The Help

Couple of weeks ago I read Kathryn Stockett's 'The Help' and watched the movie soon after.  Quite the hype the movie's gotten, so I had to wait in line couple of weeks before I was able to loan the book from the library.  Seeing how long the wait was I checked the closest bookstore which was 'out'.

It was an easy read once you get the hang of the slang-ish dialect Stockett uses for one of the maids.  Very interesting book about the 60s colored help in the US, the southern states to be specific, and the white families they work for.  Movie was alright too, but quite a bit of the book was condensed to make the movie for a two and a half hours (almost as long as a Hindi movie - sheesh!).  Didn't feel it was that long mind you I got enough grunts and grumbles from the partner in crime for not informing the movie is this long before agreeing to see it.

I'm not sure how different it is in Sri Lanka (where I grew up) when it comes to domestic help.  Even now. Many of us, including my family, had help growing up.  Either in the form of baby sitter/nanny, kitchen help, house cleaner, gardener, or a combination of all.  I'm sure many of us treated our maids like family, with the exception of a few.  But they often had a washroom made for them outside or at the back of the house, even the apartment complexes that's being built smack in the middle of colombo has separate maid's bedroom and washroom.

This was definitely true during the 90s and the early 2000's and to this date perhaps?

where do we stand.. or is it just job creation in countries like ours (edit: Sri Lanka).

wordplay

who woulda thought that

 'wrench' and 'lubricant'

could get one banned from entering their land..

bits and pieces

busy few months it's been leading up to the Summer;

- road trip down to the little wine country. amazing food, and company. driving through the vineyards. a carefree and a happy place

- few wine tastings. quite the drinker I am, Not! but one such facility ID-ed me :S. quite embarrassing that was.

- felt almost like we weren't gonna have a summer at all, coz you see we didn't really have a spring. bluaergh! whoever is controlling the weather out there sucks balls.

- bought my own little place, that I can call home. yay me!

- busy trying to make it pretty, and find the pieces that I love, and will love for years to come. it's so difficult I tell you. I just want to close my eyes and open to an apartment that's fully furnished and deco'ed to my taste. gah! they say that's the fun. weekend after weekend walking through home deco/furniture stores looking for items.

- squeezed in a trip to the island. a short but an efficient (interesting choice of word there) one at that. met a few old friends. catching up over lunch, dinner, drinks.

- Galle Face. sea breeze. Isso wadeyyy!

- this time I felt how it feels to see a friend leave.  I was always the leaver, but was never the one to stay behind. the roles were reversed for once. and it 'felt'.

- last couple weeks of Summer. Sun.

'til next time.

summer anthem

Makes me smile.. whistle.. and almost honk!

over the rainbow

it's been nine years since I moved from home. over a third of my life was spent here where I would call my second home. feels almost like home.. but every trip back keeps me reminded that sri lanka is still home..

flashbacks of bits and pieces of life here...

long walks, tears, laughs, snowy nights, food, friends, scorching summers...

hurdles jumped, bridges crossed, scared shitless..

years had gone by, feels long, but I can almost remember it like yesterday

 the teenager I was and the woman I've become..

sexting

Since I moved (yes, again) now I have a longer commute to work.  Don't ask me why I make such decisions, bluaergh! so anyway this longer commute result in more radio time to and from work. and i frequently listen to this one breakfast radio show - pretteeh interesting stuff.

one day last week they ended up talking about senator Weiner story, about texting or tweeting pictures of his wiener to women and little girls. this discussion turned in to about taking naked pictures of ones self and texting them to their bf/gf (i.e. sexting). the hosts invited the listeners to call in and fess up if they have any naked pictures floating around and if they send/receive sext.  many called, and pretty much they all admitted to either or both.

this 47 yr old mother of two calls in.. 'i'm on my way out to drop my kids at school, but just wanted to call in.. I do get sexts from my bfs'.. hosts ask how old are your boy friends.. 'the youngest one was 22, and it's kinda cute when they do that.. i'm a cougar'!!

un-freaking-believable!

Parting.. yet again..

it feels like i've known you longer
a best friend.. or more like
a sister was what you were
honest and rare..

today you leave, not seas away..
it's hard.. hard to leave
harder to see a loved one leave
but we both know, it's a plane ride away..
i know we promised, to call and text
but distance scares me, it parts friends..
and makes one learn to live without them

as tears roll down my cheek
with memories kept close..
i wish you success, in everything you do
you will be missed.. dearly..
come back soon!