200 Years of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice has been a bestseller now for 200 years as of this week. The book stands the test of time because it is enriched with motifs enough for ten such novels: likable characters, humorous or irritating caricatures, a villainous wolf in sheep's clothing, a good man who seems unforgivably rude and snobby, a heroine who comes of age as she falls in love, class differences, family devotion, rags to riches, despair turning to hope, a wealth of witty puns, and that old standby, the happy ending.



It has been the inspiration of countless other books, plays and movies, including You've Got Mail (author Nora Ephron was a Jane-ite) and Bridget Jones Diary.

From the BBC

As well as the BBC's 1995 TV version, starring Colin Firth as Darcy and Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth, Pride and Prejudice was rejuvenated on the big screen in 2005 in Joe Wright's film starring Matthew McFadyen and Keira Knightley. It took more than £76 million at the global box office.

Firth revisited the Darcy persona in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), which was loosely based on the Austen story. Meanwhile, Gurinder Chadha's 2004 film Bride And Prejudice gave it a Bollywood-style spin.

. . . "Adaptation is interesting because it is always responding to the original novel and the way that we understand things now," she adds. When Colin Firth's Mr Darcy emerged from the lake in the BBC TV adaptation it was a moment that highlighted the way that adaptation was made for female viewers, says Dr Cobb.

"It's a moment that's become so well known. Colin Firth as Darcy is clearly meant to be looked at and admired by female viewers, and that is played out in Bridget Jones. It's become a post-modern joke by the time of the ITV series Lost in Austen."

If you finish the books and wear out the DVDs, you can move on to sequels and prequels.
Check out the fantastic fansite Republic of Pemberly.
Jane Austen Information Page
Everything about Pride and Prejudice Bits of Ivory Fan Fiction

Hmmm, I think I need to watch Mr. Darcy jumping into the lake again. :)

A Great Writer ~ Martin Luther King

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia,
the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners
will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.
– Martin Luther King, "I Have a Dream"


Today we celebrated the legacy of the late Reverend Martin Luther King, even more meaningful this year because it was also the second Presidential Inauguration Day for Barack Obama. Yes, a black man was elected President not once, but twice. And the crowds cheered on the Mall in Washington D.C., as they did for Rev. King when he delivered his "I Have a Dream Speech" fifty years ago this year.

Martin Luther King Quotes on Goodreads

Text of Martin Luther King's Speeches with Audio and some Video

That historic "I Have a Dream" speech is a beautifully illustrated book for children by Kadir Nelson:


Random House Children's Books (RandomHouse.com/Kids) announces the publication of the highly anticipated picture book, I HAVE A DREAM, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s celebrated speech illustrated with exquisite paintings by celebrated artist and Caldecott Honor winner Kadir Nelson (On sale October 9, 2012 / $18.99). Published by the Schwartz & Wade Books imprint, the package includes an audio CD of King's original speech as given on August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington.

"My father's dream continues to live on from generation to generation," said Dr. Bernice A. King. "This beautiful and powerful illustrated edition of his world-changing "I Have a Dream" speech brings his inspiring message of freedom, equality, and peace to the youngest among us-those who will one day carry his dream forward for everyone."

Nelson's oil paintings magnificently capture the power and emotion of Dr. King's words, resulting in a poignant depiction of that memorable occasion.

Publishers Weekly raves in a starred review, "There's something exhilarating about viewing Nelson's paintings of Dr. King and the March on Washington while reading the words of the speech King gave that day; it's hard to imagine a better representation of their historical significance."

Nelson selected the most iconic passage of Dr. King's speech to illustrate in I HAVE A DREAM. The full text is provided at the end of the book.

I HAVE A DREAM will join Dr. King's legacy and help lay the groundwork for teaching a new generation of young children about one of our nation's most celebrated historical figures.

As we approach the 50th anniversary of MLK JR.'s iconic speech on August 28, 2013, I HAVE A DREAM will be part of conversations throughout 2013 at multiple milestones leading up to it, including King's birthday in January; Black History Month in February and the Letter from Birmingham Jail anniversary in April.

Random House will simultaneously release a Read & Listen ebook edition that gives readers the unique experience of listening to Dr. King's inspiring voice while reading along and following Nelson's exquisite illustrations.

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was a clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the American civil rights movement. In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Prize for his work to end racial segregation and discrimination through nonviolent means.

Please visit www.thekingcenter.org for more about Dr. King, his work and life.

KADIR NELSON is the acclaimed illustrator of Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom and Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad, both Caldecott Honor books. His other titles include We Are the Ship, a Robert F. Sibert Medal winner and Coretta Scott King Award recipient, and Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African-Americans.

Too Modern for Me ~ A Library Without Books?

The first "library without books" has opened in San Antonio, Texas. Maybe the time has come for such a place, with so many people preferring homes without dusty bookshelves and their heart's desire on a Kindle Reader, but this story actually fills my heart with a sad autumnal longing for the old days. It worries me that libraries could actually become obsolete, or merely jobbers and distributors for eBook or textbook companies.

I'm not sure most people want that yet, or ever. Even the generation of my children grew up hugging their favorite Harry Potter or Narnia book. Will school bookfairs become obsolete as well? Oh, I hope not.

At my age, I'm doomed to be old-fashioned.

Via SmartPlanet

Bexar County, Texas is set to open the first bookless public library system in the United States. And, yes, it’s an actual brick and mortar library — or series of libraries throughout the county — without physical books, called BiblioTech.

“If you want to get an idea what it looks like, go into an Apple store,” Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff told The San Antonio Express.


In addition to the tech-heavy library, residents will be able to check out e-readers for two weeks, after which the device is unusable. Residents with e-readers can remotely access the library’s collection. The first location is scheduled to open this summer.

“[I]t should not be seen as a replacement to the traditional library,” Judge Wolff said in a statement. “It is an enhancement to the current system to which all County residents have access. The ever changing landscape of technology means that literacy is no longer about picking up a physical book and being able to comprehend the words; technology is changing the way we read, learn and thrive as citizens of the 21st Century.”

From Texas Monthly

Bexar County is not the first district that has tried to ditch books. The Tuscon-Pima Public Library system in Arizona opened a book-free branch in 2002, aiming to bring computer access to an area in need. However, after six years, the community demanded books and was granted its request. Two years ago, Newport, California pondered a bookless library that would serve as a community center and still offer books through a Netflix-esque system, but the plan was quickly quashed by public outcry.
Academic libraries have met more success. Nearby University of Texas at San Antonio has had an entirely digital library since 2010, and “the students love it,” according to Library Dean Krisellen Maloney.
In addition to the protest of physical book-lovers, an obstacle to the project is copyright technicalities. Major publishers, such as Penguin, have been hesitant to electronically partner with libraries, PCWorld notes. In 2011, Penguin pulled its e-books from libraries for security reasons. 

Poets of the Presidential Inauguration

For his second Inauguration Ceremony which happens next Monday, January 21, President Obama has chosen the first gay Latino poet to read his work.

From Huffington Post

Richard Blanco -- he's a son of Miami: high school at Columbus, bachelor's and master's from FIU, the first Cuban-American and also the first gay man to be chosen for such an honor. In fact, Blanco is only the fifth poet EVER to take part in a president's inaugural ceremony. The first was Robert Frost (Kennedy, 1961), then Maya Angelou (Clinton, 1993), Miller Williams (Clinton, 1997), Elizabeth Alexander (Obama, 2009) and now Mr. Blanco. What an incredible honor to compose an original poem for the whole world to hear -- wow -- think about that for a sec, and he hails from Miami.

Poet Richard Blanco, son of a Cuban Exile from Miami, FL, made history today by becoming both the first Hispanic and openly gay man to read at a Presidential Inauguration.

"One Today"

One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores,
peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces
of the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truth
across the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies.
One light, waking up rooftops, under each one, a story
told by our silent gestures moving behind windows.

My face, your face, millions of faces in morning's mirrors,
each one yawning to life, crescendoing into our day:
pencil-yellow school buses, the rhythm of traffic lights,
fruit stands: apples, limes, and oranges arrayed like rainbows
begging our praise. Silver trucks heavy with oil or paper—
bricks or milk, teeming over highways alongside us,
on our way to clean tables, read ledgers, or save lives—
to teach geometry, or ring-up groceries as my mother did
for twenty years, so I could write this poem.

All of us as vital as the one light we move through,
the same light on blackboards with lessons for the day:
equations to solve, history to question, or atoms imagined,
the "I have a dream" we keep dreaming,
or the impossible vocabulary of sorrow that won't explain
the empty desks of twenty children marked absent
today, and forever. Many prayers, but one light
breathing color into stained glass windows,
life into the faces of bronze statues, warmth
onto the steps of our museums and park benches
as mothers watch children slide into the day.

One ground. Our ground, rooting us to every stalk
of corn, every head of wheat sown by sweat
and hands, hands gleaning coal or planting windmills
in deserts and hilltops that keep us warm, hands
digging trenches, routing pipes and cables, hands
as worn as my father's cutting sugarcane
so my brother and I could have books and shoes.

The dust of farms and deserts, cities and plains
mingled by one wind—our breath. Breathe. Hear it
through the day's gorgeous din of honking cabs,
buses launching down avenues, the symphony
of footsteps, guitars, and screeching subways,
the unexpected song bird on your clothes line.

Hear: squeaky playground swings, trains whistling,
or whispers across café tables, Hear: the doors we open
for each other all day, saying: hello, shalom,
buon giorno, howdy, namaste, or buenos días
in the language my mother taught me—in every language
spoken into one wind carrying our lives
without prejudice, as these words break from my lips.

One sky: since the Appalachians and Sierras claimed
their majesty, and the Mississippi and Colorado worked
their way to the sea. Thank the work of our hands:
weaving steel into bridges, finishing one more report
for the boss on time, stitching another wound
or uniform, the first brush stroke on a portrait,
or the last floor on the Freedom Tower
jutting into a sky that yields to our resilience.

One sky, toward which we sometimes lift our eyes
tired from work: some days guessing at the weather
of our lives, some days giving thanks for a love
that loves you back, sometimes praising a mother
who knew how to give, or forgiving a father
who couldn't give what you wanted.

We head home: through the gloss of rain or weight
of snow, or the plum blush of dusk, but always—home,
always under one sky, our sky. And always one moon
like a silent drum tapping on every rooftop
and every window, of one country—all of us—
facing the stars
hope—a new constellation
waiting for us to map it,
waiting for us to name it—together.

People often think that all Presidential Inaugurations follow identical traditions, and that throughout history none of the pomp and circumstance has ever changed. But that couldn't be further from the truth. In the case of the Inaugural Poet, most Presidents never had one! In fact there are so few that it will be several more election cycles before a good thick anthology could be made of their poems.

From About.com: Presidential Inaugural Poems

There There are a couple of 19th century poems historically associated with Presidential inaugurations in the archives of the Library of Congress, but neither was actually read during the swearing-in ceremony:

• “An Ode in Honor of the Inauguration of Buchanan & Breckinridge, President and Vice President of the United States” by Col W. Emmons, printed on broadside in 1857.
• “An Inaugural Poem, Dedicated to Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois , and Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee,” from The Chronicle Junior, an inauguration program that was actually printed on a press in a wagon during Lincoln’s inaugural parade in 1865.

Robert Frost was the first poet invited to be part of the official swearing-in of an American president, when John F. Kennedy took office in 1961.. . . the glare of bright sunlight off new snow, his faint typescript and the wind ruffling his pages and his white hair made it impossible for Frost to read the new poem, so he gave up the attempt and went directly into reciting Kennedy’s request without the preamble. “The Gift Outright”
. . . The next president who included a poet in the proceedings surrounding his inauguration was Jimmy Carter in 1977, but the poem didn’t make it into the actual swearing-in ceremony. James Dickey read his poem “The Strength of Fields” at the Kennedy Center gala after Carter’s inauguration.
. . . in 1993, when Maya Angelou wrote and read “On the Pulse of Morning” for Bill Clinton’s first inauguration, her reading here on YouTube. Clinton also included a poet in his 1997 inaugural ceremony—Miller Williams contributed “Of History and Hope” that year.
. . . The tradition of presidential inauguration poems seems now to have settled in with Democratic presidents. Elizabeth Alexander was commissioned as inaugural poet for Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009. She wrote “Praise Song for the Day, Praise Song for Struggle” for the occasion, and her recitation is preserved on YouTube.

How did Inaugural Poetry become the domain of Democratic Presidents? Maybe it has something to do with the poets of the 1950s not liking "Ike" Eisenhower too much. Poets tend to be politically left of center, so there was more appeal for the Democratic Candidate, Adlai Stevenson. So the Inauguration of a popular Republican President inspired in some writers the urge for a dirge rather than a celebration.
From "Poetry for Presidents" on New Yorker

(Poet Robert) Lowell had harnessed his dismay into a restrained and sombre poem, “Inauguration Day: January 1953,” which was published in its final form at the end of the year in the Partisan Review. Lowell locates the loose sonnet in a place of estrangement, New York City, which was Stevenson country and becomes, in the poem, a kind of national government in exile:

The snow had buried Stuyvesant.
The subways drummed the vaults. I heard
the El’s green girders charge on Third,
Manhattan’s truss of adamant,
that groaned in ermine, slummed on want.
Cyclonic zero of the world,
God of our armies, who interred
Cold Harbor’s blue immortals, Grant!
Horseman, your sword is in the groove!

The verse offers the sweep of history, beginning with the statue of Peter Stuyvesant, the last of the city’s Dutch commanders, and ends with the monument to Grant, who, like Eisenhower, was another general-turned-President. Yet it recalls Grant not as the dogged savior of the Union but as the butcher of Cold Harbor, the man who ordered his men to a mostly senseless death. Eisenhower appears at the end, summoned to lead a nation imbued with the memory of those deaths, and all those that came before and followed:

Ice, ice. Our wheels no longer move.
Look, the fixed stars, all just alike
as lack-land atoms, split apart,
and the Republic summons Ike,
the mausoleum in her heart.

Perhaps it would be some solace to Mr. Lowell and all the 20th Century Poets that Eisenhower wasn't exactly representative of what America wanted every four years. The best was certainly yet to come, and indeed one of the best will be sworn in next week. With poetry, too.

Freebie: Short Stories by Sherwood Anderson Read Aloud by Famous Writers

From Library of America and free from to your ears in celebration of the great short-story writer Sherwood Anderson: writers reading short stories for your listening pleasure.

Click Here to Start Listening

Sherwood Anderson remade the short story for the modern era. Exploring the hidden recesses of small town life, his haunting, understated, often sexually frank stories revolutionized the tone of American storytelling. Without Anderson’s example, the work of Hemingway, Faulkner, Wolfe, Steinbeck, McCullers, Mailer, and Kerouac is almost unthinkable.

The Library of America edition of Sherwood Anderson: Collected Stories gathers—for the first time in a single volume—all the story collections Anderson published during his lifetime: Winesburg, Ohio (1919), The Triumph of the Egg (1921), Horses and Men (1923), and Death in the Woods (1933), along with a generous selection of stories left uncollected or unpublished at his death. (Sherwood Anderson: Collected Stories is also available as an e-book in all major formats.)

To celebrate this milestone edition of an essential American writer, The Library of America presents some of today’s leading short story writers reading their favorite Anderson stories from the collection.

Ah, the Sweet Scent of Old Books

These days with the prevalence of e-readers and Ipads, real books have almost become artifacts, antiques, anachronisms, which makes me treasure them even more.

The scent of an old book is the reason some people like to linger in libraries and used bookstores. It's not just the musty paper, but the printer's ink, wood and cloth in woven bindings. For old books from my childhood in the 60s and 70s, it's the glossy covers often coated with plastic, the colorful pictures and the nostalgic smell of a thousand classrooms.

There's even a scientific basis for the allure of the old books:

“Lignin, the stuff that prevents all trees from adopting the weeping habit, is a polymer made up of units that are closely related to vanillin. When made into paper and stored for years, it breaks down and smells good. Which is how divine providence has arranged for secondhand bookstores to smell like good quality vanilla absolute, subliminally stoking a hunger for knowledge in all of us.”
- Perfumes: The Guide

How wonderful! Human beings are just naturally attracted to the sweet odor of books.

I'm a huge fan of the old Buffy the Vampire Slayer television show, and I think it's important to note that from the first season much of the action centered around the library where the kids spent hours pouring over ancient and sometimes crumbling rare books. Rupert Giles, the school librarian, was Buffy's "Watcher," the man who looked out for her as she battled demons and vampire, and eventually became her trusted father-figure. Buffy's best friend Willow was a bookworm, and even though she was also a computer whiz, she usually went back to the stacks for the best hidden knowledge. Later in the series the action moved to the Magic Shop, which strangely was filled with bookshelves, and the library table covered in books became the focal point.


Here's what Mr. Giles had to say about replacing books with computers:

Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower, or a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell musty and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer is a - it, uh, it has no texture, no context. It's there and then it's gone. If it's to last, then the getting of knowledge should be tangible, it should be, um, smelly.

Ten Nerdy Websites for the New Year

Are you looking around for some online nerdy fun beyond Twitter and Pinterest in 2013? Well, I have a list for you!

1. Buzzfeed
The leading social news organization, intensely focused on delivering high-quality original reporting, insight, and viral content across a rapidly expanding array of subject areas. . . . reaches more than 25 million monthly unique visitors.
Probably the best-known and largest Geek site covering a cavalcade of topics from pop culture to sports to food to politics.
32 Imaginative and Beautifully Designed Maps
The Science Behind 9 Big Diets
30 Ways to Instantly Transform Your Office
Eight Firsts of the New Congress

2. Mental Floss
"Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix"
I just discovered this website and now every day some new delightfully quirky article pops up on my Twitter page. I know Nerds love their lists (look at me writing this one now) but you can find something for everyone on Mental Floss:
7 People who hated Pride and Prejudice
The Story Behind 11 Famous Cocktails
7 TV Shows Saved by the Fans

3. The Mary Sue
"A Guide to Girl Geek Culture"
Ever wish there were more super heroes of the female persuasion? Well, look no further than The Mary Sue where you will find a heroine on almost every page, along with lots of cool stuff about Tolkien, Anime, Science and more.
10 Most Popular Posts of 2012
Ten Anime You Should Watch (And are Easy to Find)
A Prehistoric Lizard named after Barack Obama

4. I Waste So Much Time
"A collection of funny or interesting junk"
This website is a good place to turn if Pinterest and Tumblr seem repetitious or glitzy. "I Waste So Much Time" is for people who crave things that make them go Hmmmmm. While many familiar internet jokes appear, such as Grumpy Cat, there's more to it than just "Memes and Things." In effect, it's the perfect way for a nerd to get some food for thought and have a few laughs at the same time.
30 Random Surprising Facts
Soldiers Going Home
Grumpy Cat Reincarnated

5. The Oatmeal
"An entertainment site for teens and older full of comics, quizzes, and other delights."
This site is the brainchild of web designer Matthew Inman, who also creates the cartoons and art work on the site. While that description would please any nerd looking for something to peruse, The Oatmeal has the added draw of wacky quizzes and rather twisted comics (warning - not really for children - think of The Office's Dwight Shrute vs. Bears with various Ninja weapons and cannibalism). Matthew is also the author of How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You ~ click link for Amazon.
Quiz: How Many Justin Biebers Could You Take in a Fight?
Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling
The Five Phases of Caffeine Intake

6. A Number A Day
"The Mathematical Association of America’s NumberADay blog. Every working day, we post a number and offer a selection of that number’s properties."
My teenage son gave me this selection - the Math Association simply posts a number - large or small - each day, then they analyze it in a meaningful way. Great discussion opener for homeschoolers or gifted kids, and fun for any older math nerds or Nate Silver wannabes.
2013
2013 = 3 x 11 x 61.
2013 is the number of trees with 27 nodes and 4 leaves (A055291).
The year 2013 celebrates the Mathematics of Planet Earth.
2013 is also the International Year of Statistics.

7. Comic Book Movie
"A Comic Book and Movie Website Generated by Fans"
I'm not as into the comic book world as some folks, but that doesn't matter because everyone can use this site to stay informed about sci-fi or horror movie news, as well as events like Comic Con. This is the place for articles on X-Men and Dr. Who. And for this old Trekkie and lover of all things Star Wars, Comic Book Movie is also a nostalgic walk down memory lane. For a more interactive experience, check out the Online Community with Live Chat, Polls, Quizzes, Calendar, and a List of Fansites.
The Importance of Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel"
Beautiful Star Wars Travel Posters - Alderan, Hoth, and More!
What will Disney do with Star Wars?

8. Neatorama
"The neat side of the Web. We bring you the neatest, weirdest, and most wonderful stuff from all over the Web every day. Come back often, mmkay?"
When I am completely bored with everything else, I can always find something amusing or astonishing on Neatorama. Yes there are robots on every page, but also links to geeky artwork, movie trivia, scientific discoveries, movie mash-ups and more pulled from all over the web. There are also frequent contests and a cool online shop.
Remote-Controlled Superman
11 Seriously Weird Chocolate-Coated Foods
What is the "7" in 7-Up?
Ten Beautiful Tattoos Inspired by Watership Down


9. The Anomalist
"A Daily Review of world news on maverick science, unexplained mysteries, unorthodox theories, strange talents, and unexpected discoveries."
Considering that The Anomalist keeps up with the latest UFO and Bigfoot news, this is a surprisingly low-key website without the usual scary radioactive-green alien pictures or flashing apocalypse ads. It's a simple list of the daily crypto news, sort of a dignified one-stop shop for the Twilight Zone. Whoever runs the site is truly open-minded and loves a mystery, yet they sometimes sometimes wink at or call out the more outrageous hoaxes or tales of abduction and time travel.
Since they are a news aggregator, I'll just list a few headlines:
Sacramento Man Captures Video of Strange Explosion in the Sky
The Curious Genetics of Werewolves
Sightings Increase of Zimbabwe's Own Loch Ness Monster


10. Lexicon Valley Podcast
"A show about the mysteries of English."
If you love linguistics and want to have a nerd-gasm over language, this is a true joy. Probably not for children, but definitely for wordsmiths and dictionary readers of all ages.
How Honest Abe Became the Poet of Gettysburg
From Downton Abbey to Mad Men - Capturing Language in Period Drama
Try out their fascinating New Year's podcast on the phenomenon of "Creaky Voice" among young American women.


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