Hey friends, I missed you!

Stuart and I had a lovely time in Key West. It was the first vacation we've taken in several years and the longest at 6 nights. I liked going away for long enough that instead of being sad to go home, I was happy to return.

I do miss the heat though. We had snow flurries on the Cape today! (wtf? uncool, Nature!)

Stuart insisted that we leave our laptops at home. I can tell you that I will not listen to him on that front in the future! And there was no dvd player in the room so I had no way to watch Jane Eyre!

Good thing I know the movie pretty much by heart so I could act  out the best scenes word-for-word in my mind.

I know.

So, with no laptop it took a few days to get over the anxiety of not being able to keep tabs on my stuff, which would be fine if it were necessary! But when I am on vacation I want to relax and enjoy myself, not be on internet detox! I wouldn't have used it much, but it was definitely a drag to be without it. Don't hassle me about it, ok? It's just become a part of life, a convenience and something I enjoy... like tv and cell phones. Nothing wrong with that. Right?

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I struck up a sweet little friendship with  Rosy, the front desk girl at the Duvall Inn,  and in no time I had her reading Jane Eyre and borrowing my dvd. She watched the first half one night and was like, "I like it!" and the next day, after she had watched the whole thing she was all, "Oh my god, it was so awesome!  I asked my boyfriend to buy me my own copy!"

Mwah ha ha! Jane Eyre and The Bronte-Along claims another victim! ( Hi Rosy!)

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While Stuart and I were out tooling around on bikes one day, I found these signs of Jane Eyre and couldn't resist capturing them for you:

I seriously could not believe it when I saw this on a sidestreet within minutes of photographing the Bertha sign:

Wha....? Thornfield in Key West!

And another day we meandered in the Key West Cemetery and I saw this:

which reminded me of..."Might we not at least shake hands?" and "Farewell, for the present." (more cemetery pics to come next week)

>sigh<

obsessed.

With no laptop to screw around on, I had plenty of time to read, which was great! I devoured 4 books in 6 days and 3 of them were Jane Eyre-related!

1. Becoming Jane Eyre by Sheila Kohler. Just look at the gorgeousness of the cover!

It's a fictional account (though heavily researched) of Charlotte Bronte's life as she was writing Jane Eyre and experiences of her own that she transferred to the novel. Or something.  I enjoyed it and am glad I read it, but it didn't grab me by the throat like I want a book to do.

2. I scored The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde at a Key West used bookstore for 5 bucks!

I really liked this. Very imaginative and loosey goosey writing that reminded me of Tom Robbins or Douglas Adams. Thursday Next is the main character who time/reality travels into the world of Jane Eyre and changes the outcome of the book to what it currently is! Super fun. One warning, though: any mention of  Jane Eyre is only a page worth or so, until 3/4 of the way through the book! But that last 1/4 is great!

3. Rochester by J.L. Neiman. Now. I'm hesitant to tell you about this one. And it was my second reading of it. Um, so the thing is that it's pretty much under the category of Rochester Porn. And I mean that in the best possible way. It is a reimagining of Jane Eyre from Rochester's perspective and it does take some liberties, both in storyline and the morals of the time. It seems to be self published with a print-on-demand service and could really use the loving touch of an editor, but I can't help loving it. It's steamy and explicit so don't read it if you are a purist or a prude. But if you are obsessed and want to add a new dimension to your obsession, I say go for it and roll around shamelessly in a guilty pleasure.

4. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Might as well get a head start on the Austen-Along that will be coming up shortly, right?

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If you are not yet on board with all of this, just know that I have never been into this stuff either! It was the 2006 Masterpiece Theatre Jane Eyre that did it to me! I am psyched though, because I have always wanted to be that person who has read all this stuff, and now I will be!

Join us, please? It is so much more fun with company!

If you are getting sick of all this Jane Eyre stuff, blame Beth Dunn. She's the one who introduced me to it and now I am infected, afflicted and utterly obsessed.  Thanks, Beth! And thanks for being my cohost for all this sweet madness! (Did you catch her Bronte-Along Week One Roundup?)

Back soon with more Key West and Jane Eyre.

"I am strangely glad to get back to you again..."

xo,

melissa