What Are You Still Doing Here?

(photo for clickbait)

Yes, you! I can see you! I still have access to this blog, you know. I see the stats. I see the traffic sources. I see the comments on old posts. (I read every single one.)

But I don't write here anymore, and if you're poking around this old site looking for something new, you're unfortunately in the wrong place. I write over at The Bluestocking Dressmaker now - I just recently wrote a whole big long photo-heavy post about the process of designing and sewing my wedding dress, I'm still slowly working on a series about re-reading Little House on the Prairie, and I'm gearing up for an exciting announcement for 2020.

So if you still want to stick around, by all means, do so - over there, if you don't mind. This is, to quote L. M. Alcott, the Positively Last Appearance.

The New Location

via

Well, the time has come at last... Yet Another Period Drama Blog is closing its doors.  (I had to jump right into that or I might have a hard time saying it.)  You probably saw this coming quite a long while ago, but it's finally time to make it official.

I won't be blogging at this location anymore, but I am still going to leave this blog up and running in case anyone wants to read old posts! Going forward, though, I hope you will join me at my new endeavor, The Bluestocking Dressmaker. For a number of reasons, I've decided that my life has moved on from the place that Yet Another Period Drama Blog used to fill, and though I still love it and the friends I've made from it, it's time for something new. We can't hang on forever to everything we started when we were sixteen, after all. ;) My new blog will (in the plans, anyway) cover everything from literature to TV and movies (sound familiar) to sewing endeavors to writing to politics (gasp) to theology to wedding anecdotes to flowers in church (I am for them). I hope you'll come and follow me there, and I look forward to seeing you around!

Oh, and for a more minute, day-to-day update (as far as my sewing goes, anyway) you can catch me on Instagram - and, less frequently, on Twitter.

Before I close this, I just want to wish everyone who is reading this post today, who will read it in the future, who has read this blog in the past and who will still come back from time to time to check the archives - thank you. Writing here has been a huge part of my growing-up years, and I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that, in its own small way, it has and continues to shape me into the person that I am now and want to be. Thank you for reading, for commenting, for writing your own posts that I've loved reading, for being here with me even briefly and also from the beginning.

This quote isn't the most fitting for the last post on a blog that only lived for six years and did not amount to much, but it came into my head as I was writing this, so it seemed appropriate to end this little note with the words of someone who writes so beautifully and put so much poignancy into the simplest of stories.  (Hmmm, there's an idea for a future post...)

"Why did you do all this for me?” [Wilbur] asked. “I don’t deserve it. I’ve never done anything for you.”

“You have been my friend,” replied Charlotte. “That in itself is a tremendous thing."

~Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Another Really Short Post (I'm On a Roll Here)

At this rate I could post, like, two or three times a week (LIKE IN THE OLD DAYS) and not even break a sweat.  Wow.  *takes notes for later*

Anyway, the sole purpose of this one is to let you know I've made a little survey to see what might interest you in the way of Future Content.  So if you don't mind filling it out, the link is here.

{{Link removed as of January 31st because the survey is now closed.}}

Thank you one and all for your kiiiiind support.

*fade out*

A Very Happy Un-iversary

Melody and me, performing a complicated dance routine known as Let's Cross
Arms and Clasp Hands and Look Coordinated For a Picture.

So I'm really, really late with my post commemorating three years of blogging.

In fact, it has now been three years and three weeks and two days.  If anyone's counting.  Which I bet you weren't.  But if you're one of those people who wants accuracy at all times, it's been three years and three weeks and two days.

That's a little less than one-sixth of my life, which when you think about it is a pretty significant figure.  As long as you ignore the fact that I'm only nineteen and hopefully have a lot more years ahead of me.   

The point is that I've been blogging for rather a while now, and it's become rather a big part of my life, and you've all probably noticed by now that I tend to overuse the word "rather."

Belle, me and Ally posing against a February-snowy backdrop

In the past I've written a blog post commemorating each anniversary (here and here) and of course if you want to see the original First Post I Ever Wrote On This Blog, you can go here.   This year I was at somewhat of a loss as to what I should write about.  I thought about sharing my favorite posts and whatnot of the last year, but then decided that was better suited to New Year's.  I thought about sharing stats, but though we're currently clocking in at 405 followers (WHAAAAAAAT) and about 477,000 pageviews at the time of this writing, with "Defending Mr. Darcy" STILL the most popular post of all time, there isn't really enough information in the stats to make for a worthwhile anniversary post.  Plus, it would be boring.  

So I thought and thought and took a few breaks to rest my brain because thinking is hard work, y'all, and thought some more and took a few more breaks, and finally decided to kinda-sorta copy my post from last year, but not really because I'm taking the same topic in a different direction.  Last year I talked about friendships and all the lovely people I'd met through blogging and how much fun it was, and blah blah blah.  Today I want to dig a little deeper and talk about how much my life has changed through the friends I've met through blogging.

Petie and me, getting our drama on

When I clicked "create blog" on my brand-new dashboard on that Monday morning in 2011, it was with some trepidation.  I could see the possibility of several scenarios unfolding-- one was that no one would read this new blog, because after all I didn't have any friends who wrote about this kind of thing.  Another was that a few people here and there might read it, but wouldn't like it, and I'd be so embarrassed that I'd have to take it down.  (This was part of the reason for my initial pseudonym and extra-special-care not to reveal anything about myself in case the Internet decided to hate me.  That, and privacy and caution and all the jazz that goes along with it.)  Yet another was that a few people might decide they liked what I had to say, and would follow my blog, and would leave comments and say friendly things, and maybe I'd become friends of a sort with some of them, or pen pals even.  I had a couple of daydreams about how cool it would be if I "met" some girl from Australia or something and we got to know each other well enough to talk on the phone, and then I'd get to listen to her really cool accent.  (Yes.  I'm shallow and I like people with interesting accents.)

None of these things happened.  Obviously.

Melody and me, telling all our most appalling secrets

The closest real life came to my imaginings is depicted in the third scenario.  That is to say, people found my blog (generally after I found theirs and left comments, and they'd come along to take a look at mine because they were nice that way), and they left comments and said friendly things, and I did the same on theirs, and before you knew it, I was actually emailing some of them (Melody, to begin with, and others soon after) and then bam, one day I realized I wasn't thinking of these people as "blogging friends," but just... you know... friends.

And at the risk of sounding cheesy, my life opened up in a way I never could have dreamed of.  Because of the friends I've made through blogging, I've come to understand what it means to meet a really-truly kindred spirit.  (Not to say I haven't met kindred spirits outside of blogging.  Because I have.  Heehee.)  I've been incredibly blessed with have the opportunity to travel around the United States and visit some of the people who've become very special to me (and have some of them come and see me, in turn).  I've been introduced to so many books and movies and music and recipes and games and who knows what-all.  I have so many more memories to cherish today than I did three years ago-- so many inside jokes, so many remember-when's, so many emails and letters and postcards and birthday cards to remind me of good times past.  I've gotten so close to people who used to be random strangers on the Internet (okay, that sounds creepier than it is...) and I never could have imagined that, three years and three weeks and two days ago.

With Emma, Alex, Addy, Belle and Ally, at the end of a cutthroat, late-night,
beyond-crazy Apples to Apples tournament.

A lot has happened in three years.  (And three weeks, and two days... yeah, I'm just gonna say three years from here on out.)  It wouldn't be quite accurate to say I'm a different person now that I was then (um, hello, I'm still me) but I definitely feel like I've changed.  I mean, duh, I'm three years older, and there IS a difference between 16 and 19 (I actually look YOUNGER in pictures from 2011... WHAT IS THIS PHENOMENON).  Obviously I'm not the only one who's changed-- since I started blogging, a great many new faces have joined the scene, and others who used to be regulars have sort of faded out of the posting habit.  Interests and tastes have developed and evolved over time, and I guarantee that if you look at the posts of anyone who was writing three years ago (and still going today) you'll see a lot of differences-- in style, topics, maybe even opinions.  

I've never liked change.  Not much, anyway.  I like things to stay the way they always were.  I look back on memories with a lot of bittersweet nostalgia.  I don't like to think about how the past is in the past and can't be un-past.  (Wait, that makes no sense...)  I was reminiscing with Melody, when she was here a few weeks ago, about the "good old days" in the blogging world, when our little circle of friends posted quite regularly and had long-drawn-out comment wars and fangirled excessively over that BBC Radio broadcast of My Fair Lady.  (See here and here.  Good times, y'all.)

"Knock knock."  "Who's there?"  "To."  "To who?"  "NO.  TO WHOM."

But nothing stays exactly the same forever.  (Okay, maybe Gilbert Blythe doesn't change-- that's the least he can promise you-- but he's the exception that proves the rule.)  And my little blogging circle hasn't stayed the same either.  People have grown up.  Gotten jobs.  Gone to college.  Acted in plays.  Written books.  Gotten engaged and even married.  (Wut.)  Gone through incredibly rough times.  Suffered heartbreak and loss and tragedy.  Made it through all of the above.  (People are, in general, tougher than they look.)

Over the last couple of years I've gotten very close to a few of my blogging friends (whom I'd now call my best friends :D) and with closeness comes sharing.  Sharing of joys and griefs and difficulties and sticky situations.  With closeness also comes friction at times-- much as you'd like to think you have the most perfect friendship in the world, nothing in this life is absolutely and entirely perfect, and sometimes people disagree and argue and have to deal with tension between them.  In the last few months in particular I've come to realize (not that I didn't before; but to a greater degree, now) that friendship is no bed of roses.  Tears are not always happy ones.

Petie and I are fabulous majestic beings who live in constant glamour and sophistication. Sometimes.

During the past year a friend of mine was dealing with a difficult and sad event in her life.  When she told me about it, I cried over it.  Um, a lot.  (I tend to cry over things.  One of my friend's sisters referred to me once as "the girl who likes sad movies."  Heh.)  In the midst of my angst (I'm good at angst), I remember asking myself why I was letting this affect me so much.  It wasn't my problem, after all.  It wasn't even my business, beyond the fact that my friend had chosen to confide in me.

And yet that's what friendship's about.  It's about other people's problems being your problems.  Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with those who weep, and all that.  It's about being there for people-- for people you might not have known three years ago.  It's about trying to understand others, and being oh-so-grateful that they understand you.  It's about accepting change and moving through it and being all the stronger for the problems you've faced.  It's about sending hugs when they're needed and knowing when to say you're sorry and calling people on the phone just to hear the sound of their voice.  It's about love, when you get right down to it.

I find it ironic that the poster behind Ally's and my heads says "Keep Calm and Carry On"--
a sentiment we do not live out when we're together and squealing about everything. :P

(Drat. I'm tearing up writing this.  Even with all the goofy pictures illustrating the post.  Ha.)  

In 2011 I never could have imagined the relationships I'd be forging over the next three years.  I never could have imagined the laughter and nonsense and millions upon millions of written words (seriously not even kidding there), and the late-night chatting and worrying and crying and caring I'd be doing.  Sheesh, I was hoping to get a pen-pal out of the whole deal, at most.  I wasn't signing up for what looks like it's going to be a lifetime of friendship, and all the baggage that goes along with that.

It just goes to show that you should be careful what you wish for.  And that the Lord's plans are better than yours-- because I wouldn't trade what I have, the people I have, the roles they play in my life and (I hope) I in theirs, for anything in this world.

Thank you, all of you, for being my friends.

Melody and I share a less staged spin.  :D

***

P.S.  Couldn't end this post on too sad and sentimental of a note.  Here's Ally, Joey, Emma, me and Prissy being frogs.  Please enjoy what will now probably be my last blog post before Ally kills me for putting this picture up.  Farewell, my friends, I go on to a better place.

Half-Baked, Half-Begun, and All That Jazz

What ho, followers all!

It is my very great pleasure today to share with you a little Announcing Thing-- in short, news of a New Blog on the horizon, penned and crafted by a brilliant sister of mine, the Anne-girl.

Half Baked is a blog dedicated to the art of writing and exploring what goes into a solid story. The blog operates on the principle that most stories are like cake, delicious and scrumptious and all the other cake words that are out there. But just like cake, a story can come out gooey and shaky in the middle, half baked. This blog is meant to help turn awesome ideas into solid, fully baked novels. Stop by ahalfbakedplot.blogspot.com on September first to join in the release party. There will be contests and a giveaway and, of course, virtual cake.

So do stop by on the first of September, lovely people, and enjoy the fun! Anne-girl is one of the most knowledgeable plotters out there (seriously, she can spin a yarn like nobody's business, and actually make it make SENSE which is quite a feat in this day and age) and if there's anyone who should be writing a blog like this, it is she.   (Also, don't forget to check out her primary blog.)

Looking forward to seeing you all at the Half Baked blog party!!

"If you ask me, Jeeves, art is responsible for most of the trouble in the world."

(Jeeves' Disapproving Face is better than anyone else's Disapproving
Face. Also, wolves are ignorant, and nothing will convince me otherwise.)

Dooooooooon't forget to submit your nominations for the July edition of I'd Like to Share, folks!  It's the comment box right here on this page (don't comment on this post to do it), you get one nomination per customer per month, and remember that it needs to fit into one of the listed categories.  (Miscellaneous is totally a category if you get Stuck, though.)

Also! Don't go away, for I have another announcement to make!  I should like to direct your attention to a brand-new and extremely helpful site that has just made its appearance in the blogging world: the Period Drama Screencap Source.  I'm always on the lookout for good screencaps when I write blog posts of any kind (especially movie reviews) and a delightful high-quality collection is a rare gem.  So this site is, I'm sure, going to prove very useful to me, and to you too.  Plus, if you just want to scroll through pages of Lark Rise to Candleford and look at Daniel Parish's face (which does a good job of being a face), you can totally do that.

So, yeah. Go check it out.

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

The Great Big Answer Post... Part Two

Annnnnnd we're back with Part Two of the Great Big Answer Post (or should I say saga...)

Naomi Bennet asked...

What would you have done in Margaret Hale's (North and South) situation when she got asked if it was her that was seen at the station with her brother?

That's a very interesting question and one I'm not sure I have an answer for.  (Yes, that's a dangling preposition. Deal with it.)  On the one hand, *prim voice* it's wrong to lie.  On the other hand, if your brother's life might be at stake... yeeeeeeesh.  I might have said that I was there, but refuse to say why or with whom.  Of course this might in its turn lead to trouble... yep, that's a hard question.  I think I'm gonna have to say that I just don't know.

Had you been Miss Lizzy Bennet, would you have been able to find an excuse NOT to dance with Mr. Darcy?

One can always find an excuse if one looks hard enough-- I could always get Charlotte to accidentally step on my foot and render me unfit for the next dance, heehee.  But that wouldn't be the smartest move, really, because then I might not end up with Mr. Darcy in the end, and that would be little short of tragic.

What are your top ten period drama dresses?

I answered this question to some extent in this post-- but if you want the quick version of the answer, basically anything from the wardrobes of Marianne Dashwood, Emma Woodhouse, Esther Summerson, Anne Shirley and Olivia King.  :D

What was the funniest book you've ever read?

Again, hard call!  Maybe Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank and Ernestine Gilbreth... I picked it up when I was fourteen or so, thinking it would be an amusing memoir of a large family's adventures, and it turned out to be so funny, my socks flew off.

...um, sorry, that's a family joke.

Belles on Their Toes, its sequel, is just as good if not better.  Highly recommended!

so this gif doesn't really fit either... but
it's Aaron Tveit.  Shush.

What is your favourite dance?

I'm really, really bad at remembering dance names... but I do love the Virginia Reel and the Laendler (from Sound of Music).  There are a couple of other waltz variations that would rank high on my favorites list but I don't remember what they're called.  :(

What would you have done in Kitty/Lizzy/Mary's case when you saw your mother winking at you?

Wink back, perhaps.  :D  Or else tried to silently figure out what she wanted.

Do you prefer dancing to reading?

Nope, I prefer reading to pretty much anything.  :D

*please note that while I find this gif humorous, it doesn't mean I
necessarily endorsethe movie it comes from.  :P More on this later.*

Molly asked...

What was the title of the oldest story you remember writing?

The Bobbsey Twins and the Blueberry Contest, a brilliant 800-word piece of fanfiction penned (and illustrated!) by my almost-six-year-old self.  And yes, I still have it.  :D


Miss Elliot asked...

What character (for ANY period drama) do you think you most resemble? (Fun fact: I have been imagining you, Miss Dashwood, as Fantine (Anne Hathaway) of course before she cut her hair & so on. Then when I saw a picture of you & Petie, I almost flipped out! One of you actually looks like her! It's probably Petie, so I shouldn't get my hopes up, but whichever one of you has dark hair LOOKS LIKE ANNE HATHAWAY!!!)

I've included Miss Elliot's fun fact in the question as well just so that I can say that Petie (on the left in this shot) is indeed the one with dark hair, and I'm sure she'd be quite delighted to hear she resembles Anne Hathaway!  (Personally I think she looks like Katie Holmes.)

Anyways, if we're talking physical appearance here, then I have no idea whom I might resemble in any period drama... Daniela Denby-Ashe as Margaret Hale is the closest approximation, and even then it's only because of similar hair color and face shape.  (Our eyebrows, for instance, are nothing alike.  Haha.)

Her nose is also smaller than mine.

...Did I say that just so I could include this Benedict Cumberbatch gif?  Yes.  Yes, I did.  Don't you dare judge me.

At any rate, if Miss Elliot is referring to personality and defining characteristics and all that jazz, read on for the answer to that question a few paragraphs after this.  :D


Arwen Undomiel asked...

I know you don't watch/read LotR or Narnia because of the magic content, and I respect your reservations. But I've seen quite a few references to the musical "Wicked" on your blog, and since, from what I know of the musical, that has more magicky content than Lotr or Narnia, I was Slightly Puzzled.  ;) Any thoughts?

Another toughie!  First and foremost I'd like to emphasize that though I do have my own personal standards and boundaries regarding magic/fantasy in books and movies, I am NOT saying that my opinion is the only right one or that magic/fantasy is inherently sinful.  I don't think there are any specific commands in Scripture regarding this topic, so for me to tell you that my own personal convictions are the same thing as God's law would be very, very wrong.  (Pet peeve there, haha.  Opinion is one thing-- telling others what to do is another.)

That said, I shall now proceed to give my opinion.  :D  Briefly and concisely, haha.  In a nutshell, I don't fully endorse the musical Wicked, and though I do quote the songs (and sing some of them!) rather frequently, I don't care for some of the content in the musical... as my sister and I like to say to each other, if it weren't for all the witch business, it'd be an amazing story.  However, I do think that witchcraft/magic is not something that should be presented favorably in fiction, and that's why I prefer to stay away from books and movies that dabble in that sort of thing (LOTR, Narnia, etc.).  Please do understand that I've heard many of the arguments in favor of allegorical fantasy novels, had rousing (and friendly) discussions with friends on this topic, but I remain pretty firmly fixed in my views.

In short, yes, I do enjoy many of the songs and a lot of the hilarious dialogue from Wicked, but overall I really can't endorse the show.  (There are many other shows that I enjoy a few songs from but can't fully endorse, too, haha.)  Does that answer your question?  Hope I wasn't too confusing.  :D

Who is your favorite character in Frozen?

Um.  Let me think.

This guy.  :D

Yep, Kristoff.  Also Anna.  Because they're just so cute together.

Elsa Hosch asked...

What heroine, besides the ambiguous Miss Dashwood, do you identify with the most?

Well, I've always had an Understanding Thing for Anne Shirley... but then, don't we all?  Then there's Elinor Dashwood, for obvious reasons, and also Cynthia Kirkpatrick... I, like, her, am often "not very constant."  Heh.  She doesn't really classify as a heroine though... oh, and there's also Emma Woodhouse, who like me tends to meddle in other people's affairs and speak without thinking.  Sigh.

...But then, she does end up with Mr. Knightley.  :D

What period dramas have you watched without reading the book before hand?

Lorna Doone (still haven't read it, though I keep meaning to), Little Women (1939), and Ivanhoe (1982).  I almost always prefer to read the book first, and have been known to delay watching a movie for long periods of time just so I can finish the book.  Heh.

Do you have a tendency to be more critical of a movie if you have read the book in the past few weeks/months?

I do indeed!  Astute question there, m'dear.  Absence makes the critic in my heart go wander, or something like that... at any rate, if the details of the book are less sharp in my mind, I'm much less likely to go nitpicking throughout the movie.  Doesn't mean I won't find something to complain about, though.  Pointing out things that aren't done right in movies is my one weakness.

Ginger asked...

Who are some literary couples that you wish didn't end up together?

Laurie and Amy in Little Women have never quiiiiiiite seemed right, in my mind.  I don't know if I can honestly say I wish they weren't together though.  (And please note I'm NOT a Jo/Laurie shipper.  Nope, Professor Bhaer and Jo belong together, world without end, amen.)  It just seems to me that they both lost some of their personalities when they got married, which is a sad thing... they're not half as interesting in Little Men or Jo's Boys as they were in the first book(s).

I honestly can't think of anyone else, though if you'd like to jog my memory in the comments you're more than welcome to do so.  I tend to be inclined toward a "the author is always right" mindset, so a couple that ends up happily-ever-after in a book I've enjoyed will usually get a thumbs-up from me.  :D

Film adaptations: Dickens' Little Dorrit or E. Gaskell's Wives and Daughters?

Little Dorrit all the way!

Film adaptations: Wives and Daughters or North & South?

Wives and Daughters all the way again!  I do love N&S, don't get me wrong, but W&D speaks to me on a Personal Level that N&S can't achieve.

Which bothers you more: Gilbert Blythe's greasy hair or Mr. Thornton's spectacularly long nose?

Ummm... I'm getting the impression that someone isn't too thrilled with either Gilbert's or Mr. Thornton's physical appearance.  :P  Personally I think they're both quite good-looking (Gilbert more so, of course) so I'd probably have to complain more about Gilbert's slicked-back hair in that last scene of Anne of Avonlea... his hair is so nice and pleasing to look upon for the most part, it makes that greasy scene even more mortifying.

Here's a gif of Gilbert's hair being nice to make up for it.  :D  With a flat cap because flat caps are cool.

Emma Jane asked...

Did you love P&P from the first time you watched/read it, or did it take a while to grow on you?

It was love at first sight.  Head-over-heels love.  I wanted to watch the whole five hours in one sitting but my mother said I couldn't marry a movie I just met we had to wait and finish the rest of it on a different evening.  And then after that it grew on me even more, just for the record.  :D

What's the oldest movie you've ever watched?

The Rink (1916), starring Charlie Chaplin.  My dad downloaded it on our school computer when I was about nine and my sisters and I watched it faithfully at least once a week, howling with laughter every time... then when my brother was born (and became old enough to appreciate slapstick humor) it became his favorite until he got introduced to an educational film about road construction.  Gotta say, I preferred watching Charlie Chaplin.

Who in your opinion is the most hilarious Dickens character? (Or who do you think are some of the funniest?)

Hard call there!  Probably Flora Finching, Edmund Sparkler, Aunt Betsey Trotwood and Mr. Pancks.  I also realllllllly love Herbert Pocket.

Do you have a particular favorite phrase that you say often? (Like a figure of speech, or movie quote, or just a word.)

Tons and tons and tons.  Some of my favorite oft-repeated quotes (points for you if you can identify 'em)...

"Hold my fin, HOLD MY FIN."
"Yes, thank you, Mary."
"That IS the general idea."
"Come, we must return.  Those two FOOLS who run MY theatre will be missing you..."
"I'm gonna tell him."  "Don't you dare."
"And I'm Javert!"
"Sparkler, be quiet."
"These things do 'appen..."
"NO IT'S NOT OKAY!"
"It's like America... BUT SOUTH."
"How do you spell FBI?"
"You don't like this shirt? ... I like the shirt."
"Let's go KISS HANS? ...Who is this Hans?"
"You are not so cute."
"Ever get any free time?"  "Oh yeah, lots.  ....Bye."
"Robert, you may wait in the hall... I shan't say it again, Robert."
"I'm not happy, Bob.  Not happy."

[It's worth noting that my nine-year-old brother's name is Robert.  It's also worth noting that I love him to pieces and we enjoy saying sarcastic movie quotes to each other with no unkindness intended.]

Oh, and then there's this, which isn't a quote, but... yeah.

Do you ever get tired of reading classics?

'Nuff said.

What's your favorite movie that's not a period drama, or do you even have one?

Up (2009) is one of my favoritest favorites, and the Night at the Museum movies are pretty hilarious.  I also love Roman Holiday... can you tell I have a hard time giving just one answer to these questions?

Are there any authors that you've read, any genre, that you really pointedly dislike?

Contemporarily-written Western romance bugs the Hartford, Hereford and Hampshire out of me... most Amish romances do too.  Yick.  Also vampire novels, duh.

Danaya Huber asked...

If you could ask Jane Austen one question, what would it be?

"Who was the guy you met at the seaside, what was up with the two of you, do you think you might have gotten married, and why on earth did he have to die???"

(Yes, that counts as one question.)

If you had to give up either chocolate or tea, which would you choose?

Umm.... neither.  Nope.

...And since 28 questions still remain, I must ask you all to stay tuned for Part Three.