The Bluest Eye

I finished reading Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye". This is the book in the middle of the controversy I mentioned in my previous blog.

So, what did I think of it? Is it worth all the commotion?

First of all, I think the back synopsis is misleading. This is what it says, "Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl, prays every day for beauty. Mocked by other children for the dark skin, curly hair, and brown eyes that set her apart, she yearns for normalcy, for the blond hair and blue eyes that she believes will allow her to finally fit in.Yet as her dream grows more fervent, her life slowly starts to disintegrate in the face of adversity and strife. A powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity, Toni Morrison’s virtuosic first novel asks powerful questions about race, class, and gender with the subtlety and grace that have always characterized her writing."

When I read this I expected the story to revolve around Pecola and does, but it doesn't. Of course she has her storyline, but I wouldn't pin point her as the main character. There's more talk about Claudia and Frieda than of Pecola. The story jumps from the girls, to the backstory of their parents, back to the girls, more backstory of other people and continues on like this. Pecola disappears form the story for a while and reappears at the end. The way it's set up, I wouldn't consider any of them main characters.

It's a story about all of them. If you're focusing on the obsession of beauty or trying to be normal or better, which in this case perfection is white, blonde and blue-eyed, the Pecola is right on it. She thinks herself as ugly and wishes to be more like the white kids. Frieda and Claudia seem see how "white" is considered better and rebel against it (more Claudia than Frieda). Claudia talks about how she can't stand the white baby dolls she's given and ends up destroying them. She sort of makes the doll connection with real white kids and feel anger and rage towards them. It's not just the kids, there's discrimination among themselves too. In one of those tangents the story goes on, a new character is introduced and she's all about not letting her son play with the black kids. She tries to make her son as non-black as possible because she sees herself and her family as better than the rest. Pecola's mother, Pauline Breedlove, hates her family life and only feels better, strong and accepted when she's at work (she's a housekeeper for some rich, white family).

So, why were people trying to eliminate this book?

There are parts that are sexually descriptive. That's the whole issue. Overall, there's nothing wrong with the book. Just like with anything, if you just read the explicit excerpts then you're going to take it out of context. I don't think there's anything in this book that should be hidden from an 11th grader. Also, I think that if a student has a valid issue with the book, they should be allowed to supplement their work with something else. The sad truth is that by 11th grade, these kids have read, heard, seen it all.

In my opinion, I do like the fact there was a discussion going on. It kept people debating and choosing sides. Having read the book, I don't have strong feelings towards it either way. For me, I thought the book was slightly forgetful. However, that might just be because I was expecting a highly controversial story. If this is the book they choose to read, then I think it should be allowed.

Summer Sessions

I'm officially on summer vacation. This has to be one of the greatest things about working in the education field....2 months off!

Before the end of the semester, there was some controversy over an 11th grade assigned reading. The gist of the debate was if the book was/is appropriate reading material for teenagers. I loved the fact that people got all up in arms, were having discussions and choosing sides. It was great.

The book is The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. I have a vague understanding of what the book is about. I haven't read it, but I did buy a copy and will be reading it as soon as I'm done with Broken by Daniel Clay (which btw, has no chapters...never seen that before). Some people thought the book was too vulgar and explicit or too adult if you will, for teens. Since I haven't read it, I'm refraining from giving my opinion about its validity as a high school reading. In the end, the school did approve the book. I'll get back to you on whether or not I liked it and my opinion.

Besides that, so far my summer sessions have been filled with video games! As you know, I LOVE Punch Out. I did pass Soda Popinski and have made it all the way to Mr. Sandman. Yeah...I'm stuck, again! I undestand how to beat him. I just haven't been able to, yet :D I also bought a new game called Gravity. LOVE IT! It's all about puzzles and figuring out where to place squares and rectagles to roll the ball/car to the goal. I know, sounds pretty kiddie, but it's great. I've gotten stuck at level 15 and 35 (there's 100).

Ahhhhhhhh summer....gotta love it!

My Day As A Forced Couch Potato

So I'm on Spring Break vacation. Woohoo!
If only I hadn't wasted an entire day confined to the couch, I'd be happier. This was not by choice. I had probably the worst stiff neck I've ever had and it just hurt to move.

My day was supposed to be filled with exercise. I know, some of you are rolling your eyes, but that's what I wanted to do and had been doing the days before. I was going to go lift weights, watch movies and have a run later on. Instead, I spent more than 12hrs on the couch, half sitting up and half lying down because that was the only position I could tolerate.

I have no idea what I did. I guess I must have slept in the weirdest position ever. But! I didn't wake up once all night. I slept so well and was completely refreshed when I woke up. I got up, walked around, felt a little pain (but nothing like what it turned into) and took the dog out. I was fine...or so I thought. After taking the dog out, I went back to bed and THAT'S when the pain really hit me.

I couldn't move my neck in any direction. The pain went from the top of my neck, down the right side to the bottom of my shoulder blade. It hurt soooo much. Getting out of bed was a challenge. An even bigger challenge was brushing my teeth! So much pain. I was walking around the house looking like a robot who couldn't lift it's head. My head was fixed in a downward "the floor is my friend" position all day. And that too became uncomfortable, not to mention annoying.

I took some Tylenol and at first refused to give into the "stiff neck - I can't do anything today" pity party. I tried to use my computer, but I couldn't lift my head or extend my arms without shooting pain. So, my online access was limited. I had to sweep the kitchen/family room area. Why? Because my brother's chocolate Labrador, Hershey, has been staying here and she sheds like there's no tomorrow. (How is this dog not bald yet?!) So I start sweeping and I KNOW I shouldn't be doing this. I FEEL I shouldn't be doing this, but I do it anyway. I had to laugh all through the pain to stop me from crying. After that was done, I resigned myself to the couch. It wasn't even noon and I knew I'd spend all day there.

So I gathered my "husband" pillow, my Sudoku book and a book called "Love And Other Impossible Pursuits" by Ayelet Waldman. I propped myself up and back with many cushions to take the pressure of my neck and I stayed there...all day. My sister suggested I take a Celebrex which I refused. Aside from Tylenol, I don't like taking random medication. I'm not a pill popper.

Life on the couch went as follows: turn tv on, turn tv off; do some sudoku; read book; turn tv on, turn tv off; painfully move to answer the phone; take a nap; turn tv on, turn tv off; eat lunch and dinner looking at the floor.....You get the picture. I did try to use my computer a few times, but I was more comfortable on the couch...even though "comfortable" is not a word I'd use to describe my experience yeterday. Sometime in the afternoon I said "F*ck it" and took the pill. I didn't expect it to take the pain away, but atleast make it a degree more bareable. No difference whatsoever.

I ended up just reading my book all afternoon and night. I did of course have to take Hershey out a couple of times. This worried me. She's sort of a spaz and is prone to pulling. I was worried she'd pull me, I'd end up on the grass in pain and she'd happily continue pooping. So I decided to take her the backyard instead of an actual walk. Hershey, thank goodness, was calm.

And I was back on the couch reading! By the time my sister got home I was almost done with the book. It definitely was more interesting than anything on tv. By then it was time to go to bed. I'd had enough of the pain and just wanted to be slumberous. So my 12hr couch residency was over and I went to bed. Of course I slept, but in the only position I could...flat on my back. I woke up today with an extremely slighter version of yesterday's pain. I can move my head in all directions now, but it still hurts when going extremely sideways. And of couse my neck in completely sore from looking down for more than 12hrs.

Atleast I can rejoin the living today! Yay!

Me?....Reading?

I don't consider myself a reader...of books. I do try. I've bought books, start reading them and even if they hold my interest, I'll just put them aside indefinitely. I think it all goes back to being forced to read crappy SRA's in elementary school and the never ending summer readings. I was the type of kid who instead of just reading the book and getting it over with, I would figure out the least amount of chapters I'd have to read per day. That way I didn't spend all day reading and was out and about enjoying the summer. Of course that doesn't make much sense either because a simple book would take me all vacation :) Whatever.

This past month I've read more books than I have in other years. A grand total of 2! I finally finished Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. This book I started, I don't know, more than a year ago. It was just so blah at the beginning so I left it aside. When I finally got halfway, that's when it started to get good. I made myself finish it so I could start reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.

Twilight I had to read. I'd heard and seen how obsessed people were with the book and knew the movie was coming out soon. So I wanted to read it before watching the movie. I finished it in like 3 days. And have joined the obsession thank you very much.

I'm now more than halfway done with New Moon (the 2nd book of the Twilight saga) and have just bought Eclipse (3rd book in the saga). You might ask why I just didn't buy all of them together. Well, that was my plan, but you wouldn't believe how hard it was finding an english paperback copy of Eclipse. I don't want the hardcover books. I'm ok with paperback, but for some reason Borders only had the spanish version in paperback. They finally got some english versions and now Breaking Dawn (4th book in the saga) is the only one I'm missing. I was going to buy it today too, but deja vu! Paperback is only available in spanish. So I'll wait.

Oh and yes, I did see the movie already :)