Filed under: Film — purplehsiaoling at 11:34 am on Saturday, January 24, 2009
Hi, people! I’m back. Or at least, I hope I’m back. Gosh, my last post was in May 2008 and that probably explains why one of my 2009’s resolutions is to continue writing! And on the 25th day of the year, I hope that I’m still on track to achieving that resolution! Anyway, it’s always something that inspire or compel me to write (it’s been mainly movies, books and songs) and isn’t it such a coincidence that my first post is due to a movie and it is a movie now that is making me write again.
Bride Wars. I saw the trailer and thought it might be cool: it has Kate Hudson (loved her in How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days) and Anne Hathaway (loved her in Becoming Jane), it’s about brides and weddings and it’s a modern romcom (read ’romantic comedy’ - the words just kind of jumped at me, haha). But what I thought might not be so cool is the way the two girls were going to act mean toward each other because they fell out from being best friends.
Nonetheless, I’m so glad that I caught the movie. Despite my reservations that I wouldn’t be able to stomach the mean stuff and girl fight, I knew I should still give it a chance because it might be something like Monster-in-Law. And it certainly didn’t help that online ratings and reviews on it weren’t that favourable. Plus I caught it at almost midnight after shopping and was getting a headache (okay, okay, another resolution to work on - to get more sleep!).
I really enjoyed Bride Wars. And I guess I have a lot to thank it for since it has made me write again here. A quick look at why I like the movie. It has a happy ending! *Spoilers ahead* A happy ending despite one wedding that didn’t happen but fate works in a mysterious way. You can’t help but like all the characters in the movie (even the ghastly Deb) because no one is a villain here (right, I confess, I cannot stand villains). And most importantly, this lightweight romantic comedy is very thought-provoking. For me, that is.
Marion St. Claire, the wedding planner, narrates the story and offers a lot of interesting lines along the way. The first that I want to highlight is this: You are dead until your wedding day. Forgive me if I didn’t quite get the exact lines but what I want to point out is the idea of it. She says that you aren’t really living if you don’t have a wedding and get married. And if you really don’t, then you’ll probably die being dead. Call it harsh (after all, not everyone wants or likes to be married) or even old-fashioned (where’s your independence?) but oh, oh!
Which girl hasn’t dreamed of her wedding since she was a little girl? Hmm, I wonder if I have but all my ideas on weddings come from the story books I read as I was growing up. A wedding in a garden with just your family and friends and people whom you really want to see you get married like Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables. A wedding in three weeks after running away with your lover because your father and his father are engaged in a bitter feud with no hopes of reconciliation like Florentyna Rosnovski in The Prodigal Daughter. And bits and pieces from other stories..
So, it simply makes you smile when you see the two little girls dreaming of their weddings and playing bride and groom at the beginning of the movie. It also makes you think how wonderful it is to be kids when your imagination is endless and only limited by yourself, when anything is possible in your eyes and when nothing is too silly or laughable. Why do we lose all this and become disillusioned as we grow up? Wouldn’t it be nice if we always continue or remember to lose ourselves in our own imagination, never to stop dreaming and not be afraid to be silly or to laugh at ourselves?
Back to the movie.. The girls created their idea of a perfect wedding because of one that they witnessed and twenty years later, they were on their way to having their own. I had to smile again when there was a scene in which a bride was throwing her bouquet of flowers and the two girls were aiming to catch it badly. Well, call me a hopeless romantic but I caught two bouquets of flowers at the end of last year and I’m glad that I did!
Well, if you must know, I caught the first one at my best friend’s wedding despite not paying much attention to it. Somehow, the flowers just flew straight into my left hand and it’s mine! And no, I didn’t plan it with my best friend even though she told me to try and catch it. I was flabbergasted when I realized that the flowers were in my hand and when I told my sister who’s the first to hear about it, she went, wedding bells are ringing, ting-a-ling..
As for the second bouquet, my sister said she wouldn’t count that I caught it because it fell nearest to me after the bride threw it the second time and I was picking it up to hand it back to her to throw again when everyone else said that it was mine and that I could keep it already. Another friend (bless him!) said well, if it makes me happy, I could still count it as one that I caught, haha..
Well, my hopeless romanticism suffered a bit when I read a few weeks later in a local newspaper about how a single girl lamented on the fact that she remains unmarried despite catching bouquets after bouquets of flowers at weddings. Aww, shucks! There goes my ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling.. Haha!
Next, the movie implicitly shows how two couples deal with crisis. One stayed together, the other didn’t. *No more spoilers on who did, who didn’t, haha* It was so touching to see one of the girls lying in bed with tears rolling down her cheeks and telling her partner that she felt so alone (when everything seemed to be going wrong for her) and then, he embraced her and said that he was there for her. Aww.. And both of them told each other how if the other didn’t behave like that (in a less pleasing way), they wouldn’t have liked the other because that was what made them love the other in the first place.
Compare this with the other couple. When the girl was talking, the guy didn’t want to listen because he thought that she was changing into someone he didn’t recognized even though she was only doing something she wanted to do. And worse, when she wanted to talk some more, he left to go to the gym after saying that this is a quarrel and they will work something out later because he didn’t think that they could deal with it now.
At the end of the movie when the bride who did get married was telling the one who didn’t how sorry she was about her wedding, she said that she was fine. She said that if she and the groom had been right for each other, they would have gone on with the wedding but now, they didn’t. In fact, when she told him goodbye, he didn’t do anything to protest or to make her change her mind. And she even told him that he knew all along that they weren’t made for each other despite being so close to getting married.
Moral of the story? Always be yourself and don’t be someone else just because you want to please other people. And most importantly, you really, really should marry someone who can accept you for who or what you are because marriage is for life and you’ll be with that person for a lifetime. When you marry someone, it is because you love that person and when you love that person, it is because you love everything about that person- the good and the bad. And oh, get someone you can talk to as well and someone whom you know will stand by you no matter what.
Marion said this: Sometimes in life there really are bonds formed that can never be broken. Sometimes you really can find that one person who will stand by you no matter what. Maybe you’ll find it in a spouse and celebrate it with your dream wedding, but there’s also the chance that the one person you can count on for a lifetime, the one person who knows you sometimes better than you know yourself is the same person who’s been standing beside you all along.
And I think you are incredibly lucky if you have that person in your spouse, family or friends..
Before I end this, I would like to say thank you to those who wanted me to write. You know who you are. This is dedicated to you.
Sunday 29 May 2011
He mustn't cry when he is second
Filed under: Current Affairs — purplehsiaoling at 9:09 pm on Wednesday, May 21, 2008
To all David Archuleta fans out there (and that includes my mom who still cannot believe that he didn’t win):
Both Davids are winners and like what David Cook said yesterday, from 24 to 12 and then to 2, as far as he’s concerned, the competition’s over and it’s time to have fun.
Archie’s a very sweet guy and he has a great voice. No one can dispute that.
He must not cry when he is second. Because he is still an American Idol winner.
Best of luck to David Archuleta and may he continue living his dreams and reaching out for something more.
7 Things I Learnt from the 7th Season of the American Idol
Filed under: Current Affairs — purplehsiaoling at 9:06 pm on Wednesday, May 21, 2008
1. Do not despair even if everything/everyone (especially the judges) seems to be in favour of the other contestant. Like what Simon (also) said, it’s just an opinion.
2. Do not give up even if you think that you have lost round one and two. There’s still round three and you must always, always do your best as if it’s the last time you’ll ever do it.
3. Be nice, be sincere and flash your sweet smile once in a while to drive your fans crazy! An art that David Cook perfected. I’m absolutely bowled over by his charm. He’s just so cool.
4. Believe in what you do and love doing what you do. When Simon questioned David Cook on why he didn’t choose to sing his best songs during yesterday’s last round, he replied, well, I thought this is a progression and I didn’t want to do something I’ve already done.
5. Life does work in mysterious ways. David Cook said that it’s his brother’s fault that got him there. One minute you might be doing something ordinary, but the next you’re living your dream.
1. Do not despair even if everything/everyone (especially the judges) seems to be in favour of the other contestant. Like what Simon (also) said, it’s just an opinion.
2. Do not give up even if you think that you have lost round one and two. There’s still round three and you must always, always do your best as if it’s the last time you’ll ever do it.
3. Be nice, be sincere and flash your sweet smile once in a while to drive your fans crazy! An art that David Cook perfected. I’m absolutely bowled over by his charm. He’s just so cool.
4. Believe in what you do and love doing what you do. When Simon questioned David Cook on why he didn’t choose to sing his best songs during yesterday’s last round, he replied, well, I thought this is a progression and I didn’t want to do something I’ve already done.
5. Life does work in mysterious ways. David Cook said that it’s his brother’s fault that got him there. One minute you might be doing something ordinary, but the next you’re living your dream.
David Cook Dreams BIG!
Filed under: Current Affairs — purplehsiaoling at 9:02 pm on Wednesday, May 21, 2008
When I was a little boy
I swore that I would change the world
when I grew up
nothing else would be enough
I see it every day
We settle for safe
And lose ourselves along the way
But if we don’t Dream Big
What’s the use in dreaming
If you don’t have faith
there’s nothing worth believing
It takes one hope
To make the stars worth reaching for
So reach out for something more
Took a while to perfect a plan
for me to finally understand
that it’s not me
faith is something you can’t see
I’ve wiped my tears away
now it’s time for a change
No, I can’t waste another day
But if we don’t Dream Big
What’s the use in dreaming
If you don’t have faith
there’s nothing worth believing
It takes one hope
To make the stars worth reaching for
When I was a little boy
I swore that I would change the world
when I grew up
nothing else would be enough
I see it every day
We settle for safe
And lose ourselves along the way
But if we don’t Dream Big
What’s the use in dreaming
If you don’t have faith
there’s nothing worth believing
It takes one hope
To make the stars worth reaching for
So reach out for something more
Took a while to perfect a plan
for me to finally understand
that it’s not me
faith is something you can’t see
I’ve wiped my tears away
now it’s time for a change
No, I can’t waste another day
But if we don’t Dream Big
What’s the use in dreaming
If you don’t have faith
there’s nothing worth believing
It takes one hope
To make the stars worth reaching for
So reach out for something more!!
CONGRATULATIONS, David Cook!!
Well, people, I screamed like mad when Ryan announced that the new American Idol is David.. Cook!! I was just bracing myself to hear "Archuleta" after yesterday’s show. The Americans have voted (almost 100 million votes came in if I heard correctly) and 12 million people loved David Cook more!!
Anyway, like what Simon Cowell said, for the first time, I didn’t really care who won because to me, both Davids are already winners but still, I’m absolutely over the moon that David Cook won. He’s one of the nicest and most sincere contestants (paraphrasing Simon again).
Also, it’s good to note that Simon magnanimously apologized to David Cook today for being disrespectful (imho, he was plain hard!) to him yesterday. I was ready to accuse Simon of murder if David Cook lost because of Simon’s comments.
But the best part is, the voters decided and they decided that the new American Idol is DAVID COOK!!
Teardrops on my Diary
Filed under: Lyrics — purplehsiaoling at 1:52 am on Monday, February 18, 2008
He talks to me, I laugh cause it’s just so funny
That I can’t even see anyone when he’s with me
He says simple things but, he’s always getting it right,
I wonder if he knows he’s all I think about at night
[Chorus:]
He’s the reason for the teardrops on my diary
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star
He’s the song in my head I keep singing, don’t know why I do
He walks by me, can he tell that I can’t breathe?
And there he goes, so charmingly,
The kind of coolness I wish I could be
She’d better hold him tight, whoever she is
Look in those beautiful eyes and know she’s lucky cause
[Repeat Chorus]
So I stare into space, as I turn out the light
I’ll put his face away and maybe
Get some sleep tonight
He’s the reason for the teardrops on my diary
The only one who’s got me crushing bad to break my heart
He’s the song in my head I keep singing, don’t know why I do
He’s the time taken up, but there’s never enough
And he’s all that I need to fall into..
He looks at me, I fake a smile so he won’t see.
(Adapted from Taylor Swift’s Teardrops On My Guitar)
He looks at me, I fake a smile so he won’t see
That I want and I’m needing everything that we should be
I’ll bet she’s beautiful, that girl he will fall for
And she’ll have everything that I have to live without
He looks at me, I fake a smile so he won’t see
That I want and I’m needing everything that we should be
I’ll bet she’s beautiful, that girl he will fall for
And she’ll have everything that I have to live without
He talks to me, I laugh cause it’s just so funny
That I can’t even see anyone when he’s with me
He says simple things but, he’s always getting it right,
I wonder if he knows he’s all I think about at night
[Chorus:]
He’s the reason for the teardrops on my diary
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star
He’s the song in my head I keep singing, don’t know why I do
He walks by me, can he tell that I can’t breathe?
And there he goes, so charmingly,
The kind of coolness I wish I could be
She’d better hold him tight, whoever she is
Look in those beautiful eyes and know she’s lucky cause
[Repeat Chorus]
So I stare into space, as I turn out the light
I’ll put his face away and maybe
Get some sleep tonight
He’s the reason for the teardrops on my diary
The only one who’s got me crushing bad to break my heart
He’s the song in my head I keep singing, don’t know why I do
He’s the time taken up, but there’s never enough
And he’s all that I need to fall into..
He looks at me, I fake a smile so he won’t see.
Enchanted's Ever Ever After
Filed under: Lyrics — purplehsiaoling at 4:56 pm on Sunday, November 25, 2007
Storybook endings, fairy tales coming true
Deep down inside we want to believe they still do
And a secret is taught, it’s our favourite part of the story
Let’s just admit we all want to make it too
Ever ever after
If we just don’t get it our own way
Ever ever after
It may only be a wish away
Starting your fashion, wear your heart on your sleeve
Sometimes you reach what’s real just by making believe
Unafraid, unashamed
There is joy to be claimed in this world
You even might wind up being glad to be you
Ever ever after
Though the world will tell you it’s not smart
Ever ever after
The world can be yours if you let your heart
Believe in ever after
No wonder your heart feels it’s flying
Your head feels it’s spinning
Each happy ending’s a brand new beginning
Let yourself be enchanted, you just might break through
To ever ever after
Forever could even start today
Ever ever after
Maybe it’s just one wish away
Your ever ever after
(I’ve been dreaming of a true love’s kiss)
Oh, for ever ever after
Note: Sung by Carrie Underwood, it’s a lovely ending to the wonderful Enchanted. It is one of the many songs in Enchanted that I love. A highly-entertaining movie. Planning to get the soundtrack and dvd as well, haha.
Storybook endings, fairy tales coming true
Deep down inside we want to believe they still do
And a secret is taught, it’s our favourite part of the story
Let’s just admit we all want to make it too
Ever ever after
If we just don’t get it our own way
Ever ever after
It may only be a wish away
Starting your fashion, wear your heart on your sleeve
Sometimes you reach what’s real just by making believe
Unafraid, unashamed
There is joy to be claimed in this world
You even might wind up being glad to be you
Ever ever after
Though the world will tell you it’s not smart
Ever ever after
The world can be yours if you let your heart
Believe in ever after
No wonder your heart feels it’s flying
Your head feels it’s spinning
Each happy ending’s a brand new beginning
Let yourself be enchanted, you just might break through
To ever ever after
Forever could even start today
Ever ever after
Maybe it’s just one wish away
Your ever ever after
(I’ve been dreaming of a true love’s kiss)
Oh, for ever ever after
Note: Sung by Carrie Underwood, it’s a lovely ending to the wonderful Enchanted. It is one of the many songs in Enchanted that I love. A highly-entertaining movie. Planning to get the soundtrack and dvd as well, haha.
Stardust
Filed under: Film — purplehsiaoling at 9:56 am on Saturday, November 3, 2007
My Favourite Quotes (thanks to IMDb).
[first lines]
Narrator: A philosopher once asked, "Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?" Pointless, really…”Do the stars gaze back?" Now *that’s* a question.
[repeated line]
Yvaine: What do stars do? They shine.
The First Meeting:
Tristan: [he crashed with Yvaine and he's on her] Mother? Oh! Oh, mother. I’m so sorry. Are you all right?
Yvaine: No, I’m not and I’m not your mother. So get off me!
Tristan: [stands up] You are not my mother?
Yvaine: Do I look like I’m your mother?
Tristan: No, sorry. Are you all right? Do you want some help?
Yvaine: Help by leaving me alone!
Tristan: All right…
[begins to walk away, talks to himself]
Tristan: Oh my God! "Light the candle and think of me". I was, I was thinking of my mo… but then Victoria and the star just pumpted…
[to Yvaine]
Tristan: Oh, excuse me, madame, sorry, this may see strange but, have you seen a falling star anywhere?
Yvaine: You’re funny.
Tristan: No, really. We’re in a crater, this must be where it fell.
Yvaine: [sarcastic] Yeah, this is where it fell. It is, or if you want to be really specific up there..
[pointing to the sky]
Yvaine: is where this weird bloody necklace
[shows him the necklace around her neck]
Yvaine: came out of nowhere and knocked it out of the heavens without minding its own business. And over there is where it landed. And right here, here is where it got hit by a magical flying MORON!
Tristan: You’re the star? You’re the star? Really? Oh, wow! I’m sorry, I had no idea you’d be it. Oh, I, may I just say for advance that I’m sorry.
Yvaine: Sorry for what?
Tristan: For this.
[takes out a chain and ties it up to Yvaine's hand]
Tristan: Now, if I’m not mistaken this means you have to come with me. You’re going to be a birthday gift for Victoria, my true love.
Yvaine: [sarcastic] But of course! Nothing says "romance" like a kidnapped injured woman! I’m not going anywhere with you!
The Process of Falling:
Yvaine: [in the pirate ship] They’re going to kill us, aren’t they?
Tristan: I don’t know.
Yvaine: You know, I used to watch… I used to watch people having adventures. I envied them.
Tristan: You ever heard the expression, "Be careful of what you wish for"?
Yvaine: So I deserve to be hunted for my heart and…
Tristan: [interrupts her] I didn’t mean it like that.
Tristan: Look, I admire your dream. A shop boy like me… I never imagined an adventure this big. I just thought I’d find some celestial rock, take it home and that would be it.
Yvaine: And you got me.
[Both begin to laugh]
Yvaine: If there’s one thing I know about all my years watching Earth, is that people aren’t what they may seem. There are shop boys, and there are boys that just happened to work in a shop for the time being. And trust me Tristan, you are no shop boy. You saved my life. Thank you.
[holds Tristan's hand]
Yvaine: [in the pirate ship] Tell me about Victoria.
Tristan: Well, she… she…
[Yvaine waits for an answer]
Tristan: There’s nothing else to tell you.
Yvaine: The little I know about love is that it’s unconditional. It’s not something you can buy.
Tristan: Hang on! This wasn’t about me trying to buy her love. This was to prove to her how I felt.
Yvaine: Ah… And what’s she doing to prove how she feels about you?
Tristan: Well…
[doesn't answer her question]
Tristan: Look Yvaine, you’ll understand when you meet her, all right? If we don’t get murdered by pirates first.
Yvaine: Mmm… Murdered by pirates, heart turned out and eaten, meet Victoria… I can’t quite decide which sounds more fun…
Captain Shakespeare: Yvaine… I know what you are.
[Yvaine scares]
Captain Shakespeare: Have no fear, no one on this vessel will harm you, but there are many that would.
[brief pause]
Captain Shakespeare: Your emotions give you away, Yvaine, you must learn to control them. You’ve been glowing more brightly every day and I think you know why.
Yvaine: Of course I know why I’m glowing. I’m a star! And what the stars do best?
Captain Shakespeare: Well, certainly not the waltz.
Tristan: [approaches to dance with Yvaine, when they begin to dance, Yvaine begins to glow. While they dance, they stop] I’ll try again.
Yvaine: Ok
Tristan: [He dances pretty good with her] See?
Yvaine: Very good.
Tristan: Thank you.
[They keep dancing]
Going Home:
Tristan: You sort of, glitter now. Is it… Is it normal?
Yvaine: Let’s see if you can work it out for youself. What do stars do?
Tristan: Hmm… Attract trouble?
[Yvaine pushes him]
Tristan: All right, I’m sorry. Let me do another guess. Is it: Do they know exactly how to annoy a boy called Tristan Thorn?
Yvaine: Are you tempted?
Tristan: Tempted, by what?
Yvaine: Immortality. Let’s say it wasn’t my heart. Not me. Just a star you didn’t know.
Tristan: You seriously think I could kill anybody. Even if I could, I mean, everlasting life? I imagine it would be kind of lonely. Well, maybe if you had someone to share it with. Someone you loved. Then it might be different.
The Star’s Confession:
Yvaine: You know when I said I knew little about love? That wasn’t true. I know a lot about love. I’ve seen it, centuries and centuries of it, and it was the only thing that made watching your world bearable. All those wars. Pain, lies, hate… It made me want to turn away and never look down again. But when I see the way that mankind loves… You could search to the furthest reaches of the universe and never find anything more beautiful. So yes, I know that love is unconditional. But I also know that it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable and strangely easy to mistake for loathing, and… What I’m trying to say, Tristan, is… I think I love you. Is this love, Tristan? I never imagined I’d know it for myself. My heart… It feels like my chest can barely contain it. Like it’s trying to escape because it doesn’t belong to me any more. It belongs to you. And if you wanted it, I’d wish for nothing in exchange - no fits. No goods. No demonstrations of devotion. Nothing but knowing you loved me too. Just your heart, in exchange for mine.
Getting Together:
Tristan: [Yvaine is having a bath and he surprises her] Excuse me..
Yvaine: [surprised] Oh!
Tristan: I think you’re in my bath.
Yvaine: Close your eyes!
Tristan: [turns around and laughs] Honestly I’m not looking. Here, I’ll turn away.
[laughs]
Yvaine: [with a towel on] Ok, you can open them now.
Tristan: Did you really mean what you said in the caravan?
Yvaine: What I…? But… You were a mouse! You were a mouse… you wanted cheese! You didn’t… I asked you to give me a sign!
Tristan: And risk you being too embarrassed to keep saying to me lovely things?
[kisses her forehead]
Tristan: You want to know what the Captain really whispered to me that day?
[Yvaine nods]
Tristan: He told me that my true love
[Yvaine begins to glow]
Tristan: was right in front of my eyes. And he was right.
[they kiss]
How It Began- Tristan’s Parents:
[Dunstan gets into the market at Stormhold. Sees a beautiful lady and stares at her. An older woman talks to him]
Ditchwater Sal: I don’t deal with time wasters.
[to her slave girl]
Ditchwater Sal: Get over it, attend the stall. I’m off to "The Slaughtered Prince" for a pint.
[goes away]
[the slave approaches him]
Slave Girl: See anything you like?
Young Dunstan Thorn: [seeing her] Umm… Definitely
[the slave laughs]
Young Dunstan Thorn: I mean. what, wha-wha-what I meant was
[sees some flowers]
Young Dunstan Thorn: These ones, the blue ones. How-how much are they?
Slave Girl: They might be the colour of your hair. Or they might be all of your memories before you were three. I can check if you like. Anyway, you shouldn’t buy the blue ones
[takes a white flower]
Slave Girl: Buy this one instead. Snowdrop. It’ll bring you luck.
Young Dunstan Thorn: But what does that cost?
Slave Girl: This one..
[meaning the flower]
Slave Girl: costs a kiss.
[the slave girl places the flower in Dunstan's jacket. He is going to kiss her on her cheek, but she moves & they kiss]
Slave Girl: Is she gone?
[meaning Ditchwater Sal]
Slave Girl: Follow me.
[She walks to the caravan behind her and Dunstan follows her. He notices she has a chain tied to her ankle]
Slave Girl: I’m a princess. Tricked into being the witch’s slave. Would you liberate me?
[Dunstan cuts the chain, but it fastens again]
Slave Girl: It’s an enchanted chain. I’ll only be free when she dies. Sorry.
Young Dunstan Thorn: Well… If I can’t liberate you. What do you want of me?
[the slaves gives him her hand and they both get into the caravan]
Nine months later:
[knocks at Dunstan's door. Dunstan opens it]
Guard: This was left at the wall for you.
[gives to Dunstan a basket which contains a baby]
Guard: Says here his name is Tristan.
Me: Beautiful, beautiful movie. Lovely, lovely Yvaine and Tristan- they are one of my favourite couples and their love story is absolutely endearing. Great music- kudos to Ilan Eshkeri. Superb song when the credits roll- Take That’s Rule The World. Brilliant screenplay- really enjoyed the unfolding of dialogues. In short, am totally delighted with the movie. I didn’t like the book. Thank goodness they changed a lot of things in the movie, especially the ending! Anyway, am now consoled by Stardust: The Visual Companion in my possession. Will be getting the vcd or dvd next! Stardust cheers!
My Favourite Quotes (thanks to IMDb).
[first lines]
Narrator: A philosopher once asked, "Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?" Pointless, really…”Do the stars gaze back?" Now *that’s* a question.
[repeated line]
Yvaine: What do stars do? They shine.
The First Meeting:
Tristan: [he crashed with Yvaine and he's on her] Mother? Oh! Oh, mother. I’m so sorry. Are you all right?
Yvaine: No, I’m not and I’m not your mother. So get off me!
Tristan: [stands up] You are not my mother?
Yvaine: Do I look like I’m your mother?
Tristan: No, sorry. Are you all right? Do you want some help?
Yvaine: Help by leaving me alone!
Tristan: All right…
[begins to walk away, talks to himself]
Tristan: Oh my God! "Light the candle and think of me". I was, I was thinking of my mo… but then Victoria and the star just pumpted…
[to Yvaine]
Tristan: Oh, excuse me, madame, sorry, this may see strange but, have you seen a falling star anywhere?
Yvaine: You’re funny.
Tristan: No, really. We’re in a crater, this must be where it fell.
Yvaine: [sarcastic] Yeah, this is where it fell. It is, or if you want to be really specific up there..
[pointing to the sky]
Yvaine: is where this weird bloody necklace
[shows him the necklace around her neck]
Yvaine: came out of nowhere and knocked it out of the heavens without minding its own business. And over there is where it landed. And right here, here is where it got hit by a magical flying MORON!
Tristan: You’re the star? You’re the star? Really? Oh, wow! I’m sorry, I had no idea you’d be it. Oh, I, may I just say for advance that I’m sorry.
Yvaine: Sorry for what?
Tristan: For this.
[takes out a chain and ties it up to Yvaine's hand]
Tristan: Now, if I’m not mistaken this means you have to come with me. You’re going to be a birthday gift for Victoria, my true love.
Yvaine: [sarcastic] But of course! Nothing says "romance" like a kidnapped injured woman! I’m not going anywhere with you!
The Process of Falling:
Yvaine: [in the pirate ship] They’re going to kill us, aren’t they?
Tristan: I don’t know.
Yvaine: You know, I used to watch… I used to watch people having adventures. I envied them.
Tristan: You ever heard the expression, "Be careful of what you wish for"?
Yvaine: So I deserve to be hunted for my heart and…
Tristan: [interrupts her] I didn’t mean it like that.
Tristan: Look, I admire your dream. A shop boy like me… I never imagined an adventure this big. I just thought I’d find some celestial rock, take it home and that would be it.
Yvaine: And you got me.
[Both begin to laugh]
Yvaine: If there’s one thing I know about all my years watching Earth, is that people aren’t what they may seem. There are shop boys, and there are boys that just happened to work in a shop for the time being. And trust me Tristan, you are no shop boy. You saved my life. Thank you.
[holds Tristan's hand]
Yvaine: [in the pirate ship] Tell me about Victoria.
Tristan: Well, she… she…
[Yvaine waits for an answer]
Tristan: There’s nothing else to tell you.
Yvaine: The little I know about love is that it’s unconditional. It’s not something you can buy.
Tristan: Hang on! This wasn’t about me trying to buy her love. This was to prove to her how I felt.
Yvaine: Ah… And what’s she doing to prove how she feels about you?
Tristan: Well…
[doesn't answer her question]
Tristan: Look Yvaine, you’ll understand when you meet her, all right? If we don’t get murdered by pirates first.
Yvaine: Mmm… Murdered by pirates, heart turned out and eaten, meet Victoria… I can’t quite decide which sounds more fun…
Captain Shakespeare: Yvaine… I know what you are.
[Yvaine scares]
Captain Shakespeare: Have no fear, no one on this vessel will harm you, but there are many that would.
[brief pause]
Captain Shakespeare: Your emotions give you away, Yvaine, you must learn to control them. You’ve been glowing more brightly every day and I think you know why.
Yvaine: Of course I know why I’m glowing. I’m a star! And what the stars do best?
Captain Shakespeare: Well, certainly not the waltz.
Tristan: [approaches to dance with Yvaine, when they begin to dance, Yvaine begins to glow. While they dance, they stop] I’ll try again.
Yvaine: Ok
Tristan: [He dances pretty good with her] See?
Yvaine: Very good.
Tristan: Thank you.
[They keep dancing]
Going Home:
Tristan: You sort of, glitter now. Is it… Is it normal?
Yvaine: Let’s see if you can work it out for youself. What do stars do?
Tristan: Hmm… Attract trouble?
[Yvaine pushes him]
Tristan: All right, I’m sorry. Let me do another guess. Is it: Do they know exactly how to annoy a boy called Tristan Thorn?
Yvaine: Are you tempted?
Tristan: Tempted, by what?
Yvaine: Immortality. Let’s say it wasn’t my heart. Not me. Just a star you didn’t know.
Tristan: You seriously think I could kill anybody. Even if I could, I mean, everlasting life? I imagine it would be kind of lonely. Well, maybe if you had someone to share it with. Someone you loved. Then it might be different.
The Star’s Confession:
Yvaine: You know when I said I knew little about love? That wasn’t true. I know a lot about love. I’ve seen it, centuries and centuries of it, and it was the only thing that made watching your world bearable. All those wars. Pain, lies, hate… It made me want to turn away and never look down again. But when I see the way that mankind loves… You could search to the furthest reaches of the universe and never find anything more beautiful. So yes, I know that love is unconditional. But I also know that it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable and strangely easy to mistake for loathing, and… What I’m trying to say, Tristan, is… I think I love you. Is this love, Tristan? I never imagined I’d know it for myself. My heart… It feels like my chest can barely contain it. Like it’s trying to escape because it doesn’t belong to me any more. It belongs to you. And if you wanted it, I’d wish for nothing in exchange - no fits. No goods. No demonstrations of devotion. Nothing but knowing you loved me too. Just your heart, in exchange for mine.
Getting Together:
Tristan: [Yvaine is having a bath and he surprises her] Excuse me..
Yvaine: [surprised] Oh!
Tristan: I think you’re in my bath.
Yvaine: Close your eyes!
Tristan: [turns around and laughs] Honestly I’m not looking. Here, I’ll turn away.
[laughs]
Yvaine: [with a towel on] Ok, you can open them now.
Tristan: Did you really mean what you said in the caravan?
Yvaine: What I…? But… You were a mouse! You were a mouse… you wanted cheese! You didn’t… I asked you to give me a sign!
Tristan: And risk you being too embarrassed to keep saying to me lovely things?
[kisses her forehead]
Tristan: You want to know what the Captain really whispered to me that day?
[Yvaine nods]
Tristan: He told me that my true love
[Yvaine begins to glow]
Tristan: was right in front of my eyes. And he was right.
[they kiss]
How It Began- Tristan’s Parents:
[Dunstan gets into the market at Stormhold. Sees a beautiful lady and stares at her. An older woman talks to him]
Ditchwater Sal: I don’t deal with time wasters.
[to her slave girl]
Ditchwater Sal: Get over it, attend the stall. I’m off to "The Slaughtered Prince" for a pint.
[goes away]
[the slave approaches him]
Slave Girl: See anything you like?
Young Dunstan Thorn: [seeing her] Umm… Definitely
[the slave laughs]
Young Dunstan Thorn: I mean. what, wha-wha-what I meant was
[sees some flowers]
Young Dunstan Thorn: These ones, the blue ones. How-how much are they?
Slave Girl: They might be the colour of your hair. Or they might be all of your memories before you were three. I can check if you like. Anyway, you shouldn’t buy the blue ones
[takes a white flower]
Slave Girl: Buy this one instead. Snowdrop. It’ll bring you luck.
Young Dunstan Thorn: But what does that cost?
Slave Girl: This one..
[meaning the flower]
Slave Girl: costs a kiss.
[the slave girl places the flower in Dunstan's jacket. He is going to kiss her on her cheek, but she moves & they kiss]
Slave Girl: Is she gone?
[meaning Ditchwater Sal]
Slave Girl: Follow me.
[She walks to the caravan behind her and Dunstan follows her. He notices she has a chain tied to her ankle]
Slave Girl: I’m a princess. Tricked into being the witch’s slave. Would you liberate me?
[Dunstan cuts the chain, but it fastens again]
Slave Girl: It’s an enchanted chain. I’ll only be free when she dies. Sorry.
Young Dunstan Thorn: Well… If I can’t liberate you. What do you want of me?
[the slaves gives him her hand and they both get into the caravan]
Nine months later:
[knocks at Dunstan's door. Dunstan opens it]
Guard: This was left at the wall for you.
[gives to Dunstan a basket which contains a baby]
Guard: Says here his name is Tristan.
Me: Beautiful, beautiful movie. Lovely, lovely Yvaine and Tristan- they are one of my favourite couples and their love story is absolutely endearing. Great music- kudos to Ilan Eshkeri. Superb song when the credits roll- Take That’s Rule The World. Brilliant screenplay- really enjoyed the unfolding of dialogues. In short, am totally delighted with the movie. I didn’t like the book. Thank goodness they changed a lot of things in the movie, especially the ending! Anyway, am now consoled by Stardust: The Visual Companion in my possession. Will be getting the vcd or dvd next! Stardust cheers!
Message in a Bottle
Filed under: Books — purplehsiaoling at 8:58 pm on Sunday, October 28, 2007
I was actually surprised by this book. Just like how I was also taken by surprise by A Walk To Remember, a book that actually made it into my list of favourites. I think in the second book mentioned, I love the idea that Landon asked Jamie to marry him before it’s too late and their wedding fulfilled Jamie’s greatest wish. Plus the book made no mention whether Landon found another love after Jamie died. Now, that’s a great love story.
As for Message in a Bottle, it’s another love story about two people brought together by the most unexplainable reason. Destiny. It was as if fate worked very hard to ensure that everything fell into place for them to find each other. However, I very much prefer the idea that was introduced towards the end of the book. That Garrett and Theresa were brought together by another force. If you believe that the dead still dwell among us, whether in dreams or literally in our midst, then you’ll believe Catherine, Garrett’s dead wife, when she said, Oh, Garrett, who do you think it was that brought the bottle to her?
For once, I love this book because the two main characters, Garrett and Theresa, didn’t have a happily-ever-after. Well, of course, I was flabbergasted that Garrett died when he and Theresa were just about to be united. In holy matrimony, no less, if their relationship had been allowed to develop beyond what they had built. I went like, how could he have died? It cannot be.
But.. When I took into account that this book, this love story, actually has three main characters, then I am appeased. Catherine, though dead, appeared as much as Garrett and Theresa in the pages of the books. She was in Garrett’s letters (that had attracted Theresa), she was in his thoughts and she was in his dreams. Theresa even thought that Catherine came between her and Garrett. She couldn’t be more mistaken. If anything, she wanted to break the bond between Catherine and Garrett so that she could be in Garrett’s heart.
Everything happens for a reason, everyone comes into our lives for a purpose. This book portrays this very well. Theresa thought that she was supposed to find Garrett to help him overcome his grief. Here, I thought that it’s preposterous when Garrett was instantly attracted to Theresa the moment he first saw her and he’s supposed to be a man who loved and missed his wife so much that he had to release his pain by writing letters that he put in bottles to float them in the sea for Catherine to get them. So, how do you explain how he fell for Theresa?
At the end, the story unfolded so beautifully that I forgive Garett and Theresa. Especially when it’s revealed that Catherine made their paths crossed. She didn’t mean for them to be together. Her purpose was something of a higher calling.
Theresa was drifting and afraid of love after her ex-husband’s betrayal. I guess this was why she was attracted to Garrett in the first place. For his faithfulness. And to think that she wanted him to forget Catherine and accept her. But ah, Catherine had different plans.
Garrett showed that true and faithful love do exist in our world. He showed it to Theresa. He made her believe in love again. He also made her realize that it is all right to move on (after her husband’s treachery and then, his own death). Despite what they shared in the brief time they were together, Garrett was not Theresa’s but in time, she will find someone new to love and who loves her.
It is ironical that Garrett died at sea while he was going to send off a letter of goodbye to Catherine for him to start a new life with Theresa. I love to think that Garrett and Catherine were then forever united in another world.
And so, my faith in true, everlasting love was completely restored.
By the way, I simply cannot imagine how Kevin Costner played the role of Garrett. In any case, I won’t be watching the movie.
Message in a Bottle is the second best Nicholas Sparks book I’ve read so far after A Walk To Remember. The Notebook was a tad too mushy (reminds me now of a soapy K-drama. Hehe) and The Wedding, though it had an unexpected ending, being its sequel was in the same vein.
Nonetheless, you can always count to have your faith in love restored (like mine did) after reading Nicholas Sparks books. Here’s to finding that special someone and everlasting love. Cheers!
I was actually surprised by this book. Just like how I was also taken by surprise by A Walk To Remember, a book that actually made it into my list of favourites. I think in the second book mentioned, I love the idea that Landon asked Jamie to marry him before it’s too late and their wedding fulfilled Jamie’s greatest wish. Plus the book made no mention whether Landon found another love after Jamie died. Now, that’s a great love story.
As for Message in a Bottle, it’s another love story about two people brought together by the most unexplainable reason. Destiny. It was as if fate worked very hard to ensure that everything fell into place for them to find each other. However, I very much prefer the idea that was introduced towards the end of the book. That Garrett and Theresa were brought together by another force. If you believe that the dead still dwell among us, whether in dreams or literally in our midst, then you’ll believe Catherine, Garrett’s dead wife, when she said, Oh, Garrett, who do you think it was that brought the bottle to her?
For once, I love this book because the two main characters, Garrett and Theresa, didn’t have a happily-ever-after. Well, of course, I was flabbergasted that Garrett died when he and Theresa were just about to be united. In holy matrimony, no less, if their relationship had been allowed to develop beyond what they had built. I went like, how could he have died? It cannot be.
But.. When I took into account that this book, this love story, actually has three main characters, then I am appeased. Catherine, though dead, appeared as much as Garrett and Theresa in the pages of the books. She was in Garrett’s letters (that had attracted Theresa), she was in his thoughts and she was in his dreams. Theresa even thought that Catherine came between her and Garrett. She couldn’t be more mistaken. If anything, she wanted to break the bond between Catherine and Garrett so that she could be in Garrett’s heart.
Everything happens for a reason, everyone comes into our lives for a purpose. This book portrays this very well. Theresa thought that she was supposed to find Garrett to help him overcome his grief. Here, I thought that it’s preposterous when Garrett was instantly attracted to Theresa the moment he first saw her and he’s supposed to be a man who loved and missed his wife so much that he had to release his pain by writing letters that he put in bottles to float them in the sea for Catherine to get them. So, how do you explain how he fell for Theresa?
At the end, the story unfolded so beautifully that I forgive Garett and Theresa. Especially when it’s revealed that Catherine made their paths crossed. She didn’t mean for them to be together. Her purpose was something of a higher calling.
Theresa was drifting and afraid of love after her ex-husband’s betrayal. I guess this was why she was attracted to Garrett in the first place. For his faithfulness. And to think that she wanted him to forget Catherine and accept her. But ah, Catherine had different plans.
Garrett showed that true and faithful love do exist in our world. He showed it to Theresa. He made her believe in love again. He also made her realize that it is all right to move on (after her husband’s treachery and then, his own death). Despite what they shared in the brief time they were together, Garrett was not Theresa’s but in time, she will find someone new to love and who loves her.
It is ironical that Garrett died at sea while he was going to send off a letter of goodbye to Catherine for him to start a new life with Theresa. I love to think that Garrett and Catherine were then forever united in another world.
And so, my faith in true, everlasting love was completely restored.
By the way, I simply cannot imagine how Kevin Costner played the role of Garrett. In any case, I won’t be watching the movie.
Message in a Bottle is the second best Nicholas Sparks book I’ve read so far after A Walk To Remember. The Notebook was a tad too mushy (reminds me now of a soapy K-drama. Hehe) and The Wedding, though it had an unexpected ending, being its sequel was in the same vein.
Nonetheless, you can always count to have your faith in love restored (like mine did) after reading Nicholas Sparks books. Here’s to finding that special someone and everlasting love. Cheers!
Baohulu
Filed under: Film — purplehsiaoling at 9:51 am on Sunday, October 14, 2007
I love cartoons. 1. Cartoons make me feel good to the extent of being deliriously happy (sometimes). 2. Cartoons are colourful and delicious to the eyes (something I still appreciate despite being puzzlingly blind to images and more receptive to words). 3. Cartoons feature adorable characters that make you go absolutely ga-ga over them. 4. Cartoons ALWAYS have good endings- yes, siree.. Aside from chic lits, happy endings are guaranteed here too. I can’t stop at 4, so I’ll just add this to make it 5. 5. Cartoons are for everyone! Haha..
When it comes to movies, there are good ones and there are rotten tomatoes. There is no excuse for a bad movie with a bad storyline, bad lines or bad acting. But when it comes to cartoons, has there been any rotten tomato? Okay, this might be a case of over-generalization. Nonetheless, the point is if a cartoon is corny, so what? Cartoons are meant to be like that. I opine that cartoons are a form of escapism from our dreary world, just like fantasy and everything else imagined. And cartoons are appealing because they remind us (or me) of being a kid all over again. When anything was possible and nothing was impossible.
Hmm.. I didn’t mean to write in defence of cartoons here. I’ve just watched The Magic Gourd (Baohulu) this afternoon. And I’m absolutely ga-ga over baohulu! I will not do any justice to the cartoon if I attempt to describe it here but the scene in which baohulu first makes its appearance is incredibly ingenious. Okay, roughly.. Boy fishes a weird-looking thing from the river. That thing lands on ground away from the boy. Boy inches cautiously towards it. Don’t know what possesses the boy to do this but..
Boy throws a stone at the weird thing. Weird thing sprouts an arm to catch it and also says, wow, that’s a good shot. Then, baohulu shows itself- arms, legs, a very lovable pair of eyes and a mouth. If you haven’t seen the posters, you must google for a picture! Baohulu is simply adorable and more so, when it starts moving after that. All throughout the cartoon, I anticipated baohulu on screen and the bonus is it has all the wittiest lines! Cute and witty, what more can I ask for? Haha..
For the uninitiated, The Magic Gourd revolves around a boy who wants to achieve a lot of things at school but is too lazy to do anything about it. He’s contented with dreaming of greatness but one day, his desperation to amount to something leads him to a chance encounter with my current obsession, baohulu! The story goes along pretty nicely (or not so for boy) as the relationship between the pair develops but at the end, moral of the story is: nothing good just falls down from the sky.
What I actually want to write about here is how I think that all of us actually have our very own magic gourd- something or someone that helps us along in life. Of course, not in the very magical way like in the cartoon but still, we get help consciously or unconsciously, small or big from our baohulu. All right, I don’t know about you out there but I did have my very own baohulu.
I could count on my baohulu for anything, anytime, anywhere. Just like what baohulu in the movie told the boy but there’s no master or servant in my relationship with my baohulu. My baohulu was no magic gourd but to me, my baohulu did magic for me. When I am stuck, when I have problems, when I am at my wit’s end, my baohulu comes to my rescue. No glue is too strong for me to get unstuck from a sticky situation, no problem is too big or too small and my baohulu’s wit is more than enough to compensate for the lack in mine.. When I had my baohulu.
My baohulu was not known for the virtue of patience but to me, my baohulu had all the time in the world for me. My baohulu always made me believe in myself. When I fell, my baohulu made me get up again. My baohulu said if other people can do it, I can do it too, if not better. Most importantly, my baohulu believed in me, even at times when I don’t believe in myself. Once when I was very sad and thought no one cared, my baohulu told me that when I am sad, my baohulu is sadder still. I knew then that I was not alone.
I was (or am still?) a strong believer in everything good and fairy tales and foolishly, I believed that I would always have a wonderful world with my baohulu. If something bad comes along, my baohulu will turn it into something good. If I have questions, my baohulu will give me the answers. If I am frightened, my baohulu shows me that there is nothing to fear. If I am in doubt, my baohulu erases every trace of it. If I ever find myself alone, I must remember that I am not alone because I have my baohulu. My baohulu is my source of inspiration, strength and courage.
But one day, my baohulu was taken away from me without a warning.
In the cartoon, Boy tells baohulu to leave because it was creating a mess in Boy’s life by trying to help but ended up not being much of a help. The cartoon was trying to show how Boy has to take responsibility for his own life and if he wants successes, he has to start working for them. It is strange that I thought of my source of inspiration, strength and courage when I watched The Magic Gourd and ended up writing about my baohulu. There is no similarity between my story and the cartoon but the essence is there, I guess.
I am left without my baohulu. I was lost, I am still lost and I haven’t got everything figured out.
At the end of the cartoon, Boy achieves a moment of triumph and he runs off to baohulu to share his joy. He was especially overjoyed to know that baohulu hadn’t done anything magical to help him but I think that baohulu was nonetheless instrumental in Boy’s success because without it, Boy would never have gotten out of his rut.
In my story, I want to think that my baohulu is still here with me even though I have to start facing the bad, answer my own questions, conquer my fears, erase my doubts but.. I know that I am never alone because I had my baohulu and will always have my baohulu.
Just like in the cartoon when baohulu tells Boy before flying off that it will call him once in a while, there is no real separation between Boy and his baohulu.
I love cartoons. 1. Cartoons make me feel good to the extent of being deliriously happy (sometimes). 2. Cartoons are colourful and delicious to the eyes (something I still appreciate despite being puzzlingly blind to images and more receptive to words). 3. Cartoons feature adorable characters that make you go absolutely ga-ga over them. 4. Cartoons ALWAYS have good endings- yes, siree.. Aside from chic lits, happy endings are guaranteed here too. I can’t stop at 4, so I’ll just add this to make it 5. 5. Cartoons are for everyone! Haha..
When it comes to movies, there are good ones and there are rotten tomatoes. There is no excuse for a bad movie with a bad storyline, bad lines or bad acting. But when it comes to cartoons, has there been any rotten tomato? Okay, this might be a case of over-generalization. Nonetheless, the point is if a cartoon is corny, so what? Cartoons are meant to be like that. I opine that cartoons are a form of escapism from our dreary world, just like fantasy and everything else imagined. And cartoons are appealing because they remind us (or me) of being a kid all over again. When anything was possible and nothing was impossible.
Hmm.. I didn’t mean to write in defence of cartoons here. I’ve just watched The Magic Gourd (Baohulu) this afternoon. And I’m absolutely ga-ga over baohulu! I will not do any justice to the cartoon if I attempt to describe it here but the scene in which baohulu first makes its appearance is incredibly ingenious. Okay, roughly.. Boy fishes a weird-looking thing from the river. That thing lands on ground away from the boy. Boy inches cautiously towards it. Don’t know what possesses the boy to do this but..
Boy throws a stone at the weird thing. Weird thing sprouts an arm to catch it and also says, wow, that’s a good shot. Then, baohulu shows itself- arms, legs, a very lovable pair of eyes and a mouth. If you haven’t seen the posters, you must google for a picture! Baohulu is simply adorable and more so, when it starts moving after that. All throughout the cartoon, I anticipated baohulu on screen and the bonus is it has all the wittiest lines! Cute and witty, what more can I ask for? Haha..
For the uninitiated, The Magic Gourd revolves around a boy who wants to achieve a lot of things at school but is too lazy to do anything about it. He’s contented with dreaming of greatness but one day, his desperation to amount to something leads him to a chance encounter with my current obsession, baohulu! The story goes along pretty nicely (or not so for boy) as the relationship between the pair develops but at the end, moral of the story is: nothing good just falls down from the sky.
What I actually want to write about here is how I think that all of us actually have our very own magic gourd- something or someone that helps us along in life. Of course, not in the very magical way like in the cartoon but still, we get help consciously or unconsciously, small or big from our baohulu. All right, I don’t know about you out there but I did have my very own baohulu.
I could count on my baohulu for anything, anytime, anywhere. Just like what baohulu in the movie told the boy but there’s no master or servant in my relationship with my baohulu. My baohulu was no magic gourd but to me, my baohulu did magic for me. When I am stuck, when I have problems, when I am at my wit’s end, my baohulu comes to my rescue. No glue is too strong for me to get unstuck from a sticky situation, no problem is too big or too small and my baohulu’s wit is more than enough to compensate for the lack in mine.. When I had my baohulu.
My baohulu was not known for the virtue of patience but to me, my baohulu had all the time in the world for me. My baohulu always made me believe in myself. When I fell, my baohulu made me get up again. My baohulu said if other people can do it, I can do it too, if not better. Most importantly, my baohulu believed in me, even at times when I don’t believe in myself. Once when I was very sad and thought no one cared, my baohulu told me that when I am sad, my baohulu is sadder still. I knew then that I was not alone.
I was (or am still?) a strong believer in everything good and fairy tales and foolishly, I believed that I would always have a wonderful world with my baohulu. If something bad comes along, my baohulu will turn it into something good. If I have questions, my baohulu will give me the answers. If I am frightened, my baohulu shows me that there is nothing to fear. If I am in doubt, my baohulu erases every trace of it. If I ever find myself alone, I must remember that I am not alone because I have my baohulu. My baohulu is my source of inspiration, strength and courage.
But one day, my baohulu was taken away from me without a warning.
In the cartoon, Boy tells baohulu to leave because it was creating a mess in Boy’s life by trying to help but ended up not being much of a help. The cartoon was trying to show how Boy has to take responsibility for his own life and if he wants successes, he has to start working for them. It is strange that I thought of my source of inspiration, strength and courage when I watched The Magic Gourd and ended up writing about my baohulu. There is no similarity between my story and the cartoon but the essence is there, I guess.
I am left without my baohulu. I was lost, I am still lost and I haven’t got everything figured out.
At the end of the cartoon, Boy achieves a moment of triumph and he runs off to baohulu to share his joy. He was especially overjoyed to know that baohulu hadn’t done anything magical to help him but I think that baohulu was nonetheless instrumental in Boy’s success because without it, Boy would never have gotten out of his rut.
In my story, I want to think that my baohulu is still here with me even though I have to start facing the bad, answer my own questions, conquer my fears, erase my doubts but.. I know that I am never alone because I had my baohulu and will always have my baohulu.
Just like in the cartoon when baohulu tells Boy before flying off that it will call him once in a while, there is no real separation between Boy and his baohulu.
Jodi Picoult
Filed under: Books — purplehsiaoling at 8:09 am on Wednesday, September 12, 2007
I’ve just finished reading my fourth Jodi Picoult book and here I am, pretty much compelled to write something about her books. So, I’ve read Plain Truth, Picture Perfect, Second Glance and Vanishing Acts (in this order) and all in this year. That’s 4 books out of the 14 that’ve been published.
Well, her books have been heavily promoted in major local bookstores and after passing them over a few times, I finally bought Plain Truth and gosh, was I blown over by it! It is one of those books, which actually kept you going page by page. The same actually goes for all her books! And that’s one of the "downside" of her books.
I just have to finish it all at once or, at most, in a day or two because the story will haunt my every waking hour if I do not know the ending. So, let’s see.. Plain Truth and Picture Perfect were read during working days and I remembered stolen time to read before work began, during lunch and after work. As for Second Glance, I stayed up all night to finish it and I took a whole afternoon to read Vanishing Acts.
So, there you have it. Her books are highly engaging. And emotionally draining too, I’d think. I feel for her characters, both major and minor ones. They are very much alive with all their flaws and goodness and everything else. When you feel for them, you actually want them to turn out all right and thus, the race to the end to know what happened to them. Like what Delia Hopkins in Vanishing Acts said, "I want to know how it ends."
Worse thing is I really must have happy endings for the books I read and movies I watch. (Okay, I have more or less come to terms with being cheated out of one with Titanic and Cold Mountain.) With Jodi Picoult, you are never really sure. Sometimes the story ends the way you want, sometimes it doesn’t. Hmm.. Maybe that’s why chic lits are good. Happy endings guaranteed. Be forewarned: Spoilers ahead.
In the four books that I have read, the record for happy endings stands at 50:50. Now, let’s dissect them one by one. Everything turned out bee-you-tee-fully in Plain Truth. Both heroines (Ellie and Katie) ended up with men whom they deserve. Katie, who was on trial for murdering her newborn baby, got a "good" sentence and everything turned out o.k.a.y. Did I mention that it’s full of courtroom drama?
I love courtroom drama, looking back at the days when I really enjoyed Law & Order and those earlier John Grisham books. So, it was really a pleasant surprise to get some courtroom action in Plain Truth. The same goes for Vanishing Acts.
The second book, Picture Perfect, would have been perfect except for the twist in the tale in the last few pages in the book. Aaargh.. I still remembered the disappointment so well and for that, whenever, I read the book I again, I deliberately leave out the ending and was contented to read until the part when Alex reunited with Cassie and his new son, Connor.
Okay, so.. Alex had a problem, a huge one actually, because he hit his wife. He was going to get professional help when his wife came back to him with their son. And I wanted so much to believe that he could and would change but in the end, he lost his temper again and Cassie finally divorced him. Plus she ended up with Will Flying Horse, who was her saviour of some sort (something I can’t fathom why).
A leopard doesn’t change its spots. Perhaps there’s a basis for that but I want my happy ending! It’d have been perfect if the story went like this: Alex had been so consumed with guilt and regret and remorse when Cassie first left him that he would change. The three of them would stay together as a family, who had everything going for them.. If only he could control his anger and stop hitting her.
Everything would have been so perfect.. But then again, perhaps everything’s only picture perfect but is actually anything but..
On to the next book: Second Glance. It deals with the dead coming back to the living and all. I like the way Shelby and Eli (not the main characters) got together but other than that, I didn’t really like anything else. For starters, I blame Lia, one of the central characters, for everything bad that happened. If she was not to blame, then perhaps her mother, like what she herself said in the book.
Plus Ross, the other central character, actually fell in love with a ghost (Lia, of all people) and was willing to forsake the living for her. At the beginning of the book, I admire his faithfulness towards his dead fiancee but after he bumped into Lia while he was ghost-hunting, I really couldn’t believe how he fell for her just like that. So, it’s pretty hard to like a book when you don’t like the main characters and that’s that.
And now, Vanishing Acts! Ahh.. My favourite book besides Plain Truth. A story about how a father kidnapped his daughter and built a new life for the two of them to get away from his ex-wife’s new husband, who was really an animal in disguise. Suffice to say the father was acquitted because anyone would have done what he did for his daughter and for that, I am happy. If not, it’d have been Picture Perfect all over again.
And there was a lovely story about three best friends: Delia (the daughter), Eric and Fitz. As they were growing up, Delia went out with Fitz first before he foolishly sent her to Eric. Delia and Eric had a daughter and were engaged to marry when her father was caught for kidnapping her after 28 years.
Now, Fitz had been in love with Delia all his life but he always thought that Delia and Eric belonged together. He even helped Eric get her with a dollar note folded into a heart that hid a message, "If all I could ever have is you, I’d be a billionaire." Aww..
So, why didn’t Delia and Eric get married before their daughter, Sophie, came along? Sophie was so darn cute and she even told Fitz that he loved her mother! Back to the question, Eric was an alcoholic (Delia’s mother was one, too). Throughout the book, he was trying hard to quit but in the end he lost it. So much like Alex in Picture Perfect and for that I am sad.
But I am cheered when this is what Delia thought after getting together with Fitz: What if last night wasn’t wrong… but finally, remarkably, right? So, I gather that all along, it was she and Fitz who were meant to be together and I guess, Eric just got in the way. Frankly, I wouldn’t have minded if she still married Eric for Sophie’s sake but Fitz was one great guy!
The question remains: Dare I read more Jodi Picoult books? Currently, there’re ten more to go. Reading her book is always an emotional rollercoaster ride- you go up and down and you want it to end quickly but for what they’re worth, it’s one heck of a ride. I’ve been debating if Jodi Picoult is one of my favourite writers and with the fact that I’ve read four of her books, I guess she is..
I’ve just finished reading my fourth Jodi Picoult book and here I am, pretty much compelled to write something about her books. So, I’ve read Plain Truth, Picture Perfect, Second Glance and Vanishing Acts (in this order) and all in this year. That’s 4 books out of the 14 that’ve been published.
Well, her books have been heavily promoted in major local bookstores and after passing them over a few times, I finally bought Plain Truth and gosh, was I blown over by it! It is one of those books, which actually kept you going page by page. The same actually goes for all her books! And that’s one of the "downside" of her books.
I just have to finish it all at once or, at most, in a day or two because the story will haunt my every waking hour if I do not know the ending. So, let’s see.. Plain Truth and Picture Perfect were read during working days and I remembered stolen time to read before work began, during lunch and after work. As for Second Glance, I stayed up all night to finish it and I took a whole afternoon to read Vanishing Acts.
So, there you have it. Her books are highly engaging. And emotionally draining too, I’d think. I feel for her characters, both major and minor ones. They are very much alive with all their flaws and goodness and everything else. When you feel for them, you actually want them to turn out all right and thus, the race to the end to know what happened to them. Like what Delia Hopkins in Vanishing Acts said, "I want to know how it ends."
Worse thing is I really must have happy endings for the books I read and movies I watch. (Okay, I have more or less come to terms with being cheated out of one with Titanic and Cold Mountain.) With Jodi Picoult, you are never really sure. Sometimes the story ends the way you want, sometimes it doesn’t. Hmm.. Maybe that’s why chic lits are good. Happy endings guaranteed. Be forewarned: Spoilers ahead.
In the four books that I have read, the record for happy endings stands at 50:50. Now, let’s dissect them one by one. Everything turned out bee-you-tee-fully in Plain Truth. Both heroines (Ellie and Katie) ended up with men whom they deserve. Katie, who was on trial for murdering her newborn baby, got a "good" sentence and everything turned out o.k.a.y. Did I mention that it’s full of courtroom drama?
I love courtroom drama, looking back at the days when I really enjoyed Law & Order and those earlier John Grisham books. So, it was really a pleasant surprise to get some courtroom action in Plain Truth. The same goes for Vanishing Acts.
The second book, Picture Perfect, would have been perfect except for the twist in the tale in the last few pages in the book. Aaargh.. I still remembered the disappointment so well and for that, whenever, I read the book I again, I deliberately leave out the ending and was contented to read until the part when Alex reunited with Cassie and his new son, Connor.
Okay, so.. Alex had a problem, a huge one actually, because he hit his wife. He was going to get professional help when his wife came back to him with their son. And I wanted so much to believe that he could and would change but in the end, he lost his temper again and Cassie finally divorced him. Plus she ended up with Will Flying Horse, who was her saviour of some sort (something I can’t fathom why).
A leopard doesn’t change its spots. Perhaps there’s a basis for that but I want my happy ending! It’d have been perfect if the story went like this: Alex had been so consumed with guilt and regret and remorse when Cassie first left him that he would change. The three of them would stay together as a family, who had everything going for them.. If only he could control his anger and stop hitting her.
Everything would have been so perfect.. But then again, perhaps everything’s only picture perfect but is actually anything but..
On to the next book: Second Glance. It deals with the dead coming back to the living and all. I like the way Shelby and Eli (not the main characters) got together but other than that, I didn’t really like anything else. For starters, I blame Lia, one of the central characters, for everything bad that happened. If she was not to blame, then perhaps her mother, like what she herself said in the book.
Plus Ross, the other central character, actually fell in love with a ghost (Lia, of all people) and was willing to forsake the living for her. At the beginning of the book, I admire his faithfulness towards his dead fiancee but after he bumped into Lia while he was ghost-hunting, I really couldn’t believe how he fell for her just like that. So, it’s pretty hard to like a book when you don’t like the main characters and that’s that.
And now, Vanishing Acts! Ahh.. My favourite book besides Plain Truth. A story about how a father kidnapped his daughter and built a new life for the two of them to get away from his ex-wife’s new husband, who was really an animal in disguise. Suffice to say the father was acquitted because anyone would have done what he did for his daughter and for that, I am happy. If not, it’d have been Picture Perfect all over again.
And there was a lovely story about three best friends: Delia (the daughter), Eric and Fitz. As they were growing up, Delia went out with Fitz first before he foolishly sent her to Eric. Delia and Eric had a daughter and were engaged to marry when her father was caught for kidnapping her after 28 years.
Now, Fitz had been in love with Delia all his life but he always thought that Delia and Eric belonged together. He even helped Eric get her with a dollar note folded into a heart that hid a message, "If all I could ever have is you, I’d be a billionaire." Aww..
So, why didn’t Delia and Eric get married before their daughter, Sophie, came along? Sophie was so darn cute and she even told Fitz that he loved her mother! Back to the question, Eric was an alcoholic (Delia’s mother was one, too). Throughout the book, he was trying hard to quit but in the end he lost it. So much like Alex in Picture Perfect and for that I am sad.
But I am cheered when this is what Delia thought after getting together with Fitz: What if last night wasn’t wrong… but finally, remarkably, right? So, I gather that all along, it was she and Fitz who were meant to be together and I guess, Eric just got in the way. Frankly, I wouldn’t have minded if she still married Eric for Sophie’s sake but Fitz was one great guy!
The question remains: Dare I read more Jodi Picoult books? Currently, there’re ten more to go. Reading her book is always an emotional rollercoaster ride- you go up and down and you want it to end quickly but for what they’re worth, it’s one heck of a ride. I’ve been debating if Jodi Picoult is one of my favourite writers and with the fact that I’ve read four of her books, I guess she is..
Little Wonders by Rob Thomas
Filed under: Lyrics — purplehsiaoling at 9:51 am on Saturday, April 14, 2007
our lives are made
in these small hours
these little wonders,
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away,
but these small hours,
these small hours still remain
let it slide,
let your troubles fall behind you
let it shine
until you feel it all around you
and i don’t mind
if it’s me you need to turn to
we’ll get by,
it’s the heart that really matters in the end
our lives are made
in these small hours
these little wonders,
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away,
but these small hours,
these small hours still remain
all of my regret
will wash away somehow
but i cannot forget
the way i feel right now
in these small hours
these little wonders
these twists & turns of fate
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away but these small hours
these small hours, still remain,
still remain
these little wonders
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away
but these small hours
these little wonders still remain
let it go,
let it roll right off your shoulder
don’t you know
the hardest part is over
let it in,
let your clarity define you
in the end
we will only just remember how it feels
let it roll right off your shoulder
don’t you know
the hardest part is over
let it in,
let your clarity define you
in the end
we will only just remember how it feels
our lives are made
in these small hours
these little wonders,
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away,
but these small hours,
these small hours still remain
let it slide,
let your troubles fall behind you
let it shine
until you feel it all around you
and i don’t mind
if it’s me you need to turn to
we’ll get by,
it’s the heart that really matters in the end
our lives are made
in these small hours
these little wonders,
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away,
but these small hours,
these small hours still remain
all of my regret
will wash away somehow
but i cannot forget
the way i feel right now
in these small hours
these little wonders
these twists & turns of fate
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away but these small hours
these small hours, still remain,
still remain
these little wonders
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away
but these small hours
these little wonders still remain
Note: I first heard this song on the radio the day before I watched the movie. I loved it then and you can be sure that I love it more now that I love the movie too. Chuckling..
Meet The Robinsons
Filed under: Film — purplehsiaoling at 9:42 am on Saturday, April 14, 2007
I am very pleased. Why? I watched two movies, The Reaping yesterday and Meet The Robinsons just now, that made it into my list of favourites.
It really is one life’s greatest pleasures when you have just read a very good book, watched a very good movie, heard a very good song, had a very good conversation or made a very good friend. It is at times like this when you can’t help but go, ah, this is life! And then bask in the glory of life.
I love watching cartoons because you can at least expect a good ending. And with Meet The Robinsons, the villain even turned good! His path of life was changed and he was given a second chance. Second chances.. Do they really matter in life? I guess they do if the person given it appreciates it and makes the effort to be different.
Meet The Robinsons is all about family. Something we have and sometimes take for granted but in Lewis’ case, it’s something he does not have and yearns for. His mother left him at the doorsteps of the orphanage when he was born. All his early 12 years of life, he wanted be adopted and to belong to someone. He wanted a family of his own.
But when another adoption interview with his prospective foster parents went awry, Lewis went into despair. I really felt for him then. He was different. He was special. He was no ordinary boy. Because of that, it was difficult for any normal parents who wanted normal kids to accept him. Well, why is it so difficult for people to accept someone who is different anyway?
This cartoon also shows how one single moment can act to change the entire course of one’s life. Take a listen at the cartoon’s song, Little Wonders, by Rob Thomas. Beautiful lyrics, catchy melody, good vocals.. What more do I need? Haha..
Is life all about letting go and moving forward? The central theme of the cartoon would definitely be "Keep Moving Forward." Everything happens for a reason. Lewis was thrown a chance to do something different with his past. He was brought back into the past, to the moment when his mother left him at the orphanage. He was so close to her that he could touch her but..
He drew back. He let history be the way it was and perhaps, meant to be. If he had pulled his mother back, if he wasn’t left behind at the orphanage.. Who knows what could have happened? But he had been to the future. He knew what awaits him there. Thus, he was contented enough to let the past be, to work hard in the present and to keep moving forward to the future.
I’ve wondered before how adorable little kids could turn out to be such monsters when they grow up. This cartoon gave me the answer. Goob, Lewis’ roommate at the orphanage, was this sweet and blur little boy, who made me went "awww.." every time he appeared on screen but fast forward into the future, he became the horrible-looking villain! How did that happen?
He let hatred, anger and envy consume himself and they ate him up so much so that he failed to make something out of his life. He blamed another for the way his life turned out to be instead of moving forward. The Robinsons said that you learn much more with every mistake you made and not very much with every success you achieve. But then again, we’d still want to strive for success, right?
In conclusion, this cartoon left me wanting to cry and laugh at the same time at the end. It is such a beautiful story with delicious colours and lovable characters and when Little Wonders started playing in the last scene, I was all smiles. This is one jolly good movie that I am glad I have caught after procrastinating.
I am very pleased. Why? I watched two movies, The Reaping yesterday and Meet The Robinsons just now, that made it into my list of favourites.
It really is one life’s greatest pleasures when you have just read a very good book, watched a very good movie, heard a very good song, had a very good conversation or made a very good friend. It is at times like this when you can’t help but go, ah, this is life! And then bask in the glory of life.
I love watching cartoons because you can at least expect a good ending. And with Meet The Robinsons, the villain even turned good! His path of life was changed and he was given a second chance. Second chances.. Do they really matter in life? I guess they do if the person given it appreciates it and makes the effort to be different.
Meet The Robinsons is all about family. Something we have and sometimes take for granted but in Lewis’ case, it’s something he does not have and yearns for. His mother left him at the doorsteps of the orphanage when he was born. All his early 12 years of life, he wanted be adopted and to belong to someone. He wanted a family of his own.
But when another adoption interview with his prospective foster parents went awry, Lewis went into despair. I really felt for him then. He was different. He was special. He was no ordinary boy. Because of that, it was difficult for any normal parents who wanted normal kids to accept him. Well, why is it so difficult for people to accept someone who is different anyway?
This cartoon also shows how one single moment can act to change the entire course of one’s life. Take a listen at the cartoon’s song, Little Wonders, by Rob Thomas. Beautiful lyrics, catchy melody, good vocals.. What more do I need? Haha..
Is life all about letting go and moving forward? The central theme of the cartoon would definitely be "Keep Moving Forward." Everything happens for a reason. Lewis was thrown a chance to do something different with his past. He was brought back into the past, to the moment when his mother left him at the orphanage. He was so close to her that he could touch her but..
He drew back. He let history be the way it was and perhaps, meant to be. If he had pulled his mother back, if he wasn’t left behind at the orphanage.. Who knows what could have happened? But he had been to the future. He knew what awaits him there. Thus, he was contented enough to let the past be, to work hard in the present and to keep moving forward to the future.
I’ve wondered before how adorable little kids could turn out to be such monsters when they grow up. This cartoon gave me the answer. Goob, Lewis’ roommate at the orphanage, was this sweet and blur little boy, who made me went "awww.." every time he appeared on screen but fast forward into the future, he became the horrible-looking villain! How did that happen?
He let hatred, anger and envy consume himself and they ate him up so much so that he failed to make something out of his life. He blamed another for the way his life turned out to be instead of moving forward. The Robinsons said that you learn much more with every mistake you made and not very much with every success you achieve. But then again, we’d still want to strive for success, right?
In conclusion, this cartoon left me wanting to cry and laugh at the same time at the end. It is such a beautiful story with delicious colours and lovable characters and when Little Wonders started playing in the last scene, I was all smiles. This is one jolly good movie that I am glad I have caught after procrastinating.
A Family Daughter (Finis)
Filed under: Books — purplehsiaoling at 5:17 pm on Saturday, March 31, 2007
I have a confession to make. After writing the last blog entry, I got down to finishing the book instead of, well, doing something more constructive, e.g., work-related. Haha.. Anyway, I am really glad I did.
There are definitely more joys than complications in the second half of the book. But still, there were moments when I went like, oh, no, don’t do that! Instances were when Abby resumed her relationship with Jamie despite him really being her uncle and not cousin as suspected, Margot (the perfect older sister) having an affair with her ex-lover and.. hmm, can’t think of anymore.
The point is I want to list down the joys of the book and here goes:-
1. Peter remained faithful and attached to Abby till the very last page. He asked, "Are you coming home?" and after much pondering by Abby on whether Peter’s apartment was home, she said, "Yes." And then, he said, "Good. Come soon." Aww.. Bless that guy. Having Abby and Peter together in the end makes braving through the complications in the book worthwhile. What joy! Hehe..
2. Abby’s mother finally found joy and happiness and meaning in her life with a childhood sweetheart. What happened between her and Abby’s father was very sad but this is still a consolation nonetheless.
3. Jamie still bugged Abby towards the end of the book after Katya left (she was probably disgusted by her suspicions that there was something on between her husband and her niece but she merely said that she felt suffocated in a marriage life) but hurrah! Dear Peter won the fair damsel in the end. Jamie still had TJ and maybe that was his calling in life - to be a good father albeit in an incomplete family.
4. Saffron actually married her high school boyfriend, Martin, who had been with her throughout all her flings and even when she was engaged to Jamie. Their conversations after marriage, at their son’s birth et cetera were really comical. I have always wanted them to be together (I really do not like Jamie even though he wasn’t that bad a person but still, he was bad influence on Abby) and thus, their union and child were a high point in the book.
5. Abby and Peter got together in the end. Oops.. Said that as point #1 but I want to say it again as the final point. Haha..
My verdict on the book? It did not disappoint. It was engaging, it was insightful. It promised joys and complications, it delivered. Abby and Peter got together. What more can I ask for? Haha..
I learnt a couple of things from the book. People do make mistakes and it’s up to us to forgive and forget and perhaps, accept. To err is human, to forgive divine. The characters in the books were far from being perfect (dear Abby and Peter included) but still you cannot help liking them, imperfections and all. Perhaps this is what being human is all about.
Margot said that what happened to all of them (in the course of the book) was how they were finding their way in life. I guess everyone had their own lives to lead and the course of it does not run smoothly or can be in anyway similar to another’s. It really is up to us to make the best of our lives just like what the characters in the book had done.
Conclusion: A Family Daughter has made it into my list of favourite books.
I have a confession to make. After writing the last blog entry, I got down to finishing the book instead of, well, doing something more constructive, e.g., work-related. Haha.. Anyway, I am really glad I did.
There are definitely more joys than complications in the second half of the book. But still, there were moments when I went like, oh, no, don’t do that! Instances were when Abby resumed her relationship with Jamie despite him really being her uncle and not cousin as suspected, Margot (the perfect older sister) having an affair with her ex-lover and.. hmm, can’t think of anymore.
The point is I want to list down the joys of the book and here goes:-
1. Peter remained faithful and attached to Abby till the very last page. He asked, "Are you coming home?" and after much pondering by Abby on whether Peter’s apartment was home, she said, "Yes." And then, he said, "Good. Come soon." Aww.. Bless that guy. Having Abby and Peter together in the end makes braving through the complications in the book worthwhile. What joy! Hehe..
2. Abby’s mother finally found joy and happiness and meaning in her life with a childhood sweetheart. What happened between her and Abby’s father was very sad but this is still a consolation nonetheless.
3. Jamie still bugged Abby towards the end of the book after Katya left (she was probably disgusted by her suspicions that there was something on between her husband and her niece but she merely said that she felt suffocated in a marriage life) but hurrah! Dear Peter won the fair damsel in the end. Jamie still had TJ and maybe that was his calling in life - to be a good father albeit in an incomplete family.
4. Saffron actually married her high school boyfriend, Martin, who had been with her throughout all her flings and even when she was engaged to Jamie. Their conversations after marriage, at their son’s birth et cetera were really comical. I have always wanted them to be together (I really do not like Jamie even though he wasn’t that bad a person but still, he was bad influence on Abby) and thus, their union and child were a high point in the book.
5. Abby and Peter got together in the end. Oops.. Said that as point #1 but I want to say it again as the final point. Haha..
My verdict on the book? It did not disappoint. It was engaging, it was insightful. It promised joys and complications, it delivered. Abby and Peter got together. What more can I ask for? Haha..
I learnt a couple of things from the book. People do make mistakes and it’s up to us to forgive and forget and perhaps, accept. To err is human, to forgive divine. The characters in the books were far from being perfect (dear Abby and Peter included) but still you cannot help liking them, imperfections and all. Perhaps this is what being human is all about.
Margot said that what happened to all of them (in the course of the book) was how they were finding their way in life. I guess everyone had their own lives to lead and the course of it does not run smoothly or can be in anyway similar to another’s. It really is up to us to make the best of our lives just like what the characters in the book had done.
Conclusion: A Family Daughter has made it into my list of favourite books.
A Family Daughter (Halfway Through)
Filed under: Books — purplehsiaoling at 8:06 am on Saturday, March 31, 2007
I got the book because it is publicized to be "an engaging and insightful novel about the joys and complications of modern life." I am all for engaging and insightful stuff, so this book was a definitely must-have. Well, halfway through, there has been more complications than joys but still, no regrets. Because engaging and insightful still win but gosh, this book has got me all depressed during a weekend. Haha..
Why the book is depressing (not in any particular order from the book but from what I remember. I have this tendency of blocking out unpleasantness from my mind, so this might be a problem):
1. The protagonist, Abby, lost her father in a road accident. He fell asleep while driving to a skiing place. He had wanted to go skiing with her (it was heartwrenching the way he tried to persuade her to go. Oh, Abby! " ‘That was so sad,’ Miranda (Abby’s varsity roommate) said when Abby hung up the phone"). In Abby’s own words in mourning: I feel responsible. I should have gone skiing with him. He wanted me to go. I should have gone. It’s my fault that he died. I could have made it different. And instead I went to this stupid party where you had to dress like a slut.
2. When Abby was a kid, her mother divorced her father to find her way in life. Her mother thought that marrying and having a child young had robbed her of opportunities in life. Halfway through the book, her mom was still bumming around, being in a relationship with a woman and a disappointment to her father and not being a proper mother to Abby.
3. Growing up, Abby was very close to her mother’s brother, Jamie. After her father’s death, he looked her up to comfort her. Instead, they got engaged in a relationship. Then, suddenly, an idea was thrown in the book that perhaps they might be cousins to avoid the sin of incest. The idea was that his mother was actually Abby’s perfect older sister who had him out of wedlock. Halfway through, they confronted the grandmother but she insisted that she is Jamie’s mother.
4. Anyway, after leaving Abby when the guilt was unbearable, Jamie met a spoilt rich girl named Saffron. He wanted to marry her but she couldn’t stay faithful to him and him alone. Throw in another complication. Saffron’s parents were divorced too and her mother had adopted a boy, TJ, to do something useful. Halfway through, she died and the boy inherited her property because she had unintentionally left her daughter out of her will. Boy’s mother, Katya, came back to reclaim her son and of course, the property. Guess what happened? Jamie married Katya and they took custody of TJ. Saffron got back her mother’s money but gave a generous settlement to TJ’s new guardians and some money in trust until he grew up. I forgot to mention that Jamie was a bummer and disappointment to his father as well.
5. One graduate student, Peter, who taught Abby in varsity, was in love with her but she kept pushing him away. Halfway through, he got the suspicions that Abby and Jamie might have been involved in a hanky-panky. So, is Peter still in the picture or not? That remains to be seen. I kind of like his attachment to Abby though.
Halfway through, Abby had just finished writing a novel using bits of her family stories and making some of it up. She was getting it published but was worried about how her grandparents were going to take the book. In the beginning, she used real names for her book’s characters but I think she changed them somehow.
So, I have another half of the book to go. Hopefully there will be more joys in this part. Keeping my fingers crossed. Well, it doesn’t matter if the writer throws in more complications. I like Abby and that’s all that matters. Chuckling..
I got the book because it is publicized to be "an engaging and insightful novel about the joys and complications of modern life." I am all for engaging and insightful stuff, so this book was a definitely must-have. Well, halfway through, there has been more complications than joys but still, no regrets. Because engaging and insightful still win but gosh, this book has got me all depressed during a weekend. Haha..
Why the book is depressing (not in any particular order from the book but from what I remember. I have this tendency of blocking out unpleasantness from my mind, so this might be a problem):
1. The protagonist, Abby, lost her father in a road accident. He fell asleep while driving to a skiing place. He had wanted to go skiing with her (it was heartwrenching the way he tried to persuade her to go. Oh, Abby! " ‘That was so sad,’ Miranda (Abby’s varsity roommate) said when Abby hung up the phone"). In Abby’s own words in mourning: I feel responsible. I should have gone skiing with him. He wanted me to go. I should have gone. It’s my fault that he died. I could have made it different. And instead I went to this stupid party where you had to dress like a slut.
2. When Abby was a kid, her mother divorced her father to find her way in life. Her mother thought that marrying and having a child young had robbed her of opportunities in life. Halfway through the book, her mom was still bumming around, being in a relationship with a woman and a disappointment to her father and not being a proper mother to Abby.
3. Growing up, Abby was very close to her mother’s brother, Jamie. After her father’s death, he looked her up to comfort her. Instead, they got engaged in a relationship. Then, suddenly, an idea was thrown in the book that perhaps they might be cousins to avoid the sin of incest. The idea was that his mother was actually Abby’s perfect older sister who had him out of wedlock. Halfway through, they confronted the grandmother but she insisted that she is Jamie’s mother.
4. Anyway, after leaving Abby when the guilt was unbearable, Jamie met a spoilt rich girl named Saffron. He wanted to marry her but she couldn’t stay faithful to him and him alone. Throw in another complication. Saffron’s parents were divorced too and her mother had adopted a boy, TJ, to do something useful. Halfway through, she died and the boy inherited her property because she had unintentionally left her daughter out of her will. Boy’s mother, Katya, came back to reclaim her son and of course, the property. Guess what happened? Jamie married Katya and they took custody of TJ. Saffron got back her mother’s money but gave a generous settlement to TJ’s new guardians and some money in trust until he grew up. I forgot to mention that Jamie was a bummer and disappointment to his father as well.
5. One graduate student, Peter, who taught Abby in varsity, was in love with her but she kept pushing him away. Halfway through, he got the suspicions that Abby and Jamie might have been involved in a hanky-panky. So, is Peter still in the picture or not? That remains to be seen. I kind of like his attachment to Abby though.
Halfway through, Abby had just finished writing a novel using bits of her family stories and making some of it up. She was getting it published but was worried about how her grandparents were going to take the book. In the beginning, she used real names for her book’s characters but I think she changed them somehow.
So, I have another half of the book to go. Hopefully there will be more joys in this part. Keeping my fingers crossed. Well, it doesn’t matter if the writer throws in more complications. I like Abby and that’s all that matters. Chuckling..
Never Alone (Jim Brickman feat. Sara Evans)
Filed under: Lyrics — purplehsiaoling at 7:20 am on Saturday, March 31, 2007
May the angels protect you
Trouble neglect you
And heaven accept you when it’s time to go home
May you always have plenty
The glass never empty
Know in your belly
You¹re never alone
May your tears come from laughing
You find friends worth having
As every year passes
They mean more than gold
May you win and stay humble
Smile more than grumble
And know when you stumble
You¹re never alone
Chorus:
Never alone
Never alone
I¹ll be in every beat of your heart
When you face the unknown
Wherever you fly
This isn¹t goodbye
My love will follow you, stay with you
Baby, you¹re never alone
I have to be honest
As much as I wanted
I’m not gonna promise that cold winds won¹t blow
So when hard times have found you
And your fears surround you
Wrap my love around you
You¹re never alone
Chorus
My love will follow you stay with you
Baby you¹re never alone
So when hard times have found you
And your fears surround you
Wrap my love around you
You¹re never alone
Note: I fell instantly head over heels in love with this song when I first heard its opening lines thanks to the strong vocals. Lovely voice, lovely melody and lovely, lovely lyrics. I think of one person, with whom I am never alone, when I listen to this song.
May the angels protect you
Trouble neglect you
And heaven accept you when it’s time to go home
May you always have plenty
The glass never empty
Know in your belly
You¹re never alone
May your tears come from laughing
You find friends worth having
As every year passes
They mean more than gold
May you win and stay humble
Smile more than grumble
And know when you stumble
You¹re never alone
Chorus:
Never alone
Never alone
I¹ll be in every beat of your heart
When you face the unknown
Wherever you fly
This isn¹t goodbye
My love will follow you, stay with you
Baby, you¹re never alone
I have to be honest
As much as I wanted
I’m not gonna promise that cold winds won¹t blow
So when hard times have found you
And your fears surround you
Wrap my love around you
You¹re never alone
Chorus
My love will follow you stay with you
Baby you¹re never alone
So when hard times have found you
And your fears surround you
Wrap my love around you
You¹re never alone
Note: I fell instantly head over heels in love with this song when I first heard its opening lines thanks to the strong vocals. Lovely voice, lovely melody and lovely, lovely lyrics. I think of one person, with whom I am never alone, when I listen to this song.
Bridge to Terabithia
Filed under: Film — purplehsiaoling at 6:23 am on Wednesday, March 28, 2007
I wrote this for someone who wanted to know how the movie went and I just thought that I’d like to put it in my blog with a little bit of adaptation. Wouldn’t want it to go to waste. Chuckling..
My current favourite movie: Bridge to Terabithia! I’d say that its grandeur and story do not match Narnia (I loved the movie and after watching it, I got down to reading the entire series. Hehe) but.. Its simple story touched me with, well, its simplicity.
I wrote this for someone who wanted to know how the movie went and I just thought that I’d like to put it in my blog with a little bit of adaptation. Wouldn’t want it to go to waste. Chuckling..
My current favourite movie: Bridge to Terabithia! I’d say that its grandeur and story do not match Narnia (I loved the movie and after watching it, I got down to reading the entire series. Hehe) but.. Its simple story touched me with, well, its simplicity.
Titanic Reunion
Filed under: Current Affairs — purplehsiaoling at 8:38 am on Monday, March 26, 2007
I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the headlines of "Titanic Reunion" in the Sunday Star with the tag line, "Titanic stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet will reunite in a movie titled Revolutionary Road."
Gosh, this is like a fantasy come true! You must know that I am a big fan of Titanic in 1997. I go positively ga-ga over anything Titanic. Was very disappointed when Leonardo didn’t get nominated for an Oscar and Kate didn’t win. Nevertheless, they remain my most favourite actor and actress respectively.
And I am over the moon that they are going to star together again! I must admit that when I first saw "Titanic Reunion", I thought that there’ll be a Titanic part II! Haha.. Thinking back now, I feel rather silly. Jack Dawson died, didn’t he? Ugh.. Why did he have to die? Why, oh, why?
Anyway, Revolutionary Road (according to the newspapers) is a tale of "thwarted (hmm.. this word goes into my list of favourite words - not for its meaning but its nice rhythm) passion and the search for fulfilment." Very intriguing indeed.
Oh, please, please.. Don’t let the movie be too dark and let it have a happy ending! Haha.. This is a plea from my hopeless romantic side.
To be directed by Sam Mendes, Kate Winslet’s husband (my favourite starbiz couple. Hehe.. Do forgive my liberal use of the word "favourite" in here. Well, can’t help it when I am indeed talking about my favourite people and all!) and based on Richard Yates’ novel.. Okay, my search for the book begins now.
I await with bated breath for the release of "Revolutionary Road." Gosh, I certainly hope it hits Malaysian shores!
I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the headlines of "Titanic Reunion" in the Sunday Star with the tag line, "Titanic stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet will reunite in a movie titled Revolutionary Road."
Gosh, this is like a fantasy come true! You must know that I am a big fan of Titanic in 1997. I go positively ga-ga over anything Titanic. Was very disappointed when Leonardo didn’t get nominated for an Oscar and Kate didn’t win. Nevertheless, they remain my most favourite actor and actress respectively.
And I am over the moon that they are going to star together again! I must admit that when I first saw "Titanic Reunion", I thought that there’ll be a Titanic part II! Haha.. Thinking back now, I feel rather silly. Jack Dawson died, didn’t he? Ugh.. Why did he have to die? Why, oh, why?
Anyway, Revolutionary Road (according to the newspapers) is a tale of "thwarted (hmm.. this word goes into my list of favourite words - not for its meaning but its nice rhythm) passion and the search for fulfilment." Very intriguing indeed.
Oh, please, please.. Don’t let the movie be too dark and let it have a happy ending! Haha.. This is a plea from my hopeless romantic side.
To be directed by Sam Mendes, Kate Winslet’s husband (my favourite starbiz couple. Hehe.. Do forgive my liberal use of the word "favourite" in here. Well, can’t help it when I am indeed talking about my favourite people and all!) and based on Richard Yates’ novel.. Okay, my search for the book begins now.
I await with bated breath for the release of "Revolutionary Road." Gosh, I certainly hope it hits Malaysian shores!
Miss Potter
Filed under: Books — purplehsiaoling at 8:09 am on Friday, March 16, 2007
"A girl Potter?" That’s my first thought when I saw the book at the Children’s section in MPH MidValley. Haha.. Yeah, I do browse through children’s books and reminisce about the books I used to read when I was a kid. Heck, when I have time to kill in the bookstore, I’d grab an Enid Blyton book and start reading.
I digress. Miss Potter is not in anyway linked to Harry Potter but is instead a novel on Beatrix Potter, the creator of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Renee Zellweger’s face is on the cover and charmed by her twinkly blue eyes and rosy pink cheeks, I bought the book. Apparently, there’s a Miss Potter movie but I doubt that it’d hit Malaysian shores. Anyone seen the movie?
When I began reading the book, I fell instantly in love with its opening line and to avoid doing any injustice to it, I’ll just repeat it verbatim here. "It is a Wonder, really - one of the great Wonders, as William Heelis used to say - how the course of a person’s life can be altered, utterly and completely, by a moment so innocent one may not even notice that it has happened."
Lovely, don’t you think? And I do agree whole-heartedly with it. I think most of our lives are changed every minute, every second of the day by inconspicuous events rather than pivotal ones. If you ponder for a while, wouldn’t you start to wonder, now if I haven’t done this or walked there or said that, what would have happened? Yes, what would have happened indeed.
I have yet to read The Tale of Peter Rabbit (I certainly will one day soon!) but I have seen the books on display and with my aversion to pictorial books, I guess that’s why I gave them a miss. Nevertheless, Miss Potter is a delightful read despite how the story went.
Beatrix Potter is someone with whom I can jolly well identify and would love to be acquainted. She is independent, refuses to conform to parental and societal pressures and spunky. Most interesting of all, she has a world of imagination! She follows her dreams. And that is how she becomes a world famous author.
Sadly, however, in the end, pretending no longer makes her happy. She finds love but Death takes him away. Norman Warne makes her life feel real after all the years of pretending and after he is gone, she loses the passion for what used to make her happy in the past.
” ‘You mean,’ said Beatrix, ‘what if God offered me a choice: Beatrix, you can go back in time, you will not meet Norman, you will not find love - but, you will never feel this loneliness and pain. Oh Millie, I would choose the loneliness! I would choose the pain!’ " (Millie is Norman’s sister)
Is it really better to have loved and lost than never to have loved before? *Ponder, ponder* Maybe to love really means to have courage.
"A girl Potter?" That’s my first thought when I saw the book at the Children’s section in MPH MidValley. Haha.. Yeah, I do browse through children’s books and reminisce about the books I used to read when I was a kid. Heck, when I have time to kill in the bookstore, I’d grab an Enid Blyton book and start reading.
I digress. Miss Potter is not in anyway linked to Harry Potter but is instead a novel on Beatrix Potter, the creator of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Renee Zellweger’s face is on the cover and charmed by her twinkly blue eyes and rosy pink cheeks, I bought the book. Apparently, there’s a Miss Potter movie but I doubt that it’d hit Malaysian shores. Anyone seen the movie?
When I began reading the book, I fell instantly in love with its opening line and to avoid doing any injustice to it, I’ll just repeat it verbatim here. "It is a Wonder, really - one of the great Wonders, as William Heelis used to say - how the course of a person’s life can be altered, utterly and completely, by a moment so innocent one may not even notice that it has happened."
Lovely, don’t you think? And I do agree whole-heartedly with it. I think most of our lives are changed every minute, every second of the day by inconspicuous events rather than pivotal ones. If you ponder for a while, wouldn’t you start to wonder, now if I haven’t done this or walked there or said that, what would have happened? Yes, what would have happened indeed.
I have yet to read The Tale of Peter Rabbit (I certainly will one day soon!) but I have seen the books on display and with my aversion to pictorial books, I guess that’s why I gave them a miss. Nevertheless, Miss Potter is a delightful read despite how the story went.
Beatrix Potter is someone with whom I can jolly well identify and would love to be acquainted. She is independent, refuses to conform to parental and societal pressures and spunky. Most interesting of all, she has a world of imagination! She follows her dreams. And that is how she becomes a world famous author.
Sadly, however, in the end, pretending no longer makes her happy. She finds love but Death takes him away. Norman Warne makes her life feel real after all the years of pretending and after he is gone, she loses the passion for what used to make her happy in the past.
” ‘You mean,’ said Beatrix, ‘what if God offered me a choice: Beatrix, you can go back in time, you will not meet Norman, you will not find love - but, you will never feel this loneliness and pain. Oh Millie, I would choose the loneliness! I would choose the pain!’ " (Millie is Norman’s sister)
Is it really better to have loved and lost than never to have loved before? *Ponder, ponder* Maybe to love really means to have courage.
Daddy by Amber Alejo Rowley
Filed under: Lyrics — purplehsiaoling at 7:45 pm on Friday, March 9, 2007
Thinking about the way it would’ve been
If I didn’t have you around to call my friend
Would’ve been so lost
Been so confused
Given up
But you were there, you guided me
Helped me see who I was meant to be
I don’t think I’ve ever told you how
You changed my life
Chorus:
I’ll always be thankful, daddy
I have so much love for you
I’ll always pray for you, daddy
I am who I am because of you
Things weren’t always picture perfect
With your mistakes, I have learned that
Life is more than those moments
It’s given me purpose
Because of hurt, I can see
How good you really were to me
And I’ll be grateful everyday
That God made you my daddy
Bridge:
Endless roads and broken dreams
Just know who you are inside of me
‘Cause of you I came to be
And I’ll always be grateful
No matter where the road may take me
I’ll always be your baby
And I’ll be grateful everyday
That God made you my daddy
Note: I love this song a lot and I’m most grateful to Renny for helping me find the elusive song and lyrics.
Thinking about the way it would’ve been
If I didn’t have you around to call my friend
Would’ve been so lost
Been so confused
Given up
But you were there, you guided me
Helped me see who I was meant to be
I don’t think I’ve ever told you how
You changed my life
Chorus:
I’ll always be thankful, daddy
I have so much love for you
I’ll always pray for you, daddy
I am who I am because of you
Things weren’t always picture perfect
With your mistakes, I have learned that
Life is more than those moments
It’s given me purpose
Because of hurt, I can see
How good you really were to me
And I’ll be grateful everyday
That God made you my daddy
Bridge:
Endless roads and broken dreams
Just know who you are inside of me
‘Cause of you I came to be
And I’ll always be grateful
No matter where the road may take me
I’ll always be your baby
And I’ll be grateful everyday
That God made you my daddy
Note: I love this song a lot and I’m most grateful to Renny for helping me find the elusive song and lyrics.
Never Had A Dream Come True
Filed under: Stories — purplehsiaoling at 4:16 am on Friday, August 4, 2006
“Where’s my mother?” Emily remembered asking her father when she was three years old. For all her life, the only person she had ever known was her father and she did not know that to make a family complete, you had to have a mother, too. She thought the world of her father and right from the very beginning, her world revolved around him. She was contented that they had each other.
“Emily, Mama has died and gone to Heaven. She won’t be coming back but don’t you worry, my sweet, you have me,” he told her. She was silent and he shooed her off to resume reading his newspapers.
“You are an orphan, you are an orphan!” eight-year-old Sam Johnson chanted as he pulled her pigtails. Emily hated him for being such a bully and she tried to ignore him, hoping that he would leave her alone. “Orphan girl, orphan girl…” he continued chanting, obviously enjoying seeing her squirm.
Still, she often thought of her Mama. Her Mama must have been very pretty and kind. If Mama were around, she would probably sing for her lullabies to put her to sleep. She would also be a very good cook because that was what mothers are supposed to be. When Emily comes home from school, her Mama would be in the kitchen cooking and the sweetest aroma would fill the entire house.
“Hey, orphan girl, you are so bad that your father died and your mother didn’t even want you. And it’s such a nuisance that you have to stay in my house and share my mommy!” Sam told her.
“What are we going to do with Emily?” Mrs. Johnson asked.
Emily slumped against the wall as her legs gave way. Sam was telling the truth. She did have a mother but her Mama left her for another man because Papa was poor. Her Mama did not want her.
The people there would probably beat her black and blue. They would force her to scrub the floor, wash the windows, clean the toilets and be a slave. All they would give her to eat would be plain water and bits of bread. She would be tortured and they would make her suffer.
“Emily!!!”
Her mother cried out loud in regret as she grabbed her daughter’s lifeless body.
Afterword: I wrote this story about six years ago when S Club 7’s Never Had A Dream Come True was one of my favourite songs. I just thought that I would like to post it here as one of my collection of stories. =)
“Where’s my mother?” Emily remembered asking her father when she was three years old. For all her life, the only person she had ever known was her father and she did not know that to make a family complete, you had to have a mother, too. She thought the world of her father and right from the very beginning, her world revolved around him. She was contented that they had each other.
However, she began to feel curious when she saw children in the playground with their fathers and women whom they called their “mothers.” How come they have mothers and not her, she had wondered as she sat on the swing, looking at them enviously.
Her father always had answers to her endless questions and Emily did think that he must be the smartest man on earth. But, she saw him hesitating for a while before answering her. He slowly put down the newspaper he was reading and looked at her with his grey eyes.
He put her on his lap and said, “My sweet Emily, Mama is no longer with us. In fact, she is in Heaven right now looking down at us and giving us blessings so that we will always be happy.”
Her three-year-old mind digested what he said and she thought triumphantly, “So, I have a mother but she has gone away.” Emily innocently asked her father, “When will Mama come back?”
“Emily, Mama has died and gone to Heaven. She won’t be coming back but don’t you worry, my sweet, you have me,” he told her. She was silent and he shooed her off to resume reading his newspapers.
That night when he put her into bed, she stared solemnly at her father and asked, “Papa, will you go to Heaven, too like Mama?”
Her father laughed and said, “No, my sweet Emily, Papa loves you too much to do that. I will always be here with you, so don’t think about it, okay?”
She remained unconvinced. “Do you promise?” she asked, holding out her little finger.
“I promise,” he said, wrapping her little finger with his big one.
Now, as she stood in front of the hole into which her father’s coffin will be lowered, Emily thought with tears streaming down her cheeks, “Papa, you promised! You promised!”
She collapsed to the ground when they began shoveling mud to forever bury her father in the ground where she would never see his face again.
One of her neighbours, Mrs. Johnson, put her arms around her as she looked at her sadly. The whole neighbourhood was sympathizing with the eight-year-old girl for having to go through so much at her age. They were wondering what was to become of the little girl.
Mrs. Johnson told her that she would have loved to keep her but she could hardly take care of her eight children without adding the burden of another. Emily listened silently. She had no one now. Her father was the only child, so she had no aunts or uncles and her grandparents had died for years.
A kind young lady, Miss Pepper, a social worker, came to see her once at Mrs. Johnson’s and told her that they were looking for her next of kin to take her in. Emily did not tell her that she was all alone and she merely listened as Miss Pepper asked her to be good.
“You are an orphan, you are an orphan!” eight-year-old Sam Johnson chanted as he pulled her pigtails. Emily hated him for being such a bully and she tried to ignore him, hoping that he would leave her alone. “Orphan girl, orphan girl…” he continued chanting, obviously enjoying seeing her squirm.
“Shut up, Sam!” Emily yelled in annoyance. She had been sitting in the garden, thinking that if God was kind, He would let her go to Heaven as well to be with her Papa and see her Mama for the first time. She never knew how her Mama looked like because Papa did not keep any pictures of her. He rarely talked about her, too but Emily thought that it was because he would feel sad if he did.
Still, she often thought of her Mama. Her Mama must have been very pretty and kind. If Mama were around, she would probably sing for her lullabies to put her to sleep. She would also be a very good cook because that was what mothers are supposed to be. When Emily comes home from school, her Mama would be in the kitchen cooking and the sweetest aroma would fill the entire house.
But sadly, the house was always empty and Emily would have packed food that her father had left before returning to work. Her Mama would have baked cookies, made sandwiches and even baked cakes for her birthdays. If only her Mama was still here, Emily had often sighed.
“Hey, orphan girl, you are so bad that your father died and your mother didn’t even want you. And it’s such a nuisance that you have to stay in my house and share my mommy!” Sam told her.
Emily’s ears burned. “Don’t you sprout nonsense! Papa and Mama love me. I am a good girl.”
He tormented her further. “Oh, yeah? Then, why do you think your mother doesn’t want you to stay with her?”
Emily yelled back, “What are you talking about? Mama is in Heaven!”
Sam stuck out his tongue and said, “Says who? My mommy says that your mother left your father to marry another fellow and when they asked her to take you back, she refused!”
“You are lying! My Mama is dead, so leave me alone!” Emily ran off, crying and closing her ears with both her hands. Sam was just being mean, she kept telling herself. Mama did not leave Papa and her to marry another man. She was sick and God brought her to Heaven, so that she would be happy. That was what Papa told her and he would not lie to her, would he?
No, she decided, he would not. Sam was just being mean. That night, Emily got up from bed to get a glass of water to ease her thirst. She was about to walk into the kitchen when she heard adults talking.
“What are we going to do with Emily?” Mrs. Johnson asked.
Miss Pepper said, “It is a pity that her mother refuses to acknowledge her. She said that by doing that, her husband would divorce her.”
To that, Mrs. Johnson said, “Of course he will. That rich old man she married hates kids and I don’t think that she would have been much of a mother. What kind of mother leaves her daughter and husband like that?”
Mr. Johnson then said, “Whatever it is, we are sorry, Miss Pepper, we cannot keep her any longer. Emily is a good child but we simply can’t have another mouth to feed” as his wife looked at him sadly.
Miss Pepper nodded and said, “I understand, Mr. Johnson. Well, it looks like Emily will have to go to the orphanage.”
Emily slumped against the wall as her legs gave way. Sam was telling the truth. She did have a mother but her Mama left her for another man because Papa was poor. Her Mama did not want her.
Papa lied to her! Her Mama was not in Heaven and looking after her from above. She was here on earth and not even caring a bit about her. Even when she was now all alone and Papa was gone. Her Mama did not want her, her heart whispered again. And now, the Johnsons did not want her, too. They want to send her to an orphanage and she had learnt that that was the scariest place to be.
The people there would probably beat her black and blue. They would force her to scrub the floor, wash the windows, clean the toilets and be a slave. All they would give her to eat would be plain water and bits of bread. She would be tortured and they would make her suffer.
No! She yelled silently as she crept back to her room. I will not be made to go to the orphanage. I must see Papa, she thought, as she put on a coat. I must ask him to tell them not to put me there. I must also ask him why he lied to me.
Emily slowly went out through the window and made her way to the local cemetery. By now, she was crying as she realized that she was pretty much alone and unwanted. She began running in the rain and without looking, dashed across the road only to see a truck heading towards her and the driver sounding the honk in alarm.
“Papa?” Emily said aloud when she saw her father waving and smiling at her.
“Emily? It’s me, Mama. I am your mother!” an elegant lady in chic clothes held her hand as she sat by her bedside.
Emily slowly opened her eyes and croaked, “Mama? Is that you? Am I dreaming?” Her mother wept and said, “No, my darling, you are not. It’s really Mama here.”
She was right- her mother was very pretty and she had inherited her eyes and nose. Her eyes threatened to close again as she told her mother, “Mama, I missed you so much. Why did you leave us? I am so tired and it hurts so much…”
Her mother sobbed, “Baby, don’t worry. You’ll be okay and I will take care of you. You must get well, so that I can be the mother I never have been to you…”
But, Emily felt that she was slipping away as her mother’s image seemed to be fading. On the other hand, her father was beckoning towards her with his hand held out as if asking her to follow him.
Emily was so happy to see her father again and while shouting "Papa”, Emily gently took her last breath as her father caught her hand and took her in his embrace.
“Emily!!!”
Her mother cried out loud in regret as she grabbed her daughter’s lifeless body.
Afterword: I wrote this story about six years ago when S Club 7’s Never Had A Dream Come True was one of my favourite songs. I just thought that I would like to post it here as one of my collection of stories. =)
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