Once upon a time there was a teenager who lived in a small village by the forest. Everyone she knew called her Red Riding Hood or RRH for short because of the red coloured riding hood she wore wherever she went. There was also a big but not exactly bad wolf who loved RRH for let's just say, a really long time.
So, as the story goes, RRH was traipsing through the forest holding a small wicker basket containing a picnic lunch in hand, to visit her grandmother who lived in an isolated house by herself. The Wolf peered at her from behind a maple tree and upon seeing RRH by herself he boldly strode forward to her.
“What's in there?” he inquired, pointing to the basket.
“They’re some goodies for my granny,” she explained.
“Let me have some,” he demanded.
“No way!” as she wrapped her arms protectively around it.
“You'll have to exchange it with something then,” the Wolf told her. “How about a kiss?”
“Oh, is that all?” asked RRH innocently. “Just close your eyes and pucker up then!” The Wolf complied and leant forward. RRH hurriedly reached for a fallen tree branch and whacked the Wolf on his head, causing him to drop on the ground, unconcious.
“That was easy,” she reflected. Tossing the shattered remanants of the tree branch, RRH walked around the Wolf and continued her journey.
The Wolf recovered quickly. Knowing RRH was sure to stay on the path, he went down a short cut and got to the house before she did. He pounded on the door of the small cabin and shouted, “Granny, are you in there?” Receiving no reply, he pushed the door open. “Anyone home?” he called and was again met with silence. “She must’ve gone out to gamble,” he thought, realizing the house was empty. The Wolf hurried into the master bedroom and entered the spacious walk-in closet. “I’ll just slip on a nightgown and then crawl into her bed,” he planned. “Now, let’s see, where would she keep something like that? Ah, this should...eww!” he exclaimed as he picked up a red silk chemise. He rummaged somemore and fumed in frustration when he was unable to find a decent night gown.
RRH arrived and the Wolf decided to forgo wearing the nightgown. Jumping into bed, he pulled the covers up to his neck and called in a false voice, “I’m in my bedroom, dear!”
“Granny! You look simply awful!” commented RRH as she walked in. Why she did not notice the 'person' under the sheets was actually the Wolf is a mystery. As the Wolf proceeded to answer that she had too many Martinis, knowing her grandmother’s habits. RRH seated herself on a small wooden chair by the side of the bed and gazed at the Wolf, “Oh, granny, what big lips you have!”
“The better to kiss you, my dear!”
“And granny,” continued RRH, pulling one of the Wolf’s paws out from under the covers, “what big arms you have!”
“The better to hug you, my dear!”
“And granny, what big hands you have!”
“The better to tie you up, my dear!” growled the Wolf. He leapt from the bed and tied her with a rope conveniently placed on the night table. RRH jerked herself about and ordered the Wolf to let her go. Then again, we should ask, why would the Wolf let her go after tying her up? Her granny came home soon enough and RRH naturally called for help. Granny dashed into the room wearing a bright-yellow sundress showing her excellent figure she retained despite her advanced years.
She cornered the Wolf wanting a kiss from him. RRH laughed as she watched her grandmother advance on the Wolf. “How do you like it now that the table's turned?” she taunted. Granny grabbed the Wolf in a tight embrace, and then leaned forward, pressing her lips against his.
“Lady, you sure do know how to please a man!” the Wolf exclaimed when Granny finally broke the embrace.
“Call me Scarlet,” she said, blinking her eyes flirtatiously.
“Right, Scarlet, I heard that there's a magic act with albino lions being performed at the casino tonight. Do you want to have dinner and catch the show later?” asked the wolf. She agreed immediately and linked her arm around his.
Forgetting about RRH being tied up, Scarlet and the Wolf went out to watch the lion tamers together and soon got married, living happily ever after. As for what happened to RRH, let's just say that she ended up inside a certain hungry grizzly bear who happened to pass by.
Moral of the story? Being old does not mean that you can't do anything. Take Scarlet for example, she managed to get married to the Wolf who was in love with her grand daughter.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Blessings by Anna Quindlen...Book Report
"Blessings" was published in 2002, which was also the year I bought it. I was primary 2 at that time and a bookseller had recommended it to me, claiming that I would definitely enjoy the book. I had been looking for a challenge at that time and begged my parents to buy it for me. However, the book proved to be too difficult for me and I left it on the shelf until recently when I was in search of another unread book. I re-read the summary at the back and decided to attempt it again after six years.
Although the story progresses slowly, the detailed description of the setting and feelings of characters allows us to picture the scenes with ultimate ease. I would strongly reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys imagining about luxurious houses and what goes on inside. How a person should never be judged by her looks and that past records would not mean much as long as one does not repeat his mistake. This book teaches us how our past can affect our future descisions and to what length we can strive in order to help someone just because of what had happened in the past.
Admittedly, I have not read much of the thick book. It would be most unfair for me to decide who I truely think is the most interesting person and what is the most interesting event. However I would gladly say that my current favourite character and event would be Skip Cuddy and the period of time when he found and took care of the baby. During this period of time, Skip had tried all means to support the new born with his meagre salary. I admire his strong sense of responsibility for the new born who was totally unrelated to him. He is also an example of why we should refrain from judging others by their appearance as Skip was never one to look clean or tidy. Skip also has a jail record for breaking the law when he was young. However, his care for the new born shows us that he is not a criminal with an evil heart but is just a misled youth who cares dearly for the people around him.
Blessings is truely a heart-wavering book and I would really recommend everyone to read it with a little patience.
Although the story progresses slowly, the detailed description of the setting and feelings of characters allows us to picture the scenes with ultimate ease. I would strongly reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys imagining about luxurious houses and what goes on inside. How a person should never be judged by her looks and that past records would not mean much as long as one does not repeat his mistake. This book teaches us how our past can affect our future descisions and to what length we can strive in order to help someone just because of what had happened in the past.
Admittedly, I have not read much of the thick book. It would be most unfair for me to decide who I truely think is the most interesting person and what is the most interesting event. However I would gladly say that my current favourite character and event would be Skip Cuddy and the period of time when he found and took care of the baby. During this period of time, Skip had tried all means to support the new born with his meagre salary. I admire his strong sense of responsibility for the new born who was totally unrelated to him. He is also an example of why we should refrain from judging others by their appearance as Skip was never one to look clean or tidy. Skip also has a jail record for breaking the law when he was young. However, his care for the new born shows us that he is not a criminal with an evil heart but is just a misled youth who cares dearly for the people around him.
Blessings is truely a heart-wavering book and I would really recommend everyone to read it with a little patience.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Teaming Together For Work
Think. What is inevitable in our modern society? Something no one can run away from and is there no matter how much you dislike it. I don't really detest it though, it isn't so tough as long as you have enough social skills to overcome the problems in communication. As you would probably have guessed by now, this 'thing' I'm talking about is working in a team.
Opinions of the term 'team work' are widely variated. I clearly remember anticipating for the teachers to group us together and allow us to work in teams instead of doing individual work when I was in primary school. However, the idea of team work is disliked by a majority of students in secondary school. Team work now in secondary school has become a job whereby students group together and try to push the responsibility of the work to a certain 'victim'. If a scrapegoat is not found, then that group's results would suffer. I have been the 'victim' a few times at secondary 1 and I strongly believe it's unfair to be treated in this manner.
So, what makes a team? Horses? Yes, but it's not the kind of team I'm currently talking about. I'm refering to people working together as a team. Team spirit is the first thing which comes to my mind when we discuss about working in teams. I must admit that though this term is common, team spirit is not easily achieved within a team. How then can we achieve team spirit? To me, the simplest way would be to communicate more, be more sensitive to each other's feelings and try to forget any misforgivings towards each other. Communication prevents the misunderstanding of instructions between members so that everyone will be able to complete their part while being more sensitive to each other will help increase bonds between members and avoid offending the other party. Lastly, we should put aside our misforgivings and support each other in order to achieve the goal.
Nothing is smooth sailing in life. We should try to bear with the responsibilities set upon us by the group, for if the base of the work is not set well, the entire piece of work would definitely be ruined. However, there is a limit to how much each individual should bear. We should not let an individual or a few of the members complete the entire project on behalf of the whole group. Every person who considers themselves as a member of the group should offer their help to complete the given piece of work.
Opinions of the term 'team work' are widely variated. I clearly remember anticipating for the teachers to group us together and allow us to work in teams instead of doing individual work when I was in primary school. However, the idea of team work is disliked by a majority of students in secondary school. Team work now in secondary school has become a job whereby students group together and try to push the responsibility of the work to a certain 'victim'. If a scrapegoat is not found, then that group's results would suffer. I have been the 'victim' a few times at secondary 1 and I strongly believe it's unfair to be treated in this manner.
So, what makes a team? Horses? Yes, but it's not the kind of team I'm currently talking about. I'm refering to people working together as a team. Team spirit is the first thing which comes to my mind when we discuss about working in teams. I must admit that though this term is common, team spirit is not easily achieved within a team. How then can we achieve team spirit? To me, the simplest way would be to communicate more, be more sensitive to each other's feelings and try to forget any misforgivings towards each other. Communication prevents the misunderstanding of instructions between members so that everyone will be able to complete their part while being more sensitive to each other will help increase bonds between members and avoid offending the other party. Lastly, we should put aside our misforgivings and support each other in order to achieve the goal.
Nothing is smooth sailing in life. We should try to bear with the responsibilities set upon us by the group, for if the base of the work is not set well, the entire piece of work would definitely be ruined. However, there is a limit to how much each individual should bear. We should not let an individual or a few of the members complete the entire project on behalf of the whole group. Every person who considers themselves as a member of the group should offer their help to complete the given piece of work.
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