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Showing posts from November, 2013

"Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings."

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November 24, 2013 Dear Jane, I often feel as though I have a thousand ideas (well maybe more like ten) all at once, but am never able to follow through on them. It is excruciatingly vexing! I want to do so many different things, and I am realizing that life  goes by very quickly. I need to give my ideas and dreams some direction, I think.   To put it plainly, if I were to write a memoir in fifty years, this is how I would like the title and subsequent sub-title to read:  Amanda Forker: Living her Dream {From starring as Amanda/Jane in her original musical, "Faithfully Yours, Amanda" on the Broadway, to becoming a pop star & movie musical star, to hosting Saturday Night Live no less than five times, to becoming acquainted with the Duchess of Cambridge, Beyonce,   Kristen Wiig, and J.K. Rowling, to having been mentored by the incomparable  Tina Fey, to becoming the leading Jane Austen fan and historian, to starring in her own sitcom loosely based on her life, to

"I believe I drank too much wine last night at Hurstbourne; I know not how else to account for the shaking of my hand today. You will kindly make allowance therefore for any indistinctness of writing, by attributing it to this venial error."

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November 20, 2013 Dear Jane, It is quite fortuitous that I happened upon this quote from one of your letters to your sister, Cassandra, for I wrote an eerily similar message to my own sisters one day last week after I too drank a hearty amount of wine (well, spirits, actually) the night before. (Needless to say,  a shaking hand was not, unfortunately, my worst symptom and  my message was not quite so long nor was it worded as beautifully as yours.  Additionally, I was not in Hurstbourne, but on the island of Manhattan.)  I won't delve too deeply into this subject, but I will say that, any person, be it gentleman or lady, must not be looked down upon for enjoying a refreshing spirit (or three) every now and again, even if they may have had more than they should have. (In truth, I did leave out a few details from my story, Jane, but a wise lady never reveals the entirety of her secrets.)  It is a comfort to know that even the admirable Miss Jane Austen was occasionally swept

“I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.”

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November 4, 2013 Dear Jane, In truth, I cannot truly express how desperately I have missed writing letters to you!  I write to you tonight from yet another new location in the great state of New York, but I am both relieved and elated to say that I will finally be in Queens for at least six months in the same flat.  How can I properly convey to you how draining these past two months have been for me, Jane?  Since you wrote so many characters who were well acquainted with the life at sea, I will use the following analogy to assist you in understanding my perspective on the matter:   I feel as if I have been a lonely seafarer (much like dear Captain Wentworth of Persuasion ), who never had the opportunity to dock his (or her) ship for more than a few days, and aimlessly sailed from port to port never knowing what destiny had in store for them....Now, while  I completely agree with your notion that we ladies want infinitely more out of life than just wading monotonously through calm wa