My Favorite INANIMATE Object

I would have to say the pen is my favorite inanimate object because from that pen I can become anyone I want and be anywhere I want to be. With the pen I can be the richest person earth, or make myself pauper. I can have millions of fans or be a hermit. The pen will either make me larger than life or be the death of me.

Judy Blume - One Size Fits All

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume




I don't care what age you are - as long as you are past junior high age, any of Judy Blumes books are for you. I'm in my 40's and I still read her books because at some point in my life I was a girl in junior high trying to make it through thinking those were the tough times. Little did I know that those were the best and simplest times of our lives. How I wish I could go back sometimes.



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The Kitchen House, part II

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The first book that affected me was Catcher in the Rye, the second was The Help and now The Kitchen House.

Set during slavery, it centers around a 6 year old indentured servent who is brought to a plantation and takes up residence with the slaves who work at the big house. The book follows the girl, the slaves and the plantation owners and their family and friends for almost 20 years.

Its story is told between Levinia (indentured servent) and Belle (a house slave). Things that take place are seen through both their eyes from different views.

You will grow to love all the characters, even the Cap't (the plantation owner).

If you loved The Help, you will definitely love this book and not want to put it down. Once you have completed the book, you will want to read it again.

I had the pleasure of interviewing the author and from that we are developing a friendship. She's a wonderful person and fascinating one at that.



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The Jury Room - Facts Over Feelings

I don't claim to be an expert in the matter of juryism (yeah, I made up a word), but I have to give my two cents to the recent events that took place regarding the verdict in the Casey Anthony case.  And, mind you, I am not trying to sway people at all.  This is just a bit of an insight and my opinion.

As mentioned in my previous blog (scroll down to read), I served as a juror. Although a minor case (meaning not high profiled), the job of a juror is still the same. We must look at the facts and ONLY the facts.

The Case:
The charges against the guy was Assault Against a Peace Officer with a Deadly Weapon.
It happened in Baypoint (aka Gunpoint) where a Peace Office
recognized the defendant and wanted to question him. The defendant
became hostile, ran from the cop and ended up in a field where the
office drew his gun on the defendant while the defendant was holding a
large rock in his hand. The defendant then flung the rock at the cop
hitting the cop in the arm (where the gun was).

The Court - Day One:
We listened to the Defense's opening statement

The Prosecutor's opening statement

Then we heard from the Officer who was assaulted and witnesses.

Day Two:
More testimonies and then closing arguments. Once all that was done the judge, just as the judge did in the Anthony case, gave us our instructions along with the packets needed for us to do our work.

Jury Room:
The packet basically breaks down each item.
Assault
Peace Officer
Deadly
Weapon

From the list and its definition we had to determine if he did assault the Peace Officer. After we made our determination we moved to Peace Officer and those definitions. Made our decisions there. Next was deadly weapon (referring to the rock - a big one at that) that the Peace Office was hit with. We first had to determine if the rock was a deadly weapon. 11 of us said no. One said yes. OK. Now, us 11 had to explain to the 1 juror that it WASN'T a deadly weapon because before it became such, it was a rock and ONLY a rock.

There were two questions we had to ask the judge (actually, I had to ask since I was Foreperson). I think one had to do with a penal code, but I forget what the other one was.

One of our decisions, should we have found Mr. Garcia guilty, is to determine which Penal Code was he guilty of.

We did find him guilty of Assault Against a Peace Officer With a Deadly Weapon, but it wasn't an easy decision to come to. We had to go by evidence - hardcore evidence.

Before going into the jury room I was convinced Mr. Garcia was as guilty as they come. But when I entered the jury room and looked at the break down of everything, I wasn't so sure. I don't think any of us was sure and it made for great discussions.

I highly recommend everyone watch the movie 12 Angry Men with Henry Fonda. I watched that movie after serving juror duty and I had much more appreciation for the job.  But watch it to get a sense of what a jury has to go through and the decisions they have to make.

We can all agree the sky is blue, but when its broken down into tiny pieces and we have to put those tiny pieces together, we all will not agree the sky is blue.

Regarding the Casey Anthony case:
Some sat and watched the trial since day one and hoped for a guilty verdict. Some caught the end of it, me, and hoped for a guilty verdict and felt she was guilty. I began thinking and feeling like the majority of the population and had no doubt she would be found guilty. But when I got the phone call from a friend of mine telling me they found her not guilty, I was shocked. I stayed shocked for about an hour, until I remembered the job of a juror and I have to say that they did their job.

They could have easily gone in there and found her guilty and called it Bob Hope. But they were in there for approximately10 hours. The paperwork they had to go through and the stuff they had to read and agree upon - I can't imagine.

Their decision was not made from the heart - it was made from the law. If it was from the heart they would have been in and right back out - but they were in there for 10 hours.

Having Casey go to prison won't bring Caylee back (cliche, I know). People think that Caylee didn't get justice, but she did. She has thousands and thousands of people she's never met, care about her and wishing they could have taken her into their home (me included) so she didn't have to be subject to what her mother did. Caylee has the hearts of a lot of people, which is more than Casey can say. Casey now has the strong dislike of thousands and thousands of people.

I could easily rant and rave about the decision and what a horrible person Casey is, but what good is it going to do. I will be mad about the verdict - for I am human - but I will respect the verdict - as a former juror.

Again, I am not trying to sway people's decision or showing in favor of Casey in any way.  Just trying to give others a better understanding of the jury process.

I look forward to comments and/or questions.

Jury Duty

Back in April 2007 I was on a jury for a case that involved a man being charged with Assault On a Peace Officer with a Deadly Object. I think I was the only one in the jury room (where you sit and wait to be picked) that wanted to serve on a jury. And if I got picked I wanted to be foreman. I was able to do both.

Those who haven't served think that coming up with a verdict is easy. And it's not.

I'm watching the judge give the jury their finally instructions in the Casey M. Anthony trial and what he's saying to the jury is what we were told in our trial. I am speaking of the break down of the charges. Then when you get to the jury room you're looking at the break down again, but now on paper. It can be overwhelming because of the details that are there.

Being foreman put more pressure on the person because you are now looked upon to run the show and to basically referee disputes that break out between jurors. I only had a minor one and it was civil. But I also had to explain things to the jurors. I also had to make sure all the paperwork was signed and dated correctly. It was also my responsibility to ask the judge questions via writing when we confused about something.

I am not sure how long we were back in the jury room, but it does seem like you're back there a long time because you have to convince all 12 people to agree with each other and the way the charges are broken down, people can agree that there was a weapon present, but may not agree that it was used intentionally. I remember one lady saw the object as deadly but that wasn't what the question asked. I don't remember the exact working of the document but it basically asked if the object was deadly. We all said no because it was an object. It only became deadly when it was used. But the lady said the object was deadly because IT WAS USED in the crime. That's where a lot of our time was spent and it made good arguments.

We ended up finding the guy guilty of assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon. We weren't there for the sentencing. No big deal to me.

I would love to serve on a jury again and serve as foreman. I almost got on a five week case in which a father was accused of killing his son. But as it turned out they had the jury picked. We were basically an alternate jury to be picked.

The Dark Joker

As a self-proclaimed movie buff and lover of villains (the more evil the more I love them), I find Heath Ledger's Joker to top them all. You knew it was Heath behind the make up but you also forgot it was Heath. His facial expressions, his nervous, yet acquired habit with his tongue and his voice had you mesmerized at the talent that was and could have been, Heath Ledger.

I can't say enough about Heath's performance in The Dark Knight save for I had to see it twice, and I did. I saw it opening night, then on 21 July 2008 (5:35pm showing) and once more at IMAX.

But Heath's performance is not the only attraction to the movie. I enjoyed Batman Begins because of the darkness of the movie (Oh, I also love, love, love dark movies). And I was anxiously awaiting the next installment and it did not disappoint.

The ending of The Dark Knight left things open, especially the return of the Joker. So, my question is, who can or will top Heath Ledger's performance?

The man who left this earth with so many questions as to why he did what he did on that faithful day, has now left me with more questions as to what would have become of him since playing the Joker so exquisitely? Would he reprise his role in the next Batman installment? Would he continue to play villains in other movies? Or has this movie made him a legend before his time?

As the Joker said in the movie:

Introduce a little anarchy... Upset the established order... Well then everyone loses their minds!

Has his early departure done just that? We'll never know.

I do not believe his death made him a legend, but rather his role as The Joker.

See his work in action if you haven't already, go to You Tube and type in Heath Ledger - The Joker.

The Sweeney that is Todd

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_hgrfZVlJA]

I am not really a Tim Burton fan, although I do respect the dark aspects of his movies. When I completed watching Sweeney Todd and although a great idea on a classic, I am a bit turned off by the singing, and a lot of unnecessary singing at that.

Background of the story Sweeney Todd courtesy of Wikipedia:

In his past life, Todd was known as Benjamin Barker, a middle class barber, married to Lucy Barker with a daughter, Johanna. The villainous Judge Turpin exiles Benjamin to Australia on false charges in order to have Lucy to himself. Lucy poisons herself in grief, and in her hiatus, Turpin adopts baby Johanna as his ward. By the time Todd returns to London, Johanna has become a young woman and falls in love with a sailor, Anthony, who attempts to steal her away from Judge Turpin, who has proposed to marry the girl. In some versions of the Sweeney Todd story Mrs. Lovett, his partner in crime and variously his friend or lover (and whose first name is variously Nellie, Marjorie, Sarah, Shirley, or Claudette), hides his crimes by butchering the corpses of Todd's victims, baking their flesh into meat pies, and selling them to unknowing customers.

In the original story, A String of Pearls, Sweeney Todd is still the same working class barber. Instead of killing for revenge, however, he kills in pure greed. At the end, he is arrested and hanged, while Mrs. Lovett commits suicide in her cell.

In every version, Mrs. Lovett takes in an orphan boy, Tobias Ragg, after Sweeney kills Ragg's previous guardian, Adolfo Pirelli. Ragg is generally the first character to catch onto Sweeney's crimes and also is responsible for Todd's death.

In almost every variation, Johanna, Anthony, and Toby are the only characters who survive.

I am not sure why Burton felt the need to keep it a musical, which to me is, following suit of others. It would have been great if this movie was a straight up talkie.

Now, on to the good stuff.

As the story says, Benjamin Parker (Sweeney Todd), once a barber, was falsely accused and thus sent away. He comes back 15 years later to find the judge who put him away has married his wife and adopted his daughter. Sweeney is now bent on revenge. He re-opens a barber shop above Mrs. Lovett's pie shop, thus begins the relationship between Todd and Lovett. Also in the pictures is a boy named Toby who worked for a peddler of whatever he was peddling at that time. To learn more of how everyone came to be, rent the movie...I think any version would do, but if you want the dark version, then rent Burton's version.

The entire movie is dark (dark streets, dark clothes, dark scenes, dark everything) save for the part when Todd is telling Lovett of his past and when Lovett is imagining her and Todd's life together with Toby.

The movie centers around revenge and Todd's heart being full of malice. The lengths Todd goes through to exact his revenge causes others to fall prey to the wicked hands to which they were never a part of. Todd's first chance at revenge against the judge is missed by no fault of his own. Before his second chance appears, many, many men will die and become the meat in Mrs. Lovett's meat pie, which are the hit of Fleet Street. Once his revenge is complete against the judge, he soon finds that his malice has caused the death of someone that was close to his heart. This causes more anger for Todd who seeks revenge on another and thus the vicious circle just goes around and around and ends with revenge getting its revenge.