn’t look good on you,” as Tony says to Pepper when his ogling of Natalie is obviously bothering her.

6. The female body is weak. Pepper, after being saved by Tony near the end of Iron Man 2, says “I quit…My body can’t take this stress.” After two hours of watching Tony’s body take bullets, bombs, electric shocks and poisoning, we hear that poor Pepper can’t take the stress–of being a CEO for a week.

7. Women are very forgiving. Ignore her, lie to her, bring her the one food she is allergic to as a gift and make it known that you are a lifelong womanizer: None of that will matter as long as you kiss her at the right moment. Or, as Kyle Smith gleefully notes, “The Gwyneth Paltrow character is comfortable with being Tony Stark’s assistant instead of judo-chopping and blasting away at bad guys herself, in the somewhat silly manner of virtually every female lead in action movies these days.” Yes, it’s soooo silly when we act as if females want to be part of the action! As one blogger put it, “If I were Gwyneth Paltrow and I just played the role of a stiletto-heel-wearing submissive secretary cleaning up after some rich white chauvinist asshole, I’d send back my Oscar.”

Finally, the film provides lessons in racism and homophobia:

1. Tony Stark explains his desire to no longer making weapons with, “I saw Americans killed by my own weapons in Afghanistan! I can’t put it better than this blogger: “Do I even need to mention how stupid and racist it is to say that he was OK with his weapons being used to kill all those other non-Americans?” In this same vein, as noted in my earlier post, various Others are framed as “evil terrorists,” namely Middle Easterners and North Koreans.

2. Black actors are exchangeable. Swap Don Cheadle (Iron Man 2) for Terrence Howard (Iron Man 1). No one will notice.

3. Organizations which discriminate against homosexuals deserve huge donations. In the sequel, Tony donates a modern art collection, which Pepper has collected over 10 years, to the Boy Scouts of America.

Bonus note: The sexist message of the Iron Man films spills off the screen and into our fast-food culture, with Burger King offering “four lifestyle accessories for girls and four action-packed toys for boys.” Girls, get busy accessorizing! Boys, take action!

For this feminist, one thing’s certain: I won’t be stepping out in my non-high heels in order to see the sure-to-follow Iron Man 3.

100 Best Novels (Really?)

Today I checked out the 100 Best Novels list (whatever, I was watching Ellen too) to see how many I had read and if there were any I still wanted to read. As I was perusing the list I started to realize I was seeing the same names over and over again. Very few were women. I counted the books written by women and didn't have to use my toes. Out of 100 novels, only 10 were written by women. And none were by Jane Austen.


What?!


Overall, I've either read most of the books or something else by the authors represented. I did find three books to check out:

THE DEATH OF THE HEART by Elizabeth Bowen

UNDER THE NET by Iris Murdoch

THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE by Muriel Spark


Someday I'll write my own list. And instead of waiting til number 15 to include a book by a woman, the top 10 will all be by women. Or maybe I'll make a list of the top 100 books written by women and leave men out entirely. The reader's list of the top 100 (opposed to the "official" list) had 6 of the top 10 books written by the same woman: Ayn Rand. I don't actually like her writing. I purchased Atlas Shrugged years ago, read 10 pages, and accidentally left it on a bus. I didn't call lost and found. I figured someone else would have a better use for it. And though her books are considered novels, they are actually loosely veiled philosophy.

I have downloaded the ereader software from B&N, the same stuff in the Nook. I'm in a bit of a quandary. I like the experience of reading the book, and I like carrying the book w/ me (as long as I don't leave it on a bus). The portable readers are too expensive. I did purchase one book for the ereader on my computer, and it is saving room on my bookshelf. While I enjoy my mysteries, I don't necessarily need to have the physical book cluttering up my apartment. And the hardcovers are much cheaper in ebook format. I do feel strongly about supporting the publishing business, but the ebook format is actually easier for lesser known authors to break into. So there's my dilemma.

If I decide to purchase the three books off the best novel list I will probably purchase the actual book. They would be worth owning. They can join the multiple copies of Jane Austen's novels on my shelves, the ones that should have been on the list.

The Jane Austen Maids Foundation: Animal Farm

Well, spring term is over. Thank goodness. This one was pretty bad. And I never want to talk to another financial aid office. Which, unfortunately, isn't possible.

Oh well.

So I'm back in time for the first donation for May. Like I promised, it will be on behalf of all the pets I've had and animals I've known. This is the second official donation by the subsection of the Jane Austen Maids Foundation known as the Jake and Lars (etc.) Foundation. I know I wrote earlier that I was going to donate to pet rescues this month, but I can't ignore the disaster going on right now in the Gulf. It's already impacting animals. Whales suffocating as they come up for air, turtles already covered in oil. It's been a long time since I bought gas at BP, mostly because there is not one convenient to me. Thank goodness.

I looked around online and found the Louisiana Wildlife Rehabilitator Association, http://www.lawraonline.com/.  They have a fund to support local wildlife rehabilitation and maintain a list of approved wildlife rehabilitators in the area and will have a support line for found oiled wildlife.

Lars was sitting on my lap when I found the site, and I showed him the site and asked him if he wanted to donate money to help save the turtles and birds. He agreed. Thank goodness.  And thank goodness for the goodness of the people who care enough to clean oil off of animals.

A brief break

There is speculation among Jane Austen scholars as to the reason behind the hiatus between her juvenilia, the writings done while she was a teen, and her adult novels.

I have no problem giving the reasons why I will be taking a short hiatus from this blog:

it's called finals. And term papers. And trying to get the financial aid in place for fall term.

So I'll be back May 1st after spring term is over. But there is always the stuff in the archives, if you really want something to read. I recommend the Color Purple posting.

The good news is that the loans I've made on Kiva are already paying back, so after only 2 loans I'll be able to just relend the money I've already lent without putting any more money in. See you later!

the Jane Austen Maids Foundation: Animal House

I don't understand the atrocities human beings can do to animals. The animal actions/causes on change.org just break my heart. Horses being dragged for miles behind a car in Greece and the person responsible laughing about it, starving dogs in the US, poisoned dogs in Brazil, horrific conditions for dogs in puppy mill breeding situations, elephants being abused and left behind bellowing as their other elephant friends are leaving (why they weren’t all removed from the situation by the authorities is beyond me). I can only sign so many of these petitions before I have to switch to the environmental causes or turn the computer off. I feel bad enough when Lars wants to play fetch and I have to do schoolwork or when we’re hanging out on the couch and I stop petting him so he starts pawing at my hand til I pet him again.


So for the next couple of months, the donations will be from a subset (Article 23, Line A) of the Jane Austen Maids Foundation, called the Jake and Lars (and Brinna and Grant and Candy and Nilla and Magnum and the cats that were always running around the barn and my pony Bunny and my horses Whisper, Ziggy, Anna, and Nicky and all the other horses and all the cows and goats and chickens and pigs I grew up with) Foundation. Hereafter to be known as the Jake and Lars (etc.) Foundation.





For my mid month donation, I’m donating to the Center for Biological Diversity, the organization that provides most of the petitions in the things to do part of the sidebar, and who does a lot of work on behalf of endangered species. I'm donating to their polar bear fund, which will help them fight to retain endangered species protection for them. There is currently a lot of pressure from groups who want to hunt polar bears, because evidently a dead polar bear as a hunting trophy is worth about $40,000. I won't put the picture on here since the image of a man with a gun kneeling proudly over a bloody polar bear is more than I can bear.


The next two donations, the May donations, will be to animal rescue organizations not yet determined.


And stay tuned for a page from Lars: he has started following several blogs by other dogs. His favorite so far is aweinerdogblog.blogspot.com. I think it reminds him of Jake. Though he also really likes ewix2.blogspot.com, which is a blog by a dog named Buster about him and his friends.

Site Under Construction

Those of you (all two) who have been reading since that first pitiful post may have noticed a change recently. Don’t worry, you are on the same blog. I chose the original, classic Blogger template because the braid on the header looks like trim women would have used on dresses during Ms. Austen’s time. They would often switch out trim, ribbon, and lace to make an older item look new again, unless they were Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Pride and Prejudice). It’s called RECYCLING.

Anyway, though I liked the green, I was trying to minimize it and make the center larger. I wanted to make the sidebar bigger because not all the widgets I want to use will fit. After one successful try at modifying widget html code, I decided I knew how and started in on the template html code. That didn’t work, and eventually I decided that throwing something against the wall wasn’t going to help either.

But as I was attempting to modify the layout I noticed that if I clicked Next Blog on my dashboard I could look at stranger’s blogs in random order.

Wow!

That ate up some more hours. But it’s far more amusing to me than doing schoolwork, cleaning, and evidently even eating. Who knew that having a blog was a diet plan? If only it worked.

I noticed that some of the blogs had other backgrounds and other websites in the upper left corner. I started looking around online for other options. I was looking for a background that had these qualities:

1.No pink.
2.No bows.
3.No flowers.
4.Looked like it might be dress material, or have elements that could be used in clothing. I wanted to keep the header.
5.Had some green and hopefully some light blue.

One site, shabbyblogs.com, has good stuff which looks very scrapbooky. Not that this is bad, but there was plenty of pink, bows, and flowers. Even the background named after Jane Austen, which was a stack of old books and was actually kind of cool had…

drumroll, please....

- - Drumroll.mp3 Found at abmp3 search engine

a rose.

So I then found hotbliggityblogs, and after scrolling thru 21 pages of backgrounds, finally found one I can live with. I am evidently very picky. But this one has buttons and ribbons, and the colors would be appropriate for a woman to wear in Ms. Austen’s day. It’s female without being girly. I will probably be messing around with it still, so if this looks different every time you decide to check in, don’t worry. It’s the same blog, just under construction.