When I was growing up, I used to fantasize about some wonderful dark-haired man confessing his love for me. I had not read Pride and Prejudice. I had not heard of Darcy yet. In fact, I was a long way off from meeting the author who would come to mean so much to me in my 30s and early 40s.
When I finally did get around to reading P&P I was already jaded about romance and Darcy's confession. As many of you know, this lovely revelation to Elizabeth Bennet comes with some thorns. ~Oh, your family sucks. You're too low class for me. All my boujee friends will disown me. Etc. etc. BUT, I admire and love you.~
Check out Darcy's confession in context (Chapter 34 courtesy of Republic of Pemberley). What a moment, right?
Oh, yeah, Elizabeth's astonishment was be-yond expression when she heard those words. Like Lizzie Bennet, I fall silent when someone shocks and angers me. I just raise my eyebrows, look over my glasses, and stare.
I had no reason today to be silent. I was asked to give a talk to JASNA-Maine's members, and I did just that. I talked. A lot. I also showed a lot pictures from my England trip, and I wore the pendant containing Darcy's words featured at the start of this blog post.
Last week, one of the English honor society members also gave me some Austen swag, which I look forward to wearing soon.
I seriously cannot get enough Austen swag. I have Austen shirts. I have an Austen pendant. Heck, I might even get a JA tattoo one day. Who knows.
I wore Austen socks today. Check out the socks, though:
You can buy them on this site.
How about you? Do have some favorite author bling? Don't have any? Go here, and get it now! Out of Print has a lot of cool stuff. So does Etsy. Want to find something in a bookstore? Yes, brick-and-mortar shops are still around and have some great stuff! In Farmington, we have DDG, which is where Hannah found the Emma pin. Newbury Comics has a lot of awesome socks like the ones shown above.
Take it from me, it's fun to wear author accoutrement. Everyone appreciates it, and if you find yourself in an awkward situation, say, "hey, look at my socks" or "so, I got this Austen pendant in England and....." :D Conversation starters and savers!
