While Elizabeth is adjusting her ideas...

In my second-favorite Jane Austen novel, Mr. Bennet addresses his third daughter thus:

"What say you, Mary? For you are a young lady of deep reflection, I know, and read great books and make extracts."

Mary wished to say something very sensible, but knew not how.

Boy, do I know that feeling.

All right, I've been back in town nearly a month now and I need to get myself involved in some music. Music surrounds me... every day I say hello to Woode Wood on the hike-and-bike trail (there you go!); for the last week or so there's been someone playing the trumpet under the drainage culvert by the Lamar Bridge (and quite well too!); and today, just to make my day a bit more beautifully surreal, a guitarist and a fiddler were belting out some lively bluegrass right in my parking lot at work. Wonderful!

My sister is having a wonderful time playing cello with Attic Ted. And one of my best Austin friends, a civil engineer by day, has a busy schedule on evenings and weekends as a Celtic fiddler. I envy them both.

I loved, loved, loved singing with the UT Early Music Ensemble. Sadly, UT laid off the adorable and brilliant Danny Johnson a few years ago, due to budget restraints and stupidly misplaced priorities, and handed the ensemble over to the leadership of a grad student - the group doesn't seem to exist anymore, as far as I can tell. The Texas Early Music Project looks downright delicious, but is clearly made up of serious musicians, not weekend dilettantes like me (sigh).

We soldier on. I wish I had something witty and original to post today, but truth be told I'm pretty much just blogging out of sheer bloody-mindedness. I'll think of something clever tomorrow. Tomorrow's another day...

Wait a minute, that's not Jane Austen.