Meme: Literary Personals

2008 December 3 at 4:05 PM (2008, books, meme, yay!)

Idea via tarigwaemir:

While we were cooking, Steve and I listened to the recording of La bohème (Callas as Mimì, di Stefano as Rodolfo, orchestra and chorus of la Scala) because we had tickets to the SFO production on Saturday, and I wanted to familiarize him with the opera. I showed him the libretto for Mimì’s famous aria, “Sì, mi chiamano Mimì”, and he remarked that it sounded like a Craigslist personal ad.

So…we made a Craigslist listing in the Casual Encounters section:

Subject: I like poets

They call me Mimì, but my name is Lucia. I live all by myself and I eat alone. I’m French (but I like to sing in Italian) and I’m prone to coughing.

Age: young but legal (I think)
Occupation: seamstress
Likes: things that have gentle magic, love, spring, dreams and fancies, poetry, praying (but not going to church), the sun’s first rays, April’s first kiss
Hobbies: embroidery, making silk flowers (that have no scent)
What I’m looking for: Someone who writes and lives in happy poverty. You don’t have to have a lot of money as long as you’re a millionaire in spirit.

Rules:

1. Choose a character.
2. Make a Craigslist personal post from that character’s POV.
3. Post a link in your blog.
4. Post any responses if the person gets the joke!

Alas, I haven’t gone through the CL postings in a while, and so I missed the opportunity to respond to tarigwaemir’s via email. But here’s late-20s man seeking wife:

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. I am a single man with an income of £10,000 a year (~$15k U.S. at the current exchange rate, not adjusted for inflation). I consider myself handsome and intelligent, but some people think that I am overly proud and disagreeable. They are idiots.

My parents are deceased and I’m the guardian of my younger sister, who is dear to me. A former friend of mine–we’ll call him W–once attempted to elope with her. This is why he is a FORMER friend. Don’t mess with my family and friends, because I will protect them.

I enjoy horseback riding, dancing, and walking around on my estate, which is quite sizable and well maintained. I have a manor house and treat my staff very well. I do not enjoy tiresome balls at small estates in the country.

I’m looking for a woman of good family, someone who is handsome and not merely tolerable. She should be pretty and have fine eyes.