How Do You Cure Boredom?

Found this prompt on Plinky.com and decided to go for it. Sometimes I get stuck on thinking of something clever to say. And, well, a blog is all about thinking of something clever to say, isn't it?! Anyway, I thought I'd look to Plinky for help, and I found this as one of the prompts for November 9: "How Do you Cure Boredom?"

Even boredom is adorable on a baby!!

Hmmm....Interesting question...

Have I ever been bored? Heck, yeah! Like a lot! How 'bout all the way from 4th grade to college final year?! Yeah, I cannot count the number of classes where I have happily dozed off (while simultaneously writing notes! yeah, I wish there was a Guinness Record for that. I'd totally win!) and woke up to the entire class staring at me, wondering when my precariously perched head is going to fall off my shoulders!!

So, boredom is nothing new to me...

But, how to cure boredom? Now that is something new. So, let's see... what are the things I've been doing to cure my boredom?

1. Reading - Yep. This pretty much takes the cake! I read a lot. If I don't get anything, I have taken to reading eons old news on the newspapers that I line the cupboards with! And I don't just read if I'm bored! I am bored when I have nothing to read! Reading is definitely a cure for boredom. I wish that more people would pick up a good book which they have to turn the pages rather than scroll through or download, sit down with a hot cup of coffee (or not), curl up in a comfortable position, and just....read. It's one of the best feelings in the world, apart from smelling the head of a new born... ever tried that?

2. Blogging - start a blog. And then just write! Do not care about the following: a) how many readers you have; b) how often you write; c) how many people know you have a blog; d) how many people care that you have a blog; e) are you funny, charming, interesting, controversial, or even consistently any one of those! My friend, all those concerns are totally secondary to the fact that you just get to vent online and no one can stop you.... :) Got a better reason?

3.Reading Food Blogs - I tell you, once you've gone into a routine of blogging inconsistently, you will bored...again. So, what better to do than go read other people's blogs?! Some people like to read their colleagues' blogs, some like to read boring corporate blogs, I like to read FOOD BLOGS!!!! yaaay! So, if you're a food lover and just like to oggle at good food, go and subscribe to really good food blogs! Too many double-'Os' in that sentence! I like to read The Pioneer Woman (duh! of course!), EpiCute, Joy the Baker, Bakerella, Smitten Kitchen, and Two Boos Who Eat. Each one carries different recipes and it gives me something like a goal or dream to reach out for...because I like cooking comfort food! Which leads me to...

4. Cooking - Feel bored? Learn how to make a brownie, or really good fried chicken, or French fries, or a cake, or pizza! Go look up the recipes, list out the ingredients, go grocery-hunting (trust me, I do that a lot and it's fun!), plan ahead to make your yummy comfort food, let the anticipation build up, dream about it every night till D-Day, get excited, and then make the recipe, then eat to your hearts' content, and then blog about it!! Tell me, I challenge you, tell me, what's not to love about that process?!

5. Find a cure for boredom! That should keep me occupied for the rest of my life, I think!! :)) heheh!

Anyway, that's my list, you guys. What about you? What is your cure for boredom? Have something exciting to fill the hours? Tell me in the comments, okay?

Savoury Pancake Made with Potatoes + Sides of Sauted Veggies and Tuna Masala

Pancakes have become a mainstay at our household lately. After I made pancakes the first time, the main consumers of my cooking have decided that they will allow me to continue this trend. Now the problem is that I can try out different recipes only at dinner time, because that is the only time of day when I can take time to be creative/daring/foolish (or even manage to get all the grocery I need for a particular recipe!). So, I end up wanting to make pancakes for dinner a lot. This went down well with the husband and child the first time. Second time around, they had a doubtful look on their face, and then smiled their way through their pancakes anyway. Third time came by, and when we had pancakes for dinner again, my husband might have tried to run out the door! Humph! 

Anyway, I decided we can't have that going on any longer, and ventured into (notice how I make it sound like a great journey or business undertaking...) savoury pancakes. And I am really glad I did. Since we can't just have a savoury pancake without something to complement it, I also made two side dishes to go with it. 

Whoa! Wait...What?!?!? Did you just say, "TWO side dishes" lazy procrastinating Jane?!?! Yes, I did. Because, I started out with one plan, and then I ended up making something else. Happens to me frequently. So, I had cut up veggies for one dish, and opened a can of tuna for topping the pancake or something like that. Finally I ended up making two separate sides to go with the pancakes, all because I forgot my original plan!! Anyway, no complains from anyone. Debbie ate up the whole thing, and told me she loves me! So, I think we have a winner. Recipe? Here you go...

Savoury pancakes with Tuna Masala and Veggies Stir-fry

Savoury Pancakes with Potatoes

Things you need: (this is the basic pancake mix, minus the stuff that makes it sweet, like vanilla essence and sugar. Instead we use other yummy savoury stuff. Simple!)
- 1 egg
- 1 cup maida (flour)
- 1 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2-3 medium-sized potatoes
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- some cumin leaves (a.k.a parsley)
- some diced bacon or chicken frankfurters (optional)
- 1 tbsp oil

Here's what you do:
1. Peel the potatoes and boil them with a pinch of salt, until they are very soft.
2. When they are well boiled, mash them and set aside to cool.
3. Next, start on the pancake batter.
4. Beat the egg well, in a deep bowl.
5. Now add the maida, baking powder, salt and pepper into this and mix well.
6. Gradually add all the milk and mix well.
7. Now, slowly incorporate the mashed potatoes into the mix.Mix it well and try to dissolve as much of the lumpiness as possible. If there are stray bits of potatoes that just refuse to dissolve, let them be. They'll only add to your happiness!
8. If you feel that the batter does not have a pourable consistency, add some more milk.

9. Finally add the diced meat. I did not add meat, because for some strange reason I bought a can of tuna! Don't look at me like that...I think I zoned out for a moment at the grocery store. Also, I think they didn't have any other type of processed meat. But if you want to, adding some meat in this pancake batter is just the thing you need to do to make this world a better place! :)

10.Finally, add in the finely chopped cumin leaves for that 'Howzat!' effect.
11. In a flat pan, heat some oil, preferably something that does not have a strong flavor. Oh, you can also use butter.
12. Now, pour a large ladle-full of batter on the pan, and let it cook on one side. DO NOT try to spread the batter! When you see the bubbles burst, turn it over ever so lovingly.
Now, savoury pancake is ready to go. This is great all by itself, but if you have an unused can of tuna, and some coarsely chopped veggies which you forgot why you chopped, then go ahead and make these:


Tuna Masala
What you need:
- 1 small can of tuna
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 tomato finely chopped
- 2 large green chillies finely chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 1 tsp mustard seeds (optional. Go ahead if your method of cooking is deeply Indian, and you just need to see those little guys in every dish you make. Or if you need the time to chop the onions!)
- curry leaves (again, optional. Only to be used, if you are using mustard seeds. Otherwise, why bother? I don't think this influences the taste of the dish. Only maybe if you like the gourmet look of green leaves sticking out of your food!)
- salt to taste

Here's what you do:
1. First, heat some cooking oil in a pan.
2. To this, add the mustard seeds and wait till it pops.
3. Now add some curry leaves, and then the onions.
4. Saute the onions well, until they turn slightly brown.
5. Now add the chopped tomatoes and saute well. Let it mix well together until the onions and tomatoes merge together.
6. Add the green chillies and the ginger-garlic paste. Let the whole thing simmer for a while.
7. You can add a little bit of water, if you find the entire thing too thick.
8. Drain any preservative oil or liquid in the tuna can, and add only the tuna meat into the pan.
9. Quickly add the salt and give it a good stir.
10. Let the mixture simmer for a while. Make sure that the dish is not too watery. It should be a thick paste-like consistency. Now, take it off the stove.
11. Garnish with some cumin leaves.

Stir-fry Veggies

I wanted some color, crunchiness, and healthy food in my dinner that day, so I also stir-fried some vegetables. The secret behind a good stir-fry is to make sure that the vegetables retain some of their fresh crunchiness and their original flavor. So, hold back on those wide range of spices and sauces, except for the bare essentials,  and let the veggies do the talking!

Things you need:
- 1/2 cup carrots coarsely cut into 1cm long pieces (I don't know the technical term for this. Just don't go and finely chop them, okay?)
- 1/2 cop onions coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup green peppers (capsicum) coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup ripe tomatoes coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup beans cut into 2cm pieces. You know...they should all be the same size...figure it out yourself!
- 1/4 cup green peas (I didn't have any, so none in the picture)
- 1 tsp of soy sauce
- a sprinkling of oregano
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste

What you do:
1. First know that vegetable stir-fry is really really simple!Okay, now that we've established that, let's move on.
2. Heat some cooking oil in a pan. You can use olive oil if you are going the healthy way.
3. Now, drop in the onions and green peppers together. They both require about the same cooking time, and also give out some water, so let them meet first!
4. Now drop in the carrots, beans and peas. Sprinkle salt and stir very quickly on a high flame. Make sure they are partially cooked.
5. Add some oil every time you feel that the veggies are about to stick to the pan. You just want the vegetables to be a little on the fried side of things :) I like the sound of that - 'fried side'. "I'll meet you on the fried side!" hehe!
6. Now, pour in the soy sauce, sprinkle some oregano, and give it another stir.
7. Finally, add the pepper and give it a stir. Okay, if you see the word 'stir' a lot here, that's because it's the basic concept of a stir-fry....That's all there is to it! You just heat some oil, and just dump in veggies you like, and stir. Simple!
8. There is no 8th step. Just serve and eat. Or don't serve. Just eat! Heheh!

I arranged both the stir-fry and the tune on top of a pancake to make it look all 5-star-restaurant-ish, but I doubt if it looks like that at all! Anyway, it certainly tasted like a 5-star! Who cares about the way the food looks, as long as the picture is your's right? Yep, I took the picture this time. So...

This was truly delicious. Of course, you shouldn't just stop with one pancake...

How to Deal with Childish Adults at Work

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(This article appeared in YourOfficeCoach.com, and is written by Marie G. McIntyre.)

Ideally, everyone would behave in a calm, rational, adult manner at work. Unfortunately, some people just never grow up completely. If you have to deal with immature bosses, coworkers, or employees, perhaps the suggestions below will help you keep your sanity. Here are some signs that you are dealing with childish adults.

1.   Throwing Temper tantrums: Like 2-year-olds, people who throw temper tantrums believe they are entitled to get their own way. They therefore feel free to abuse anyone who thwarts their desires. Unfortunately, this group often includes immature high-level executives who believe that having power gives them the right to treat others any way they like.

The Proper Response: The best response to a tantrum is no response at all. Stay quiet and calm until the tantrum calms down enough to have a civilized conversation. If it goes on too long, politely excuse yourself and leave. Never show fear, anger, or any other emotional response, since that will be very rewarding to the tantrum thrower. When someone acts this childish, you must be the adult.

2.  Tattletales: Some people enjoy telling tales and rattling out their colleagues. (My note: ‘tattling’ means complaining about one person to a higher authority – much like children go to their parents and complain about a sibling or friend for silly reasons!) This can be blatantly childlike: “Mary came back late from lunch two times last week.” Or it may be disguised in more professional language: “Although Bob’s group made a good effort, we were never able to get their documents on schedule, so the whole project is late.”

The Proper Response: Tattling needs to be directly confronted. If the information is inaccurate, let the tattler know this and be sure to correct any erroneous impressions that others may have. If the information is accurate, but detrimental to you, ask the tattler to please share concerns with you before taking them to others. Sometimes one member of a work group tattles on everyone else, in which case, the whole group may need to confront the issue.

3.   Not Sharing Their Toys: Collaborative colleagues are willing to share plans, goals, resources, ideas, and information. But some people are hoarders who obviously never learned to play well with others. They hog the equipment or fail to let others know about important developments. This may or may not be intentional, but either way it can create problems.

The Proper Response: Hoarding can be dealt with directly or indirectly. You might be able to ask for an agreement about how equipment will be used or when information will be shared. Buit since some people never change, there are times when the best approach is to keep reminding, requesting, and following up. Angrily confronting hoarders is almost always a mistake, since they may retaliate by becoming even less cooperative.

4.   Craving Attention: Some people are attention junkies who want all eyes and ears focused on them. This behavior is actually rather pathetic, since it usually reflects a deep-seated lack of self-worth and self-confidence. But although it may be pathetic, it can be very annoying.

The Proper Response: The worst thing you can do is give an attention junkie more attention, since that just rewards their self-centered behavior. When they begin to go on and on about their problems and accomplishments, you need to change the subject or politely excuse yourself. If you get hooked into these conversations, you may never escape. But don’t except the person to become less self-absorbed. Attention junkies seldom change.

5.  Sibling Rivalries: When unhealthy competition develops between coworkers, everybody suffers. Some people always have to prove that they are better, smarter, or more successful than others. Of course, anyone with minimum of psychological insight will immediately conclude that these braggarts actually feel very inadequate.

The Proper Response: Never get trapped in a “my dog is bigger than your dog” conversation with a braggart. They will always find a way to top your best story, even if they have to stretch the truth. If it’s just harmless bragging, say “that’s nice” in a sincere manner and change the subject. But if you believe that the rival might actually take devious actions to get ahead of you, then watch your back.

6.  Crybabies: Crybaby colleagues may not actually cry. But they are always whining or complaining about something. Nothing is ever quite right and they are never completely happy about anything. If you say that it’s a nice day, they’ll reply that it’s probably going to rain tomorrow. Crybabies invented the half-empty glass.

The Proper Response: You don’t want to reward crybaby behavior. So don’t join in with the complaining or start whining yourself. If you do, you’ll soon become the crybaby’s complaint buddy. Just change the subject and try to shift the focus from past problems to future goals. If the behavior persists, you may simply want to avoid these people.

7.   Forming Cliques: In some work groups, a little group will decide that they are the ‘insiders’ and refuse to admit anyone else to their exalted circle. They may eat lunch together or play golf together or talk exclusively to one another. But the point is that they’re special. They probably did the same thing then they were in middle school.

The Proper Response: These people are silly and childish, so find a more mature and rewarding group to interact with. Be friendly to clique members when you have to work with them and just ignore them the rest of the time.

Childish adults are annoying, but don’t get upset about them. Just be glad that you are a mature person yourself.

Discovering the Elementary, my dear Watson! - Bread Pizza!

Mind you, I said, 'Bread Pizza' and not 'Pizza Bread'. If I had said the latter, that would mean that I have the superior skill-set it takes to make pizza dough from scratch, that I would know what is yeast (including its properties, and why the heck exactly we need it in this recipe - I have no idea why), and that I have the upper arm strength to actually make pizza dough!

You know me too well, so I won't elaborate on that!

Instead, what I did was, used my normal bread slices that I always have lying around at home, and turned it into something that would satisfy my perennial pizza craving. Yes, I do have a perennial craving for pizza. I think I was born with that technical fault! Something about the cheese and the sauce and all those carbs...

Anyway, if you suddenly have a craving for pizza, and want to fix a quick and painless dinner, make Bread Pizza.

Bread Pizza

Things you need:

- 1 tbsp oil - either olive oil or normal sunflower oil.

Psst, you could also use butter...or pretend I said nothing...

- bread slices (obvsly!)

- onions diced into not-so-large pieces

- green peppers (capsicum) diced

- red peppers (capsicum that's red)diced

- yellow peppers (capsicum that's ... you get the idea.)

(you don't need all of them, just one kind will also do just fine)

- 1 tsp black pepper (ha! No. This time it's the black powder!)

- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

- Pizza Sauce 1 tbsp per slice (I think FunFoods has a product that some Ngl grocery stores carry - Lynns to the rescue!)

- Mozarella cheese grated

- chopped canned-meat of your choice - chicken frankfurters, luncheon meat, or even cooked and shredded chicken - whatever you want your topping to be. As long as it's not sweet - I don't dig sweet pizza! Sorry, there are some things my palate won't accept...

- oregano flakes

- soy sauce

- 1 tsp red-chilli powder, or 2-3 finely chopped green chillies

Here's what you do:

Just make the topping and arrange on the bread, then microwave! Ba-ding! You're done!

Okay. So making the topping takes a little longer...:P Sorry!

I just threw stuff together on the pan, and improvised as I went along. So, anything that caters to your taste/craving should do.

1. In a pan, pour in a tbsp of oil or melt some butter. When the oil heats up, drop in the diced peppers.

2. When the peppers are well sauteed, add the onion and a tbsp of ginger-garlic paste.

3. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on this, and saute well.

4. Now pour in the soy sauce. Then add the green chillies or red chilli powder if you need more heat. Note: if you have a palate that doesn't take much heat, STOP with just adding black pepper powder.

5. Throw in the meat, and let it cook with all the veggies for a while. If you want to go vegetarian on this one, or if you didn't have any meat on hand when your craving struck (you know who), skip this step.

6. Let the whole mixture simmer for a while, till all the water content in the veggies have released and reduced. Now you have yummy pizza-topping! Yaay!!

Note: You know, you could also arrange all the toppings raw on the slice, but what's the fun in that?

7. Next, grease a baking pan or microwave dish that's flat and arrange bread slices on it.

8. Spread some pizza sauce on the bread slice. Go easy on the sauce, because it has a distinct tangy flavor that you might not like too much of. I got so excited that I slathered on the sauce for a couple of slices, and regretted it with every bite. One spoon sauce per slice will do.

9. Place some of the pizza-topping on the bread. Arrange greens olives or just leave it like it is.

10. Finally, for the glorious part of the entire thing - grate some Mozarella cheese onto each slice. You can over-do it or under-do it, but I'd think you were weird, if you didn't want too much cheese on your pizza! Hence, my culinary contempt for a certain cheese-hater's preferences...

11. Now, just stick it into the oven or the microwave for 3 minutes or till the cheese melts. Let it sit for a while after you remove it from the oven.

12. Eat. And thank me for this pizza short-cut. Or not. Don't have to thank me if your mouth is too full with wonderful pizza! I'll understand :)

Just want you to know that I failed, AGAIN, to take a picture of something I made! So, your pizza could look like this...

Or this...

...based on how colorful your pizza-topping is. Mine was pretty amazing - emphasis on 'pretty'. Unfortunately, you know what transpired. I ate, and forgot everything else...sigh. This is getting to be a problem.

Note: These pictures are not mine.

Anyway, enjoy, until I come bug you with another recipe, complete with MY OWN pictures of the food! :D

Discovering the Elementary, my dear Watson! - Pancakes!

I have had many 'Duh' moments! In fact, 80% of my life is all about the 'duh' moments. You know, like stuff that everybody just KNOWS when they are put into a certain situation, but for which, I need a user's manual, complete with detailed, labeled diagrams! Yeah, sometimes I make myself tired...

Anyway, cooking, by and large, has been that way for me, which you already know if you have closely followed this blog. I can't cook. That should probably be my epitaph, or something. So, I used to think that making pizza, pancake, and brownies were like high-end magic, or at least stuff that I would never be able to do, without changing life as it was for myself!! HAHA! I have no idea what I just said! Oh yeah, what I said was that I thought pancakes and brownies were hard to make.

But then, (I love how you can break all rules of grammar on your personal blog!) I decided last week, that I am going to figure out the pancake and the pizza. One was, and the other wasn't really...

So, here's how I made pancake - those who make scrumptious pancakes on a daily basis and WOW your family every day, and are adventurous with their pancakes to turn them into 5-star restaurant cuisines, please...PLEASE ignore this post. Others, like me, who have no idea how a pancake is made, have never eaten one, or think that it is 'Un-do-able' follow me. It's really elementary, my dear Watson!

Basic Pancake Recipe

This is what you need:

- 1 egg

1 & 1/2 cup milk

1 cup flour (maida)

3 tbsp sugar

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tbsp baking powder

Here's what you do:

1. Whisk together the egg, vanilla essence, sugar and salt. Whisk till the sugar is, at least partially, dissolved.

2. Now, add the flour and the baking powder, and combine well.

3. Pour in the milk and stir well, so that no lumps are formed. Remember, lumps are no good for any one, anywhere.

At this point, let me just say, that if you have ever made wheat dhosas for dinner on those totally uninspired evenings, you know that making a pancake is not very different. It's the ingredients that are the fun part!

4. Anyway, make sure that your batter is not too watery (or milky!), and not too thick either. You know... your 1&1/2 cup of milk should be enough to make an easy-to-pour batter.

5. Heat up a flat pan (non-stick pan or your dhosa pan should do), and, if you don't care about your diet, go ahead and dab some butter on the heated pan. If you do care about your diet, skip the butter. Nothing inedible will happen!

6. Take a large ladle-full of batter, and simply pour in the center of the pan. NOTE: Please, please DO NOT spread it around with your ladle!! If you, like me, have made one too many godhumai dhosas (wheat dhosas) and rice dhosas in your life, you will have the tendency to spread batter around on the pan. DON'T DO IT! Hold your hand back, and grit your teeth if necessary.

You see, pancake is wonderful like that. No effort at all, no stress to make perfect round-shaped things. Just pour and let it be.

7. You will see that the batter itself has the tendency to spread a wee-bit. After that it will stop spreading and start to fluff up nicely. YUM!

8. Wait till all the bubbles on the batter burst (now it's back to the dhosa process again!). Flip it over on the pan, if you have crazy Julia-Child-skills! If not, just take a flat ladle and turn it over.

9. Let it brown up a bit on the other side too. You shouldn't let any dark-spot, burn-marks, or scars form on the pancake. Treat it like a gentle flower...

10. Flip it back up onto a plate...and go make some more. Or...leave some one else to make their own breakfast (I only wish...) and pour some honey over your pancakes and stuff your pretty/handsome face with them!!! Usually, people use maple syrup. I have no idea what it is. So, I used honey, and I was anything but regretful...meaning, that I could not wipe the smile off my face...

Pancake, where were you all my life? Sigh!

PS: If you are wondering what's all this 'pancake & image not mine!' about, I just wanted to let you now, that I did NOT photograph even one part of the pancake-making process. Even though I seriously considered it for all of 2 seconds, I did not even stop to photograph the finished product. It was all already in my mouth! I made it twice last week, and still failed to get a picture. So, I used an image I found on the web. Just googled 'basic pancake' and got these images. These images are not mine. But, for the record, I would like to sincerely state that I did make pancakes and they did taste heavenly. And mine looked exactly like those in the pictures. So, There!

P.S. I Love You - What? No, It's the Song....

All that talk about 'P.S I Love You, in the previous post totally put this song in my head...Enjoy!

P.S. I Love You - From Book to Movie, The Lost Laughs

Let me just place on record the fact that I am yet to find a movie that is as good as, let alone better than, its book. Please re-read that sentence, and etch it into your sub-conscious image of myself. There. Now you can refer to me as that woman who doesn't like movie versions of books.

That said, I think I do not hate the guy who turned the book P.S. I Love You into a movie.Why? Because he did not totally ruin the story. The nucleus of the story is Holly's grief. The grief really comes across in the movie - I found myself crying several times, in the oddest places. Okay, before I get ahead of myself, here's the plot of the story:

Holly Kennedy is a bouncy happy young lady, married to the dashing, girl-heart-breakingly handsome, irresistible Gerry. The couple are surrounded by good friends, complete with quirkiness and adorable relationship updates. They frequently hit the pubs, go wild on the town, attend Christmas balls dressed like royalty and sing a mean karaoke! Everything is fine, flitting along in a dizzyingly happy-go-lucky pace, until....

... Gerry dies.

If you thought that was the end of the book, you have another thought coming! Actually, THIS is where the book begins - with Holly's grief, her friends rallying around on her birthday (the saddest day for the poor girl), and a mystery gift from Gerry (who, at this point is very dead!) Got you hooked now, huh?!

So, basically, Gerry knew that he was going to die, and made elaborate plans for his wife, writing letters full of instructions on how she should move on, after he is no more. Everything from buying herself a new dress for her birthday, to finding a job, and eventually, to trying to find love again.

The interest of the story lies in how Holly deals with her grief, and how Gerry helps her to move one with her life, from beyond. You should be crying now....or at least, please look at this solitary tear rolling down my cheek...

I read the book, and it's humor shocked me - no, it was not humor that needs to be rated, but the fact that there was humor! How could Cecilia Ahern bring humor into a novel about the death of a spouse?! But bring the humor, she did! I found myself chuckling unexpectedly at the slightly slapstick comedy that she sprung on me, now and then! Sometimes we feel respect for Holly at the way she is dealing with such a profound loss. At other times, we feel, "How profoundly stupid can one woman be?!" Come on.... Again, sometimes, we end up feeling that Holly is just such a clown! An adorable clown that we can all relate to.

All the characters in the story are well-defined, and extremely lovable, because they are people just like us. People who have the alarming capacity to say the most unfeeling, cringe-worthy thing in the world to a friend or sibling, but who will also go to great lengths to make that person happy.

Read the book - it will bring your heart a nice cinnamon warmth with pink sprinkles...don't know why, but that is the image that comes to mind, when I think of this book. Probably something to do with the cover of the book:

...at least the 'pink sprinkles' part!

P.S. I Love You, the movie, is a very condensed form of the book. To probably emphasize the grief factor and really make us cry, they have made a few changes to the plot. For instance, in the book, Holly has a mom and a dad, but in the movie, her dad left her mom when they were little children. This situation gives way to a heart-rending scene between mother and daughter, where they cry about how their men leave them. I bawled at this point of the movie...*sob sob*. Of course, like everything with Holly, this heart-to-heart ends abruptly, and humorously, with her biting remark to her mother that while her mother's husband just up and left irresponsibly, her husband actually died! Oh, well...


One thing I did not like about the movie, was that the 'sibling' angle was totally ignored. Holly has a beautiful but complicated relationship with each of her siblings, which is totally missing in the movie. The place is prominently taken by the two friends. It's good, but you're missing a terribly funny story about Holly's brother, if you don't' read the book! That's all I'm saying. The other thing I dislike is Hillary Swank...I think she had better stick to women's-liberation- macho-women roles...something about the jaw bones is off-putting. Raise your hand if you agree.

Watch the movie...but seriously, read the book too, ok? Maybe you should watch the movie first (you might have already seen it, if StarMovies is the only thing you watch!), and then read the book, so that you can enjoy the beautiful movie, and then cry and laugh some more at the even better book. Ladies, you need a box of tissues. Just a warning. Men, learn from Gerry - that is all I have to say about this.

  

And ladies, you have been warned. There is some serious eye-candy onslaught in this movie. Just saying...

Sighing...

more sighing...

sigh...