This is Loren Estleman at the2006 Night of Notables, held at the Library of Michigan. In the very background, you can see a silver haired man in a grey suit, and this is former Governor Milliken. Since I've been talking about Loren Estleman's books in previous posts, I thought I would include his picture here.Loren was great, and I loved talking to him. In fact, at the earlier reception just a few moments ago, I had walked by his truck and said to him, "Hey, I love your truck!" and he smiled & waved, said "Thank you. The truck was beautiful, a clear bright cherry red, and of course, he is a pretty cool guy. The book he was being honored for is in the Amos Walker series, and is called Nicotine Kiss. Do read it if you can, as nobody does dialog better than he does. And his plots are fun.
Back to Jane Austen, whose letters I am still reading & whose various biographies I'm still reading. Her letters really convey the sheer fun, humor, and wittiness of Jane. She would've been a fun correspondent, had she condescended to write to me. Her biographer comments that one of the things that keeps Jane's novels so timeless is that she does not put many details about food or clothing into the books. The books are very much about the people and the houses they live in, but descriptions are usually relatively cursory, consisting of "how elegant your furnishings are!" and such, rather than lengthy descriptions of what people wore or how their houses were arranged. This writer (the Double Life author, by the way) also talks a bit about how much thins were changing for Jane's culture & society & describes in great detail all the class consciousness that exists then. This helps a lot in putting her tart remarks into perspective and also is explaining a lot about British culture to me, especially at that particular date in history. There's one part of the book where the biographer comments on the things Jane would not have heard on her walks... things like cars, airplanes overhead, etc. I'm learning a lot, and best of all, enjoying the writing as well.
Back to Annie, she is continuing to eat her bubble-gum antibiotic in tuna fish. I even splurged & brought her some canned Salmon as a special treat. Here's hoping I can continue to fake her out! I just have to get to Monday after next. I am also hoping this round of antibiotics will do the trick, but if they make me give her pills, I plan to crush them in the tuna fish. (bleah! better her than me). She is currently yelling at me about the fact that she wants to go out. She gets particularly bad in the spring & in early fall about this. I do take her out & watch her & walk around after her, to make sure she'll be ok, but I can't do this every day or for very long. It is an indulgence, but I can't help spoiling her. I wonder if Jane Austen would approve. ;)
Speaking of which, Masterpiece will have Sense & Sensibility on, on Sunday at 9. I am looking forward to it very much. It is a new movie, and it'll be interesting to see how it compares to the one with Emma Thompson & Hugh Grant. It is also longer, so they are showing it in two parts. Goody!
Last, but not least, I made my first ever quinoa salad. It went pretty well, I think. Recipe is linked here and I understand that the salad improves if it stands overnight. I am hoping to make this for the family reunion & since my family (extended ones too) are adventurous eaters, I think they'll at least try it.
Question of the day : I've been growing my hair out for a while, because I didn't want to spend the money for a haircut. Shall I grow it out & cut it for Locks of Love? Saw a program about it & wondered..... but I'm not sure I have the patience to have my wild curly hair long and in my eyes for however long it takes to grow my hair out to seven cuttable inches.
