That whole, "come to the dark side, we have cookies" thing comes to mind. And you know what Frontier also does? They put little animals on their plane wings. You can't really see it, but there on the wing tip...is BAMBI.
I got to the Salt Lake airport around noon, yesterday, and went through security- which was really an ordeal, seeing as how I had to wear my foxy boots in order to have room in my suitcase for everything else. Anyway, I passed- and then got a peppa-peppamint hot chocolate from Stawrbucks, and then went up and sat by my gate. And THEN I read my new book-
I haven't gotten very far in it, yet, cause I read the Anna Quindlen foreword before I started with Chapter 1. You should always read forewords; they're usually pretty nifty in understanding the book. (But I have a whole two weeks to kick back, relax, and enjooyyy it!)
ANYWAY, I read some of my book and then my flight started boarding, so I stood up and got in line to get ON it, when I heard an "Oh hey!" from the guy standing next to me. So I looked up, and it was a guy who was in my career class all semester! How funny is that?
I flew into Denver, got Panda Express, and got comfy at my gate with a little film called The Conspirator; I redboxed it and I'm about 105% sure I'm buying it. I loved it.
The initial draw? Lincoln. Oh, how I love Lincoln. Favorite President, favorite historical figure...and you know, when I think about it, I have this thought. And maybe it sounds weird, but this is my blog, so I get to write what I want to write. But sometimes I think I like Lincoln because I see a lot of myself in Lincoln. And don't get me wrong; I think he was a lot greater than I have ever been, to date. But it's not the fact that he was the Civil War president that makes me so intrigued; it's not his top hat or his Marfan's syndrome or his dramatic assassination story. It's his ideals, and...the way he thought.
It's so evident to me, in studying Lincoln, that he was a God-fearing guy; not a shakin-in-his-boots revivalist or anything, but someone who was aware that the freedoms that set this nation apart from all others are God-granted and God-inspired. Secondly, he was a good, fair man- who seems to have striven toward doing the right thing, consistently.
But thirdly...
He was freakin awkward. He was tall and gangley. His hair pretty much always looked like he'd just gotten out of bed. He came from dirt and pennies- his mother died while he was young, as did a girl he was in love with, and his marriage with Mary Todd wasn't, from the outside looking in, at least, all that great. His first attempt for election in Congress was a flop; he didn't make it. He wasn't even close to making it. He was melancholy, and sober, and he was likely a victim of depression. And people hated him- enough to kill him.
But:
- One seldom gets anywhere without a little adversity, and, moreover,
- As Abe said himself, "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
The film wasn't really about the assassination itself, though...it DID picture it pretty vividly, and I DID really wish I'd visited Ford's and the Petersen boarding house in DC- but the majority of the movie was about the conspirators who worked with John Wilkes Booth.
James McAvoy made a lovely appearance as the brilliantly clever, inspirational and passionate lawyer defending a woman he hates at the film's onset. Oh, how I love James McAvoy!
It's the true story of Mary Surratt, a boarding house operator who housed the secret meetings of John Wilkes Booth and fellow conspirators of the Lincoln assassination leading up to April 14, 1865. Whether or not she knew about the meetings is controversial- she was tried by a commission of Union generals rather than by a civil jury, was declared guilty, and was hanged for her supposed crime- the first woman ever executed by the United States government.
