Elevensies Anyone?

The Tag Of Elevens is going around again and I've been tagged by two of my good friends, Amy of Yet Another Period Drama Blog and Melody of Regency Delight, who have both come up with some very interesting and fun questions. Thank you m'dears! :)

As Melody said: And now for the rules that everyone, including myself, simply uses to bend to one's own liking.
1. You must post eleven facts about yourself.
2. You must also answer the eleven questions the awarder has given you and make up eleven questions for your awardees to answer in turn.
3. Tag eleven fellow bloggers
4. Notify them that you've awarded them
 5. No tagging back
 6. And the eleven blogs you tag must have less than 200 followers.


My Rules: Because I have been tagged by two different people and now have 22 fun questions to answer I'm going to skip the not-so-fun task of thinking up 11 uninteresting random facts about myself and go straight to answering the questions.


Amy's Questions:

1. Who's your least favorite literary heroine? 
Catherine Earnshaw from Wuthering Heights. She's rather selfish, childish, very stubborn and not really that interesting. I'm also not very fond of Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With The Wind or Juliet from Romeo &  Juliet.

2. Did you read the American Girl books when you were younger? Which series was your favorite? Which book? 
I did indeed read the American Girl books. When I turned seven I got the Meet Kirsten book for my birthday and I soon read all of the Kirsten Larson series and received the Kirsten doll for my eighth birthday. Kirsten is still pretty much my favorite and I love the Kirsten Learns A Lesson book because of the cousins' hidden fort and the friendship with Singing Bird. I also love the Felicity Merriman series and the Josefina Montoya series. I haven't read the newer historical American Girl books from Kaya on.

3. You're having a friend over who has never seen a single period drama in her life. Which one do you choose for her indoctrination?
Hmm...there's so many amazing films to choose from! Well, since I've fond that many people don't like sitting through miniseries right away I'd probably start with something shorter like Sense & Sensibility 1995 - yep, definitely start out with an Austen adaptation! :)

4. Raspberries or strawberries? Why? 
I love both but probably just for eating plain I'd go with strawberries. But in artificial flavoring I'm most likely to go with raspberry.

5. What's your favorite cartoon movie? 
I still love Beauty and the Beast so much, it's my favorite Disney film and no matter what other animated films I see there's always a special place in my heart for that film.

6. Who is your favorite singer? 
Well, I used to say Josh Groban all the time. Now, while I never get tired of his voice or of listening to his albums, I'm starting to re-think him as my favorite. I have many favorites really, so this is a hard choice. I guess right now I'd probably have to say Emmet Cahill (from the Celtic Thunder group), he has an amazing classically trained voice, is from Ireland, plays the piano and the fiddle, has great hair and I recently discovered he's a big Les Miz fan! I'd love to hear him sing Empty Chairs At Empty Tables or put out his own solo album (like some of the others in the CT group have done). If you's never heard his voice you might like to check out Emmet singing This Is The Moment (amazing!), My Irish Molly (a very very fun song!), I Dreamed A Dream, Isle of Hopes, Isle of Tears, Kindred Spirits or even Moon River.

7. When do you start listening to Christmas music? 
Usually just after Halloween is when Christmas music starts creeping into my head. Sometimes it does in the middle of Summer but I don't usually indulge in listening to lots of Christmas music until at least November. But then this past weekend I sang two separate Christmas carols, one at Bible Study on Saturday night and the other at the church we visited on Sunday morning.

8. Which was the best birthday of your life so far and why? 
Hmm...I've had some really great birthdays over the past 25 years. I quite enjoyed my 23rd birthday (or was it my 22nd?) because I was working at a Children's Bible Camp for the summer during a Day Camp Week (half camp day for younger kids) and the whole camp not only sang "Happy Birthday" to me but sighed a card, the kitchen staff made me a cake and the campers were wishing me a happy birthday all day long. Then in the evening my parents drove the two hours to where I was to take me out to dinner and totally surprised me by bringing my good friend Karis with them! Yeah, that was a great day! :)
I also remember many American Girl themed parties, one was a tea party at a fancy tea shop. Many happy memories!

9. Why did Mr. Gibson marry Hyacinth Horror Kirkpatrick? Explain your answer in 200 words or less and don't forget footnotes. If you haven't read/seen Wives and Daughters, write a two-paragraph essay on why lobsters don't wear socks. 
Okay Mouse, this made me giggle profusely! I'm going to try to answer both but in much less than 200 words (please, don't count!).
I haven't read Wive and Daughters yet but it's my understanding that Dr. Gibson married Hyacinth for several reasons: 1) So his Molly would have a new mother, 2) Because he fancied having a wife to share his days, and 3) Because he formed a passion for the beautiful Mrs. Kirkpatrick - all perfectly acceptable reasons really.
As to the second question...Well m'dear I have lived for most of my life quite near lobster selling shops and lobster-men so let me see if I can shed some light on this subject. I'd say that the main reason lobsters don't wear socks is that socks would hardly stay on under water very long, also socks on their front claws would severely restrict this lobster I'm sending now from giving you a little pinch! :)

10. Who would you rather have tea with, Miss Bates or Mrs. Bennet? 
Miss Bates, definitely. An afternoon of tea with the chatty Miss Bates and I'd be completely caught up on all the Highbury gossip! (and I wouldn't once have to concern myself with having "compassion of my poor nerves") :)

11.What is the ugliest/most unflattering dress or outfit you've ever seen on a period drama? How would you have dressed the character who was so unfortunate as to wear it?
Well, there's this dress that's worn by both Fanny Thornton in North & South and by in Washington Square (which I attempted to watch once). The tassels trims and colors are absolutely horrific! Not sure I'd change the dress though because it seems to suit at least Fanny Thornton very well.
I also quite detest the green checked dress worn by Anne Elliot in the 1970's Persuasion. I'd change it to something in a softer color that suits the character's personality much better.


Melody's Questions:

1. What's your favorite hair-and-eye color combination? 
Probably auburn hair and green eyes for ladies, dark brown hair and blue eyes for guys.

2. Who is an unpopular character you rather like but would find difficult to defend? 
Well, I've always rather liked John Willoughby from Sense and Sensibility, and it's weird of course because next to Henry Crawford and George Wickham he's probably the worst of Jane Austen's villains. But somehow because he actually apologizes and suffers for his misdeeds I sometimes start to like him and feel sorry for him.

3. What is your second-favorite version of Pride and Prejudice? (It might be assumed that those who like P&P95 would have P&P05 as their second-favorite and vice versa, but this is not always the case.) And if you haven't seen two versions of P&P... why haven't you? :D 
My first favorite P&P is definitely the 1995 version but my next favorite would have to be P&P 1980 version. It was actually the first one I remember seeing and have fond memories of watching it with my mom late at night. I quite like several of the castings such as Mr. Collins, Mary Bennet, Charlotte Lucas, Mrs. Gardiner, Mrs. Bennet, Jane Bennet, Lydia Bennet and Mr. Wickham. It's a bit slower paced but it's close to the book, has some hilarious moments and I do like it a lot.

4. What is the book you're most embarrassed to tell people you haven't read when they ask? (Not that I want to embarrass you or anything. Haha.) 
Hmm...well I still haven't read The Scarlet Pimpernel yet (horrors!) but I plan to sooner or later. Two books I haven't read are A Little Princess and The Secret Garden, and I suppose I'm a little ashamed to admit that because copies have always been on my mom's bookshelf all my growing up years, they are such classic children's books and my dad was named after Colin Craven in The Secret Garden (one of my grandmother's favorite books) - so I have no excuse really, I just haven't read them yet. I also haven't read Little Women all the way through.

5. What is your favorite game? (As in, card and board games.) 
Well I love a quick card game and Uno is great for that, so easy, fun and doesn't take much to remember the rules. Boggle has been a favorite game for more years than I care to remember, my mom used it as a spelling tool so we played it a lot growing up and I still like to play by myself on my ipod every once and a while. I'm also very fond of Bananagrams.

6. Do you typically write in cursive or printing? 
Printing. My cursive is okay but takes much more effort for me so I typically only use it if I want my writing to look fancy (or when signing my signature).

7. What is something you promised yourself when you were younger that you would never do, but ended up doing later on? 
Heehee, I think I know where this question came from m'dear. I can't really think of anything small, like say riding a roller-coaster or something (hee!) but something rather bigger comes to mind. When I was younger I sort of wanted to be a teacher or a story writer but I never ever wanted to go into nursing or anything in healthcare. Well...I had to go back on my word because I've been working with elderly folks in the healthcare field for the last six years! I found that it was something I actually was really interested in and was good at - strange huh? Thankfully no one really remembers me saying that I didn't want to do this kind of work so I don't get teased or anything! ;)

8. How do you say "era"--"air-uh" or "ear-uh"? 
I pronounce it like "air-uh". I have said "ear-uh" before but don't really like the sound of it when I say it.

9. Do you keep a journal/diary, and if so, do you write in it often? 
I do sort of keep a journal but right now I don't really write down much about my day to day life in it - mostly I use it for writing down reflections during my Bible study time. I also have another journal that I write post ideas and story ideas in or just write my observations about literary things.

10. If you could suddenly have the ability to play an instrument that you've never even tried before, which would you choose? 
The probably the violin - it's such a beautiful instrument and I love to hear one sing under a skilled hand. Or maybe the harp, it's such a beautiful instrument and would fit in well with the Regency accomplishments. I would have said piano but I've already tried learning that and fail because I don't practice enough.

11. Which fellow blogger are you the most curious to know the looks of? (I mean, admit it. We're all curious, are we not?)
Hmm...well I know the looks of most of my bestest blogging buddies and feel so blessed to have made many friends in this blogging world. I've always been interested in seeing what Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Elegance of Fashion looks like. She's such a dear friend and I've especially love to see her all dressed up in one of the Regency outfits she's sewn.
There's so many of you out there that I'd love to meet in person one day, get to know better and thank you for being such an encouragement and inspiration to me! :)


My Questions:
1. Which minor character from your favorite Jane Austen novel would you be interested in reading more about?
2. What is your least favorite household chore to do?
3. Peppermint, spearmint or wintergreen? Why?
4. Do you have a favorite body spray, perfume or cologne you like to wear?
5. Pumpkin pie or apple pie? Whipped cream, cheddar cheese or à la mode?
6. Pretend news has arrived in the blogging sphere that a new miniseries version of Pride and Prejudice is being filmed. Who would you cast as Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet today?
7. Do you have a favorite piece of classical music?
8. If you were to get a new pet today and had to name it after a fictional character what kind of pet would you get and what would you name it?
9. Hot chocolate or hot apple cider?
10. Do you have a favorite Bible verse?
11. Do you like carving pumpkins?

And I am tagging: Everyone who reads this, thinks my questions are interesting and wants to participate. Shocking! Yes, I know. But really so many people have been tagged already and it's hard to come up with eleven people who might be interested in passing this on. So if you're reading this you can either comment with your answers or post your answers on your blog and let me know you did the tag. Okay? okay! :)

Hope you're having a lovely day! 

I'm feeling in a crazy random mood right now and feel like warning you all that I'm planning some posts this week that are quite different from what I normally post. Should be fun though! :)