The Kindred Spirits Tag!

Okay, so I guess it's another tag, the third in a row. But hey, that's fun! And this time, I brought it upon myself. 

This is the Kindred Spirits Tag from my L. M. Montgomery Blog. 

Here goes!

1. When did you first read L. M. Montgomery's books/Have you read any of L. M. Montgomery's books?
-I first read Anne of Green Gables when I was seven (I think) and I have loved it ever since!

2. Which of L. M. Montgomery's books have you read?
-All of them. The Anne series, the Emily series, the Pat books, A Tangled Web, The Blue Castle, Magic for Marigold, Jane of Lantern Hill, Kilmeny of the Orchard, The Story Girl & The Golden Road...let's see, is that all of them if you don't count the collections of short stories? Oh, dear, what a disgrace if I've missed one or two...

3. Who is your favourite Montgomery hero?
-Hilary "Jingle" Gordon. Hands down. All the others have some flaw or fault or they did something wrong, but Jingle was completely and entirely perfect. I swear he has no flaws and he never did anything wrong. 

4. Which L. M. Montgomery book do you think should be made into a movie (can include a book you think deserves a better movie than the one it has :)?
-I think Emily's Quest would make a good movie. I'm working on a dream cast; any suggestions?

5. Do you know without looking it up when her birthday is? When?
-Haha, I came up with this question so of course I know. Hold on, though, if you intend to do this tag, then if you only learned it from this then acknowledge it or just say no, okay? November 30th (1874). 

6. Do you know what L. M. Montgomery's friends called her?
-Again, of course I know the answer; I came up with this question! And again, if you learned it the first time from this post, say so or say no. She went by Maud. 

7. What is one of your favourite Montgomery quotes?
-Ooohh...Rae, Rae, did you not think of how hard it would be for you to answer this question? Let's see, here's a good one: "It is only foolish people who talk sense all the time."

8. Which of her books do you think has the prettiest title?
-A Tangled Web.

9. What's the prettiest Montgomery book cover you've seen (include a picture if possible!)?
-Kilmeny of the Orchard.

10. Do you have a favourite Montgomery book? What? (Yes, you may choose multiple books.)

-I actually do have two that are tied for favourite. Rilla of Ingleside and Mistress Pat. 

I absolutely adore L. M. Montgomery and all her books! She is my very favourite authour in the world!
(By the way, if you like L. M. Montgomery, you should follow my L. M. Montgomery blog. I don't post very often, but I try to keep it up!)

Simple Questions Tag!

Another tag! Abby P of Lavendar Spring tagged me in this Simple Questions tag.

Here we go!

1. What nationality are you?

-American.

2. What's your favourite animal?

-Hmm...I don't know. Birds, maybe? Sparrows especially.

(Did you know that in the original books, Mary Poppins hated birds, especially "sparrers"? (I've read the books.))

3. What's your favourite food?

-Why are tag questions always so hard? Let's go with lasagna.

4. Who's your favourite authour?

-L. M. Montgomery. She's the best. 

5. Do you have pets? If so, what kind? If not, what kind would you like?

-I have two cats.

6. How old are you?

-"I do be as old as me tongue and a liddle older than me teeth."

7. Do you have a big family?

-Yep.

8. What is/are your favourite soundtrack(s)?

-I love the soundtrack to the old, badly animated The Hobbit. Horrible adaptation and animation, but amazing music. Also, when I watched S&S'08 I noticed it has really, really amazing music but I have yet to listen to the soundtrack for its own sake. I should. 

9. What is your favourite animated Disney movie?

Ooohhh...I think Snow White.

10. When is your birthday?

-In May.

Thanks for the tag, Abby!

***(Also, I'm thinking about doing an L. M. Montgomery or Jane Austen appreciation week, preferably Montgomery but if not enough people know her we could do Jane Austen. Would anyone go for that idea?)***

Just a List of Some Plain Questions Tag!

Rachel at A Girl's Place tagged me in "Just a List of Some Plain Questions." 

Rules:

-Paste the button onto your blog post. (Done above!)

-Answer the questions of the person who tagged you--make it interesting and fun!

-Leave a list of new questions (or just pass the question list you answered) and tag a few people.

Rachel's list of questions:

1. What is your favourite ice cream flavour?

Hmmmm...Chocolate chip cookie dough.

2. Do you love Period Drama? Why or why not?

I like a lot of them, yes. Some I do not, but I often enjoy watching them! (Note: see my header. That should answer your question. :) 

3. What is your prettiest book cover?

Oooh, there are so many pretty book covers! I love this cover of Kilmeny of the Orchard: 

4. What's your favourite series?

Ohhh...Hmm...If two-book series count, I would say the Pat books by L. M. Montgomery. Only two books, but I still might count it as a series. I LOVE the Pat books and Mistress Pat, the sequel, is my very favourite book ever, tied with Rilla of Ingleside. 

5. Do you have a favourite flower? Which is one of your favourites?

I love violets. I was in raptures this spring over all the violets. White violets, some with purple streaks, yellow violets (haha, yes, yellow violets!) and, of course, the gorgeous deep indigo ones with speckles of gold in the center.

6. Do you write?

Why, yes! I've been writing for several years. When I was younger I wrote a lot of poetry, and I'm still working on a novel I started several years ago. I also do writing on this blog, obviously!

7. How old is your blog?

It's about 6 1/2 months old. Or rather almost seven. 

8. Do you love Lucy Maud Montgomery? Why or why not?

Well, I love her so much that I have already included her books in two answers already! Yes, yes, yes, YES, YES, I LOVE L. M. Montgomery!!!! She is my very favourite authour in the world. I've loved her books since I was seven years old. 

9. Do you like Fashion?

Well, it depends on what you mean by that question. My taste in clothing is not exactly what most people would call "fashionable." I mean, it's not super old-fashioned or anything, but it's modest and conservative and usually not name-brand clothing. I still like to look nice, though, just in a modest way. 

However, if you mean fashion like fashion design or fashion like I like looking at pictures of clothes, mostly for inspiration, then yes. I love to sew, and I usually alter the pattern in some way. I've made two prom dresses by piecing together patterns (some altered) and online tutorials and my own ideas. So I love fashion design. And I like looking at vintage clothing, mostly 1940's-50's and Victorian and Edwardian. :)

10. What's your favourite colour?

Purple. Has been for years.

11. Who's your favourite actress?

Hmmm...Emma Thompson?

12. How many brothers and sisters do you have?

Five. 

This was a fun tag, Rachel!
Now, to tag people...I'm going to tag a few people, but, as always, if I tag you, don't feel like you have to do it, and anyone else who sees this and wants to do it--you're absolutely welcome to. Please do.
Cordy
Anna
Natalie
and Rachel because she hasn't actually gotten tagged yet because she made the tag! I hope you don't mind if I tag you; you absolutely don't have to do it again. :)

And now for my questions...I am going to keep some of Rachel's, adapted; I don't love coming up with questions and I shall have to try to avoid asking questions I've already asked in tags!
1. Do you love L. M. Montgomery?
2. How long have you been blogging?
3. What are your top 5 hobbies (number can be variable)?
4. What's your favourite fruit?
5.  What's your favourite holiday?

Well, that's as many as I can come up with. :) Again, you don't have to do it, and you can do it if you want to and I didn't tag you!

"The adieu is charity itself." (Why Mr. Darcy is a man worth loving)

Being the Jane Austen fan that I am, I see Jane Austen content quite a bit. And among the most common Jane Austen-related things I see, praise of Mr. Darcy is quite possibly the most common. I've seen numerous "I Heart Mr. Darcy" items, pictures of Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy with any number of different captions, and so much more. He is, after all, the epitome of literary heroes, is he not?

But why?

He's handsome, he's rich, he's Mr. Darcy, and I've heard about his wet shirt too many times, but I want to say why Mr. Darcy really is a good man--and it has nothing to do with his looks or Andrew Davies's idea of manliness.

I suppose I should start at the beginning.

Mr. Darcy was a jerk. The first time I read P&P I was shocked at how this man--of whom I had heard so much that was positive--acted, and I wondered if I was mistaken. Perhaps it wasn't Mr. Darcy about whom I had heard so much raving. I was disgusted with him, and I agreed wholeheartedly with Elizabeth in all her feelings towards him. I wanted to slap him when he started showing attention to Elizabeth, and I silently cheered when Elizabeth still refused to even consider changing her opinions. I thought certainly Mr. Darcy would soon fade away, as such characters should. 

Of course, I was wrong. But I was also right about how Mr. Darcy was at first. 

No, he wasn't truly a jerk at heart, and he was, actually, a good man, but the way he acted--! His pride was too overbearing, and his manners were, obviously, terrible. 

And the fact is, if he had remained the way he was in the beginning of the book, Elizabeth never would have married him. If he had remained how he was when he first proposed to her, she never would have accepted him at last. 

The thing that makes Mr. Darcy a man worth loving is that he changed. And why?

Because he wanted to deserve the woman he loved. 

As you may remember, there were two particular things that Elizabeth said that stayed with Mr. Darcy, which things prompted his change:

"Had you behaved in a more gentlemanlike manner." and

"You could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it."

He began to realise--and care-- how he appeared to others and he began to have a desire to change. 

Okay, hold on, Mr. Darcy (or Jane Austen, or whatever) said this all for me; let me quote:

"I was spoilt by my parents, who...allowed, encouraged, almost taught me to be selfish and overbearing; to care for none beyond my own family circle; to think meanly of all the rest of the world; to wish at least to think meanly of their sense and worth compared with my own. Such I was, from eight to eight and twenty; and such I might still have been but for you, dearest, loveliest Elizabeth! What do I not owe you!! You taught me a lesson, hard indeed at first, but most advantageous. By you, I was properly humbled."

One of my very favourite parts in the book is at Pemberley when Mr. Darcy shows such civility--and gentlemanliness! As he told her:

"My object then," replied Darcy, "was to show you, by every civility in my power, that I was not so mean as to resent the past; and I hoped to obtain your forgiveness, to lessen your ill opinion, by letting you see that your reproofs had been attended to."

That is manliness. Manliness is not wearing a wet shirt (Mr. Darcy didn't, by the way. That was the one part in the movie where Colin Firth wasn't Mr. Darcy.) or being handsome, it is being willing to become better for the sake of those you love. 

And that, my dear readers, is why Mr. Darcy is a man worth loving. 

My Favourite Things About Summer

Summer is here! And I'm bored to death already! So I'm going to attempt to write a blog post about what I love about this season of--

Summer, and sun, and all things hot...

Mr. Darcy, don't look so offended. It's only Olaf. 

1. I'm not stressed out about all the things I need to do because I don't have anything to do!

2. I can read all day if I want. 

This is, of course, because of number 1. If I don't have to do anything all day, then I can read all day!

3. I can go barefoot all the time--even outside.

(Rae! What a scandalous picture! 

Oh, hush, Rae. Can you think of a better picture to put?)

4. I can watch Pride and Prejudice without having to worry about school. (In fact, I'm partway through episode 3 currently...)

"Only that far? And you could actually bring yourself to stop watching before you got to me? Outrageous. I am most seriously displeased."

Yes, well, Lady Catherine, you must understand--well, actually, you're right. I should go finish watching. Just let me finish this blog post?

5. I can sleep in. 

Again, nothing to do, no school--I can sleep in! I even took a nap the other day and I never take naps. I think that shows how bored and "I-have-nothing-to-do" I was. 

6. It's green.  Let me demonstrate with a picture I took near our house about a year ago:

I know everything is green in Spring and we all love that, but, at least where I live, it's even greener in Summer. Or, rather, it's a deeper, richer green.

7. I know I indirectly mentioned this a couple of times, but let me officially say:

No school!

My 8th reason for loving Summer--

"...which, perhaps, I should have mentioned first..."

Is that I have more time for blogging! If I can but think of more topics, then I'll have plenty of time to write them out! :)

What are your favourite things about Summer? Are any of them things on my list?

I Have Finished at Last!

Some of you may remember this post about how much I hate Algebra II. Well, I still hate it, but...

I'VE FINALLY FINISHED IT!!!

 Now, yes, I know it's late to be finishing it. But I'll have you know that I started it late (because I was finishing Geometry, but we don't need to go there) and I actually finished the whole thing in about 6 1/2 months. I would have finished it much nearer to the beginning of June, but you may refer to this post about my life in the past couple weeks to see why I haven't been able to work on it. Today was the first day in a long time that I was able to go back to it, and I finished! (See, I've been really close for a long time. :) 

Another consequence of this momentously exciting post is that now...

I'M DONE WITH HIGH SCHOOL!!! 

Algebra II was the last class I had to finish up to complete High School, and now I'm done!!!

Oh, please, Mr. Darcy, you're dreamy and all that, but that smile doesn't go far enough. Let's try...

 and

That's better!

Anyway, just wanted to share that lovely bit of news with you all. :)

I'm back for a moment...

Perhaps no one has noticed my silence, but, alas, I have been sadly absent from the blogging world for about two weeks. 

Does anyone wonder why?

Well, perhaps not, but I shall tell you anyway, without giving too many boring details.

Two Wednesdays ago, my family left for Florida, and we had a three day vacation. We got back Friday night, and Saturday was insane because we had to recover from Florida and prepare for our Church's Girl's Camp the following Monday. I've been at Girl's Camp from last Monday until today. 

Both things were quite amazing, and here's a picture of the beach...

I'm afraid I may not be posting much in the next couple weeks either, but I shall do my best to catch up with everyone else's posts. :)