Alert Janeite Laurel Ann pointed this out to us. She seemed a bit alarmed, but we love our Barbie dolls and gasped in amazement at this beautiful one of a kind doll.

First we must bring your attention to an event coming up in just a few days for Janeites in the Erie, PA area. Alert Baja Janeite let us know that soprano Julianne Baird will be performing songs from Jane Austen’s own songbooks at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania this Friday, February 22, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5-10 (a bargain!) and available online. We have heard Dr. Baird perform these songs and it is not to be missed.

In the Boston area, the Governor Gore Museum will be offering a Jane Austen tour this weekend (Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday throughout the day).

Executive Director Susan Robertson said after rereading Austen’s six novels she knew there were many parallels between the Gore mansion and the manor homes described in Austen’s works.

This was because the Gores and Austens lived during the same period. The Gores even lived in England. Robertson felt a themed tour would give “a person interested in Jane Austen’s works a chance to go into a home (of the era) and understand how it feels and looks and sounds.”

We are amused by the name of the website (”Wicked Local”–that’s Bostonese for “Extremely Local”–or as Lady Catherine might say, “I’m wicked put out”) but cringe at the mention of JASNA as the “Jane Austen Fan Club.”

We also have reports of a few recent gatherings that have been shared on the Internet. (more…)

We heard from JASNA’s Puget Sound Region, which is co-sponsoring with KCTS Channel 9 Public Television an essay contest for high school students. The essay should be written on the subject, “What Does Jane Austen’s Writing Mean to Me?” Information and entry forms are available on the Puget Sound Region’s website.

Two high school productions of Pride and Prejudice are coming up in the next couple of weeks on opposite sides of the U.S.

Mt. Pleasant Area High School (near Pittsburgh)’s production will take place starting tonight and running through Saturday.

Senior Holly Bittel will portray Mrs. Bennet.

“This has been a challenge for me because I’m not used to being so uptight,” Bittel said. “And I think that it’s funny how my character snaps at Lizzy for saying things that were considered then to be so outrageous and that aren’t really anything today.”

Mt. Whitney High School in Visalia, CA will have their production next weekend.

So what’s the attraction of “Pride and Prejudice” for a 21st century teenager?

“I think people can relate to the story of a headstrong girl sticking up for what she believes in,” Yan said. “And, of course, everyone falls in love with Mr. Darcy.”

Thanks to Alert Janeite Lisa for the links.