Do Not Forget

(bonus points to you if you read the title in a creepy Blandois voice)

Just wanted to remind everyone that this is the last week to submit your nominations for the September I'd Like to Share event!  I'll be posting a list of the Best Posts in August (well, the ones that got nominated, anyway) on September first, and then if all goes well the floor will be open again to nominate a new post for the October link list.  Feel free to second other people's nominations if you wish, but don't let that stop you from nominating a post of your own choosing.  (And don't forget to let me know which category you think the post falls into-- Inspirational, Informative, Humorous, Just Plain Interesting or Miscellaneous.  Posts that are not categorized by the nominator will spend the night IN THE BOX be put into Miscellaneous.)   Go here for more details on the event, and here to nominate your favorite August post!

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Let's Have Those Quote Quiz Answers

Time for the answers to our quote quiz! (And some quotes have pictures and some do not.  Simply because I didn't feel like finding pictures for each one).  

1.

"You're like an ocean breeze. Not that you smell like fish or anything."

~Felix King, Road to Avonlea ("Woman of Importance," season 7)

2.

Algernon Moncrieff: "Oh! I am not really wicked at all, cousin Cecily. You mustn't think that I am wicked."
Cecily Cardew: "If you are not, then you have certainly have been deceiving us all in a very inexcusable manner. I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being really good all the time. That would be hypocrisy."

~The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)

3.

Isabella Knightley: "You are behaving strangely, not yourself. You did not wish to go to dinner with the Cavendishes. You did not want to take the boys to find frogs in the park."
John Knightley: "Some might say that hesitation was a perfectly normal response to both those invitations."

~Emma (2009)

4.

"I was looking for a draft of noble Norman wine, when down in the cellar I found this infidel. I was going to beat his brains out but I took pity upon his gray hair and converted him then and there."

~Friar Tuck, Ivanhoe (1982)

5.

"Remember your manners. And don't forget to cross your ankles decently when you sit down. And don't sit in a draft, either. And don't slide down the banisters."

~Mrs. Harris, Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel (1987)

6.

"Well, the King is well pleased with you. All charges have been dropped. We're still going to hang you of course, but I'll spare the drawing and quartering."  [stunned silence]  "That was a joke."

~Judge Jeffreys, Lorna Doone (2000)

7.

"But, uh, Pearl... if the little bird cannot see... AND cannot fly... how is he in the sky?"

~Ruby Pratt, Lark Rise to Candleford (episode 2, season 4)

8.

Prince Albert: "As a matter of interest, will a time come when I read them first?"
Baron Stockmar: "You'll enjoy this. She has a real flair for description."

~The Young Victoria (2009)

9.

William Pitt: "Why is it you only feel the thorns in your feet when you stop running?"
William Wilberforce: "Is that some sort of heavy-handed metaphorical advice for me, Mr. Pitt?"

~Amazing Grace (2006)

10.

"And if that doesn't leave me without a stain on my conscience, I don't know what it doesn't leave me without a stain on."

~Bertie Wooster, Jeeves and Wooster (don't remember the episode, though... sorry!)

11.

"I strongly object to the Navy. It brings people of obscure birth into undue distinction and it cuts up a man's youth and vigor most horribly!"

~Sir Walter Elliot, Persuasion (1995)

12.

Jo March: "You plastered yourself on him!"
Meg March: "It's proper to take a gentleman's arm if it's offered."

~Little Women (1994)

And our winner is... Melody, with 22 points out of the possible 32!  And I didn't rig this. Honest.  She's just seen a lot of the movies I've seen.  :P

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I'd Like to Share

(random pretty picture of strawberries and tea because we're going to
talk about happiness. and pretty things, strawberries and tea all make me happy)

Charlotte Brontë once said, "Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness; it has no taste."  I would agree wholeheartedly.  Over the past almost-two-years that I've been blogging, I've derived a great deal of happiness from reading the blog posts of some of the many excellent writers out there.   That, of course, is only the beginning of it-- I've also made many dear friends through reading people's blogs, and even met one.  :D

I know many of you enjoy blog-hopping (and meeting lovely people) as well, and so I've come up with a little plan to help us all share our happiness.  I'm calling it "I'd Like to Share," (original title, no?) and it consists of a monthly link-up in which we all submit our favorite posts written by other people so that all the participants can enjoy the spread-around happiness.

This is how it works.  I've created a page on this blog which is currently empty (well, except for a copy of the picture you'll see below.)  Your task, for the remainder of August, is to keep a sharp lookout for the Best Post of the Month.  This will be, quite simply, the best post you read on any blog all month.  When you come across this post, whatever and wherever it may be, you'll copy and paste the link (the link to the actual post, not just to the blog's homepage) into a comment on that page I just linked to.  You'll also mention what category you think this Best Post fits into-- Inspirational, Informative, Humorous, Just Plain Interesting or Miscellaneous.  (And if anyone has a category they'd like to suggest, please drop a comment here!)  You're only allowed to nominate one post per month, so choose wisely.  :D

On September first I'll compile all the links into one master list and put them in a regular post on my blog.  (They'll also appear on the I'd Like to Share page.)  If lots of people participate and everything goes according to plan, we'll have several posts in each category (hopefully from many different authors) and y'all will have a delicious afternoon of blog-post-reading ahead of you.  Ideally, this project will introduce people to blogs they haven't read before and will maybe even give some extra attention to blogs that don't get visited frequently enough.  I mean, everyone wants more blog readers, right?  (Okay, okay, except maybe the big super-mega blogs with several thousand readers and paid advertising on the sidebars.  And even they would probably enjoy some more readers, because if they've got paid advertising on the sidebars they'll definitely want more traffic.  :P)

So if you're interested, please put this elegant little button on your sidebar (look, I've even included a grab box to make things easy for you!) and start advertising the I'd Like to Share event!  If all goes well in September, I'll make this a monthly feature-- which means that as soon as the Master Link Post goes up on September first, it'll be time to start nominating new posts for October.  Is it all crystal clear, my dear?

<center><a href="http://miss-dashwood.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Yet Another Period Drama Blog" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir0qKv4ZMyyiEVFl9gbge_AMo7ySVl0G-Ilkkwh-XaP576PiPmeOcSD1CWzXFF3HUu4_DfkNhOjwanEXylDNBUFJDAKz0_n9hnuQbYUC7c8BHvZ5BdogFZt5467iFqxHjurtENeIg4Ndk/s1600/ilts.jpg"/></a></center>

Oh, and a few ground rules (because I'm a by-the-book kind of girl, and in my opinion rules and schools are NOT tools for fools)...

~I will read (or at least skim) each and every post that is nominated for this feature.  I don't want to provide links on my blog to any content that makes me uncomfortable, so if I come across bad language, suggestive material, endorsement of ungodly media or anything that I think might be detrimental to my blog readers, I will not include that post in the Master Link Post.  Not trying to be harsh or offend anyone here, but hey--my blog, my rules.

~Please put careful thought into deciding which post to nominate for ILTS (that's I'd Like To Share, for the information of the acronym-challenged).  If you don't come across a post this month that strikes you as particularly outstanding, then don't worry about nominating anything.  Better to have a small selection of really good posts than a huge list of mediocre ones.  And don't just nominate a post because your best friend wrote it.  That, my dear children, is called nepotism, and is FROWNED upon in most societies.

~In the same vein, don't nominate someone's post in the hopes that they'll nominate you in future.  That, my dear children, is called back-scratching, and is also FROWNED upon in most societies. 

~However, when and if you do nominate someone's post for this feature, drop that person a comment (on the post in question!) and let them know they've been nominated (but not as a hint to them to do the same for you).  It might make their day!

~Oh, and the post you nominate does not have to be something that was written during the month of August.  That goes for future installments of this feature as well-- it can be something that was written in February 2008 for all I care.  Good content is good content, and if you're like me and enjoy archive-browsing (when you have the time...), you won't want a great post to go to waste just because it's tucked away in a corner somewhere.

Whew.  Didn't think it was possible to mention the word "post" so many times in a single blog post.  (There I go again.)

Have questions?  Leave a comment here!

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Let's Have Another Quote Quiz

It has been one year, eight months and nine days since we last had a Movie Quote Quiz around these parts, and so if I bring up another one today, no one can accuse me of redundancy.  The rules are simple--your job is to guess who said each of these quotes, and in what movie they appear.  If you can guess the person (or people) correctly, you get one point for each name; if you guess the movie, you get another point for the title.  Four questions also have blanks inserted where names ought to be-- if you can fill in the names for each you'll get an extra three points.  (The blank for question #9 corresponds to the name of Character 1, so you won't get extra credit for that one.)  That's ten questions with a possibility of two points each for seven and and three points each for five, plus the name blanks; I'm no math whiz, but that would mean that the highest score you can get is 32 points.  Make sense?

Please leave your answers in a comment.  The game will last until next Saturday (the 17th), at which time I'll reveal the winners.  To spare me the trouble of replying to every comment and calculating scores multiple times (in case we get a lot of responses), I'm going to limit guessing to one try per person.  So think long and hard before you submit your answers, as you won't get to try again!

Without further ado...

1.

"You're like an ocean breeze. Not that you smell like fish or anything."

2.

Character 1: "Oh! I am not really wicked at all, cousin ______. You mustn't think that I am wicked."
Character 2: "If you are not, then you have certainly have been deceiving us all in a very inexcusable manner. I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being really good all the time. That would be hypocrisy."

3.

Character 1: "You are behaving strangely, not yourself. You did not wish to go to dinner with the _______s. You did not want to take the boys to find frogs in the park."
Character 2: "Some might say that hesitation was a perfectly normal response to both those invitations."

4.

"I was looking for a draft of noble Norman wine, when down in the cellar I found this infidel. I was going to beat his brains out but I took pity upon his gray hair and converted him then and there."

5.

"Remember your manners. And don't forget to cross your ankles decently when you sit down. And don't sit in a draft, either. And don't slide down the banisters."

6.

"Well, the King is well pleased with you. All charges have been dropped. We're still going to hang you of course, but I'll spare the drawing and quartering."  [stunned silence]  "That was a joke."

7.

"But, uh, ______... if the little bird cannot see... AND cannot fly... how is he in the sky?"

8.

Character 1: "As a matter of interest, will a time come when I read them first?"
Character 2: "You'll enjoy this. She has a real flair for description."

9.

Character 1: "Why is it you only feel the thorns in your feet when you stop running?"
Character 2: "Is that some sort of heavy-handed metaphorical advice for me, _____?"

10.

"And if that doesn't leave me without a stain on my conscience, I don't know what it doesn't leave me without a stain on."

11.

"I strongly object to the Navy. It brings people of obscure birth into undue distinction and it cuts up a man's youth and vigor most horribly!"

12.

Character 1: "You plastered yourself on him!"
Character 2: "It's proper to take a gentleman's arm if it's offered."

(And because a blog post always looks nice when it begins and ends with pictures, I give you this to make you giggle.)

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Why I'm Not an Advocate of "Traditional" Marriage

So.  I don't often post about things that are completely unrelated to books and movies and general-life-happenings on here. That is, Yet Another Period Drama Blog isn't the place to visit if you want social commentary on current events.  However, I've been thinking a lot lately about a particular subject that does fit into the "current events" genre, and that combined with a question I got from a reader a couple of weeks ago inspired me to write this post.  Not interested? Don't read it.  You've been warned.

{And another note... I shall be as discreet as I can possibly be in this post while dealing with a rather delicate topic, but even so, I recommend that younger readers skip this post.  Or, if you're quite curious as to what it contains, ask a parent to read it first and determine if it's appropriate for you.  M'kay? I do have your best interests at heart, I promise.  I'm not just being mean and telling you you're too young-- only trying to protect you.  :D}

It would probably be easiest to start this by quoting the comment that made me decide to write this post.  I recently received a comment from an anonymous European reader who said, "I have been following your blog for quite some time, and I have noticed that you and many of your blogger friends are extremely religious. While I don't think that that's a bad thing at all, it definitely is a bit strange for me, as I am European and have never met anyone in real life who is even near as religious as you are.
Now basically what I wanted to ask is how your views are on the subject of homosexuality. Do pairings like Enjolras/R disgust you/make you think less of the author/etc...? I am just asking because I don't know any other religious person I could ask."

Sooooo... let's take this step-by-step.

First of all, with no disrespect intended to the young lady who wrote the comment in question, I don't consider myself to be a religious person.  Religion, in my mind, is an adherence to some form of belief that requires a person to follow a list of rules and/or customs in hope of an eternal reward.  It's a works-centered concept that focuses on man, not God.  (And I'm not saying calling someone religious is a sin or anything, nor am I annoyed at anyone who uses the word to describe me.  Don't take this the wrong way. :D) Rather than calling myself "religious," I identify myself as a Christian: a follower of Christ, saved by grace through faith in Jesus' atoning death for me.

I don't think I've ever concisely outlined my statement of faith here on this blog, so perhaps this would be a good time to do so.  In brief--

~I was born into this world a sinner in need of salvation, and as such cannot possibly get to heaven on my own-- my soul is flawed and anything "good" I do in my own strength cannot ever be pleasing to God.
~I can never do enough "good works" here on earth to earn a place in heaven.
~God, the creator of the universe, is righteous in condemning all sinners to hell (that includes me. And you.)  However, God has provided a perfect Righteousness in Jesus Christ to save His people.
~God sent His one beloved Son (who is fully God and fully man) to the earth, born of a virgin, to die a painful death in our place. God is love, but God is also justice, and in order for justice to be served, blood had to be shed. Someone had to pay the penalty, and because God is love, He sent His Son to pay that price--in our place. "Without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin."
~Salvation is by grace alone, through faith given by the Holy Spirit.
~All those whose hearts have been turned to God are fully righteous in His sight. When He looks at His saved people, He sees them through Jesus' robe of righteousness. Those who are redeemed are saved eternally, and when they die will go to be with God in heaven forever.
~All of the above can be found in the Bible, which is the infallible Word of God, written by men who were divinely inspired by God Himself.  Every bit of it is true, and that includes the parts about creation, the flood and the tower of Babel.

(And that was a really, really brief summary.  If you want more details or have questions, don't be shy.  Leave a comment and ask, and I'd be happy to elaborate!  If you don't know what "elaborate" means, ask Melody.)

Now, where were we.

Right.  The question about... erm... the whole "marriage equality" issue.  Am I using too many quotation marks in this post?  I feel like I am.  I have a friend who gets excessively annoyed over unnecessary quotation marks and is skilled in pointing out instances (like this) of quotation mark misuse.  Hence, I'm rather careful about using quotation marks.  This post, however, has already failed in that respect.  Eh, whatever, may as well be hung for a "sheep" as a "lamb."

Shall we do a statement of faith in bullet points for this subject, too?  (Only they're not really bullet points, are they... more like little squiggly points.  Which are cuter than bullets.  Also less harmful.)  In brief--

~I believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman for life.
~I believe that physical intimacy between two people should exist only in marriage and that any violations of the seventh commandment.  (I'm being discreet here, and I'll ask that if you choose to comment on this post, you keep your comments discreet as well.  If you're interested in discussing this topic, you're obviously old enough to understand what we're talking about without having to be explicit.  Thanks!)
~I believe in biblical marriage, not "traditional" marriage.

....Aaaaaand the title of this post finally makes sense.

See, my reasons for strongly disagreeing with the idea of same-sex marriage don't stem from an outraged sense of propriety or a desire to take America back to the good old days when people didn't talk about such things.  (Much as I think it might be fun to live in the 1950's when clothes were cuter and movies were cleaner, I don't labor under any delusions that life was picture-perfect back then, or indeed at any time in history.)  My reasons for believing that it is morally wrong stem from my belief that God's Word is infallible, and that God's Word clearly forbids the-thing-that's-making-such-a-brouhaha-in-the-news-of-late.

Because this isn't about tradition.  It's about the fact that God says no.  And God's commands trump man's customs any day.  We're treading dangerous water when we start backing our arguments with, "but it's tradition!"  Look, are we teaching for doctrines the commandments of men or of God?  If we're basing our beliefs on a convention observed by humans for centuries, then we really don't have much to stand on.  For centuries it was generally believed that the earth was flat, or maybe pear-shaped, or maybe a floating purple people eater.  (Hey, there COULD have been someone who believed the earth was actually a floating purple people eater.  There's a nutcase in every generation, and often more than one.)  Does that make it true?  Nope.  Now, I'm not saying that just because something's traditional, it must therefore be unfounded and wrong.  Not at all.  I'm only saying that we have to have a lot more basis than mere custom if we're going to take a stand.

In case you're wondering where I'm getting my basis for advocating one-man-one-woman-no-exceptions, let's take a look at what the Bible says.  (Remember, Acts 17 tells us that the Bereans were "more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.")  Many people cite Leviticus 18:22 as the be-all, end-all command against homosexuality--however, many people also disagree with the usage of this passage because it's part of Old Testament law.  While it's true that we are no longer bound to the Old Testament civil laws now that Christ has fulfilled the law, if something is commanded in the Old Testament and then reiterated in the New, you can be pretty sure that it still holds.  I'll wait while you go look up Romans 1:26-27 and 1 Corinthians 6:9.

Some would protest that Jesus never actually addressed this topic and therefore if He didn't find it offensive, we shouldn't either.  But Paul the apostle clearly denounces this practice as unmitigated sin in Romans 1, and lists this sin alongside idolatry and adultery in 1 Corinthians 6.  Sure, Paul isn't Jesus, but Paul was writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who is God.  (See 2 Timothy 3:16--
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.") This is what God says, not what Paul says.

Really, I think this all comes down to a simple question.  Where do you put your trust?  Is it in the ideas  of men or in the commands of God?  Because if you frankly don't believe that the Bible is true and that it is the standard by which we should live, then you and I are talking at cross-purposes and will not be able to come to a conclusion.  If I believe one thing and you believe another, we can argue until we're blue in the face (and trust me, I can hold an argument for a loooooooong time) and still never change the mind of the other.

I can't change your mind by writing a blog post.  I can't make you believe what the Bible says; only God can do that.  Sure, He might choose to use me or any other human being as His instrument in turning you to Him, but it would still be all His work and His alone.  Why?  Because God is all-powerful.   He is God.  "And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?"  (Daniel 4:35)

And those are my long-winded thoughts on a sensitive and controversial topic and I hope I didn't bore anyone.  I can't truthfully say that I hope I didn't offend anyone, because a) I KNOW someone, somewhere is going to be offended by this post and I can only pray that I'll have the grace to respond in the right way if a nasty comment shows up and b) because my motive in writing this isn't to avoid offending people.  Obviously I'm not trying to offend anyone, but if taking a stand for what I believe in offends someone, I'll just have to take the consequences.  I've tried to be courteous and gracious in writing this post and I hope I succeeded... I definitely don't want to give anyone the impression of hatred or small-mindedness, because that would be completely contrary to the kind of testimony a Christian is supposed to have.  (Which is why the very idea of protesting at funerals and wearing t-shirts that say "God Hates Such-and-such" is absolutely sad and pathetic.  That is not speaking the truth in love, folks.  That's just despicable.)

Oh, and to answer another aspect of the question at the beginning of the post-- I'm not sure if "disgusted" is the word I'd use when it comes to people pairing Enjolras and Grantaire (that's what E/R means for all you non-Mizzers), but I certainly don't condone it in any way.  Does it make me think less of the person promoting that kind of thing?  Um... hard call.  It definitely doesn't impress me favorably--let's just put it that way.  I try to avoid all that as much as possible and I definitely don't think that's what Victor Hugo had in mind when he wrote about those characters.  I'd be happy to write a post on Grantaire's (extremely complex) character at some point if anyone's interested... and if anyone's also interested in a post on Enjolras, I might possibly be persuaded into doing that too.  If you twist my arm.

So... we've reached the end!  Thank you right now for bearing with me through this excessively wordy post and thank you in advance for not reporting this post to the Society for the Prevention of Unnecessary Quotation Marks.  Y'all are the best.

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