In a sentimental mood

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession

of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

I admit it. I'm a total sucker for Jane Austen movies. Any movie made from a Victorian novel, really, but especially Austen and those feisty Brontës.

As well as one of the greatest opening lines of all time (see above), Pride and Prejudice has all the ingredients for a tasty drama: surly but handsome hero with a garish income, stubborn but beautiful heroine who just won't act like a lady, conniving noblewomen, foolish mothers, wise fathers, giggly younger sisters, musical servants, refused proposals, reams of mixed messages, and a host of secondary characters who each get a good zinger in before the whole thing wraps up.

In Austen's world, nobody works (except the servants, but they love it so much they sing all the time) and everybody winds up in deep, infatuated, reciprocated love. I can't think of anything better to do on a sunny holiday afternoon than soak up that world for a couple of hours.

When the lights come back on, it's easy to stay convinced that every straight woman in the universe—regardless of inferior or superior birth, as they say—will inevitably trip over her prince at dawn sometime on the family estate. He'll declare his undying devotion, and you'll be so overwhelmed that you won't even notice his incredibly high-waisted riding pants.

Or maybe you will. But it won't take you long to get over it. Promise.

i swear to change my pants for you and you alone