Jane Eyre

Ahhh. A Bronte I like. If you are unaware of my feelings for Charlotte's sister, Emily, you can recap here: Wuthering Heights. (side bar: HOW Stephenie Meyer can make "WH" Bella's favorite book is beyond me. )

Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" was a much better read for me. Her writing is so descriptive and fluid.

"No sooner had twilight, the hour of romance, begun to lower her blue and starry banner over the lattice, then rose I, opened the piano and entreated him, for the love of heaven, to give me a song."

Her characters are much, much better people. People to care about. Yes, even Mr. Rochester. I love that Jane is this young girl, an orphan, being taken care of by her dead uncle's wife, being neglected by this aunt, treated like dirt by her cousins, and yet she knows who she is. She knows what she will stand for. She's a child and yet she knows that her cousins are beneath her for the way they behave. She is in pain, she wants so much to be loved, but she still knows right from wrong in how humans should behave with each other.

I dreaded her being sent away to the school, Lowood. I feared for her and read hesitantly. Conditions were hard, but there were kind teachers and staff, and eventually she found a home there, if only for a while. There's still a world out there, though, that she yearns to see. She becomes a governess at a home called Thornfield, for a young girl being taken care of by a Mr. Rochester, a man 20 years her senior. Ms. Eyre is unlike any woman Mr. R has ever met. She says what she means, she speaks honestly, she doesn't drip honey from her lips trying to get something out of him. They fall in love and eventually confess their love under a chestnut tree, that later that evening gets rent in two by lightning (it's as if God himself is objecting).

Why would God object? Because on her wedding day, she is told of the lady in the attic apartments. The insane, wild woman. His wife.

"Jane Eyre, who had been an ardent, expectant woman - almost a bride - was a cold, solitary girl again: her life was pale, her prospects were desolate. "

That she declines to be his mistress, to run away and let him have her, is a great victory for her. While he tries to cajole, to wheedle, to threaten her to stay, she thinks:

"...my very conscience and reason turned traitors against me, and charged me with crime in resisting him. They spoke as loud as Feeling: and clamoured wildly. 'Oh, comply!' it said. 'Think of his misery; think of the danger - look at his state when he left alone'" ...."Who in the world cares for you? or who will be injured by what you do?"

"Still indomitable was the reply - 'I care for myself.'"

That cry, "I care," held her place as a favorite heroine in my heart. That she refused another marriage proposal of convenience at a time where she would have been thought insane (she had no other prospects and was not considered attractive, although she did have money by then)cemented that place.

There's disaster mingled with hope. She finds family she never knew, she gets the one she always loved and stays true to the strengths she had from childhood.

How's that Netflix?

Hey Netflix people,

How are you liking it? I need comments, concerns, positives and negatives. We're thinking of switching from Blockbuster dot com to Netflix. And here's why.

Blockbuster is around $22 or so a month for 3 movies in the mail. More than Netflix, BUT there was an added bonus. If you took the sleeves to Blockbuster rather than mailing them, they would scan them in and you would get a free rental AND they mailed you the next movie. You could do this up to 5 times a month. So while your mailed movie is on its way, you get a free one at the store. Sweet.

Yesterday, we went to return two in-sleeve-from-the-net movies at the local store. When we swapped them with in-store movies, the manager asked if I had heard their new policy. No, what is it? You can swap the mail movies at the store, BUT Blockbuster dot com will NOT mail you new movies until the in-store rentals are back. There is no incentive now to pay the $20-something dollars a month.

Why would I waste my gas to go to the store if I am not getting the free movies? For that, I'm just going to mail them back. And if I am mailing, why would I pay more than Netflix for the same thing?

I went on-line to BB dot com and told them just that, using their "contact us" link.

Good Morning,

We are very disappointed to learn about the new store-exchange policy, wherein movies from Blockbuster.com will not be mailed to us until we return in-store rented movies that we received when swapping out Blockbuster.com sleeves at the store.

The old policy of receiving some free in-store rentals, while getting new movies mailed from Blockbuster.com when turning in the sleeves at the store was a great incentive to not switch to Netflix, which is cheaper than your service. With that
incentive gone, we, and I am sure many other of your customers, will be looking
to other, less expensive options.

Sincerely,

Kaaren & David M.

When I hit send, it gave me a "wait!" message. One of these "Before we submit your message, if you're writing about this (lists a few things, including their new policy) send an e-mail instead to online.consumerrelations@blockbuster.com"

I did both. I hit send on-line AND sent a regular e-mail from our regular e-mail address to that e-mail address, per their request.

Today, we receive a reply to on e-mail:

We appreciate you taking the time to write us with your feedback and suggestions. Your comments are taken very seriously and we welcome them as a valuable tool needed to improve the quality of our service. We will make sure to compile your feedback with others, and provide it to our Executive Management team.

Please know that this mailbox is for inbound email only, and we are not able to respond to feedback directed here.

Kind Regards,
Executive Office

Um. What?

It's this level of stupidity that kills me.

So, Netflix. Tell me all about it. Please. Comment now.

More Hidden Mickeys

At Animal Kingdom's Expedition Everest, a stone statue of a Yeti has Mickey ears popping out from its base.


In the outdoor portion of the line for Expedition Everest, clouds on a carved mural have Mickey Ears.



Inside the line for Expedition Everest, an ink splotch is shaped like Mickey.


Also inside the line, a small stuffed Yeto has Mickey ears.



Outside Expedition Everest, on a slab, is Mickey's head, upside down.

Over at Hollywood Studios, Harry Anderson placed Mickey Ears in a tie he drew in the concrete.

Carol Burnett gave her character in concrete Mickey Ears.

In the line for Star Wars, this employee notice is considered a Hidden Mickey.

This one is also in our Hidden Mickey book, but really...not so hidden. This one is also inside the Star Wars ride.



Over at Magic Kingdom, while traveling on the TTA (Tomorrowland Transportation Authority), you can find a hidden Mickey on this woman's belt if you look quickly enough.

A Clown named Itsa

Quick note:

Isabel's studying the circus this week at school. She's been making red noses and blue cheeks and sticking them to her face with tape.

Tonight I received the honor of having these items stuck to my face. She kept saying "Come here itsa clown," and I could not understand her.

I asked her three times what she was saying. Finally she explained it was from an episode of "Wonder Pets," where they see a clown and say "It's a Clown!" only she thinks that's the clown's name, Itsa.

That's me tonight as I wear my paper nose and cheeks. Itsa. Itsa Clown.

Wide Sargasso Sea

I've never heard of this book before. It showed up on the Classics list I am working my way through & I said "Huh?" Never heard of it.

"Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys is a 1966 prequel to Charlotte Bronte's 1847 work, "Jane Eyre." I find it odd, an author writing a prequel off another person's work. Granted, Ms. Bronte was not around to approve/disapprove, but I find it odd.

We're meeting Mr. Rochester's Bertha, before she became the insane Amazonian-like woman as she is portrayed in 'Jane Erye.' Here, her name is Antoinette (Bertha is her mother's name. ) She is alive, vital, strong yet also weak. She's more than the phantom in Bronte's attic.

She is a young girl raised in a Jamaica that has just abolished slavery. Her and her family are looked down upon. They are neither rich, nor black. They are "cockroaches, " worse than the natives, because once-upon-a-time, their family for generations, owned slaves

Antoinette's mother is shunned by the people around her. They are almost completely destitute until a Mr. Mason sweeps her mom off her feet and marries her, securing their wealth. Slowly though, her mother descends into madness, a family trait. Antoinette is married to a young English chap, Mr. Rochester, who's not told of the family history, just that Antoinette has a dowry provided by Mr. Mason.

While Ms. Bronte's work feels very English, Ms. Rhys' work immerses you in a West Indies feel. The heat, the steam, the noises, the smells, the sights, the attitudes, all Caribbean. There is lust, heat, secrets, shame and slowly, the descent into madness.

Told in both Antoinette and Mr. Rochester's voices, "Wide Sargasso Sea" is a haunting yet beautiful companion to "Jane Eyre."