It may seem as though days one and two of the AGM would be difficult to top…but then there were days three and four. The day began with breakout sessions gallore. This AGM played host to a huge variety of breakout speakers. The session “Dads, Cads, and Lads” got off to a fantastic start with this musical contribution:
- A Scottish Contribution
Another interesting breakout session was “Gunsmoke: Dueling in Jane Austen’s Time”. This session was perhaps a bit easier to take in for those that had attended the session “Gentlemanly Pursuits” on day two, and had learned the proper way to fire a firearm.
Gunsmoke from a recently discharged Regency era firearm
As the day wore on, more and more folks were appearing in their Regency attire. Here is a fun picture of the “modern Austen”.
Then came the best speaker of the day. The super star speaker of the conference was none other than Andrew Davies. JASNA Greater Houston, was quite fortunately sitting just three rows behind Mr. Davies. We, of course, began the queue to take photos with him. He was so gracious! Here are a few of us:
Mr. Davies graciously autographs some items
I don’t think there will be any disagreement to the fact that Mr. Davies delivered the most informative and quite frankly hilarious speech of the entire weekend. The entire room was rolling with laughter and the poor man had to pause and wait for us to be quiet. It really is no ones fault but his own, however, for being so hilarious. We could hardly help ourselves.
Finally, the evening arrived and ushered in the ball festivities. Complete with a sit down dinner, and a promenade, the festivities went off without a hitch. The ball was simply the icing on the cake to a fabulous day. Here are some photos from the evening:
The Singing Cowboys
The Ball!
Portrait of a Region
I hope that you can see from the photos what a wonderful time we had this evening. The next morning was bittersweet. We were treated to a video interview with the lovely Deirdre Le Faye during the “Delaford Wedding Brunch”. Just prior to brunch, we were also witnesses to the duel between Colonel Brandon and that wicked Willoughby!
But, this was also the last event of the AGM and saying goodbye to old and new friends alike is never easy. It is, perhaps, better to think of the parting, not so much as a goodbye, but a “See you in NYC”. If you do plan to join us in NYC for the 2012 AGM, I would encourage you to consult Lady Catherine about how best to pack your trunks…for if you dont, you might find yourself in a conundrum such as this:
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