Archive for December, 2007

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I don’t do it anymore–make New Year’s Resolutions, that is. After 60+ years, I know better.

Evidently, I’m in good company. Mark Twain wasn’t too keen on New Year’s Resolutions, either.

…Mark Twain has written of New Year’s Resolutions, “Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink, and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever.” read full post here

But there is one thing I do each year. I pull out the books I’ve been journaling in for over thirty years, and I reread some of my favorite sayings collected over the years.

Some of them mean something totally different to me now then they did twenty or thirty years ago when I first wrote them. Take for instance this one by Eleanor Roosevelt, No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

When I first wrote this in my journal back in the sixties, women were scrambling uphill to establish equal footing with men. I recited it out loud, over and over again like a mantra. The “little woman” stereotype in me was attempting to break out and reach for hitherto impossible things. Believe me, it wasn’t an easy concept to grasp–this freedom to be whoever I wanted to be. It was a time when every young woman needed a mantra and this one was mine.

I saved another one from Eleanor Roosevelt that still rings out loud and clear to me. You must do the thing that you think you cannot do. This one started me on the path I’ve walked for the rest of my life.

I’ve learned that I don’t always have to conform. I think the reward for conformity is everyone likes you but yourself. Attributed to Rita Mae Brown.

Learning who to befriend is big, too. Claudette Colbert said it best. It’s more important what’s in a woman’s face than what’s on it.

I like to believe the older I get, the wiser I become. Reading over the sayings that are dear to my heart each year reinforce that belief. I’ve learned it’s important to “live” from Dorothy McCall. One cannot have wisdom without living life.

Also, from Joan Baez, You don’t get to choose how you are going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live. Now.

And it appears many people are collectors of sayings. These are a few from Lee Cantrell’s blog:

I’d like to think that this one is a good description of me:
“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Lastly, since I just quit my job, I guess this one is really me:
“I’d rather be a failure at something I enjoy than a success at something I hate.” – George Burns read full post here

Once I’ve read through all my journals, there’s no reason to make a resolution. Life leads, and I follow.

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Did you know Memphis is situated in the southwest corner of Tennessee and that it shares its borderline with Mississippi and Arkansas? Well, it seemed to my friends and me that we should, at the very least, have lunch in one of these two bordering states. We decided to drive over the bridge into Mississippi. What a surprise we had in store!

Our first stop was Mississippi’s Visitor Center, where we learned we were 15 minutes away from a large gaming area in the small town of Tunica. The casino aspect didn’t interest us much because we were hungry, but we figured a casino would have multiple restaurants to choose from. The Horseshoe Casino caught our eye.

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Lucky for us, because we ate at their unforgettable buffet restaurant. Words cannot describe the immense array of food offered there.

Picture yourself standing in the middle of a shopping mall’s food court having no need to decide what you want to eat, because you can eat everything: Italian, Oriental, Southern, The Grille, Southwest, Barbeque, Salads, Soups, Desserts and Ice Cream Sundae Bar. I’ve probably forgotten a few, believe it or not.

With appetites sated, we headed back to Memphis to shop.

A word about Beale Street–I was expecting something similar to Bourbon Street in New Orleans, but Beale Street is much shorter, only extends about a block to two. Therefore, it doesn’t have as many shops, but what it lacks in shopping, it makes up for in good food and fantastic music. The entire time spent on Beale Street is a party for the senses.

After that unbelievable lunch at the Horseshoe, we thought we would never eat again, but the next day, we found ourselves at Pig On Beale.

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There is one important fact to know about BBQ, it comes “wet” or “dry.” At the Pig, you can order your ribs with a dry rub. Take it from me, if you’re ever at the Pig, dry is the way to go.

The final Memphis highlight that I will touch on has a lot of “soul.”

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We had time to visit one museum and, boy, did we make a good choice. Music, with just the right mixture of history, made for a memorable visit.

If there was one negative about Memphis, it would be their widespread panhandling. The city doesn’t seem to have a handle on handling their panhandling, which during the day is irritating, but when it’s dark, it’s really scary.

Other than that, there’s lots more to do in and around Memphis, but we ran out of time.

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If you’re looking to hear the blues, Memphis is the town.

Looking to savor the sweet taste of BBQ? Memphis is a good choice.

I recently got it into my head that I’d like to do both. I emailed a co-worker to see if there was any mutual interest. This is how the emailed exchange went.

Do you want to go to Memphis? [Me]

Are you serious? [Co-worker]

Yes. [Me]

What brought this on? [Co-worker]

$100 roundtrip offer being made by Northwest Airlines. [Me]

Let’s do it. [Co-worker]

I guess it’s clear from the email exchange that I’m a bit of a free spirit and most of my friends tend to be cut from the same cloth. Therefore, this type of exchange happens more often than one would think, especially since I receive updates from various travel sites listing each week’s top ten best travel deals. (It was one of these offers that served as catalyst for my Carnival Cruise, which I wrote about back in October, ’07)

Anyway, we swooped into Memphis early Saturday morning, and we stayed at the Comfort Inn, a fortunate choice. Choosing accommodations in a city that you haven’t visited before is tricky, but sometimes luck is on your side. Our Comfort Inn was truly an inn. The price of the room included a continental breakfast that turned out to be much, much more then mere donuts and coffee. What a delight.

Speaking of delights, another one of our friends drove clear across Tennessee to meet us in Memphis. What began as a spur of the moment jaunt, became a glorious three-day reunion, jam packed with loads of fun, music, history and good eatin’.

Our first stop was to the famous Beale Street, where we swooned over the music at B.B. King’s and ate catfish, shrimp po’ boys and, what else? BBQ.

More about the Memphis adventure next week.

Because so many things occur in the month of December, dreaming up something to write about is as easy as 1-2-3. I’m here to spur you on with some writing ideas because I know how important your memories are, even if you don’t realize it yet yourself.

The obvious choices are Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa. Maybe you remember one that remains a true highlight in your mind. It should be shared. Write it down now. Your family and friends will someday be thankful to relive it with you through your written words.

Speaking of words; maybe you’re thinking that you can’t write. The truth is, writers wouldn’t want you to know this, but journaling is simple because all you do is write the same way you talk. Write as if you were telling the story to your grandchild or to your next door neighbor. If you can talk, you can write.

Getting back to the holidays, maybe you can’t think of one that stands out as being special. Well, this year is another year. Write something about this year’s holiday.

Maybe you hate holidays. Some people do, you know. There are numerous other things you can write about this month.

• On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks sat down in a bus and almost single-handedly started the Civil Rights Movement. Her day is commemorated each year on December 1st, Rosa Parks Day. What were you doing in 1955? Want to refresh your memory about the Rosa Parks. Go to her website http://rosaparks.org/index.html
• What do you remember about the Women’s Movement? The First Susan B. Anthony Dollar appreared on December 6, 1978.
• Where were you when Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941?
• Maybe you’re more interested in science. Write about the Winter Solstice, when the earth moves closest to the sun. It happens this year on December 22nd. If you want to learn more, go to http://www.candlegrove.com/solstice.html
• On a lighter note, write about the swell times you had looking at the Howdy Doody Show. It premiered on December 27, 1947. If you were lucky enough to have a television, you were probably watching Clarabelle and the rest of the gang. If you didn’t have a television, write about that–living without TV.

Trust me, writing about yourself is easy as pie. And if you still can’t bring yourself to share a memory, share a pie recipe.

I like to write “remember when” essays, and yesterday I got to thinking about penny candy and how wonderful it felt to buy a handful of candy with a few copper pennies. One of my favorites was candy cigarettes: all sugar, shaped like a real cigarette with one tip painted red.

It was my intention to go on the web and find a picture of the candy to attach to this post. Imagine my surprise to find that candy cigarettes are a very controversial topic. Who knew?

According to Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Jun. 19, 2007) — New research suggests that playing with candy cigarettes may favorably set the minds of some children towards becoming future cigarette smokers.

And the British Medical Association, (BMA) reports, candy cigarettes have actually been banned in some countries.

Candy cigarettes have reportedly been restricted or banned in many countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Finland, Norway, Australia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. In the United States, legislation banning candy cigarettes has been proposed unsuccessfully at the federal level in 1970 and in 1990, in 11 states, and in New York City. Only one US jurisdiction, North Dakota, has ever banned candy cigarettes. (That ban in 1953 was repealed in 1967.)

Who knew?

All I wanted to do was reminisce a little about how I loved those candy cigarettes. I remember sucking on the end until it came to a sharp point. Although, upon recollection, I don’t think I ever put the “lit” end into my mouth, so I suppose they did represent a real cigarette to me.

And, looking back, I did become an adult smoker, so maybe the test results are valid. Oh, didn’t I tell you there have been actual tests run? It appears that kids who smoke pretend cigarettes grow up  and become adults who smoke real cigarettes ?

 ”Candy cigarettes: do they encourage children’s smoking?” This study found that sixth graders who reported having used candy cigarettes were twice as likely to have also smoked tobacco cigarettes, regardless of parental smoking status. Additionally, 5-11 year olds in focus groups consistently identified candy cigarettes as “smoking toys,”  BMA

Sheesh!

The next time I decide to write a “remember when” memoir, I’ll try to stick with something that is less controversial like Tinkertoys, Teaberry Chewing Gum, or Tangee Lipstick, which I loved to wear when I was a young teen.