Virginia is for Lovers...or Perverted Minds

So I've been a very poor blogger as of late! So I will redeem myself now.

I finally took a much needed/deserved vacation. I kept saying I was ready to vacay but I was over the beach. I love the look and the atmosphere of it, but I'm a look and go see-er type of vacationer.

So one of my "Things to Accomplish in the Year of 25" was to take a long road trip. I had been debating for a while to visit a friend in Virginia and her baby shower was coming up, so finally I said what the hell, why not? So off we went trekking the 10 hour journey to Virginia.

Note to self: Make sure you stop more than once between Georgia and Virginia. It's killer on your legs.

The next day, Katie had to work and the original plan was to spend the day in Richmond. But by little persuasion, we ended up going to Washington DC. SO COOL! I'd never been there and it was so neat seeing all these famous monuments in person. My only dissappointment was there was no water in the reflection pool. No MLK I have a dream speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial happening. But that was ok.

I wish we had more than one day so I could visit the Smithsonian Museums but nevertheless, still one of the greatest experiences ever!  << Vacation Pics Here! >>

And then I got a good laugh by giving Katie Go The Fuck To Sleep at her baby shower. LOL. Couldn't think of a more perfect gift. << Listen to Samuel L. Jackson reading the audio version! >>

I'm already thinking about when I can get away again. A girl needs her vacation to survive.

Keeping up the appearance of having all your marbles is hard work, but important

Water For Elephants
by Sara Gruen

Again, I shamelessly read this book after finding out it was a Reese Witherspoon/Robert Pattinson soon to be flick. And it's been in the back of my mind to read anyway because it was another one of those books that were on the bestsellers for months.

I love that it's one of those flashback novels that cross between the past and the present. In the present, you get Jacob Jankowski, who can't remember if he's 90 or 93 (But at the age, does it even really matter?) that's living in a nursing home trying to hold on to the bit of sanity he has left.

The heart of the story is that the circus comes to town and one of the new people at the nursing home claims he carried water for elephants, which all the old ladies go ga ga for, and  pisses Jacob off.

1. Jacob knows its impossible to carry water for elephants. 2. You find out why throughout the book with his series of flashbacks to his life working for a circus.

And this is where the past Jacob comes in. After the tragedy of losing his parents and being left with nothing, he irrationally jumps a train (a traveling circus of all things) and he ends up getting a job as the circus vet. And he ends up falling in love with not only the animals and Rosie the elephant, but the boss' wife, Marlena.

And so the story begins.

Without giving out too much detail, the book from this point on is literally a circus. The shows were entertaining to watch, but Jacob quickly finds out that the circus is a cruel and cold world to be working in. You almost have to be able to have no conscience working for The Benzini Brothers Greatest Show On Earth. And for a little background color, you also get a little history of life during The Depression and Prohibition Era too.

By the end of the book, 2 things have happened that I thought was a nice little bow ending. In the beginning, he escaped his uncertainty about life by joining the circus. In the end, he escapes his uncertainty about life back to the only thing he knows, the circus. Fitting, I think.

I can't really give you an awesome review like I want, because I would tell the whole story. So read the book, or wait until the movie comes out. I'm excited to see what it's going to look like on screen. =)

Water For Elephants: Approved

The Terrible Awful Thing

The Help
by Kathryn Stockett

So I've seen this book on bestsellers forever. I hate to say it, but I do judge a book by its cover. LOL. Attribute it to being a design snob. Anyway, earlier this month I read a review about this book in Entertainment Weekly (you will quickly learn, this is my holy bible of pop culture) and I couldn't believe I didn't know what this book is about and I haven't read it. And as annoying as it is, I am also one of those people who likes to read a book before a movie comes out.

The Help is about the lives of black maids in the 1960's right during the heart of Civil Rights. MLK is still alive, Rosa Parks has already happened, and they are on the brink of getting the March On Washington to happen. It centers primarily around 3 people: Aibileen, a maid; Minny, her smart mouth best friend and also a maid; and Skeeter Phelan, a fresh out of college journalism major.

It's hard to really describe what the book is about without being too wordy.  It's a book about writing a book from 3 perspectives. So let me do a short break down of each.

Aibileen:
She's the nurturing, grandmotherly type. Tries to just do what she's told and just accepts things the way they are. All her life she's been a maid/nanny. She has worked for dozens of white families raising their kids. And when the kids get old enough, or as she puts it, starts to loose their color-blindness she moves on to another family. She's suffered a great loss with her son and tries to bounce back by working for Skeeter's good friend Elizabeth and raising her child. But after the death of her son, accepting things "the way they are" just gets harder and harder.

Minny:
She is the exact opposite of Aibileen. The only thing that makes her a great maid is that she is the best cook in Jackson. But she loves to talk back and tell it like it is, no matter if they're white or black. Which has resulted her in having many jobs after getting fired for her smart comments. She did work for the mother of Skeeter's other good friend Hilly (The leader and complete bitch of the white community), but Hilly can't stand that mouth of hers and gets her fired by spreading rumors that she's a thief. Which results in her doing "The Terrible Awful Thing" that you read the whole book to find out. SO FUNNY.

Skeeter:
Just returned home from Ole Miss and eager to write. Most of her friends went to school for their MRS degree but she actually wanted to be a writer. And why she's so different than most white people of the time. The things that are happening with race bothers her just as much as black people, though she would never tell any of her friends about these thoughts. A publisher from New York urges her to write something real and groundbreaking if she ever expects to make it as a writer and female at that. So she comes up with the idea to write a book about the good and the bad about being a maid as told from interviews with actual maids. The problem: writing this book without people finding out AND getting actual maids to tell their story in secret without losing their jobs or worse, being killed.

So with that being said, I thought it was a great book. Something everybody should read. I'm not much of a history lover, but I do admit to loving anything to do with black history and civil rights because it is apart of my history and deep in Alabama culture. And I'm even more impressed that Kathryn Stockett, a white female, could easily write the perspective of a black person and make it believable. I never once while reading it thought "no, she's got it all wrong."

Now go read it before the movie comes out! I checked out IMDB and am satisfied with the cast. Especially Emma Stone as Skeeter.

The Help: Approved