"A Rambling Fancy"

My dearest bloggers,

It has been a long and sometimes frustrating journey becoming acquainted with the latest innovative technology, however, I find myself all the better for it. I would not have had half the adventures, met half the interesting and unique people that I did or engaged in a battle of wills if I had not agreed to accompany my good friend Charles Bingley to Netherfield on that memorable September afternoon. There is so much dear readers to acquaint you with as a great deal has happened since then. I will begin at the beginning as it is always a good place to start. In an effort to make ready the comings and goings of what I believe to be a most ordinary life, but what some have remarked upon as "the innermost thoughts of one Regency England's leading gentlemen." This blog attempts to chronicle the daily exploits of one of literature's most eligible bachelors. I began by capturing what I thought were quite good likenesses of my dear sister, Georgiana as well as a portrait of myself that had been commissioned by my late father. This was most effectively done by using Flickr, an image hosting site, which is quite widely used and fairly intuitive. Then it was on to RSS and Newsreaders, a subject which I found to be quite overwhelming as the temptation to "be in the know" about any manner of things is ever-present. I did, however, particularly enjoy setting up my own library with Library Thing as my own, excellent father had left me with quite a respectably stocked library. It quickly became apparent that this foray into the world of online adventures was a popular one as I began to receive emails notifying me of such. As my inbox became flooded with comments, suggestions and yes, even the odd marriage proposal ;D I felt it necessary to remind my public that some Email Best practices should be observed. First and foremost, of course, was NOT TO USE CAPITAL LETTERS AS IT CAN COME ACROSS AS SHOUTING!!! To my great relief, this information was well-received. Lastly, I ventured into the world of Podcasts, Video Downloads and ebooks. This was an area that I had often wondered about, but had never properly investigated. It turns out that Miss Mary Bennet, one of Elizabeth's sisters already had a collection of Audiobooks so upon this discovery we then had a lengthy discussion on the merits of one format over the other (the traditional paper bound book vs. the ebook) She found the ebook to be a practical format to accompany one on one's daily constitutional. We agreed to extend this topic of conversation to a wider circle of friends using Askaway to gain feedback. This way we could invite others to ask questions on any number of topics where hopefully we could endeavor to find sensible solutions to their queries educating both parties in the process. all in all, I would have to conclude that this experience has been the most memorable of my recollection, after all I have been blessed with the great fortune to have found "a great beauty" in my wife, Miss Elizabeth Bennet. (Now of course, Mrs. Darcy :D )

Your most obedient servant,
Fitzwilliam Darcy

"Friends,Romans,Countryman, lend me your ears..."
So I can attempt to explain my unexcused and uncommonly long absence from you all. I have been lost in many senses of the word for a good many months and am only too happy to have been recently returned to the world at large. Among my many adventures, I have made many discoveries, some of which I would greatly love to share. First is a marvelous new invention I came across whilst "Lost in Austen" It is a story much like my own chronicling the account of a young lady of uncommon beauty, wit and intelligence who time travels through her wardrobe into a the past strangely destined to live the life of both herself as well as that of her cherished female heroine, one Elizabeth Bennett. I share this story with you as I have myself only just made my own very timely escape from a similar situation. While not entirely unpleasant, it did leave me feeling quite vulnerable as I found myself quite at the mercy of my captors. Oddly enough, after very little time at all I began to feel as if I was existing in a dream like state and envisioned myself living quite contentedly amongst my new countrymen and women if only to be in her continued presence. As I was most cruelly plucked from this life and am slowly settling back into my own once again, I will have to endeavor all the more to preserve the memories we made to get me through the long, cold winter nights ahead. Alas, if only we had the technological know how that they do in the 21st century then I could use some of my newly acquired Email Best Practices and also create a Wiki or Blog as a communication tool. Ah cruel, cruel fate!

"Give me my Sin again!"

Despite the fact that it is nearing the end of the summer season we continue to be plagued by torrential rain and accompanying thunderstorms. Consequently, I have not been able to call round to my good friend Charles Bingley's estate in Netherfield leaving my with endless amounts of time to reflect on recent happenings. I have since come to the conclusion that "I will conquer this." Unfortunately, attempting to do so via social networking and the like has not proved to be a favourable success. While I enjoy the many benefits of Facebook (namely its user friendly interface and photo posting/viewing abilities and spy worthy/friend stalker potential) I don't fancy MySpace which seems to be the American equivalent. Likewise, Technorati drove me up the wall as it is NOT at all intuitive or user-friendly and Delicious is just another way to bookmark favourite sites. That said, I think that I must face up to the challenge at hand and simply tell her how I truly feel...that I ardently admire and love her.

Once again I have been kept busy with various "things" one of which is Library Thing a marvelous device to help one keep track of all of one's preferred literature. I have included the link to this fabulous creation! I have observed, as of late, that Miss Elizabeth Bennett has chosen to partake of this "novel" amusement as well even though she claims to "be neither a great reader and to take pleasure in many things."

As you may be aware from reading yesterday's post, I am back in Pemberly now and have been hard at work catching up on past dealings. Today I experimented with RSS feeds and found several intriguing sites. However, while it may be a timesaving device for some, I on the other hand, found it to be most vexing, indeed! It is not at all convenient for one to have to create a new account each time a new "thing" is to be attempted as it is exceedingly difficult for one to recall all of the login information needed. While it may seem that technology is all a go, I for one am not in favour of these changes and in the words of my aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, "am most seriously displeased!"

Once again I must apologize for my prolonged absence from the online world. I have had a great many things to contend myself with these past weeks. A holiday in "the lakes" was postponed due not only to inclement weather but a bad turn in my sister's health. She is much recovered now, and has greatly urged me to update you, my fellow readers. What might you ask have I been occupying my many days and countless nights with? Well, the answer is quite simple really. I have been experimenting with Flickr mashups and tools having found the creation of a magazine to be the most engaging of tasks.

I must apologize for my long abscence in failing to update my dear blog readers about my most recent events. I was unavoidably detained by "a trifling cold." First of all, you will notice that I have succesfully created this blog and uploaded images and created links to related sites. Secondly, I have recently become acquainted with the mysterious nature of our staff blog and with much confusion, managed somehow to complete the task of authorship. I posted a link to inform others about a previous staff committee meeting and the various details about it. Having accomplished the first two "things" thus far, I decided it was time to progress to the next task and have created a flickr account through which one can supposedly do amazing things with digital images. Being intrigued by this curiosity, I have joined the "NVDPL Library Group" and uploaded a photo of the "Time to Move" group (all in fine form I must say). Stay tuned for more updates on my stunning level of progress.

A pair of fine eyes

I simply couldn't wait until Miss Bennet left as her lengthy stay at Netherfield was putting me most ill at ease. At length;however, I found that after Miss Bingley's uninvited probing into the perecptible change in my behaviour "my mind was more aggreable engaged. I have been meditating on the very great pleasures which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestowe."

The Look

"Their eyes instantly met, and the cheeks of each were overspread with the deepest blush."