So it is Memorial Day

And, I managed to go to a picnic this year! Yes, most years I sit home alone from work. Twiddling my thumbs. Ok, maybe not really that bad. But, rare are the occasions when I get out to celebrate with the public at large. So, that was nice.

Did you ever have crushes on historical figures? My love for TJ is still going strong (that's Thomas Jefferson to the uninitiated). But, how could it be unabated when he is a ginger boy? I love ginger boys. Even though I was a tiny bit disappointed when I was handling a lock of his hair at a museum I worked at and discovered it wasn't as red as I hoped. Granted, it was two hundred years old and the lights probably weren't the best for catching red highlights. It still amazes me, however, that I was able to touch his hair. What a man!

My first historical crush, however, happened to be on a sweet-looking Confederate soldier named Edwin Francis Jemison. Apparently, I'm not the only one (so that's good, right?). He also in looks reminded me of my first ever crush on a boy my age. (He was our French exchange student and was here and gone before I knew it.) I recently came face-to-face with Edwin while visiting the National Museum of American History in DC. There was his face plastered to the entrance of the "Americans at War" exhibit (or whatever it is really called). Sadly, however, there was no label to identify him once you got in the exhibit and came across another picture of him. He was just some random "Young Confederate soldier". At least I knew.

I will say that they make the best case for peace in that part of the exhibit where they talk about injuries to soldiers. The back wall of the display case is covered with pictures of wounded soldiers. It is quite horrifying and serves as a chilling reminder that not just the dead are the victims of war.

Argh, there's a poem I wish to find, but I seem to have misplaced the cd it is on. Ah, here it is. It is taken from a newspaper that a soldier sent home to his wife during WWII (he was stationed in Italy, she lived in Florida with their baby son).

Far out in the Mediterranean
Many miles from either shore
There's a bomber crew that's sleeping
Neath the mighty waters roar.
No mounds of clay are heaped up oer them
No poppies grow round their graves
But there's a mound for every soldier
In the vastness of the waves.

The rest is silence.

Museum Going

I love to go to museums and it's not always to be awe-inspired by art although I often am. I love to go to museums to learn things and to watch how people react to what they are seeing. There's the staring at a painting until your eyes pop out. There's the classic: step back, sigh and nod. There's the speed through. There's the slow motion crawl through. There's the "I'm here because my parents made me come." And then there's me: turn it into a game.

I always make museum going a game. Sometimes I'm annoying (I correct tour guides, but really if I know they are wrong and I'm just visiting they should know they are wrong because it's their job). Sometimes I'm disruptive. I play games like The Renaissance Baby Jesus Game where I make Renaissance Baby Jesus talk and say things like "Mother, I'm fagged. Fetch me a glass of wine." I do this because Renaissance Baby Jesus can do some many things a real baby can't do. Believe it or not I actually know quite a bit about Renaissance art because of this game. I even came to love people like Fra Angelico and Botticelli.

What do you do in museums?

What makes you chose to go to a museum?

What's your favorite museum?

Mine is the Frick, but I love the Whistlers and Vermeers and Gainsboroughs and I could go on, but I'll stop.

A Little Healthy Competition

I may not seem like it because I'm athletically challenged, but I am a HUGE competitor. I am constantly comparing my achievements to the achievements of others. Which let's face it, really isn't healthy.

I look at my friends and think "wow they've published a book already." I haven't done that. Then I remind myself I edited a book, but it's really not the same thing.

I think what I am learning is that you can't necessarily judge yourself by what other have accomplished. Some people accomplish things later in life. But more importantly I need to learn that not all accomplishments that society thinks are important are really important.

Granted to see your name in print is quite fetching and has a quality about it. But I would argue that there are more important things in life. To be honest for the longest time I have had one goal and I don't know if I accomplished it yet, but I'm thinking this summer I might.

When I was a sophomore in college my life sort of fell apart. Well my academic life. I no longer wanted to be an English major. I was in a Persuasion and Propaganda class, which was one of my favorite college classes, and I was crying my eyes out. I had just been taken down a notch by my favorite English professor and then went to my next class. My professor was AMAZING...at least the Propaganda one. She said "Next class we have a test. Here is the study guide. You can leave. Jane, will you please stay."

She asked me what was wrong. I told her about my English failures and she asked me what I wanted to do for a living. I said I wanted to plan the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. She got her college handbook and we looked through it to decide what I should major in to reach that goal. We decided on business communication and marketing...a double major.

I left feeling better and more optimistic. Then I had to go to my scary English professor and schedule new classes. I told her I'd changed my major and she said she wouldn't schedule me because I was no longer an English major. I was once again distraught. I had classes to sign up to take. I had a schedule to follow since I was studying abroad in two years. So I called up my Propaganda professor and said "I need an advisor" and I became her first advisee at the college.

For the rest of my time at school my Propaganda professor, let's call her DW, was probably the most influential person in my life. She guided me and helped me through college...I wasn't struggling academically, but I'm the type of person who needs a mentor. And to this day she is a good friend and sounding board.

And that's what I really want in life. I want to be someone's DW. And this summer I think I might have that chance, which let's face it, is pretty cool.

Should I or shouldn't I?

I need some friends who do not think education is a waste of time to convince me not to go back to school for another master's and a PhD. I would like to. I would REALLY like to. And my GRE is good for another two years. But I should probably work long enough to have some retirement funds, right? Or I could just go back to school and stay until I die?

I found a program that I am really interested in. I have sent an email to the "contact" person for questions... and heard nothing. Perhaps I should just give up... instead, I want to email the professor who I think might have coinciding interests. But I am terrified of sounding stupid! I do not feel like I am quite articulate enough to describe my interests. Or, what if he is interested and I end up in the program but am not smart enough to earn a PhD...

If you cannot tell, the one thing I have always wished I could change about myself is my lack of confidence. And that is the one thing I know without a doubt I would need in order to complete a PhD. So, what do you think? Any ideas? Suggestions? Warnings? Talk me out of it. Or into it, if that is the way you think I should go...

I love a brooding man.

Recently, I have somehow cast myself as Jane in my very own personal production of Jane Eyre. No, not the musical, not the book, just my life. However, I find myself fortunate that I don't have a St John popping up yet. To be told that I was made for marriage and not love? Does that really win men points. That said, that became the second worst proposal I've heard in my musical theatre going career. The new top worst proposal was where one character informed the other that they were going to be married, and to seal the deal, he was going to rape her, and oh yes, by the way, he was going to sleep around with other women after they marry and she was going to like it.

Looking at that, I would take St. John hands down!

But, here's a brooding Rochester for you. A bit of stick figure fan art I created years ago based on Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair. I really need to get cracking on my Les Miserables/Field of Dreams cross-over, don't I? "If you build it, they will come..."

Stuck in a Moment

Lately I have been stuck in a moment. I lost sight of what I should be doing and was instead following another path.

But I finally shook out of that moment. I got myself unstuck so to speak although it did require some tears on my part. It's amazing how quickly we can lose sight of what really matters.

What about you? Have you been stuck in a moment?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykIj190mJek

Wicked women of the theatre.

Well, it has to be Monday somewhere. Just blew in from a free theatre event at the Shakespeare Theatre in DC. I love their free readings! They usually get some fun talent in and put on little produced plays. Which makes sense considering it is called their "Rediscovery Series". Today's selection was based on a true crime and was the first "domestic tragedy" of it's time. It's authorship is unknown (though rumors about about it being by Shakespeare, Marlowe, or Kyd). It is Arden of Faversham or The Lamentable and True Tragedie of M. Arden of Feversham in Kent. Who was most wickedly murdered by the meanes of his disloyall and wanton wyfe, who for the love she bare to one Mosbie, hyred two desperat ruffins Blackwill and Shakbag, to kill him.... I love how in those old stories, you could get the whole synopsis in the title.

However, this was not a straightforward killing. No, the "ruffins" were of the very bumbling sort and couldn't get the job done. The first attempt had an apprentice bookstore keeper slamming the stall door on Black Will's head, thus rendering him incapable of running through Arden with his sword. And it continued on. So much so that you would have thought they would have been smart enough to give up. But preserve they did, and it all led to everyone's deaths. Because of course they had to end up killing Arden right before a large dinner party at the Arden's house, but they killed him at the house and attempted to ditch the body behind the Abbey right when the snow storm ended so there was a clear path to their door. Idiots. So, the wife and her two servants were killed as traitors (the two females burned and the male servant hung, drawn, and quartered) while the lover and all the other conspirators were hung (except for Black Will who was burned as well). What a fun ending!

So, as you can see, two of my favorite things are books and theatre. So why not combine them? If ever I should be in Buenos Aires, I will have to look up the El Ateneo bookstore. It is housed inside an old theatre that was turned into a movie theatre which in 2000 was converted into a bookstore. How fabulous is that? And, you can eat on the stage because that is where they have the cafe!

Chasing Vermeer

I would love to chase Vermeer. In fact I have once when I was in the Louvre and the wing that had the Vermeers was locked. I shook the gate much to the chagrin of the guards. While I was in London at Victoria Station waiting for a train to Waterloo Station would which take me to Paris, I purchased Girl with a Pearl Earring. It was a good read, but I have found another book which I adore even more.

Blue Balliett is a children's author and she writes the most wonderful art adventure books ever. Her first Chasing Vermeer teaches children that it's okay to enjoy art and math and music and everything else. It's wonderful and I highly suggest that people read it young and old alike.

What children's book have you discovered recently that made you smile?

Superficial

Recently I sat in a work related meeting listening to two men talk about how they wouldn't eat cheese until they had made their goal weight. I could barely contain my rolling eyes. Why? Because I have had it up to HERE with the superficialness of the United States.

I watch TV and see commercials to make my hair a better color, my ass tighter (yes, Jane Austen just typed the word "ass"), to get rid of my unseemly stretchmarks, to make me thinner and who knows what else.

Why must we be so obsessed with changing ourselves? Why aren't we good enough? And if we get "good enough" is it really good enough for anyone?

I'm reading Mary Balogh's Slightly series and it makes me laugh that all her heroes and heroines have straight, even, white teeth. Why do I laugh? Because back in Regency times people didn't really care about straight, even, white teeth. That's something that we care about today.

I suppose I am mostly fired up about this for personal reasons. Reasons that I will now share with you and you can see a bit into the person who makes up Jane Austen. I have had a string of boyfriends, most of who I thought were good men and I was fooled, that have not been pleased with how I look. I have been told that I was too fat even when I weighed 123 pounds and stood at 5 foot 9 inches. I have been told that I didn't dress conservatively enough. That I had too much of an opinion for a Republican politician's girlfriend. That I dress too conservatively and couldn't I show off my features more even though I was fat at the time. Apparently everything about me is just wrong. Except for perhaps my eyes, which are quite remarkable. I remember one ex-boyfriend after having seen me after some time remarked "You still have amazing eyes". Well duh. My eyes don't change. They are the only pair I have. Then he proceeded to send me an e-mail saying (since I'm not exactly the thinnest woman in the world now....I am plus-sized) that he hoped one day my outerbody could be as beautiful as my innerbody.

Dear Lord! Help me now. I may not be thin and I don't care. I am sick and tired of being judged on my appearance. I am tired of people looking at me and saying I don't do this and I don't have this and my whatever just isn't enough. Because honestly I'm witty; I'm smart (I have a master's degree and am working on a second one in a very selective program (they accept 12 people nationally a year and I am one of those 12)); I have great eyes and a $10,000 smile; I'm kind and caring and thoughtful; I make people laugh because I'm funny and punny. I have a lot of great things going for me, but no one can see that.

Why can't they see that? Because America is superficial and all we do day in and day out is tell people they aren't good enough.

Well I say screw it! I'm good enough just the way I am. And that's my final offer.

The gods are among us...

Lately I have been enjoying the resurgence of books featuring the Olympian gods. For those of us lapsed Classicists, this is a joyous trend. I enjoyed the first couple of books in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, but then after seeing the movie (horrifying for anybody who actually READ the book), I could not make myself read Book 3. I will get back to it soon. It is refreshing to see the Greek gods making an appearance in Youth books. I have some young friends (9 & 11) who are very enthusiastic about the ancient greek world. It is nice to have some literature to share with them. Even if Riordan took a lot of artistic license when writing them. It is nice to see young people who are able to pick out the inconsistencies and are annoyed by them! And I have someone to share my love of the ancient world with.

I was in our local book shop (a wonderful place!) last week and found an interesting book. It is called The Infinities by John Banville. I have not read anything of his before and am really looking forward to it. I have only just started it, but it is the story of a dying old man, his wife, and children as they experience the deathbed. It is told by Hermes, the narrator, and includes Zeus– doing as Zeus does with mortal women– and Pan, disguised as an "old, unwelcome acquaintance." It brings to mind one of my favorite authors, Homer. It is the story of mortals. And, of course, the immortal interlopers who cannot seem to refrain from meddling in the lives of mortals. Since I have only made it to page 14, I am as yet unable to judge the book. So far, the writing is good and entertaining. It is reminiscent of Homer's epic poems, complete with a glowing dawn in the first few pages of the book. I cannot wait to see what else it holds in store for me, for it seems to be the kind of story the greeks would have told about themselves and the gods among them.

Just as Jane reads adaptations of her books, I enjoy different translations and adaptations of Homer's stories. I love to see that after thousands of years people are still enthralled by the gods and the stories. I recently started, but have not finished, the Iliad and the Odyssey - a biography by Alberto Manguel, who I think writes absolutely beautifully. He tells the story of Homer through the millenia, how we mere mortals have changed and adapted the stories and the man to suit our time and place in the world.

I am very pleased that the ancient greeks are still alive and well in our little corner of the world. Perhaps it will motivate me to find some of the Homeric hymns in greek and do a bit of "light reading" this summer. Camping with Homer.....

Do you have a favorite author whom you enjoy reading in multiple translations or adaptations? I am curious what your biblio-obsessions are!

Brontesaurus!!!!!

Today I signed up for MotherReader's 48 hour book challenge. So excited about it, even if a friend of mine wants to take me out drinking in honor of barricade day that same weekend. I'm planning on barricading my door if that is the case, because I'm going to see if I can go two years in a row non-stop! Last year, I was a co-winner, staying up and reading for all 48 hours. It was a challenge, but think of the glory! We'll see.

I'm lacking in thoughts tonight, so you will just have to deal with this Youtube video. We've all seen the action figures of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and even Nancy Pearl. So why not the Bronte sisters?

Here's our turn!



I don't know, are the Bronte sisters better than Voltron that old 80s favorite toy of mine? Maybe they should have a fight to the death.

Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Recently there have been several articles about how I, Jane Austen, now rule the world. What a strange sort of time this has become when a daughter of a reverend can become one of the most powerful women in the publishing industry. And I do it all while dead...even more impressive.

Who would have thought that six novels would touch so many people? But what's really behind the JA love? It basically started with the BBC Pride & Prejudice mini-series where Colin Firth emerged from a lake and caused millions of female hearts to stop beating. Thus began the JA love. Now there are scores of books that take on my characters and even me. At times I'm just a side character and at other times I'm a vampire slayer.

The one thing that surprises me is how many people take on my characters in an act of love shall we say and then don't hold true to them. It's like Dorothy said: sometimes authors forget pieces. Like when one author has Lizzie saying she had known Charlotte Lucas a little. A little? They were good friends.

So how many people are actually taking on JA's characters because they love them and want to see what happens next. And how many people simply want to cash in on my fame?

It's a tough call. What are the worst and best works based on my novels that you've read?

For me: Best: Melissa Nathan's Persuading Annie
Worst: Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Elizabeth Berdoll

A fine line between love and hate... or entertaining and annoying?!

Last week a friend of mine started lending me a series of books I had not read. I had actually never had any desire to read them, as they are about vampires and I think vampires are just too trendy for my taste. I must read to the beat of a different drummer! So, the series is Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books. The ones the HBO series Trueblood is (loosely) based on. I actually had a conversation at work today with somebody who watches the show but has not read the books. But that is another story for another day...

Back to the topic at hand. Probably, one is not supposed to read seven books in a series back to back in a week. For, as I found out, Ms. Harris is not such an expert on her own characters, plots, et cetera. Perhaps, most authors get the odd fact wrong now and then. And, perhaps, they are not noticeable when you read books as they come out once a year or so. But these errors are making me crazy! How hard is it to remember a husband's name is Ralph, not Micah? Or the name of the cult is the Fellowship of the Sun, not the Brotherhood of the Sun? Come on! Is that not what you get paid to do? Write books? If you do not want to keep up with a series, do not write them!

So, at what point is enough enough? Or too much? I want to just stop reading them. But would she know? Nope! I did not buy them, I borrowed them, so I cannot take them back for a refund. And now I have become vested in the characters! I want to know which guy she ends up with! The one I adore? Or the one who annoys me? When do I say, "I have had enough!"

Obviously not yet. I just cannot stop. I finished the seventh book last evening and just had to have the next one. I even tried looking online to see if the library had a digital copy I could checkout online. (It was out, I had to place a hold!) But, lo and behold, my wonderful friend brought me the next two at work today! So, there I was this afternoon bringing books INTO the library!

What do you think? Is it worth it to stop reading when authors annoy you? I admit, I am not an author and I bet I would not do a better job. But I would try, since it is such a pet peeve of mine. And authors are supposed to be perfect, are they not? That is what I always thought! I guess I would get a little peace of mind by not reading any more errors, but would that be worth the loss of enjoyment I get from them? I just do not know!

Back to the book!

When she danced...

Ah, ballet. I love you, and yet sometimes I hate you. We are in our final month of practice for our spring performance of The Nutcracker. Yes, The Nutcracker in the spring. That was an annual tradition around Christmastime at my old dance studio (back when I was young). Now that I'm twenty-nine and dancing with people half my age (seriously), I have to wonder when I should hang up my pointe shoes and retire. Ballet actually was something I started doing again just a couple of years ago, and this year I added pointe. Maybe it was a mistake, but, I always loved it back when I was younger.

But, we finished learning our Waltz of the Flowers dance and received our costumes for it today! My is purple, and would probably look good on a slender, undeveloped teenager. Not so good on me. But that's life, isn't it?

Way back when, I found a used copy of Noel Streatfeild's Dancing Shoes at a library's book sale. It became tradition to read it every summer. It was, in some odd way, my beach read. But, I stopped that tradition sometime when I was in college. I was babysitting my cousins down in New Jersey and I always ran out of time. Now I look at it and every time I have the urge to read it, I reflect that it is not the right season. Do you have any seasonal books?

That said, I was just watching the new Emma mini-series with some friends and now I'm lusting after a red/pinkish military style pelisse. I wish I could find someone to make it for me!

A Long and Windy Road

Recently I made a pretty huge decision: I'm going back to grad school for a second masters degree. I had felt that my past education choices were the wrong choices. I wished that someone had told me when I was a junior that I could run a museum and here was the education path I needed to do that. But I thought that normal people like me couldn't run museums. So I went to school and decided I'd plan the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade instead. Then when I graduated and realized I didn't want to do that I changed directions and went on to get a master's in library science. But secretly I still wanted to run a museum. I made some other choices and took some other roads and then I applied for the master of arts in arts administration at Goucher College. I was accepted and I knew that this was the way to go. I e-mailed a good friend of mine in the museum world (I had been considering studying under him at Florida State for a Ph. D.) and he said I made an excellent choice. That my combination of the MLIS and MAAA would be unstoppable and open me up for a variety of jobs in the cultural heritage organizations.

So it was a long and windy road and will last three more years since my master's is a three year master's degree, but it was a good road and I wouldn't change a thing.

What about you? Are there decisions you've made that you thought were not the right ones, but then turned out to be correct?

What's your dream job?