Monday madness

Today I went into the city to go the the State Library to look at some dusty yet marvellous old books.

Photograph by Zsaj on flickr
Yet upon arrival I discovered the library was closed. Is there a greater travesty in life than a closed library? I think NOT. It got me thinking though - if all the libraries were to close tomorrow, once I had finished rocking myself in a ball in the corner of the room, which books would I race out to borrow? I really can't think of a more reprehensible hypothetical and yet it is of the utmost importance I sort this issue out now. Today just proves it's an all too real threat... Fortunately, we can learn lessons through all of life's trials, something Mary Bennet would no doubt furiously agree with, and as such, this experience has given me my amazing words of the week, marvellous and travesty. At the end of the week I'll let you know how I went with dropping these into conversations..

Happy Monday!

I've been working on a Jane Austen zine, so I thought I'd post a snippet to kick off the week! How are you going to thumb it to Lady Catherine?

I've decided to give myself a task this week. When Kurt Anderson became editor of New York Magazine he created a list of annoying words he didn't want his staff to use. This list has gone viral, but what about amazing words that we should use more often? I'm going to my mission to use more spectacular words. My amazing words for this week will be spiffing and shenanigans.

Reading is for champions

Do you think queens have much time to read? Do you think that after Queen Elizabeth's social secretary has read out the Queen's engagements for the next day and Philip has said goodnight with a friendly tap on the bum, she gets out her torch and reads under the quilt? If there wasn't enough time to read, one would think that would be enough reason for one to abdicate.* I would hate for anyone to be deprived of the sort of enjoyment I got out of reading Magic Slays.

I would try and rhapsodise about its heroine, Kate Daniels, in poetry, if I wasn't sure that poetry is the sort of thing Kate would resort to violence to prevent. Which would be a good thing, because my poetry is not the sort of disaster you want to unleash on the world, particularly as so many people are already predicting the apocalypse. As a matter of fact, since so many people think the end of the world is nigh, why don't we all just quit our jobs and read? I guess we can watch some movies too, and have book clubs in cool cafes. Who's in?

* Speaking of abdications, I think England should definitely have a holiday in thanks for Wallace Simpson. If Edward VIII hadn't abdicated to marry dear old Wallace, England would have had a Nazi sympathiser on the throne during WWII. Which would have been bad.