Why Single Girls Love Jane Austin

Every single girl I know loves Jane Austin. . .Recently I have been putting some thought into why. Mainly, this thought has been brought on by my fear of leaving the house and having yet another disaster to add to my growing list but that was the last blog and I digress. So, staying in has led to the renting of a lot of movies. The movie renting fit has also been brought on somewhat by one of my favorite Vegas discoveries, the DVD rental vending machine.

My two favorites by far of the very long string of movies I have rented lately both involve Jane Austin. The first is a remake of the many times made Pride and Prejudice. The second is the Lake House which references and somewhat depends upon Jane Austin's last book Persuasion. I could list on the books by Jane Austin but for simplicity sake we will focus on these two.

The first thing we love about these books is that they have heroines not wimpy women waiting for their prince charming. The characters do not sit idly by waiting for their "prince to come" like in a fairy tale. They are not simple and often they take great risks and pass up the easy answer of just any man being enough. They are willing to accept a life of less luxury and great solitude rather than settle.

The second thing we love is the lack of apology these characters have about who they are. The woman we all wish we had the strength to be is Elizabeth Bennett, who is bright, dignified and kind. She is the type of woman we want to be and hope to be on our best days. We cheer on her bravery and her bookishness. She is also human and makes mistakes but is strong enough to own up to those mistakes and correct them.

Ann, the heroine of Persuasion, also fights for what she wants. She holds out hope of a better tomorrow and sees beyond the material possessions to fall in love with someone that is a true soul mate. She waits years for him.

These women are unyielding and uncompromising. They fight hard despite having all the odds against them and somehow after all the heart ache come out on top.

I will admit the last thing we love. . .is the idea of the clothes and dresses of the era. As much as I love a nice pair of pants, as do most modern women, I can't resist the idea of fancy ball gowns and white gloves.

DISASTER GIRL strikes again!

You know your penchant for disastrous days is getting serious when other people start to notice. I have in the past been known to get myself into ridiculous situations but never have they come in such a string as they have since I moved to Las Vegas. . .It is sooooo bad that my otherwise wonderful and kind brother in law has decided to give me an anti-super hero/super villain type nickname, "Disaster Girl".

I admit it is kinda catchy. . .and part of me wants to start designing the outfit to go with the "scary and damaged" persona of Disaster Girl. The other part of me just wants to stick with my "Clark Kent" like alter ego and hope that the long string of bad luck will pass.

The string of bad luck started as I was moving out here. The events that have caused the nickname are the following:

1) Emergency Room Visit in Dallas halfway through my cross country drive which was prompted by getting sick all over myself and my car.

2) A flat tire the morning after the emergency room visit which added insult to injury of riding in a car that smelled so bad that even the Bush administration would have thought twice about forcing Guantanamo detainees to ride in it.

3) The "Great Exploding Soda" incident of 2006 - I didn't know a 12 pack of soda would explode if left in a hot car in August in Nevada. . .but then before it happened to me I guess I hadn't given it much thought.

4) My car breaking down on Las Vegas Blvd because of a leak in the fuel line. (I admit I am a little lucky in that the fuel line leak didn't cause anything to catch fire).

5) My sister's dog decided to eat a disposable razor while I was dog sitting. By the way the dog's prognosis is really good but I don't know if or when I will ever feel safe around small children or animals again. I may not even allow myself to visit my nephew again until I can work up a better track record.

So short of setting up Bob's barricades with flashing orange lights around me so as to at least keep other innocent people/animals in the general public safe. . . since bad things are supposed to happen in threes the only thing I can really do is hold my breath and wait for #6.

I also really wonder if there is a higher power in the universe if all this bad luck is simply trying to get through to me that I really can't do it alone. I admit that usually I try to act more like Super Girl than a mere mortal but really is all this punishment really necessary.

Normally, I am reminded I am mortal when I get sick and really wish there were someone around to take care of me. . .I really don't need a string a bad luck to reinforce the point. But just in case. . .Point Taken. . .I solemnly swear I will make a re-newed effort to let other people into my life and to try to accept help more readily.