Yes, I'm Overusing Tags... Hush.

I've seen the New Year's tag floating around for three new years now, and I figured it was about time I answered it.  :D  It's tremendously long, so consider yourself warned.  

What did you do in 2013 that you’d never done before?

~Graduated high school!
~Met my best friend face-to-face.  :D
~Took an eight-day vacation (that turned into nine days when our connecting flight got delayed, cough) with my mom to a state we'd never visited.  (see above :D)
~Got excited about the Academy Awards.  Heehee.
~Started taking voice lessons.
~Started tutoring.
~Started Civil War reenacting, joined a local military group and began volunteering at a historical mansion for their living history programs.
~Launched my historical costuming business.
~Got my own cell phone.
~Got my driver's permit!

Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make one this year?

I don't really make New Year's resolutions, so... nope.  :P  

Did anyone close to you give birth?

Our next-door neighbors had an adorable baby boy, and my youngest sister is completely in love with him. :D

Did anyone close to you die?

My great-grandmother passed away on June 6th.

What countries/states did you visit?

Stayed in the U.S., heehee.  Mostly in my own state, too.  I did go out and visit Melody's in July, but I'm not going to tell you what it is.  :P

What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?

A driver's license.  More patience with people.  Less desire to control things.  More sewing experience. More compassion and a better ability to encourage people.

What date from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory?

July 9th.  :D

Did you move anywhere?

Nope!  And after having moved six times in my life, I'm quite happy to stay where I am for now.

What was the best month?

July.  Can't think why.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Finishing high school at long last.  Heehee.  Also finishing the first draft of the book I'd been working on for over a year.

What was your biggest failure?

Losing my temper so often.

Did you suffer illness or injury?

Umm... I got sick quite a few times, but nothing serious.

What was the best thing you bought?

My laptop.  I love her to pieces.  Her name is Kevin (and yes, Kevin's a girl).

(read this book, it's good)

Whose behavior merited celebration?

I was incredibly proud of my sisters for their hard work on their National History Day projects.  One of them even made it to the national competition, which was awesome.  

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Um... the people at the top of the U.S. government food chain.  Heh.

Where did most of your money go?

Joann Fabrics, Goodwill and the Apple store.  :P

What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Visiting Melody!  Petie's visit!  The prospect of visiting Ally!  Seeing the Les Mis movie for the first time!

What was the best concert you’ve been to this year?

I've been to more musical events this year than any other year in my life, I do believe.  Les Miserables in January, a friend's private cello recital in January, a local symphony orchestra's open rehearsals throughout most of the school year (we made it to all seven of them this year and they were fabulous), my sister's piano recital in February, my aunt's community theatre production of The Sound of Music in July, our local community theatre's production of Fiddler on the Roof in December and then our local regional theatre's production of Mary Poppins, also in December.  

What song/album will always remind you of 2013?

The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall.  This was the year I really got into Phantom, and it will always have special memories attached to it because of how much Melody and I sang snatches of it together.  Heehee.  

Compared to this time last year, are you:
1. happier or sadder?  Happier!
2. thinner or fatter?  Actually a bit thinner.  This pleases Cute Owl.  :P
3. richer or poorer?  Slightly richer.  I've been working longer.  Heehee.

What do you wish you’d done more of?

Spent more time with my siblings.  Written more.

What do you wish you’d done less of?

Waste time on the Internet.  Ahem.

What was your greatest musical discovery?

I discovered a ton of great artists/songs this year... Bernadette Peters, Cecilia Bartoli, Aaron Tveit, Natalie Dessay, Barbra Streisand, Mark Vincent, and kind of rediscovered Italian opera in general.  It's so awesome. :D

How did you spend Christmas?

With my family at my maternal grandmother's.  Almost everyone on my mom's side was there this year, which was great.

How are you spending New Year’s?

Well, it's over now, but I spent NYE with my family having a movie marathon and then NYD with Margaret Hale and Marie and their family, which was lovely. 

Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?

Melody.  :P

What was the best book you read?

Ummmmmm.  I read a lot of good ones.  

Did you fall in love in 2013?

Do fictional characters count?  :P

What was your favorite TV show?

Road to Avonlea!!

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Do fictional characters count? :P

What did you want and get?

My own computer!

What did you want and not get?

Ummmmm... a 19th-century cottage in England?

What were your favourite films of this year?

I'm taking this to mean movies I saw for the first time this year, not necessarily movies that came out this year, so...

Les Miserables (2012)
Great Expectations (2011)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Jane Eyre (2006)
A Tale of Two Cities (2009 concert)
Old Yeller (1957)
Lark Rise to Candleford (2008-2011) Yes, I'm including TV shows in this, it's my list.
Jeeves and Wooster (1990-1993)
Cars 2 (2011)  Don't judge me.
Emma Approved (2013-)  This is a web series, but hush.  GO WATCH IT.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

My eighteenth birthday coincided with another family event so we ended up celebrating on a different day (which we usually end up doing with birthdays anyway :D)-- had a quiet family party at home (lemon cake and Anne of Green Gables) two days before and then went out to dinner with my family on the actual day.  And talked on the phone with Melody. :D

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2013?

Twenty-first century librarian.  Heehee.  Sweaters, skirts, collared blouses... and more contemporary-looking tops and scarves.  But if I could wear any era's clothing all day long, I'd pick outfits from the 40's and 50's.  

What kept you sane?

God.  And I don't mean that flippantly-- I just mean that I can't imagine where I'd be or what state my mind would be in without Him.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

*ahem* It was actually a tie...

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Ummmm... getting a book published?  Honestly, this was a great year, and I'm very thankful for it.  Not in an Elsie Dinsmore way-- it definitely wasn't perfect, but overall I was quite satisfied.  I'm trying to get better at being satisfied with things in general.

What political issue stirred you the most?

"From politics it was an easy step to silence."
~Jane Austen

Who did you miss?

Melody.  Um, duh.  All my lovely bloggy friends who live so very far away.  :(

Who was the best new person you met?

I've met several fantastic people through Civil War reenacting and am looking forward to getting to know them better in 2014!

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013.

The more you think you know, the more you have to learn.  :P
    
Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

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...
...I do believe I have been changed for the better
And because I knew you
I have been changed for good.

~"For Good," by Stephen Schwartz, Wicked

Five personally significant events of 2013:

~Graduating high school
~Launching my sewing business
~Starting voice lessons
~Getting my driver's permit
~Flying out of state to visit Melody (there seems to be a theme in a lot of these answers...)

Five things I want to do in 2014:

Visit Ally :D
Sing in a recital
Publish a book with an agent
Attend more Civil War reenactments
See Melody again (praying it will happen!)

Five people I’d like to know better in 2014:

All my blogging friends! Thanks so much for staying with me through 2013, folks!  I'm so looking forward to what this new year holds!

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I'd Like to Share: January 2014

So sorry this is late, folks! Here's hoping the picture for this month will make up for my tardiness.  (I've been sick.  Lovely way to ring in the New Year.)  Can you believe it's been over a year since the premiere?? (You see I'm a bit of a poet and you did not know it...)

Ahem.  Cutting to the chase.

In the Inspirational category...

Analiese nominated Hamlette for "White Christmas" (1954)
Miss Jane Bennet nominated Sierra Bailey for What Are You Advertising?
Eva nominated Anne-girl for Wishes
Katherine Sophia nominated Jessica for Living My Life and Dreams... Cur Non
Kiri Liz nominated Lauriloth for Writing Lessons of 2013
Miss Dashwood nominated Maribeth for The Great Subject of Romance

In the Just Plain Interesting category...

Emma Jane nominated Belle for It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

In the Humorous category...

Eowyn nominated Mrs. Darcy for 15 Signs You Belong in a Period Piece Romance (please note that Mrs. Darcy did not actually write this post; she just shared it on her blog)

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"I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and only reading it once."

(The above quote by C.S. Lewis applies to women too.  Heehee.)

As a nice little way to wrap up 2013, I decided to fill out the reading-and-writing tags from the Notebook Sisters' blog-- I actually missed the deadline for participation, haha, but I'm filling out the reading tag anyway because I am a radical.  (Check my writing blog later today for the writing tag.)


1. What was your overall favourite book this year? (Yes. Pick one.)

Aaaack.  Um.  Does this include rereads or new books?  Sheesh.  I'm going to go with new books, sooooo I'll say Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart.  Unfortunately I only started keeping track of the books I've been reading in October of this year (on my own, that is-- before that Mom and I kept a list together, back in the dear old days gone by when I was Still In School :P) so I feel terribly as if I'd forgotten something.  Oh, well, Nine Coaches Waiting was swellissimus, anyway.

2. Favourite debut(s)? (Author must have been first published in 2013.)

The Princess and the Sage by Annaliese Blakeney.  Out-of-this-world hilarious, and sources close to the author say she's working on a sequel.

3. Which books did you reread this year?

Goodness.  Okay, let's do our best with this thing.  In not-order (random order is an oxymoron):

Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery
Anne of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery
The Story Girl by L.M. Montgomery
The Golden Road by L.M. Montgomery
Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery :P
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart
Calico Captive by Elizabeth George Speare
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Two are Better than One by Carol Ryrie Brink
Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose
Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Chasing Jupiter by Rachel Coker
Sister of the Bride by Beverly Cleary
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon
Christmas After All by Kathryn Lasky
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

I'm sure there were lots of others, but like I said, I've been rather bad at keeping track.  (Even my book list from the end of my senior year only featured books that were new, so rereads are hard to locate.  Ha.)

4. Favourite cover(s) this year!

This, from Better Book Titles.  (Sorry, guys, I'm really not much of a cover girl-- pun not intended.  I'm always much more interested in the way it looks inside-- or else I prefer antique copies.  Heehee.)

5. Worst cover(s)?

Ummmmmmmm.  I really don't notice covers all that much, to be honest.  Ooooh, perhaps this one-- it didn't come out this year (but I'm not sure if the To Kill a Mockingbird one did either, so whatever) but I discovered it this year via the the Worst Cover Throwdown over at the P&P95Forever Club and... yeah.

6. What self-published books did you read this year?

The Princess and the Sage by Annaliese Blakeney, Annabeth's War by Jessica Greyson and a few beta-reads.

7. Which book(s) gave you a massive hangover?

I don't particularly like the word "hangover," but I'm assuming in this sense it means a book that stuck with you for a while and kind of kept you from enjoying other books because you were still in its world, am I right? Okay, then.  I'm going to go with The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society because that one just held onto me for several days after I finished it.  I didn't want it to end (see this).  And I want a sequel really really badly, by the way.

8. Best standalone you read?

I'm shamelessly tweaking this question to make it what *I* want it to be, and so I'm going to answer it as if it's asking for the best short story I read.  That would definitely be What Would Austen Do? by Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway.  It appeared in the anthology Jane Austen Made Me Do It, which I wouldn't wholeheartedly recommend (some of the stories are pretty trashy) but it had some gems, and that one was the gemmiest of them all.  It's about a teenage boy who accidentally signs up for English Country dancing and goes full-fledged Janeite.  And it's awesome.  (Why am I saying awesome?  Whatever happened to cool?  Nothing?  Cool.)

9. Biggest book(s) you've read this year?

Les Miserables, by all means (my sister Anne put it well: "Victor Hugo did not know when to shut up.") but Dickens' Dombey and Son came close.

10. Book(s) you followed the hype for and then loved!

I don't really follow book-hype... heh.  I walk by my wild lone and wave my wild tail where it pleases me (name the quotation, guys) where books are concerned.  And this will make me sound like a hipster, but outside the small realm of self-publishing, I read very very few modern books when they first come out.  *adjusts plastic-framed glasses*  "It's Mumford and SONS, not Mumford and SON."

11. Most disappointing book(s) you read this year?

I was rather let down by Like Dandelion Dust by Karen Kingsbury.  Apologies to all the Kingsbury fans out there (I know you are a great and strong army) but I just don't think much of her books.  LDD had a good premise and all, which was what made me try it (I've read several of her other novels and wasn't impressed) but it left me feeling flat and blah and that-ending-was-too-convenient-and-predictable.  I also read The Reluctant Heiress by Eva Ibbotson as a reluctant foray (heh, heh) into young adult romance, and it was... meh.  I like her books for middle-grade readers SO much better.

12. Favourite leading-female character?

Jane Eyre, probably.  Or Elizabeth Bennet.  :D

13. Favourite leading-male character?

Um.  Mr. Darcy.  Hello.  Also Atticus Finch.

14. Best romance(s)?

Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet are the obvious answer but I've already used each of them once so I'm going to go with Tommy and Tuppence from the novels about them by Agatha Christie... they're just so doggoned CUTE together!  I would so, so love to see a really well-done TV series based on the books with Anthony Andrews and Jennifer Ehle (at the right ages-- hush, it's a dream casting) playing the Beresfords.  Sigh.

15. What book(s) hit the DNF list? (Did not finish.)

I started to read The Postmistress by Sarah Blake because the synopsis on Goodreads looked so intriguing... didn't get past the second chapter.  Ugh.  Let's just say it was getting inappropriate really early on.  Plus language.  And ick.

16. What book(s) did you read out of your comfort-zone?

Great question, this.  Ummmm... maybe Martin Luther: A Guided Tour of His Life and Thought by Stephen J. Nichols.  I'll admit I've always shied away from theological books because I thought they would be over my head, but I tried this one since it was partially a biography (I like biographies) and wonder of wonders, it actually made sense and was enjoyable to read.  Who'd-a-thunk it?

17. Which author did you read the most from?

According to my rereads list, I think that would be L.M. Montgomery.  

18. Top 5 books you'd recommend from all the books you've read this year?

I chose to go with four new books and one old one, just for a change of pace, so...

~The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
~Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart 
~The Princess and the Sage by Annaliese Blakeney
~The Last Sin Eater by Francene Rivers
~Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose 

(I left out Jane Eyre and Les Mis and everything Jane Austen, because those are obvious choices.  Heehee.)

19. How many books did you read this year all up?

I'm guessing around sixty, based on the list of re-reads above plus all the new books I've read this year plus the ones I'm sure I'm not recalling at the moment.  :P

20. What's a book you're hugely excited for coming out in 2014?!

Fly Away Home by Rachel Heffington!  I had the privilege of beta-reading one of the drafts for this delightful novel and I can't WAIT to get a print copy in my hands.  I'm also tremendously looking forward to the new Penderwicks book-- good grief, the title hasn't even been released yet.  I do love the Penderwicks.  :D

All the secrets of the world are contained in books.  Read at your own risk.

~Lemony Snicket

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Emma: Homeschool Edition (Chapter Four)

Sorry this is so late, folks! Busy, busy weekend!

Harriet Smith's regular visits at Hartfield were soon a settled thing. Quick and decided in her ways, Emma lost no time in inviting, encouraging, and telling her to come very often; and as their acquaintance increased, so did their satisfaction in each other. As a morning jog companion, Emma had very early foreseen how useful she might find her. In that respect Mrs. Weston's loss had been important. Her father never went beyond his little stationary bike in the basement (which never went above four miles per hour); and since Mrs. Weston's marriage Emma had felt her exercise had been too much confined.  She did not like to go out jogging all alone, and her only other options were to use her father’s bike (which was not a fun prospect) or to do sit-ups all by herself in her bedroom, and she hated sit-ups.  She had ventured once alone to the gym, but it was not pleasant; and a Harriet Smith, therefore, one whom she could summon at any time to a nice little run, would be a valuable addition to her privileges. But in every respect as she saw more of her, she approved her, and was confirmed in all her kind designs.

   Harriet certainly was not clever, but she had a sweet, docile, grateful disposition; was totally free from conceit; and only desiring to be guided by any one she looked up to. Her early attachment to Emma was very amiable; and her inclination for good company, and power of appreciating what was well done and respectable, showed that there was no want of taste, though strength of understanding must not be expected from a girl who had had such an inferior education.  Altogether Emma was quite convinced of Harriet Smith's being exactly the young friend she wanted -- exactly the something which her happy little home required. Another such a friend as Mrs. Weston was out of the question. Two such could never be granted. Two such she did not want. It was quite a different sort of thing -- a sentiment distinct and independent. Mrs. Weston was the object of a regard, which had its basis in gratitude and esteem. Harriet would be loved as one to whom she could be exemplary. For Mrs. Weston there was nothing to be done; for Harriet every thing.

    

    Her first attempts at usefulness were in an endeavour to secure Harriet a place teaching Sunday School, as she felt this would elevate Harriet to a social status in the church that could not go unnoticed by eligible young men in the membership.  Harriet, however, was content merely to assist Emma as she in turn assisted at youth group, and to talk Emma’s ear off in the process.

    

    Mrs. Goddard, and the teachers, and the girls, and the affairs of the school in general, formed naturally a great part of her conversation -- and but for her acquaintance with the Martins (those she had met at the youth retreat), it must have been the whole. But the Martins occupied her thoughts a good deal; she had met up with them several times since the retreat, and now loved to talk of the pleasures of their visit and describe the many comforts and wonders of their lovely home. Emma encouraged her talkativeness -- amused by such a picture of another set of beings (not going much in the company of the Modern Sort herself), and enjoying the youthful simplicity which could speak with so much exultation of Rebecca Martin’s being valedictorian in her high school graduating class and Emily Martin’s having been in the championship finals for her lacrosse team.

    For some time she was amused, without thinking beyond the immediate cause; but as she came to understand the family better, other feelings arose. She had taken up a wrong idea, thinking the fellow Harriet referred to as Robert was yet in middle school; but when it appeared that the Robert Martin, who bore a part in the narrative, and was always mentioned with approbation for his great good-nature in doing something or other, was a single young man with a degree from a secular college; that there was no twelve-year-old Martin at all; she did suspect danger to her poor little friend from all this hospitality and kindness -- and that if she were not taken care of, she might be required to sink herself for ever.

    With this inspiriting notion, her questions increased in number and meaning; and she particularly led Harriet to talk more of Robert Martin, -- and there was evidently no dislike to it. Harriet was very ready to speak of the share he had had in their lunches at Denny’s and woodland hikes; and dwelt a good deal upon his being so very good-humoured and obliging. 

    "He had gone out of his way after work one day, in order to bring her a lime slushie from Sonic, because she had said how fond she was of them -- and in every thing else he was so very obliging! He had played his guitar for her, original compositions at that. She was very fond of guitar playing. He had written the lyrics to his own songs, too. She believed he was very clever, and understood every thing. He had a very fine car; and frequently when she went out with the girls, he had been the one to drive them in his Subaru. She believed every body spoke well of him. His mother and sisters were very fond of him.  Mrs. Martin had told her one day, (and there was a blush as she said it,) that it was impossible for any body to be a better son; and therefore she was sure whenever he married he would make a good husband. Not that she wanted him to marry. She was in no hurry at all."

    "Well done, Mrs. Martin!" thought Emma. "You know what you are about.” Aloud she said, "Mr. Martin, I suppose, is not a man of information beyond the line of his own business. He does not read?"

    "Oh, yes! that is, no -- I do not know -- but I believe he has read a good deal -- but not what you would think any thing of. He reads the New York Times and an occasional book on his Kindle, I think. I know he had read Animal Farm in high school and thought it would be about agriculture, but it was not-- do you not think the title misleading in that case, Emma? He never read anything by Beverly Lewis, nor Lynn Austin either. He had never heard of such books before I mentioned them, but I recommended The Redemption of Sarah Cain and he is going to see if he can get a copy."

    The next question was, "What sort of looking man is Robert Martin?"

    "Oh! not particularly attractive -- not really. I thought him very normal at first, but I do not think him so ordinary now. One does not, you know, after a time. But, did you never see him! He is at Highbury services every now and then with his sisters; he has been in the church lobby when you were there very often."

    "That may be -- and I may have seen him fifty times, but without having any idea of his name. A young man with no connections to my friends and whose shirt is not tucked in, is the very last sort of person to raise my curiosity. The middle-class suburban soccer families are precisely the order of people with whom I feel I can have nothing to do. An income bracket lower, and a creditable appearance might interest me; I might hope to be useful to their families in some way or other.  After all, it is the responsibility of churches to help the poor and needy, and not expect the federal government to do it. But a young man of his sort can need none of my help, and is therefore in one sense as much above my notice as in every other he is below it.  Public school and all that, you know, dear."

    "To be sure. Oh! yes, it is not likely you should ever have observed him -- but he knows you very well indeed -- I mean by sight."

    "I have no doubt of his being a very Nice Young Man. I know indeed that he is so, if you say it; and as such wish him well. What do you imagine his age to be?"

    "He turned twenty-four on June 8th, and my birthday is the 23rd -- just a two weeks and a day's difference! Which is very odd!"

    "Not odd at all-- have you never heard that in a room of twenty-one people or more, the odds are fifty-fifty that two of them will share a birthday?  Hmmm, only twenty-four.  For a young man, that is a bit young to marry. His mother is perfectly right not to be in a hurry. They seem very comfortable as they are, and if she were to take any pains to marry him, she would probably repent it.  Besides, I suppose he expects to find his own wife, at a coffee shop or some such nonsense.  Six years hence, if he could meet with a good sort of young woman in the same social circles as his own, with at least the ability to make a casserole and clean a bathroom, it might be very desirable."

    "Six years hence! Dear Emma, he would be thirty years old!"

    "Well, and that is as early as most men begin to show at least the beginning signs of maturity if they have been set back by a public high school.  Robert Martin, I imagine, takes little more interest in his future than whether he will get to the next level in Call of Duty this weekend. It is next to impossible that he should have gotten his act together yet."

    "To be sure... so it is... But I really do believe he is an exception.  His conversational skills are really very good, and he never texts while he is talking to me.  He is quite an adult in all ways of looking at it-- I really think he could get married whenever he chooses, if he could find the right girl."

    "I wish you may not get into an awkward situation, Harriet, whenever he does marry; -- I mean, as to being acquainted with his wife -- for though his sisters, from their frequent attendance at Highbury and the good influence of the youth camp, are not to be altogether objected to, it does not follow that their brother might marry anybody at all fit for you to notice. The misfortune of your own education and background ought to make you particularly careful as to your associates. There can be no doubt now, at least, of your being introduced into better and higher circles, and you cannot afford to lose your good standing at Highbury by spending too much time with a family that shops almost exclusively at Walmart and has probably never seen the inside of Trader Joe’s in their combined lives."

    "Yes, to be sure -- I suppose that is true. But while I visit at Hartfield, and you are so kind to me, Emma, I am not afraid of what any body can say of me."

    "You understand the force of influence pretty well, Harriet; but I would have you so firmly established in good fellowship, as to be independent even of Hartfield and me. I want to see you permanently well connected -- and to that end it will be advisable to have as few odd acquaintance as may be; and, therefore, I say that if you should still be in this neighborhood when Robert Martin marries, I wish you may not be drawn in, by your intimacy with the sisters, to be acquainted with the wife, who will probably be some former high school cheerleader, with a community college education."

    "To be sure. Yes. Not that I think Robert Martin would ever marry any body but what had had at least a passable education -- and been very well brought up. However, I do not mean to set up my opinion against yours -- and I am sure I shall not wish for the acquaintance of his wife. I shall always have a great regard for the Miss Martins, especially Emily, and should be very sorry to give them up, for they are quite as well educated as me. But if he marries a very obnoxious, feministic sort of woman, certainly I had better not visit her, if I can help it."

    Emma watched her through the fluctuations of this speech, and saw no alarming symptoms of love. The young man had been the first admirer, but she trusted there was no other hold, and that there would be no serious difficulty on Harriet's side to oppose any friendly arrangement of her own.

    They met Robert Martin the very next day, as they were walking the 2-mile loop at the Donwell park.  He was walking his dog (Emma detested dogs), and after nodding very respectfully at Emma, looked with most unfeigned satisfaction at her companion.  Emma was not sorry to have such an opportunity of survey; and walking a few yards forward, while they talked together, soon made her quick eye sufficiently acquainted with Mr. Robert Martin. His appearance was very neat (he was wearing a windbreaker and she could not tell if his shirt was tucked in or not, but his hair was parted on the side and that at least was a good sign), and he looked like a sensible young man, but his dog was of course a count against him in Emma’s opinion; and when he came to be contrasted with the gentlemen she was acquainted with, she thought he must lose all the ground he had gained in Harriet's inclination. Harriet was not insensible of good old-fashioned manners; she had voluntarily noticed Mr. Knightley’s general attitude with admiration as well as wonder.  Robert Martin, on the other hand, had probably never opened a door for a lady in his life.

    They remained but a few minutes together, as Emma must not be kept waiting; and Harriet then came running to her with a smiling face, and in a flutter of spirits, which Emma hoped very soon to compose.

    "Only think of our happening to meet him! How very odd! It was quite a chance, he said, that he had not gone round by the playground. He did not think we ever walked this way. He thought did our walking in the morning, most days. He has not been able to get The Redemption of Sarah Cain yet. He was so busy the last time he was at Mardel that he quite forgot it, but he’s going shopping with his sisters again tomorrow. So very odd we should happen to meet! Well, Emma, is he like what you expected? What do you think of him? Do you think him so very plain?"

    "He is very plain, undoubtedly -- remarkably plain, and needs a shave, I think: -- but that is nothing, compared with his entire want of maturity. I had no right to expect much, and I did not expect much; but I had no idea that he could be so very clownish, so totally without the air of a gentleman. I had imagined him, I confess, a degree or two nearer actual adulthood."

    "To be sure," said Harriet, in a mortified voice, "he is not so genteel as-- as some at Highbury."

    "I think, Harriet, since your acquaintance with us, you have been repeatedly in the company of some, such very real gentlemen, that you must yourself be struck with the difference in Robert Martin. At Highbury you have seen some very good specimens of well-educated, well-bred young men. I should be surprised if, after seeing them, you could be in company with Robert Martin again without perceiving him to be a very inferior creature -- and rather wondering at yourself for having ever thought him at all agreeable before. Do not you begin to feel that now? Were not you struck? I am sure you must have been struck by his awkward look and abrupt manner -- and the modern slang he used, which I heard several times as I stood here.”

    "Certainly, he is not like Mr. Knightley. He has not such a fine air and way of talking as Mr. Knightley. I see the difference plain enough. But Mr. Knightley is so very fine a man!"

    "Mr. Knightley's personality is so remarkably good, that it is not fair to compare Mr. Martin with him. You might not see one in a hundred, with ‘gentleman’ so plainly written as in Mr. Knightley. But he is not the only gentleman you have been lately used to. What say you to Mr. Weston and Pastor Elton? Compare Mr. Martin with either of them. Compare their manner of carrying themselves; of walking; of speaking; of being silent. You must see the difference."

    "Oh, yes! -- there is a great difference. But Mr. Weston is quite middle-aged. Mr. Weston must be between forty and fifty."

    "Which makes his good manners the more valuable. The older a person grows, Harriet, the more important it is that their manners should not be bad -- the more glaring and disgusting any loudness, or coarseness, or awkwardness becomes. What is passable in youth, is detestable in later age. Mr. Martin is now awkward and abrupt and rather like a teenager; what will he be at Mr. Weston's time of life?"

    "There is no saying, indeed!" replied Harriet, rather solemnly.

    "But there may be pretty good guessing.  He will be a completely gross, annoying man who goes out in public in pajama bottoms -- totally inattentive to appearances, and thinking of nothing but whether he will be home again in time to catch his cop show."

    "Will he, indeed? That will be very bad."

    "How much his inferior interests engross him already, is very plain from the circumstance of his forgetting to buy the book you recommended. He was a great deal too full of -- what is it you said he does for a living? window installation? the idea!-- to think of any thing else -- which is just as it should be, for a successful man.  But Robert Martin is not -- he probably makes less than minimum wage -- he probably listens to Top 40 radio on his way to work.”

    "I wonder he did not remember the book" -- was all Harriet's answer, and spoken with a degree of grave displeasure which Emma thought might be safely left to itself. She, therefore, said no more for some time. Her next beginning was,

    "In one respect, perhaps, Pastor Elton's manners are superior to Mr. Knightley's or Mr. Weston's. They have more gentleness. They might be more safely held up as a pattern. There is an openness, a quickness, almost a bluntness in Mr. Weston, which every body likes in him because there is so much good humor with it -- but that would not do to be copied.  You must remember he has been in the armed forces, and is not accustomed to all the social niceties of a place like Highbury.  Neither would Mr. Knightley's downright, decided, commanding sort of manner -- though it suits him very well; his age and situation in life seem to allow it; but if any young man were to set about copying him, he would not be sufferable.  On the contrary, I think a young man might be very safely recommended to take Pastor Elton as a model. Pastor Elton is good-humoured, cheerful, obliging, and polite. He seems to me, to be grown particularly attentive and courteous of late. I do not know whether he has any design of ingratiating himself with either of us, Harriet, by additional pleasantness, but it strikes me that his manners are more attentive than they used to be. If he means anything, it must be to please you. Did not I tell you what he said of you the other day?"

    She then repeated some warm personal praise which she had drawn from Pastor Elton-- something to do with how nicely Harriet cleaned the whiteboards after the last youth group meeting--, and now did full justice to; and Harriet blushed and smiled, and said she had always thought Pastor Elton very nice.

    Pastor Elton was the very person fixed on by Emma for driving the young window-installer out of Harriet's head. She thought it would be an excellent match (Harriet would make an ideal minister’s wife); and only too palpably desirable, natural, and probable, for her to have much merit in planning it. She feared it was what every body else must think of and predict. It was not likely, however, that any body should have equalled her in the date of the plan, as it had entered her brain during the very first evening of Harriet's coming to Hartfield. The longer she considered it, the greater was her sense of its expediency. Pastor Elton's education and situation were most suitable, without low connections; at the same time having no close family that could fairly object to the doubtful origins of Harriet. There would be no overly picky mother-in-law to contend with, no sisters who would sneer at Harriet for not knowing how to play the harp.  He had a comfortable home for her, and Emma imagined a very sufficient income; and she thought very highly of him as a good-humoured, godly, respectable young man, with no dog, no motorcycle and no apparent taste for video games.

    She had already satisfied herself that he thought Harriet a pretty girl, which she trusted, with such frequent meetings at Hartfield, was foundation enough on his side; and on Harriet's, there could be little doubt that the idea of being preferred by him would have all the usual weight and efficacy. And he was really a very pleasing young man, a young man whom any single young woman who was not overly picky might like. He was reckoned very handsome; his appearance was not exactly to Emma’s taste, but the girl who could be gratified by a Robert Martin's going two minutes out of his way to get her a lime slushie, might very well be conquered by Pastor Elton's admiration.

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“I had assumed it had got into your wardrobe by mistake, sir… or else it had been placed there by your enemies.”

Pip, pip, cheerio, folks!  Just wanted to pop by quite briefly and wish you all a two-days-late merry Christmas, and to remind you that the Opera Ghost's salary is due.  Er, I mean, that if you want to submit posts for the January I'd Like to Share link-up, please go do so over here.

Also... due to holiday busy-ness and all that sort of rot, the Emma: Homeschool Edition chapter will be a day late this week (that is, it'll appear tomorrow.)  Thanks ever so much for understanding!

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Emma: Homeschool Edition (Chapter Three)

 Mr. Woodhouse was fond of fellowship in his own way. He liked very much to have his friends come and see him; and from various united causes, from his long residence in the neighborhood, and his good nature, from his high standing in the homeschool community, his in-ground pool, and his daughter, he could command the visits of his own little circle, in a great measure as he liked. He had not much intercourse with any families beyond that circle; his horror of late hours and large potluck suppers made him unfit for any acquaintance, but such as would visit him on his own terms. Fortunately for him, the Highbury church family comprehended many such. Not unfrequently, through Emma's persuasion, he had some of the chosen and the best over for dinner with him, but game nights were what he preferred, and, unless he fancied himself at any time unequal to company, there was scarcely an evening in the week in which Emma could not make up a Boggle table for him.

    Real, long-standing regard brought the Westons and Mr. Knightley; and by Pastor Elton, a young man living alone without liking it (after all, the Bible itself states that it is not good for man to be alone!), the privilege of exchanging any evening spent with his laptop and a frozen dinner for the cheerful chatter and board games of Mr. Woodhouse's living room (not to mention the smiles and conversation of his attractive and single daughter), was in no danger of being thrown away.

    After these came a second set; among the most come-at-able of whom were Mrs. and Miss Bates and Mrs. Goddard, three ladies almost always at the service of an invitation from the Woodhouses, and who traveled there and back so often that Mr. Woodhouse thought it no hardship for their health to be venturing out in the weather, as they were used to it. Had it taken place only once a year, it would have been a grievance.

    Mrs. Bates, the widow of a former Highbury pastor, was a very old lady, almost past every thing but instant coffee and Wheel of Fortune. She lived with her single daughter in a very small house, and was considered with all the regard and respect which a harmless old lady, under such untoward circumstances, can excite. Her daughter enjoyed a most uncommon degree of popularity for a woman neither young, stylish, well-to-do or possessing a Better Half. Miss Bates stood in the very worst predicament in the world for having much of the public favor; and she had no intellectual superiority to make atonement to herself, or frighten those who might hate her, into outward respect. She had never boasted either beauty or cleverness-- she had been in the science fair as a child but have never got past preliminary competition. Her youth had passed without courtship or any other distinction, and her middle age was devoted to the care of a failing mother, and the endeavor to make a small income go as far as possible without the help of food stamps or other government assistance.  And yet she was a happy woman, and a woman whom few named without a smile. It was her own universal goodwill and positive attitude which worked such wonders. She loved every body, was interested in every body's happiness, quick-sighted to every body's talents and skills; thought herself a blessed woman, and surrounded with blessings in such an excellent mother and such a good church family, and a home that wanted for nothing. The simplicity and cheerfulness of her nature, her contented and grateful spirit, were a recommendation to every body and an example to the young children in her Sunday School class. She was a great talker upon little matters, which exactly suited Mr. Woodhouse, full of trivial communications and harmless gossip.  Indeed, her Twitter account was in danger of being suspended because she constantly misinterpreted 140 characters as 140 words.

    Mrs. Goddard was the principal of a local private girls’ school-- a Christian, conservative, well-regulated establishment that held to good old-fashioned principles regarding skirt length and language in the hallways.  The school was held in some reasonable regard by the homeschooling elite of the Highbury church-- it was not, after all, the same as good parental education, but several church members did send their daughters there and one had to be respectful of other people’s views even if they weren’t as good as one’s own.  Besides, Mrs. Goddard herself was a cousin of Mr. Woodhouse, as well as being a kind, motherly sort of woman.  She who had worked hard throughout her whole life, and enjoyed the treat of an occasional visit at Hartfield; and having formerly owed much to Mr. Woodhouse's kindness, felt his particular claim on her to drive out to his house every so often for a round or two of Scrabble.

    These were the ladies whom Emma found herself very frequently able to invite; and happy was she, for her father's sake; though, as far as she was herself concerned, it was no remedy for the absence of Mrs. Weston. She was delighted to see her father look comfortable, and very much pleased with herself for contriving things so well; but the lengthy deliberation before each turn and consulting of the Scrabble dictionary from three such women made her feel that every evening so spent, was indeed one of the long evenings she had fearfully anticipated.  Being neither antisocial nor rude, she could not feel comfortable hiding her face in her phone all evening, and so she was compelled by politeness to sit beside Miss Bates and wait while that worthy lady deliberated over what sort of word she could devise with the letters ACODAVO.

    As she opened her iPad one morning, looking forward to exactly such a close of the present day, an email arrived t from Mrs. Goddard, requesting, in most respectful terms, to be allowed to bring Harriet Smith with her; a most welcome request: for Harriet was a girl of nineteen whom Emma knew very well by sight and had long felt an interest in, on account of her excellent sense of modest fashion. A very gracious invitation was returned, and the evening no longer dreaded by the fair homemaker of the Woodhouse domain-- in fact, Emma hopped up straightaway to set about making some bran muffins to pass around that evening as a little treat.

    Harriet Smith was the daughter of parents who traveled extensively and had placed her, several years back, at Mrs. Goddard's school.  She had graduated the year before with few honors but a reasonably good report in all subjects, and owing to her natural ability to connect with young children, had acquired the position of assistant teacher at the school.  She had no visible friends but what had been acquired at the Highbury church, and was now just returned from a young ladies’ retreat at a summer mountain camp, at which she had met some young women who happened to live nearby.  She and the Martin girls, in consequence, had become rather friendly and indeed their family had begun attending services at Highbury with some regularity.

    She was a very pretty girl, and her beauty happened to be of a sort which Emma particularly admired. She was short and perhaps inclined to plumpness (an attribute she sought to correct by abstention from carbs in any form, a fact Emma only remembered after she had taken the bran muffins out of the oven), with a lovely smile, blue eyes, light hair, regular features, and a look of great sweetness; and before the end of the evening, Emma was as much pleased with her manners as her person (though of course Emma knew better than to judge a person on looks alone), and quite determined to continue the acquaintance.  

    She was not struck by any thing remarkably clever in Harriet’s conversation (what, after all, could be expected from a girl who had attended a boarding school?), but she found her altogether very engaging -- not inconveniently shy, not unwilling to talk -- and yet so far from being obnoxious, showing such nice manners, seeming so pleasantly grateful for being invited to one of the almost-famous Hartfield game nights, and so artlessly impressed by the appearance of every thing in so superior a style to what she had been used to, that she must have good sense and deserve encouragement. Encouragement should be given. Those soft blue eyes and all those natural graces should not be wasted on the inferior society of Mrs. Goddard’s school and its connections. The acquaintance she had already formed were unworthy of her. The friends from whom she had just parted, though very good sort of people, must be doing her harm. Emma knew quite a bit of the Martin family, as she made it her business to know all she could about every attendee at Highbury (without the slightest idea of gossiping, of course) and though they seemed a genteel sort of family, the parents both worked outside the home and the children had all gone to public school.  They were by now graduated, and the eldest son showed a creditable interest in an agricultural career, but they must certainly have experienced ungodly and liberal influences in a government-run institution, and were in point of fact unworthy companions for a girl who only needed a little more fine-tuning to be made practically perfect in Emma’s sight.  She would notice her; she would improve her; she would detach her from her lowly acquaintance, and introduce her to better companions; she would form her opinions and her manners. It would be an interesting, and certainly a very kind undertaking; highly becoming her own situation in life and giving her more material for blogging.

    She was so busy in admiring Harriet’s skill in eyeshadow application, in talking and listening, and forming all these schemes in the in-betweens, that the evening flew away at a very unusual rate; and the popcorn, muffins and cocoa, which always closed such parties, and for which she had been used to sit and watch the due time, was all set out and ready, before she was aware. With an alacrity beyond the common impulse of a spirit which yet was never indifferent to the credit of doing every thing well and attentively, with the real good-will of a mind delighted with its own ideas (well, all right, she got them off Pinterest but at least she was the executor), did she then do all the honors of the snack, and passed her matching napkins and styrofoam bowls with an urgency she knew would be acceptable to the early hours of their guests.

    Upon such occasions poor Mr. Woodhouse's feelings were in sad warfare. He loved to have people over and exercise his daughter’s hospitality skills; but his conviction of snacks being very unwholesome made him rather sorry to see any thing actually served to the guests; and while his generosity would have welcomed his visitors to every thing, his care for their health made him grieve that they would eat.

    Such another small glass of gluten-free soy milkshake as his own, was all that he could, with thorough self-approbation, recommend, though he might constrain himself, while the ladies were comfortably clearing the nicer things, to say:

    "Mrs. Bates, let me propose your venturing on one of these muffins. A muffin made with oat bran and rice flour, sweetened with agave nectar, is not unwholesome. Emma understands about making muffins to suit a healthy diet; I would not recommend a muffin baked by any body else -- but you need not be afraid -- they are very small, you see -- one of our small muffins will not hurt you. Miss Bates, let Emma help you to a little bit of cocoa -- a very little bit. Ours is always made with raw milk. You need not be afraid of unwholesome nastiness here. I do not advise the popcorn; it is made with processed butter. Mrs. Goddard, what say you to some of my soy milkshake? A small half glass -- put into a tumbler of water with a vitamin C supplement? I do not think it could disagree with you."

    Emma allowed her father to talk -- but quietly supplied her visitors in a much more satisfactory style; and on the present evening had particular pleasure in sending them away satisfied. The happiness of Harriet Smith was quite equal to her intentions. Emma Woodhouse was so great a personage in the Highbury congregation, that the prospect of the introduction had given as much panic as pleasure -- but the awed, appreciative girl went off with highly gratified feelings, delighted with the affability with which Emma Woodhouse had treated her all the evening, and actually exchanged email addresses with her at the last!

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What I Owe to Jane Austen

Today is the birthday of my favorite author in the entire world (she'd be 238 if she'd lived to today!) and in the spirit of It's a Wonderful Life, I got to thinking about how much different my life would be today if Jane Austen had never existed.

So if Jane Austen had never existed...

~ I might never have developed the lifelong love for classic literature that I have now.  I read Dickens and Orczy before I picked up P&P, but it was Jane Austen's novels that really cemented my love for classic novels.

~ I wouldn't have been half as inspired to be a writer myself.  This sounds like an exaggeration, but it's true-- Pride and Prejudice and (to an even greater extent) Sense and Sensibility made me want very badly to write books of my own, for real.   (Ever since I was little I've wanted to be an author, but it was reading Jane Austen in my early teens that sealed the deal.)

~ I wouldn't have gotten interested in Regency clothing, and possibly by extension historical costuming (so, if we really extend that, I never would have started my business).

 ~ I wouldn't have quotes such as these to turn to when I needed to hear/read/say a bit of wit, truth or humor.

~ I would have a far smaller collection of favorite movies, that's for sure. :D

~ I probably never would have started this blog.

~ In which case, I never would have met this girl and traveled to her house to spend a week and a bit with her that turned our already-best friendship into something even better.

(yes, the book we're pretending to read is P&P)

~I never would have met this girl or (though she won't admit it's thanks to Jane Austen :D) made plans to meet this one. 

~ I never would have written my novel.  (yes, that was a shameless plug, and here's another shameless plug for the fact that it's twenty percent off in the CreateSpace store {with the discount code 3QH797U5} until January first!  Christmas special, you know.  :D)

~ I never would have virutally-met any of you wonderful people who follow this blog... and that would be a sad, sad thing indeed.  

Thank you, Jane Austen, and a hipy papy bthuthdth thuthda bthuthdy to you.

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