Love, Jane
February 14, 2008
What better way to express admiration and affection for Jane Austen than to celebrate her legacy with tea, family and a nice game of “Jane-pardy”. That’s Jeopardy with a Jane theme for those of you who missed it. 
Zarrin, our go-to Janexpert, brought a challenging game of Jane-pardy to Plaza and the group who gathered to share favorite scenes and characters from Austen novels.
Four teams competed for the title of “All Knowing Jane-iacs of the Universe!” and a copy of The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Fowler. And those questions were hard. Especially the marriage ones. 
Zarrin made it tougher by putting a time limit on answering and letting teams steal any other team’s questions. Team Ellen won by a narrow margin.
Most of the attendees brought relatives. Mothers brought daughters; granddaughters brought grandmothers; new moms brought their cousins. All had read at least one Jane Austen novel and happily gabbed about other favorite books, the KCPT series of Jane Austen programming on Sunday nights and which literary continuations of Jane’s beloved characters served their mistress well.
One mother said she hoped she was passing her fancy for Jane’s books on to the next generation. However, her daughter wasn’t listening as she was busily flipping through Suspense and Sensibility by Carrie Bebris, a Mr and Mrs Darcy mystery.
After a quick discussion of all the versions of Pride & Prejudice available on DVD someone joked that the new refrain for the “single woman in want of a mate” will be “Someday, my Darcy will come.”
It’s a truth universally acknowledged: A reader in want of a good book, must be looking for Jane Austen.
Jane Across and Down
January 29, 2008
It’s not as easy as it looks. You’ll need a thorough grounding in all the character names, locations and even a quote or two. You don’t even have to do it in ink. Fill in the squares from the comfort of your PC while watching this past Sunday’s penny dreadful Mansfield Park. (Still waiting for a review of that from our own Jane-nut Gallery. General consensus is MP was duller than listening to Miss Bates talk.)
It’s Jane’s Web, we just surf it
January 24, 2008
If I cared to compare the statistics, I think I would find that Jane Austen has a greater web presence than Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan combined. It’s certainly a more respectable one. Although Jane A. probably isn’t racking up the web hits like Jessica/Ashley S. because, well, Jane has talent, brains and manners. Jane does not have a publicist, drinking problem or fashion faux pas that go beyond accidentally dropping a handkerchief.
Those of you looking for a quieter, gentler, more thoughtful community of like-minded Janeites, should hop over to The Republic of Pemberley. The Pemberlians freely admit to an obsession with Jane Austen and boldly point out there are other more destructive things to be obsessive about, thankyouverymuch, and if you do not like their site, well, then, there are plenty of places on the Internet for people “just like you.”
Their mannerly way of telling visitors this is their world, you’re welcome to it, and if you don’t like it, please allow us to show you to the door and thank you for your visit, is refreshing. There’s no name calling, forum locking, or flaming. Everyone must use their true name and be accountable for all content in posts submitted.
The Republic of Pemberley is a font of Jane information ranging from the six original books, to Jane’s life, to literary continuations and sequels, to academic examination of literary allusions in the Austen novels.
For Jane Austen with a dollop of sass and wit, drop in on the AustenBlog and answser the question “one lump of snark or two?” The six Jane-o-philes who make up the staff collect all the information referencing Jane that ijust fit anywhere else. Tidbits such as Jane Austen celebrations nationwide, TV shows that namecheck Jane (looking at you, CSI), commentary on literary critics who feel the need to comment on Jane’s perennial appeal and its affect on their lives, and LOLJane. If you don’t know what that is, you really need to clicky the linky. Have a laugh, why don’t you?
Jane Austen as Hot Film Property
January 18, 2008
Who went to this program? I want comments/reviews/recaps. I missed it because we got 5 inches of snow where I live. I really wanted to go but when it came time to leave my house to drive to KC for the program it was snowing like crazy.
VOTE!!!
January 13, 2008
Who’s your choice for a first date or life mate? Read the profiles of the Austen men below and choose your helpmeet.
So you think you know Pride and Prejudice?
January 10, 2008
Guest blogger, Jenny here. Kaite has asked me to post on here a few times. Hopefully you’ll see me at the Jane-uary events. I don’t live in KC so it’s up to Mother Nature on how many events I’ll get to.
Have you ever seen the Pride and Prejudice board game? I bought the game about 4 years ago at Brits in Lawrence. We have played it a few times at my Jane Austen book club that I run at one of the libraries I work at.
The woman who created the game lives in KC. She’s a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America-KC Metro region. I’ve met her a couple of times. She’ll probably be at some of the Jane-uary events.
The goal of the game is to be the first couple married. It is quite a challenging game. It shows who REALLY knows P&P. I’ve played it with fellow English majors when I was an undergrad and like I said before, Jane Austen book club members. Who do you think did better? 
Jane’s Girls’ Club
December 29, 2007
While we won’t turn you away for dressing in Regency garb to attend any one of the Jane-uary programs, you might be more comfortable slipping into a virtual personality.
Which Jane Austen character are YOU? Take the quiz and share your answers.
