Okay, I'll admit, I am an absolute sucker for fairy tales. I love them. Today in class might have been my most favorite day ever! Cinderella! She's beautiful, the original "rags to riches" story, and she is oh so humble. She is everything I want to be when I grow up. If I could pick any story to have it would be her's. Today we looked at past Cinderella's and in the spirit of that I am going to look into a few modern day Cinderella stories.
First, A Cinderella Story. Starring Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray. Hilary Duff's father passed away when she was young and she was left with her stepmom, Fiona. Fiona runs a diner and works Samantha to death. She is secretly text messaging an unknown person and they decided to meet in the middle of the dance floor at the Halloween Dance. It turns out the guy she is texting is the popular guy at school. They fall in love in a beautiful moment with Edwin McCain's "I'll Be" softly playing in the background!
Next, is Ever After, staring Drew Barrymore. I have not seen it, but the IMDB website says, "Ever After" is a wonderful, imaginative romance. It's a classic Cinderella tale with a simple storyline, set in 16th century France, and revolves around an independent young woman named Danielle. Although she works as a servant for her stepmother, Danielle is anything but weak and subservient. She is passionate and strong-willed, qualities that lead her to the French court, dressed as a wealthy courtier to save a man's life. There she meets Henry, the handsome Prince, who is jaded by his suffocating royal lifestyle. He is fascinated by Danielle and her thirst for life and adventure, and they fall deeply in love -- but the Baroness would do anything to keep them apart." Sounds amazing!
Finally, Enchanted. This is not necessarily a modern-day Cinderella, but it is a modern-day fairy tale. I will be honest I saw this about 2 months ago and I cried. It was AMAZING! The evil queen of the land does not want Giselle to marry her son so she sends her into the "real world" in NYC. The hilarious events that follow are so entertaining. Giselle sings a song to call all the animals, and rodents, grow birds, and cockroaches come filing into the apartment. Gisele learns that sadness brings a greater appreciation for happiness. And she learns what true love is, with a real man. It made me want to put on a pink tutu, trown on a plastic tiara and dance!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
My Mother She Slew Me...
As I began to dig into my reading last week, I discovered we were going to be diving into Hansel and Gretel. I remember loving this story when I was younger, so, needless to say, I was very excited. Then as I read I became very disturbed by the "Mother Slew Me, Father Ate Me" stories. I was shocked as I reread the part about respected people like Tolkien saying it's "beauty and horror". I became intrigued by these gruesome fairy tales and read up on where they come from and why they are beautiful like P.L. Travers said. I saw it as a challenge. I am going to try to write one of these stories.
There was once a man and a women who were very much in love. She had long, flowing golden curls that bounced with every skip. He was handsome, strong, and many said his eyes could see your soul. They loved each other for many, many years. They travled throughout the world sharing adventures and meeting all sorts of friends. Every person that met them was envious of thier love for eachother. He loved her more than he, himself, thought he was capable of. She respected him, and have him the courage to fight an enemy they may come in contact with.
More than anything, she wanted to have a baby. She wanted to bring a son into the world so that he could grow into the man his father was. She gave birth to her son one cool, summer day and was glowing so brightly. She loved her family, it was all she ever dreamed of.
The first winter after her son was born was the most harsh winter even seen. Her gentle body did not have the strength to hold her over. She died that winter. He was never the same again. He never seemed to be strong or courageous. He cried himself to sleep everynight. Another wife came along, but it was not the same. He didn't love her the way he loved his first true love. And he was reminded of her everytime he saw his son.
The new wife noticed this and became very envious. She grew to resent his son. She never felt like she could become the women he truly loved. For this reason, she thought if she could just get rid of the child the woman bore then he would never think of his first wife again.
One day she could not take it any longer and she killed the boy. Immediately after doing this, guilt and sin came over her. She had to figure out something to do. She cooked up with boy's insides and thinly sliced the meat so that she could put it on a sandwich. The husband's dinner was ready as soon as he got home. They ate together but no one said a word.
The evil woman felt so guilty so she gather his bones and placed them in the ivory box on the fireplace that bore his mother's ashes. As she laid down to go to bed, the house shook, but it was as if her husband couldn't feel it. She screamed but no one heard it. The ground opened up before her and she fell into a black hole.
The husband never noticed her disappearance, because everyday two beautiful doves would come to his window. One would sit gentle and quiet, while the other one sang:
My Mother She Slew,
My Father He Ate Me,
The Evil is Gone Now,
We Are a Family Somehow.
There was once a man and a women who were very much in love. She had long, flowing golden curls that bounced with every skip. He was handsome, strong, and many said his eyes could see your soul. They loved each other for many, many years. They travled throughout the world sharing adventures and meeting all sorts of friends. Every person that met them was envious of thier love for eachother. He loved her more than he, himself, thought he was capable of. She respected him, and have him the courage to fight an enemy they may come in contact with.
More than anything, she wanted to have a baby. She wanted to bring a son into the world so that he could grow into the man his father was. She gave birth to her son one cool, summer day and was glowing so brightly. She loved her family, it was all she ever dreamed of.
The first winter after her son was born was the most harsh winter even seen. Her gentle body did not have the strength to hold her over. She died that winter. He was never the same again. He never seemed to be strong or courageous. He cried himself to sleep everynight. Another wife came along, but it was not the same. He didn't love her the way he loved his first true love. And he was reminded of her everytime he saw his son.
The new wife noticed this and became very envious. She grew to resent his son. She never felt like she could become the women he truly loved. For this reason, she thought if she could just get rid of the child the woman bore then he would never think of his first wife again.
One day she could not take it any longer and she killed the boy. Immediately after doing this, guilt and sin came over her. She had to figure out something to do. She cooked up with boy's insides and thinly sliced the meat so that she could put it on a sandwich. The husband's dinner was ready as soon as he got home. They ate together but no one said a word.
The evil woman felt so guilty so she gather his bones and placed them in the ivory box on the fireplace that bore his mother's ashes. As she laid down to go to bed, the house shook, but it was as if her husband couldn't feel it. She screamed but no one heard it. The ground opened up before her and she fell into a black hole.
The husband never noticed her disappearance, because everyday two beautiful doves would come to his window. One would sit gentle and quiet, while the other one sang:
My Mother She Slew,
My Father He Ate Me,
The Evil is Gone Now,
We Are a Family Somehow.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Harold and the Purple Crayon
Right now I am on a Family Leadership Conference called Abbott. Each day we have been going to different businesses and learning how to run a company with core values and honesty. Today we went to the HEB Headquarters, Zachry Construction Company, and Overland Architecture Firm. After the time spent at the architecture firm we headed to lunch at an incredible Mexican Restaurant (we are in San Antonio so we have already had Mexican food two times!). There we sat at tables of ten and one of the partners of the firm sat at each table. We had a very unique man at our table. He graduated from Yale as an English major, then moved to the Ivory Coast to serve in the Peace Corps. Upon his return to the States he took online classes to get his MBA and began in the boring world of investment banking. Itching of boredom, he returned to school again and studied architecture. Now he works at the amazing architecture firm that created the Bonfire Memorial. After telling us that he challeneged us to not live a normal life. He talked to us about a book he read whe he was a kid called "Harold and the Purple Crayon". He told us about Harold, a young boy who has a purple crayon. Anything he draws becomes his life simply by drawing it. The architect related the discovering of the crayon to his discovery of the world such as going to Yale and servig in the Peace Corps; a time of discovery! Harold begins by just drawing boring lines; the architect related this part of the book to his investment banking stint (ha!). As the story continues Harold begins to draw all sorts of adventures and finds exciting things to fill his time. He draws a boat to get him out of trouble and draws a yummy snack when he can't take the grumbling tummy pains! The architect, like Harold, found adventure when to chose not to become complacent with "just drawing lines." He has found his true passion when he chose to pursue something beyond just where he was at.
Three things I love about this:
1. The fact that Children's Literature found its way into a "grown-up" conversation.
2. One thing the architect didn't mention was that while Harold had all these adventures, he found comfort when he drew his own house and his own bed!
3. The irony that 2 days before, in Barnes and Noble, I had picked up this book to read for this class because it looked cute. I never expected it to teach me a lesson like this! Even more ironically, I brought it in my backpack on the trip. Needless to say, as soon as I got back to the hotel, I picked it up and read it for myself!
Three things I love about this:
1. The fact that Children's Literature found its way into a "grown-up" conversation.
2. One thing the architect didn't mention was that while Harold had all these adventures, he found comfort when he drew his own house and his own bed!
3. The irony that 2 days before, in Barnes and Noble, I had picked up this book to read for this class because it looked cute. I never expected it to teach me a lesson like this! Even more ironically, I brought it in my backpack on the trip. Needless to say, as soon as I got back to the hotel, I picked it up and read it for myself!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Fairytales and Little Red
I decided to take the information I learned about fairytales, and some great facts I learned about Little Red Riding Hood from the Tatar Text and made a crossword puzzle!
I have included the actual crossword here:
http://www.variety-games.com/CW/Puzzles/1177953994-puzzle.htm
Here i have included the solution just in case you get stuck!
http://www.variety-games.com/CW/Puzzles/1177953994-solution.htm
My Ongoing List of Outside Reading:
Harold and the Purple Crayon- picture book
You Are Special- picture book
The Magicians Nephew-Chapter book
Junie B. Jones-Chapter Book
Ramona Quimby, Age 8- Chapter Book
The Winter of Red Snow- Chapter Book
Nancy Drew (The Mystery at Lilac Inn)- Chapter Book
Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears- Picture Book
Chrysanthemum- Picture Book
Charlie Anderson- Picture Book
I have included the actual crossword here:
http://www.variety-games.com/CW/Puzzles/1177953994-puzzle.htm
Here i have included the solution just in case you get stuck!
http://www.variety-games.com/CW/Puzzles/1177953994-solution.htm
My Ongoing List of Outside Reading:
Harold and the Purple Crayon- picture book
You Are Special- picture book
The Magicians Nephew-Chapter book
Junie B. Jones-Chapter Book
Ramona Quimby, Age 8- Chapter Book
The Winter of Red Snow- Chapter Book
Nancy Drew (The Mystery at Lilac Inn)- Chapter Book
Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears- Picture Book
Chrysanthemum- Picture Book
Charlie Anderson- Picture Book
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