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Sense And Sensibility

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Vzbrst
12/01/08

In reply to Sense And Sensibility
My first thought was: hey, wait a minute, can't the ashes be used as a fertilizer?

Or does only wood ash work this way?

I'm in a creepy mood today.
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BeckySharper
12/01/08

@Vzbrst: Human ashes have lots of bits of pulverized bone in them, which is the same substance used to fertilize roses--it's called bone meal and you can buy it by the sack at Home Depot--so theoretically I'm sure the gardener could make use of ashes if he wasn't squeamish.
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bleedingmouths
12/01/08

@BeckySharper: Yeah, what's his problem, it's only burnt up people... can you imagine if he/she left and they had to get a new gardener.. job ad.- Gardener wanted, must be ok with handling human remains...

Am I the only Austenite to keep imagining people scattering ashes over Aunt and Uncle Gardener?
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BeckySharper
12/01/08

@bleedingmouths: They were very nice people--I'm sure they wouldn't have minded at all.
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hellosunshine
12/01/08

In reply to Sense And Sensibility
Y'all know I love an excuse to post a Colin Firth picture, so this was just asking for it.

MROWR.

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BeckySharper
12/01/08

@hellodarling!: I'm sorry but I was hoping for the wet shirt one.
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EdnasEdibles
12/01/08

In reply to Sense And Sensibility
I'm still holding out for my ashes to be scattered in VC Andrews' attic.
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Mediokra
12/01/08

@EdnasEdibles: Ha!
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BeckySharper
12/01/08

@EdnasEdibles: I presume they'll be mingled with your brother's ashes first?
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Raspberry Swirly
12/01/08

In reply to Sense And Sensibility
That's creepy. On a semi-related note, I know someone that did not know that Pride and Prejudice wasn't just a movie. I cried a little on the inside.
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haguenite
12/01/08

@Raspberry Swirl the Waitress: Did they at least know the BBC/A&E version, or only the *suppresses gag reflex* Keira Knightley one?
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Raspberry Swirly
12/01/08

@haguenite: Keira Knightley. That made it a bit more painful.
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goldfarb
12/02/08

@Raspberry Swirl the Waitress: I'm sorry...I think you have your facts wrong here...there has been NO adaptation of Pride and Prejudice other than the BBC/A&E series.
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leslieannelevine
12/01/08

In reply to Sense And Sensibility
The phrase "mounds of human ash" really ... made me shudder. Cremation in general doesn't bother me -- we have some of my mom's ashes in a little jewelry box on the mantle! -- but MOUNDS of the stuff seems a bit macabre.
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Mediokra
12/01/08

@jammiriffic: I have this horrifying mental picture of a lovely English cottage with a garden with little gray hills of cremains all over the yard. I feel like gagging now.
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morninggloria
12/01/08

In reply to Sense And Sensibility
Sorry Jane Austen fans, that rumor of the real Mr. Darcy being a gardener outside of Jane's house for all of eternity is simply that: a rumor. No matter how bad you want him to plow you, he's fictional.
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Mkp-hearts-NYC
12/01/08

In reply to Sense And Sensibility
Haha..I love the Brits. It's "distressing" for viewers to see a garden strewn with human remains. Not shriek-inducing, horrifying or gawdawful.
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ItchykooParker
12/01/08

@Mkp-hearts-nyc: And so pragmatic in such a British way: "Also, it is of no benefit to the garden!", as if that seals the argument.
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BeckySharper
12/01/08

@Mkp-hearts-nyc: I think that "distressing" usually requires no more than a dollop of whiskey in one's tea.
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SisterMaryMartha
12/01/08

In reply to Sense And Sensibility
Y'all can pour out some boxed wine for me. No ash necessary.
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andBegorrah
12/01/08

In reply to Sense And Sensibility
At least cremation is more space-efficient than the Brontë estate's "Reader, I Buried Him"-themed funeral services.
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Mkp-hearts-NYC
12/01/08

@andBegorrah: baddabumchhhh... that's awesome. That's like something out of a Jasper Fforde book.
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Liz11685
12/01/08

In reply to Sense And Sensibility
I like Austen, but now I will stay away from the Hampshire cottage. (Been to the museum in Bath already) I do not wish to have my Elizabeth Bennett/Darcy dreams ruined by cremations- those things are pretty nasty.
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fashionintel
12/01/08

In reply to Sense And Sensibility
I think Jane is great, but can a true Jane fan explain to me the intense love for her - I am truly interested in knowing. Maybe I haven't read enough of Jane Austen, but they people who shop at my store go nuts for her, and I have to know why. P.S. This is a sincere request.
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Mkp-hearts-NYC
12/01/08

@fashionintelligentsia: What I love about Austen is that she is bright, quick, snarky and a shrewd observer of people's behavior and motivations. She's not as dramatic or earthshaking a writer as Charlotte Bronte, but her books give an engaging (if daintily written) portrait of a restricted time when women had few options and propriety was crucial. There's a lot of humor in her books, but she had a very dry sense of humor.
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VeryFancyBunny
12/01/08

@fashionintelligentsia: I'm with ya on the request. Every time I drop by Target's book section these days, there's usually a whole shelf or two devoted to what amounts to Jane Austen fanfic: novels about people who love Jane Austen (The Jane Austen Book Club) or novels that continue the stories of Jane Austen characters (Mr. Darcy's Diary). (Not that I usually shop at Target for books, but if I'm in a store that has books, I have to look at them.) I was a Lit major; I've read Austen. But I don't get the fanaticism about her.
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Mkp-hearts-NYC
12/01/08

@VeryFancyBunny: I have a very, very low tolerance for the fan fiction. I had to work on one when I was interning at a publishing house...it was better than some, but generally I shudder at all of the P&P from Mr. Darcy's perspective, etc. If we were meant to get his side of things at all, we can get it from Colin Firth's searing glances, thank you very much.
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littlemissvan
12/01/08

@Mkp-hearts-nyc: You know what is terrible? I have an irresistible compulsion to pick up and read any Austen fanfic I see. It is almost always terrible, but I can't stop myself!
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Mkp-hearts-NYC
12/01/08

@littlemissvan: The only reason I know so much of it is awful is because I keep trying :P We'd all /like/ a slice of Colin Firth's inner monologue, but it never comes to be.
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Majrhoulihan
12/01/08

@littlemissvan: I once bought a book of Jane Austen themed erotica while in Hay-on-Wye. It was much more satisfying than the novels if you know what I mean.
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Shamrockette
12/01/08

In reply to Sense And Sensibility
So basically the ashes of one of the greatest authors to ever live can't be spread because of a fucking GARDEN?!

Since when did horticulture overtake legacy?
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hortense
12/01/08

@Shamrockette: No no- Jane Austen FANS want to spread their ashes on her garden. Not Austen's ashes.
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haguenite
12/01/08

@Shamrockette: Jane is very visitable at Winchester Cathedral. No cremation there.

Honestly, it's not like the cottage in Chawton is that pretty anyway. If I were an Austenite (actually, I am, but I want to be buried so this is not a real issue for me) I'd have my ashes spread somewhere in the beautiful landscape surrounding it. Or perhaps somewhere along the river that flows through Winchester, between the cathedral close and the hospital.

(What, I did my thesis on literary tourism, I know places...)
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Shamrockette
12/01/08

@hortense: Oooooooooh.

Okay, I get it. That's just crazy.
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stealthird
12/01/08

In reply to Sense And Sensibility
Screw that. I want my ashes to powder Junot Diaz's crotch.
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morninggloria
12/01/08

@stealthird: My stars. I am just finishing Oscar Wao and I concur.
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stealthird
12/01/08

@morninggloria: I bought that the day it came out. If he makes me wait another ten years for his next book, I swear I'll kill myself.
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morninggloria
12/01/08

@stealthird: I'd never read him before, but I thought, whelp, those Pyoo-litzer folk know good writin'.
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stealthird
12/01/08

@morninggloria: Have you read his short story collection? I reccommend it. I've read every story at least three times, and counting. My favorite story in the collection is "Aurora".
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BeckySharper
12/01/08

@stealthird: Girl, you just made me LOL. You know, he's not married. Has a girlfriend, but not married. You could theoretically gain access to his crotch in this lifetime.
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stealthird
12/01/08

@BeckySharper: He's NOT? Omg, I thought he was...that will be my new years resolution: sleep with Junot Diaz.
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30RocksMySocks
12/01/08

In reply to Sense And Sensibility
There is something painfully sad and depressing about wanting to scatter one's ashes at the home of a person you have never met, no matter how brilliant a writer she may have been.
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ILikePineapples
12/01/08

@30RocksMySocks:
Why?
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30RocksMySocks
12/01/08

@ILikePineapples: it just, to me, speaks to a lack of any true relationships in one's life. To want your death remains scattered not in a setting that had meaning to you personally or in the along with someone with whom you were in actuality connected. I don't know. I guess it makes me think of my lonely grandfather, sitting by himself in his house with no one really to talk to anymore. I could see him wanting something like this because he refuses to get close to anyone living. All of his connections are to people he never knew, never met and have long since been deceased. It's kind of sad. But that's just me. I'm not asking you to agree or anything.
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ILikePineapples
12/01/08

@30RocksMySocks: Yeah, I don't agree with you, but I was sincerely curious to know why you felt that way. My take on it is that it's not unlike someone who loves the beach to want their ashes spread on the beach... just a way to attach some meaning to what happens to your remains (if you're not going to be buried).
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Mkp-hearts-NYC
12/01/08

@ILikePineapples: But it's possible to have a one-on-one connection with the beach...less so with Jane Austen.
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bleedingmouths
12/01/08

@Mkp-hearts-nyc: I beg to disagree! I grew up with her books, have read them over and over, each time gaining a new insight into a new part of my life. I seriously adore Jane Austen's work. I'm pretty fond of Jane too. I've spent days in Bath, visiting her old haunts, just like someone would visit a favourite beach. I really don't think it's that different. Saying that, I wouldn't want to be buried in her old garden, it seems rude. I don't think Jane would like it.
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Mkp-hearts-NYC
12/01/08

@bleedingmouths: Aha, see, you have a one-on-one connection with those places!

I hadn't thought of the Society members being close enough to have that kind of connection with the place (I live in the US and can only dream of wandering around Charlotte Bronte's moor...). To want to be scattered there /just/ because you've read the books many times still seems silly.

But you're totally right...Miss Austen would have been appalled.
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sarah.of.a.lesser.god (aka Mrs. BrutallyHonestHobbit)
12/01/08

In reply to Sense And Sensibility
In related news, President Bush announced he would like to be buried next to Chuck E. Cheese, Helen Henny, and Jasper T. Howls.
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