The Yellow Wallpaper

The yellow wallpaper by  Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Theresa has been hounding me to read this story.  She kept telling me I'd understand when I was done.  She was right, I understood.  I understood what I had been missing as a writer myself, I realized that my direction was all wrong, and that I was spending too much time trying to hide my thoughts instead of just putting the crazy out there for everyone to analyze.  This story moved me, and it opened my eyes, and gave me the immediate sense of need to starting writing anything,  like I too was trapped behind that dreaded wallpaper and needed to start tearing away at the layers.  I loved it, and wish I had read it sooner.  It's a free Kindle download so you don't even have to leave the house just click a button and enjoy!

http://amzn.com/B0082UPBWC

Da Tar Baby

I came across this story in a Disney Book I had a child, after an episode of Futurama prompted my brain to refer to Nibbler as a Tar Baby. And in my head I thought what a random and racist thing to say, but then I remembered this story and why the phrase Tar Baby would even be in the back of my head. So I dug out the book and re read the story, and it is horrible. Absolutely horrible and violent and racist, of course the story in the book is preceded by another story titled UNCLE REMUS about 2 white kids who live on a cotton farm and like to listen to the black Uncle Remus smoke his corn pipe and tell stories about Brier Rabbit. It is amazing that 30 years ago, these stories were acceptable and commonly published. I would say Disney has come a long way since then, but their only black princess in the last 30 years, was a Poor Cajun maid from New Orleans.