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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"Nothing lovely is over and done with until the last person who remembers it forgets."

Well, I'm back.

Back from Melody's house, that is.  Back from eight glorious days with my best friend and one rather stressful night spent in a strange city due to flight delays.  Back from giggles and nonsense and serious late-night conversations and more strawberries than were good for me.  

I'm really not sure how to describe the visit, to be honest-- the picture above is worth a thousand words.    In fact, the thing that's coming to my mind at the moment is (surprise, surprise) a song lyric.  

It well may be that we will never meet again in this lifetime

[but I certainly hope it's not!!!]

So let me say before we part-- so much of me is made from what I learned from you

You'll be with me, like a handprint on my heart.

And now whatever way our stories end, I know you have re-written mine

By being my friend.

"So much of me is made of what I learned from you..." that's the bit that sticks out to me at the moment.  What did I learn on this trip? A lot.   

For starters, I learned...

... just how short eight days can be, especially when you've been anticipating them for about two hundred.

... how much fun it is to do mundane tasks when you're with your best friend.  Setting up a bed for yourself on her bedroom floor is the greatest thing ever, and drying dishes is the best pastime you could imagine.

...that no matter how self-conscious you may normally be about Causing Scenes in a Public Place, you will drop everything and run through an airport terminal to meet your Tween without caring what people think of your crazy, laughing, spinning, crying, tripping-over-luggage, absolutely swelliferous first hug.

... that little things will be the ones that stick in your memory the most.  Like the way Melody brought the pocket dolls I'd sent her last year to the airport with her to meet me, and how squealy and delighted I was when she pulled them out of the side pocket thingy in the car.  {side note: isn't her purse adorable?  That's what they're sitting on.}

... to be careful about laughing too loudly or appearing to be enjoying oneself too much when one is in an antique mall.  Otherwise the employee who comes to unlock the ladies' room for you might be prompted to mournfully observe that "you girls are having way too much fun."  Yes.  Yes, we are.  Is there a problem.

... that when two people are as close as Melody and I are, their minds tend to work in the same wondrous ways.  Which is why I should not have been surprised when we opened presents from each other and discovered that each had given the other a white teacup and saucer with pink roses on them.  They're not identical... but they're similar enough to give us a good laugh.  Plus the fact that we both thought of teacups, of all things we could have given... yep, it was amusing in the extreme.  (I love my teacup muchly, by the way.  I wish I'd gotten a picture of both of them together but alas, I forgot.)

... that burritos can be reheated nicely and tacos can't.  Therefore...

"Amy should eat her taco tonight and save the burrito for tomorrow since she doesn't want both at once."

"Wait, no, she's never had a burrito so she should have the burrito tonight."

"But the taco will get rubbery if it's reheated."  

"Okay, so she should eat the taco... wait, what about the burrito?  She'll probably like the burrito better."

"If she doesn't eat the burrito, someone else can eat it." 

"Why doesn't someone else just eat the taco?"

"What if she DOESN'T like the burrito?"

"Why doesn't she just eat the taco and cut off a bite or so of the burrito so she can see what it tastes like, and then if she doesn't like it someone else can eat it?"

(This was, in fact, the final outcome.  And I did like it.  But someone else ate it anyway because I'd already had the taco.)

... that the wake-up alarm on my cell phone is annoying to other people.

...that frightfully hot weather can keep one in a continual state of inelegance.

...that apple-carrot-ginger juice is really gross.  (Yes, Tween, I know you told me so. What can I say? I'm adventurous.) 

...that the danger of an open fire pit in the backyard can be minimized by the presence of a working hose and a glass of milk.

...that everything is funny when you've had too many shmoes.  ("They're called s'mores, Buzz.")
"You know what?  The wooden soldiers."

...that the best time to jump on the trampoline is when daylight dissolves into darkness... DARKNESS...

...that everything can be turned into a Phantom quote.  "Poooooor fool, he makes me laugh!"

...that when one is telling spooky (okay, not so spooky) stories around the campfire, there is no reason to jump and half-shriek when Melody's mom innocently opens the kitchen door and comes outside.  Because I was the one telling the story, therefore I should not have been scared.  Logic.

... that you are not supposed to say "go fish" when you're playing Authors.  Also, it is more important to collect all four Jane Austen cards than to actually win.

...that when you are playing ImaginIff, it's tremendous fun to put fictional characters' names into the mix if you don't have enough players to make all eight.  "If Mr. Collins were an annoying habit, what would he be?"

...that you can have fun at a water park even if it's only 85 degrees out and you're beginning to turn blue after getting dunked at the bottom of a slide.

.

..that you don't lay on mats to go down a slide.  You lie on them.  (Listen and learn, O Peoples Who Write Directions on Signs at Water Parks.)

...that the game Password is fiendishly hard but delightful nonetheless.

...that it is a Federal offense to record people's conversations without their knowledge.  (Okay, well, I already knew that one... but I was REMINDED of it.  And no, I wasn't the guilty party in this episode.  For once.  :P)

....that sleep is for the weak and caffeine is for the courageous.  You can sleep when you're dead.

...that Melody is really good at doing people's hair.

...that it makes them sound so much more sophisticated when you say "squares de lemoooooon" in a French-ish voice rather than just boring old "lemon squares."

...that when you make gingerbread for a party, you need to tell people ahead of time that it's gingerbread and not brownies so they don't bite into it thinking it's a brownie and then wonder why it's molasses-flavored.

...that if a trampoline MUST be in the way during an Old-Fashioned Elegance Tea, you can make the best of it by draping said trampoline with artificial flower garlands.

...that the best nicknames are the ones people don't know they have.  We are good at making up names for people, we are.  :D

...that it's really fun to whistle Blandois' little tune from Little Dorrit when you're in an echo-y place so you can (hopefully) scare the wits out of your Tween.  It doesn't always work but it's still fun.

...that if you're going to read aloud to each other by candlelight, you have to have fire extinguishers handy.  If the fire extinguishers come in the shapes of Dixie cups full of water from the bathroom sink, so be it.  (Stop laughing, Melody, your bedroom could have burned down if those candles had fallen over.  BURNED.  DOWN.   To the GROUND.)

...that it is quite easy to communicate with just a look when Melody is the person I'm communicating with.  A wink, a smirk, a raised eyebrow, whatever... if someone says something funny, all we have to do is glance at each other.

...that "if there's anything worse than a young girl making goo-goo eyes at a young boy, it's some old bat making a fool out of herself for some old geezer!"  (It's a quote, guys.  Now, if you know what it's from, you'll get imaginary squares de lemoooon.)

...that it is hard to write in a journal when you're on a twisty, bumpy dirt road.  (Thank you for pointing that out, my dear.)

...that mountain lakes are gorgeous, gorgeous things of gorgeousness.

...that you are never too old to write your name in the dust on your friend's car after you've traversed fourteen miles of twisty, bumpy dirt road.  (It says "Melody and Amy were here, 7/15/13," in case you couldn't make it out."

...that it's really hard to find cute matching pajamas for a good price at Walmart, but it IS possible.  (and no, there will be no pictures of Melody and me in our matching pajamas.  sorry.)

...that whoever invented subtitles for movies is a genius, because how else could you talk and giggle through every scene in Emma and still be able to follow what's going on? Well, unless you'd seen the movie 4 and 12 times respectively.  That helps too.

...that if you're going to jump on the trampoline at one o'clock in the morning (of the day you're supposed to go home), there is a slim chance that you might get locked out of the house.  Melody's dad (haha, first I typed "Mr. Melody'slastname" and then had to erase that...) came downstairs at one point to get a snack or something, noticed that the porch light was on, and came over to turn it off.  Then he must have gotten suspicious as to why it was on in the first place, so he poked his head out the door to see what was up.  We, of course, were lying flat on our stomachs on the trampoline stifling giggles.  He must have heard our muffled laughter, because he looked around, shook his head, left the light on and went back into the house without locking the door.  Thankfully.  Though we did have backup plans in case we DID get locked out for real.
"Let's dig a hole under the foundation of the house and get in from below!"
"Or we could just throw rocks at [Melody's brother's] window until he wakes up and lets us in."
"Or we could just spend the night on the trampoline."
"It's gonna get cold out here..."
"I don't think it's really locked."
"Yeah, we're good.  Let's bounce some more.  Quietly."
The door was not actually locked, though I did (unsuccessfully) try to convince Melody that it WAS since I reached it first when we were done bouncing.  But she's not so easily fooled.

...that "one AM, two AM, three!" are the best times of night (er, day) for baring your soul and telling your most appalling secrets.

...that there is a My Fair Lady quote for almost everything.  Aoooowwwwww.  (We didn't do that one enough, Tween.  I can only think of two instances.  Sad, that.)

...that Eliza Doolittle and Freddy Eynsford-Hill are the ideal roles to play if you ever get an opportunity to be in MFL.   I mean, seriously, you get to scream your head off and throw temper tantrums like a crazy person or run crazily around the stage and smack into fences like a complete dork.  What's not to love?

...that cute little tea shops are way. too. much. fun.  And Cherry Rose Festival tea is delicious.  And it's actually not bright yellow like it appears in the picture.  More of a transparent beige.

...that acting out the Haunted Wood scene from Anne of Green Gables while up in the mountains is tremendous fun, but it won't take long before your mothers figure out what you're doing ("well, you went off into the woods alone with a script and were giggling your heads off...") and are heartily amused by it.

...that the only way to eat an apple properly is to say "Really?" in a Katherine Brooke voice before taking your first big chompy bite.  Precede all following bites with quotes from other books and movies, if possible.  If not possible, just giggle and eat the apple normally.

...that "Winifred" rhymes with "empty head."  (Okay, now you get to name THAT quote.)

...that if you try too hard to make sense of a time-travel movie, your brain will hurt, so just watch the movie and sigh over the romantic parts and cry over the sad parts and eat strawberries and don't worry about logic.

...that if it hadn't been for Jane Austen, Melody and I never would have met.  We owe a lot to that woman, we do.

...that it is never a bad time to spontaneously break into Christine's part from the Final Lair.  "Pitiful creature of darkness, what kind of life have you known?  God give me courage to show you, you are not aloooooooooone!"  *loudly hums orchestra's part*

...that we ought to be thankful that Sarah Brightman's style of singing is so personalized, because we can recognize that it is she who is singing and promptly turn it off.

....that if you serve chocolate raspberry sticks at a party, they will get eaten much faster than you think.

...that parting is not sweet sorrow, it's just sorrow.

...that there comes a time when hiding in the closet so you don't have to go home ceases to be an option.  "I shall not leave... but shall hi-ide... over THERE."  (Seriously, if you get all these quotes, you are either Melody or a very smart person.  The two are not mutually exclusive.)

...that there is no shame in crying in a busy airport.

...that "no matter where our stories end, I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend."

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?

I do believe I have been changed for the better

And because I knew you

I have been changed for good.

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It's the Big Three-Oh-Oh!

I don't normally post updates on how many followers this blog has, but I happened to log on just now and see that we've finally hit 300 lovely people on that Google Friend Connect box after teetering for so long around 297.  Soooo I just want to say that you are all awesome and I love you muchly and I seriously wouldn't be writing this blog if it weren't for you and your fabulous comments and support and all that.  And I promise I will not be so scarce around here in the weeks to come.  I hope.

And, uh, what was up with Google Friend Connect going away?  Because it's still there as far as I can see... and I signed up for Bloglovin' to no avail, apparently.  Shnibbles.  Silly Google.

It's late and I'm supposed to be in bed but I'm laughing way too hard over this (probably because I should be in bed) and had to share it before I turn in.

There ya go.  Have yourselves a good giggle and then you should get to bed too, unless you live in Australia in which case go do something productive.

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"Well, I'd like to fly and spit diamonds, but that don't make it so."

Annnnnnd we're back!  Here to tell the tea shop story, as requested.  This is our last day together (SOB)-- in point of fact, we have but forty-five minutes remaining before we have to leave for the airport--so we shall make this snappy and try not to weep and wail too much.  (This is Amy.)

Well, then, tell the story. And don't forget the goatee. (This is Melody.)

I'll begin if you want me to, but I make no promises about shoving the laptop at you and saying, "Your turn."  :D

So it all happened on July 10th, when we went to the Pemberley Mall together to do what teenage girls do at malls (and a great deal that most teenage girls don't do).  We call it the Pemberley Mall because that was not actually its name, and we happen to like naming things after Jane Austen Stuff.  Let's see, what all did we do at the mall? *shoves laptop*

Heh, heh, well, SOME of it I think should stay 'tween you and me.  Muwahahaha. *wink wink*

Oh very well, but we can at least tell some of the less embarrassing stuff.  Like making faces to match that Grumpy Cat t-shirt?  And the old coot who walked by while you were making your grumpy face and told you to smile? 

Oh, good grief. Apparently old coots have a habit of saying that to me. :P

Okay, well, we were walking by this shop that had a really dumb name regarding teas, which we won't share here in case it's not a chain and some of you might look it up and figure out where Melody lives.  Heh heh heh.  Anyways, they had some free samples on the edge between the store and the mall hall or whatever you call it, and so we decided to sample some, and THEN....

THEN he was like the Spirit of Christmas Present except more quiet. You know, "COME IN AND KNOW ME BETTER, MAN!"

Okay, that's a little freaky sounding.  It wasn't quite that bad.  More like, "Pleeeeeeease come in and sample more teeeeeeeeeeea."  This dude was an employee, by the by.  Whom we suspect strongly of working on commission.

Indubitably.  He had all the sales lines down, too. "This is our most expennnnsive teeeea. Connoisseurs think it quite diviiiine." *strokes little goatee on tip of chin*

Wait, you have a goatee, Miss M????

Not me, silly. Him.

"Him?  Who him?"

Okay, so when we were still standing kind of outside the shop (he came along and decided to assist us with sampling the two teas by the doorway) and after giving us some, he looks us over and says "Hmmm, you girls seem very conservative."  And we were like... o.O

I can't decide which of our multiple body piercings, tattoos and dyed hair gave him that impression... anyways, we said, "And you look like a weirdie."

Thought. She means thought. :P

Technicalities, technicalities.

You know I like to be technical when it suits my purposes. ;)
Anyway, after those two samples he kept taking us in farther, crisscrossing back and forth along the two tables and giving us more tiny samples of tea. Which tasted quite expensive.  However, Amy rather liked the tea (as did I, but she is more of a tea person than I am), and wanted to know how much it was. Heh, heh, heh. 

"No, don't ask," said I.  "There aren't any prices anywhere. That means it must be ridiculously expensive." 

But I do not listen to reason, at least not when it suits me not to, and I asked the dude how much the tea cost.  After all, I am more adventurous than my friend.  (Ha... that was another strange remark he made, when I tried this Strawberry Champagne stuff [IT WAS NOT ACTUALLY CHAMPAGNE] and Melody primly refused.)  As it turns out, the cheapest kind was $64 per pound.  "Oh dear saints above, I shall swoooooooon."

And I just kind of stood there like "I told you sooooo." Then we fled out as soon as possible. 

And giggled about it as we moved through the rest of the mall.  We're still giggling about it, in point of fact.  Giggling is what we do best.  Poor fool, he makes us laugh.

Ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaaa....

Um, we've been singing that line ALL WEEK.  Like, every few minutes.  And everything fits that tune, too. 

We must wrap this up so that we can spend time together other than tapping and sniggering. Which is of course fun, but you know. THE TIME IS RUNNING DOWWWWN.  
So here. Wrap it. :P

You peoples reading this must understand that this has been the best week of our lives.  I don't think I exaggerate, and if I do, it is not my own fault, is it, Mrs. Allen?

My dear, you tumble my gown. (But you do not exaggerate. :D)

We have had so much fun and done so many things, which we hope to tell you about in the near future, but we have not the time today.  For instance, the tale of being on the trampoline after one AM last night (er, this morning) when Melody's papa came downstairs and nearly locked us out of the house...

Hahahahaha. More on that later. ;)

But for now... we shall have to say farewell.  So long, farewell and all that jazz.  GOOOOOO! GO NOW AND LEEEEEEEEAVE MEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Let us not have tears. Partings are a natural part of life.

To ease the pain of this news, I have glad tidings. We shall adjourn early this afternoon, make our way to the Spurgeon farm, where Moody's parents have consented to host a celebration in honor of my departure.

...Nobody told ME.

P.S.  The post title is a quote from the Road to Avonlea episode "Hearts and Flowers," which we watched together, and the quote has nothing to do with this post but we found it funny.  :D

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Didn't we say we'd post something together in real life? Yes, I think we did.

*watching Emma 2009 last night*

Mr. Weston: Which two letters of the alphabet express perfection?

Emma: Two letters...? I am sure I do not know!

Mr. Weston: M and A! Do you understand?

Melody: *squeals* MELODY AND AMY!!!!!

How shall we begin?  Which of our important nothings shall we tell you first?

Well, first of all, we have met in real life and are together at long last.  And in case you couldn't tell, "we" refers to Amy and Melody (Miss Dashwood and Miss Marianne).   Okay, Melody, it's your turn to talk now. 

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

Um... that's all I can think of. :P

You goose.

I am NOT a goose.

Of COURSE you are.

If I am a wild Beast I cannot help it. It is not my own fault. (Is it, Mrs. Allen?)

My dear, you tumble my gown.

We're nuts. But y'all knew that, right??

Two nuts in a case.  Indubitably.

Okay, we should probably write something of substance now instead of quoting at each other.

But... oh, fine, if you insist. Okay, by the way, everything in green is Amy and everything in purple is me. Er, Melody. 

Here, YOU say something of substance.

Perhaps we should tell you all what we have been doing.  Well, giggling has been first and foremost.  Melody is snorting even as I write this.  Er, snicker-snorting.  Which is more interesting.

If you sy so. :D

I didn't sy so, Eliza; I didn't even SAY so.

Um... we're doing it again. Naughty us.

You promised me a jig, you NAUGHTY boy!

Just don't know where to stop, do ya?

If I am a wild Beast... oh, right, you said that before.  

Yup. Hush up, can't you? ;) ;)

This is beginning to look like a gmail chat.  Our readers will be bored to death with it.  Bored to death with the rain, bored to death with their lives, bored to death with themselves.  How about we show them some pictures and tell them about what we've been doing?

Pictures! Good plan. Go ahead.

Very well, I shall do all the work and you can sit there and snigger at me.

I was just going to say "and I can just sit there and giggle," but you sort of beat me to the general idea. (HOW MANY TIMES HAS THAT HAPPENED.)

Really, it's unbelievable how many times we've said the same thing together already.  :D :D 

So.  Let's see.  Well, we've gone out for a walk and listened to music together on dual headphones, which was kind of hilarious (wait, what do I mean "kind of"?) because we kept lip syncing along to various songs and acting all dramatic.  "Pitiful creeeeeeature of darkness, what kind of life have you known?  God give me courage to show youuuuuuuu, you are not aaaaaaalooooooooooooooone!!!!!"  

She just shoved the laptop at me again. Well well. Yes, that was just the first evening. We can't possibly cover everything right now... although I'm thinking we'll probably give you another rundown after the fact. (Only I would prefer not to think of after the fact. :P "If I could, I would tell you how I wish our time together could go oooon and oooon and neeeever eeend..." Um, that's from the S&S musical...)

We've also been watching period dramas.  Emma first, now we're on Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel.  And I just said that for an excuse to include this picture 'cause it's purty.

We went to the mall and goofed around a lot... as teenaged girls are supposed to do-- only, um, our own take on it. ;D (We would tell you about the weird guy in the tea shop but we probably don't have time.) And yesterday a dear friend of mine (who lives near me) came over and we had a delightful time, quite delightful indeed, and then after she left we went to a water park and yelled songs while coming down the slides. The way my voice sounds today proves this fact. :P

Haha, yeah, the Lark Rise to Candleford theme was the best, I think, but we did a pretty good job with "Just You Wait," too.  And of course we had way too much fun making fun of the people around us wearing spandex underwear.  Well, hey, they asked for it.  And we did it quietly.

We've been doing this too. :D

And a great deal of this... we're good at this one.

*Amy shoves laptop at Melody*  Take it.  

I'm not feeling creative, ma'am. 

She's got a proud something-or-other, this one.  (Brain?  Fingertips?)  Give 'er a meal of chaff, I say.

Um... ew.

Yes, Auntie, I'll give her a meal of chaff... come along, Arthur...

My name isn't Arthur.

Well, we seem to be running out of sensible things to say (um... have we actually said anything sensible? ... o.O) so here's another picture.  Worth a thousand words and all that.

We're hiding our faces so the world will never find us.  One must be careful on the Internets, you know.  :D 

On rereading this before publishing.. all I can think of is that we're pretty amusing.

But no one will ever be as entertained by us as us.  :D

I mean, here we are singing "Six Little Ducks That I Once Knew"... yep, we're crazy.  We're all mad here.

Indubitably. :D

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Just so you know...

...there so happens to be a delightful giveaway going on over at the P&P95Forever Club.  Melody and I arranged it in celebration of the fact that we're together at long last (yep, at this identical minute-- post coming on that topic later today, hopefully!).  So I just wanted to tell you you should hop over there and check it out.  You could win something lovely!

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