It is a most unfortunate thing that I get easily distracted by shiny, and if the shiny is shiny enough, I will be dazzled to the point of intense shallow glee. (Hey, we all need our hobbies).

Here is the order of events as they happened. I tend to check the accounts of people who subscribe to me youtube videos. As I was checking, I found that someone had saved in their "Favourites" a marvellous fanvid of the Jane Austen women set to Nelly Furtado's Maneater. (vid here)

I'm not a tremendous Austen fan since I wasn't exposed to her work until relatively late in life, so I was unfamiliar with most of the women in that vid save those from Sense and Sensibility, the two Pride & Prejudice versions, and Emma. The vid was still awesome to watch, and as I did, I was intrigued by the specific chemistry between two actors. After going through the women carefully listed out in the vid's infobox, I found out that the pair in question were Amanda Root as Anne and Ciarán Hinds as Wentworth from the 1995 BBC version of Persuasion.

I'd originally had reservations about reading Persuasion because the premise sounded too frustrating for me to have patience with. (Separated by meddling people for years and years? Bah.) But then I realised that so much potential lay in the fact that these two people, who knew very well that they were in love, would be constantly skirting around each other and sparkling with chemistry in every single word they say.

Following that thread, I found youtube clips of Ciarán Hinds as Edward Rochester in the 1997 BBC version of Jane Eyre. That, in turn, lead me to clips of Toby Stephens as Rochester and Ruth Wilson as Jane (2006 version), and then Timothy Dalton as Rochester and Zelah Clarke as Jane (1983 version), and then to James Barbour as Rochester and Marla Schaffel as Jane (Broadway version).

I am now on Rochester overload.

( Some blathering about the Rochester men. )

I now have a battered copy of Jane Eyre in my bag, the 1997 version on my computer, plus the DVDs of the 1983 and 2006 versions on the way from amazon.com. *sigh* After resisting shopping from amazon for nearly two years, I've finally caved in.

I also figured that I might as well get one or two more DVDs just to make it worthwhile, right? So I ordered the 1995 version of Persuasion, Cats Don't Dance, and Labyrinth: Anniversary Edition (I already have the first DVD, but I was doomed to get this new one anyway).

SHINY! I need help.