That my birthday kinda sucked. And then, the Mumbai attacks happened. And my birthday doesn’t seem so bad anymore. Perspective, people.

I took leave on my birthday so that I can renew my passport. I spent the whole day at the Immigration Department getting everything settled. I tried to renew using the kiosk, but the stupid machine said that it cannot detect my MyKad. So I had to queue like the rest of the unfortunate people. You know what ticks me off? I waited three (THREE!) hours for my turn, and it took them less than 10 minutes to check the forms and get my thumb print. THEN they made me wait to pay at another counter. THEN it was another two hours before I could collect the new passport. WHOLE frikkin’ day at the Immigration Department. BUT. Perspective, people. At least it was not like last time when there wasn’t any proper numbering system, or angry prickly people behind the counter, or no estimated time for collection. We’ve come a long way. Still a long way to go before we can reach perfection. You know what would be perfect? If everything was online. I don’t know how to pull that off, nor do I care, but all I care about is that it’ll be easier for me. ME ME ME ME.

I kesian at the people in Mumbai. I hope nothing like that ever happens in Malaysia. While I was watching the news, my over-imaginative mind started thinking how it would feel if a standoff happened at the office… good god, no. If they were only targeting American and British passport holders, why did they randomly shoot at the crowd? Killing hundreds? Why?? Is this really the way to get your points across?? Are we supposed to be impressed?? Blergh!

I watched The Kingdom the other day on HBO, and I was, like, wow. This movie rocks. It doesn’t show the rowdy, brash Americans being the heroes of war, but it shows the Americans and the Saudis who are ordinary people trying to win the war against terror. Oh, can Jennifer Garner’s character be more irrelevant?

Ok, that is my rant for today.

As per usual, I like to jump in on the bandwagon wayyyyyyyyy after everyone else’s has. So, we know the US presidential campaign is over, and Barack Obama is the president, but! Check out this cute promo from Mos Def, encouraging people to vote:  

I agree on the 100-year moratorium (new word of the day, btw) of the words shorty, in da club, etc etc. Basically, Usher can just. SHUT. UP.

Mos Def is most cute, I would vote for him on that factor alone. Just so everyone knows how cool this guy is, below is the trailer for Be Kind Rewind:  

So cool. I’m totally going to go see it.

I’ll be upfront and just admit that I’m not a fan of chic lit. I don’t know why. It’s not that I abhor the fluffy stories, because I do own some romance books, but almost all are either of the historical-romance genre, or the paranormal-romance genre. Oh wait, I think I just answered my own question. I like stuff that has nothing to do with reality, stories that are really “made-up”, that wouldn’t reference the present times.

Which is why I have no affinity towards chic lit. Though I’ve only read two books from this genre (Bridget Jones and now Austenland – thanks Karen for borrowing me yours), they have a lot of references to current TV programs, world events, shopping brands and stuff. I mean, if I want reality I could just, you know, look around me, couldn’t I?

So anyway, back to the original objective of this post. Review of Austenland.

Cute cover.

Excerpt from Amazon: In 32-year-old singleton Jane Hayes's mind, no man in the world can measure up to Fitzwilliam Darcy—specifically the Fitzwilliam played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Jane is forced to confront her Austen obsession when her wealthy great-aunt Carolyn dies and leaves her an all-expenses-paid vacation to Pembrook Park, a British resort where guests live like the characters in Jane's beloved Austen novels. Jane sees the trip as an opportunity for one last indulgence of her obsession before she puts it "all behind her—Austen, men, fantasies, period," but the lines between reality and fiction become pleasantly blurred as Jane acclimates to the world of Spencer jackets and stringent etiquette rules, and finds herself torn between the Darcyesque Mr. Nobley and a forbidden tryst with Pembrook Park's gardener.

So the premise is interesting. I’m a big fan of Mr. Darcy myself, so I thought that this could be one chic lit that I could relate to, and thoroughly enjoy without so many eye-rolls. The first two chapters (or is it one? Because it’s the prologue and chapter 1) was completely funny, and relatable! I thought, wow, I could really like this book. Alas…. as I continue to read the book, it just went downhill after that. The narration, though charming and funny at moments, were mostly monotonous in a… ‘fluffy’ sort of way, like the problems that the protagonist, Jane Heyes, had to endure were completely superficial in my opinion. There’s a part when Jane had an epiphany that she was never really comfortable in her own company (being alone), and I thought, ok, so the story will go deeper after this, but Hale (the author) just, like, touch-and-go on the subject and moved on. I don’t even know whether Jane Heyes will want to resolve that problem or not.

And really, if you’re going to make it more “real” by referencing the current TV shows, why do you have to write the characters to be completely silly and cartoon-like, who will never survive the realities of today’s world?

OK, I guess I’m expecting too much from this genre. I might have enjoyed it more if I were in the right mood, like on a holiday or something. Maybe lounging by the beach under the cool shade of a coconut tree, with ice cold sweet lemon-ribena within reach on the small lawn table by my lounger, and a lemon-frosted vanilla cupcake on a colourful sky-blue, pink-dotted plate. Science, I need a vacation.

So, um, no, I still don’t like chic lit and I’m too biased to actually write a subjective review on this book. Haha.