Monday, June 4, 2012

Rainy Days and Fifty Shades


Note: I wrote this blog on June 11 2012 and not June 4 as it says.

The past week and a half I was pretty much quiet and busy.
 Blame it on the weather. It is pouring again.
 I wonder if we will  ever have a warm, dry summer this year.
 Even the long weekend Diamond Jubilee celebrations  did not escape from the very washout weather. Watching the Thames River Pageant in the television made me so thankful we decided  in the end not to go to London on that weekend.
Our rugby club  had also its own celebration so we went there instead last Monday.
We all came in the Union Jack colours.
I was thankful we did not pay attention to the 1950's dress code especially as I was very disappointed. There was really nothing much and was just plainly boring.
But here we are anyway in our Jubilee outfits:

My Little Girl came prepared for the weather with her wellies.


And mummy's version of the red, white and blue (although there's no white in this outfit!)


Last weekend  we also went to a 50th birthday party.
It is of Dearest Husband's work colleague.
It was very good fun.
There was a big marquee in the garden and a big bouncy castle for the children.
Drinks were overflowing.
I was having so much fun catching up with the rest of my husband's work colleagues.
We did not notice the time and Little Girl  was  also enjoying herself in the bouncy castle.
We went home at around 10 pm when Little Girl was already dozing off.


As Father's day is only a few days from now, I helped Little Girl with her Father's day cards for the 4 men in her life ( Her dad, 2 grandfathers and maternal great grandfather).
We were working against time as 2 cards need to be sent to the Philippines so we prioritized it.
Here they are:

The card cover for Little Girl's maternal grandfather

The picture is taken inside a train going to London when my parents came to visit us last year.
Little Girl was just about 15 months old here.

And the inside content of the card which is obviously just scribbles really.
But I am pretty sure this will bring so much happiness and pride in my father's heart.

Little Girl calls my parents Papa and Mama the way I address them.
We all wanted her to call her maternal grandparents Lolo and Lola but while my parents where here she heard me all the time calling them that way so she decided to follow suit.
Even now that it's been 6 months since we last saw them, she still addresses them the same.

Little Girl's Father's Day card for her 95 year old great grandfather


And the inside content showing a picture of her with her Lolo Meloy.
Little Girl was about 10 months old here when she first visited the Philippines.
I asked her to put some stickers and she decided putting them upside down is the best way to do it.

We already posted these cards last week so hoping it will arrive in time for Father's Day this Sunday.
We are at the moment busy for her Daddy and Grandad cards.
 I want Little Girl to appreciate   how lucky she is to have 2 grandfathers and a great grandfather (as not everybody is as privilege as she is).

 Here is a rare picture of last year's Father's Day.
From L-R: My father, Dearest Husband with Little Girl and my father-in-law

I also managed to finally get my Summer Ball shoes. I am very happy with this purchase:
Suede Celestine Shoes from All Saints Spitalfields
The heels might be 4.3 cms high but they are very comfortable even on a night of dancing.


And of course what really kept me so busy this past week is this trilogy.
I managed to read them 3 books in 1 week.
I heard so much buzz about this book that it piqued my interest. I just have to have it. So I purchased the entire trilogy from Amazon.
It kept my boredom at bay while it was soaking wet outside.

Here are my thoughts for this book.

Book 1 is Fifty Shades of Grey.
At first I was especially  intrigued by the title. What is Fifty Shades and why Grey.
First few pages answered my second question. Grey is Mr. Christian Grey. The main leading actor if you would put it like that in a movie.
The plot is about the unconventional relationship between fresh college graduate Anastasia Steele and very manipulative, controlling multi billionaire Christian Grey.
Mr. Grey is the domineering type. Wanting to control Ms. Steele over her life and introduces  her to BDSM.  But Miss Steele is a very much virgin herself so this is very new to Mr. Grey. Thus the twists starts here.

The first half of the book is an interesting read.
It comes from Miss Steele's point of view.  She seems very innocent and yet witty.
Mr. Grey on the other hand appears to be very over powering and yet a lost child inside.
I wanted the author to explore more on the BDSM aspect.  Yet most pages were about the unnecessary sex scenes. I do not mind it all only if the story calls for it.
After all the likes of Joan Collins and even the great  Paulo Coelho for his Eleven  Minutes did write about sex but theirs did not revolve purely on the detailed sex scenes, there was more to it.
 Fifty Shades was just too much for me. Visual pornography that is.
 I lost count of the number of pages that I have to skip because they were just about sex.
I  know from the start it is an adult book but I have questions that I want answers to it.
Thus I find the second half of the Book 1 just boring, draggy, repetitive and shallow.
I know some like it the way it was written but unfortunately Miss E.L James failed to impress me especially the way she left her readers like me hanging at the end.

Book 2, Fifty Shades Darker is better than Book 1.
If Miss E.L James know how to write she could have just put book 1 and 2 together and it could have been perfect (and skip the unnecessary sex scenes).
The answers I have been searching for were all here.
John Grisham's books are mostly courtroom drama and yet it is never boring. He can tell everything in just 1 book.  I hope Miss E.L James can learn on that.
She stretches her imagination and penned it on Book 3, Fifty Shades Freed, which for me could have just been incorporated in Book 1 and 2.
I can forgive Miss E.L James because it is her first book but what I cannot forgive her for is Fifty Shades  becoming a best seller all because of sex.
How shallow we can be now, making soft porn a best seller.

All-in-all Fifty Shades is a good read. It has an interesting story. If only the author is only able to concentrate on exploring the character of Christian Grey on Book 1.
Miss E.L James also seemed to have done a very good research. I have never heard of BDSM before although I know about the sadistic personality.
 I also love the witty banter between Grey and Steele over their email correspondence.
She seems also very good in writing those very detailed sex scenes, I wonder where she's taking her inspirations from - personal experiences perhaps?
I do not want to explore more on Fifty Shades in case some of you want to read it and I hate spoiling anybody's read.

Anyway, I have to call it a night now.
I sincerely wish our weather would brighten up although the forecast seems unpromising.
Some parts of the UK are even experiencing 1 month of rain in just 24 hours thus the heavy flooding.

A very good night everyone and a happy birthday for tomorrow for my fellow author and great friend, Madsaboutu.









2 comments:

  1. Bouncy play areas are always great to have for little kids energy release. You guys look cute with your matching red and blue outfits. Oh no father's day is coming up and Mads and I still have to find DH a present. We like to give something useful, something fun....we shall see :)

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  2. Agree you guys look really cute in those outfits.
    and still havent finished the Book 3,I'm bored with that book

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