Gentle Reader: This is Christine Stewart’s fourth post for this blog. Christine has embarked on a year-long journey on a Sense and Sensibility inspired project that she chronicles on Embarking on a Course of Study. During the recent snow storm on the East Coast, she made good use of her time by completing 100 pages of The Mysteries of Udolpho.
Okay, here’s my clever (I hope) new idea for the new year: dating a la Jane Austen via match.com.
What better way to test out the preferred behavior, character, and values of our favorite heroines (for me: Lizzy, Elinor, and Anne) that captivated their men? And what better arena than one of (or the) largest dating site on the Internet – arguably the biggest ballroom in the world?!
Let’s look at the necessary criteria:
- I’m single and available – check.
- I’m armed with an arsenal of advice Jane Austen style (see book list on my site) – check.
- I’ve got a healthy sense of humor – check.
- I’m willing to make a fool of myself – check.
- I’m willing to learn something – check, check, check!
That’s what this blog is all about!
Though I consider myself a great catch, I’m an interesting (odd?) mix of come hither and cautious, which makes for some contradiction. I can flirt, but at heart I want someone grounded, centered, not necessarily old-fashioned, but someone with integrity and good manners to go along with his rockin’ sense of humor, his smarts, creativity, good heart, and sex appeal. I’ve really misjudged men in the past and accepted less than I deserved, sometimes ignoring my intuition, which was yelling Run! in favor of being with someone rather than being alone. Settling for Mr. Right Now instead of Mr. Right Always. Good grief – who hasn’t, right? It’s all part of growing up.
But still – ouch.
I took a break for a few years – focused on career and writing, friends, buying a house, and now this blog, but this is too good of an opportunity to pass up.
If you’d like to hear more and see the books I’m using (and take this challenge along with me), go to my site, Embarking on a Course of Study.
In a previous post a week or so ago, you can find a link to listen to and/or download the entire ‘The Mysteries of Udolpho.’ Some readers of the sections are better than others. But it’s a delicious treat regardless.
I’m still doing my regular course of reading per Marianne Dashwood’s possible list. It’s sometimes slow going as there’s so much (!), but worth it.
Happy New Year!
—
Chris Stewart
http://www.embarkingonacourseofstudy.com
(A Sense and Sensibility inspired project)
http://www.pw.org/content/christine_stewart
Christine’s other posts for this blog:
Jane Austen's World 
These are always fun to read and live through other people! Thanks for sharing and looking forward to hearing the updates! Happy New Year Christine!
What a delightful adventureous spirit you have. Catherine Morland could be your best friend (and may be)! Reading Udolpho is no walk in the park and dating even harder. Bravo!
Thank you for sharing your insights and experiences with us. I smell a book in the making. I shall be following with great interest.
Cheers, LA
I would have to agree and I must say that Match.com is an excellent online dating site for someone who is looking to find that special someone in their lives. Match.com is where a lot of successful couples have met and eventually have married and they may be thankful for that to Match.com.
The problem online dating sites that I see are the free online dating sites as anybody can become a member without having to pay so therefore this is where the online dating scammers hang out. It has been found that a great number of these scammers are men from Ghana and Nigeria and the sad thing is they are nothing but criminals for what they do.
Anytime a man or a woman is asked for personal information or money they should cease contact and report these scammers to the online dating site in question. The best solution for these online dating scammers is to catch them and have them charged with criminal offenses and sent to prison indefinitely.