Norman Rockwell's Birthday - Google's Logo

Little Women

‘Dear little bird! See, Jo how tame it is. I like peeps better than the gulls: they are not so wild and handsome, but they seem happy, confiding little things. I used to call them my birds last summer, and Mother said they reminded her of me – busy, quaker-coloured creatures, always near the shore, and always chirping that contented little song of theirs. You are the gull, Jo, strong and wild, fond of the storm and the wind, flying far out to sea, and happy all alone. Meg is the turtledove, and Amy is like the lark she writes about, trying to get up among the clouds, but always dropping down into it’s nest again’………

………and with those whimsical comparisons, the shy Beth nailed the four March sisters to the tee. Little Women, set at the turn of the Civil War explored the lives...the loves...the quirks... the disappointments...the shadows and the triumphs of the March family and continues to enchant even today.

Every female mind with a literal leaning will associate with Jo. We see our failings mirrored in her, hope for a glimpse of our backbone in her strident ravings and happily proclaim to all who will listen that yep…"I am a JO". I am no different. Right from page 1 till the wee end, I remained a member of the 'Jo Fan-Club'. She was blunt, honest as the day is long AND a no frills, raggedy-cat to boot. At a time when social graces were the order of the day, Jo clomped through her genteel surroundings with all the grace of the proverbial bull-in-a-china shop. She loved her family fiercely and no sacrifice was too great or small where they were concerned. She pursued her writing-career with all the highs-and-lows that plague every fledgling author.

When I was younger, I had read only the first section. So when I heard that Jo had turned down the loyal and cheeky Laurie, I was a tad disappointed. Now, as the years have passed and I have read both sections in their entirety, I am content with the decision. Laurie's lovable, carefree boy of Part 1 dissolved into a sulky, wilful young man in Part 2. And Prof.Bhaer, for all his poverty and seniority and shabbiness of appearance was a true hero. As Jo aptly puts it: Mother would admire him for his warm heart, Father his wise head. I admire both, and feel rich in my new “friend Friedrich Bhaer”. Once more, our mighty heroine makes the right choice and gives us further cause to bolster her on her pedestal.

Little Women for me, will always be about Jo. Kudos to Louisa May Alcott for recreating herself, adding a few charming bits and creating a character who stays fresh even today.

The Death of Sirius Black (A Montage)

I came across this clip and it brought all the memories of Potter-Mania rushing right back...never was a Book-Series so ably supported by it's movie-franchise. While I did imagine Sirus Black to be played by a younger actor who would be loaded with the lazy charm, the wasted handsomeness and the gothic glory of the paper Black....Gary Oldman still managed to keep viewers hooked with his sheer presence...

Under the Duvet ~ Maria Keyes

Marian Keyes' pastel-shaded books routinely grace the Chick-Lit section. While the bright colours always draw me, I never actually buy one. Reason? The blurbs reveal too much soul-searching and catharsis for my 'books-are-about-escapism' viewpoint. This pattern had only one roadblock: 'Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married'. I loved the book, the Irish humour and Keyes' effortless writing style. But that was it.

Roadblock # 2: Under the Duvet. The prospect of having a glimpse into an author’s life (which didn’t involve untold angst, morbid hallucinations, dismembering of vital body parts in a moment of inspiration) was very tempting.

Keyes has the ability to make you snort (out loud!)...whether it's the time she sweated nervous bullets at an early book signing and there was nary-a-soul at the bookstore...or her pitiful attempts to "sparkle like a flame" at the Synergy Dance Class...or her transition from Single to Single-and-Himself(as she calls her husband)....or the thoroughly entertaining encounters with her batty and utterly endearing Irish family. She also edges in a note of seriousness as she gives an account of her battle with alcoholism and subsequent rehabilitation.

In all, a small treat for all who can associate with a lass who is dealing with the travails (and luxuries) of being Irish / above-thirty / complete with dysfunctional family / a magnet for assorted catastrophes.

...winter and a new bedspread

There’s a delicious bite in the air…winter is putting in it’s annual guest appearance (finally!)…and the homebody in me can’t think of anything better than snuggling under an inviting quilt, surrounded by a motley crew of books, taking contented l'il slurps from a mug of hot chocolate and trippin' off into dreamland.

I have just acquired a new bedspread…it’s white with a chutney-green print all over it. It is simple, rustic and straight out of ‘Little Women’! As I tuck in the corners, I can almost imagine Marmee doing the same homely gesture as she tended to her housekeeping back in the goode-olde-days. I can imagine the March family having an impromptu picnic on the bedspread.

I dream up enticing visions of chunky sweet-chutney sandwiches, tiny little quiches, great big thunks of chocolate cake, elegant lemon rolls with their unique green sugar adorning the ends and some bottles of Ginger Beer to complete the picture and have a 'smashing' time. I imagine spreading out the bedspread at the edge of a gurgling brook under a gnarly, ancient tree….lying down and wearing a big sappy grin as the dappled sunlight plays across my face. And just when I have drifted off to La-La land, I imagine a close (and particularly cheeky!) friend tickle my nose with a long blade of grass. In true-parallel world fashion, I also gleefully dunk said-friend in the aforementioned brook...

….and so on and so forth……

Bless my humble bedspread...for the comfort and the flights-of-Victorian-fancy...

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

It’s true what they say.You pick up The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and either chuck it away when your head starts to whirl OR you totally appreciate the head-whirling sensation, plunge right in and don’t surface till you have reached the Restaurant at the End of The Universe.

It is with great delight and spots before my eyes that I can proclaim that I belong to the latter breed. You need a wee bit of whimsy, a lot of quirky and a love for all things whacky (all three which I possess in abundance) to appreciate the magnificence of this space odyssey.

The plot is fairly simple. Seconds before planet Earth is completely demolished to make way for a galactic bypass, bemused Englishman Arthur Dent is whisked away to safety by his friend, Ford Prefect. Ford is not an out-of-work actor as he has led everyone to believe. He is in fact, the resident of a small planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse and a researcher for the revised edition of ‘The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’.

Together, the bursting-with-enthusiasm Ford and the bursting-with-disbelief Arthur get set to cruise around the galaxy. Adding to the comedy of errors are Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two-headed, three-armed galactican president; Trillian, a lady who by some bizarre coincidence had once given Arthur the ditch at an earth-party and Marvin, the oppressively-depressed robot who could drive even a spaceship to suicide.

Along the way, they have many a hit-and-fly situation with various warped creatures who inhabit the universe…they listen to some truly terrible poetry…they land on the legendary planet, Magrathea…and even learn about the super-intelligent computer *DEEP THOUGHT* and it’s mission to answer the question to Life, The Universe and everything. All this while trying to find a decent cup of tea...

Douglas Adams was the king of one-liners and whip-smart dialogue. He took human flaws, failings and reams of red-tape and converted it into a seriously funny tale. Many argue that the written work is just a reflection of Adams’ thoughts…well hell..which book isn’t?!?

I have hemmed and hawed over the years wondering whether I should pick up the book or not…always inhaling it in bits and pieces. All I can say to the still-wary is this: grab the spaceship by it’s tail-lights and get geared for a mad-trip of a lifetime.

I So Don't Do Mysteries

Don’t know what to get an almost-teen girly girl?...a girl who rolls her eyes at all things Middle Earth/Hogwarts?...a girl who is just venturing into the world of messy emotions, boys and malls (…and not in that particular order)?

Chuck her a copy of 'I So Don’t Do Mysteries' and she won’t hate you too much.

Sherlock ‘Sherry’ Holmes Baldwin has a lot on her plate. Her widowed dad is getting married to her Maths Teacher (no less!), her l'il brother is being a pain as only l'il brothers can be, the boy she’s crushing on appears to be sending out similar vibes and her real mom, a Phoenix Police Department cop who was killed in the line of duty is now back as an invisible ghost asking Sherry for assistance.

Turns out Sherry’s mom didn’t go off into the big doughnut in the sky. She chose to stay on in the Academy of Spirits, an organization which trains ghosts to protect the living. Unless Sherry’s mom solves the mystery entrusted in her care, she will have to move-on.

Despite her name, Sherry is not big on the whole sleuthing gig. But the alternative means never hearing from her mum again. So the digging-her-heels-in-the-sand Sherry is soon off to San Diego to save a bunch of rhinos from a ploy to take them out.

The book is frothy, filled with a few interesting ideas and a bunch of adorable(seriously, that’s the only word I could think of) comparisons like:
a.A full moon has risen, a sugar cookie in the night sky
b. Miles off in the distance , green hills are dotted with rocks that look like huge Pippi Longstocking freckles

……you get the idea...

Mahi-Way

Chick-Lit comes to Sony TV with it's new offering: MAHI-WAY.

Overweight Mahi is a 25-year-old columnist who works for a trendy fashion-rag which goes by the name of what-else?...Trend. Office dragons take the form of a snooty boss (Sharon Prabhakar attempting a Miranda Priestley) and a pair of colleagues who for some strange reason accompany their regular shots of bitchiness with a side-order of cackling ('cos how else would we figure out they are the *a-hem* "villains"?!?).

The homefront is no better with it's dyed-in-punjabi-wool family complete with a long-suffering grandmother, a mother who constantly disses the unfortunately plump Mahi and the snooty, has-it-all-AND-her-figure elder sister.

Potential love-interests take the form of the supposedly suave Ishaan Avasthi who graces the office-elevator and looks adeqately good-looking to set Mahi's heart in *thump-pp* mode AND the likeable (As yet anonymous) hunk who runs into Mahi at her most-inopportune moments.

The plot is tried and tested....(remember our good ol'Jassi-Jaisi-Koi-Nahin'?)...and yet the element of freshness is brought about by the wholly-likeable Mahi (played by the cute-as-a-pixie Pushtiie). She is confident....clumsy...has the spit-fire attitude in place...and if only she could, would muster up the gumption to rip all her naysayers to shreds with her sharp tongue and timely quips.

Here's hoping that MAHI WAY just gets better with time and doesn't deteriorate into a saas-bahu saga....

...on Resolutions

Be stirring as the time,
be fire with fire,
threaten the threatener,
and outface the face of bragging horror;
so shall inferior eyes,
that borrow their behaviours
from the great,
grow great by your example
and put on the dauntless spirit of resolution
~SHAKESPEARE

New Year's Eve...

New Year's eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the
universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage
of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same
thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights

~ Hamilton Wright Mabie