Feeling Nostalgic for Childhood Friends and Favorite Candies

As I am re-connecting with childhood friends on Facebook - I find myself becoming very wistful for the days gone by. There are times I have a hard time believing that I'm no longer a child. When did that happen? All in the blink of an eye as if I just rode a roller coaster and suddenly found myself at the end of the ride that is the here and now. No, I'm not that old. But the trip to this age seems just as fast-a-ride as a roller coaster ride.

I'm happy to find for single moments that I have no difficulty connecting to that child of so many years ago, specially when I find a new old-friend again.

Sweets were always a part of that interaction and connected to my childhood happiness.

In Switzerland my favorite candy was Sugus... Such innocent pleasure and best shared with friends. Lemony Yellow! Orangey Orange! Raspberry Red! Bright Red Cherry! and Pinapple is Blue? Oh, it doesn't matter sweety! And oh so chewy chewy chewy!

- "Hey, look! I got a bright red one, again!"
- "Do you want my blue for your orange one? No? Ok..."

We'd quickly each chew one - as quick as the candy would allow itself to be chewed only to dig into the bag for the next flavor again and again.

Sometimes we'd make a game by closing our eyes and putting our hand in the bag, searching around and around a couple of times as if for a lottery ticket among the colorful squares. And after a few rounds in the bag, we'd finally pick one out. Still without looking, we'd rip the paper off the candy carefully, and pop it into our mouth to see if we could recognize the taste. We'd guess the taste, then open our mouth for our friend to look inside our mouth to verify the color. That's how we'd know whether we guessed right. It didn't matter if you guessed right or wrong. You did it for the fun, for the interaction. For feeling the sweet juice make it's way down your throat.

Soon our tongues would be raw with the sweet tangy taste of the square pieces, we could no longer decipher the taste and the bag would be finished and we'd be all happy.

How wonderful was it that I didn't have to think about my teeth or my weight? There was nothing bad about eating the candy. It was all good. All of it. Friends and all.

But we grow up and rudly have to face those teenage years that bring along pimples and the years that you somehow manage to choose THE worst hair styles to go with your pimply face.

Next just as you are relieved to no longer being a teenager, college comes along. That's the time that all you need to do is simply look at food to make your hips grow (tempting you to think "maybe the pimples weren't so bad?") That's the age of the most silent competition with your friends - that of being the thinnest among them. And so you find that even the nature of your friendships have changed and you are getting farther and farther away from that child. And that soon you have to become more responsible. You find that you are thinking about your teeth and that you are thinking about your weight.

And then much later - much later - you realize you have forgotten how wonderful and freeing a little piece of candy could taste, and how close you could feel to your friends over a little colorful square.  You realize that with many of those friends that maybe it wasn't really that candy that was the sweetest but that time of your life with other children as friends.

No wonder I miss those years.

Forbes Magazine: Twenty-One Women Entrepreneurs Reveal Their Favorite Business Books

Even the savviest businesswomen get their inspiration from somewhere. Find out what's on their nightstands.
Article by: Kelly Watson

I've read or planning to read a few of the books on this list.

See full article here.

- Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss - I tried reading it once and it didn't grab me. Now that I see it on this list, I think I might give it another try.

I Love Malcolm Gladwell's work. Also, check him on TED and Spagetti Sauce - Sounds dorky but it is NOT to be missed! Books recommended on this list are:
- The Tipping Point
- Outliers - originally, I didn't want to read it, since not a single example includes a woman - How can that be?
 
On my TBD list are the following which make an appearance on this list as well:
- Women Don't Ask by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever (I haven't finished the first chapter and I've already learned a lot!)
- Nice Girls Don't Get The Corner Office by Lois Frankel, Ph.D. - We'll see how this goes. A self-assessment begins early in the book.

Recent Books

[For the Zombie blurb scroll down to the next post]

My luck continues with reading a series of great books.

I read, "The Help" and it was a delightful read. There were parts of the book that I wish it just wasn't a part of the American culture. But that's what makes this country so wonderful it's good and bad all mixed together.

The story is about three women in the early 1960's set in Jackson, Mississipi. Two of the women are Black women that work in white households as maids. The 3rd character, Skeeter, wants to write their story annonymously. At first there is resistance but finally the two women along with a a few other maids agree to help Skeeter write her book. And the stories are lovely and wonderful. It was one of those books that I wished would never end. And when I finished it, it was as if I knew these characters and they did not feel fictional at all.

Next, I'm reading Cutting for Stone written by Abraham Verghese (an MD). A wonderful book about twins born to an angelic nun who was a superb nurse. She dies in childbirth and their father, the surgeon whom she worked with, disappears shortly only to reappear later in their lives in the United States. I had a hard time getting past the birthing scene. It is graphic and bloody. But I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this wonderfully written book.

Earlier this week, I finished reading Lisa Kleypas' "Smooth Talking Stranger." Lisa can do no wrong. I happen to like her historical romances better though. Smooth is a wonderful modern day romance. Rich Guy - Poor Girl. etc. etc. The interaction between the two characters and the dialog are just so fun you want to believe people like this exist. And that its possible for the Prince to pick the poor beautiful girl to be his partner. Hey I need a little feel good fantasy in my life... to keep me sane and this was the right dose this month. Can't wait for her upcoming historical later this month... May 25th to be exact.

Finally, I'm also reading "The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite" written by David Kessler. He is the same person that demonized the tobacco industry and is now working on demonizing the food industry. In the book there is candid accounts of his own struggle with eating and weight gain. The book is an eye opener and it discribes in somewhat scientific terms (it is accessible as far as the reading goes) how these foods are built to make them tasty to the point of food becoming an obssession.

Good reads! I feel lucky and blessed by the Reading Gods...

Pride and Prejudice and the Zombies

Yes, yes - I read this book and let me tell you the parts that were Jane Austen's writing were simply delightful. I can never get tired of reading her and every time I do read P&P I see something new. Something wise, wonderful and witty. I've often said if I could travel back in time, I'd be at Jane's door step in a heart beat.

Now the Zombie part. I admit, that it did surprise me as to how well this "mashable" feature worked and fit into the book - for the most part. Some of it was hilarious and I liked how at one point early in the book it showed that the Bennet sisters can work well as a team despite their differences. And that there can be a sisterly cohesiveness between them. However, I think that thought only works if you've read the book previously.

I also loved how Elizabeth thirsted for blood and at one point is able to yank out the heart of her enemy and eat it. It is so over the top and it gives a hilarious aspect to that particular scene. I kind of imagined her standing there and eating this live beating heart as you would a Red Delicious apple.

But I didn't like a few lines given to my beloved Lizzy. In the following scene Lizzy is responding to Lydia who thinks she can find husbands for each of her sisters. In this book Wickham becomes and invalid who is constantly lying down in his own piss on a matterss and has to be constantly changed out of diapers.

Elizabeth says to Lydia: "I thank you for my share of the favour," said Elizabeth, "but I do not particularly desire the rest of my life spent emptying piss pots." - Elizabeth is way way too elegant in wit and her use of language to ever say something blatant like the word "piss". So I really didn't like this particular line and a few like it when it came to Lizzy.

The next character is Mrs. Bennet. What is funny is that in this case there was nothing Grahame-Smith could add to her character. Austin topped him in regards to that character and is probably laughing at him from the beyond.

The parts written by Seth Grahame-Smith at times worked too hard to be funny in a very juvenile way. Almost reminded me of the Austin Power movies and all the pee jokes. Grahame-Smith went out of his way for the charcters to vomit or in the case of Charlotte and the things he did to her it felt more tragic than funny. Specially since the poor girl is already married to the insufferable Mr. Collins.

But at the end Lizzy is Lizzy and Mr. Darcy is Mr. Darcy and still a great love story. The two are perfect even as Zombie slayers.

This month's Books

• The Guernsey Potato Peel Pie Literary Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows- Delightful! No other was to say it. The last part of the book is one of the best romances I've read in a LONG time.
• Wicked All Day by Liz Carlyle- Nothing compares to Lisa Kleypas' stories. Sorry Liz!
• The White Tiger by Arvind Adiga - Enlightening. The antidote to lyrical India. Reminds me of Kiran Desai's book "The Inheritance of Loss" - It has a certain sadness to it although the narrator is so witty and edgy and so easily uses the "F" word that I found it funny. Just love it.
• As The Great World Spins by Colum McCann- Takes you right back to the 70's and it very thought provoking. Reminds you of the Vietname, Nixon, sex and Studio 56 days. I simply LOVE the writing. So smooth and clean and well thought out. Its as if the text is just scrubbed clean for the reader but it is not sterile by any means.
• The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart - Action packed. A Great book with many good moral lessons and how kids can use their smarts to get out of tight situations. I love watching my son getting into the book and imagining himself as part of the Benedict Society and how he might have been able to contribute to help the situation.

The Antidote to Lyrical India: The White Tiger

Balram Halwai is about a man who manages to improve his lot in life by becoming a driver for a rich family. The book is one long letter to the premier of China as he writes about India's entrepreneurial skills. The narration has a sarcastic edge to it and makes him very endearing. 

I'm still reading the book but can't help myself writing about it. So far, there was a few things that surprised me.

• How easily accepts someone as "Master" and not question the system. And how early in the book the master talks about the Balram as if he is not there and talks about how ignorant Balram is as his master's wife giggles. Later we find this guy also punches his wife in the face.
• He kills his master. Slits his throat...wow...
• When his father tells him he wants his son to be a man and not treated as an animal. His dad pulls rickshaws.

He also goes by several different names and White Tiger is one of his names. Earlier in the book you learn that his family were too busy and had too much on their minds to actually name the boy. So when he gets to grade school his teacher gives him the name Balram who is the sidekick to Krishna. At home his name in Muna which simply means "Boy." He receives the name White Tiger by being considered the smartest boy in his village.

Stimulus Package helping out Scholastic

Ever since the Harry Potter series have ended, Scholastic has been experiencing a slump in it sales. Fortunately, the Stimulus Package is helping the company out:


Scholastic Graduates From Harry Potter to Stimulus for Sales


President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan are using $100 billion in stimulus funds to try to reshape U.S. education. About $22 billion of the money allocated so far has gone to federal programs for the low-income and disabled students Scholastic’s remedial programs target.