irony

Give the gift that keeps on ... killing. From the Washington Times (via Alice):

Indiana residents in need of a quick stocking stuffer this holiday
season have an unusual option: Planned
Parenthood gift certificates.
The group's Hoosier State chapter on
Wednesday began selling gift certificates redeemable at any of its 35 facilities
for any service provided -- from basic health screenings to birth control to
abortions. [emphasis mine].

Speaking of irony and courage, check out the short film entry called Volition over at the Doorpost Film Project (it is a finalist in the "Hope" category). The synopsis:

The act of making a choice. Sometimes the choice of inaction has consequences
stronger than we could ever imagine. Throughout history, men have been faced
with difficult choices in a world that makes it easy for them to conform. This
film explores the hope that lies behind every decision made in the face of
adversity; the hope that is buried in the heart of those that look beyond
themselves and see something bigger worth fighting for.

ike

{all accompanying photos from Galveston, March 2007}

Hurricane Ike came visiting during the night and left a great deal of devastation in his path. The predictions of his effect on us here in Central Texas were ever-shifting. But in the end, I can sum it up with a variation on an old souvenir t-shirt slogan: Ike came to Texas and all we got were lousy gas prices. Mind you, I really am not complaining. I mean, we are safe and dry here at the Suburban Ranch. Everything is in tact. And our tomorrow is in all likelihood going to be predictably familiar (and dry). But, we wouldn't have minded being a bit less dry. Perhaps a few drops of that liquid gold, commonly known as rain, could have blown our way. Nope, not one drop. It was a breezy, overcast summer day. End of story.

Oh, yeah, except the gas. There have been runs on the gas. I didn't get out much today, but I observed neighboring gas stations on the way to market . One was selling the stuff for $3.51 a gallon and the other for $3.86. Curious. Curious to see what it is about town tomorrow.

What a small question, though, compared to those being contemplated by the many evacuees staying in town, nervously eager to return home. Restlessly awaiting permission to return and absorb the reality in person. God grant them courage and perseverance.

This article is for the frequenters of this blog whose tattered, beloved copies of the complete works of Jane Austen stays always on the nightstand beside their beds. This article is, heartbreakingly, for the readers of this blog who have been pestering, begging and pleading with the literary publishing industry for years trying to get their own works published and sold. This story is simply astonishing on so many levels.

Jane Austen fan submits her work anonymously to publishers... and receives a dozen rejections

It is a truth universally acknowledged that many of us who claim to have
read a classic novel are telling porkies. Or have simply watched the film
version instead.
This even applies, it seems, to literary agents and
publishers.
For when a budding author sent typed chapters of Jane Austen's
novels to 18 of them, changing just the titles and characters' names, only one
recognised her words.
Scroll down for more

David Lassman submitted
three of Austen's classic works - Northanger Abbey, Pride and Prejudice and
Persuasion - to 18 publishers and literary agents
Another managed to
recognise they were 'a really original read'. But the rest simply rejected them
or never responded, according to the man who posted the manuscripts, David
Lassman.
"It was unbelievable," he said. "If the major publishers can't
recognise great literature, who knows what might be slipping through the net?
"Here is one of the greatest writers that has lived, with her oeuvre
securely fixed in the English canon and yet only one recipient recognised them
as Austen's work."
Mr Lassman, 43, submitted opening chapters of three of
Austen's classic works - Northanger Abbey, first published in 1798, Pride and
Prejudice (1813) and Persuasion (1818).
He typed them out himself, and
signed them Alison Laydee after Austen's early pseudonym A Lady.
To offer a
few more hints, he called Pride and Prejudice 'First Impressions', the original
title for the story, and wrote a return address of the Jane Austen Centre in
Bath, where he works as the director of the Jane Austen Festival.
In
response, the literary agency Christopher Little, which represents JK Rowling,
said it was 'not confident of placing this material with a publisher'.

AuthorJane Austen (left), and her bestselling
novel Pride and Prejudice
Penguin, which currently publishes Pride and
Prejudice, responded that First Impressions 'seems like a really original and
interesting read'. But there was no request to see the rest of the book.
Others to turn the works down included Bloomsbury, Random House, Harper
Collins and Hodder & Stoughton. The only one who emerged with any credit was
Alex Bowler, assistant editor at Jonathan Cape publishers.
His reply read:
"I suggest you reach for your copy of Pride and Prejudice, which I'd guess lives
in close proximity to your typewriter and make sure that your opening pages
don't too closely mimic the book's opening. After all, there is such a thing as
plagiarism."
Mr Lassman came up with the experiment when struggling to have
his own novel published.
He said it highlighted the flaws in the publishing
process.
"Getting a novel accepted is very difficult today unless you have
an agent first, but I had no idea of the scale of rejection poor old Jane
suffered.