I have loved this picture for so long I am glad to use it
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Hey lovely Readers,
My mind is having sort of mental block so instead of writing some post that are not good quality I am taking a little break from blogging right now. I feel like I am a little burnt out from all the commitments I have and some other personal things going on that I can't really think of something to write about. I think taking a little break from blogging is the best thing for me.
I will keep working on my story and updating the parts I have typed up. But I think right now I just need some time to write my story and make that the prime focus of my free time. To follow my story click here... Sisters of Pine Haven.
My mom has been visiting Boston and on Wednesday we took a day trip to New York. We went to go see a matinee of a play my mom wanted to see but we also got to see a little bit of the big city. We mostly stayed in Midtown so this map should help as I talk about different locations.
We started our morning very early in the morning taking a 7AM train down to New York City. It is amazing how much you can do in a day when it starts at 5AM. We arrived in New York (Penn Station) close to 11 AM and the show was not until 2 so we had some time to kill. First thing we had to do was just get our barings. I know New York is on a grid so it is easy to find your way but I haven't been to New York in almost 5 years so I got turned around bit.
At the theater in front of the sign
The first thing we did was find the theater. It was located between 6th and 7th Avenue and on 44th Street. Then we went on search to find something to eat. We weren't hungry yet but we wanted to know where to go. And our search for food gave us a little time to wonder around. We saw Grand Central Station. Mom told me how in the 60s the city thought about tearing it down because no one really used it but how Jackie Onassis helped save it... good job Jackie because this building is beautiful and deserves to be preserved.
Then after lunch we had enough time to go to the New York Public Library.
A man and his lion
I am sad to say as a future librarian, I had never been to this library, which is a true beauty. I have now seen the famous lions and the beautiful lobby. Now on my next trip to New York I hope to explore the stacks a bit. Then we went to the play.
End of the Rainbow is about Judy Garland staying London while she is doing a five week show at the Talk of the Town. It is to be her big come back tour. However she struggles with her drug addictions. With her is her new fiance, Mickey Dean, lets just get it out in the open is a big jerk, and her loyal pianist friend Anthony.
Okay that is the most basic plot line. So here are some of my reactions to the play. First if a play could be rated R, this play would be because they use the F word A LOT. That was hard for me to stomach because I have grown up idealizing Judy Garland from some of the movies I love most, Easter Parade and Meet Me in St. Louis. So to learn she was addicted to pills and alcohol, it kind of hurt. But Tracie Bennett who played Judy Garland played the character so sympathetically I felt sorry seeing one of my childhood heroes so fallen.
Judy Garland in Easter Parade... one of my favorites {Pic}
My mom and other people in the audience, I was probably the youngest, kept mentioning how the actress had the characteristics of Judy Garland down so well it was almost as if Judy Garland was on stage. The play ends in New York in September but then goes on tour, if you go see it prepare yourself because you leave the theater saddened but also amazed at powerful-ness of the story. Here is a link to the New York Times review of End of the Rainbow if you want more of a critical view of this play.
But I will not end this post on a sad note. After the play we still had some time to walk around so we walked to Rockefeller Center.
Then as we walking back to Penn Station we walked through Times Square. There were all these cartoon characters out there and I got my picture with Elmo. My mom took this picture with her phone and we sent it to my sister and niece as my niece loves Elmo.
Then we got back on the train and headed home. I know I didn't see much of the city but I felt like I saw a lot for one day. So thanks New York City for the great day.
Since school has ended I have become obsessed with the show Ugly Betty. I don't know how I missed it when it was originally on TV because it is the kind of TV I love, a mix of over dramatics, a great sense of humor and at the end of the show a heroine any girl should look up to. Very basic plot Betty Saurez who is not the typical beauty with her big glasses, her braces, and her own sense of fashion. Betty works at a high end, trendy fashion magazine where she is the assistant to the Editor-in-Chief, Daniel Meade, and dreams of one day being an editor and having her magazine. Basically she does not fit into this world of high end fashion and her "friends" Marc and Amanda frequently tease her for her fashion and her "large" size.
So why is Betty my hero? Well that is easy in a world where she is teased constantly and pushed around she always has an up-beat, go getter attitude, and she always the gentle heart person you can't help but love. She doesn't let the negativity of the world get to her and no matter what she keeps pushing through. I love that she doesn't get absorbed into the fashion world and she still stands on her own two feet. She has dreams and pursues them with a great passion.
Even though she does not always fit into the world around her she makes friends, Christina, a true friend who helps Betty through the world of Mode. Amanda and Marc who have a love/hate relationship with her but at the end of the show are her dear friends. Also through the show she has five love interest. Walter, who is safe and secure but Betty realizes she wants more than her safe and secure life. Then comes Henry, who is an accountant of Mode, the cute adorable geek, who is the love of Betty's life.
Like any melodramatic show, the producers will not let the pair of lovers come together with out a few trials one being a pregnant ex-girl friend, the other being a more daring love interest Gio. So Betty and Henry come together then fall apart and then he comes back during critical moments, or what is known in the TV world "sweeps". The next love interest is Matt Hartley, who are cute together, can never work things out and eventually he moves to Africa.
But then comes Daniel. Through out the seasons, Betty and Daniel have some tender moments, the producers don't make this plot line a "will they or won't they." Daniel starts off the show as a womanizer and while he has swings of wanting to settle down he frequently goes back to his womanizing ways when things go bad in his life. Also Betty is so different then his typical woman I think it takes him awhile to see the beautiful woman she truly is.
This post has been a lot about her love interest, and while that helps good TV, it is not those story lines that make Betty a hero of mine it is her view on life. She doesn't let the negativity of the world get her down, she makes mistakes and sometimes she gets her priorities messed up but at then end of it she still the go-getter Betty which is what I loved about her.
As I was thinking about this post, I was watching the last season on YouTube. There is this episode "All the world's a stage" where Betty is dating this play-write but they have to hide their relationship. At the end of it she is kind of down on herself, she feels like she is the dork with glasses and braces. She has that her identity and all the negative connotations that go a long with it. In this moment she can't even see herself as beautiful.
Go to minute 4 and watch her and her sister's conversation.
It is a nice moment. To see this positive up-beat girl have a really tender moment where she admits her fear of being "ugly" but she wants to change her view point not only on the world around her but also on her own life.
I think what I got most out of Ugly Betty was not to let the negative things in your life get you down you have to still go after your dreams. Then to realize if the negativity is coming from with in you have to change your story. (Easier said then done, I know.) Any way if this summer you are looking for a good woman role model look to Betty Saurez. (You can find most episodes on YouTube.)
On Sunday I finished reading Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. As you know after finishing Mockingjay I was having a hard time moving on, I tried to read Henry James but I could not get into it. Sorry Henry James, I tried but didn't succeed. Any way, searching for a new book I went to my "books to read list" it was made awhile ago but feels good to cross books off my list. Then I went to the library to see if I could get my hands on some of them. This book has intrigued me over and over again yet I couldn't get myself to read it, mostly because it is not historical fiction and for a long time that was all I was reading. This year I am reading new novels and that means expanding my choice in books so I thought I would give it a try. I picked up it on a Tuesday night and finished it on Sunday. It was an easy read, not too much depth or intriguing plot lines to follow and you finish the book feeling a bit hopeful in love and a sisterly bond so if you are looking for a book to take to the beach this summer I recommend it.
When I was flipping through the book to see if I should check it out, I liked the idea that it was about sisters and right now as I am writing about sisters I was intrigued to read a book on sisters. Plus being from the library, I felt comfortable checking it out and if I didn't like it I could easily return it but I did like it. It is about two sisters who mother abandoned them and then died when they were young. The oldest, Claire, is now afraid to let any one into her life because she is afraid to lose them and the youngest, Sydney, left home fresh out of high school to see the world but ends up in an abusive relationship so to escape she moves back home. These sisters must bond together and must open their hearts to let new love in. And there is a little bit of magic thrown into the plot. Not like wizards or anything like that but the Waverlys are known for their garden and the food that they make is not like any other food it reveals emotions, secrets and desires. Also they have a tree, that is magical by throwing its apples at them, and when one eats the apples it shows them their biggest moment rather it be good or bad. I don't want to give away too much off the plot. I found this other review of the book that I will warn does give some spoilers away at Reading and Reviewing.
I can't say it is the greatest book I have ever read, but am intrigued to read other books by Sarah Addison Allen. This may not be a work of great literature but I would throw it in my beach bag and escape into the little world of Bascom, North Carolina.
