Monday, September 1, 2014

I'd Like to Share: September 2014


(Picture is from A Room With a View 1985-- yes, that's Baby Lestrade.  :P  And yes, I cropped out Cecil 'cause he's annoying.  It's my blog. :P)

Hard to believe this series has been going on for over a year... wow!

We had an overwhelming bias as far as categories were concerned this month. :D  A quick note of my own before you go on a link-clicking frenzy-- I make it a policy not to share links to any posts with content I find objectionable or unsuitable for younger readers.  Of course I do ask that you exercise your own caution and discretion when visiting various blogs, as I can't catch everything (and you may well have different standards for what you allow and what you don't).  That said, if a link to a post is provided in this series, you can assume that I've read the post and do not strongly object to anything shown or talked about in it.  However, this doesn't mean I necessarily agree with the sentiments of the author, or indeed with what they write on their blog in general.  I say all this now because this month we had two posts nominated which directly oppose each other (in fact, one post was written in refutation of the other) and I have chosen to share both with all of you.  I don't agree with both posts-- I think one is right (though I don't endorse every single word of it) and one is really not so right-- but I think it would be kind of small-minded for me to refuse to link to something just because it doesn't match my personal opinion.  (And as I said, there's nothing in either post-- or any of those listed below-- that I feel would be inappropriate for my younger readers to see.)

If you want more details on all that, feel free to comment and ask which camp I'm in, but for now I'm not taking sides, just letting you know that I'm not endorsing or agreeing with all the posts linked below.

All that said (thanks for bearing with me), here we go!

In the Inspirational category...

Sara Lewis nominated Rachel Heffington for In Defense of True Love
Miss Elliot nominated Anne-girl for Red and Black
The Elf nominated Thomas Umstattd for Why Courtship is Fundamentally Flawed
Kiri Liz nominated Molly for Why I Believe In Courtship
Naomi Bennet nominated Michaela for A Study in Positive
Miss Dashwood nominated Katie for Follow Your Dreams (Up With Hard Work)
Emma Jane nominated Naomi for Why Home is the Best Place

In the Just Plain Interesting category...

Hamlette nominated The Nitrate Diva for The Reel War: Historic Pictures from WWI's Celluloid Front

Aaaaaaand... last month's quote was indeed from Persuasion 1995, spoken by the singularly irritating Mary Musgrove!  Who can guess the origin of this month's witty little line?

"Of course it's not as if he was my real pa, but he wasn't a bad old stick.  The mater found him fearfully annoying, but... I didn't.  I think the bird was rather fond of him.  I know he was fond of it."

20 comments:

The Elf said...

I'm going to take a guess here & guess that you side more with the courtship argument? Would be curious to know! ;)

I didn't 100% agree with the article I nominated myself; I feel that whether you court / date / whatever should be worked out by the couple themselves to glorify God & yes there is more than one way to do things. I guess I felt refreshed by reading it because I tend to hear that the courtship model is the ONLY way to have a relationship & over the past few years have realised that that is definitely not the case.

So yeah, curious to know your view & thought I'd explain myself a little but hopefully this does not start a comment war or anything!!

Plus there's plenty of other great posts to read and be inspired by this month :)))

- The Elf

Miss Dashwood said...

Bzzzzzz. Sorry, incorrect answer, thanks for playing.

:P

Definitely not trying to start a comment war here or anything (I'm debating as to whether I should write a post on this topic or not... ) but actually I agree more with Thomas Umstattd's article than the refutation of it. I don't agree with all of the points put forth, but actually I think a great deal of that is due to a lack of clarification on his part, which was later dealt with in this post (http://www.thomasumstattd.com/2014/08/courtship-fundamentally-flawed-qa/). So yeah, in essence I do agree with the article you nominated and not the other one. :D I don't say that courtship is evil or unbiblical or anything like that, but I very firmly do NOT believe that it's the one true way to pursue a godly relationship. Again, not trying to start a war here-- I realize people are going to read this comment and take issue with it. :D

And for the record, if you'd asked me my views on courtship three years ago, my answer would have been very different. ;)

Kerry said...

Sparkler! :)

Elizabeth said...

Edmund Sparkler from "Lille Dorrit!"

Melody said...

Heh, heh, heh.

I have advice for people. My advice is that if one of the articles looks like something that's going to get you riled up, don't read it. Nobody's making you. That's what I do. One of the articles in question looks like something that would leave me feeling annoyed so I'm going to save myself the trouble and not read it. ;)

Well, the other one annoys me on several points toooo, but we've been over that. haha.

I wouldn't write a post about it if I were you though... but of course, I'm not you and you can do as you choose. :D With my blog, anyway, personal opinions about Life Stuff doesn't really 'go' anyways, which can be handy, haha, but yours has kind of become more rounded than mine.

Anyways. Yezzz, Sparkler. :D "Are you dreadfully cut up about it?"

LittleMissDorrit said...

lol Edmund Sparkler from "Little Dorrit."

"She's a deuced fine girl with no begad nonsense about her."

(lol my siblings and I quote this way too much. If one of us is jabbering on: "Sparkler?" "Right.")

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the nomination, Miss Dashwood! Made my day!

The Elf said...

Hah, thanks for the reply :) Yes, a few years ago, my answer would have been different too but I've definitely seen other ways to have a Godly relationship over the past few years which helped change my mind. And if someone definitely believes in courtship & feels comfortable going that route... then they can totally do that too! :)

- The Elf

Sara Lewis said...

Great list, Miss Dashwood! And kudos to you for including both of the articles in question. It's always good to hear both sides of an argument. :-)

Hayden said...

woohoo! A quote I actually recognize- Edmund sparkler of Little Dorrit?

Alexandra said...

You are a much better person than I, Bibi. ;) No, very very mature of you to offer both points of view. But you know which one I agree with...hehehe. ;) I didn't realize they had written a follow-up, too...very good.

Danielle said...

Until reading that blog post, I had always assumed 'courting' to be basically an older term for dating, or 'going out' as my people tend to call it.

Being only sixteen I know that it doesn't really apply to me, as it was mainly aimed at slightly older age group, but it made me think a lot. I think that 'dating' encourages getting to know a boy better as a friend and a person before knowing them as a husband.

But I don't think either way is perfect, especially as his Grandmother's way assumes that the girl in question is getting asked on plenty of dates. No way will work for everyone.

But I liked that you included both instead of favouring one. :)

rebecca said...

It is Mr. Sparkler, from Little Dorrit!

Raechel said...

Yep, definitely Sparkler from Little Dorrit! Love that movie. My Mum and I just finished watching that again. Love quoting it!

I loved Kiri Liz's nomination for Molly's "Why I Believe in Courtship". I was very blessed by it, as I did not agree with "Why Courtship is Fundamentally Flawed" for various reasons.
I know there is much opposition on that topic, so I don't wish to start an argument, but I wanted to say that I didn't agree with it.

Congratulations that it's been a year now that you've been doing 'I'd Like To Share'!

Miss Elliot said...

Quote from Sparkler, in Little Dorrit! I love the fellow. And there's no-
"Sparkler!"
Right.
Heehee, I like to imagine that he's a sort of Sir Percy figure - at night, he goes with Arthur - Doyce and Clenham, I should say - on daring exploits that no one, not even Charles Dickens knew of.... But I know it's only in my mind. I'm talking to myself... :-)

Sophie said...

I know dat quote. Dat quote is what Billy and Wilber put on their gmail statuses for twenty-four hours as a joke. And it was MY idea too. Ha.

Ahem, it was from Little Dorrit. I see I am the last of about ten people to recognize that, but oh well.

Also, my awesome two cents about the courtship controversy thingamajig:
Perhaps it depends on what you MEAN by 'dating' and 'courtship'. To me, 'dating' used to mean 'go out with random boys to flirt and go to AHEM places and then do things that should come after marriage.'

Now, dating can mean that. I think it often does. But it can also mean 'get to know a nice chap without betrothing yourself on a solemn oath and without your dad having scoped him out for ten straight years. maybe even talking to him without your entire extended family listening in with checklists.'

Just as courting can mean, as a friend of mine puts it, 'Two Mutes on a Sofa Surrounded' or, alternatively (HA LOOK I QUOTED CAPTAIN NICHOLLS) Or alternatively it can mean, "approach marriage slowly and carefully with the help of your parents and not gallivanting around with who-knows-whom."

The sum of all my blather being:
We may all agree more than we think because we are using different definitions of dating and courting. Also, bully for you, Amy-my-dear, for posting both and not railing at one or the other. It speaks for your wit and wisdom.

In the words of Roddy and Mrs. Bennet, may you never know a dull day, and may this put you in the way of other rich men.

Livia Rachelle said...

Hmm, the whole courtship/dating topic. I think both articles had a lot of wrong (with a tiny bit of right) because both methods can be good. And the article against courtship blamed the tool/vehicle rather than the people waaay too much. And as for the other article, courtship is not old-fashioned in comparison to dating. In the past dates just took place on walks or in buggies or something. Arranged marriages, dating type, courtship type, and caller type (one girl receives callers and then picks one man by accepting his proposal which to me sounds like absolutely the most interesting type of relationship option) and anything in between relationships often co-existed in the same cultures and historical periods. Forgive the slipshod grammar and composition and the length :P Now I want to write a post.

Kirsten Fichter said...

Well, I did not mean to be controversial. *sheepish grin* I had no idea the courtship-flawed post had been nominated when I decided to nominate Molly's. But hey! Life is never boring! Especially not with me around.

Looking at the others... we had a lovely group of nominations this month. *applauds* Well done, ladies.

Miss Elliot said...

Hi Miss Dashwood!
I just wanted to let you know that I've nominated you for the Janite Tag! I know you don't usually do tags, but since this one is a *Janite* Tag...
http://puritanobserver.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/the-janite-tag/
Thanks!

Beth said...

I've tagged you over at my blog:)