IN WHICH The Girl Has Dolla Dolla Bling

Whenever the lottery reward reaches record heights, many people get swept up in the dream of suddenly rolling in the big money. I'm generally not a lottery player, but even I felt that need to put my two dollars in for a Powerball ticket. Unfortunately, I didn't get even one number right. At least give me the four dollar prize guys!

In the time leading up to the drawing, I did have a chance to play out multiple fantasies of wealth. Life with more than $10 in my bank account! Paying off those ungodly student loans! Food! A beautiful condo with a view! And books... books... books...

As a literary lover, I came up with several awesome things I could do with my millions. If you did happen to win the jackpot, here are some ideas:

Buy Things

Of course, now that I no longer need to worry about money, I can stop waiting on hold for the most popular books from the library. I can just buy them right away! What? That's crazy. I think I look at the library website every day to see if they have the new releases in yet. Yes, I know that I have a bazillion other books to read, but I want the pretty, new things. Plus, now that I won't need to work for a living, I will have all the time in the world to read all the books in the world.

But these are small potatoes. Why think about ten dollar books when you can think about ten thousand dollar books? Now is the time to start collecting rare books. For example, I could get a special first edition copy of Winnie-the-Pooh on Japanese vellum, signed by both the author and the illustrator for $51,941. 

Flickr/British Library

I'm a billionaire now - let's ignore the realities of taxes - so I can also try to get my hands on the most expensive books out there. Forbes list of the most expensive books ever sold lists the Codex Leicester of Leonardo da Vinci at $49.4 million and Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (1623), The First Folio by William Shakespeare at $8.2 million. Want to sell me that Codex, Mr. Gates?

Where shall I sit while reading Shakespeare's first folio? Why in Pemberley of course! For a mere $12.5 million - less than that Codex you might note - I can purchase Wentworth Woodhouse, which may have inspired Jane Austen's version of Pemberley in Pride and Prejudice and is currently for sale. I've already started auctioning off the 300 rooms to friends. I'm generous. 

Wentworth Woodhouse                Flickr/Allan Harris

For my additional homes across the world, there are several houses associated with famous authors that I could purchase. How about this lovely $35 million estate in California that once belonged to Thomas Mann and was in Scarface. Here's a list of additional literary housing options as well.

Visit Things

Real Gabinete Português de Leitura   Flickr/Mathieu Bertrand Struck

Now that I am comfortably settled in my Austen-style mansion filled with books, I can start traveling. There are hundreds of literary destinations. I could take a world library tour, for instance, including the Liyuan Library in Beijing, China, which apparently is built with timber to blend into the forest and sits on a lake, and the Real Gabinete Português de Leitura in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil that is just darn beautiful. 

Liyuan Library Outside         Flickr/LiXiaodong Atelier

Liyuan Library Inside         Flickr/LiXiaodong Atelier

Or I could travel around to the literary museums. Did you know that there is Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem where you can view the Dead Sea Scrolls? Bustle has put together a list of several more. From here I also learned that The American Writer's Museum will be opening up in Chicago next year! Yay!

Shrine of the Book                         Flickr/Christyn

After all this museum and library hopping, I will probably want to sit back and take in a good play. I could then attend some of the greatest theaters in the world. There's of course the Globe Theater in England, but also the National Noh Theatre in Tokyo that is made out of cypress trees, the Minack Theatre that sits on a cliff in Cornwall, and the Palais Garnier in Paris where The Phantom of the Opera was set.

Palais Garnier                                 Flickr/Jonathan

Learn Things

In between my jet-setting, I might actually want to take some literature classes. Don't scoff! Learning is fun (says the teacher). With my winnings, I can pay off all my student loans and get as many degrees as I want - from as many schools that will accept me at least. I'd still love to get my Ph.D. Even if I don't want to get a full degree, however, I can now afford to take a random class here or there. I could even take one while traveling. Did you know Harvard has an online extension school? I could take American Dreams from Scarface to Easy Rider or Masterpieces of World Literature for $2,400, though it's unclear whether that is for the whole course or per graduate credit. By the way, they also have a bunch of free courses of which anyone can take advantage.

That was a nice trip through fantasy land. Well, these might not happen at this point, but life goals! Since I do still need to make a living, I suppose I should get working on those syllabi then.

What would you do with a jackpot win?

IN WHICH The Girl Becomes a Classic

Two of my reading goals for 2016 are to read more of the books I already own (I have a tendency to buy in bulk from used book stores) and to read more classics. To this end, I found the perfect 2016 reading challenge: The Women's Classic Literature Event hosted by The Classics Club.

Essentially the point is to read classic literature by women throughout the year and share your thoughts with other participants in the event. I perused my bookshelves and came up with these six books to get me started.

1. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
2. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
3. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
4. Sula by Toni Morrison
5. Persuasion by Jane Austen - Bonus: this one is on the book club list for this year too.
6. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

I think I'm going to start with Agnes Grey because I had actually pulled that one out to read soon anyways. Should I get through these books, I can always supplement my list with library books as well.

I'm looking forward to the event and a good reading year!

IN WHICH The Girl Makes Cucumber Sandwiches

Last week, I discussed my Jane Austen love and how I wanted to watch the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice over the weekend. Well, I followed though, and it even became a party! Cucumber sandwiches, Colin Firth, and alcohol, oh my! Surprisingly, when I mentioned wanting to watch the movie, a bunch of others wanted to join in the fun. So six of us got together yesterday evening for the viewing and a drinking game. My version of a Pride and Prejudice party includes the following:

Food and Drinks

I considered actually cooking and baking, but alas decided that would be entirely too much work. Therefore, it wasn't the most authentic experience. I did manage, however, to obtain and produce some semi-Regency era tidbits. I did make (I mean there was lots of cutting and spreading of ingredients if that counts as making) cucumber sandwiches. I love me some cucumber sandwiches, and these were a hit. I even produced a second batch several hours later after much drinking. One friend also brought over salami and cheese and another came with mini-toasts with a pork and cheese topping that were quite delicious.

For drinks, I mixed up some punch. I had looked up the recipe for the Regent's (Edward IV's) Punch, and while not too hard, it still had too many steps for me. I have no idea what Arrack is. I chose the simpler route, a strawberry champagne punch that only involved mixing champagne, ginger ale, and triple sec together and throwing in a bag of frozen strawberries. Yummy. I think I seriously drank half of the punch. Not going to lie, I sort of want some right now. It's brunch time, right? We also had an assortment of beer for long-term drinking. I discovered a lack of English beer options at the store, so it really just came down to Newcastle.

I also bought a number of sweets that seemed British. I had blueberry scones, milk chocolate and toffee dipped butter wafers, vanilla meringues, and a variety pack of shortbread cookies with chocolate toppings. The chocolate and toffee wafers, from Whole Foods, stole the show. Half the time people were asking for the yellow bowl of them and the other half they were asking someone to take the bowl away from them.

Decorations and Clothing

For decorations, I simply placed all my copies of Jane Austen novels around the room and freshened it up with some flowers. I really wanted to have doilies, but unfortunately Walgreen's doesn't carry them (imagine that) and time was running out.

However, I did make some attempt to wear appropriate clothing. Now, I don't have any full skirted empire waist dresses, but I wore a long skirt that covered my ankles. Polite ladies do not show their ankles. I put on my dancing slippers - my ballet shoes - in preparation for dancing at the ball. I also donned a shawl and floppy hat for a minute to complete the outfit. A bonnet would have been perfect. I wonder where one gets a bonnet today?

The Drinking Game

Now the most important part of the night was the Pride and Prejudice drinking game. You can see our rules, which I mixed and matched from a number of games posted on the internet. Some rules worked better than others. We are a fairly loud group who talked through a lot of the movie; therefore, we missed a lot of the subtler mentions of things like money, esteeming or regarding someone, or Mrs. Bennet calling for Hill. We did manage to pick up on many mentions of Lady Catherine de Bourgh though.

The most popular rules contained visual cues. We loved horses, and there are lots and lots of horses. While I had meant men bending over in greeting by bows, we quickly added fabric bows on dresses and hats to the list as well. Crying, playing the piano (and I learned that a pianoforte is a specific type of piano), and womanly arts all went over quite well.

Our most enthusiastic responses regarded Lydia being slutty and Colin Firth being sexy. We spent a lot of time yelling, "Slut," at the television whenever Lydia came onscreen - I mean she's pretty much always doing something scandalous. We also waterfalled at the lake scene with Colin Firth. We decided that if you really wanted to get drunk, you should drink every time someone goes walking. That may be a new rule in the future. I'm not sure how much those experiencing the story for the first time actually followed it, but we had a lot of fun.

To leave you in a good mood, here's a skit of some guys playing a Jane Austen Drinking Game. The small dogs moments are hilarious. Sadly, Pride and Prejudice doesn't contain as many small dogs.

IN WHICH The Girl Succumbs to Austen Mania

The title is a little misleading as I succumbed to Austen mania a dozen years ago or so. But I'm fully indulging in the craziness this week. I like that both Jane Austen and her novels never seem to lose their popularity. Consider the sheer number of books and movies that involve adapting the novels (dozens but most recently famous, Pride and Prejudice), reinterpreting them (Bridget Jones' Diary and Clueless), following characters obsessed with them (Austenland, Lost in Austen, The Jane Austen Book Club), prequels and sequels (Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife), changes in genre (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Death Comes to Pemberley), and Jane Austen herself (Becoming Jane). Check out this Wikipedia page listing all the literary adaptations of Pride and Prejudice alone. Amazing.

Needless to say, should you want to spend hours, days, weeks, or years reading and watching things related to Jane Austen, you could. Yesterday was a travel nightmare and I ended up listening to the entire audiobook of Austenland. It was decent, not awesome, but I nonetheless tried to find the movie version upon returning home. I didn't find a free version, so I ended up with the Lost in Austen miniseries, which I have continued watching this evening.

Here's where I imagine this journey taking me. Since Lost in Austen revolves around Pride and Prejudice, it makes me want to watch the best movie version of the actual novel - the 1995 BBC miniseries with Colin Firth. I mean how can you not love the famous scene where Colin Firth, as Mr. Darcy, walks out of the lake soaking wet in his white shirt? I think Saturday or Sunday of this weekend will be devoted to watching the whole miniseries.

Watching this version will invariably inspire me to watch Colin Firth reprise his role as Darcy in the modern reinterpretation of the novel, Bridget Jones' Diary.

I could go several different directions at this point. If I'm still in a Pride and Prejudice mood, I may watch the BBC miniseries of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South, which is essentially Pride and Prejudice with industrialism.

I may be tired of the P&P storyline, however, so I may switch to Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility. This movie actually started my interest in Jane Austen when we watched it in a high school English course.

On the other hand, I may want to stick with more modern versions and watch Clueless, an updated version of Emma. I do love Clueless.

And so on and so forth until the end of time. This might even devolve into book reading. I'll be back when I emerge from my cocoon of refined manners, bonnets, and endless cups of tea.