Simple Passion

Annie Ernaux's auto-fiction "Simple Passion" has nothing "simple" about it. The chapter read for this week's class brings love and desire further to light, but also explores the idea of obsession. We desire things or people that we want then we fall in love with those things or people. Doesn't it happen that many times a relationship turns into a sort of obsession? Maybe some people would rather refer to it as a routine, but in reality in a relationship we often become obsessed with the other person. Once we commit to someone suddenly all our thoughts somehow return to what that person would think, want, need or do. We are obsessed with looking for that next text, phone call or FaceBook status from our significant other. Some people, take obsession to a whole other level life Anie Ernaux. Ernaux talks about the unbelievable pleasure A brings her sexually, but its more than eroticism attached with Ernaux's feelings. She almost idolizes A, what he wears, how he acts, how he moves or stumbles...its the every little gesture that one might typically overlook. Ernaux is stuck in this time freeze, in my opinion, everything is in slow motion as she waits for Mr. Right to think or feel even a partial of what she feels for him. Why does she wait for this man? She must be able to find someone else or there must be someone else who certainly wants her, but I guess that's just it...we want what we can't have! If he reciprocated the entire time would she still want him? Would the passion be just that simple or would it no longer exist? Ernaux feels the voids in her life by shopping for specialty clothing, items and lingerie with the idea that she will meet this man once more. It is very typical to try and replace voids with material items, but that won't ever actually fill that void completely.

I'll Make Love To You- Boyz II Men

Boyz II Men: I'll Make Love To You

Close your eyes, make a wishAnd blow out the candlelightFor tonight is just your nightWe're gonna celebrate all through the night
Pour the wine, light the fireGirl, your wish is my commandI submit to your demandsI will do anything, girl, you need only ask
I'll make love 2 you like you want me toAnd I'll hold you tight, baby, all through the nightI'll make love 2 you when you want me toAnd I will not let go 'til you tell me to
Girl relax, let's go slowI ain't got nowhere to goI'm just gonna concentrate on youGirl, are you ready? It's gonna be a long night
Throw your clothes on the floorI'm gonna take my clothes off tooI made plans to be with youGirl, whatever you ask me, you know I will do
I'll make love 2 you like you want me toAnd I'll hold you tight, baby, all through the nightI'll make love 2 you when you want me toAnd I will not let go 'til you tell me to
Baby, tonight is your nightAnd I will do you rightJust make a wish on your nightAnything that you askI will give you the love of your life
I'll make love 2 you like you want me to(I'll make love)And I'll hold you tight, baby, all through the night(Hold you tight)I'll make love 2 you when you want me to(I'll make love)And I will not let go 'til you tell me to
I'll make love 2 you like you want me to(I'll make love)And I'll hold you tight, baby, all through the night(Hold you tight)I'll make love 2 you when you want me to(I'll make love)And I will not let go 'til you tell me to
This is not my only favorite love song, but I love this song because it's about a guy pleasing a woman unconditionally.  I think a guy should go out of his way to make his woman feel amazing. I thought of Celestina when listening to this song more recently because the guy would do anything to be with Malibea. Part of healthy love is having the romance alive and this is a good song for a guy who wants to treat his lady right! :) 

Karma: The Bad Girl Part II

Ricardo was an intelligent man, but also very stupid too. He was blinded by the “love” of the Bad Girl. Through thirty some years the Bad Girl had entered and exited Ricardo's life dramatically. The Bad Girl was deserving of no name other than just that, the Bad Girl. She deceitful, cruel, and cold, yet Ricardo loved her. Why did he love her so much? Ricardo loved her because she never loved him the way he loved her; the way he wanted her to love him. Ricardo wanted to win the game, the trophy being that he won't the Bad Girl's love once and for all. At the end of the story Ricardo and the Bad Girl were together in their later years; some might say that he finally won and captured what he had desired his whole life, but I don't see it that way.

The Bad Girl treated people cruelly and believed, like I said last week that happiness could only come from money. She stole, deceived, and betrayed many people. I truly feel that she had no feelings and she certainly could not be remorseful. She was a manipulator which enabled her to be the thief that she was, both of money and of heart. She was always greedy from the beginning of the novel and she was also selfish. She sought out men who would be vulnerable to her lies and open to her fabricated stories of the many lives she lived.

Karma is a powerful term that many people refer to in today's society. We also think of the phrase "what goes around comes around". Karma is what determines a person’s fate. We constantly are made aware of our actions for just this reason. We hope, as humans, that if we do well in return good will be done to us. When we do badly, we often see that our fortune, connections or relationships are not as good as they could be. I would never wish harm or poor health upon any person, in real life or in a book, but as I see it, the cancer determined the fate of her actions.

I also believe that her reasoning in seeing Ricardo at the end was for purely selfish reasons. She knew she destroyed the man, closest in age, who loved her tremendously regardless of all her wrong doings. Ricardo, in my opinion, had much insecurity. At the end, he did take the Bad Girl back, but he knew it wouldn’t be for long; however, this time when she left it would be the last, it would be final. At this point, Ricardo had lost her so many times that this final time would almost be a relief to him.

I don’t feel that Ricardo had very good luck. I think that he was a good person who had been handed a bad deck of cards when it came to the game of love. Everyone has some heartache and pain, but I felt that even when Ricardo tried to rid the Bad Girl of his mind she some how reunited herself with him; whether it was on purpose or by coincidence.

The Honest Truth: "The Bad Girl"

The Bad Girl is a continuation of what we are learning in class about love and desire. The main character Ricardito has dreams of living in France for all is life. These dreams began when he was young and an orphan cared for by his Aunt Alberta. From his young days in Lima to his current days in Paris, Ricardito had love for this mysterious girl; the "Bad Girl". The Bad Girl was known as the Chilean girl, then guerrilla fighter, and then Madam Arnoux. As Madam Arnoux, the Bad Girl lived a suitable lifestyle. She traveled, had a love affair, got to wear fancy clothes, and go to A-list parties. She desired a life of wealth, fancy and fashion. Ricardito loves her from the first day he met her, and every time after that he had a bizarre run in with her just by coincidence. The Bad Girl was a liar and would do anything get ahead no matter the feelings others had to sacrifice. Ricardito never stopped thinking about her and he would tell her all sorts of romantic things yet she would blame him that the reason they weren't married was because he was a coward. In one discussion, the Bad Girl said,  "Happiness, I don't know ad I don't care what it is, Ricardito. What I am sure about is that it isn't the romantic, vulgar thing it is for you. Money gives you security, it protects you, it lets you enjoy life thoroughly and not worry about tomorrow. It's the only happiness you can touch." The concept of money buying happines is something we have briefly touched upon in class, but have not spent a whole lot of time discussing. In the Bad Girls mind, this is the ultimate way to achieve happiness. I believe she knows the difference between happiness and love and she could care less if she loved the man she was with as long as he was wealthy and could lavish and spoil her. She knew she would continue to have love affairs until and even after she found that wealthy companion. Following her brief statement about happiness she said, "I'll never be satisfied with what I have. I'll always want more." This speaks to how humans naturally desire more and more...for if we do not desire we would not live. The Bad Girl is blunt in speaking about such desires. She wants to travel, dress fancy, go to plays and live an extravagant lifestyle all of which Ricardito could not afford. Ricardito desires to care for her in ways that are nowhere similar to the Bad Girl's fantasies. I believe that the Bad Girl is a bad person, an obviously unfaithful person, a liar and a deviant. She doesn't fit the role of a wife, but more of a whore. There is no game of love with her, its a game of money and fortune...Just as it was when she stole Monsieur Arnoux's money out of his Switzerland account and disappeared into the unknown on her next adventure to win big.