Defying Fortune

All The Young Dudes

((The Music))
Today was a hard day to pick a song. There are some many good ones out at the moment. Plus, I've been watching movies and running after a nine y.o. all day so what song do you pick to go with that? So, in honor of the championship still in dispute with my lovely niece knitting away in the next room, I picked the famous tune by Mott the Hoople. More of an irony really. Went with something classic...where you can't understand anything of what they're really saying until the chorus. Best type of song.

((The Life))
Everyone makes little traditions for themselves. You throw salt over your shoulder at a restaurant. Yell at the top of your lungs whenever you go to that one ball game in the summer. Reread your favorite book at least once a year. We probably don't think about it much, but these are the little things that keep us going.

For me - it is Jane Austen.

I feel in love with Jane Austen when my mom read to me "Sense and Sensibility" when I was a little girl. Since then I've had to replace old hardbacks where the spine disappeared after years of abuse. I've almost all television/movie productions of each of the books. Spin-offs as well. She is by far one of my favorite authors of all time.

There is a certain level of wit and charm of love about her heroines. They're aren't perfect by the stretch, but what is flawed about their character is more than made up for in intellect and instinct. When I read the books I can't help but fall into the story with the characters.They come to life right off the page. It's like chocolate without the empty calories.

I've been have a "Jane Austen" day. I broke out the dvds and have been playing them in the background while hanging out with my niece, R. She's actually more of a gentle western movie girl than an Austen fan. We meet in the middle and watch "Little Women" often. And Tim Burton movies. Weird, we are. But, back to the point, being surrounded by Austen at least once each winter is a necessity. It's a small creature comfort I enjoy deeply.

In honor of this auspicious day I've adopted one of my favorite Austen novels, Mansfield Park. It fits me to a T.

"Run mad as often as you choose, but do not faint."