4 Secrecy to Contentment

1. Decrease Comparison-Learn to admire than having to acquire
-The fact that everyone has different life
2. Increase Enjoyment
3. Increase Perspective
4. Increase Assurance

The Secret Life of Bees

The time was taken in 1964, when the racial tension was the highest. 
Lily, the 8-yrs-old girl, one day, fled with her caretaker, Rosaleen, African American woman, from her abusive father, T-Ray, who used to make her kneel on grits. Lily's braveness came through the action, where she was determined to save Rosaleen from three white racist men, who attacked her whilst undertaking her first voting registration.

Deborah, Lily's mom was dead when she was four. Lily witnessed T-Ray threatening her mom with the gun, and to help her out, Lily tried to pass out that gun to her mom, but to worsen the case, she accidentally shot her to death.

Lily has always missed her mom and that's why she pick the Tiburon, South Carolina, as the place to escape, because the Tiburon was written on the back of the picture of black virgin Mary, which was Deborah's. Lily noticed exactly the same picture on the honey jar at the food store she happened to stop by. Asking the store clerk where the owner of that honey jar suppose to live, Lily's uncovered the truth about her mom and her new life as a bee keeper in the Boatwright Sisters' house. 

This novel made me feel good with the tranquil Southern lifestyle and the homey food.
The little girl Lily always deserves to be loved, the life part, where I realized it's nothing really different from mine or anyone else's.
And it was unusual that bees and honey were being considered this much uniquely.
To create the honey, there were so many procedures to undertake, and the most important part is, sending bees some love.
Learning to be a bee keeper. Learning to live life.
The intersection is, love.

Something Borrowed

Rachel and Darcy have been best friends since childhood. However,The night of Rachel's 30th birthday party changes everything. 

Dex, Darcy's husband-to-be, kissed Rachel and confessed that he likes her and they almost slept with each other. As the day of Darcy-Dex wedding got closer, the summer romance between Rachel and Dex got real heated up.

The whole story about Rachel and Dex getting back and forth behind Darcy's back and figuring out the decision: whether to call off the wedding or to be with Rachel, could have been very boring, and getting lame feeling about this book was what I sort of expected when I first started it. But as a matter of fact, it was very funny and I totally enjoyed it. It never lost its pace and it was impossible to put down the book, because I couldn't tell who will turn the tables on Dex until I got into the very last chapter.

This witty [chick-lit] story was told by Rachel, Manhattan's big firm lawyer's point of view, where she has observed her long time best friend, Darcy, sort of glamorous, laid-back type, who always gets everything she wants. That's why I felt like I was more attracted to the character of Darcy. I really loved Rachel's narration and I was with her in various aspects. And I also liked the way how Emily Giffin portrays the lovely competition going on with Rachel and Darcy, like for instance, the acceptance letter from Notre Dame and Darcy lying about her SAT scores.

The lesson I got from the book is that love overpowers everything, no matter how hard the obstacles are going to be. There's one sentence that Rachel said, really left me a shocked feelings.
"I love Dex enough to sacrifice the friendship."

The Secret World of Arriety

I enjoyed this sensitive animation movie.
It's the story about the friendship between a small person and the normal human, living in the same house. There was not much of a story plot, but I like the animation and the music. I also liked the voice of Shawn and I just googled who played it and it was David Henrie! O m g, cause he was not my favorite actor and I thought the voice was really awesome while I saw the movie. Interesting, haha.

Norwegian Wood

---Book
Haruki Murakami. I've heard of this name so many times before I even met this book, Norwegian Wood, the title is same as the one that Beatles sang, which I'd like to thank the author for picking the song name for his book title. The song reminds me of the youth pure love.

I enjoyed Murakami's poetic writing very much, it feels like it was exactly the kind of style [whether for my practice of writing or my preference for romance novles] I've been looking for. Now I understand why many readers seek writers, like Haruki Murakami. There was a reason. Something...Special about the story that he delivers. It doesn't have that lightness.

Watanabe and Naoko had one common thing to share, the loss of their best friend/boyfriend, who committed suicide at 17.
They both headed off for colleges in Tokyo and when they met one day, they just walked the Tokyo street without destination and talk, which they thought was healing their feelings of loss and hurt.
They became closer and Watanabe started to date his best friend's girlfriend.
On Naoko's 20th birthday, she burst into tears and Watanabe held her, and they slept together that night.
Since then, Naoko distanced from Watanabe, far, far away..
They both had a same share, but they dealt it differently.
She was going through mentally challenging problems, because of the hurt she beared inside, and thereby, hospitalized.
While Naoko stepped back from the real world, Watanabe tried to adopt himself to campus life, where he met Midori, an independent, modern and attractive woman, who is very different from Naoko and who all of a sudden, came into Watanabe's life.

I love the each character. I could feel why Watanabe was so lonely and struggling, because of the responsibility he sensed between two very colorful, different women who shaked Watanabe on both sides, and his best friend who died. AND staying true to his feelings.
Figuring out what to do or what should be done or right must have been hard for him at the age of 20.
My favorite scenes were where Midori, wearing her sunglasses and having a short hair cut, approached Watanabe in the school cafeteria with no shyness, exchanging conversation, and where Watanabe had to look after Midori's father when only two of them were left in a hospital room in a rainy day, looking outside the window and hearing raindrops. And where, Watanabe and Naoko exchanged letters, and letters are always good way to add the romantic fragrance to already-romantic-enough novel.

The worst scene I chose was.. uhhh, I guess I'm not going to tell you, because worst scene is not worth it to tell ;; Though, I had really really worst scene and I absolutely hated it.

It's about youth, love and loss. And ultimately, it's about you, a mere human-being.

---Movie
After finish reading, I watched the movie.
In the presence of each actor, I could see the images I had for each character in them.
It felt lucky that I liked all of the casts, especially Kenichi Matsuyama, who played Watanabe. I liked his cute outlook, then I liked his authentic acts, which somehow made me believable.
But probably, I did expect alot, cause as we all know, books are usually (or always?) better than movies when novels get adopted to films. (The trailer was made even better than the actual movie, as if it's going to be a great, awesome movie, so I'm satisfied with the trailer.)

The movie didn't move me as much as the book did it to me.
I was imagining to see more of the couple walking on the dim light Tokyo street and record shop in a modern version, I guess the scenes weren't as modern as I expected, probably because the story took place in 1969.
I was also expecting to witness more of Midori and Watanabe spending time together, so-as-called their dates. I'm sure the entire mood of the movie could have been more enlightened and refreshing, if more of dating scenes were included.
Furthermore, the music that plays for the movie was quite disappointing.
I was doubting my ears if the movie I was seeing was scary or the romanatic one, because the air of the movie was pretty down and dark, all the time.
In the book, I could obviously tell Murakami had a taste for music, but the sense of music was no place to be heard in the movie.

However, the visual part was great, which I had no complaint about it. I think it grasped the first love's beautiful image visually. Whoever the director was, he shoot the most beautiful places and nature with color contrasts and the camera followed the characters' eye movements. I appreciate such details that he captured and put into one of art pieces. One more thing I truly appericate: The lines. The movie wasn't really different from the book.

"Norwegian Wood" is the love story that I couldn't  or won't forget. I really hope it stays longer to my heart, because it's beautiful and it reminds me of how beautiful love and human-beings are.

This Season, Top Chef, Texas!

I had watched it not from the very beginning, but the middle part, where the dramas and conflicts between contestants gets really developed. The tension of its drama was so rigid that every Wednesday night 10 pm, the clock had magic to bring me in front of TV, I endured even when my ass felt like it's stabbing itself, because of the hormonal issue during menstruation, I didn't miss Top Chef.

As you might all agree, the drama had evolved around Beverly, who was segregated by other women contestants.
There's nothing particular I had thought of as her faults or wrongdoings, but what she had done was never seen great by her competitors, unfortunately.
Although it had never looked great that Beverly was on the verge of tears all the time and her voice so trembling (in other words, showing her emotion too much) in front of the camera, she had fought and endured hard in Top Chef. Especially, on the episode where she was eliminated, she threw the pan at the ice to break the ice, it was so fierce and funny at the same time.
I liked the contestant, Grayson. She was like the Popeye the sailor, and was the only one who had stood up for Beverly.

I know, elimination-driven challenges programs are always driven to watch and they always give me this lesson: You have to fight (fiercely) for what you want. I think that fierceness, is what's inspiring people.

Stern Men

This book is strongly recommended.
Does Eat, Pray, Love sound familiar to you? Elizabeth Gilbert's debut novel, Stern Men was a pleasure of reading, every second of it.
The story of fishermen. Among handful of rough fishermen in Fort Nile Island in Maine, there was Ruth. A 19-year-old girl, born into a practically slave family, spent most of her time that year, getting on a boat and following around Senator Simon Adams, who always dreamed about having his own Natural History Museum filled with elephant tusks that he has collected over years, and Webster Pommeroy, 23-year-old that had stopping growing ever since he lost his father from drowning in the sea whilst fishing.

From his drowning 10 years ago, the first victim of the Fort Nile island was emerged, that name, Mrs. Pommeroy, the first widow of this island. She had many sons, no daughters.
Perhaps, was that why?
Although no blood ties, Mrs. Pommeroy and Ruth were practically a mother and a daughter, Ruth usually staying in her house, playing with her sons, like a brother and a sister.

So then, let's go back to Ruth's ancestries.
Her grandmother, Jane Smith-Ellis, was adopted by Mr. Landford Ellis, the wealthiest doctor in the island, as his daughter Ms. Vera Ellis' theoretically younger sister, technically her poorly treated servant. or slave.
When she was in her late 30s, Ms. Jane got pregnant with some unknown Italian man, which she was criticized for forever. She gave a birth to a baby girl, who later marries to a fisherman, Stan Thomas and becomes Ruth's mom, Mary Thomas.

Even though Ruth's grandmother and mother married to their men, they have always served Ms. Vera Ellis, not even living with their men, but staying in the mansion with Ellises.

Ruth only lives with her father, Stan Thomas, who is very good at saying, "I don't care what you do or who you're spending time with." Such indifferent father that doesn't even care when his daughter said she had sex with someone in the woods. Whatever he was told, he did. No protest, no fighting, even the lobster war, the war in which every lobstermen were attacking and defending their sea territory by using all that kinds of tactic and fighting. Stan Thomas was the only exception, which, even that side of him was perceived as coward by Ruth.

Despite of where her family history has inherited to her, every resident thought that Ruth was an educated girl so far in this island, because Mr. Landford sent her decent high school and wanted to educated her even more, like sending her off in college, at least, that's what Ruth had understood until she discover the truth later.

Although Ruth never wanted to get tangle up with Ellis family at all, because of her family history or whatnot, Mr. Landford Ellies often tried to call her up by sending Cal Cooley, his guard, who often like to flatter Ruth for no reason. Ruth usually refused to go up to Mr. Landford.

Didn't like the epilogue, though. Seemed like the author was hurrying up to wrap up the story.

As you can see or read, there are a lot of interesting, characterful characters in the story about the girl identifying herself surrounded with her undeniable family trait and this weird island full of crazy people trying to enforce her life without her determination.
Elizabeth Gilbert put a lot of provocative dialogues instead of prose, but in the midst of the provocativeness, you will find out how a young girl learned to deal with the situation she was placed in.