Thursday, November 13, 2008

weather and the state of the roads


Jane Austen, patroness of civility
I invoke thee
By Jane and Elizabeth Bennet
I summon thee
By Elinor Dashwood
I call thee
By Mr. Knightly, Colonel Brandon and Mr. Darcy in the final chapters of Pride & Prejudice
I beseech thee
Bless this farewell dinner party in Laura'a honor
Keep dysfunctional tongues mild and kind
Let conversation be civil
Turn barbs to compliments
Let those who cannot think of anything appropriate to say
confine their remarks to weather and the state of the roads.
So Mote It Be!
It worked. The party Laura was dreading, the one to which Bevin and I were implored to come as a buffer zone, was actually quite pleasant. Everyone was on their best behavior, and aside from a distressing moment involving a story about Laura's mother's wiener dog falling out the car window (she says it's fine), things went smoothly.
Thank you Miss Austen. Whether it was Jane, the full moon, or merciful providence, the farewell dinner is now a pleasant memory. Well done.

5 comments:

Bree said...

Forget Darcy, Colonel Brandon can lead my regiment any day! haha!

Glad to hear it went well.

disabled account said...

collin firth can come to my dinner party any day. rawr.

i'm glad it went well, laura needs that. i'll see you tomorrow evening after work. i called laura the other day and asked her which day would be the least invasive to her preparations and what not...and she said tomorrow. which turns out is also my best day. :)

Unknown said...

Yippie for smooth parties and glad to hear the dog is ok, how truly bizarre!

Yeah I'm with Bree on this one, Brandon is too amazing not to love! Now I am in serious need of watching S&S because I have no time for the book until next weekend...

Bridgete said...

Ugh, I was halfway through Pride and Prejudice before classes started...it's been on hold ever since. Couple more weeks and I can go back to it. =)

Glad the dinner went well.

Laura said...

IT JANE'S BIRTHDAY!!!! And the weather is wet and the roads are terrible here in Indonesia. I wish I could be there for the fourth annual Jane Day. Have a super time. THANKS for your help with the party. I miss you terribly.