February: snow and Austen

Better than digging.

We started February with a longer-than-expected return flight from Jackson Hole: bad weather made us miss our connection in Chicago, but an airline clerk found us a red-eye flight - via Los Angeles. Once back, we constantly compared MA to WY weather. We felt colder despite similar temperatures. Humidity makes all the difference! Then we got slammed with snow nearly every weekend. The first storm was superstorm Nemo, whose predicted severity prompted an unheard of (for me) driving ban and suspension of public transportation. Thankfully, we had food in the house (no-knead bread and Bo Ssam) and our utilities held despite the strong wind. Amazingly, the weather service didn't overexaggerate: we spent hours clearing out 2.5 feet of snow. It was actually hard to go up the hill to sled, but Ivan (right, by our stairs) had fun climbing up the snow piles.

Metal rocks.

Nemo posed a challenge for Nikita to get to his state chess championship because our street hadn't been cleaned (the main roads were fine). Luckily, Igor and Nikita were able to find a ride, and Nikita went on to win third place in his section. He particularly loves the trophy - a goblet made of real metal (right).

The superstorm did, however, postpone the boys' piano recital - Ivan's first - to the following weekend (which also saw more snow, but not as much). The boys played well (video here), but especially enjoyed the reception where they got to eat good food and run around the house. I learned that Russians don't like biko (sticky rice cake) as much as biochemists.

We were fortunate that the weather service overestimated the strength of a snowstorm when we drove to Saratoga Springs, NY for another chess tournament. Nikita did only okay, but we had a great time meeting up with my aunt, whom I hadn't seen in nearly 30 years. We had a tasty lunch at the oldest restaurant in town (Olde Bryan Inn), then Ivan and I got a tour of Saratoga Springs while Nikita played chess. I loved the 19th-century architecture, but the weather was too rainy for photos. Maybe next time!

100 days of school, despite the snow.

Between the February break and added snow days, it was difficult for the boys to return to the routine of school (not to mention calculating the 100th school day, above). One morning, Ivan didn't want to go because he wanted to be like the fat 19th-century Russian writer Ivan Krylov, who lay on the couch all day (he went anyway). Nikita had trouble keeping up with his homework, but enjoyed me making Chicken alla Vodka and reading Cricket in Times Square to him.

For me, February meant back to teaching, but also an education in transmedia storytelling by The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a YouTube adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. This article and video provide good introductions. The quality of the video production is high, but I especially loved how the project used social media (not just Twitter or Tumblr, but Jane Bennet's lookbook and Pinterest, Gigi Darcy's This is my Jam) and inspired fanart and videos (this one is my favorite).

The LBD made me seek out other Jane Austen adaptations, but so far, I've only seen Lost in Austen. I had to watch the miniseries twice because I was so freaked out by the third installment - the injustice of what was happening to Jane Bennet! I ultimately fell in love, however, with the series and especially with Elliot Cowan as Darcy. He may be better than Colin Firth.

These outstanding P&P adaptations got me thinking about adaptations in general. I even realized that oral presentations are essentially adaptations of a research paper (yeah, work still creeps into my thinking now and then). Anyway, I think an effective adaptation has at least three qualities. First, the adaptation has to retain the spirit of the story, e.g., the characters have to be consistent. I applaud, for example, the LBD producers' decision to not give Darcy a YouTube channel (despite fans clamoring for more Darcy) because Darcy is not the type of character who would make a vlog. Second, the adaptation should take advantage of the new medium. Finally, the story still has to work as a narrative despite leaving details out. The last two reasons explain why some (though not many) movies are actually better than the book.

I'll end this post with more quotes of the month:

New Zealand? Washington? What is this?
---Nikita at a restaurant; he got the wine menu.

I really like Lincoln. He's the best president.
He's already dead. A long time ago.
---Nikita and Ivan commenting on the Oscars.