Let me just say: great movie, sucksuckSUCKASS book. Horribly racist as well as poorly written.

Huh. I loved the book, thought the movie was pretty good, and thought the movie was MUCH more racist than the book.

Huh. I loved the book, thought the movie was pretty good, and thought the movie was MUCH more racist than the book.

It's been a long time since I read it, but this was pretty much my impression as well.

I read it for the first time when I was in sixth grade, and about three or four more times since then. Last time I read it was about a year or two ago, I think. A few things that come to mind right now: the portrayal of Prissy in the book makes her seem a lot less infantilized, since in the book it's pointed out a whole bunch of times that she is a child. When Scarlett gets to Atlanta and her relatives see that Prissy is the one taking care of Wade, their response is basically, "Are you nuts? She's just a child herself, how can you leave your son in her care?" And yeah, she's flighty and scatter-brained, but she's a kid. I'd say she seems like somewhere between 10 and 12 or so. In the movie, they give her pretty much all the same lines and actions, but the actress playing her looks at least 15.

Also, in the movie, the scene where Ashley and Rhett and all the other white Atlanta men go to burn down the black shantytown where Scarlett was attacked really makes it seem like "Scarlett screwed up, and now the men are doing the right thing by going to fix it." "Fixing it" by burning down the houses of and possibly killing a whole town, when only one man attacked her. In the book, we get much more of the perspective that it's a completely pointless gesture of trying to do what a "Southern gentleman" would do in a world where they haven't realized yet that the old rules can't apply anymore.

But I totally would have set you up if R hadn't moved!

Thanks for the thought, though.

I wish someone would set me up on a blind date.

I have a good friend here (actually, Miss P's mom, the one I saw give birth) who would dearly love to set me up on a blind date. However, she knows I'd kill her if she did. She still makes tenative forays and sighs when I give her the look. If you were in B'more, I'd sic her on you. I almost feel bad for thwarting her inner matchmaker. Almost.

I'm sure some of my lack of interest is the whole hates-change thing, but I don't look too closely anymore. Which sounds bad, somehow. Oh well.

I just finished setting up my new desk. Holds all the stuff my old desk held, but way more organized and in less space. And much prettier and goes better with my other furniture. Plus, it let me rearrange some cables so could eliminate one extension cord and have way less of a cord tangle. I now just need to buy a new lamp, because rearranging the furniture moved the lamp further away from the corner, so I need a bit more light there.

OK after that previous post, I was reminded how after the roughest labor & delivery she'd had, after announcing that and swearing off any more kids on that account, she asked me when it was my turn. She never really does give up! Not even exhausted and in pain!

Did you get rid of the old desk, Hil?

Did you get rid of the old desk, Hil?

Well, right now, it's still in my apartment, but a friend said that he wanted it and will probably pick it up on Friday.

Hey Hil (or anyone else who knows about jewish customs): one of my coworkers is taking friday off to finish thoroughly cleaning everything in her house for Passover. Is that a common thing? What's the idea behind it? Is it the leavened stuff thing?

We were all offering to invite her to clean ours in a bid of, um, solidarity? OK, fine, laziness.