The Great Big Answer Post... Part Three

(random pretty pic to start things off  'cause
that's what bloggers DO)

Final part of that gigantic questions-and-answers post! Phew!
...I did love doing this, just in case you're wondering.
;)


Marie asked...

What is your favorite Disney movie (this may or may not include Disney/Pixar as you prefer)?

Mary Poppins and Up might tie.  :D Mary Poppins pretty much WAS my childhood, whereas Up is just the sweetest, darlingest, cutest story there ever was.  The Adventure Book scene near the end gets me every time.

What is one modern fashion trend/style/etc that you do like very much (if there are any)?

I love silky scarves... I wear them as often as I can in the fall, winter and early spring.  I do have a few summery ones but I prefer not to wear them in the hot weather.  They get all up in my neck business and I don't like that.

Would you rather wear pearls or rubies?

Pearls, indubitably.  They always look so classy and they go with everything. I bought a vintage pearl necklace at an antique store a few months ago and I'm always on the lookout for any possible excuse to wear it.  One has to look nice when one goes to the library, after all.

If you had to choose between never being able to watch the next two seasons of Sherlock (and never being able to see pictures or find out what happens or anything like that) or never see any musical ever again, which would you choose?

Why. Would. You. Ask. That.
Marie.
Why.

*goes off and cries in a corner for three days*

Okay, okay.
IpicknotbeingabletoseeSherlock.  Because I can't give up all my musicals, I just can't.  *hugs Les Mis characters protectively*

DON'T KILL ME, GUYS.

Which do you like better: reading or writing and watching films combined?

Writing and watching films.  :D

Would you change your eye color if you had the opportunity? Would you ever consider changing your hair color?

I actually quite like the color of my eyes as they are on the Unique side, but ifffffff I had the opportunity to change them I might make them blue.  I always wanted Liesel's eyes in Sound of Music when I was little.

As for my hair color, it's changed an awful lot over the years.  It started out super dark and then went platinum blonde and then gradually darkened as I got older.  Case in point shown above.  But if I couuuuuuuuuld change my hair color (AND THEN CHANGE IT BACK RIGHT AWAY IF I DIDN'T LIKE IT) I'd be an auburn-ish redhead just for a day or so. To see what it's like.

Would you rather be extremely tall or extremely short?

Ummmmmm.  I think I'd rather be extremely tall.  At least I'd be able to reach things... right?
...Then again, looking down on people all the time would be awkward so maybe I'd rather be extremely short.

I don't know.  I CAN'T DECIDE.

...WHO LET YOU ASK THESE QUESTIONS.

What is your favorite punctuation mark?

The ampersand.  It's old-fashioned and dignified and it looks like a baby scooting across the floor.

French or British accents (or Scottish)?

British.  This encompasses Scottish, so I feel justified in saying that.  English predominately, but also Scottish.  Scottish ain't English.  But it is British.  (So it ain't English, then.)

Favorite color combination?

Pink and brown.

Would you seriously go to live in the 1800s if you had the chance? (Assuming this would be a permanent decision and all your family and friends would be automatically transported as well.)

I had to think about this one (which means it was a doggone good one :D) and my answer is no.  Much as I love learning about life in the 19th century and much as I love the fashions and the culture, I've gotten a small taste of what it might have really been like through doing Civil War reenactments, and that's convinced me that I need my modern conveniences, haha.  If I could just travel back in time for a week or so, sure.  But permanently?  Nope.  I need my indoor plumbing.  And my Internet.

(seriously, though, without the Internet I wouldn't have all of YOU.  *hugs*)


Melody asked...

What's your favorite thing to make for dinner?

Oven fries, believe it or not.  They are my Specialty-- I peel them, slice them thin, dress them up with olive oil, vinegar and seasonings, and bake them 'til they're soft then broil them 'til they're crispy.  My brother eats them by the pound.  :P

If you could change one particular thing about your looks, what would it be? (Be specific, Bob.)

Ai yi yi.
*makes long list*
*attempts to scratch all but one thing off the list*

Ummm... I'd make my face thinner.  It would help me look Less Young, for one thing (I don't particularly like being mistaken for a 15-year-old) and I've always wanted Exquisite Cheekbones.

If you could go back in time to the year 2010, what one thing would you do differently since now you've seen whatever's happened since?

I would talk less, listen more, and start my blog a year ahead of time so I could beat you to it.  *smiles angelically*

Is there any particular question you've been hoping nobody will ask, and if so, what is it?

Yezzzz. I've been hoping that no one will ask what question I've been hoping no one will ask.

...Kidding.  Actually there was one question that I was hoping wouldn't pop up in the comments (though I wasn't actually dreading it or anything) and that was "what's your favorite episode of Sherlock?"  Because the answer would not be satisfactory to anyone, as it would consist mostly of MY SHERLOCK, MY SHERLOCK, I CAN'T DECIDE, I CAN'T, I CAN'T, I LOVE ALL OF THEM, GIVE THEM ALL TO ME.  SHERLOCK.

(p.s. it'stotallyReichenbach.)

Will you please post the five funniest pictures you've seen on Pinterest within the last two days for our laughing pleasure?

Indubitably, m'dear.  (Click to enlarge.)

(The best part about this one is the first Tumblr username.  Heeheehee.)

(This one cracks me up every time I see it.  Quite clever!)

(Um, for anyone confused by this one, that's Mark Gatiss, who plays Mycroft Holmes in Sherlock, for which he also co-writes the teleplays.)

(Do I even need to comment?)

(My little brother loves this one.  :D)

Jill B. asked...

How should someone go about becoming your friend?

Interesting! No one's ever asked me that before... usually when I become friends with someone, it just sort of happens.

Seriously, though, I am usually attracted to people who like the things I like.  In the blogging world, I'll probably be interested in being friends with someone who comments on my blog and whose blog interests me (and which I comment upon in turn), whose view of the world is generally similar to mine and who knows how to start a conversation and keep it going.  In "real life," you'd have to be the one to start the conversation-- I do love talking to people, but as an introvert I'm not going to get up the guts to approach you.  Heh.  Working on that one.

Do you have a song that you sing over and over and that drives your family crazy?

Like every other six-year-old in America, I do tend to burst into "Let It Go" whenever given even the slimmest excuse... oh, wait, I'm not six.

Whatever.

Who is your favourite missionary?

Amy Carmichael, probably.   If you're ever looking for a biography on her life, I'd highly recommend A Chance to Die by Elisabeth Elliot.

What are your tips for beginner bloggers?

Write about what you love.  Think before you type.  Pay attention to your grammar and spelling.  Make sure your posts have a purpose.  Use a clear, legible font.  Don't spam other people's blogs with comments begging them to follow you (pet peeve there, haha).  Remember to be kind in expressing your opinions.  Above all, enjoy yourself and remember your blog is your special place, so write whatever you like and don't let anyone tell you differently.  :D

What is your definition of a writer? A wordsmith, one who pours out the his breathings of his heart, or one who just writes?

Definitely both.  A writer is one who writes.  A cook is one who cooks.  A singer is one who sings-- it's all that simple.  Certainly, a writer ought to pour out the breathings of her heart on paper and put everything she has into crafting sentences with the power to create images and feelings in people's heads, but no matter how long you've been in the business or how often you do it, if you write then you are a writer.  End of story.

Do find it hard to write male characters?

Do.  I.  Ever.
Guys are complicated.  Not my division.  I prefer writing about girls.

(Not to say I don't appreciate a well-written hero.  Um, duh.  It's just hard for me to write one.)

Do you have a Beginner's Guide to Les Misérables?

I don't yet.  But I'm going to write one, since you gave me such a great idea.  *scribbles note to self*

I think you said somewhere that Javert was your favourite villain. Could you explain why?
I'm starting to like him (even though I've never seen the movie or the play), but I'm not sure how to explain him to my friends.

Oy.  Vey.
I always did rather poorly on those "explain why" questions on tests, FYI.  But I shall try to make my case persuasively and succinctly here.

For the record, I don't think Javert is a villain.  Antagonist, yes, villain, no.  There's a quote floating around out there (sometimes attributed to Tom Hiddleston) that says something to the effect of, "every villain is a hero in his own eyes," and I don't think Javert really sees himself as a hero.  He sees himself as a dispenser of justice, and he has a strong-- though flawed-- sense of right and wrong.  I see Javert as more of a tragic figure than an evil one: everything he stood for revolved around good works and duty and honor and obligation, with no room for grace and love and tempering justice with mercy.  Which is why realizing that Valjean (a man he consistently saw as "the bad guy") had mercifully spared Javert's own life was so traumatizing to him.   "His supreme anguish was the loss of certainty... He perceived amid the shadows the terrible rising of an unknown moral sun; it horrified and dazzled him."  If that isn't one of the saddest lines in the book, then I dare you to show me what is.  (I said ONE OF.  "Do you permit it?" is worse.  I do not deny it.)

In short, I cry over Javert, and that's a large part of what makes me love him.


The Scarlet Pimpernel asked...
(eep, I got questions from SIR PERCY!  Be jealous, peasants!)

What is your opinion on romance novels/stories?

I love a good old-fashioned kissing book as much as the next person-who-is-old-enough-not-to-mind-so-much.  However, I'm not usually a fan of books that focus solely on romance.  My favorite classic novels (Jane Austen is a name that leaps to mind...) tend to encompass Social Commentary and the Spectrum of Human Nature and Emotion, not merely romance.  Romance is great, don't get me wrong, but if the sole purpose of the book is to show how Boy meets Girl and How They Get Together, then I'm not going to be half as interested as I might be in a story about how Girl has Many Sisters and meets Boy and then meets Other Boy and Other Girls and Sister falls in love with First Boy and Other Girls are Mean To Them, while Other Boy is quickly falling in love with Girl, though Girl thinks he's an arrogant jerk, and Mother of Girls is freaking out because she's afraid they're going to die paupers, and Youngest Sister betrays the whole family by running away with Jerk Boy, et cetera and so forth.  (That was P&P, in case you couldn't tell.)

Oh, and I tend to favor more old-fashioned novels about romance-- modern ones tend to have more Annoying Bits in them, with less-than-squeaky-clean fantasizing and so forth.  Blah, blah, blah, Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte did it better, deal with it.

Have you ever read a book that you enjoyed but you still wanted to rewrite it? How would you have rewritten it?

Oh, yeah.  Lots.  Les Mis, for starters.  Nobody would have died in my version.  NOBODY WOULD HAVE DIED.

...Except the Thenardiers, of course.  *scowls*

What is your opinion on Amy March? Do you like or dislike her?

I like her!  Muchly! I don't think she gets fair treatment in most of the movie adaptations of the novel, however, nor even in the sequels to Little Women.  But I do like her very much, despite all her shortcomings (I mean, hello, she's human).  Last fall my friend Hayden wrote an analysis of Amy that says all I'd want to say about her, but in a much more articulate fashion than I could manage, so just go read her post, okay?

Have you read L. M. Montgomery's short stories? Is there one that was your favorite?

I've read nearly all of L.M. Montgomery's short stories, actually.  My favorite of them all might just be Penelope Struts Her Theories, which can be found in the Road to Yesterday anthology.

And now a couple of questions that were left in the comments after the first post was published, which I'll just answer here for the sake of Unity and Organization.

Evie Scott asked...

Have you been to Australia? Or if not, do you have any questions about it? 

I have never been there, but a very close friend of mine has, and has told me a great deal about it. :D  I think it sounds like a fascinating place!  Here's something I've always wondered, though... do Australians put up snow-and-pinecone-themed Christmas decorations the way Americans do?  Obviously y'all don't have snow over there at Christmastime... okay, some years we don't have snow either but at least it's cold, and as Rush Melendy would say, it's the principle of the thing.

Sara Lewis asked...

If it's not too late to ask one more question, what does Benedict Cumberbatch have to do with jaguars and cellos?

Some extremely smart person on Tumblr once compared his splendid voice to the sound of a jaguar hiding in a cello, and it's become a bit of a Fan Thing.  It's swellissimus no matter how you describe it, though, isn't it?

*insert ubiquitous Benedict Cumberbatch picture*

Thank you all soooooo much for submitting all these lovely questions and bearing with my sometimes very long-winded answers!  I now have quite a few post ideas stored away, and I'm ever so grateful for your inspiring inspiration.  Do come back next week for a rather exciting announcement, if you will, and in the meantime I hope your curiosity on all these random points has been satisfied.  :D