Tonight my husband had a small gathering of acquaintances invited for supper at our home. Rupert drinks excessively and always makes a fool of himself, but as his dutiful wife I came and held his head up as the guests were leaving and helped him to the privy. The inebriated mass was heavy, but soon I had him to bed. Before we slept, he tried to bed me, but passed out from too much drink instead. My husband is a man of fine upbringing and I am pleased that he does not beat me, but at the same time he does not please me.
Journal Entry 2
After writing last night a strange thing happened. While my husband slept off his drink a man came to my window. He spouted sonnets and lovely words as I do not hear, but from skilled and intelligent men. Such pretty word came from his mouth that I looked out my window with a candle to see this poet. He was fare of face and fine of figure. But as I gazed on him, he too gazed at me. So much did his eyes roam as to make my heart flutter. I thanked him for the nice poems and he spouted words of undying love. "Such a love can not exist," spoke my mind. I retreated to my mattress and tossed and turned the rest of the night.
When I woke the next day my husband did not notice my pale completion or how I yawned through the day. He spent his days baking and I doing my duty. I hope that I see this poet again. He may come again. He had very blue eyes. Ahh, well.
Journal Entry 3
He did come again!! Oh joy, oh glory, what a boring life I've led. To be courted by another, is pleasure in a life such as mine. What should I do with this poet. Should I use this poet. Rupert does not please me, with his broad body thick and straight. The difference is so vast to the poet who spouts love of only me, he is slim and a fine figure to be had. I could use him to drag my tired body from this lackluster life into one of sinful pleasures. I could just watch this man and take pleasure from his poems, but nothing more. I know I owe my husband much, and this sin would take me to the depths of hell. Just waiting for him at night would bring something more to my life. Oh choices.
Journal Entry 4
Rupert has gone from home for a few days. What a chance. Should I take this opportunity and use it. Is this god's way of telling me to have an affaire. But I took a vow to only be with my husband. But I feel needed by this new man, and I want to feel needed. I want to feel pretty and good, and my husband does not do these things.
Journal Entry 5
What glorious splendor in the arms of my lover. With his head against my breast and my hair wild around us. I had no inkling that love could be like this, that life could be like this. I did not know that my pleasure could be as deep as an ocean or that drips of honey are not as sweet as two lovers imbedded in each others arms. I hear myself defend what I have done, and at the same time another voice calls out "harlot".
Journal Entry 6
Rupert has returned early. He has brought me back a gift. What do I care for such things, love from him would be better. I do feel guilty, and I bathed for fear of Rupert smelling the other man on me. I also feel lighter and happier too, funny how that can be. I wish that I loved my husband, but we live together because we must.
I still secretly wait for my lover in the night.
Journal Entry 7
I waited all night for my poet, and he did not come. His undying love lasted much shorter than I had expected. He was like a bee that goes to each flower taking what nectar he can from each petal. It is true that wanting is sometimes better than having, because as soon as you have, you no longer want. What bitter tears sting my eyes, I am like a jilted bride, but it is worse for I must hide my sufferings of hurt by my poet lover.
At late summer the smell of honeysuckle stung the air, and the only thing on my mind was playing with my friend, a girl that lived down the road from me. We had spent days exploring the woods near her house. Just before the woods was a steep cliff that seemed about 10 feet high. The slab of rock was high enough to be of some achievement to climb, or high enough to get us into trouble if someone fell from it.
Today we spent our time playing house in the woods on the small mountainside cliff. Eventually our play stopped when we got hungry. We went back toward her house, and I lingered long enough to play with her dog's new puppies. When we got inside, her father told us that he had been looking for her.
Now I was young at the time, but I could tell that the way my friend lived her life was different from the way I lived mine. I never saw her father without a beer in his hands, and he created some type of fear in my friend and her mother. So when he wanted me to leave, everyone jumped to obey his orders. My friend walked me home, even though it was only four or five houses down the road, maybe she really just wanted to postpone the inevitable.
Down the street, my house was a two-story building, but my family and I only lived on the bottom floor. Funny, but I don't remember anyone living above us when we lived there. Perhaps the top was empty the year we were at the apartment, but then again maybe my young brain did not register anything that was not absolutely important.
The white siding on the apartment stuck out at me above the slate gray bottom layer. I remember laughing at something as we walked up my driveway, our voices like tinny bells. The winds picked up and drew me closer to the door. I reached for the knob, but when I felt the cold hard gray knob, it did not turn. When I looked through the small door window, my image of the kitchen inside is distorted. The window is thick with wavy lines all throughout it, which made everything look tall and curvy. I can see the kitchen table, the one that has metal edges and a black and white surface. That old table that my mother always hated for the edges were sharp and could cut you if you did not watch what you were doing.
No one is inside. I knock on the door, and wait. I don't know where my mother is, she was supposed to be home. Maybe she is outside working in the garden.
My friend grabs me and I'm off to the backyard. The sun is high; it looks to be mid-afternoon. We move off the driveway onto the grass. The grass looks so green against the stark white of the house, but upon closer inspection there are dots of yellow from faded and dying grass. The grass is long and the lawn is speckled with bright yellow dandelions. The lawn was always filled with life, mostly in the form of grasshoppers. I would spent hours catching grasshoppers, though I don't remember what fascinated me so much.
When I look around I don't see my mother. She is not working in the dirt, and I don't have a way inside the house. I panicked. She was supposed to have stayed at home, but then again, I was still supposed to be at my friend's house. Mom could have gone shopping, and if she did she could be gone for at least an hour or more. I know that I cannot stay with my friend she is late as it is.
So, I move to the back doors. The doors are about twice as large as I am and I always had trouble opening them, especially from the inside. You see, they are slanted to get into the basement, but there is a gray chain and padlock on the doors; there is no getting in that way. My only hope to get inside is to find an open window and climb inside. I tell my friend this and run around the house quickly.
I move off to see the yellow honeysuckle, the only flower I ever tried to eat. It was sweet, and very similar to honey. The smell of the flower is a cool sweet fresh scent, not near as powerful as the taste. The vines from the yellow flower draped over the white picket fence; they completely covered any space with which you would have been able to see the neighbors.
As I continue around the house, I only see one open window. It's the window in our bathroom, right above those cellar doors. It's got to be the hardest way to get inside. If it was above level ground maybe I could get a foothold on something in order to boost myself up. With this predicament, all I can do is run up the slanted cellar door and slide back down.
I look to see if there is anything I can use in my backyard. Most backyards can be roamed freely, but this had vines of grapes in four perfectly spaced, neat rows. No running around in our backyard, no sledding in the snow, or playing croquet. It never felt as free as any other backyard I've known. But we could pick the fresh sun-ripened purple grapes. The grapes are different then the ones bought in a store. The grapes have a tougher skin, like nature made it harder to open them up than it should have. Whoever planted and cultivated them must have had many grapes, but now, there are just a few single grapes here and there. The grapes were sometimes very hard to find and I would spend time trying to find some, like a fun game of hide and seek.
Nothing else was available to use, and I couldn't just use the grapevines for climbing. But I did have the practice of climbing that cliff, and so did my friend. She stood at the bottom of the cellar doors, and she held out her hands interlocked together. I gave a bit of a running start and placed my right foot in the hold of my friend's hands. She gave a push and I grabbed the windowsill. I had made it that far at least.
Unfortunately I had no upper body strength with which to pull myself all of the way up. I remember hanging there, while my friend changed position hugging both legs. She pushed up hard, and I pulled myself right onto my bathroom toilet.
It didn't take long for my friend to wave her goodbyes while she ran home to join her father. The feeling of being inside, after all of the struggle, made me feel protected. I know that out of all the safe places to be, home is the best for me, but as I look back I wonder if my friend had the same kind of security in her home as I did in mine.
The house is quiet now. Everyone's asleep late this morning. It's Saturday, a day when everyone is supposed to be having weekend fun. But I have to be at work again. I can never say no when my boss calls in for a favor. Sometimes I imagine saying no, and I usually hesitate for two seconds before I say yes.
I shouldn't complain, I like money and all the things that go with it, but working two shifts in a row has given me a headache. Many kids have to look hard to find summer jobs, lucky me that I keep mine year round so that during summer I can work myself to death to pay off all those college loans.
I could feel the hours pass infuriatingly slow. But all I had waiting for me at home was my empty apartment, but oh how I would love the quiet solitude when I got there. I could just leave as soon as Phil showed up to relieve me. That guy is never early. He always has to leave for a "little while" to pick up his kid from day care. Every time I work with him I always say it's cool, but deep down I know that every time he's gone for three hours, he must be doing more than he says. Last time he called me to tell me he was on his way here, and two hours later called me again to say that he was on his way he just wanted to pick up some fast food. The worst is that all this time he is getting paid for being at work. I fantasize about doing the same to him.
"Oh I have an emergency, I just have to go . . . get a pedicure." But that would never work.
Finally, I see his car in the driveway. I grab my purse and hear loud music coming from Kevin's room. It would be just as I was going to leave. I walk down the hall toward his room, and knock on his door. When I hear a loud "Who is it?"
"Kevin, can I come in?" After a moment there is a loud bang and the sound of something scraping the floor.
"Just a minute!" he calls.
"Kevin please lower the music. You know that if Justin wakes up and hears it he will get upset." I open the door to see Kevin's room piled high with his clothes, and rumpled candy bar wrappers and him in the middle with a large scowl on his face. I had just cleaned Kevin's room the day before, and it looked like he had sneaked more food for a midnight snack last night. I walk over to his radio, "please let me turn the music down," I ask. He folds his arms defiantly, giving me permission. "You know your not supposed to be sneaking chocolate, it upsets your stomach, and your not a child Kevin, ask me if your still hungry, I'll get you something." Then he sees my purse.
"Are you leaving, Eva ?" he asks grabbing me as I lower the volume on his radio. He gives me a long hug and eventually I have to say "that's enough, remember I'm staff."
"I love you Eva !" he says in a way that makes my heart melt. Sometimes the littlest moments in this job can be so rewarding.
As I leave the house, I feel guilty. When school's over I'll never see these guys again. It's hard not to develop an attachment to them all, with their different disabilities and talents. Kevin has Down Syndrome, but I never think of that when I look at him. I always first see his smile. He can be so friendly and good, and at other times very frustrating, but no one who has been around him can help liking him.
When I get home the first thing I do is grab a shower. As I look in the mirror to brush my hair I see that my brown hair and brown eyes are the same as usual. I look at my pudgy face to see if the dieting has done me any good, but I actually thing I've gained a few pounds. Darn this schedule. Then head outside with my latest book from the library. My landlord has a table and a few chairs, and it's a hot enough day to dry my hair in the wind. Usually I read fiction but the latest book has to be read outside. It's about trees and how to transplant them and other things. I just want to be able to know what tree I'm looking at by it's leaves.
I open up my book to a section on birch tree the book goes on to describe the white bark and the shape of the leaves. I look around the yard to see if I can find one. If there were woods around my apartment like there were at my parent's house I would have gone through the woods, but here I live on the edge of a golf course, and the only thing there is grass, sand and water traps. I see many trees with leaves like the birch, but they don't have the white bark like paper.
I can't seem to find any birch, so I flip to the next section. It's on maple, it's probably the only plant I know by looking at the leaves. I read about the different kinds of maples and how there is a kind that gives us the sweet syrup. There are a few maples on the edge of this yard, and I walk up to the tree trying to put it's looks in my memory and feel it's leaves. Next is the oak. Mighty oak is described as very tall. I read that one variety can grow to fifty feet. I look up at the biggest tree in the yard, it's an oak, and it could be fifty feet tall. This is the tree that has been treated differently than the others, it's trunk is surrounded by a stone wall. As I read on, the book describes how an oak has large spreading branches, and similarly large spreading roots. The name oak means door. How odd.
I decide to walk up the tree, and finger it's leaved like the others, but I also want to walk around it's amazing trunk. What if this tree were a door? Then I shake my head at the childish thought and ideas that probably come from reading too many fantasy novels. I just want to rub my hand on the bark to feel it on my skin. What if this leads to a place that could take me away. Oh how I longed for that. I circled the tree a few times before I felt a small lip in the bark.
What is that? I looked at the lip closely and thought I saw a whole. It seemed to me that it had not been there before, but stupidly my childish hopes where bigger than my respect for my landlord's property. Silently I told myself that he would never notice if I just stripped off a small amount of bark. Then I bit my lip and pulled at the bark. It was a door, and slowly I opened it. I could see a few stairs leading down. I stuffed my hand into my pocket to find the small light on the end of my key chain. I kept it there to find the whole for my car keys at night. It wasn't much but I was too excited to run to find something else. I descended down the stairs. After a while I got careless and decided to go faster, and that's when I tripped, I could feel myself falling, but could do nothing to stop myself. Then everything went black.
When I woke up I was laying at the bottom of the stairs in a large cave. I could see some light from far off, so I searched for my key chain.
There I was. Probably the only one in the movie theater above the age of thirteen, but I didn't care. It was my twenty-second birthday, and I was going to watch the movie I wanted to see - even if I was alone. It was my birthday gift to myself, watching Ella Enchanted. I was interested in this movie, even though it was directed toward the average age of ten, because I had read the book at sixteen. At that time I was working in a library and had discovered that I had missed out on all sorts of literature when a younger child because I rarely read. Before working in the library, the only thing I would read would be the Sunday comics and only the books required in school. So when I found reading pleasurable, I wanted to make up for lost time.
I was introduced to Gail Carson Levine's books by the library's young adult book club. Ella Enchanted was a modern Cinderella story. I had always loved the story of Cinderella, and when I read Ella Enchanted, I loved it. But at the same time I took wonder in loving this book. There was a part of me at sixteen that wondered why I loved this story.
The story was about Ella, a girl cursed by her fairy godmother with obedience. Any time Ella was ordered to do something, she had to do it. Ella kept this curse a secret. Eventually Ella's mother dies, and since her traveling salesman father is rarely home, Ella only has her maid to raise her. One day Ella's father gets the idea to marry into money, but, unfortunately, he picks out a wicked lady with two equally wicked daughters. When her fairy godmother shows up at the wedding, she gives the happy couple the gift of love forever, which only serves to mess up Ella's life even further. Ella's father feels that the only way for him to live a happy life is to stay away from home thereby leaving Ella utterly alone in a full house. Ella's curse eventually becomes a particularly complicated problem for her when she is ordered by her stepsisters to give up her money and other possessions. Ella decides her only way out is to find her fairy godmother.
Ella sets out to find this fairy, so she can take back the curse. Ella, in the meantime, meets up with Prince Char on her adventure, falling in love with him. But when the prince's evil uncle figures out Ella's curse, he orders Ella to kill the Prince. Ella tries to stay away, but the curse is too strong. Eventually Ella finds a way out of her spell, while at the same time saving the life of the prince and redeeming herself from being thought a murderer. The story ends happily ever after.
Why did I love the story of Ella Enchanted when I read it? My first instinct is to say that the magic in this story was exciting, and it gave me a chance to fantasize about magical places and creatures. I imagined that somehow I could have power like Ella's and was intrigued by the relationship between Prince Char and Ella.
At the time I read Ella Enchanted, I wondered, what was the connection between this modern Cinderella to the original? The first story of Cinderella I was introduced to was the Disney movie. As a young child I loved the music where the mice make Cinderella's dress, and I thought the little mice were funny, especially Gus. It was a story with the only bad characters being the stepmother, stepsisters, and one fat cat. While Cinderella's life revolved around pleasing her stepfamily, the mice struggled with the evil cat.
My young mind loved this story because of the great struggle that Cinderella has and how she triumphs at the end. I did not take into consideration all the messages that were in the story at the time. Disney's Cinderella, which came out in 1957, has many moral lessons, which correspond to the thoughts of that time.
Everyone must reach a stage where they leave the nest. In our society, it is expected that eventually children will leave home for a life of their own. When I watched Disney's Cinderella, the idea of being taken away from a bad place that was home to a fancy, rich, good place was particularly attractive to me. Home for me could not be compared to Cinderella's home. I did not have evil parents or stepsisters. I think that what I really wanted to escape from was my boring, everyday life. Everyday seemed the same with school and chores. The thought of going to a palace where I would not have to be in school, or to be told what to do, was attractive. That was what moving to a palace was to me in my very young years.
Why must the princess move away in order to get her happily ever after? It's the formula of all fairytales, but why? I believe there is something in us that innately knows that we must first break away from our maternal bonds in order to become our true selves. In both versions of Cinderella, the mother dies. Perhaps that is an easy way to separate the child from the home. If both parents are still alive, and the child is happy at home, the child may never have the desire to leave. If the child still wants to be home, how can moving away be a happily ever after? Cinderella must then have a crappy home life in order to give the audience satisfaction when she leaves the home.
In the movie, Cinderella is the perfect example of humility, kindness (shown through her animal friends), and goodness. When I was a young, I thought Cinderella was the best child a person could ask for. She was always pleasant, even though her stepmother and stepsisters were mean. Cinderella endures all the ordering around that she is given. Even when her dreams are dashed, as in the scene where the two stepsisters rip up her dress for the ball, she still never talks back to her family. Instead she runs away crying. There is an obvious lesson in the story of Cinderella teaching children to be good, even if they have an evil parent (or parents). It teaches that things will get better, no matter how horrid the situation. However, this does not take into account the many children that are being physically, sexually, and mentally abused by their parents. How could Disney give the message "just be good," as if it has something to do with how these children are treated later in life?
Cinderella is the model of good behavior, and the stepsisters are a model for bad behavior. Both the stepsisters and Cinderella want to go to the ball and meet the prince, only the stepsisters are cruel, selfish, and untalented. In the Disney version both stepsisters receive music lessons. One sister sings off key while the other plays the flute terribly. At the same time, Cinderella is outside singing beautifully while washing the floor. This is telling children that if you are good inside, it will show outside. This is why Cinderella is talented and beautiful, and why the stepsisters are ugly and awkward. Unfortunately, this movie does not allow the people watching it to get over the exterior lesson, that is to say, that the inside equals the outside. It is a much better idea to teach society to look past people's exteriors and look for the goodness inside. As a child I only thought of Cinderella as a very pretty person. Instead of wanting to be like Cinderella by her goodness, I wanted to be pretty on the outside first, and that is not the same as being well-mannered and honest.
In this Disney version of the Cinderella story, the obstacles that Cinderella has to overcome are small. The first obstacle Cinderella faces is getting to the ball. There is no action taken by Cinderella that has to do with overcoming any of the obstacles she faces. The fairy godmother whisks up a spell and, voila, a dress and carriage appear to take Cinderella to the ball. The next problem takes place when Cinderella is locked away in the attic. The prince's menservants attempt to ask all women in town to try on the glass slipper left behind from the ball. Cinderella's only chance is to try on the slipper. Two of Cinderella's pet mice sneak into the pocket of the wicked stepmother, while Cinderella cries to herself. It's not a heroic part of the movie for Cinderella. The mice rescue her. Although if Cinderella had not been nice to the mice, and let them out of the cages, then these two would not have gotten the key away. The message revealed, when Cinderella never takes action to change her situation, is that her power is in her kindness towards others.
This movie has a love interest for Cinderella, Prince Charming. The prince has a minimal part because he is more of an idea than a person. The Prince is a symbol of the good life. He has everything that Cinderella needs and wants. He is there to take Cinderella away to a life different from her own. He is the reward for which Cinderella had so patiently worked for. In a way, to be able to work toward the goal of a life filled with comforts is very much the American dream. It's something that can be attractive to anyone anywhere, to have something a little better than the way your parents had it.
When Cinderella meets the prince, they both fall in love right away and dance all night. The ball ends and he does not forget her. He searches for her with that fateful glass slipper. I always loved the particular scene in which the prince dances with Cinderella and they both sing in perfect harmony.
So this is love, Mmmmmm So this is love So this is what makes life divine I'm all aglow, Mmmmmm And now I know The key to all heaven is mine
My heart has wings, Mmmmmm And I can fly I'll touch ev'ry star in the sky So this is the miracle that I've been dreaming of Mmmmmm Mmmmmm So this is love!
Now that I have reevaluated this scene, I know that what the prince and Cinderella have is not love. It's too quick. What they have in this particular scene is infatuation. I think it is important to teach this to young girls, because too many people do not know the difference between love and the "in love" feeling that comes with infatuation.
The updated version for Cinderella has better messages for today's young generation. Ella Enchanted still takes the original story line and twists it up. Like the first Cinderella, I still felt a yearning to get away from ordinary life when I read the book. This time I was older and knew more. Just because you are a queen, does not mean that life will be perfect. The idea of magical creatures in fancy places was much more intriguing, then just getting away from my boring life.
The bonds between Ella and her mom are severed, and since her father is away from home all the time, Ella has a reason to leave home. When Ella runs away from her cruel stepfamily, she alone takes action to try to change her situation. She is trying to change her life for herself instead of waiting till her fairy godmother can change her life for her. Ella too has a bad home life, but she is also given a curse to go with her bad family ties. She must do more than just run away from home. In addition, Ella must break the spell in order to achieve maximum happiness. Then the audience can become happy for her when she has the chance at a better life.
Ella is also an example of morality in this modern story. Ella wants the same things as her stepsisters. But this new story gives a reason for Ella's obedience. The author allows Ella to not want to do what she is told; she is stubborn, but is always good. She is never selfish, like her stepsisters. The movie has a quote that says, "Ella's curse made her obedient, but her heart made her kind." This story makes a difference between obedience and goodness, which Disney does not. Just doing what you are told is one thing, but being kind to others and taking action in the face of moral dilemmas is a very different thing. Also, the movie makes a point of showing Ella's loving and respectful relationship with both parents and her maid. The curse is used to show that free will is good, not as an excuse to rebel.
The movie does not used beauty as a source of inner goodness like the Disney version. Both Ella and the oldest stepsister, Hattie, are pretty. The reason that the Prince likes Ella more than Hattie is because of the two sisters' attitudes. Hattie makes it very obvious that she is a big fan of Prince Char, and even is the president of his fan club. Because of Hattie's overzealous nature, Prince Char is totally freaked out. Ella, on the other hand, is not a fan of Prince Char and is upset at the fact that he does not take more interest in the politics of the Realm. This is a much more appropriate start to the couple's relationship.
In Ella Enchanted, it is a little more obvious that the youngest stepsister, Olive, is very dumb and almost bordering on the edge of retarded. In this way this modern story almost excuses the younger stepsister from her behavior toward Ella because she was not intelligent enough to understand everything. Throughout Ella Enchanted, Olive follows her sister's lead, and does what Hattie tells her to do blindly. It almost appears that Olive is a good Cinderella opposite; doing everything she is told, and not thinking for herself. It portrays a bad example of obedience. I wondered why at the end of the film, that revenge is not taken on Olive? Perhaps it is good that one of the two stepsisters is not evil, but is the representation of extremely stupid appropriate?
When Ella has to overcome obstacles, things are slightly different. One particular example shows a similar scene to Disney's Cinderella when Cinderella is locked away in the attic. Ella is sitting in prison for attempting to kill the prince and is rescued by some friends. But this is not the pivotal part of the modern story, unlike the Disney version. The most exciting part is when Ella breaks the spell that holds her in submission. She has to do this by herself, and it is by pure willpower alone that she can do this. It's a lesson to little girls that they can do things that seem impossible. There is also the obstacle at the end of the modern tale in which Ella has to save the prince from his evil uncle. Its empowering girls with the idea that they can be the rescuer, and do not always have to be helpless, which I like.
While Cinderella's prince is the reward for her goodness, the prince in the modern tale plays a different roll. He is a person, and we learn more about his character. He is good, smart, handsome, and humble. He is the dashing figure from girls' deepest fantasies, the perfect guy. The only thing close to a flaw that the prince has is a naive love for his uncle who killed his father to become King. The prince is no longer the symbol of a reward for Ella's hard life. After breaking the spell for herself, Ella's true struggle is overcome. Therefore, saving the prince's life, and marrying him is like a nice extra bonus. The power of Ella's love for the prince breaks the spell, so the love story needs to be there in order to have something powerful enough to force Ella into a tough situation. The real reward for Ella is love, and the prince is just a symbol of the perfect man.
Ella Enchanted has developed the relationship between the prince and Ella much more, but does not seem much better at creating a long-lasting relationship. The Prince has only known Ella for two days when they fall in love. There is a song that Ella sings right before the couple's first kiss.
Can anybody find somebody to love? Each morning I get up I die a little Can't barely stand on my feet. Take a look in the mirror And I, see what you're doing to me. I've spent all my years believing in you, but I just can't get no relief.
Won't somebody, somebody, can anybody find me, somebody to love.
This song shows that Ella is just looking for somebody to love. Ella is trying to fill the void of a dead mother, and a father who is always away on business. The prince and Ella only develop a surface relationship. I think that many young people start relationships like this one, even though they have the potential to develop into something more real. But in stories like Cinderella, the development of a relationship should be worked into the storyline.
Regrettably both versions end with marriage, and I think that it is just a little too soon. Cinderella stories give reason for this quick relationship with true love. This idea is being inflicted upon young minds as a truth rather than fiction, which might ruin their relationships later in life. If Ella had just saved the life of the prince and then not married him, the story would still be very good. Sorry to say that in Ella Enchanted, she and the prince have already said "I love you," and it is hard to separate from my mind the possibility of love without coupling it with marriage. I would not be happy to see Ella live with the prince before marriage. Maybe Prince Char should never have asked Ella to marry him. Then the story could end with a girlfriend/boyfriend relationship.
After revisiting the Disney's version of this basic story, I feel let down. The way the story works in subtle ways to keep girls in check gives me the creeps. Why does the once elating conclusion seem empty and false after reevaluating the movie? Is it the quick way the couple gets together? Or perhaps it's the cynic inside me that says, "I give it a week."
Ella Enchanted is better at giving an uplifting, empowering message to girls. It gives more romance and a deeper meaning of self-accomplishment than the old Cinderella. Yet it still inflicts some of the old values of true love. Is the story of Cinderella too old-fashioned to be able to reflect today's values? With all its history, I think that it is a story that should be kept. Maybe someday girls will figure out why it is so fascinating and repair it suitably.
So I will graduate. I also see I haven't bloged since January. How sad. I know I've been real busy trying to make sure I did graduate, but that's no excuse for abandoning you, my readers. Like I have any.
I love this song! Unfortunatly I also have to sing along with it. I believe my landlords must be sick of hearing my praise music everytime I would get on the computer to write more on my thesis. I just needed the music in the backround otherwise it was too quiet. Thanks to music like this I got through writing that big scarry paper.
So, a freind has passed away. I knew his wife and daughter better I supose, but it still is very sad. I don't know why people commit suiside, and I really don't wish to, but it makes everything harder. The thought that they didn't have to go.
I wish I could go to the funeral, and say my "sorry for your loss" things to the family. I really don't know what else to say.
So this past week I've been slightly less then my best, due to some really great medication and a separated sholder (that the Dr said is not totally separated).
I've been driving carfully and it's getting better faster than I thought it would. I started working again this week, and it's going good so far. I haven't needed to lift anything heavy or really use both arms yet. However Some of the girls I work with have been upset over seeing me wearing a sling. I don't use it all the time but only if the sholder is really hurting me.
On other news my freind got married this past weekend. She looked oh so beautiful, and I hope and pray she is having a fabulous honeymoon. I was in the weding and had a steller time. Everything seemed to go smothly except one small detail. The wedding was hijacked by the preist and we started before one bridesmaide arrived with her kids (the flower girl and ring barrer) so they did not get a chance to participate and walk in the begining. I felt really bad, but what could we do, say "no, I'm not walking down till she gets here." She snuck into the back while the vows (. . . or was it communion?) were going on. Anyway The reception was fun, there was the usual dancing and cake. The food was good and no one set themselves on fire from the candles in the center pieces. I did wear my sling for the reception, but I hope there aren't too many pictures of it in there. I didn't catch the boucket, so I'm happy.
Havn't really had any time to read lately with schoolwork, but when it's all over I'll be looking for a new job. If anyone knows of a job in Stats or Math please message me!! I'm almost done with Grad school.
I've had a marathon of reading this summer. Sometimes having time to read two books in a weekend. I'm proud of myself that I may be able to return four books to the library having read them all in a week. I think it is quite an accomplishment.
All four books were Lori Wick books. I enjoy her style of writing, and even when I'm sometimes surprised by the small messages I get from her work. In one page when her characters go to church I may learn to be more thankful. Just today I was reading and it hit me. Even when I had been praying for people at work and at church it didn't occur to me to pray for the people who will soon be moving into vacant spots at work. So I took some time to do that.
I guess I always feel that I learn something when I read Lori Wick. She has a way that is subtle and refined. I never am amazed at the way her characters change when they experience God's saving grace.
I also had a chance to read a book by Mercedes Lackey. It's my first and even though the book seemed to read smoothly, I'm not sure yet what to think. I've got a few more of her books coming to me from the library, and hopefully I can give a better judgment of the style when I have finished.
So, what have I been up to? Reading a bunch, and relaxing while I'm off from school. I read Stardust. Maybe you saw the preview for the movie on my myspace. Well I thought it was only fair to read the book first.
I actually hope that the movie is better. The book wasn't bad, it is imaginative, but the ending is anti-climatic. This witch is trying to get the stars' heart to eat. and at the end they have a conversation about the heart not belonging to the star anymore, because she fell in love with they guy.
See, it's just dull. No fighting, no dramatic deaths or even changing the which into an animal or something. Just a plesent conversation dosn't cut it for me. I'm sure they change this in the movie, and I'm excited to see how it all works out.
Also I've been working a few more hours, which means more money, which is always good. I've been looking at different Albany spas to spend this money. I would love to take a day at the spa, but they range from $300 to $400. I'm trying to find afordable spa packages, but who ever heard of affordable spa's. This stuff is only around for people who can afford such things.
I wish I could find someother fun things to do in the albany area. If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears.
Currently
listening
:
Made to Love
By
Tobymac
Release date: 26 December, 2006
adventurous
blessed
