I am reading Vernetta Lopez's Memoirs of a DJ- Life in progress.
Quite frankly, a lot of the book is about her life as a DJ (hence the title)... but I bought the book because I wanted to get straight to the bits about her failed marriage with Mark Richmond.
See, I grew up watching them on TV and hearing them on the radio. I remember in an interview, Mark Richmond saying something like.. the first time he held Vernetta's hand was when they were crossing a road, and then after that, he didn't want to let go. Such things, though inconsequential to my own life.. just stick in my head (other more important things.. like where I put my phone.. I forget in 3 seconds).
When they got married, I was still a teenager, and I got so excited. When they got divorced some years later, I told myself I would NEVER get married at St Andrew's Cathedral. They jinxed it for me!
Bearing in mind that I am only reading one side of the story here, I still can't help hating Mark Richmond.
HE CHEATED ON HER. REPEATEDLY. And when found out, instead of coming clean, he denied it... and even got 'B' (obviously Beatrice Chia... who in my opinion is very talented, but SHAME ON YOU, wench!)... well he got B to tell Vernetta that there was nothing going on. Meanwhile, B is sniffing his "SMELL" on her pillow. Gah! The cheek!
To be fair... he's maintained a longish marriage so far with Beatrice, and they have a 5 year old son. So it's not true then... that common saying- Once a cheater, Always a cheater.
Either that, or Beatrice, being thegiant woman that she is, is just better at holding onto the reins compared to Vernetta. I will need to learn from her (because I am crap at the art of control and manipulation. My mom is ace at it, and she uses it to make me feel bad/give in/ agree with her.... she must have been Dr Phil in her previous life. I want to be Dr Phil!).
I have not read the whole book yet. But I know Vernetta remarried in 2009 (when she was 36), and she has mentioned (in interviews) that the clock is ticking, etc. I wonder why they haven't had kids yet. She's 39 now. If it were a true memoir, I expect to see the honest truth on this too... are they trying? Is something wrong? What?
I hope it's not one of those memoirs which are brutally honest when it involves other people (i.e. Mark Richmond), and then kinda all perfumed when it comes to her current life and marriage.
Some other biographies I would love to read would be:
DJ Glen Ong's - Third Time's a Charm: Kate,Jamie and Jean.
Prince Harry - Being the Only Ginger in the Family.
Robert Downey Jr. - Ironman: Sex, Drugs and Drink
(unfortunately, none of these titles exist yet.)
Whose biography would you like to read? And... is all fair in love and war.. do you too feel like spitting on Mark Richmond and Beatrice's affair?
P/s- New stuff listed on ClubCouture today :) Imma do some shopping!
See, I grew up watching them on TV and hearing them on the radio. I remember in an interview, Mark Richmond saying something like.. the first time he held Vernetta's hand was when they were crossing a road, and then after that, he didn't want to let go. Such things, though inconsequential to my own life.. just stick in my head (other more important things.. like where I put my phone.. I forget in 3 seconds).
When they got married, I was still a teenager, and I got so excited. When they got divorced some years later, I told myself I would NEVER get married at St Andrew's Cathedral. They jinxed it for me!
Bearing in mind that I am only reading one side of the story here, I still can't help hating Mark Richmond.
HE CHEATED ON HER. REPEATEDLY. And when found out, instead of coming clean, he denied it... and even got 'B' (obviously Beatrice Chia... who in my opinion is very talented, but SHAME ON YOU, wench!)... well he got B to tell Vernetta that there was nothing going on. Meanwhile, B is sniffing his "SMELL" on her pillow. Gah! The cheek!
To be fair... he's maintained a longish marriage so far with Beatrice, and they have a 5 year old son. So it's not true then... that common saying- Once a cheater, Always a cheater.
Either that, or Beatrice, being the
I have not read the whole book yet. But I know Vernetta remarried in 2009 (when she was 36), and she has mentioned (in interviews) that the clock is ticking, etc. I wonder why they haven't had kids yet. She's 39 now. If it were a true memoir, I expect to see the honest truth on this too... are they trying? Is something wrong? What?
I hope it's not one of those memoirs which are brutally honest when it involves other people (i.e. Mark Richmond), and then kinda all perfumed when it comes to her current life and marriage.
Some other biographies I would love to read would be:
DJ Glen Ong's - Third Time's a Charm: Kate,Jamie and Jean.
Prince Harry - Being the Only Ginger in the Family.
Robert Downey Jr. - Ironman: Sex, Drugs and Drink
(unfortunately, none of these titles exist yet.)
Whose biography would you like to read? And... is all fair in love and war.. do you too feel like spitting on Mark Richmond and Beatrice's affair?
P/s- New stuff listed on ClubCouture today :) Imma do some shopping!
Comments
was there any mention that M wanted to call off the wedding but V didn't as it was a lose of face? i read that somewhere off FB...
As a side note, I just wanted to say that personally, I have not cheated on anyone but I have been cheated on.
I think it would be fake to sanitize her memoirs, gloss over her broken marriage with Richmond and pretend that it never happened, just for the sake of being super duper nice to her ex-husband's new family. If they're not friends, they're not friends. No need for pretense.
What kind of memoirs would a dishonest one be? For those who don't get it, it would be like reading Andrea de Cruz' s memoirs and there's nothing on the Slim 10 saga. Or reading Christopher Lee's memoirs and there's nothing on the time when he was arrested and jailed for a hit-and-run accident.
A good memoir writer has to be brave enough to make difficult decisions. Certain moments define us in our lives. They may be good, they may be bad, they may be very, very uncomfortable for some people who are still alive, but if you want to write an honest account of your life and if you want your memoirs to be taken seriously, then you better include them.
I don't know any of those people personally, so I can't tell you who I think is a "better person" and who is "one-faced" or "two-faced", but I support Lopez on her choice to include that episode in the book. As a memoir writer, she's not obliged to compromise on a narrative of her life out of kindness for her ex-husband's family.
As for whether she is victimising herself, well, if the Richmonds feel that the memoirs have maligned them or propagated untruths about them, then do it the Singaporean way - sue her for defamation. Otherwise, let the readers be the judge. Or even better, write your own memoirs and give your side of the story.
To those who say that it's not classy to wash dirty linen in public, we're talking about memoirs here. You wash dirty linen in your memoirs.
As a side-note, I haven't been cheated on, but I have been through some rough patches in my life and I know that if I were to attempt to write my memoirs someday, I would include them.
.....this scares me when i think about marrige or long term relationships...cause i am bad at it too. i always thought that genuinely caring loving n giving warmth and having gd intentions would be enough...but it can b really hard in reality n it depends on ur partner's outlook too.
And whether her version of the failed marriage is being exaggerating, it's not up to anyone to judge. The memoir serve as a record of her feelings and her experiences. The same words or same scenes could be interpreted so differently by each individual. If that was how she felt and how she interpreted, She shld write as it is.
I will just read it like a story book. It's a story written by her and I dislike the ex-husband and 3rd party in her book.
On a side note, I am definitely interested to read about Glen. lolz
i thought its like open secret even if u guess it?
and then see the next couple, a couple who said they r soooooooooooooooooooo in love after the guy breaks up with the wife (divorce). n this couple get married citing no one is 3rd party in the guy's marriage.... fast forward. the guy n girl break up after a glamour wedding & showing SG how IN LOVE they r in each other arms. kua kua kua.
and the girl now a wife n give birth also.. married angmoh...
i feel sad for the wife (first marriage). i hope she is living a happy life now.