This and That

Or maybe it's your basic "how are you, fine I hope" post. As a reader of other people's mail (See: a past blog about that), I can tell you that most all personal correspondence -- at least the kind I read, the kind which has been recovered from flea markets and antique junkyards -- are of that ilk. Not particularly interesting, just touching base, as it were.

Even so, I'm going to carry on and jot down some random thoughts. About television programs, for instance.

The Powers That Be have cancelled AS THE WORLD TURNS.

Yes, I watch the soaps. Or I watch this soap and have from the time it debuted -- I was a mere child at the time. I never liked any of the others. Quite frankly, I couldn't understand the mindset of the West Coast ones, i.e., THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS -- or I couldn't until I saw the O.J. Simpson trail. Then, I acquired a little insight into to what constitutes the LA lifestyle, enough to conclude that, as I first suspected, these programs are not for me.

They've also cancelled another favorite: UGLY BETTY. I like UGLY BETTY because it's about family and integrity and honor and responsibility and love and loyalty and acceptance. It may not look like it is at first glance, but it is. Every episode made me feel better than I did when I sat down to watch it -- and that's a wonderful thing, especially in today's entertainment world.

Moving right along, I've found some products I really like:

Alba Papaya Mango Body Cream (an excellent moisturizer and it smells wonderful!).

Alba Pineapple Enzyme Facial Cleanser if used with Alba Aloe and Green Tea Oil-Free Moisturizer (the cleanser also smells wonderful, but it's a bit drying without the moisturizer. The moisturizer is light and soothing).

Similasan Allergy Eye Relief. The pollen count here this spring has been extremely high -- it blows around in what looks like a yellow fog -- and Similasan has helped so much. It's homeopathic, 100 percent natural according to the box, and it's made in Switzerland.

Zaxby's Road House Salad: Yum.

I've also run across a product I don't like:

Broderbund's PrintMaster Platinum 2.0. It is absolutely the worst computer program I've ever tried to use, and I mean WORST. The user manual is useless and the "technical support" non-existent. Their solution was to tell me where to get a user manual -- which I already had and couldn't decipher. I'm not helpless when it comes to working the computer machine, but this program was beyond my intuitive skills. It's terrible, I tell you, terrible.

Still moving along, I continue to listen to and enjoy the dramas on BBC Radio 4. Those 15 minute segments are the highlight of my day.

And finally, I've been thinking about actress Dixie Carter, who died this past weekend. I liked her a lot as "Julia Sugarbaker," but I think I would have liked her as herself as well. Just recently I saw an interview she had done where she talked about her life and her career. She shared a saying about relationships and marriage, one I'd never heard before and one I'm going to share with you. The gist of it was this:

"It takes a very good man to be better than no man at all."

Oh, if my young clients could have learned that. How much better off would they and their children have been?

Till next time...