Jane Austen discussion

I like the new group image Jeannette has posted. I will be after that Marvel comic soon. I was still intriqued by the P&P one, even though the art was getting mixed reviews. I still like the whole idea of these comics.

We are officially into summer break here as of yesterday. I think in the South our school terms tend to run longer into the year for some reason. But here we are -- regrouping for some days off.

And how is everyone else's season going?

I am getting ready for our summer tour of the continent! (I just had to say that.) We leave on June 5 for Germany (to see the in-laws) and then tour with the Children's choir through SW Norway from June 11 to June 22. It's a busy week for me!

I am so excited for you! I'll be thinking about you the whole time. Wish I was there in your town to help you pack and feed your pets. All I can offer is a happy trip. Are the grandparents excited?

My mother-in-law started baking cookies three weeks ago! Guess that answers the question. :)

Thanks for the offer, btw. I've got some pretty helpful neighbors and all the animals survived all the surgeries this past week, so we'll be good to go.

Have an amazing time on your trip Jeannette!

Hope everyone (in the states at least) is having a fun and safe Memorial day!

Thanks, Joy! We leave on Saturday and it's just starting to sink in.....

What's on my mind today? Major primary election going on in my state today. I don't care to talk politics on our little group here, but it is stressful when you know of so many state issues and some seem spiraling out control. It is a lot of burden on a voter's mind. Best of luck and best of decision-making to anyone else who may be voting today.

So, because I love to read, but I seem to have less and less time to do so these days, I want to do an experiment and spend a year without TV. For me, TV is like a black hole that sucks time and life out of me, so why not do without it? As my hubby is on the job hunt, we will hopefully be moving to and living in a new place, which would be the perfect time to start the no TV experiment by not signing up for cable, etc. Then perhaps I could actually read all of the books that I have bought and continue to buy :)

Good for you Joy! We use our TV to watch movies, and to check the weather. We still use rabbit ears and the govt. gave us a coupon to help pay for the converter box! lol

Good luck with the job hunt, too!

Thanks! As soon as he has a job and we know where we will live I can actually start the process of applying to grad school--which I am so excited about! Even though I just finished school, I can't wait to dive back in :)

Hello everyone! I'm off to the airport today for 3 weeks in Germany and Norway! Have a safe and fun start of summer! I'll miss the chatting about Jane! :)

Jeannette wrote: "Hello everyone! I'm off to the airport today for 3 weeks in Germany and Norway! Have a safe and fun start of summer! I'll miss the chatting about Jane! :)"

Bon voyage! Travel safe and have fun!

Have fun Jeannette!!

Hope you have a great trip, Jeannette! I'll be leaving for Europe when you are coming home. We are heading to Venice, then Hungary for a wedding, then back to the Italian Lakes. Getting excited already! Hope to fit in all my reading (4 books going right now) AND brush up on my Italian before I leave :0

Jeannette wrote: "Hello everyone! I'm off to the airport today for 3 weeks in Germany and Norway! Have a safe and fun start of summer! I'll miss the chatting about Jane! :)"

Have fun on your trip, Jeannette! Hopefully, by the time you're back, I will have finished a Jane novel or two! :)

Thanks everyone! We have two more days in Germany and then on to Norway. I'll wave as we go by, Susan!

Happy reading Jess, and everyone else!

I was offline quite a bit this weekend. Plenty going on, but mainly I have a sick cat! My poor cat reacted to her yearly vaccine given on Saturday. We had to get her back in for meds to counteract things and are watching her pretty much still. She is much more normal this morning.

Stressful! I am told this is not too common, but I wonder?

:( Sorry Sarah--poor sick kitty! I don't have a cat but my dog hasn't ever reacted to vaccines. Has she reacted poorly before?

I'm so sorry about your cat. I've always had cats ~ I have three right now ~ and never have any of them reacted to their shots. My mom bred cats, so I've always been around a lot of them. I can't remember a single case.

I hope she feels better soon.

Thanks for the good wishes. It seems an odd thing as far as I know too. Looking back, we think she might have had a slight problem last year but this year was immediate and severe. She is doing pretty well now, but still seems to be a little low key.

Even though it is rare, I would say to call for advice if your pet starts having stomach upset after a shot. That was followed by redness of the skin in her case.

So glad to hear that she is doing better! There is nothing worse than having a sick cat, and I feel for you. Thanks for the advice for the future.

I found out that my library has a first edition of Mansfield Park in its rare book collection! I have to see if I can make an appointment so I can go see it :)

Ok, Joy, we probably don't live near each other, but still, CAN I GO too? Be sure to find out if there is a story behind how it wound its way to your library. I would love to hear.

I think you're a couple of hours away from Arizona :)

The information on the library's website say: "Alfred Knight, a retired business executive, willed his books and manuscripts to the library in 1958."

It would be amazing if he was related to the Knight family that adopted one of Jane's brothers! However, I feel like if he was related in some way it would have been mentioned, and it wasn't. I will hopefully be able to talk with the rare books librarian and get more information...

Yes, just a couple of hours from Arizona!

I love that idea of this Knight gentleman too. With a first name of Alfred, he sounds pretty English. If he was distantly connected with the family, he might have modestly left that part out. Let's hope to hear more!

I know, it does sound promising! I will let you know what I find out.

Just thought some of you would be interested: I just received the brochure for The Jane Austen Society of North America General Meeting which is to be held in Portland, Oregon this year. The title of this year's meeting is: Jane Austen and the Abbey: Mystery, Mayhem, and Muslin in Portland October 29th-31st. The line-up of speakers looks great, and I wish I could go, but don't want to miss out on Halloween with my son (it's a big holiday for us). I have yet to attend the yearly meeting, but I am already planning to go to the 2011 meeting in Fort Worth, Texas (200 years of Sense and Sensibility). Here is the website for this year's meeting:
http://www.jasna.org/agms/portland/sc...

If any of you are lucky enough to go, please share your experience. I, for one, would love to hear all about it!

Hello Everyone!! We are back from Norway! It was a great tour in a beautiful country. It's off to bed for me after travelling for the past 28 hours! :)

Welcome back Jeannette--glad you enjoyed your vacation!

Jeannette wrote: "Hello Everyone!! We are back from Norway! It was a great tour in a beautiful country. It's off to bed for me after travelling for the past 28 hours! :)"

Welcome home, Jeannette! Sounds like it was a marvelous trip; and you have been missed by us all!

Thanks, Joy! Thanks, Chris! I really missed all of the book chat, too! I'll be posting some pictures today or tomorrow and hopefully reading the final 2 chapters of M&C!

Whooooo -- our Jeannette is back! Good to see you and hope you had a great time. We just couldn't do without you much longer!

Thanks, Sarah! I missed you (and everyone else here), too! :)

I am in the Birmingham, Alabama, area this weekend enjoying a visit with family. I just wanted to comment that I love the Homewood area. What a beautiful area, one of those places that should be considered the pride of the South -- without sounding hokey.

Anyone else seen lovely places visiting this summer season?

My hubby and I took a day-trip to the Grand Canyon and saw some amazing sites (of course!). We drove along a 25 mile route and stopped at about 10 different look out areas along the way to see views of the canyon from all different angles. The National Parks service sure does a great job; the visitor's center has been updated and there is lots of good information and most of the lookout stops had interesting stories and facts about the history of the canyon and about the many entrepreneurs and visitors over the generations.

I am dying to escape this heat, though, and go somewhere cool!

Sarah wrote: "I am in the Birmingham, Alabama, area this weekend enjoying a visit with family. I just wanted to comment that I love the Homewood area. What a beautiful area, one of those places that should be ..."

I'm done with vacation traveling for this year. We never visited Birmingham when we lived in MS. Is it hilly there?

I would love to see the Grand Canyon, Joy. Some day my family will make it out that way. It would be different than anything we have seen before. I hear that it is hard to understand the size of it simply from looking at photos -- as I have only done.

Jeannette, Birmingham is very hilly. We are fairly hilly farther north where I am, but the city of Birmingham is built on the hills. It is a nice city - as you know this region has very few urban areas, so it nice to get to visit a city that has kind of an established urban feel and has kept some older communities together. I think a lot of areas, especially my own, have sacrificed community areas within the city and instead we have urban sprawl.

I love the new group avatar, Sarah. But, that isn't from P&P, is it?

It's Mr. Bingley. I thought he had had little attention lately.

I thought maybe this was from Return to Cranford. He is listed in the cast. Have you seen RtoC?

It is from cast photos from P&P, but I have seen him in Cranford. I believe he is only in the first Cranford, if I remember correctly. I didn't watch the second as closely as the first one, but is that right? Anyway, he was good in it.

I only saw him listed on imdb for the second. I have Cranford on my to-watch list.

Hey Jeannette, for some of the PBS shows, they have a pretty neat character list, you may be familiar. I looked up the one for Cranford. I think I like the cast better in the first one. IMDB might have them mixed up? You might enjoy a quick look even if you plan the movie sometime down the line.

Also, read the novel if you haven't. I love the novel, but just like the films.

Here's the link (of course I pay absolutely no attention to the man at the bottom of the page.)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/c...

Sarah wrote: "Hey Jeannette, for some of the PBS shows, they have a pretty neat character list, you may be familiar. I looked up the one for Cranford. I think I like the cast better in the first one. IMDB migh..."

Quite the cast -- lots of familiar faces! I suppose you are referring to Michael Gambon? ;-)

Jeannette wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Hey Jeannette, for some of the PBS shows, they have a pretty neat character list, you may be familiar. I looked up the one for Cranford. I think I like the cast better in the first o..."

Michael Gambon was at the bottom of the page? Oh, right, sure, of course, now that you mention it.. haha

:)

I just wanted to say that joining this group has not shortened the length of my books to read list!

Susan wrote: "I just wanted to say that joining this group has not shortened the length of my books to read list!"

It also seems to lengthen the Wist Lists on certain vendor sites (Amazon and B&N - cough cough). So I have taken to dividing my wish lists up by genre and then I only have 6 lists or so (with tons of titles in each - quiet you!). Ah to win the lottery.....

I think I somehow deleted Persuasion from the group! I thought I was in my list and I have a different version. Sorry.

We have restored Persuasion and all is well. Enjoy reading and see you soon in the discussion!