Fact of middle-aged life: if you go to bed early with a migraine you'll wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to get back to sleep. Some items of interest for the insomniacs:

"But while many of us were trying, whether we were aware of it or not, to rescue Austen from her popularity, other critics were beginning to view the representations and activities that constitute Austenmania with more appreciation and, in the process, to probe our discipline's investment in hierarchies of literary value, readings, and readers. For the study of Austenmania prompts questions about what cultural works we value, why and how we value them, and who 'we' are."

Austenmania discussed in the Chronicle Review. I was late to appreciate Jane Austen due to my own pride and prejudice when I was young surrounding the people who I knew that read her. . It took persuasion before I became a fan. Ha! I'm as big a wit as Jack Aubrey.

Some people actually organize their bookshelves instead of stuffing new purchases in wherever they will fit. Shelia O'Malley explains her system.

I have harbored ill will toward Sharon Stone since she declared that a dirt sandwich is better than Dwight Yoakam many years ago. Now the London News Review reads Gladys Knight's autobiography and quotes the passage describing her cravings for Georgia red clay. Yum.

Via the Book Slut, a report that details the diversity of languages spoken in the United States all broken down into lots of interesting categories. Who knew that North Carolina had the second highest percentage of speakers of Cherokee in the nation? And why is Cumberland County ranked ahead of Durham and Orange counties in the number of languages spoken? Must do research because I know absolutely nothing about Cumberland County.

And does your pet belong on the Ark? You can send links to your Friday pet blogging posts to the Modulator for space on the Ark. And look--the site owner's reading Alexander Hamilton. Wonder when he started.