Disney vs. Grimm: Sleeping Beauty

               

🎶 I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream
      I know you, the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam
      Yet I know it’s true that visions are seldom all they seem
      But if I know you, I know what you’ll do
      You’ll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream 🎶

I use to love the Disney 1959 Sleeping Beauty movie when I was little. I loved that song from it too. I would sing along every time. Then I made the mistake of reading the Grimm’s version. My childhood is ruined.

THE PREGNANCY:

So the movie doesn’t go into detail about how Sleeping beauty is born. It just starts with her christening.

In the Grimm’s version the king and queen can’t seem to have a child. Everyday they talk about how they want a child but just can’t seem to have one. Then one day while the queen was bathing a frog comes out of the water and tells her that she’s going to have a child before the year is over. Then BAM! Baby. I find this a little odd and a tad disturbing…

THE CELEBRATION:

The first few minutes of the movie are just of people coming into the castle for the celebration. It introduces the king, queen, daughter, and Prince Philip, the boy who she is betrothed to. Then the three good fairies come and to give the child gifts. The first two give the gifts of beauty and song, but before the third can give her’s who should walk in? Non other than the one, the only, the Mistress of All Evil…….Maleficent! My favorite villain ever! Best part of the entire movie in my opinion.

Now the book. In the book a slightly smaller gathering is formed. Instead of the entire kingdom the king invites friends, family, acquaintances, and the Wise Women (so they can give his daughter gifts). But the king has a bit of a problem. He only has twelve gold plates and there are thirteen Wise Women! Well he decides to only invite twelve and just not tell the other one. Well eleven bestow their gifts upon the child. Gifts like beauty, virtue, and riches. Well before the twelfth can give the child her gift in walks woman number thirteen.

THE CURSE AND LAST GIFT:

When Maleficent comes strutting in she makes it clear that she’s offense but jokingly acts like she’s not. Then the queen stupidly asks if she’s offended and Maleficent say of course not and even gives the child a gift. And her gift, so eloquently put, is “before the sun sets on her 16th birthday, she shall prick her finger – on the spindle of a spinning wheel – and DIE!” Then the third fairy goes and spoils it all. She alters the curse so that instead of dying she falls into a death like sleep and will be awoken by true loves first kiss.

When the thirteenth Wise Women hobbles in she says “The King’s daughter shall in her fifteenth year prick herself with a spindle, and fall down dead.” Then she walks out without saying another word. Short and to the point. Then Wise Woman number twelve uses her gift to say that she won’t die, but she will fall into a deep sleep for a hundred years. Because sleeping for a hundred years and possibly having everyone in your kingdom die or have it taken over by invaders is better.

BEING CURSED:

Well it comes time for Princess Aurora to be cursed on her sixteenth birthday. The king tried destroying every spindle in his kingdom and even sent his daughter away to live with the three fairies. She didn’t even know she was a princess until she returned to the castle on her 16th birthday. Anyways, Maleficent appears in the castle with a spinning wheel, spindle and all, and Aurora pricks her finger! After this the three fairies place everyone in the castle into a sleep that will only be broken when the princess wakes up.

Now Briar-Rose, the princess’s name in the fairy tale, always knew she was a princess. She grew up in the castle. Well on her 15th birthday the king and queen decide that it’s a good idea to leave their daughter alone on the day she is supposed to die. Briar-Rose goes exploring in the castle and stumbles upon an old women in a tower using a spinning wheel. She becomes curious and as soon as she touches the tip of the spindle she falls asleep and so does everyone in the castle, flies and all.

BREAKING THE CURSE AND AFTER:

After Aurora has been cursed Maleficent goes and kidnaps Prince Philip to keep him from waking her up. With the help of the three fairies he escapes and goes to kiss the damsel in distress. But before he can get to the castle Maleficent makes a forest of thorns grow around the castle, bur the prince just cuts through it with his sword. When that doesn’t work, she just turns into a dragon. No big deal right? Just a gigantic dragon! Well Prince Philip ruins all of the fun by killing her in her dragon form. He then goes and kisses the princess and wakes her, and the kingdom, up. After that they go and dance at a ball and they all live happily after ever.

Once Briar-Rose has been cursed a hedge of thorns starts to grow around the castle. Each year they grow higher and higher until finally the entire castle is covered. Every once in a while i prince from some far off land will try to get through to look at the princess but they all get caught in the thorns and die. After a hundred years a particular prince enters the kingdom. He asks the people living there about the castle and decided to try to reach the princess. When he walks up to the hedge of thorns, it turns into beautiful flowers that part for him and close once he walks through. He then goes to where the princess is and kisses her. This wakes her up and everyone else in the castle. After this they got married and “lived contented to the end of their days”

MY THOUGHTS:

These are both similar in many aspects but they are far different. The underlying story is the same but the details are extremely different. I like the Disney version better though. There is more excitement and there’s singing! But the main reason is Maleficent. She’s my favorite villain! The Disney version is also more kid friendly. The Grimm’s version is a little dark. The princes who tried to get through the thorns before all died “miserable deaths.” Also I just don’t find it as entertaining. I like the dragon fight scene. Which one do you guys like best?

New Furniture and Joints

I’m so close! I’m so close to finishing Emma it’s not even funny! Just as I was getting into the zone with that book I had to put it down. Stupid school work. I should have it finished really soon and then I’ll finally write a review on it. I’m not too good at this whole book blogging yet, but I will get better! Anyways, this week was relatively uneventful. Went to class, ate lunch with friends, did homework. That just about sums it up! All the excitement started on Friday! First, here’s the back story: I have this thing called ligamentous laxity, which is a fancy way of saying my joints aren’t supported. I have lazy ligaments. I had to go to physical therapy for my knees, shoulders, and hips for about eight weeks but I’m done with that now. Friday, I went to an orthopedic doctor for a follow-up and found out my ligaments are still pretty messed up. My strength has increased but there’s still not a lot of stability. They gave me more exercises to do, so I should be getting better! I got two new knee braces too! The first time I went to therapy I got a brace to keep my knee cap in place, but this time, I got something to keep my knees from hyper extending (bending too far back). These things are monstrosities! They go about halfway up my thighs and a little more than halfway down my calves. And the hinges on the side rub against each other and click. The hinge on the left leg and hinge on the right leg keep bumbling into one another. It’s so annoying. But they help me and that’s all that matters! Today was spent getting new furniture! I’ve had the same furniture since I was 3. I’m 16 now. It’s time for a change. I just recently took down the wallpaper that’s been up since the 70’s or 80’s. I went to a yard sale/fund-raiser and got these really cool shelves! Some of them are these little boxes and another is this weird box with the ends sticking out. I also got two new book shelves! They each have seven shelves in them and I’m really excited about it. It gets rid of the three small shelves I currently have. More room for books! I also got this really pretty painting of a nature scene! Now all I need is a bed! Mine is currently broken… My goal for next week is to finish Emma! I’m so disappointed in myself! It never takes me this long to finish a book. I hope everyone’s week was more productive than mine and everyone’s weekend was fun and exciting! What did you do?

Disney Cruise Re-Cap

So for Spring Break I went on a Disney Cruise and I had so much fun! It was my first cruise and it was like nothing I expected. First of all I didn’t get sea sick, which kind of surprised me. I get car sick by putting my head down to read something after like two seconds so I wasn’t sure how I’d hold up. The first night was a little rocky but nothing I couldn’t handle! Another thing I wasn’t expecting were all the shops in the Bahamas.

The cruise went to two islands: Nassau and their private island, Castaway Cay. At Nassau there were so many little shops and people trying to give tours. It was the scariest moment of my life! So. Many. PEOPLE! I bought stuff from them of course. I got this really pretty little purple pure and this beautiful painting! The painting was $35 but the guy said he would sell it to me for $30. It’s this really pretty sunset and it’s just beautiful!

I had set goals for the cruise and I’m proud to say I reached all of them…to a certain degree. Here’s a quick summary of my goals:

Work on my tan: I got a few shades darker! I’m so excited about this! And it’s a pretty even tan too! It’s so pretty! I sat out on the deck and I was at the beach for hours just laying in a chair and sometimes in the water. It really paid off.

Not get burnt: So it’s almost impossible not to get burnt. There’s always that little spot or just a slight burn all over. Besides that I think I did really well in reaching this goal. I put on sunscreen and didn’t stat out way too long and was in the shade at times too. Not getting burnt is such a good feeling! Of course today I was out in the sun for about 5 hours without any sunscreen so now I’m 50 shades of red. I can’t even bend my knees they hurt so bad.

Finish my book: So about this one… I really tried reading, I did! It just wasn’t meant to be. When I got back from the cruise I made a nice sized dent but nothing was accomplished while on the cruise regarding this. I’m ashamed.

See a show: I saw a show! I was really excited about this! One night was pirate night and everyone dressed up like pirates and there was this show on the top deck! It had Captain Jack Sparrow and other pirates and was an interactive show. This probably doesn’t qualify as a technical show but I say it counts. I also saw some Disney movies in their theater. The new Cinderella, Into the Woods, Big Hero Six, and McFarland, USA. I’m considering those as shows!

Make a friend: I made a friend. He was from Brazil, had a beautiful accent, was sweet, funny, just perfect! He was also my waiter. I’m considering this as a friendship because he seemed so concerned about me! One night I didn’t like my soup and he offered to get me a different kind and always made sure my glass was full. We connected.

I accomplished most of my goals as you can see! And those I didn’t necessarily meet I kind of made fit. It works for me! But Spring Break is coming to an end now. So sad :(. At least now I’ll have more time to sit and read, no more running about. I hope everyone had a good break! What did you do?

Goals for the Cruise

So it’s spring break for me and I’m  on a cruise! Me and my family are  on a Disney cruise to the Bahamas and I’m super excited about this. My family has a boat so we go out for the day all the time but this is the longest I’ve ever been on a boat. In order to keep myself occupied I created a list of goals.

Work on my tan: Ok so I’m a vegetarian and since I don’t get this certain nutrients from meat. I can’t hold a tan well as I use to so I’m constantly at risk of becoming pale. I use to be supper dark throughout the entire year but now I can barely make it past the first week of fall! Anyway, one of my goals for this cruise is to make my white skin tan! I’m spending as much time as I can on the balcony and the pool to give me some color.

Not get burnt: For the longest time I have refused to wear sunscreen. I hate the smell and the feeling of it and it’s just yucky. I’ve recently come to terms with myself that I need sunscreen. I’m constantly getting burnt instead of tan and I want this to stop. So far I’ve been good about it and now I need to keep it up! Since I’m commenting on my progress this means I’m going to be as red as a tomato tomorrow but I’m going to bask in my glory for now!

Finish my book: I am currently in a reading hiatus. I don’t know why but I just can’t seem to be able to read a book. I’ve been trying to read Emma by Jane Austen for the past three weeks and I’ve only gotten to chapter five! This is a personal low for me. I guess I’ve had a lot on my plate what with school and all. But my goal if to finish this book! I will be reading it nonstop until it is completed!

See a show: I like Disney stuff! I think it’s entertaining and the most adorable thing in the world! So one of my goals is to see a show! I also love musicals and live performances so this would just be amazing!

Make a friend: Since it’s just me, m parents, and my 13-year-old brother I’m not really gonna have someone I can hang out with. If I make a friend I can be entertained with someone hopefully closer to my age. Everything is better with a friend in my opinion! Also if I find a friend I won’t be as easily annoyed by my brother. We tend to fight. A lot. So if I’m occupied, my bothersome brother can’t bother me!

I’m not sure how many of these I’m going to be able to reach but goals are always a nice thing to have. My main goal is to have fun though, and so far I’m meeting it!

Reasons Why: I Can’t Commit to a Book

When it comes to books, I’m like Goldilocks. The book has to be just right; it’s either too ‘this’ or too ‘that’ and most of the time I have fits about the cover rather than the content! Here are the reasons why I can’t commit to a relationship with a book:

The book can’t be too tall or small: I like my books to be even. Sometimes I have to stack my rows of books on top of each other, and that’s hard to do when the rows look like the screen of a heart monitor. I want them to be flat-lined, not going up and down. When they are all different heights it gives me another way to organize my books (by height)–I don’t need another way! I’ve stopped reading books before because they weren’t the right height. They find themselves under my bed or in the back of my closet because I can’t even look at them.

The book can’t be too short horizontally: Ok, I know this is a weird way to word it. By “too short horizontally” I am referring to the width from the spine to the end of the cover. In other words, the width of the page. But yea, it bothers me! I like when the books are all lined up and the spines are all equal to each other. When a book doesn’t line up with all the others it looks like a cavern or something. It ruins the perfection! The same thing happens if the book is too long. It looks like a giant projectile!

The print can’t be too small: If I have to sit there with a magnify glass to read the book then I don’t want it. I have no interest in damaging my eyes for the sake of reading. There are plenty or other copies of the book in normal sized print. I have the book Les Miserables and I sat there and read it for 20 minutes. I got through 3 pages. That’s it. I had to sit there with a magnify glass and struggle to see. It was bad. I had to put it away in defeat and try another book.

The pages can’t be too thin: I tend to flip the pages rather forcefully. I get excited and want to make the book go faster and just flip and, unfortunately, tear. I need books that have thick pages. Or at least durable pages. When I read a book that has thin pages I eventually accidentally rip them. And I cry. And I hide the book because I’m ashamed of what I have done.

The cover can’t have a person’s face on it: I like to imagine how a character looks. I don’t want to be shown! It especially bothers me when the person on the book looks nothing like the description of the person in the book. The image I create in my head and the image on the cover start to clash in my head. When that happens I start to get frustrated and hide the book or just put it back on the shelf between two books so I don’t have to see the horrible cover.

As you can see I’m very OCD when it comes to my books. They have to be just right, and if they don’t meet the qualifications they’re kicked out of my life. This leaves the poor book unfinished all because of how it looks. I know, I shouldn’t judge based on appearances, but I can’t help it! Unless a book meets all of the physical qualifications, it isn’t getting finished.

Presentations

So recently I’ve been working on a presentation I have to do in my government class. It’s due on Tuesday, I started Saturday, and I’ve known about it since the start of the semester. I put the “pro” in procrastination. But all joking aside I’m scared out of my wits over this assignment. I have horrible stage fright. I can’t even say “here” during roll call without having a mini panic attack. I start worrying about everything that can go wrong. What if I say it too loud? What if I don’t say it loud enough? What if I have to say it and it comes out weird? What do I say? What if I have a spit bubble? What if I choke on my gum and die? All of these scenarios start going through my head and I’ve managed to work myself into a panic. My heart starts racing and I have trouble breathing and even after she calls my name it takes most of the class for me to calm down.

To top all of this off I’m a 16-year-old in college classes. So I’m in a class with adults who don’t like having high schoolers with them. It can be really intimidating sometimes! I feel like a middle schooler taking tests with high school seniors (I’ve done that before too)! When I do presentations in front of these people my words will start to slur and I’ll stutter which doesn’t exactly give me points in their eyes. Does anyone have any advice on how to get over my fear? I can use all the help I can get!

Reasons Why: I Don’t Like E-Books

Some people think that ebooks are the best thing in the world. They’re portable and easy to pack and you don’t have to worry about tearing pages. While those are some great points, I don’t find ebooks all that appealing. I have a kindle and have 37 books on it so I’ve given them a try. I just don’t see whats so great about them. These are my reasons why:

I have to feel the pages. When I read I like to feel the pages. I don’t know why but I like the feeling of the pages on my fingers. The pages also give me a good idea on how much is left in the book

I can’t turn pages with an e-book. With an e-book all you can do is move one page at a time. If you want to see how many pages there are you can’t just skip to the last page to see. You have to go through every single page. This is also a hassle when you are reading a book with multiple POV and you forget who’s telling the story. You have to go through every. Single. Page of the chapter to see who it is.

I can’t see the cover. I know you aren’t suppose to judge a book by its cover but they still look nice. My kindle is black and white so I don’t get to see the color of everything and get a feel as to what the cover really is. Even if it is colored you can’t appreciate the art of it as much. Which is better: looking at a picture of a painting or standing in front of it?

I like to hold the book. The feeling of a book in my hands is an awesome feeling. Each book has its own unique feel to it but when you put 50 books in one device it makes everything feel the same. It takes away the book’s individuality.

Not my hands

It makes my book collection look small. The best thing about having a large book collection is being able to show it off. You get to see all of the cover and spines as they line up next to each other shelf after shelf. I think that looks like the coolest thing in the world! When all of the books are ebooks you can’t see them. You can have 100 books in your little device but you can’t show that off. 25 books on your shelf would look more impressive.

So, what do you guys think of ebooks? Yay or nay?

Distractions and Organization

So this week I’ve been reading Emma by Jane Austen. It isn’t going very well though. I’ve been reading the book for over a week and I’m only on chapter eight! I keep getting distracted and simply haven’t found the time. My brother had a baseball tournament in Gainesville, FL last weekend and, being the good supportive sister I am, I went. I would have read while I was there but I’ve been suckered into being the team’s scorekeeper. It’s not all that bad because I get community service hours from it. Also on my list of distractions is piano. I’m in the process of learning three songs and I keep getting frustrated and leaving… and then having to come back because, well, lessons are expensive and I need my money’s worth. It’s a hard life.

I’ve also been busy in school. My psychology class has a lot of assignments and keeping track of it all is so difficult. The biggest thing that’s been getting in my way is my other books. I keep organizing and reorganizing them. I can’t decide how they should be arranged: alphabetical by title? By author? By the type of book? By sequence in the series? By the order I want to read them in? It’s just such a hard decision. I’ve changed their arrangement at least twice today. And to top it all off I don’t have enough shelf space so I have two rows on one shelf–too many for one shelf and not enough for another bookcase. If anyone has any suggestion on the best way to organize books I’m open for suggestions!

Disney vs. Grimm: Cinderella

The 1950 Disney version of Cinderella is funny and kid friendly. The Grimm’s story is, well, grim.

           

HOW SHE GOT THE DRESS:

In the original Cinderella story there is no fairy godmother. That’s not how Cinderella gets the dress. Instead, when her father goes off on a trip he asks his stepdaughters and Cinderella what they want him to bring back for them. The stepdaughters (who are beautiful in the book) ask for fine clothes and jewelry while Cinderella only requests the first branch that knocks her father’s hat off. When he gets back he gives each of the girls what they asked for and Cinderella goes and plants the branch on her mother’s grave. Watered by her tears, the branch grows into a hazel-bush. Later, when she needs a dress for the ball, Cinderella goes and sings to the tree and two birds bring her a dress and shoes.
In the movie, Cinderella cries and her fairy godmother appears to give her a dress, shoes, and everything she will need at the ball. In the process she does an entertaining musical number.

AT THE BALL:

In the book the ball lasts three nights. Each day Cinderella goes and sings to her tree and the birds give her a dress and slippers that are more beautiful than the ones before. Each night, the prince dances only with her and afterwards she would run away from him when he offered to escort her home. On the third night, the prince covers the stairs with pitch and her left slipper gets stuck on the steps.
In the movie, the ball only lasts for one night. The prince dances only with her, as well, but the reason she runs away from him is because the clock strikes midnight. At midnight the spell on her ends and she goes back to looking like a dirty wench. When she is running down the stairs of the palace she drops her shoe which is how the prince ends up with it and uses it to locate her.

TRYING ON THE SHOE:

In the book, the prince goes to Cinderella’s house and the two stepsisters try on the shoe first. The first sister’s toe is too big so her mother has her cut it off, telling her that when she is queen she won’t need to walk. When she starts to ride off into the sunset with the prince the birds that bring Cinderella gifts sing to the prince to look at the girls foot; he sees the blood on her foot so he takes her back and has the other sister try on the shoe. Her heel is too big so her mother has her cut it off telling her the same thing. When the prince is taking this girl to his castle the birds sing again for him to look at her foot and he sees blood so he takes her back. Finally, when Cinderella tries on the shoe, he sees that it fits and then he recognizes her from the ball. As they ride off, the birds sing that he has found the true girl.
In the movie, the stepsisters just try to stuff their big feet into the shoe. There is no cutting off parts of the feet (which I’m thankful for). When it is Cinderella’s turn to try on the shoe the man carrying it is tripped by the evil stepmother and the shoe breaks. Well Cinderella just whips out the matching shoe and she tries it on and it fits!

AFTER:

In the book the two stepsisters get their eyes pecked out. They are at Cinderella’s wedding and, as punishment for how they behaved, the two birds that help Cinderella peck out the girls eyes. They are sentenced to being blind for the rest of their lives. In the movie there is nothing this morbid. It is just the prince and Cinderella running to a carriage after their wedding and then they kiss, living happily ever after!

As you can see the film is very different from the movie. It is kid friendly and won’t scar you for life. I like the movie better because it has songs and is such a cute story. I do like the original one too, but not nearly as much. I wouldn’t recommend reading this as a bedtime story to young children.

The Fault in Our Stars

Title: The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green

Synopsis: Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love (goodreads).

Review: I love this book and I hate it. I want to keep this book and I want to throw it across the room. I have so many mixed feelings about it. I was laughing at some parts and then at others I was balling my eyes out. My emotions were at the extreme on both ends.

What I really love about this book is that it’s so honest. John Green doesn’t try to sugar coat anything and just states it as it is. The main character, Hazel Grace Lancaster, has terminal cancer and she’s accepted that and doesn’t try to look for the silver lining. She knows that she can die at any moment and she is going to hurt a lot of people when she does. The story is told from her perspective so it has her sarcastic tone and her unique view on things.

My favorite character is Augustus Waters. Everything about him is a metaphor. The cigarettes he always has is my favorite. “You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don’t give it the power to do its killing.” That’s my favorite quote in this book.

The only thing I didn’t like about this book was Peter Van Houten. He was just too negative. I get that he had a really sad life but he’s just mean. His character could have been written with a little less anger.

Overall, though, I love this book. It takes you on an emotional roller coaster so keep a box of tissues next to you.

Favorite Quotes:

“My thoughts are stars I can’t fathom into constellations.”

“I want to minimize the number of deaths I am responsible for.”

“Pain demands to be felt.”

“I’m a grenade and at some point I’m going to blow up and I would like to minimize the casualties…”

“There is no shortage of fault to be found amid our stars.”