A Very Merry Josh Christmas!

In case you haven't heard, Josh Groban is putting a Christmas cd out this year! It is titled Noel and comes out 9 October (for some reason, as of today, Amazon has the cover of Awake on the page). I have been hoping for a Josh Christmas cd for as long as I have been a fan and couldn't be more excited.

Today on FOJG.com (his fanclub), they gave us a sneak peek at the cover! (It was leaked by Amazon or Barnes & Noble yesterday!)

Courtesy: Reprise
Gorgeous, isn't it? (Or should I say "Isn't he?")

Here are the track listings:

1. Silent Night
2. Little Drummer Boy
3. I'll be home for Christmas
4. Ava Maria
5. Angels We Have Heard On High
6. Thankful
7. The Christmas Song
8. What Child is this
9. First Noel
10. Petit papa Noel
11. It came upon a Midnight Clear
12. Panis Angelicus
13. O Come all Ye Faithful

A very classy and elegant selection! I am most anxious to hear "Ave Maria" and "Panis Angelicus." I am going to listen to it for months!

Isn't He Amazing?

I know Awake came out last November, but I just came across this and I'm in a very Josh Mood and had to post it. I will get around to writing about our awesome experiences at the Josh Groban concert this week. It was just too amazing and I can't sit still to write it yet!

So, enjoy . . .

I Received the Nice Award!

Miss Paula of Gathering of Friends kindly bestowed a "Nice Award" on me! Thank you, Miss Paula! I am honored!


As I was on my Josh Groban concert trip, I didn't have the time/ability to write a post, and since I have been home, I have spent a lot of time at the lake. So, here is my rather tardy post.

Here are the rules:

This Nice award is for those blogger's who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also, for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you've been awarded please pass it on to 7 others who you feel are deserving of this award.

This is a difficult choice because there are so many nice people out there!

Here are 7 very nice people, in no particular order:

1. Angel at Woman Honor Thyself: She is one of my best blog friends and always gives such encouraging comments. She is steadfast and true!

2. Anna of A Rose By Any Other Name, even though she is on a blogging break. She is a very sweet person and we share a taste in paintings.

3. Nan at American Daughter: She is one of the nicest people I have met online, always encouraging, and very much a lady!

4. Ms. Place from Jane Austen's World: Her interesting and informative posts on Jane Austen and her world always inspire me to continue my historical research into that period, which has always been my favorite.

5. Dapoppins: She always has a fun comment and a great take on things on her blog. I like her style.

6. Susie from Susie Pie: Looking at her blog always makes me feel cheerful and we have a lot in common. She's a sweetheart!

7. Mad Minerva: She's such a smart, great person. I always enjoy her opinions and she's so nice!

Thank you again to Miss Paula for nominating me! I am honored to be your blog friend (for many reasons!). Thank you all for being so Nice!!!

We saw JOSH!!!

And Lori TOUCHED HIM!!! Just got back and can't believe what a beautiful concert it was! We are still completely stunned and breathless. And then, Aj saw him at his bus!

Will we be able to sleep?

More later! (And pictures!)

Josh Countdown: Minus Four Hours!

Lady Lori and I are in Seattle at my lovely cousin Lizzie's house and are getting ready for the Josh Groban concert! We are so excited! We will be meeting Aj at the concert, after a lovely dinner at an Irish Pub near Key Arena. It was just raining, but the downpour appears to have stopped.

Josh, here we come!

To the Josh Groban Concert We Go!

Today I am leaving on my Josh Groban Concert Trip! The concert is Saturday, 8pm, in Seattle, but I am going to pick up my friend Lady Lori and tomorrow we will head to Seattle! Lady Lori, Aj, and I have excellent seats and plan to go to dinner before we go to Key Arena. We are so excited! Pictures and more after I get back on Tuesday!

Have a brilliant weekend!

How lovely!

Which Author's Fiction are You?

Jane Austen wrote you. You are extremely aware of the power of a single word.
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Lost In Austen Contest!

Ms. Place is having a Jane Austen South Park Character Contest over at Jane Austen's World and asked me to mention it, which I am most pleased to do.

The great prize is a copy of the fun novel Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure by Emma Campbell Watson, which I also reviewed below.

Here are Ms. Place's rules:

If you would like to try your hand at creating a Jane Austen hero or heroine character, please go to the South Park character generator and submit your entries to me via my email. The contest will be open for one month. The winner of the contest will receive a copy of Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure by Emma Campbell Webster. Your entries will be featured on this blog.

So start creating your own Captain Wentworths, Elizabeth Bennets, and Mr. Darcies now! Secondary characters are also welcome. Readers of my blog will be given the opportunity to vote for the winner starting September 1.

You will find the necessary links and e-mail by using the contest link above.

Here is my heroine character (though I won't need to win the book!):

Mrs. Elizabeth Bennet Darcy

Book Review: Lost In Austen

In the middle of July, a lady named Catherine, from Riverhead Trade publishing company, e-mailed and asked if I would like to receive an advance copy of Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure by Emma Campbell Watson, a Brit who graduated from Oxford, where she specialized in Jane Austen. I said I would be delighted and have since received the book and read it.

Lost in Austen is, as the subtitle suggests, a sort of "choose your own adventure" book. I remember reading them when I was younger, but none were as amusing as this!

As the press release says:

As Elizabeth Bennet, you the reader control the story, and thus the outcome of the book. For example, a wrong turn on the way to Netherfield takes you into a Sense and Sensibility landscape where you meet, fall in love with, and are forsaken by John Willoughby; accept an invitation to Bath, and you could find yourself in Northhanger Abbey, where the beguiling Henry Tilney makes you an offer you won’t want to refuse.

You can read the book in two ways: play along with the game and keep track of your scores, or just read it and choose whichever option you prefer, without reference to points. I chose to play and keep track of my scores. At the beginning, the author recommends the reader keep track of five categories: Accomplishments, Intelligence, Confidence, Connections, and Fortune on separate slips of paper (or at least sides of paper), as you will be writing a lot of numbers. Alongside Accomplishments, you also keep track of your failures. Your Connections are split between "Superior" and "Inferior." As you read, you make choices, gain points, subtract points, and discover your accomplishments, failings, superior and inferior connections. Your score can vary wildly, as your feelings of intelligence and confidence, etc., do in real life. Sometimes you come across a question or a little quiz, and the answer you choose nets you a certain number of points or causes you to lose points.

Webster followed Pride and Prejudice quite closely and based the points off of the novel (and other J.A. novels). I only once ran across characters from another novel, but when I skimmed through saw some very interesting references to other J.A. books. I really felt like I was reading Jane's novel, but with a super little game thrown in. It was great fun to keep track of my points (even when I was deep in the negatives!) and try to decide how to behave as Elizabeth Bennet.

In the end, I was successful and achieved a prudent marriage and lovematch with none other than Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, my Dream Man!

Lost in Austen could easily be played with another person (or a couple of Janeites!). It is a very amusing novel and I highly recommend it to any Jane Austen fan (or anyone who might be interested in becoming a Janeite!). I look forward to reading it again and creating another adventure. You will be able to find Lost in Austen by Emma Campbell Webster at any bookstore beginning 7 August 2007. If you buy it, please do let us know what you think!

Book Information: Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure by Emma Campbell Webster (ISBN: 978-1594482588; 7 August 2007; $14.00; paperback)

My Book and Notes