I AM LUCKY ENOUGH to have become good friends here at graduate school with a bonified Jane Austen nerd. (Hello, former English majors!) When I am a mess over school or weepy about love sagas, this friend of mine always listens to my gripes and then pauses thoughtfully, before saying something to the effect of: “It sounds like you need some more Jane in your life.” (Yes, this is her proposed remedy for everything.)

At first I was dubious. You see, I fancy myself as more of a pomo, contemporary, weirder-the-better fiction nerd. So I figured these stuffy novels of old couldn’t possibly hold transcendent healing powers. But I am here to confess to you, readers, that I couldn’t have been more wrong.

It’s been years since I read any Austen novels, and I had forgotten how damn good the stories are: witty banter, financial strife, smart women, lost love, sprawling countrysides, compassionate sisters who write letters to each other, near-death illness, brutish (and occasionally tender) men. Really, what more do you need?

And all this is particularly poignant now, as Sense and Sensibility, Austen’s very first novel, which she published under the psudonym “A Lady,” is now 200 years old. Frankly, I can’t believe it. The pathos of the story, though clothed in all those bonnets and cleavage-clad empire waists, is so strangely contemporary.

If you’re feeling lazy (like me) about reading the book, might I recommend the 1995 movie version (which basically contains the entire cast of Harry Potter plus Kate Winslet with a Jheri curl). It’s fantastic!

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SISTERLESS AS I AM, all my original lessons on sisterhood came from my sweet, sweet Mama. Here she is in 1981 with baby Brother T. Of course, I still catch her gazing at him with that exact same adoration now 30 years later. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mamas (and mama’s boys)!

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IHAVE SOME VAGUE MEMORIES of watching Steel Magnolias with my childhood best friend and neighbor, Amanda. We were too young to understand what was happening between all the glamorous big hair and delicious southern accents but we were enamored just the same. We both cried at the end. I’m not sure that we even understood why. I just remember feeling an overwhelming sense of sadness, that (thankfully) was quite novel to me then. I was reminded of this memory, hazy though it may be, just a few days ago I went to see a theatrical production of Steel Magnolias in Greensboro.

The play was fantastic, and like so many childhood bits and pieces revisited in adulthood, I couldn’t believe everything I had missed as a kid. As I’m sure you’re aware, the story is the real bunny-bread-and-butter of sisterhood. The quotes (classic: “laughter through tears is my favorite emotion”), the touching moments, the hair–oh the hair. It was sisterhood in all its warm, fuzzy, girly greatness. And when the lights came up in the theater, I couldn’t help but notice that everyone (yes, mostly women but some dudes, too) in the sold out audience was wiping tears from their cheeks.

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LAST WEEK I THREW myself over a huge hurdle. (And I’m still not even sure how I did it.) I completed my MFA thesis reading. My parents came to North Carolina from various corners of the world and my sweet boyfriend traveled all the way from Tokyo to see me read. But even among all the excitement, I was sad to see that one big-baby-man-face was missing from the crowd. That’s right: T was on vacation in Costa Rica. However, my brother did send this congratulatory email in his absence.

Anna,

Good luck with your reading tomorrow. I am proud. I look forward to reading your exceptional work in the future. Please understand that it is not necessary to credit me with all of your inspirations at the end of your reading.
I love you.

Smug, right? But also very sweet.

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TOMORROW MARKS THE 38th ANNIVERSARY of the supreme court’s Roe v. Wade decision. I’m so grateful to have been born into a country where sisters (and brothers, too, of course) before me fought for women’s right to choose! So how are you celebrating? Need ideas?

The website Feminists for Choice has several events listed (in Texas and NYC) and here’s a post from feministing with the lowdown on other NYC-based celebrations.

P.S. Another happy birthday to my favorite feminist and fantastic boyfriend, Dreux! (photo by christine)

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AS IT TURNS OUT, my brother T has been in the throes of paramount brotherly obligations lately. And no, I do not mean he has been on the phone coaching me through my teaching dilemmas with sage big brother advice. He happens to be the best man in his BFF’s upcoming wedding. And in true T fashion, he is taking this duty very seriously. And by very seriously, I mean he has been planning a blow-out bachelor party in Las Vegas. When we talked about it on the phone, I was all “Whaaat?! Don’t you think that’s a little extravagant?” And he was all, “No.”

Brotherhood means business, I guess.

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I‘M DIGGING this photo post about girlfriends over at the blog size too small. It’s so sweet! This holiday season, I’m on the road, traveling in Japan with my boyfriend. We’re having a fantastic time, full of sticky rice balls and silly awkward bowing exchanges with strangers, but today, I’m feeling especially pangy for the Christmas-y comfort of my hometown girlfriends. Le sigh.

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SPEAKING OF CRAFTS, I thought I’d share a photo that sums up how I’ve been spending the bulk of my free time lately. That’s right: I’ve been canning. It all started with this recipe for refrigerator pickles that Margaret Roach, founder of The Sister Project, posted on her gardening blog. I love how the simple steps of canning–sterilizing the jars; boiling a brine; gathering the perfect combination of spices–connects me to Margaret even though we’re separated by a thousand miles, and also connects me to the many women in my family who have done this very activity over the past hundred years. This women’s work is powerful stuff, eh?

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Hello 25! (Photo by Shaina Machlus)

ONE OF THE REASONS why I’m always geeking out over the blogosphere is because there is such amazing potential for community within it—it’s like a great big amorphous blob of sisterhood just waiting to be claimed and shaped. And in large part, that’s why we started The Sister Project as a blog network. What better way to explore sisterhood than through a medium that inherently fosters community? Lately, I’ve been most excited about an internet project started by 22-year-old blogger Cassie Boorn in which she asks older female bloggers what they would say to their younger, 20-something-year-old selves. Here’s the scoop:

In an interview with NPR’s Cassie says “she decided to do this post because as a blogger she has traveled to a lot of conferences and met ‘a lot of really great women.’” She decided to pick these women’s brains for the kind of honest, useful (and retrospective) advice that a 22-year-old single mom like herself could use. And lots of fantastic female bloggers responded. They wrote their advice in the form of letters to their younger selves.

One of my favorite bits of advice / comfort is from Sarah Brown of the blog Que Sera Sera. She writes:

“First of all, let’s get this out of the way: no, you are not crazy. Yes, you should probably talk to someone. There’s no shame in that. You should also go outside more.”

You can read all the letters on Cassie’s blog. And even contribute your own. I feel like all this is especially pertinent to me right now as I’ve just skidded past my 25th birthday (eeps!). And I feel a bit like I’m at a pit stop between 20 and 30, trying to peer at every horizon. I keep asking myself, What have you learned in the past five years? (hopefully something) and What will you learn in the next five? (again, hopefully something).

So here goes: what would you write to your 20-something self?

Links:

Cassie Boorn’s blog

NPR interview with Cassie Boorn

Sarah Brown’s letter

Sarah Brown’s blog

Shaina Machlus’s blog

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HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! Here’s a picture of my mother when she was my age. Isn’t her 1970s style amazing? (She rocks the center part and aviators so well.) I love you, Mama! What are you doing with your mom to celebrate?

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