Home of a self-professed coffee-addicted bibliophile!

Came upon the story of the Hellfire Club in a book I was reading, and googled it so I could post a link on here. I think Philip, Duke of Wharton is my new hero...

I'm so excited! The wife of one of my father's colleagues makes beautiful cards out of vintage French postcards in her spare time, and I recently ordered a batch. I figured I'd frame the pictures, and use them as decorations. Well, I received my cards today and they're absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! You should check out the cards she has in stock on her  website. These are the cards I picked out...

And these are the two cards Jennifer kindly included in the package...

YAAAAAY! I'm officially going to visit Stuart in Knoxville! The flight's all booked, and since I've never been to the South before, I'm sure you can understand how excited I am to explore a part of the country I've never seen before. I warned Stuart that I'll be spending an afternoon browsing in his family's library (Yippee!!). We're also planning on hiking the perimeter of his family's farm, which is a whopping 1,000 acres. I'm feeling ambitious. No doubt about 2 miles in I'm going to be bemoaning the humidity and ungodly high temperatures. Still... I'M GOING TO HAVE AN ADVENTURE!!

Also, I talked to Alex a couple days ago, and she asked me to go to PrideFest with her down in Denver. Being that I'm a proud ally, I immediately agreed to go. As I was searching the internet looking for additional information about PrideFest activities, I stumbled upon this quote? suggestion?, and decided to post it.

"Observe a moment of silence each day to remember human beings around the world whose human rights are violated by governments that are supposed to protect them."

Someone emailed this comic to me, and seeing as how it was drawn in response to the novel Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife (see previous entry), I figured I'd post it on here. This artist is my hero.

In case you missed my previous entry, this comic says everything you'll ever need to know about the book...

And also... I can't see Colin Firth ripping the buttons off his shirt in an attempt to show off his rugged physique. Matthew McFadyen, on the other hand...

Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife Comic

Being that I recently read/re-read Jane Austen's novels, I thought I should take a moment to reflect. May I just say that it really IS true that if you've read one you've read them all. Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, even Persuasion and Mansfield Park are barely distinguishable from one another.To be fair, the novels do have one (or occasionally two) themes that set them apart from one another, but aside from that it's pretty... monotonous and beige. If you're curious what those different themes are, you need look no further than the titles of the novels. Perhaps Austen's only truly unique novel is Northanger Abbey. With that one exception, though, the plot lines are all the same -- girl meets boy, boy and/or girl's got a bit of an attitude problem, social mores dictate they can never be together, boy and girl stick it to The Man, and live happily ever after. The end. If only. It would seem that some genius out there took it into her head to write a follow-up to Pride and Prejudice. A source (who shall remain anonymous for fear s/he may be judged for being familiar with this particular book) sent me a link that contains the text from the first couple pages of Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife. I got through about a page and a half before I wanted to weep. Now, just because I'm not a big Austen fan doesn't mean I don't respect her as an artist. So who the hell would turn the follow-up to Pride and Prejudice into erotica?! "Connubial pleasures?" Seriously? No, really, SERIOUSLY?! And if my sources are to be believed, there are numerous references to Mr. Darcy's... how do I put this delicately?... virile manliness scattered throughout the book.

I feel dirty. Dirty, and used.

And since you'll certainly need something to cheer you up after you read the literary masterpiece that is Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, (a drink, a sedative, a gun) I've included a little something else to bring a smile to that long face you're sporting right about now.

JaneAusten

A friend emailed this to me, and I thought I should post it on here for those of you who are, or will be in grad school!

You know, it always amazes me how friendly and welcoming people can be. During my week-long visit to Seattle, I was fortunate enough to meet some truly wonderful individuals.

I befriended a girl named Litney at Pike Place. We bonded with a group of incredibly talented street musicians, so it was only appropriate for us to exchange contact info.

Also at Pike Place, I met a woman named Stacey -- a purse-maker who is, unsurprisingly, my new best friend. In fact, she emailed me to see if I'd be interested in going to see New Kids on the Block (LOL!!) at the Tacoma Dome at the end of November. (Hear that Stuart? You're off the hook)

On the ferry boat back from Bainbridge Island I met a girl named Maggie. I muttered to myself how the mountains looked like a Bob Ross painting, which she overheard. After a hilarious conversation about "happy little trees," we started talking about Seattle. She was quite the character. A bohemian, artsy type, she was on her way to see Amma (aka The Hugging Saint) in Tacoma. She lives in Bainbridge, and works as a gardener. I received an email from her last night. I'm under strict orders to contact her as soon as I get to Seattle for a guided tour of the city.

As I was walking on the beach, I managed to trip over a ridiculously large dog (I think it was part bear or something) that belonged to a lovely older couple. She was a Colombian, and he was an American. As I perched on a piece of driftwood, they told me the story of how they met and fell in love in Italy. It would seem that every Tuesday Sofia has tea with a big group of friends at a little coffee shop in Edmonds, and she very kindly invited me to join them once I'm all settled in.

I've been meaning to post this on here for a while, but never got around to it.

I love my parents. Really, I do. But I'm pretty sure that moving back home until I leave for school in August was the WORST IDEA EVER. After being away for 4.5 years, I came home to find that very little had changed. My mother and I still bicker, and my father (bless his heart) is still utterly unreasonable when it comes to men. More specifically, ME and men. Now, I'm willing to overlook that because I know he's just worried about me -- nevermind the fact that I'm quite capable of handling guy problems on my own (and by on my own I mean with the help of my trusty girlfriends... but I digress). What is NOT acceptable is that my father STILL eats all the damn food in the house. When he ate all the bananas, I forgave him. When he ate all the grapes... it meant war. I emailed him the letter you see below. I have yet to hear back from him with an official apology, BUT I'm happy to announce that he's been behaving much better of late.

What are the goofy nicknames you have for your pet? Bonus points for sharing a picture of him/her.
Submitted by Papi Chulo.

Gabby has many, many nicknames. Below you'll find a list. =)

Gabbers... because she's so chatty.
Fat Cat... which is pretty self-explanatory, and utterly misleading.
Gabbyrella... as in Gabby + Cinderella.
Gabbro... as in the igneous rock, WHICH LED TO...
Mafic Kitty... because mafic rocks are composed of ferromagnesian minerals, which are what make mafic rocks dark in color, and Gabby's, well, dark in color... like Gabbro...(leave me alone... I remember useless things).
The Gabster... because she's just that hardcore
Demon Cat, Hell Spawn, etc... because she can be a bit, erm, precocious.

The Ferocious Beast