Brown paper packages tied up with strings... These are a few of my favorite things

I have times I love like Christmas, my birthday, the first time I wear flip flops with out freezing, my first pedicure of the summer, the first Pumpkin spice donut of the fall, and when the September Vogue comes out.

This is one of those days... I have stalked book stores, magazine racks and finally I went into CVS to buy some packing tape and there it was sitting in the center of the magazine rack I saw it the first thing as I came into the store. The SEPTEMBER VOGUE issue. I can't wait to dive into it. I have a road trip this weekend and I plan to take it with me.

I will keep you posted on my findings!

Looking for a fairy tale

I haven't written anything yet and this month I have wanted to write something every day. I was going through the pictures I had collected for this blog (to get inspiration to write something) and I came across this. I like this photo, I found it while trying to google "fairy tales". It is not really how I would think of a fairy tale because I think of stories set long ago with girl wearing long dresses. This picture looks very modern but I can't get away from it. I feel there is a story behind it.

I want to know why she is walking around with umbrella when there is no rain? Why is she is in the woods? Has she run away? What year does she live in? We can't see her face so is she a child or a woman?

The reason why I was googling "fairy tales" was I have a niece, who I say holds the key to my heart. She is 18 months old and I think I have 20 pictures of her around my apartment. This picture is on my phone, I have her picture on my desk and I carry her picture in the locket I wear. So really she is every where in my life and I love her so much. But since she lives in Denver and I live in Boston I wanted to write her a story that she could read and know I am thinking about her. The problem is I was not a big reader growing up, I didn't really like to read until I was in the sixth grade and I loved the story Ella Enchanted. So one day I was googling "fairy tales" to get an idea of how to start a fairy tale or what they should include and I found that picture above.

I am still working on the idea for my story for my niece. I don't want it to be like a typical "Once upon a time" fairy tale but I do want her to right now have her mom read it to her and when she is older for her to read it to herself. I hope I can get it done before her 2nd Christmas.

Lost in Cinema (Part 3)

Last night I went to go see the The Help but I will start off by saying I have never read the book so I wasn't for sure what to expect. I knew it was based in the south and it took place in the Civil Rights movement. I also know from news reports that the movie said the "N" word and how unsettling it was for the news caster. I also knew my sister read the book and liked it and she and I have the same taste in movies so I was intrigued but it was the ads that sold me. The ads also made me believe this movie would be a little bit comedic. It was not. My friend started crying and and I definitely got tears in my eyes. Now don't get me wrong there were some funny moments but I found it very moving.

Before I saw the movie, I thought the Emma Stone character, Skeeter, was from the north and she came down to the south because she couldn't get a job in the north. That is not the case she is from the South but she is different from the other girls around her, she is not focused on getting married and having babies. She wants to be a writer and go to New York. She also seems more aware of the inconsistencies in the life in Jackson, Mississippi but she becomes more aware of the lives around her through writing her book than she ever had been.

When I walked home I updated my Facebook status to tell people that I just saw The Help and thought it was wonderful but maybe they should bring tissues. Two people wrote that the African American Community did not like it because they thought it glossed over the realities of the maids life. I will say this is not the Color Purple by any stretch of the imagination, it also doesn't try to be. Yes there are no rape scenes, but you do learn about the violence that these women faced, and the danger they faced getting there stories published and even talking to a white woman the way they talked. Though it is not a bloody massacre on the screen that's not what the movie is about. I think it was honest and I thought it was good to know even a small detail of the Civil Rights story. Because this I would hope would inspire people to read and learn more about the time period. I know the story is fictional but its based off reality, and that reality is some times a little hard to swallow and though a lot people want to sweep it under the door mat and act like it didn't happen... it did. Talking to my mom, she told me she was raised in a household that had a black maid named Ellie (I hope I got spelling right) and how my Nana made the women of Seminole, Oklahoma upset by paying Ellie a quarter an hour when the other women paid their maids ten cents an hour. I am not saying that its right but it happened and not that long ago and we can't forget it and if people keep writing and making movies about it, it won't be forgotten. However I am not from the African American community so I found a blog review from some one who is click here.

Now back to the movie... The Help is about two maids Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson and their lives with Hilly Holbrook and Elizabeth Leefolt. Hilly is played by Bryce Dallas Howard (who you can tell is related to Ron Howard) she is friends with both Elizabeth and Skeeter but is the leader of the pack and also the a big "B" word if you ask me and I kept wondering in the movie why no one really stood up to her. The maids couldn't because if they did they risked their jobs and their lives but the other girls let her get away with whatever even making one girl Celia Foote a complete out cast. But after the first few minutes of the film Skeeter wises up to the reality of the world around her and tries to help the maids out by getting their stories out. When she is pitching it to her editor she says "Margaret Mitchell, glamorized the role of the Mammy but no one ever asked the Mammy how she felt" and that's what she does.Aibileen played by Viola Davis is the good maid following orders and helping raise the girl of the Leefolt family. But she is the first maid to really speak up for the maids. She hears a sermon about Moses, when he tells the Lord he can't go to Pharaoh because he is not a good speaker, and the pastor says courage is about knowing what is right and doing what it takes to make it true (sorry I may have gotten the quote wrong) but that is what inspires Aibileen to tell Skeeter the truth. Then Minny, the comedic relief of the movie gets inspired to tell Skeeter her story. And through actions of the movie, I don't want to give it away, other maids speak up.

One small interesting glimpse in the movie that I liked, to show off that Skeeter was different then the other girls was that they scan down to her typing and as they do you see her bookshelf and it has Mark Twain and To Kill a Mockingbird on it.

I hope this movie gets a few Oscar nominations, especially in costuming because this movie brought the 60s back to life and each costume seemed to fit the character.

These are my thoughts on the movie but go and see it for yourself. My friend who I went to go see the movie with wrote a posting on it as well click here to read Random Acts of Babble.

Lonely Club... Table for One

Dear lovely readers,

Can I be vulnerable for this post?(If you want a more ligh hearted post click here.) Some of you guys are family or close friends and others of you are strangers who I only know because of this blogging world... but you guys share your lives through stories of vacations, pictures from wedding showers, or pics of your kids I don't have that to share all I have is my heart. (Okay that sounded really emo...maybe I should die my hair black and listen to punk music.)

These last few weeks I have felt very lonely, actually to be completely honest I have felt alone for most of this year. But these few weeks is has bubbled over and I can't hide it any more. Well, I can't hide it as well as I thought.

Have you ever felt alone and there were groups of people around?

That's how I feel, I have lots of friends but I still feel alone. I think (and maybe my thinking is not accurate) most of my friends are transitioning to new phases in life, getting married, being married, having kids, or just preparing for new and better things. I feel stuck, stuck in my sameness. Even though I am going to grad school, which should be cool and exciting chapter in my life it doesn't feel new and exciting. I feel that nothing in my life can really change till I am done with school, and I may not be done for another two to three years. Until then I am left in this feeling of not knowing what to do with my life.

I am also moving from my apartment I have lived in for three years, the last year by myself. It has become home to me, and it has felt very lonely packing it up by myself. I don't even like to pack for a trip by myself and that is for a weeks time, packing up my life has just been odd. Having my apartment full of boxes, and last night it felt weird packing up the last of my books. You book lovers will understand that books are like dear friends and putting them away just feels odd. If my future roommate is reading this please know I am SO looking forward to being your roommate and decorating our new place, I am just going through a mix of excited and sad feelings all at once.

Also these last few weeks I have felt like I am a low priority in my dad's life. I won't go into all the details of my dad and my relationship even though for the most part it is great now, just with our history I feel I easily slip into times when I doubt it. This is one of those moments. We have a time we talk every week and the last few weeks we haven't been able to talk at our usual time. He has been late, because of other things going on. I don't want to blame my family but I have felt left out because I am the only one of my siblings who isn't married or doesn't have a kid. That alone has made me feel very lonely and kind of lost, and asking what am I doing with my life?

I can't wait to be back in school when these feelings get swept under the rug because I am too busy to feel anything but hecticness (that's not a word but it should be). Come on September 2nd.

Thanks for reading my little pity party,
-Blaire