(no subject)
Oct. 28th, 2004 08:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivkaThis icon is a picture of the pendant Michael gave me for my birthday. The flaming chalice, for those of you who don't know, is the religious symbol of Unitarian-Universalism. In the picture, the outer oval looks dark - but it's all the same sterling silver, of a sturdy and substantial thickness.
My mother's birthday present to me (maternity clothes, I'm pretty sure) appears to be lost in the mail. So my only other gift so far was a book, from my sister: What Jane Austen ate and Charles Dickens knew: From fox hunting to whist - the facts of daily life in nineteenth-century England. It's a fun book - a little superficial in its coverage, perhaps, but entertaining. Short sections cover details of, for example, plumbing, the monetary system, how rooms were arranged in London townhouses, the duties and status of different kinds of servants, and inheritance law. Both historical and literary examples are given in most sections. Then there's a lengthy and detailed glossary in the back.
I knew, or had deduced, a lot of these things already, but I'm still finding the book quite enjoyable. And finally, after a lifetime of reading 19th century novels (beginning with my mother's old children's books), I now know what a "bathing machine" is. I am satisfied.
My mother's birthday present to me (maternity clothes, I'm pretty sure) appears to be lost in the mail. So my only other gift so far was a book, from my sister: What Jane Austen ate and Charles Dickens knew: From fox hunting to whist - the facts of daily life in nineteenth-century England. It's a fun book - a little superficial in its coverage, perhaps, but entertaining. Short sections cover details of, for example, plumbing, the monetary system, how rooms were arranged in London townhouses, the duties and status of different kinds of servants, and inheritance law. Both historical and literary examples are given in most sections. Then there's a lengthy and detailed glossary in the back.
I knew, or had deduced, a lot of these things already, but I'm still finding the book quite enjoyable. And finally, after a lifetime of reading 19th century novels (beginning with my mother's old children's books), I now know what a "bathing machine" is. I am satisfied.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-10-28 06:16 am (UTC)And it's a lovely pendant. Did I ever mention that I used to teach UU Sunday school? It was a lot of fun.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-28 06:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-28 06:28 am (UTC)-J
no subject
Date: 2004-10-28 06:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-28 07:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-28 07:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-28 09:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-28 01:40 pm (UTC)I know there are useful facts in that book, but the title makes me so screamingly angry every time I see it that I will never open it up to learn those useful facts. Don't those people think Jane Austen knew anything? Knowledge is the purview of men: food the purview of women.
Pfbbbblt!
no subject
Date: 2004-10-28 02:38 pm (UTC)I also think it's a stretch. The author is fond enough of Jane Austen, Charlotte and Emily Bronte, and George Eliot to write a book explaining their milieu - it seems unlikely that he doesn't "think Jane Austen knew anything."
Until I get my own copy . .
Date: 2004-10-28 02:15 pm (UTC)Re: Until I get my own copy . .
Date: 2004-10-28 02:34 pm (UTC)A *horse-drawn cart.* They didn't walk out from shore. Isn't that incredible?
Re: Until I get my own copy . .
Date: 2004-10-28 02:50 pm (UTC)The Victorians especially amuse, amaze and astound me.
Re: Until I get my own copy . .
Date: 2004-10-29 05:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-30 01:47 am (UTC)And, because I haven't said so before, happy birthday (late); I'm glad you had such a good day.