A Collection of Random Thoughts (And a Few Questions)

Have you ever seen Pride and Prejudice? (Not the new one with Kiera Knightly- that one doesn't count. The old Jennifer Ehle one is my personal favorite!) I just love all the dances and singing, don't you? Arwen and I found the song that Marianne plays in the new Sense and Sensibility today and have been playing it. Too much fun! Sometimes I really want to be living in that time period, sometimes I want to be in some fantasy world like Middle Earth or Allyra, but most of the time I'm content right where I am. But every now and then, I just get this sort of bug- I call it Austenitis. I read books about or by Jane Austen, study the time period, or just practice piano like I'm at a Pemberly and Mr. Darcy is watching me. Well, a few weeks ago, Arwen and I bought this DVD set of about 15 old movies. One happened to be Little Men. Of course, being the weird, homeschooling, history nuts that we are, naturally, Arwen and I wanted to watch it first! So that gave me a serious case of Alcottitis. Over the course of the next few weeks, I've read Little Men (again!), most of Jo's Boys, Eight Cousins, Rose In Bloom, and I'm going to start Under the Lilacs just as soon as I can.
I also got to go to a Mother/Daughter Winter Encouragement and Tea last weekend with Arwen, my Mom, and my younger sister. It was hosted by Stacy McDonald, and her daughter, Tiffany. So when Saturday and the Tea finally arrived, I got really excited. They had a harpist (who, by the way, sat at our table on her break), lots of different types of foods, and really good teas! I had a BLAST!!! I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it! And after watching Little Men, Pride and Prejudice, and a little bit of Sense and Sensibility the weeks before and reading all those Louisa May Alcott books, I was in Heaven! Of course, the other things were great, too- the talks, craft time, food; it was all just perfect. (I'll post some pictures when the photographer emails them to us.) Some friends were there with us, and we enjoyed chatting. We talked about musicals, brothers, adoption, and horror stories from the ER. It was great!

Can we young women (and even the young men who are reading this) try to impersonate some of those people in the 'olden days'? I've thought a lot about that subject and how far we've gotten from it recently. I wonder, 'Where is the virtuous maidenhood that graced the homes of yesteryear? Where are the valiant knights who sought after someone worth fighting a dragon for?' I think we need a return of the daughters. Seriously, people!

What do you think of this? Do you ever get Austenitis or Alcottitis? (I just love the way that sounds!) Do you think we need a return of the daughters?

~Eowyn~