Beloved

노벨 문학상을 수상한 미국 흑인 여류 작가 Toni Morrison의 퓰리처 수상 했다는 Beloved. 오프라 윈프리 주연 영화로도 만들어졌다는, Margaret Garner를 비롯한 실제 흑인 여성 노예들의 이야기를 바탕으로 기가막히게 재구성한 작품.... 흑인으로서의 삶, 흑인 여성으로서의 삶, 흑인 여성 노예로서의 삶이라는 것이 얼마나 비참할 수 있는지, 또 백인이라는 존재가, 혹은 권력을 가진 자들의 존재가, 한 인간에게 있어 얼마나 파괴적이고 잔혹하게 작용할 수 있는지...

무섭고 소름끼칠만큼 영악한 인간이라는 동물의 본질이 아닐지.

그리고,

정말로 인간은 과거의 무게를 이겨 낼 수 있을까?

p.s

-anything that comes back to life has to hurt?

-이상하게도 자꾸 내 자신의 삶을 투영시키게 되는구나.

돈키호테

졸업전에 제대로 읽어봤다는게 자랑스러운 돈키호테. 1600여 페이지의 끝없는 이야기, 이야기, 이야기에도 진정한 감동을 주는 이런 책이야말로 명작이 아닐까. 돈키호테는 그냥 완전히 돌아버린 미치광이가 아니라 이상을 잃지 않고 몸소 예술적 삶을 산 휴머니스트이자

우리 모두에게 귀감이 될 만한 참된 인간의 표상이라는 짧은 생각.

p.s

-발표 좀 그만하고 시험공부 좀 하자 이제ㅠ

그 많던 싱아는 누가 다 먹었을까

그 남자네 집도 그렇고 이 책도 그렇고, 박완서 선생님의 글엔 역시 무언가 나의 마음을 움직이는 게 있다... 박적골을 거니는 듯 느끼게 한 생생한 자연묘사와 억척스럽고 벅적스러운 일제 하 경성의 일상, 그리고 갑작스러운 한국전쟁 속 우리 할머니 할아버지들의 모습... 아주 재밌는 옛날 이야기를 듣는 것처럼 접한

아주 슬프고 비통한 나의 할머니, 할아버지들의 옛 이야기. 쉽게 잠들지 못했을만큼 감동한 이야기...

p.s

-그많던 싱아는 "과연" 누가 다 먹었을까.....

그 남자네 집

최근 재미붙이고 있는 독서하는 직장인되기 놀이. 도서관에 꽂혀 있는 수많은 책들을 새삼스레 다시 발견하고 나서 급흥분하여 요것 조것 집다보니 그 옛날 언젠가 보고싶었던 박완서의 책도 빌리게 되었고,, 침대위에서, 열람실에서 주루룩 정독하고 나니 아~하는 탄성이 나올정도로 느낌이 좋았던 이 책. 전후의 비참한 서울 사람들의 모습을 간접적으로나마 생생히 느낄 수 있었고, 우리네 어머니 아버지 할머니 할아버지 들께서 걸어오셨을 길들을 이렇게 엿보고 나니, 다시한번 대한민국 근현대사의 잔혹함에 비탄하게 되었다고나 할까... 한편으론, 그런 폐허에서 이만큼 해낸 어르신들이 자랑스럽게 느껴지기도 했지만....퍽이나 맘에 들었던 그 남자네 집,,

"사랑은 도덕적이든, 부도덕하든 다 벌레들의 짓"

p.s

-첫사랑이라.........

New ways to ask someone out

New ways to ask someone out

By Amy Spencer


It seems so simple: If you like someone, and you want to take him or her out on a date, you just ask. We all know, however, that it’s much harder than it looks—which is why most of us clam up, bow out, fidget, mumble and fumble at the moment of truth. But those days can soon be history. The key? Take your mind off the possibility of rejection by adding a little life to your next invitation.
Here are ways to ask someone out that are so new, different, and unexpected that your askee will just have to accept!

Ask your intended out on paper…or a paper napkin

If you’re out at a bar and notice a cute person standing there, put the cocktail napkins to good use. Remember those grade school “Do you like me?” notes you used to pass around? Do something similar. Grab a pen, write down, “Would you like to go out next week?” with a “Yes” box and a “No” box beneath it. Fold up the napkin note and pass it to him or her with the pen.

Pull your own “To Be Continued…” episode

The less you know the person you’re asking out, the better off you are with this technique. While no one is saying to ask out a total stranger of course (for safety’s sake), this is a good approach if you’re attracted to a friend of a friend when, say, you’re all out at a bar or party. Start a story, then stop partway through saying, “Oh, this is a two-part episode. To hear the other half, you’ll have to tune into a date with me.” Why do I know this works? Because a guy I met in a bar used something similar on me a few months ago. We’d been talking about traveling adventures we’d had, and he said, “I have two funny stories about that.” After finishing his first story, he said, “As for the second story… well, I’ll tell you when we go out for dinner.” We’ve been out for four dinners since!

Hire a stand-in to do the asking

If you’re feeling too chicken to approach the gorgeous stranger across the room, have a friend — or the party host, or the bartender at your favorite hangout — do it for you. Ask your go-between to say to your would-be date, “My friend over there wants to know if you’ll go out with him/her.” Then be sure they pour on the charm for you with glowing lines, like, “She’s a great woman, and you’d be a fool not to go out with her.” Or “I mean, he’s a cool dude—check out his shoes.” Once you have the object of your affections smiling, then you can move in for the answer personally.

Evite someone for a one-on-one

If you already have the email address of the person you want to ask out, let an Internet invite do the talking. Go to Evite.com and arrange a small party… so small that the only invitees are you and your date. In the reply box, you, of course, should write something funny like, “Heck yeah, I’ll be there! Count me in!”

Sneak it onto their to-do list

If someone you know (and like) hasn’t gotten around to asking you out — and if you’re the bold type — insert it into his or her schedule. Yvi Chen, 30, penned this approach not too long ago. She was at a friend’s house (a single, handsome friend’s house) and wrote in his calendar, “Call Yvi to remind her about having dinner next week.” On the next page, a week later, she scheduled in, “Dinner with Yvi.” Yes, it was cheeky, but she felt she had nothing to lose. “I knew he’d either call to comment on what I wrote in his calendar, or he’d just pretend he never saw it,” says Yvi. “I was fine either way. I just didn’t want to be rejected face-to-face.” As if. In the end, Yvi got the “remind,” and they dined!

Start your own rumor

If there’s someone you’ve been flirting with for a few weeks or years, and you can’t figure out a way to break the “friend” boundary, here’s a plan that can work brilliantly. Tell the person you have your eye on, “So the rumor is, you want to ask me out…” If he really does want to ask you out, you’ve just handed him a safety net for rejection. And if he hadn’t thought of asking you out, he might be intrigued enough by the “rumor” to look at you in a new light. If he says, “Who started that rumor?” Say, “I can’t reveal my sources.” Or “I can’t tell you who, but it was someone very smart.” My friend Lisa tried this with a guy she’d been flirty friends with in college who’d never made a move. Though he was flustered for a minute, she finally said, “Look, are you going to ask me out or not?” He said, “Uh… yes.” She then said “yes” to a date that night. And five years later, she said “yes” to his marriage proposal.

Make a wager

The next time you want to ask out a stranger you meet at a bar or party, up your chances of getting a yes by upping the fun ante. Say to him or her, “I’ll play you in a game of pool. If I win, you take me out. And if you win, I’ll let you take me out.” Let the game begin!

Be specific and straight-up

Whether you want to ask out a stranger, a friend or someone you’ve struck up a conversation with at a party, go bold. Replace a wishy-washy line like, “So yeah, we should hang out or something soon, you know?” with a far more straightforward, “Would you like to get sushi with me next Thursday night?” No mixed messages, no fumbling for words, and oozing with confidence… and that’s something every date askee wants to hear.



Amy Spencer writes for Cosmopolitan, Real Simple, and other publications.

Article courtesy of Happen magazine, www.happenmag.com.

p.s

-this one's quite fun. am I supposed to try one of these? :)