Fairy Tales

So on this Valentine's Day, I'm not going to shower everyone with gifts and affection, nor am I going to bash love and the things having to do with this, dia de San Valentin (forgive the lack of accents). Valentine's Day is a part of our culture, and regardless of whether you celebrate it or not, whether you have someone to celebrate it or not, it's there. But instead of seeming overly happy or bitter (whichever you think I may be this Valentine's Day, that's up to you to decide) about this day, I'm going to talk about something else.

I'm in an upper level Spanish conversation and composition class this semester, and today, in addition to forming dirty and entertaining Spanish sentences using Conversation Hearts--which they do make in Spanish, in case you were not aware--much to the dismay of our poor profesora, we talked about Fairy Tales. Yes, your traditional Fairy Tales: Cinderella (Cenicienta), Little Red Riding Hood (Caperucita roja), The Three Little Pigs (Los tres cerditos), Goldilocks (Ricitos de oro), Snow White (Blanca Nieves), etc. The point of the lesson was to retell the stories using preterit and imperfect tenses (el pasado) and to make sure we still knew the differences (yes, I know those of you who don't take Spanish are falling asleep at this point). The lesson was pretty fun, especially when groups added their own personal points of view to the story. But it got me thinking: In addition to these classics, (thank you, Disney and the Brother Grimm) what fairy tales did I remember. Immediately, two books came to mind.

1. The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

2. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

Maybe these two books just show the type of sense of humor my parents had, but I'm so glad that's what they got me to read. I still LOVE these books. I read them over and over again, despite the fact that I'm 20 years old and in college. They are absolutely hilarious. If you don't have them, go get them. I mean it. Quit reading. If you read the next line then it won't tell you anything!

See? Told ya. (For those of you who are now thinking, holy crap, she's finally lost it, it's a part from The Stinky Cheese Man....yeah)

So what are these books about, exactly? Well, I'll put it like this. If you would like to laugh hysterically and you have a sense of humor, read what I'm about to write, and then go buy them, steal them off the Internet, rob a bookstore, check them out from your local library, download them to your Kindle, Nook, Sony, eReader, etc, or however you usually obtain sources of literature. If you do not have a sense of humor, or you've decided "I hate Valentine's Day and I'm going to be a grump for the rest of the day" or you have the personality of a pissed off rock, then you should probably quit reading.

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

Okay, so this book is by far one of my favorites. Not only do you get to revisit old friends (maybe slightly modified) such as The Little Red Hen, Jack (from the beanstalk, also the narrator of the book), Chicken Little, The Frog Prince, you also meet new ones, like The Stinky Cheese Man. The stories are all ridiculous (or, as the title implies, fairly stupid) and entertaining, and illustrations are fantastic. If you want to see what it's like, try Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOXKCwUmZyU&feature=related

Come on, you know you want to read it...this book has a Surgeon General's Warning...

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

Now this one is a traditional story, but from a different point of view. This is from the view of the Wolf, the one who was FRAMED (as per the story). According to the Wolf, Alexander T. Wolf (but you can call him Al) it was just a huge misunderstanding involving a Sneeze and Cup of Sugar. But that's all I can tell you because telling you any more would give it away. See for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcsUfYBHhm4&feature=related

As you can probably tell, these are both written by the same people, and the illustrations and story lines are absolutely fantastic. I am so glad they were a part of my childhood, and my adulthood (adulthood...scary thought) and if I ever have kids, I will most certainly pass these on to them as well.

Run, run, run, as fast you can, you can't catch me I'm the Stinky Cheese Man!

As always,

-Lex

Sometimes I Wonder..

So, I've been pondering something...yes, maybe I should have been pondering Organic Chemistry (Partttttt 2!) in these few moments, but even I need to take a break sometimes.

The thing I'm pondering, is this: what if we could take anything we've heard from someone else about us, anything someone else has written about us (whether or not we know it), and if it wasn't true, correct the statement, immediately. Would it make a difference? Similarly, if we could take any situation in which we never actually clarified what we were thinking/feeling, and we could go back and make it more clear, make our intentions known, would it actually change anything?

So these ponderings I'm having, they mostly have to do with some people that used to be a part of my life...I know for a fact that people lie. These people, in particular, I know have lied about me to other people who I cared/care about. And to me, that's simply not okay. But, and here's a big but, would it have really made a difference whether or not those things had been clarified?

I'd love to write in more specifics, because it would make so much more sense. I'm just afraid of naming names/situations/etc., and in turn hurting someone's feelings. Although, the people I would call out I would not necessarily care if I did hurt their feelings, but I do know that they have friends that I am friends with, and that it would probably create some unnecessary tension or awkwardness of some kind. And I'm not a fan of that.

So back to the hypotheticals...if you knew of a situation in which something was said, and it wasn't true, and you could correct it now, what kind of difference would it make? Would it make everything between you and the other person better? I kind of doubt it. I doubt that there is one situation in which something said completely changes your viewpoint of someone else. Whether it was a lie about your feelings about someone, or a lie about what occurred in a blurry time, that wasn't the first time the other person had considered feeling differently about you.

On a somewhat related note, I hate not knowing where I stand with people. It's completely confusing and not at all helpful to my mental state. However, clues I gain from a few sneaky-ish forms is sometimes entertaining, satisfying, or disheartening, however you want to look at it. Whether it's someone calling your relationship with them "dysfunctional and unhealthy" or someone else calling you a "cheating, two-timing slut", you have to wonder what led them to that conclusion...was it really your actions? Their interpretations of your actions? A spiteful ploy to make themselves feel better? Or a combination thereof, of the previous and other factors?

Take-home message from this jumble:

1) Don't spend too much time wondering what could have been if you could have set the facts straight about something. Chances are, in the long run, it wouldn't have mattered.

2) It's very hard to write about hypothetical/broad spectrum situations that are, in fact, very specific.

3) Get your facts straight before you tell someone something. You're not just juicing up a story or adding your own spin to something...you could possibly be damaging a lot more than you think.

Always,

Lex

The Importance of Bandaids

Two poems, the first after allowing my mind to do the things that eventually wound my heart, and the second after allowing a Bandaid to fix things. Sometimes, curiosity really does kill the cat, or, in this case, wound a heart for a while. But sometimes, you have to get past the things that keep you from diving in head first. They may seem like really important things or even really silly things, but in either case, allowing those things to stand in your way can only cause more problems. You have to get past it, in one way or another. Talking it out, sulking for a while (so long as you eventually get out of the sulking!), or writing. I chose writing this time. The more eloquent I made the first one, and the more I worked on it, the more I realized it was petty. But I still really liked the poem a lot. The second is my realization of how petty I was being, or something along those lines. I haven't written much poetry in a while, not where I paid attention to things like meter and rhyme scheme, but these are actually cleaned up a good bit.

Names Interchangeable, Words the Same

I should have thought it better than to delve

Beyond a front so innocent and clean,

But my mind would not allow me to shelve

Those lingering thoughts until now unseen.

I knew what it was that I would unearth,

Only hurt could be the final treasure,

But still I dug, looking for signs of worth,

I realize this pain may be your final pleasure.

The names were interchangeable,

Their importance not in the least,

But still each cut a gash in legs once so stable

Until the whole banquet crashed at my feet.

Repeated keystrokes, copied ink upon a page,

His strange tongues were his siren’s call.

The words, the phrases, they were all the same,

For reasons known and unknown, I believed them all.

You ask what’s wrong, hoping a smile to raise,

And still, though I try, I cannot help but wonder

How many times you pled to her the very phrase,

Or to her, or to her, or perhaps her.

Why look, if it brings so much pain?

To know ghosts of the past were real,

To see the words were used the same.

But to feel hurt is still something to feel.

************************************

Another Her, (But For Now), Only Me

I know you’ve said the very words

To her, to her, and, yes, to her as well,

But still I must convince myself, implore myself

To believe you mean it just as much as before.

I should not care, should just accept the score.

There were others before me, trophies on the shelf,

But that, for now at least, I can dispel

These troubling thoughts, those dreams deferred.

I swiftly thought, the fool I am,

Those words were for mine ears alone,

That never had you uttered them ‘fore me,

Never would you repeat their sound.

And still their sweetness sends my hopes abound,

That perhaps I misread, perhaps I did not see.

Yet still I readily cast the first stone

And without thought, your motives I condemn.

How dare I charge you with this crime,

How dare I cast you with the rest.

Though the best intentions often begin,

How often they must go awry.

Lips form a smile, eyes no longer cry.

I read your words, allow the sinking in,

And savor this thought, for it is the best:

I am still yours, and you have remained mine.

As always,

Lex