Something Blue

Something Blue, by Emily Giffin, is a novel about a young beautiful women, Darcy, who is left by her ex-fiance, for her life long best friend Rachel. Darcy doesn't think she can become more lost and confuse until she finds out she is pregnant, with her ex-fiance's bestfriend's baby. In her whirl wind of trouble she quits her job and tries to make the situation work with her baby's father, Marcus. Darcy takes Marcus home to meet her uptight and judgmental family which Marcus clearly does not fit into. Darcy's family grows to hate Marcus very quickly and so Darcy and Marcus leave to return home. Shortly after their return home Marcus leaves Darcy. She now has no one. She lost her best friend, her fiance, her family, and now the father of her baby.
With no where else to go Darcy decides to go to England to stay with her friend from high school, Ethan. Ethan is hesitant about this because he was only friends with Darcy in high school because of Rachel and he thinks poorly of Darcy. She is only worried about herself and is consistently putting people down so she can be more powerful then they are. Once Darcy got to Ethan's house in England Ethan spent much of his time avoiding Darcy. Eventually Ethan got so fed up with Darcy one day and just snapped. After that day Darcy was never the same.
Darcy begins to better herself and her life. She goes to the doctor for her babies and discovers that she is pregnant with twins. Darcy is very upset about this because she does not want to be pregnant at all. She does not let this stop her of her quest to become a better person though. She meets a few friends at a coffee shop and is very genuine and friendly to them. Darcy begin to look for jobs and volunteer oppertunitis. She becomes more focused on herself and her baby boys on the way then her image and what everyone else sees her as.
After many months are working at being a better person, things just fall together for Darcy. She makes amends with her family back home in the US, is the best of friends with Ethan, and has an amazing doctor boyfriend who loves her. She proves herself again when she breaks up with the doctor because she realizes her feelings for Ethan.
In the end Ethan and Darcy end up getting married and even her ex-bestfriend and ex-fiance, who are now married with a kid, and her entire family come to the wedding in England. Darcy has the twins and they keep a strong healthy and happy family.
I can not relate to this story in many way but there are a few characteristics in this novel that I feel a connection with. I feel like I can relate to Darcy because I sometimes become to self centered and focused on my image instead of other important factors. Even since I came to college I have been trying hard to being a better person and trying new things. Just like Darcy, a major change in my life was needed for me to realize that I needed to do something about the person I was.

Oh, Brad.

After the first boyfriend came and went Carrie was high on being known as someone's girlfriend. She decided to slut it up sixth grade style. Any guy who paid Carrie any attention she would feed off of it and flirt as well as a 11 year-old could. She spent one afternoon on the playground hanging out with the "hottest" guy the in sixth grade class. Brad Johnson. He was untouchable. Brad was an awesome basketball player and all the ladies loved him. After spending the entire recess together, right before they would awkward middle schoolers were being called back into class Brad stopped Carrie under neither the huge tree on the playground. He has her if he could take her to the carnival, which was six months away but when you are ten thats about your extent of out of school boy/girl interaction. Carrie got all flustered and some how spit out the word yes, with out thinking twice. The next day at lunch Carrie was stopped by the fifth grader who had previously asked her to the carnival. She denied all rumors that she was going to the carnival with Brad. Brad ending hearing that Carrie had denied it and decided to call the hole thing off, and Carrie was left with no one. No one is how it should have stayed until at least college.

Walking to Class in the rain

I woke up, my alarm screaming in my ear. I hit snooze once and then again, its like the I could feel the wether from inside my room. I felt that it was going to be a lazy day. I had a calculus test to go fail. No time for sleeping in. I roll out of bed, throw some makeup on, put on my rain coat and my ridiculous looking rain boots and hit the road. I mozey my way down the sidewalk towards the destiny of a failing Calculus test. I have been studying for the last two days and my brain is over loaded and tried from all the information is it trying to hold. As I pass everyone looks sad. The rain soaking most of them could be why but not only do they look like wet dogs but the also have long faces. I pass a girl I know form home. She is the only bubbly person I see on the sidewalk all moring. She has to think I'm ridiculous in my rain boots with my huge unbrella. At least I'm dry is all I can say to make myself feel better for dressing this way. I finally reach my destination of the building that will soon house the place I get the worse math grade of my life. I step into the room take the test, hear the five minute warning with 7 questions left, go through and put in my best guess and click grade to see my destiny. A 63. Regret comes over me. I could have gone to the social last night and still do just as good. What a waste of four hours in Stroz. What a waste of a rainy day.

Uncle Tiger

My Dad is one the oldest of four children. The youngest of all of them was his brother who they called Tiger. All of his brothers and sisters live in town and we spend lots of time with them and my grandparents who also live near by. When the entire family got together it would be me my older brother Jack, and then the cousins, Brian who was a few year older then Jack, Carolyn who was a year older then me, and Catherine who was a year younger then me.
Hanging out with all the aunts uncles and cousins was so much fun but when Uncle Tiger was there he would try so hard to be our friend but he could not relate to Carolyn, Catherine, and I on any level. When I was the age where he would all play together, he was in his late 20's, not married, not even a girlfriend, and clearly had no desire to have kids anytime soon.
My poor Uncle would just want to be able to talk to us but every time he came up to us the three of the girl cousins would just stop talking or run away. We were scared of him. He would ask us questions and we would nod our heads and leave it at that. Uncle Tiger just wanted a few words out of us but we had no desire to share.

Prine not so Charming

Once upon a time, there was me. A freshman girl in high school who was awkward and dorky with braces. I was all knees and elbows and just tried to stay out of the limelight, especially when Colin Tull walked in the room. Colin was a junior when I started high school and was the first kid in the history of Bishop Snyder High School to be the starting quarterback of the varsity football team. That's what I would always think about when I saw him, and I would try to forget he throw ten interceptions in a season and that's why he was going to be the kicker for this season. Not only was Colin a football star but he could sing and play the guitar, what 14 year old wouldn't love that? It wasn't until November of my freshman year, when my braces came off, and Colin noticed me. I'm still not sure to this day how he did though because I thought I did a pretty good job at hiding when I would notice him in the hall ways. It was a late November afternoon, and I had just gotten out of cheer leading practice when everything changed. He looked over in my direction and shot a smile to what I thought had to be the girl standing behind me. I turned around to run away and noticed no one was behind. I figured Colin had mistaken me for someone else.
"Why didn't you say hi to me today after practice Ms. Sullivan." Colin had sent in the overly romantic Facebook chat.
I didn't reply, I couldn't find the strength to type anything, and if I found the tiny bit of strength with in me, what would I even say. I ignored the chat. He couldn't have meant much by it anyway.
Well, all this ignoring only made Colin try hard. Unfortunately I feel for. He made me his girlfriend, and I made the biggest mistake of all saying yes.

Santa Baby

Twas' the night before Christmas, literally, and the nosey loud drunken next door neighbor Mrs. Jones had see little eight year old Carrie Sullivan and her Mom, Lynn, outside on what was a pretty chilly Christmas eve for Jacksonville. Carrie and her Mom were strolling up and down Arlon Lane for their sixth consecutive year on Christmas eve. Carrie's Mom would do everything she could to wear Carrie out because Carrie would get so excited she would be up all night at her door waiting to hear Santa downstairs. Their walk up and down the road looking at the Christmas lights was her Mom's last attempt to get Carrie sleepy so Santa could come visit.
The little innocent eight year-old and her Mom had finally made it back to the house when Mrs. Jones came strolling up the driveway with her favorite accessory in her hand, her wine class. Mrs. Sullivan, being the always social person she is, stops to chat with Mrs Jones. Carrie stood by her Mom's side ready to go get tucked in for bed when her Mom said, "Carrie run inside and hop in your pjs. The faster you're asleep, the sooner Santa will arrive."
Carrie slowly starts to walk away when she years Mrs. Jones say, "Come on Lynn, Carrie is old enough to know there is no such thing as Santa."
Finding out there was not crushed because there wasn't a Santa was the easy part. Carrie was devastated having to find out of Christmas eve from my drunken neighbor. From that Christmas on Carrie and her Mom did not need to go on the late night walk down Arlon Lane because she was no longer all hyped up on Christmas eve.

Kindergarten
 How could someone be a mean six year-old? I was. Me and Carly (who I ended up going to high school with and being my good friend) had an ongoing nap time war. We would lay on our napping mats and pinch each other and we never let each other sleep. We were such little bitches. How I wish I had those hours of nap time back.
1st Grade
It was Annie and Me. No one could get in between us.  The two girls with the same last name but no relation to each other at all. We would sit next to each other on the reading carpet, chase the boys together on the play ground, and go home everyday after school together. It helped that our moms were best friends too, but you never saw Annie with out Carrie.
5th Grade
I got a boyfriend! That the most exciting thing that had happened to me that year. His name was Cory, and we have the same birthday, so becuase our names started with the same latter and we had the same birthday he had convinced me we had to be boyfriend/girlfriend. It was fine with me because I got to go to the movie with him and his parents once. I was the 1st one of my friends to hangout with a guy I liked outside of school. He put his arm around me and at that moment I thought I was going to marry the kid. Hes not going to be the one I marry now, but he will more then likely be in my wedding, because hes one of my best friends now.
6th Grade
I went through 6 years of torment in a catholic school and I had to wear a plaid jumper every day. It wasn't so bad the first couple years but once we got old enough and we were wearing the same thing the 6 year-olds were wearing, it was not okay. Plaid jumpers are as bad as they sound. Sixth grade was the year everyone counted down for because you got to wear a plaid skirt instead of a jumper. Yes, its still plaid but it was so much better then a jumper.

Fathers

Growing up me and my Mom were the dream team. She was my best friend and she was always looking out for me and my brother, Jack, best interest. She has to be very careful and always alert when we were young because my father was so unpredictable. From the time I was eight years old I realized my Dad wasn't the Father I had seen in TV shows and in my friends households. My Dad was an alcoholic and he was never on a pedestal for me. The only father-ish figure I did put on a pedestal was my best friends Dad. He loved his kids and came home every night from work and played with them and talked to them like fathers should. I would go weeks with out talking to my Father sometimes during the school year because I would come home from dance practice and my father would already be passed out on the couch and he would be gone in the mornings for work by the time I would wake up. He missed my entire childhood and teenage years.  He is clueless about monumentous occasions that happened in my life because he spent most of the hours of the day when he was off work drunk. I had gone to a catholic school from Kindergarten till 8th grade and he missed my graduation and graduation party cause he was passed out on the couch, in the same spot he always was.

Just say 'yes sir' and walk away.

Since I have matured, my Mom now tells me the secrets she has learned about living with my Dad for so long. My Dad will start going off on a tangent about cleaning this, or spending less money, or fussing about the TV not working right. I have learned that when Dad is upset, or on another rant all you can do is say 'yes sir' and walk away. By doing this, Dad thinks he has won which makes him content, but in all honesty the problem he was bitching about will more then likely still be troublesome to him. It just shuts him up for the time being.

In the story, In the shadow of the War, by Ben Okri, the little boy, Omovo takes the same approach as I do when dealing with our fathers. Omovo's father ask Omovo not to listening to the radio about the war because he is to young to be exposed to the hatredness of war. Omovo does what his father asks and turns off the radio, but only temporarily. He says yes sir and walks away, but once his father is gone he is right back by that radio.

In the episode of My So Called Life, Angela is having issues with her Father. Angela does not take my stance on just agreeing with her father. She would rather go about things the hard way, which only makes her father not speak to her for awhile. Angela is desperate to be mad at her father and shows that desperateness by searching through his briefcase to find clues of him being in the wrong. Angela's Dad only kills her with kindness by giving her and her best friend tickets to a concert. Angela lied about going to the concert and that is the only thing that pushes her Dad over the edge. He does not speak to her one morning and Angela knows that what she did it wrong.
Everything always ends up alright, it is a TV show the grudge can only be held for sixty minutes. Weather we agree with our Fathers to make them happy or just put up a fight, they will always love you and hold you at the end of the day. Daddies only have their child's best interest at heart. 

welcome to the world of blogging

Name: Caroline "Carrie" Sullivan
Blog display name: Brown eyed girl
URL: www.enc1145ces.blogger.com