Thursday, October 26, 2006

Like Water for Chocolate *** (for STYLE not CONTENT)


Here's what the reviewers say: Like Water For Chocolate is a deceptively simple book - a love story set in Mexico, interspersed with recipes, related in unadorned, uncomplicated language. Yet when the ingredients are combined and simmer, subtle and unusual flavors emerge. On one level, this is the story of Tita, youngest daughter of the formidable matriarch Mama Elena who forbids Tita to marry her true love Pedro because tradition says that the youngest daughter must care for her mother until her death. When Pedro marries Tita's oldest sister in order to be near Tita, it begins a life-long conflict filled with passion, deception, anger, and pure love. Interwoven throughout the narrative are the recipes, which, like an ancient Greek chorus, provide an ongoing metaphorical commentary on the characters and their culture. Finally, there is the food itself that Tita creates as head cook on the family ranch, food so vibrant and sensual, so imbued with her feelings of longing, frustration, rebellion, or love, that it affects everyone who eats it. The combination of all these elements, with a good measure of the supernatural thrown in, makes for an earthy, quirky book, sad and funny, passionate, and direct, told by Tita's grand-niece who follows in her footsteps, using her cookbook and continuing a tradition quite different from the one her great-grandmother tried to impose. (From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister)
Here's what I say: GIMME A GODDAM BREAK!! How any woman can love a man who marries and makes babies with her SISTER just to get close to HER is beyond me! Laura gets 3 stars for style. (I like the way she paints a picture, and the recipes are a nice touch even though it's highly HIGHLY unlikely that all of them work. I do a lot of baking and cooking, and some of those recipes looked VERY strange to me.) But she gets a big fat ZERO for content. I have no patience for people who feel they have to be stuck in a shitty situation forever, just because that's their lot in life. Bollocks. I found the protagonist irritating and furstrating... And as for the love of her life??!! He's lucky he died when he did. I wanted to kill him myself! All I can say is, THANK GOODNESS it wasn't a long read. i don't know if I could put up with the whining for another 50 pages!!!

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

The sun is shining!

I wish I could send you a pic of how beautiful it is today. The sun is shining; the sky is the bluest it's ever been; and I'm working outside on the deck, with the sunshine sparkling off the pool... WHAT A DAY!
That's one of the great things about being a free agent. While all the other boring, old stiffs are working indoors in the sterile air-conditioning, I get to work with the sun on my shoulders, while I sip on something cool. It's nice.
It's not going to last very long... But it's still nice while I can enjoy it.
There are so many things going on in my life right now, but I'm not gonna zap them with bad mojo by talking about them before they come to fruition, Just bear with me, but DON'T STRESS! I'm doing well.
Even though my cousin Lyn isn't going to be with us and I'm going to miss her very VERY much, I think this is going to be one of the most amazing summers for me... EVER!
So... back to your dumb desk you go!
I'm going to take the laptop into the shade, poor myself another fruit juice, and watch the trees swaying in the afternoon breeze. Ah! What bliss.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Man. What a crazy world we live in...

If you scroll down this page, you'll see some pics of my cousin Lynette and me on the "Wow! I'm getting really nifty with the ol' flat irons" blog from a few weeks back.
Well... Lynette died in a car crash a week ago and I'm devastated. She was 35, married and on her way to work.
I wish I could say more, but it's too hard to get anything out.
I'm angry.
I'm sad.

I'm just over bad news and funerals.

I'll be posting some nice pics of the two of us growing up together, just as soon as I can bring myself to look for/at them.

Anyway. Peace.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Here's to new beginnings!

Hey friends!

What a crazy couple of weeks this has been...

I've quit my job and I'm officially on The Adventure Of A Lifetime.
I'm sorry that I haven't updated my blog over the past couple of weeks, but let's just say... I've been MORE than a little distracted.
I can't give you all the details about my new venture just yet, seeing as I'm still fine-tuning the details, but it is going to be SO cool when it all comes together! (Why did that sound like something out of the A-Team?)

Please bear with me while I sort out my internet at home.
I'll be able to blog more often once that's done... Promise!

You can mail me on: carmen.gabriel@gmail.com

Later! xox